Soo, how's your holidays?? Time is running so fast? Yup yup...

Then, how about your Ramadhan?? It's not mr beca's Ramadhan, it's about your Ramadhan. How does it goes? It's good to hear that if the 1st quarter of the month has gone well.

So here we go, untuk menyemarakkan lagi pesta ibadah Ramadhan kita pada kali ini, BECA buat julung kalinya mengajak anda semua untuk menyertai aktiviti:-

'Itikaf dan Qiyamullail Siri 1

Bilakah?? 10th Ramadhan 1429 H (Rabu malam Khamis ni!!!)

Di manakah?? Mt st prayer room

Bile mule?? Kite 'itikaf ramai-ramai pada  Rabu malam tu

Nak bawak ape?? Alas dan selimut (atau yg sewaktu dengannya) dan persalinan pakaian (jika perlu)

Tapiii... sile contact bro Ahmad Rafiuddin untuk maklumat lanjut

Bersama-sama kita semarakkan kemeriahan Ramadhan buat kali ini. Kita sama-sama ber'itikaf, beribadah, dan juga bersahur!! Jangan ditunggu peluang yang jarang-jarang ada ini.

"Hanya yang memakmurkan masjid-masjid Allah ialah orang-orang yang beriman kepada Allah dan Hari kemudian, serta tetap mendirikan solat, menunaikan zakat dan tidak takut (kepada siapapun) selain kepada Allah, maka merekalah orang-orang yang diharapkan termasuk golongan orang-orang yang mendapat petunjuk" (at-Taubah;9:18)

Kohhei Kudoh won a spectacular men's final, the 18-year-old drawing gasps of amazement with his final run which scored 48.9 points, among the highest in World Cup history.

He sometimes cleared 4m above the lip of the pipe to claim his first World Cup win, having twice finished second behind compatriot Ryoh Aono.

The order was reversed today, with yesterday's top qualifier Aono still leading after the first run today before being passed by his brilliant compatroit.

However, Aono holds onto his position atop the World Cup rankings.

The highest-placed New Zealander in a respectable sixth place was Aucklander James Hamilton, with Ben Stewart 13th.

Shiho Nakashima took out her second women's World Cup win with a technical and well-executed first run that put her clear in the final.

Nakashima headed Sina Candrian of Switzerland and Linn Haug of Norway third to climb to the top of the women's world rankings.

New Zealand's Juliane Bray was ninth in the women's competition.

The next stop on the snowboard halfpipe World Cup tour is at Saas Fee, Switzerland next month.

The video below shows you where these guys learnt their skills - sure looks like fun and do you notice the slopes are almost empty - not sure whetehr that has something to do with the distance you will have to travel or whether people are put off by the Japanese attempt at yoddling! Thanks japantravel for the video and to the Otago Daily Times for the report.

I posted my new song onto Songness called Watch Me Daddy a couple of weeks ago, so far not a single listen. On the Homepage it says that each song will be rated by up to 200 registered fans. You get an audience report for free and loads more. 

The concept sounds really good, (the concept doesn't sound at all, but I guess this shows that even subconsciously I'm an auditory person) but I suspect that it is still at the prototype stage, so hopefully things will happen. There are still sections of the site that have word fillers, you know the latin words that developers use to show where the words are going to go. 

One of the key things if you want to post music on these kinds of site, is to listen and comment to others. Generally, just like MySpace, the more you contribute, the more you get back. The challenge is where to spend your energy. An example on MySpace is Em-J Taylor, who writes on her page that she spent 2 years promoting herself on the web. With over half a million plays, you would have to think she has been reasonably successful.

I have music on lots of sites and will share some information about them in future blogs. You never know where an opportunity will come from and each site tends to have it's loyal followers.

One thing that I did recently was to create a spreadsheet so that I can see all the sites that I have music on, what songs or videos I have on each site and when I last visited. That way I can monitor what I'm doing and also check out the number of listens so that I can see the effectiveness of the work.

