My last blog in August

So i guess i should do one last blog in august just to make it thirty-four even though i don't really like even numbers. I reckon that odd ones are far better, they're just much cooler, aye? So we will get back to you tomorrow and it's almost a certainty we will band pracitice (YAY!) on n8s new drums. Unless our uncle, who's getting them for us, arrives at 12pm, but then still we might get up and rock the house down, but then we'd get in BIG trouble, and Daddy would probably get a headache to boot and the neighbors, mistaking our marverlous sound for a 'terrible din', might wake up and call the police and we'd be taken to jail and sued for keeping people awake and we'd have to get a laweyr (or use a mosquito, it's already a blood sucking parasite =D) and it would be terrible.
So i hope they don't come at twelve o' clock pm. Otherwise we're sunk

Jordan

I hate Mondays.

I do random things.



Today I mostly spent reading. Then I decided I was just being boring, so off I went to do something random.



I sailed my boat.



Yes I have a boat. But now it's too small for me now. I've grown to big for it. I can still fit, but I'm sinking more. And my legs are a bit long for it also. It's extremely sad. I can remember when I fitted in it fine. It's not fair. I don't like changes. Okay, I do but only if they're for the good. Which more often than not they aren't.



But anyway, no worrys mate, cos I'm going to build myself a bigger boat anyway. And me and Nate are going to have a swordfight on it. Mwahaha!!! Mean!



Anyway, enough about rafts. But there's not much to talk about really. I mean, I'm one number more older than I was yesterday. But it dosn't feel different. I still feel like me (thank goodness for that). In fact, I don't think that you'd notice yourself getting older really if we didn't have calenders, or watches, or mirrors or photos. Until you started getting wrinkly and getting rhemutism (did I spell that right???) of course. No offense here.



So I'm ancient now. Old enough to get my learners licence. As everyone's been telling me. That means I have to study something else.



Grrr! I'm sure life gets more complicated as you get older.



And guess what?



I still haven't finished Daniel's present. And it was his birthday today as well.



Oh well. Tomorrow's another day.



Unfortunately, that 'other day' is Monday. A day of school after your birthday?



I hate Mondays.



But hopefully this one's good. And it should be. Because we're getting the drumkit!!!!!



Oh golly gosh I am excited. Surely not as excited as Nate, but then hey, I am a guitarist. And he's the drummer.


So. Mayday. A year older. A new line-up. Well equipped and ready to rock. Three instruments now. I mean soon. Completely different from how we just started.


But hey, that's life for you. I'm sure baby Jordan didn't resemble me.



Or at least not very much. =)



That was random.



Jordan

A Quick Post

This must be quick cos I have to go to bed soon. But on the way there I must be able to write one blog. At least. No, two would be pushing it.
So I have VSN (very sad news.) My guitar strap has {gulp} broken. How on earth am I supposed to rock if I sit down?
No problem though, hopefully my Dad can fix it. He's very good at doing that.
Anyway, we had a really cool band practice on Friday (our last with N8 as the keyboardist). We did a few of our songs and stuff.
What else have I been doing? Not much. I spent all day doing Dan's present or playing/ watching soccer. As a result I'm very sore. But I've had a pretty good day really. I'm just tired now. So I better go to bed. =)
Goodnight
Jaws

Reflections...

I like reflections. They show you who you were, who you are and who you could be. I also like reflecting. Or just procrastinating. Which was what I did yesterday......
Yesterday was GREAT! It was Josh's birthday so we didn't have to do much work. Leaving me plenty of time to do stuff. And finish two books. And write a song. Yes, I finally have. I'm very proud of myself. I finished off one of the ones I wrote while we were coming home from skiing. It was a good day cause it gave me time to think instead of thinking about being so busy.
Oh, and we fixed up one of our songs today which was good.
Daniel's also been practicing his songs cos once Nate's got his hands on the drumkit Daniel will have to be our keyboardist. Big changes aye?

Jaws

Nothing much...

This is one of those articles when you don't know what to write about. But then Jords is to busy at the moment, so it's my turn again.
It's been one of those days. The ones that you just want to speed up and be the next day. But I guess all I have to do is fall asleep now. Which I can't really do right now. Otherwise I would leave this blog unfinished, which Jords wouldn't be too happy about. But I guess I could just end it here and now.........
Or then again maybe I could keep writing for hours. Or I could type a bit more then finish up. But I won't. Probably because I haven't written about anything. But then I guess nothing is something. It's more than nothing. Or maybe it isn't............... Confused? I am!
Back to the point............ which is what? Why I'm writing about nothing? Or why I can't seem to think up an interesting topic?
Well, I seemed to be able to drag that out pretty far.
Nate

=0 Wow! 0=

Okay, Jords has said enough of this "exiting news," so now I'll spill the secret, if you haven't already guessed it.
On Sunday night we brought a drum set! Yes! A nice, green, Tempo Dixon! Only for $350.00! And it's in Fielding!
Our Uncle's going to pick it up on Thursday and drop it here on Monday! I am seriously going to completely schedule Monday in my notebook and do everything fast as! I can't wait!
I'm sorry, but all my afternoons from the 1st of September to the 30th of December are completely booked out. (have a guess why)
Only 6 days.........
I wish I had a time-travel machine! Except then I'd miss drum lessons. And Jords and Dan's birthday. And the sleepover..........
Nate

From then till now

We've decided something.

