<Matt Mchugo a.k.a The Vengeance's part>

Taking over the keys from Australia's finest, born out of a continent where men are still men and koalas roam the eucalyptus. 

My affection for the Oz scene has probably got to do with a fondness for Terra Australis Incognita that has been around since I was a youngster. Leastwise I made sure to get many downunda contacts when I joined the realms of the then newly formed Onslaught as a mega swapper and Vandalism News diskmag editor. I remember many late phone calls from the Vengeance out of Hobart, whom showed me the way into the scene. I myself phoned Anthrax over in Western Australia quite a few times. In Stieglitz and St Helens of Van Diemen's Land, and all round about that area, the dominion of Jazzcat became part of the mind of a late night data obsessive kid. Razor and I and a few other System folk had note discussions about various kinds of goatee beards. Uptonogood of the crew The Second Ring was a legend from the past. As was Paralax. The demo "Revenge!" from Chrome is one of my all time favourite productions, at least partly because of a certain scrolltext for some reason. A dreamy C64 mindset born out of a fourteen year old receiving pack after pack from the former Crown Colony.

Many a year later I had some clinical duties to be dealt with and I managed to arrange it at the Launceston General Hospital. I spent a month at Jazzcat's place and out of the data garage we ended 2007 with dignity through arranging the Jazzmacx Tas Takeover. I learned to differ between Boags and Cascade and I introduced the old phreaker's palate to the fine art of Single Malt. When I later got to vagabond the island to wander Freycinet, Tesselated Pavements and Pirates bay, Mount Wellington, Queenstown and Strahan, Cradle mountain, Wynyard and the crossing of Bass Strait from out of Devonport I knew I one day had to return. And then I reckon there is so much more to discover beyond Tasmania and the parts of Victoria I got to see. Luckily with my line of career I will have the opportunity to do so, a year here and a year there. With a psyche intertwined with Australian mental imagery I guess there is no way out of it. It is therefore a sincere hope of mine that the Syntax Demo Party in Melbourne, where this issue will be released, is an event of success to kick start the Oz scene - just as similar gatherings has boosted the Scandinavian scene over here.

From the old world to the new. Handing back the keys to a Commodore 64 on the other side of the planet, for an introduction to the contents of this issue in Australian English phonology.

Jonatan FG.
'Macx'

<David Simmons a.k.a Jazzcat's part>