DJing @ CBD 22nd March 2007

The second (ie. last) set of a humid, sticky night, with not many dancers- you might say it was a challenging combination of punters- an even mix of experienced, beginner and intermmediate dancers but just not many of each group! It was hard work and in the end I learnt a lot-

• Don't let the foldback speakers give you a false idea of the volume- you really have to walk out onto the dance floor to hear how the sound really comes out



• Bloody double-click!! I fell for it- never left-click to select a song, lest you end up playing it over the top of whatever is currently playing. Instead, right-click, then select 'add to playlist'. I did it in the middle of 'The Mooche'. Ouch.



• It is possible to be too sensitive to the crowd's needs. I think you just have to put some of your own character into the DJing. Some people will like it, some will hate it, some will be nonchalant. It's impossible to satifsy everyone. I varied my set too often. I needed longer cylces.

Looking forward to just dancing in Geelong tomorrow!

Melbourne Swing Festival

Woo hoo! My first-ever swing event in Melbourne! And in those timeless words- 'It was really good'.


MSF definitely had a different feel to any camp I've done. Firstly, a major part of it was the Melbourne Lindy Battle, which turned out to be about 5 hours of competition all squashed into a single night. There were also workshops during the day, we were blessed with the likes of Hanna, Mattias, Andy Reid and Nina Gilkenson, Anne-Helene and Bernard, and Jo Jo Jackson.


No wins for me, but it was fantastic experience, my first formal competition that I've actually prepared for, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. Now I finally get to see myself on video with all embarrassing movements in plain view. But I'm ready for it- I've been waiting so long!


But what I really want to share with you is how friendly people have been. It was so good to catch up with my old London buddies Loz, Diane and Nicki, and to meet their mates too. I've found dancers to be such nice people around the world and Melbourne is definitely no exception.



Five-in-the-morning at Chapelli's hangin' with the awesome Perthies and one crazy New Yorker!