Seeing as of 1st of September Mayday will be forever changed, we've decided to put something on our blog to remember the good old days. This will be a change for the better, trust me. But I still think it's fun to remember back when we still barely even qualified as a band. When I used my 'Mayday diary' instead of the blog. So here's photos of us through the year.

Ah yes. Back when we had no instraments, except the old piano

Looking much cooler now, but only because we're pretending to be another band. (The Lads)

Yes this was on the beach: I thought it would make a mean cd cover, but Dan's looking really weird.

And at last I'm armed with two guitars.






And this is us in the here and now, the shadows attached to us.

The End

Jordan.

Busyness

Yes. That's me. I've been so busy lately I don't know what to think. Well I do know what to think of course. I think about being so busy. And then I get frustrated!
I'm so busy that the bees look like lazy slobs compared to me. Let's see, I have to:
Finish off my brother's birthday present.
Finish Daniel's present. (Very strenuous I can assure you)
Find a copy of a story which I helpfully lost about four months ago.
Write two, no three books.
Do my schoolwork. (Deep sigh)
Do my guitar practice.
Finish of my mad projects like my raft.
Do band practice.
Study the road code.
And on top of that I have about six books to finish reading and I have to chill out by txting my mates!!!!!
But at the moment I'm doing none of these, choosing instead to procrastinate and write my blog.
I think I'm too busy. I don't like being busy. Actually I have a love/hate relationship with busyness. I love being busy because there's always something to do. But I hate being busy because there's no time to stop and smell the roses. Very important. And there's know time to just chill out. Doing not much. It's when I'm doing that when I'm most creative. When I can write songs, and let the music flow through me. But if I'm busy it all just goes over my head.
And also when your busy you can't see the miracles that God puts in your path. It's like you're a high-powered business executive with a pair of huge clumsy glasses.
So I think it's time for a break. I'm looking forward to when the weeks over and I can do nothing without feeling guilty again.
And I can see the miracles again.
And I can look back and reflect on my business with a feeling of having done the job well.
But for know, I'll just persevre and stick at it till the end. And try to smell the roses on the way.
Goodnight.

Jordan

Suspense

I'm tired.....
I know I should really go to bed but I have to write the blog! It's oh so exciting!!!
But I might let Nate tell you about that because I'm sure he'd want to. Yes, it involves him. And it involves Mayday. It is such groundbreaking news for the band. Yes this occasion will go down in hisory, (or at least down on our blog......) as the moment that...........
I think I'll be cruel and leave you in suspense.
Mwhahaha!
Jordan

Events...

Our 50th Blog!!!!

Wow! I'm so exited! Drinks all around! And that's about it. =) Nate

A Nice Piece of Art

Now I don't really mean by a nice piece of art as in an amazing painting. But that doesn't have anything to do with what I'm writing about, so I'll get started.
Firstly, you must hear that song Nice Piece of Art by FM Static. It's one of the best songs written. (well in my perspective it is)
I reckon that's a cool name for a song. It's one of those rare, cool song names. Like I'm Not Alright, or Who I am hates who I've been.
So, when I think of a nice piece of art, the first thing that comes into my head is an amazing painting actually! Not the Mona Lisa, but.........
Anyway, I haven't really said much about this topic, so I better get on with it. With what? I've used up all my ideas, so I guess that's it! =)
Nate

My Life Story

......Is a big series of complicated events which I could never write out in full detail because I'd die before I finished and then it wouldn't be complete would it?
So me. I'd like to describe myself as a writer, but then I havn't really written anything for at least three weeks, unless blogs and schoolwork counts. Hang on, I've also writen half of a song. I only wrote half of it because I got distracted by the Olympics. Not very good is it. I hate leaving songs half-finished.
I guess the best way to describe myself, is the fact that I come up with crazy ideas. Like building a raft big enough to swordfight on. Like writing a song about McDonalds. Like writing stories which I'd like to read. Like starting a band.
Ok, the last one isn't that crazy, but then mostly nobody starts off a band with their own bros, in a time where only one of them can play an instrument.
Yes, now that's crazy.
So that's my life story. Or part of it. I think it best defines me. The other thing which really defines me is my music. Let's just say I'm really into it. But, only two years ago, I wasn't. I couldn't see the point of the piano, it was all to complicated for me, and the thought of even picking up another instrument hadn't even entered my head.
But that all changed when we went to THE concert.
Now, to be brutally honest, it wasn't the best concert I've been to. I mean the band themselves wasn't that famous. But back then, as I still do now, I fell in love with their sound.
That band was the good old kiwi trio of The Lads. It was the first time I'd ever heard a pop/rock band before, and it was so LOUD! But the music just blew me away. It was beautifull in a rockish kind of way. And they were the ones, who, after watching a live dvd of them, inspired us to start Mayday.
Now the times have changed, and I have a host of favourite bands: Stellar Kart, My Life Story, Hawk Nelson, Relient K, Matt Chapman, Calling Elijah..... just to name a few. But the Lads still remain up there. Every time I hear one of their songs, I get this good feeling like after everything else, you've came back to something you love and it's still the same. So, they might not of produced a cd for three years. So there's rumours of them becoming a little kids band. I don't care. They inspired us last year to start our own thing, and it has definitely been a journey on which I haven't looked back.
So thanks Lads. If it wasn't for you, there'd be no Mayday.

