#geelong

Victorian Socialists:

In this November's state election, we're running candidates in all 88 seats across Victoria. So far, we've preselected 70 of those, and the remaining 18 will be announced in the coming weeks.

8/13/26.

"Sanctuary", along with Luft's "Something On My Mind" might be the songs of the summer for me. It immediately gives off Electrelane and Memorials vibes. That harmonium.

Paris Rebel Richens, the songwriter behind P.P. Rebel, is best known as a member of Parsnip and Heirophants. "Devotee" appears to the band's second full length following a cassette only debut on Anti Fade in 2019. Since that debut, P.P. Rebel has found inspiration from Kriya Yoga.

According to the Bandcamp write up, that influence has filtered down to the music which "Draw[s] on both Eastern spiritual traditions and Western influences such as The Incredible String Band, The Velvet Underground, Syd Barrett, and Skip Spence." I can also hear Speed the Plough and The Trypes.

This is Troy 'Catman' West, from what I gathered he's been extremely well known in Geelong, Australia for about 35ish years (?) Troy is quite a controversial individual as he's been under fire for a lot of choices he has made, mostly because people either don't understand him or he's made very...questionable stunts. He is also a big Culture Club and Boy George fan—clearly! Perhaps that's also a reason why he used to be a Hare Krishna, I'm not sure but either way...Hare Krishna!

A few years ago he was known as being Australia's most hardcore and colourful AFL supporter. He is the most recognized Geelong Cats (football team) fan who stood out in the crowd with his blue and white costumes and make-up.

However, hate from keyboard warriors took a heavy toll on Troy's mental health, and has unfortunately lost his passion for the 'Catman' persona he is famous for. Reduced to breaking point, Troy shocked fans by severing all ties with the Geelong cheer squad and football club.

Unfortunately, it all went downhill from here...about 7 months ago, during the out-of-control bushfires ripping through Victoria with at least 130 homes and buildings across the state were lost and more than 300,000 hectares of land had burnt. With that, Troy had lost his "CatCave" in the Ravenswood bushfire. The CatCave is the shed where he kept his Cats AFL paraphernalia, and filmed content about his beloved club. Troy had evacuated safely to his family overnight but his property had been blackened.

I'm not really sure what he is doing now or what his full background is, but I hope I'll come to find out soon! He's absolutely gorgeous and interesting—then and now.