I am by no means what pop culture decribes, a ‘muso’. However, I do love my live gigs.

I started attending ‘grown-up’ concerts around the 15 year old mark. I attended my first Big Day Out in Melbourne in 2007 and have since fallen in love with live music, jumping around in the dirt with a bunch of sweaty strangers and the myriad of other awful, but intensely lovable, things about concerts and festivals. Falls Festival just wouldn’t be the same without the mud and smelly composting toilets now, would it?

Last weekend, I like many many thousands of Australians, made the pilgrimage to see the iconic AC/DC. My dad was hosting that night, having invited about 15 people to the concert to enjoy it from a corporate box at Etihad.  I was his date, a young one amongst the corporate full-time workers.

Upon arrival and when the music started to rumble through the speakers, the crowd within our box made various comments, proclaiming that it is THE way to see a concert – from up high, far far away and with your own personal bar and supply of food. I was unconvinced at the time, but then swayed somewhat when I recalled this years Big Day Out at which I felt too old and tired, rather than energised and ready to party. Hmm.

Art Vs. Science - Melbourne Good Vibrations Festival 2010

Then, yesterday I went to feel the good vibes at the Good Vibrations Festival (funny that.) at Flemington in Melbourne. Without the rush-rush feeling of Big Day Out keeping my stress levels up, it was a laid back day full of awesome music, great Melbourne weather and an amazing crowd to be amongst. (Spinderella, I love you.) As the day went on, my feet began to feel that familiar ache and my legs decided that they no longer wanted to do their job and move my body around, but I didn’t mind – it was an enjoyable tiredness, one which subsided whenever one of my favourite songs was performed.

Just TRY tell me you don’t wish you were there, in the crowd, feeling the music and jumping around in the sun…

Praps I’ll favour the corporate box when I’m older and more refined, but for now I’ll stick with being in the thick of things, chanting and groovin’ with my friends.

This t-shirt baffles me.

Where did it come from? What does it mean? Who designed it?

I can only answer one of these – I feel so inadequate.

I won this t-shirt in a Kyoto McDonald’s late one evening simply by ordering a burger, scratching a ticket and handing said ticket (which had Japanese all over it, declaring what I can only now assume to be, “winner!!!” or something of the like) to the cashier who then, much to my confusion, handed me over this bright pink thing which has taken up permanent residence in my gym clothing wardrobe.

The situation itself was confusing enough, though my excitement at the time overshadowed the truth of the situation – the fact that I STILL don’t get it.

@designtavern and myself made many guesses – perhaps it was a political statement about the global recession? Or maybe, given that it is a Quarter Pounder marketing campaign (according to a little black square down the bottom of the shirt), perhaps the ’stock’ to which they refer is, in fact, cattle? In which case, the t-shirt still makes little sense because if one hadn’t been trading stock, then where do the quarter pounders come from??? And why is a Japanese t-shirt written in BIG BOLD ENGLISH if the English makes no sense??

Perhaps I should take it to my Japanese teacher and see if she’s able to make any sense of it. Though that would probably ruin all the fun and I’m not even sure if it’s a language barrier, so much as something…else.

Hmm…