Jordan

I would love to have a concert

Today we did a lot of stuff. I'm frankly surprised we managed to do it all AND I still got time to read one of my books. Swell!
Now unfortunately I have bad news. Everyone has the cold. Well at least everyone in our band anyway. It sucks. So today we were heading up to do band practice but unfortunately, some people didn't want to. Story of my life. Anyway, I've been over this a million times, so I'll cut to the good part. The long and short of it was we decide to fix up songs. Usually this doesn't work. And today was no exception. Except for one thing. Me and N8 finally managed to make up the meanest guitar opening ever!!!!!! Wow it sounds awesome! This is probably because I turn my guitar up to one below the highest setting. And it's LOUD! Honestly I get a bit scared thinking maybe my amp will blow up! I can't say I've ever heard of it happening before, but you never know. So I'll only go on the highest channel if I'm doing hammer-ons or quiet tricks like that.
Anyway, what we really want to do (or at least what I really want to do) is release a e.p on a record deal, film a music video, and have a concert. Now the first two seem pretty far out of reach unfortunately. But as for the third.....
So yeah. I would love to have a concert. I'd probably get stage fright but it would be just part of the show. And we could make a good image, a bad image, or something in between. But I reckon we could do it.
One thing I don't want us to be as a band, is boring. Once I bought myself a CD, and the music on it wasn't bad, but after a while, it just got boring. I barely ever listen to it anymore. Maybe it's because we listen to so many good bands. Maybe I don't like the band's style. I dunno but I don't want that to be what people think when they hear our music.
Also I don't want us to have what I've termed "Sound Alike Syndrome". When a band has quite good sounds, but after a few listens every song just starts to sound the same because they've got a particular style and they stick to it like concrete. They never experiment with any different styles, or even different tunes. It's just sad. No way do I want that to happen to us. I think every band should be creative with what they're playing. And we try to do just that. It might be the lyrics, it might be the opening, it might be the guitar or it might be the keyboard. I don't really care. As long as it's original.

Jordan

(THE) Roadtrip

Yes, this was THE Roadtrip. So it went like this.

We all had a sudden urge for cheesecakes. Have you ever been to that cheesecake shop in Woodville? It's really nice.... so nice that one small cheesecake costs $7-50! But it's worth it, trust me.

And it just happened that when me and Jords and Dan went on our paper-run, there was a cheque of with every cheesecake you get, you got one free coffee! How's that for business? And it just happened that we had about 20 newspapers left over! =0

So we dropped into the shop and got 4 cheesecakes. I put 6 sugars in a coffee. It was bitter - but it's way better that way!

After that, Josh and Kezi played in a park. Me, Beka, Jords, and Dan went and stood on the front porch of a house for photos. (now don't worry, cause yanno, it was one of those houses that look old, burnt down, and abandoned). Here's some of the pictures:

Then we went out to the footpath and took a picture of our shadows.

Looks like snow, doesn't it? Naa, it's the footpath, obviousely. So after that, Beka was taking a picture of daffodils, when she saw someone in the house! Yes, really! So we quit taking pictures there. Instead, we took some outside by a museum fence. Here's the best of them:

When we'd finished that, we went over Balance Bridge, to a CAFE there. We took a couple of mean pictures there:

So that was about it. After a couple more pictures we packed our bags and drove off. (well not really, but........)
Halfway home, Daniel "lost" his mp3. So as soon as we turned around to look back where we were, he found it in his pocket!
Well that's enough for one day
nite
Nate

Tonight

Have you ever wondered why there's so many songs called Tonight? It seems to be a very popular Christian song title (along with I Believe) But seriously. Every single song I've heard which is called Tonight is cool. I'm loving this mean as one by Dortree (is that how you spell it???) at the moment. We heard it on the radio tonight and I'm like "Oh it's Tonight by Dortree! I love this song!" cos I'd heard it on Life FM a couple of times before. I don't know how it all goes, but this is the chorus:

And it feels like Tonight

I can't believe I'm broken inside.

And after all that we've been through

I'll try to make it up to you

And it feels like tonight

Or something like that anyway. And I just love it. I dunno what it is about the night which is so special, but it really makes a great name for a song. And every time I hear a tonight song, I always think of the moon. Cos the moon remains. It's always there, even when we can't see it. It has no true light of it's own, but reflects the sun. But at times, it can surpass the sun's beauty. And that's amazing.