One thing I am big on is sincerity. There are companies who will send out 'friend requests' representing that they are you and helping you build a huge 'fan base'. I am against this and like Em-J, I do my own friend requests and when someone invites me to be their 'friend' I will listen to their tracks and leave a comment. I would rather have 500 fans who would come to my gigs than a million who really don't know who I am and don't care. They are just numbers. 

Listens do count, if they are real. It's possible to create false listens, but again, what's the point, are you trying to look good under false pretences or are you trying to build a fan base so you can go on tour and have people come who already know who you are and like your music. 

Just a comment here, these are my opinions and you may believe otherwise. That's great and you are welcome to argue your case here by leaving your own comments. There is no absolute right in this industry.

I've had a few people send me 'friend requests' at MySpace after reading my blog and I welcome that. Please do come and listen to me on MySpace, or maybe even give Songness a try. You can find me there, only one song at this stage, because I didn't want to put any more effort in at this stage untilI see if it is justified.

So that's me for now, bookmark or RSS this page and come back some time:)

We set out in our new car to New Zealand's Northland. We stopped for an afternoon in Devonport, just across Torpedo Bay from Auckland, where we had a terrific view of the Auckland skyline.

Our first trip out into the country also gave us our first of what will surely be many sightings of New Zealand sheep. They were somehow not as excited to see us as we were to see them.

From Devonport we drove north along the east coast. The scenery in Northland is spectacular. We camped in a park on Hauriki Bay, where we were awakened before dawn by a multitude of bird calls that sounded really unnatural. The park is the site of a project to reintroduce native fauna to the area, so they were probably denser there than anywhere else on the island. So much for sleeping in!

We went on a hike from our campsite to a hilltop with a magnificent view of Hauriki Bay and then down to the beach, where there were a bunch of pohutukawa trees, some of the most bizarre-looking trees we've encountered yet.

Heading up the west coast of the North Island along the Tasman Sea, we drove through the Waipoua Forest, home to the world's oldest and largest living Kauri trees. We had to stop for about an hour to wait out a rainstorm, which was fitting for this rainforest. The vegetation was incredibly thick and was the most surprising combinations of evergreens, desert-like brush, and palms. The tallest and oldest single kauri tree, called Tane Mahuta (God of the Forest in Maori), scrapes the sky at over 50m tall and a whopping 14m wide.

Sadly, the camera battery died before we were able to capture the breathtaking views from the northern end of the park, looking out over a small valley filled with lush greenery. The sun, just coming out after a spell of rain, added even more to the scene. We stayed in a hostel not far from there, overlooking the Hokianga harbor, where as we watched the sun set that night, a seal was playing in the surf.

'Pacific nations in which consensual sex between adult males is still a criminal offence include the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu. In some of those countries penalties as severe as fourteen years' imprisonment are still on the statutes.'

But enough about the weather. At the rate I go on about it, you'd think I was Irish or something.

The sunshine was that saucy (last mention, honest), it tempted Husband and I out on our mountain bikes. Again, I've written essays on cycling, so I'll almost leave it there. Except to say this was the first time in over a week we've been out biking, since we were visiting the Outlaws in South Island. If that comes as a surprise, well, I'm canny like that.

It's calving season on the farm, which means there was a disturbing amount of mucous. According to local legend (Craig), one of their pregnant heifers suffered such a build-up of gas that she fired her newborn right across the field. I suppose you might call it an explosive delivery. If the calf wasn't dead at blast-off, it certainly was by the time it hit the neighbouring paddock.

Since I am chronically afflicted with Pteromerhanoboviphobia (fear of airborne cows) I spent the entire week cowering in the living room. Husband's family pretty much treat me as one of the livestock, albeit a pedigree. It suits everyone: I get fed and watered, and have even trained the Outlaws to the extent that everyone is horrified when I fix myself a drink.

Mother In Law: Niamhie, did you make that?

Me: *martyred sigh!* Yes.

Mother In Law: CRAIG! Poor Niamhie had to get her own drink.

