I started the new-year well. On New Year’s Day I drove form Antwerp in Belgium, across the Netherlands to Aachen, just over the German boarder. It’s home to the ‘Imperial Cathedral’ and I had wanted to see it ever since seeing the list of the original 1978 inductees to the UNESCO World Heritage list on the wall of a salt mine just outside Krakow Poland (which also happens to be on the list). Its an astonishing building, was well worth the drive and I can now say I have been to all three European sites granted World Heritage listing in the initial round of allocation. Tick.

So 2012 is feeling pretty good for me on a personal level at least. I’ve got pretty high hopes for the year. While last year was one of great adventure, it was also one of extraordinary loss.

I was tempted to follow in the footsteps of more than one blogger and bemoan ‘the state of the union’ – rightly so I might add, this shit isn’t getting any better – but I’m left with a great sense of optimism for the year ahead. Having relocated to London, established a pretty sweet crew and have the rest of Europe on my door step things are looking good. Between now and Summer, I’ve got 3 confirmed overseas trips and up to 5 on the cards.

I’ve got a good job which has cemented a career change that has been on the cards for some time now and there are no shortage of possibilities for what the year may hold.

In 2012, as the shit hits the fan with the welfare state being dismantled in the UK, the eurozone collapsing and Australian politics desperately searching for yet another way to assert its irrelevance, I fully intend to milk this puppy for all it is worth.

Oh yeah, and while I’m at it, ‘tip of the hat’ to the Occupy movement and any other general shit stirrers that don’t have a rightwing or nationalist agenda. I hope you guys keep it up in 2012 – someone has to.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here before but a couple of my coding buddies and I have set up a company called Spire Software. This is just a very quick note that we’ve finally got a proper Spire Software site up.

It will improve with time but for now it’s a lot better than the ‘coming soon’ page we’ve had there for eternity.

I suspect I’ll start putting my ‘tech’ posts over on the Spire Blog and keep this blog as more of a personal blog but we’ll see.

It’s time to come clean. A couple of weeks ago I resigned from my job at the Health and Community Services Union to go on a massively underfunded trip through Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe before settling down in the UK for a year or two.

It’s a move that is exciting, terrifying and much anticipated. It hasn’t been easy keeping to from you all this time dear readers

I leave on December 20 with a one way ticket to Tanzania where my better half and I will be greeted in Stone Town, Tanzania by my family.

I’ll then travel with my partner and family through Tanzania and Kenya for 5 weeks before leaving my family and flying with my partner to Cairo to travel through the Middle East and Eastern Europe until the money runs out and we have to fly to the UK to work (Youth Mobility Visas pending mind you – fingers crossed).

The timing is right in so many senses. In a practical sense I turn 31 in a month’s time so that’s the cut off for access to a Youth Mobility Visa for me. But I’m also getting to a stage where I feel like it’s time for a new adventure and I’ve been aching to get back to Eastern Europe for 4 or 5 years now.

My professional focus also seems like it is shifting more an more. I’m really enjoying doing a bit of freelance web development work and I’m hopeful that I can get some work while I’m travelling to keep myself afloat a little longer. I’m also hopeful that I can make a living doing freelance work once I get to the UK.

But for now I’m packing up the house I have loved and lived in for the past 2 years before moving back in with my Mum for the last month before we fly out.

There’s so much I’m going to miss and I seem to have had some really fantastic times with friends lately which is making me realise just how much I’m going to miss everyone. It’s also going to be a fucking rad!

It is still 2 months away (almost to the day) and I’ll probably have reason to blog again before I leave but be prepared for this to turn into a travel blog. And if you need any website work done at the moment, I’d love to help you out because I could really do with a bit of pocket money.

A dear friend sent me the following in facebook (edited for relevance):

15 Albums in 15 Minutes, the rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. Only one album per artist. Fifteen albums you’ve heard that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes! No real order.

This is what came out for me. It was not easy:

1. Fresh Fruit for rotting Vegetables – Dead Kennedys
2. Kinda Blue – Miles Davis
3. Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine
4. Tougher Than Leather – Run DMC
5. Entroducing – DJ Shadow
6. Cold Cut – Let Us Play
7. Dave Brubeck – Time Out
8. Angel Dust – Faith No More
9. Demon Days – Gorillaz
10. Kristen Hersh – Hips and Makers
11. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me
12. Primus – Pork Soda
13. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
14. Roni Size – In the Mode (although possibly Replica)
15. Sonic Youth – Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star

I know that there will be albums I will regret having left off. Also, I tried to make sure that each areas of my musical tastes were represented.

I’ve launched a new website which I’m pretty excited about.

In case you hadn’t guessed, you can find it at: http://sommelier.net.au.

It’s is a free website that allows you to keep track of your wine cellar, add tasting notes and watch bottles as they age.

It is designed to accomodate all wine lovers without the wank that is too often associated with wine.

I hope you like it – get in there and use it!

Just in case the post below doesn’t entice you to come along to the Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice’s screening of RiP, hopefully the trailer will:

To help Launch the Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice launch its latest campaign: En Masse, we are screening the exciting new documentary on remix culture: RiP: A remix manifesto.

In RiP: A remix manifesto, Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. The film features mash-up musician Girl Talk, Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig, Brazil’s Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow.

Watch the trailer at: http://blip.tv/file/1329162

Download the flyer at: http://democracyandjustice.org.au/images/enmasseflyer.pdf

When: Tuesday 20th October at 7:30 pm
Where: Horse Bazaar, 397 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Cost: A very reasonable $10 / $5

About our new campaign, En Masse:

The Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice’s En Masse Campaign has three main aims. To Rethink Copyright in our digital age; to Reclaim culture by encouraging people to step outside the current intellectual property regime; and to provide the tools to Redo cultural outputs, remixing them into something new.

The Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice, in conjunction with Chinchilla Media are running workshops on Open Source Solutions to Creative Problems, as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival

Every Tuesday night for the next 3 Tuesdays at the Horse Bazaar.

After huge ordeals with Domain Name Servers etc, the Health and Community Services Union (who also happen to be my employer) website is now live.

Check it out at: http://hacsu.asn.au.

I heavily customised Joomla! (1.5) to get it all up and going.