Now it's time for me to sleep tonight. That's what you spend most of your nights doing aye? Weird that more songs are called Tonight, than Morning or Afternoon then, isn't it? Actually there's a perfectly logical reason for it. Tonight just sounds better.

Goodnight,

Jordan

Nothing but nothing gets you nothing at all

Well if you think about this it's really confusing but at the same time makes a load of sense. Isn't it funny how things can be such paradoxes aye?

I must say, I really enjoyed my evening. We had bible study and we were watching Nooma, and it was kind of a bit cheesy. You know what I'm saying? Very airy fairy with not much to it. So it was talking on about breathing and how when we're breathing we're 'apparently' saying God's name. What????? I got realy confused, I can tell you. So the whole conversation ended up being very funny and random, because I kept on throwing in very, and I mean VERY random ideas.

Anyway so we ended up getting the giggles hard core.

Right, so onto a complete change of subject. Yesterday I very nearly fell asleep while I was babysitting. Not very responsible is that? I was zonked though. I really didn't pay much attention to anything. Not even chocolate could have kept me awake. Really. It was that bad.

Also, in the afternoon of that day, we (tried to) do Ground Zero. Now this didn't work to well as we felt more like filming one of our random movies. We did manage to get my mean guitar solo sorted out though so I guess that was some progress. William wasn't singing much though, which only left my vocals, which have much to be desired. If I told you I sing like an angel I'd be lying (unless of cours the angels sing out of tune which I doubt very much). So never get me to be the lead singer of a rock band if you know what's coming to you. As much as I'd want to be cool and play the guitar and sing at the same time I can't. It's sooooooo hard! I have know idea how on earth all those who play guitar and sing can do it. I'ts impossible. Well at least it is for me anyway.

Right now I've been thinking of music videos. Now I must confess I love going onto Youtube and watching these bands play their songs. Like Who I am Hates Who I've Been (Relient K) and Activate (Stellar Kart). So I've been thinking it's probably about time we did one. Unfortunately our attempts have been (ahem.) terrible. They suck. Or we suck. Or both. No, we arn't that bad but it's very hard to do one armed only with a digital camera, no backing track, no editing system and a lead singer who dosn't have a functional microphone. *Deep Sigh*

I'll spare you the details. So they havn't been to great, but we're working on it. Or a least I hope we are. We've been a bit slack lately. Well, Nate and Dan have. I've been bossing them about as usual.

Oh well, that was Random.

Jordan

A Stupendouse Page

Well, not that stupendous.... but that's still no excuse to not call it that. I don't even know what this page is about. But I'll think of something. I could write about green drums! =0

Or I could write about our roadtrip to Woodville yesterday!

Or I could write about nothing (which I guess is all I've done!!!)

Seeya till next time

Nate

I kan't spel

I have to confess something to the world. Or whoever's reading my blog right at this present moment. I can't spell for peanuts.
It's true. I'm terrible at it. My writing might be tidy but more often than not my spelling is wrong. The English language is just so confusing sometimes. There's a word which sounds like it should be spelt one way but it's done totally different. For example we were over at a friend's place watching one of the many movies we've filmed, and someone kindly pointed out to me that I'd spelled the title wrong. =( Now dosn't that just suck.
Also, once Nate and Dan read one of the blogs I wrote, the one with all our lyics in, and they spotted about thirty spelling mistakes. But anyway now I've discovered a nifty little button on the top of this blogger thing which checks all your spelling for you, and if it comes across a misspelled word highlights it in yellow. Handy aye? Now if only I had one of them when writing that film title!

Jordan

News.

Right, so I'm writing my blog now because I can't tonight as I'll be busy. At Youth Group.
Much to my dismay, we haven't done band practice all this week. =( It's very sad. It was because we did soccer practice instead. Then I played on the computer. I guess I was just procrastinating( I love that word!) but I really did feel like looking up some bands. To get inspired probably. Na that's an excuse. It was purely for entertainment. Anyway, by then the boys had gone out so I was out of luck then. And now Daniel's practicing his violin. Grrrrrrr!
Anyway, enough on failed band practices. It's the story of my life I tell you.
Well, this morning when Frank was turned on for the rare occasion (Frank is my cellphone with a very big battery problem) I found I had txt from William. And he said he'd set up a Ground Zero blog! I was really excited, I can tell you know. I just hope he hasn't written gory accounts about people's heads being chopped off though. He can get quite gruesome at times.
But anyway, I was quite excited. So I'll have to get the address from him tomorrow at soccer and put a link to it on our blog.
So that's basically all the news I have for now. So what else havewe been up to?
Umm not much.
Oh well that'll have to do.

Jordan

Late night accusations - and the Olympics.