Craig: Ker-rist.

Don't ask me how I arranged that; I only wish I knew. [Note: this phenomenon applies only to Andrew's immediate family, not Andrew himself.]

It wasn't an entirely one-sided arrangement. Every now and then I did the dishes, in order to feel useful and moan about how dishwashing fluid dries out my hands. Also, I exercised the farm dogs, albeit inadvertently when they came to round me up at the end of the day. And I am great entertainment value in the evening.

At least the surfeit of sloth gave me time to catch up on some quality TV.

On Oprah, I discovered that apparently, someone has stolen my bold. The pyschologist was regrettably vague about who or when, although it was probably a man (cue earnest shot to earnest woman in audience nodding earnestly). She also failed to specify whether I could retrieve the Bold if I staged a daring counter-raid, or whether it would be a waste of time because shortly after the theft my Bold was traded on the Black Market. Then again, it was difficult to make her out with all the hair patting and gesticulating.

I can't say I'm happy about the situation because, despite not being entirely sure what it is, my Bold sounds like a useful asset. I'm considering robbing someone else's Bold. Maybe Andrew's, because he appears to have double or even triple rations of Bold. Even though he heatedly denies it, chances are he was the one who stole my Bold in the first place.

Once you get over how profoundly disturbing shows like The Swan and Wife Swap are, they make compelling telly. On Swan, women who are mentally compromised and/or have deep-rooted issues apply for a makeover, because they believe their earlobes or abnormally large ankles are what is holding them back in life. In a fairly typical overview, Kelly explains how she has always hated her teeth: "Kids made fun of me in school. They called me- they- <sob!> called me 'Rabbit Teeth'. I kind of nibbled my food. I just know <pause to wipe eyes> if I didn't have these teeth, everything would be better."

When I say 'makeover', two participants are whisked off to a hotel where they have cosmetic and/or reconstructive surgery, followed by an extreme diet and exercise for three months. Neither woman is allowed see themselves until the grand unveiling in front of a full-length mirror.

"Are you ready?" asks the presenter, gripping Kelly's hands fiercely. "Are you ready to meet the brand new you?"

The curtains over the mirror swish back, and Kelly's all:-

"Oh my God! Oh my Gaw-haw-hawd! Is that- I can't believe it's really ME! I'm SO BEAUTIFUL! Waah! Waah! Waah!" <fluttering hands>

"You're a new person!"

"I am! A new person!"

In this case, Kelly was fitted with a full set of glow-in-the-dark veneers. Despite the fake choppers being freakishly large and causing a significant overbite, Kelly appeared to be ecstatic. She proceeded to the Swan Pageant because her competitor was disqualified for smuggling a mirror into the hotel in her anus.

Wife Swap features two families where the matriarchs abandon their families to be temporarily installed with another. Wiccan chicken-worshippers are placed with born-again Christian families, and composting yoghurt-weavers with families who mainline MacDonald's. That sort of stuff.

I don't know what the duration of stay is, but the whole exercise is staggeringly irresponsible. I've only seen the show a couple of times, but it has never featured anyone I would trust to water my plants. No family members have been killed in the production of this show, but it can only be a matter of time.

In 'Don't Forget The Lyrics!', contestants have to guess the lyrics of a given song. In a nail-biting buttock-clencher, Nicole had to guess the next ten words to Michael Jackson's 'Rock With You'.

Girl close your eyes
Let that rhythm get into you
Don't try to fight it
There ain't nothing that you can do
Relax your mind
Lay back and groove with mine
You got to feel that beat
And we can ride the boogie-
____ ____ ____ ____ ____
____ ____ ____ ____ ____

There you go folks, what are the last 10 words?

$600,000 at stake, and Nicole tanked.

The Outlaws have viewed me with a new respect since I leaped to my feet, gripped my crotch, and nailed the lines in a dazzling performance:-

Share that beat of looove!
I wanna rock with you-OW!

