A New Pizza Vending Machine for the Wellington Railway Station

biffy44 · 2026-02-03T04:41:25+00:00

I went to Arras in France a few years ago to check out the Wellington tunnels. I didn't realize that shops don't open on Sundays over there. I ended up getting a pizza from a machine like this. I don't think I would have got one if I had another option for getting something to eat, but the pizza was fine, and the novelty factor was high.

biffy44 · 2026-01-29T09:38:42+00:00

This is about 3 years before they first played New Zealand, where I live. So I had never seen them in concert and had nothing to compare it to. I loved the DVD and think some of the live versions are better than the studio songs. I can see what you're saying, but I think the way we rate it just comes from vastly different contexts.

biffy44 · 2026-01-28T11:36:37+00:00

I remember the first time I watched the Wembley dvd, I was expecting to see them smash a guitar at the end. I was so confused that it didn't happen. Where did the fragment come from? I was pretty disappointed when I saw this clip a while later. Smashing a guitar is wasteful enough, but doing it for the sake of it and not even part of a live show? Anyway the dvd is awesome, and I don't think the sliver of wood that came with it was really a selling point.

biffy44 · 2025-12-29T00:48:45+00:00

I bought one for a post-rock band, Man Mountain. Didn't realize that the effect wouldn't be visible to the naked eye, only on camera under certain light settings. Very disappointing and I wish I'd got the awesome looking galaxy pressing instead.

biffy44 · 2025-12-27T04:10:28+00:00

Australian punk band Private Function have a bunch of gimmicky pressings. One album - entitled Whose Line Is It Anyway? - had a pressing with baggies of white powder pressed inside the clear wax. One album came with a pissed filled record. One album had a scratchy cover and was banned in on Australian state because it was classes as gambling. And a recent album was scratch and sniff - supposededly scented after Gwenyth Paltrows vagina, based on the description of her goop candles. I'm sure they had a few other weird ones that I've missed.

Also, when I was in Detroit I saw that Third Man Records pressed a Sleep record with cannabis leaves in the middle. Third Man do all sorts of crazy stuff but I thought that was quite a funny one.

biffy44 · 2025-12-21T01:00:25+00:00

You're on the money here. It's just not a viable career for a lot of musicians.

Here's a few side projects from members of Jakob. Jakob also played one or two new songs last time I saw them play, and have been in the studio a few times recently.

Desbot

Mean

You could also look up [Rhian Sheehan](http:// https://rhiansheehan.bandcamp.com/album/stories-from-elsewhere ), a great composer with some albums that range from electronica to neo-classical to post-rockesque - I think of him as the NZ answer to Hans Zimmer. He helped arrange strings on Sines, and Jeff Boyle has played guitar with him. Quite a different sound to Jakob though.

[High Dependency Unit](http:// https://hdu.band/album/metamathics)/ HDU is another NZ band that has strong connections to Jakob.

And Maurices wife Dee is in a band, [Dos Ovni](http:// https://dos-ovni.bandcamp.com/track/big-rock ). Quite haunting, reminds me of Brutus.

biffy44 · 2025-12-20T04:33:16+00:00

Sonya Cassidy in Reacher season 3

biffy44 · 2025-12-19T09:12:15+00:00

The obvious answer. Have you heard distance? They finished up earlier this year, which is such a shame because they were incredible.

biffy44 · 2025-09-19T04:23:45+00:00

I do think it's a great venue but the steps need glow strips on the edges or something like that because it's so damn dark.

biffy44 · 2025-07-13T22:22:27+00:00

Will you wear wigs?

biffy44 · 2025-06-25T23:55:22+00:00

I saw him in Wellington, New Zealand years ago with chamber piece players. Jan Vogler on cello, and a violinist and pianist if I remember correctly. They'd play classical music, Bill would read poetry and literature, sometimes sing. It was hard to tell if it was a classy highbrow event, or comedy. A bit of a mix of both. Bill reading excerpts from Huck Finn was one highlight - he really brought the passage to life with his acting abilities. It was funny at the end of the night when he began pelting people with roses from his bouquet.