Well well, it's pretty late, so I better make this quick. What have we been up to? Oh - the Beijing Olympics will do.
The Olympics I really like, cause there's so many different sports held there. My favourite would have to be gynmastics, soccer, and synchrenised swimming. Although sumo wrestling is quite funny. Like boxing. I think it's rather stupid, making your hands look twice as big as they actually are!
The other stupid thing, is that all the soccer is on realllly late, which sorta sucks. Yeah, in fact, it really sucks. I mean, soccer is the meanest sport, so why put it on late? To make schoolkids be late for school, or what?
Another cool sport, is the white water canoeing. Man that looks fun. Why don't they put one of those wave tunnels in our local swimming pool? Truelly stupid.
Okkkkaaaayyyy, now I'll switch from negative to positive. By the way, why did they make batteries like that?
Okay, better read Mum's blog then go to bed.
nite
nate

Inspiration

I believe it can come from practically any where. But I don't know where all these ideas come from aye? Sometimes you can be so over-run with ideas that you spend an hour writing them all down, and other times you just sit down and find that all your brain is thinking about is that book you've been reading, or the fact that you're hungry.
And I've found, much to my annoyance, that most of my best ideas come when I don't have any means to write them down or anything. It really hacks me off.
Take Monday for instance. For some really weird reason I have always got awesome ideas on the way back from skiing. I think it's because my body is on such an adrenaline rush that it's got to feed all that energy somewhere. So it all goes into my brain and I end up thinking a hundred and ninety miles an hour.
Maybe it's also because it's so quiet. Except for the noise of the engine. Nobody says much. We're all to tired to talk. Or we're listening to our MP3. But I don't have one of those at the moment. So my brain was occupied by thinking.
I was coming up with all these mean lyrics for songs, but the problem with this is so many get crammed in your head that you forget most of them. And I didn't have anything to write them down with. Man it was annoying.
So eventually we stopped at BP and bought pies. Which came in paper bags. So I figured from then on that I had the paper. But I still needed the pen. When we stopped in Fielding I kept asking if anyone had a pen. They didn't,but Mum eventually found a gold one, and passed it back to me. I couldn't find it for a bit, then finally I sat up, triumphant, pen in hand. Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived. The pen didn't work.
When we finally got home I managed to write the words of some songs, but I had forgotten most of them. But the ones I did remember were good. By then, all my adrenaline had gone and I was bone-tired. Literally.

Next time, I'm bring a pen and a pad of paper.

Jordan

How NOT to ski.

The other day me and Nate got into a bit of a fight. Not that this is unusual. I wanted to write about skiing and so did he. Eventually we decided that we'd both do it. What a marvolous idea!

Well, I'm sure that I really had the best time skiing. Cos I already basicly knew how to do it. And I went down more than anyone else because I didn't need a snowboard lesson.

I had a bit of a problem though. I was over confident. On my first time down I thought I'd be smooth as. Yeah right. I was going WAY to fast, and I hadn't done it since two years ago. So I fell over. Then, much to my shame, when I neared the bottom of the slope, I suddenly remembered I'd forgotten how to stop. Now stopping is one of the most important things in skiing. There are four ways to do it:

1. You slide smoothly to a halt by turning sideways, kicking up a wave of snow as you skid to a stop.

2. You fall over.

3. You make a 'wide pizza' with your ski's. And I'm not talking about a pizza pizza here. In essence you put the front ends of the skiis as close together as possible.

4. You crash into the ski line.

So I attempted to do option 3. But it didn't pay off. I was sliding at top speed towards the ski line. And I wasn't going to embarass myself that much. Luckily I managed to swerve and avoid the ski line, but still wasn't slowing. I raced through the T-bar, which was luckily abandoned. I thought I was going to fall off the mountain. But there wasw a last resort. I crashed at high speed smack bang into a wall of snow and fell over. Nice one.

So after that terrible start, I eventually got better. Me and Nate found this mean jump but the slope wasn't steep enough for me to get enough speed. Really it would have been quite boring if we'd done the normal route every time. But we added our own variation to it. That's what I like doing. Finding something everyone else did normally and putting a mean little twist onto it. It's a case of one better.

The only problem was we didn't take enough pictures and Nate probably put them all on yesterday. But oh well. We had a great day. I really loved the snow. It was a massive landscape, practically all white except for the sticking out black rocks. It looked like cookies and cream icecream.

And on some of the rocks there were these massive icicles. Some were straight and pointy. Others went straight down like a pipe.

Oh, me and Nate went on the ski lift and there was this guy sitting up on the top of a cliff with a massive pile of snowballs! It was really funny. He didn't throw them at us luckily. By the next time we went on the ski lift he was gone. But that isn't surprising, considering the line at the ski lift was massive. We probnably spent more time on the chairlift, or waiting to get on it, than actually skiing.

We had an awesome day. At the end of it we were so wasted. But I guess that's enough on skiing. It was a really fun trip tough. Now it's time to talk on the other love of my life-guitars.

Na I'm joking.

Goodnight.

Jordan =)

A Sudden Urge

Sudden urges come quite suddenly, and make you want to do a certain thing. For example, I have a sudden urge to play the drums, hear that song I just heard off Life FM again and I don't even know who it's by, and to run in the dark.
You normally get sudden urges when you're really bored, and you just can't find anything to do. To me, sudden urges make things more funner than they usually are. The thing I most hate about them, is when you really want to do it, but you can't.
Like bungy-jumping.
Sort of.
Nate

The Coolest ski day ever!!!!