Of course, they were not to know that I have stored in my memory banks a library of seventies and eighties lyrics, including the entirety of Boney M's canon. Couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast this morning, but

Caribbean Queen!
Now we're sharin the same dreeam!
And our hearts they beat as one
No more love on the run

The whole idea of pre-sale seems a bit odd. If all you have to do is take 30 seconds to register online with Ticketmaster, and assuming most people would buy tickets online, then it hardly qualifies for a pre-sale, it's really just 'tickets on sale'.

I hope to hell the seats were the premium ones available because I'll be mighty pissed if they have better ones on Monday!

Ticketmaster have developed a convoluted method of buying tickets, you get a couple of drop down boxes to select what price you will stomach (anyone remember when tickets for these events cost $40-60?) then type in some words as part of the spam blocker, then a computer program randomly selects your seats, and no, not a selection of options, but the number of seats you selected, you then have to work out from a rough floor plan where these seats are and whether you want them.

In this day and age this is bollocks. Surely any 19 year old programmer could come up with a piece ticket selling software that would allow you to select your own seat? I fail to see how them randomly assigning you a seat is a good thing for me the customer. It's bloody irritating because what I really want to know is what seats are left, and which are the best ones and then I should be allowed to choose them myself. 

Village cinemas have software to do this, and it prevents you from leaving a gap between you and the next seat. If it's good enough for an $18 movie ticket, then it's good enough for $150 concert ticket!

I printed out the seat layout of the Vector Arena which give you a rough idea of the seating, but the seats I reckoned were the ideal seats weren't available and I was in at 9:00am on the dot so they can't have sold that quickly. It makes me wonder whether the arena is going to be laid out differently, or those seats are pre-pre-sold or being kept for later.

I would give Ticketmaster's purchasing software a big thumbs down.

It's 2008 people, I should be able to pick my own seats (I'm a grown up) online.

If Tickemaster can allow me to print out my own ticket and relieve me of hundreds of dollars, they can allow me to pick my own seat.

Many web sites where you post your music, like MySpace for example, let you post photos with your tracks and so many people use the one photo for all tracks, which is boring. Boring reduces interest value.

If it's a photo for your Press Kit or EPK, I recommend that unless you have a great photo, get a portrait photo done by a professional photographer. It could be the classic head and shoulders, or you doing something. You should at least have one clasic shot because it says you are mature and professional and you treat your music career as your business.

Shots for Facebook like this one, which my daughter took of me playing in Montego Bay

in Jamaica are fun shots, but not good enough quality for professional use.

If you are going to use shots in relation to a song or for an Album cover, make sure they are relevant, if it's a song about a beach, like my song Muriwai Beach, then show a photo of Muriwai Beach. When I record my album Greenhouse, I have a photo of me holding a very large chunk of ice in my hand at Franz Joseph Glacier. The glacier is melting away with global warming and fits nicely with the title song which is also called Greenhouse. You can hear it at Music Forte.

If you don't have a performance video, then video slide shows are a great way to add your songs to sites like Youtube. This one was done for me by my friend Noel of Powershows. In this case he supplied the images from his photo library.

There are lots of plug ins for websites like Photo Bucket which I use on my MySpace page. It lets you have some fun and easily put up a slide show. Photos add interest to your web page, especially a slide show, which attracts attention. It also helps people connect with you and feel like they know you a little. It makes them want to come back, or leave a comment, its about developing a relationship.

Even if you don't need them now, take them anyway, you will find good uses for them. Take a camera to your gig and even if you don't have anyone you know there, someone will take it for you.

Well well.. sometimes email newsletter's do serve a worthy purpose. I just checked my emails and in the C4 newsletter was the news that unofficial couple/R&B powerhouse(s) Chris Brown and Rihanna are coming to New Zealand (Chris' second trip here). The two show dates are at Auckland's Vector Arena on October 27th and the TSB Arena in Wellington on October 29th, tickets going on sale October 15th.  