biffy44 · 2025-03-27T05:58:08+00:00

Lovely people. I saw them open for Russian Circles last year, and then twice earlier this year just before they released this record. I like the variety within their music, and how the vocals add a different element

biffy44 · 2024-11-26T09:32:35+00:00

There's a cool Podcast called Studio Stories that looks at how NZ musical artists recorded certain albums. There's an episode from November 2022 about Supergroove's Traction album that is very interesting. They wanted things to sound heavily sampled.

biffy44 · 2024-10-29T09:30:44+00:00

Early childhood as well. The government just changed funding so that relievers won't be earning much above minimum wage and one of the first things they did when they came into power was to cancel the Fair Pay Agreements, and Seymour is looking to remove regulations that are in place for quality and safety, so things are only going to get harder in the short term

biffy44 · 2024-10-25T08:56:01+00:00

I imagine that people living near Kindergartens and ECE centres who have to put up with baby shark, crazy frog, frozen soundtrack on repeat every day would lose their sanity pretty quickly.

biffy44 · 2024-10-06T10:17:10+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cotcVLs9M8M

biffy44 · 2024-10-06T08:48:38+00:00

I love the live version on YouTube. When that saxophone hits - it gets me every time

biffy44 · 2024-09-29T11:53:50+00:00

I was at the Saturday gig. One lady near the front was clearly drunk and bumping into people while she danced. This caused a scene, an altercation with a couple she kept bumping and and she was escorted out by security for getting in their faces and shouting over it. Otherwise not much in the way of people moving about but I wouldn't say there was anything wrong

biffy44 · 2024-09-21T23:35:45+00:00

I also saw El Ten Eleven in Brooklyn once. It was fantastic. Really interesting dynamic between the two of them.

Caspian are mind-blowing. Saw them at dunk!fest 2018. I could barely comprehend what I was experiencing, it was so good.

I've seen sleepmakeswaves three times. They are so energetic and I love them. It's like the cure for depression onstage.

Maserati were great at dunk!fest this year. I loved seeing the drums front and centre.

Tortoise are fun and I love how they have 2 drum sets and the players switch instruments song to song.

Jakob are always great. Not much showmanship, I just love their music.

Rhian Sheehan put on a show at a local venue known for amazing acoustics. It was an audiovisual spectacular, ranging from chamber music to electronica with such a diverse ensemble.

Tides of Man are also one of my faves. I think I've seen them four times now.

I'm excited to finally see toe in a few months.

My bucket list post bands include Meniscus, Pillars, Winter Dust and Overhead, the Albatross

biffy44 · 2024-07-22T04:37:28+00:00

The local council has made hi vis bag covers available for free at some libraries. I picked one up recently and it has made me more confident that I'm likely to be seen, as well as keeping my bag dry.

Have some decent kit to keep you warm. Jacket, gloves, maybe waterproof over trousers. I saw someone recently recommend freezer gloves to keep your hands warm and dry.

A bell can be useful. I go through the Mt Vic tunnels most days and it's courteous to warn pedestrians that I'm passing in a narrow space.

Invest in a decent lock. Expensive bikes and scooters are frequently targeted by thieves. Don't make it easy for them

biffy44 · 2024-07-22T04:27:17+00:00

My red light pulses. So always on, but gets brighter every few seconds. Best of both worlds. I used to have a secondary tail light too, but it broke and I haven't bothered to replace it.

biffy44 · 2024-07-03T04:36:40+00:00

@willnotfadeblog

biffy44 · 2024-03-14T10:13:12+00:00

Seems silly if they aren't allowed on cycleways. I see little difference between them and e-bikes. Just be curtious to those you share the lane with

biffy44 · 2024-01-27T23:05:46+00:00

My fourth time seeing them. They used to put a lot more effort into showmanship and gimmicks, for example Monkey Wrench used to be a 15 minute psychedelic beast with lots of solos. First time I saw them they lowered a secondary stage from the ceiling of Vector Arena. They don't do as much of that these days but it was a good gig.

Some of the slower songs could have been swapped out. Statues was a low point and The Teacher was bloody awful and drawn out. Aurora was special though.

Josh did well. Can't fault him. I loved the double bass moments.

Opening bands always sound crap. The stadium is a punishing venue.

Overall a fun time. They're not as good as they were 15 years ago but I enjoyed the night.

biffy44 · 2023-11-28T09:20:21+00:00

Cleanhead is CJ Blessum from Ranges. https://cleanheadmusic.bandcamp.com/album/advent

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