Wowee zow my alarm clock gave me such a fright yesterday (monday) at 3 30 in the morning. I woke everyone else up (Jaws, Dan, and Josh) and we got dressed 4 skiing. Me, Dan, and Beka were going snowboarding, and Jaws, Josh, and Mum were skiing. I think Dad and Kezi were sledding.

Anyway, we finally headed off at 5:00. (would of liked to go earlier, but.........) We picked up Matt, and headed out of town.

The journey from Dannevirke to Fielding was...... silent. Probably cause I was listening to my mp3.

At 6:30 we stopped at a campsite we've camped at other years. We hadn't been there for three and a half years, but me, Jaws, and Dan were still pretty keen on finding our hut in the bush.
It was quite fun, wandering round in the dark forest, trying to find our way through with Daniel's pathetic, faint, torch.

We didn't get far though, and our stomach's were grumbling, so we headed back to the van and had breakfast.

We set of at about 7:30, and travelled through Taihape, and only stopped at Waiouru for a toilet break outside a BP station. (here I laughed. I'll come back 2 that later!=0)

Anyway, there was the meanest view of Mount Ruapahu there. Against a blue sky, it looked so beautiful and amazing:

There were also these tables just covered in ice. We threw it at each other for a while.

We soon set off, but were facing the wrong side of the mountain, so had to circle round it. There were heaps of amazing views:

So, we finally got up the mountain. As soon as we'd parked, me and Jaws started tossing snowballs at Dan and Matt. We went across the road, and slid down hills covered with snow, till we were covered in bruises. After putting sunscreen on, blue sky, not a cloud in sight, changed to thick cloud and fog. You looked around, and all the blue sky just............ vanishes in only ten minutes. Seriously. =0 Still, we walked to the office and brought our tickets. While we were waiting for them, we had a mean snowball fight, and threw snow balls at icicles hanging off the roof. Matt and Beka hit the high slopes, and Dad and Kez went to sled. Mum and Josh went down the mountain. And me and Dan? We didn't know a thing about snowboarding, so you can imagine how we looked. Much to our dislikings, we finally decided we'd have to have a snowboard teacher. (last time we went, we seriously waited a whole hour for our ski teacher, who was a Japenese, and not very useful). But me and Dan were desperate. We amazingly waited only ten minutes b4 our snowboard teacher came, who was a lot more useful than the other one two years ago.

After an hour of slipping, falling over, getting countless bruises and cuts, and being absolutely covered in snow, me and Dan took the ski lift up to the top. By then it was lunchtime. Me and Dan swapped our snowboards for skiis, and Beka did the same. The person who got our skiis was really wacko in the head. And I mean it. He sang rap to all the songs on the radio (something about singing along with bacon) and swore every time he dropped his pen! Me, Dan, and Jords finally hit the slopes once before lunchtime. Dad was getting lunch from the van, so we just had enough time. =) I wasn't bad at all, and didn't slip over once! For not skiing in two years, I wasn't bad at all. When we finally got off the ski lift, we skiied over to our lunch. Beka and Matt came down, as well.

After lunch, me and Jords spotted a jump, which actually turned out to be a steep as slope. We finally tackled it and did the next three jumps in a row sweet as. It was easily the best time down. When you took off your sunnies, everything was so bright (you normally did this waiting in line for the ski lift) and the scenery was just incredible! =0

After a couple more times down, we had to go. We took our skii's back to the wacko guy, and took the ski lift back up to the top. Then we walked back to the van and got changed.

Then we had hot pies for tea, and headed back for home. In Fielding, Dad stopped to look at a car. Matt kept saying "BP!" cause he really felt like Coke. We finally went down the road to look for a petrol station, and the first one we saw was BP! So Matt finally got his Coke! =0 Haha We had such a fun time, and got back at around 9:30. By morning, I felt like a skeleton!

Yeah, but man, it was so much fun!!!!!!!!

Cya

Nate

Quite a lot about nothing

I have a complaint to make.

Why does the entire world seem to see New Zealand as being at the bottom of the planet? It doesn't make sense. We really could be at the top for all they know. I guess it dosn't really matter where you're placed though does it? The things we moan about...........

Well I had a happy day today. Most of it was spent doing nothing though. Except my all important guitar practice! I know how to play reggae now! (don't ask!)

But there's know fear of Mayday becoming a Reggae Band. Thankfully. The only reggae band I've heard happens to be Spacifix and even then I dislike it so much I've never fully listened to the whole song. So you can definatly rule out us sounding like reggae/jazz/funk. Which I guess you could have done before considering that I didn't even know how to play like that until 2 days ago.

On Friday (yesterday for all those who never bother to look at a calender) we had a mean band practice. Being in the mood to rock, we decided to add some distortion to our slow(er) songs, perking up Around and One Step Ahead considerably. And we made up a mean as opening for the latter. It was loads of fun. We missed out a couple of songs though but hey I guess it didn't matter. We were in the mood to rock and you can't really do that in a accoustic song or one which has no guitar in can you?????