I was an exhibitor at the conference and during the quiet times, was checking my phone for messages and emails as the Internet services at the venue at Auckland Univesity were shocking. I was in a building next door to the Auckland university IT Campus and the best local internet I could get was 128kbps. This morning I was listening to a podcast while I was in the shower about Internet services in Mali and how their pipe was only 2Gbps. Being landlocked they have to rely on other countries for access to the submarine cable. They would be horrified at the speed I got in Auckland, but I digress.

A number of people asked if my phone was a Blackberry and how did I like it. My answer was, yes, indeed it is a Blackberry, as issued by my company. Do I like it? I intensely dislike it. I'm a power user of mobile internet, after all I wrote the book, Unleashing the Roadwarrior and I taught companies how to improve efficiency in the field using mobile and wireless devices. Unfortunately I no longer walk the talk.

You see, to me mobile and wireless computing is about efficiency and touching things as few times as necessary. I've come from the world of touch screens and along with the book, published texts including Mastering your Palm and Mastering your Pocket PC.

For people who only use the phone 'killer apps' of voice and text, the Blackberry is a wonderful device. It has a qwerty keyboard so if you don't use txt abbreviations, you can type your messages without having to remember the buttons and as a phone, it is perfectly adequate. If you are a Baby Boomer, the ability to do these things as well as read, send and receive email is wonderful. Attachments are another story, but you can send and receive email and you can do it securely through your MS Exchange Server which makes the IT Department happy. It does also synch wirelessly with Exchange for my contacts and calendar, but that's pretty much where the fun and utility ends for me.

Here's what I did with my Blackberry over 3 days at the conference. I sent and received a couple of urgent emails. I sent and received a couple of Twitter messages (which all but exhausted the ability of the browser.

Here's what I could have done if I still had a Windows Mobile or Palm device. Actually I do still own old models, but they are old and I don't really want to carry multiple devices anymore, although I could possibly consider a new Windows Mobile, Palm or iPhone, given the right opportunity, especially since there is now an iPhone Reader:)

I could have made lots of notes using handwriting recognition on the touch screen. I can write Graffiti or block characters without having to look at the device, so that I can concentrate on the speaker. These would have been written straight into MS Word, so that I would have them available for other purposes, such as copying and pasting into my blog. Instead I used scraps of paper, one of which I have already misplaced.

I could have taken photos of exhibits, slides and delegates for future use and reference.

I could have beamed my digital business card to others who used similar devices.

I could have shown off some of our mapping technology on the IE browser, even richer if the phone also had GPS, which my Blackberry doesn't. (Mine is probably 2 years old) Relevant given that I work for a mapping company, specialising in web mapping API's, routing, tracking and car navigation.

I could have quickly referenced web sites discussed during the papers and bookmarked them on the spot for future reference and integration with my favourites on the desktop.

I could have drawn mind-maps to enhance my note taking.

I could have read one of my eBooks, after setting up and while waiting for the delegates to arrive in the morning, or checked the daily paper.

I could have made audible notes and embedded them into an email, or even recorded segments of a presentation.

I could go on, but if you want to know all the other things I could have done, read my eBook, which you can purchase at ReadingIt.

It's about efficiency, about touching things once but having access to them in lots of ways. It's about being able to combine real time research with the discussion on the browser. You see, we can think and take in a lot more in the time that a presenter speaks, and in terms of our points of reference. It's about then being able to access any of those pieces of information, communicate them and collaborate with other people.

Instead I have a few pieces of paper that I hope I won't lose.

I guess this is about the dichotomy I live and work in. On the one side there is an infrastructure designed to keep data secure and cater to the lowest common denominator, for the most of whom, without training and motivation, even a Blackberry is overkill. On the other side, a busy person who wants to make the most of the information, people and media available at any given point in time. To leverage it.

The conference providers gave the delegates a CD with copies of all of the presentations, which was great. But it is pretty analogue and although I am very interested, I will probably never get around to looking at it. I will hopefully get to some of my notes, along with notes from other events that I havebeen to recently, scribbles on pieces of paper or the backs of business cards.