I don't know. We didn't try to find out.

I've also decided that I need this other piece of equipment. It's kind of like an echoer and is used to great extent in August Rush and even Rapture Ruckus uses one to echo his voice in his song I Believe. It sounds really cool. I think Nate's got one on his keyboard, but he's never used it before.

So today we spent mostly getting ready for Monday. We're going skiing! At least some of us are anyway. Some of us are going snowboarding. It should be loads of fun. We've been waiting to go for like 3 weeks now but every time the weather's been really bad. But on Monday it's finally fine and sunny so we are all oh so excited.

Yeah.

That was a bit random. Oh well.

Jordan

Happy Day

Have you heard that song by Soul Survivor? You might not of, but it sure cheers you up when you're feeling down.There's always something to be happy about.

You could be happy that you got a new surfboard!!!

Or cause you got a nice electic guitar:

Or because you're just plain happy. For instance, I'm happy cause,,,,,,,

- we're playing the red's tommorow at soka - (finally, a team that doesn't cheat!=])

- we're going skiing (or snowboarding, in my case) on Monday!!!!!!! (finally)

- I'm me

- no school for 2, no, 3 days! Yesssssssss!!!!!!!

And heaps of others that I can't be stuffed typing down. So you see, the main idea of this blog, is not to waste your time, but to make you smile. Not droopy-faced, grouchy, cross, sulky, mad, fuming, angry, bleary-eyed, jealous, obstanate, or just not happy. Instead, do the opposite.

Nate =)

More about the rockin' drums

Well, I think it was pretty shocking that Jords had written about three pages all about guitars & I had only written one about my instrument. So if you don't like the drums, (which would be stupid) then don't bother reading this page.





But first you have to take a look at this mean picture:

I found it......... well it's a long story. To cut it short, I made some drum music 2 read 4 my drum practice, found a picture of the drums off the internet and stuck it to the box I put the music in.

One thing I'd like though. A book all about drums, like the one Jords got about guitar from the library. One day I'm going to write a book about it all.

Short and random post, but it's a post alright!

Nate

Some more about guitars.

Wow today's been really busy! We've actually done band practice (finally!) and it was really good. We did all our best songs (all 7 of them!) including The Complaint. It was loads of fun.

And today I've also been studying up my guitar knowledge. I've finally decided that I really can't pretend to be a half decent guitarist if I don't even know what a Gibson Les Paul is. Which I do now. I even know that my guitar is a cheap copy of a Fender Stratocastor. Which is one of the greatest and mass-produced guitars ever. Don't even get me started on the list of great guitarists who play this instrument! (Actually I knew most of this before. But only cause someone told me.......)

Now next time someone engages me in conversation about guitars hopefully I won't be as awkward!

As you can see this looks very much like my own precious guitar. Except much much flasher. It's kind of like comparing a fake diamond to a real one. But when you're on a low budget the fake will do =).

Now this is one of the famous Les Paul's. You can tell the obvious difference can't you. The Stratocastor looks cooler.

Now there's only one thing to say about this. Stunning. Almost as cool as Switchfoot's guitars, which have the cover from their latest album, Oh Gravity all over them. I would love to own one of them. This is a Gibson 'Flying V'.

Yes, so I've told you most I know know about guitars. Which is most of what I've talked about this month.

Today me and Nate sat down with my eletric gutiar, turned the sound up high....................and blew the amp to smithereens! Na I'm kidding. We fiddled around with it and tried to make up a cool introduction by playing it like a drum. (If you've seen August Rush yet you'll know what I mean.) Well Nate did a fine job if it, as he is a drummer. Me, well lets just say I have a hard enough time as it is to keep time, and I couldn't reall figure it out. But then I tried something else: I rubbed the strings to make this mean fast sound. Now that's something you can't do on an acoustic!!!!!!

Night,

Jordan

P.S I guess the reason I've been getting in o my guitar lately is because I've figured out that I've been playing gutiar for a year. Rock on!!!!

Music...

So, you're probably wondering why most of the last pages have been about music. Well, carry on wondering, if you like, or else you can read this article, which is all about.... music.

I describe music as one of the most beautiful things on earth. I have no idea how it was found out, but the dude who "discovered" it must have been some special guy.I mean, seriously, who would think of creating a sound by hitting a cylander box with a stick? (Jord's idea of playing the drums. Yeah right). Or twanging away on a stringed instrument? Some guy with a few extra brains.

So, music. Only one word for it: Stunningly, astoundingly, incredibly, unbelievably, astonishingly, amazingly, wonderfully, awesomely, cool! Some instruments, though, sound..... different. Others, sound mean. Like,,,,,

Drums: Seriously cool.

Guitar: very cool.

Bass: Really clever, but the shapes a tad copied of the electric guitar.

Violin: squeaky, (sorry Dan).

Organ: Very nice - especially the pipe organ.

Flute: Booming & soft mixed together.

Recorder: A cheap product.

Piano: Different, but nice.