Then of course there are podcasts. I am big on maximising my time and whenever I am in the car, walking, exercising or doing chores, I am connected to my iPod.

So, yes it is a Blackberry in my pocket. Would I recommend it to anyone? No. Not unless all you want is a phone that does exchange / text email really well. That's all it was designed for. I want more! I'm a busy person who wants to multitask. I want a touch screen, preferably multipoint. I want efficiency.

We checked into our hotel where we would stay for the first two days and started planning our next moves in detail – then took a long and well-deserved nap.

We set out to see Auckland the next morning, starting off in beautiful Albert Park. The trees are amazing, and we got a good view of the Auckland skyline, including the Sky Tower. The spirit of adventure in NZ is so strong that people regularly jump off this building (okay, with wire harnesses, but still).

We were frustrated yet again by an art museum being remodeled (it’s not funny anymore, guys), so we had a delicious breakfast at a cute little cafe and checked out some of the shops and other neighborhood sights. We couldn’t resist going into a bar we found which was entirely made of ice, right down to the glasses our drinks were served in. It was wittily called Minus 5 (that's 23 in American degrees!). They suited us up in parkas, gloves and boots for our half hour in the freezer.

We walked down to Prince's Wharf and enjoyed looking out on the harbor of the City of Sails. It's windy and a little cold here, where spring is just beginning.

Birth

1946. Mik Kaminski (Electric Light Orchestra) born in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

On Tour

1965. Viv Prince, drummer with The Pretty Things, is escorted from a plane at Auckland, New Zealand, moments before it left for the United States with other members of the group on board. Prince had been involved in several "boisterous scenes" in the airport terminal and boarded the plane banging a tambourine. Even after all the passengers were seated, the flight didn't close. Airport officials went on board. After an argument with Prince in the gangway, they managed to escort him off the plane and back to the terminal. From there a police officer took him to a waiting car, driven by a member of a local pop group.

In Court

1997. John Denver appears in court in Colorado for a hearing to decide what charge he will face at a re-trial following the hung jury at his drunk driving trial last July. He will either face the same charge of drunk driving or a lesser one of driving with ability impaired. The judge makes no decision but will take some time to consider what to do.

In Hospital

1973. (Sunday) This weekend John Simos drummer with Peter Frampton's Camel is hospitalised suffering from infectious hepatitis.

On Television

1990. The South Bank Show (ITV, U.K.) 320. George Michael. This 8 minute clip from the show includes George performing "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in the studio but not the alleged smoking of a joint!  

Death

2004. Michael Connor, keyboards player with Pure Prairie League dies from cancer, aged 55 in Siesta Key near Sarasota, FL, U.S.A.

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I am not ashamed to say I love a bargain- Always have and always will : which is a very good thing in today’s  economic climate. I am also not ashamed of telling peeps about my good deals, just like when I was walking down my building to grab some food on lunch break heard these ladies in conversation how she had a bad day as someone wore the same dress as hers and she had bought that dress like for $500 form a designer  J. I just couldn’t stop laughing and thought I will not have that kind of problem with my shirt as was bought on a sale form valley girl just for $25. Over these 2 years I have stayed her I have had great buys but the best till today are my shorts for $5 love wearing them at home, at beaches and sometimes outside going for lunch on a sunny day, my hubby dear goes crazy when he sees me buying them and he is like you already have heaps and I am like no not this colour and summer is coming and he can’t stop me as I get a smile on my face when I by it and he loves it.

I am a firm believer you don’t have to spend a lot of money to look good: you just have to be in the right place at the right time to snare a bargain. But I am fussy about jeans and I do tend not to buy them form here for that I find the best place to be India as I love them to be only levis or pepe because of the fit and style.

Auckland is a problem to me because I live there, but the same applies to areas such as the main entrance into Wellington where a whole stretch of road runs along a coast which frequently has heavy seas. Only recently State Highway One was closed because of waves crashing on the shore near Paekakariki in one of the storms which have now become commonplace in New Zealand.

New Zealand is an island nation, surrounded by sea. Much of it is well above sea level, but many areas are not that high at all. In fact, with our passion for the sea, a large percentage of our population lives close to the sea.

We watch with interest as the Pacific Island nations start to consider the possibility of having to leave their ancestral homes. We have even started planning to take on refugees from the Islands when some of them are forced to evacuate, most likely forever, but I see very little evidence of preparations for the seemingly inevitable, when the sea encroaches on our roads and homes. How is it that we seem to have so little forsight? What are the government, Transit and the councils doing to make sure that we are able to continue life as usual when the ice shelfs drop and the polar ice is gone?

We have known for some time that some of the Pacific Atolls could end up under water (what about parts of Hawai), but I don't think anyone predicted that they would be telling 2 million people to leave their homes again. Many of these won't go back to try to establish their lives yet again and if they hadn't lost many of their valuable posessions, especially the heirlooms, family photos and other things that can't be replaced by insurance, you could understand why they would not want to go back, even if they have their roots there.

What happens when you have a city that noone wants to live in? When the insurance companies no longer want to cover property in the area, homes or contents.

We have known for a few years that some of the Pacific Islands and atolls could disappear as the sea level rises, but we didn't anticipate something this bad so soon especially on the US Mainland.

Climate change is happening fast and in my humble opinion, now is a good time to start thinking about where you live and whether your home is at risk. I don't think the real estate values in New Orleans will hold in future. I suspect that if you find a house you want and are prepared to put a roof on it, or clean the mud, silt and top soil off the carpet, that you can have it.

So now have a think about your own home. Is it safe from weather extremes? If the sea rises a couple of metres, will you still be above the water level? Will you be able to get supplies, fresh water and food? What about electricity or gas? All the things you take for granted.

In New Zealand there have been lots of stories about what to do in an emergancy, the yellow pages have guides as to what to stock up on, but if we took a poll today and asked how many households in the cities could last a week or more without the utilities, it would be very few.

What about all those people who have bought nice waterfront properties. Even by normal extremes some of them have had water on their doorstep. I know because in a couple of storms I wave skied into their backyards. So what will happen to the property values of waterfront homes? Would you buy one right now?

The USA has many areas that are prone to severe weather conditions. In fact if they are everywhere. The likelihood is that if they are bad now, they will become significantly worse over the next few years. Something to think about if you are moving to another town or state. Other parts of the world are feeling it too. In New Zealand we are having floods on top of floods and now roads are getting buried under slips and landslides are forcing people to evacuate their houses. Africa and Australia are experienceing drought while India and parts of Europe get flooded. The European government is trying to shore up plans to help water regugees.

Through all of this, unless you are in an emergency zone, or supporting refugees, chances are that you have been thinking, I'm glad I don't live there, or this will never happen to me. Think again, very soon.

Anyway, this month's speaker was Laila Harre, former MP, ex-Alliance Leader and current National Secretary of the NDU (and resident of the Te Atatu electorate :P). Laila gave us an excellent analysis of the current state of Industrial Relations and the union movement within New Zealand, particularly within the context of a General Election this year - definitely food for thought for those of us on the left concerned about workers' rights and the role of the institution of organised labour in society at large.

So here are some more questions to ponder:

What hobbies do they spend money on?

Where do they live? Why not try to get gigs near the right demographic? If you play death metal, it might be in working class area (crass generalisation I know that many death metal fans are well educated but generalisations have some degree of fact). If you play country, then a rural tour might be on for you. You should have an idea of where your fans live. Or at least where a higher percentage do.

What do they drink? If they have a favourite tipple, that might help. For example if they are students burning the candle at both ends, you could look at getting Red Bull to sponsor your gig. They could help promote it and offer deals. If they are farming people for country music, Speights might be the go. When you ask for a lot of money, for example to sponsor a tour, you have to get in early so they can budget for it if they are keen, but if you only want some product and promotion for a gig, it can be pretty easy. The thing to do is tell them what's in it for them and ask. It's often that simple. Just remember that can offer something to them, you just have to figure out what that is. At he very least its visibility and if you have done your homework, you will know what it is.