Clarinet: Weird.

Trumpet: Shrill, but okay.

Trombone: Like it's shape.

Double Bass: Too big.

Harp: Soft, twangy, and random. (it just is)

Glockenspiel: What a stupid name!

Hurdy-Gurdy: Even stupider than the glockenspiel!

So, as you can see, some instruments are stunning, other's just plain random, and some just weird. But most music has something about it that just stands out........ stunningly. (I really like that word.) If I had never been introduced 2 soka, music would be my favourite sport, if it is a sport, that is.
Well, what have I said about music that isn't my opinion of it all?
Not really anything.
But then, me and Jord's articles are mainly about nothing....... much.
Not that this article's not interesting.
But it's definetly getting boring!!!

That's it 4 this page, nate

What's in a name?

I reckon there's a story behind everything, and there's definitely one behind our band name.

Well, when we started our band we didn't know what to call it, until I came up with an idea: Mayday. Nathan and Daniel didn't think that was so cool though- they thought we should call it Cut it Out! Kind of a weird name for a band if you ask me. In the end it was the opinion of Beka which swayed the vote. Mayday it was.

Now me, being smart, actually happen to know what the word means. Contrary to belief, it dosn't mean the first day of the 5th month of the year. This type is Mayday not May Day, and it is the standard call for help from airmen (kind of like a SOS). And it's from the French word which is translated into 'Help us. ' I reckon we do need help. And God's the only one who can help us. So that's a great name really, it means we're crying out to God through our music. Well in some songs anyway. It's been a massive experience being in a band even if we haven't enjoyed much success, we keep going from strength to strength and we're not giving up anytime soon. Here's to another year. Or two. Or three =).

So that's the story of our band name.

Jordan

August Rush

Wow! I'm amazed with myself because I actually know what to blog about. It's astounding. Really it is.
Yesterday, after I wrote that blog about guitars, we coincidentally watched this movie. Which had guitars in it.
It was called August Rush, and it was seriously the most heartfelt movie I've watched all year. And the guitar playing was so astounding. There's this awesome scene in it when the dad meets his long-lost son, even though they both didn't know they were even related, and they have a jam together. Quite random aye, but hey that's movies for you. It actually worked really well. And these two guys, they were seriously good at their guitar. The kid was whacking the side of it like a drum and producing the most amazing sounds. With the help of some special effects thing which echoed and amplified the sound. Oh, it was just amazing. And then the dad said this awesome thing: Never give up on music, cause it's the only thing which can get you through the hard times. You can retreat to it whenever you feel lost. (or something among those lines). And i agree with that 100%. Then the kid(August Rush) was playing on the piano and organ as well-which I didn't relate to quite as well aye.
You'll really have to watch it yourself. Honestly you won't regret it. Unless you hate guitar. But then I suppose you could still watch it. Because in one scene this other kid smashed a guitar over this man's head [saddest part of the movie =) !!!!].
Anyway if you hate guitar what are you doing reading our blogspot? Haha.
And the funny thing was, we watched it in August. Isn't that weird?
So today we had to watch it all over again.
So that's kind of a follow-up from yesterdays blog. And I spent most of it writing about a movie. Oh well that's life for you.

Jordan

PS. Save the planet: it's the only one in the universe with chocolate!

Why I love the guitar

Everything about the guitar is just amazingly cool and the more I learn the more I appreciate it. I wish I could meet the first person who invented it. Playing the guitar is one of my favouritest things to do. Ever.

The sound of distortion on electric guitars. The smooth clean sound of acoustic guitars. I really think no band is complete without a really good guitarist. They make everything sound so much better. In fact, I could go on talking about them all day.

But I won't. Cause that would be boring.

Of course, I wouldn't have thought so if one of the band members hadn't suggested that I take it up. And I've never looked back. Pretty soon I was using it in the band. Those were those low-tech days when I was strumming my Mum's old, battered 3/4 size guitar (with plastic strings [Arggghhhhh!] ) But I still enjoyed playing it. Pretty soon I received a brand-new RED acoustic guitar. It's beautiful. Then I got my electric one, as I finally decided we couldn't be a real rock band without an electric guitar!!!!!!!

Sorry I got carried away there. I happen to do that a lot nowdays. If I wanted to I could probably spend the entire day on my guitars.

Okay. We've heard enough on my guitars.

Today. Umm....well we played soccer. That's right. Pretty much all day. Which was quite fun, as we're all into soccer. Some of us even more than others. I also did my guitar practice..... =)

We also watched Alvin and The Chipmunks. I was wondering what wacky person came up with the idea of singing chipmunks? What a crazy idea. Seriously. How would you like it if the lead singer in your band was a chipmunk?

Not that I have anything against chipmunks.

So yeah. Of course, I wouldn't know anything about the guitar y now if it wasn't for my awesome guitar teacher Daryll. He also taught the entire members of Ground Zero their instruments. So thanks Daryll. (You rock!)

Oh wasn't this random. Of course, I have no further updates to do with band practice so I ended up just raving on about my favourite instrument!

Jordan