What radio stations do they listen to? There are many ways of getting attention from radio stations if you use some smarts, even if you are unsigned and they are not playing your music. I might have a look at this topic in the future in more depth.

What TV shows do they watch? TV is a bit harder to get to, but if they are young and watch the music channels. In New Zealand it might be MTV, Juice TV, Alt TV, you will be surprised at how easy it is to get some support from them. Wherever you are, there are similar local stations who want to know about local acts. Check out what exposure other bands or artists similar to you are getting. Ask the band or artist, ask the station, don't forget they have to have shows and videos. If it's summer, have a beach party and invite Juice TV to send a crew over. You are a songwriter, use some of your creativity to find novel ways to make things happen. Write a song about the beach party that you are inviting them to and send it to them. Have them in the song.

I had a sales rep working for me a few years ago. He was from London and had that Cockney patois and wanted to make things happen. Within a couple of weeks he had his own show on our local MTV. All he had to do is ask.

What magazines and newspapers do they read? I've talked about PR before and will again in the future. If you know the types of magazines your fans read then you know where to send your Press Releases.

Where do they go on holiday? A couple of years ago I was in Raglan, (you can hear the story on my Music Forte page, the song is called Raglan Rain) and there was a guy who I recognised from New Zealand Idol running around the small town putting mini posters on all the shop windows that would let him, promoting a gig he had that night in one of the cafe/bars. Unfortunately I can't remember his or his bands name, I guess I'm not the right demographic. Obviously he had decided that the surfing and artsy type of people that hang out in this famous surfing area where his target market and was now doing everything he could to get lots of people to his gig.

The great thing about what he was doing was

• He had indeintified where his target market could be fiound on a Saturday night
• He visited all the shops (probably around 50), got most of them to put his mini posters in the window and spent time talking to the locals.
• His venue was the only one with live music at night so once everyone knew it was on, he was pretty much guaranteed a crowd.

I drove past that night and the bar was full of people having a great time. They all paid a door charge and the band would have not only had a great night with people who liked their music, they also made a profit on their gig.

What is their age group, are they tweens, teenagers, young adults, old rockers? Are they mostly male or female? What is their lifestyle? Are they still at home with their parents or starting their own families, or have their families already flown the coop?

What artists do they listen to? One of the important things on many sites where you can upload your music is who do you sound like, who influenced you. These tags are there for people to find music similar to the artists they like. Make sure you are genuine because if you are like the artists they listen to, you will build up your fan base more quickly.

How do they buy music? Do they buy on the net? at iTunes? Do they buy CD's in mainstream music stores? In Department Stores? In specialist stores like Marbecks or Real Groovy?

How often do they buy music? Do they buy music themselves or do othes buy it for them as gifts?

How do they discover music they like? Do they hear it on the radio? iTunes? Podcasts? Do they find them by reading reviews in magazines, online, from video's, recommended by magazines?

Where would they go to listen to music? An art gallery? pub? Concert Hall? Cafe?

Where do they buy their clothes? Often the music playing in certain shops might influence them. If there is a cafe that people go to who like your music, give the cafe a copy of your CD and ask them to play it for you.

Have a think about who your fans are or could be and given the ideas above, how could you influence the situation so that people who like your music can find you. There will be more on this in the next few days.

Knowing who your fans are can help in many ways. It should influence what you write, the style, the lyrics (are they accessible to your demographic), how you market your music, where you sell your music and much more.

There is a target for every kind of music form Christian Death Metal to jazz fusion and opera. Obviously the place and way to target eac genre will be very different. Understanding these things means that instead of taking a scatergun approach, you can aim straight for your target market, winning more fans to buy your music, attend your gigs and tell their friends about you.

By the way, I'd really like this blog to be interactive. You don't have to agree with me. I would love to make this a discussion, not just me rambling on........................................