Busy Week Continued (long posts bother me)

....so anyway, we went up to Katoomba on Friday, stayed in a scary motel (causing the following exchanges: Me: "How often do you think the train will go by? So often we won't even notice it?" and Tanja: "where's the alarm clock?" Me:"It's okay, I'm sure we can just get a wake up call... where's the phone? THERE'S NO PHONE!"), ate lovely food, and went to see Worth's band. Things I learned on this trip:
::Pokies are boring as shite.
::If you sneak up to see the band setting up, and find a taped-shut paper bag at an empty table, and then open it, and find a 1977 7" single of the Sex Pistols doing "God Save The Queen" and are guilted by Tanja into leaving it there in case it belongs to a band member, and then come back after the gig starts and find it again, you get to keep it!
::Some place have rum-and-coke on tap for $3 a glass. This is dangerous.
::If you know people in the band, you get invited to the afterparty!
::Cooper's is actually an ok beer after 8 rounds of rum-and-coke.
::Morning-after lunches turn into late second-breakfasts.
::French onion soup warms from the inside out.
::Motels come with free dead spiders.
::You should really return DVDs to Civic before you go away for the weekend.

My feet are cold.

That has nothing really to do with anything, but it's a truth. Cold.

Anyway, last week or so has been of a busyness. I've had school holidays, and Easter in the Blue Mountains (where I got a motorcycle ride with Tanja's dad, to which my father later explained to me "You know, Lucas, boys shouldn't ride with boys." Thanks Pop.) and then the Robert Cray/Buddy Guy concert on Wednesday.

I had the Plan. I was making Peurco Pibil (slow roasted pork with Mexican spice-stuff), Dave was showing up at 6 or 6:30, we eat, we drink, we take off for the concert which starts at 7:30. Of course, Dave encounters every obstacle known to man and beast in the getting here, and he doesn't arrive until 7:15. Ah well. Foods were scoffed, drinks sculled, and we were off. The show didn't actually start until 8 anyway, so we were fine for time. Turns out, though, that despite buying the tickets within 5 seconds of each other from the same distributor, David and I were both in row H, but in seats 5 and 37. we tried just sitting together, but we had angry people in my (potential) seat, so we had to make a deal with the usher. She found us two seats in the second to last row of the balcony. Sounds disastrous, right? Well, not thanks to the wonderful acoustics and design of the Enmore. We had a crippling view of the stage (thanks to their being no one in the two seats in front of us). Robert Cray came on, and he was good, better live than on CD and he usually sounds so restrained.

Then came Buddy.

Good. Lord.

Keep in mind folks, that just because Buddy Guy is classified as a blues artist, and is turning 70 this year that this was a quiet, down-home blues rendition. Not in the least. This was the guy (no pun intended) idolised by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and most of the names in rock today (Buddy even did a cover of "Voodoo Child which was up there with the original). The guitar work was phenomenal, and he played the crowd just as well. Who expects to laugh when they go to a concert? Not me. But I did. I laugh myself stupid. Why? Because he's a funny guy, that's why. Example, he paid tribute to John Lee Hooker as being a blues pioneer, then slyly played 30 seconds of "Boom Boom", then stopped and made a face, communicating to all that he had just encompassed Hooker's 40-odd year career in those 30 seconds. Bwa ha ha.

Anyway, it was incredible.

Posting from the TAFE library

...Because Vicki finished early this morning. She's also told us that she feels she's taught us all she needs to for our EXTERNAL EXAM (I emphasize to emphasize the enormity of that) in 7 weeks instead of 16, and if any of us need anything, we're to make an appointment.

One one hand, I can sleep in Mondays now, as Ethics doesn't start until 1.

On other hand, GAH! Exam! She's taught us squat! This is the woman who, wehn asked a question she doesn't expect (or, I've hypothesized, doesn'tknowthe answer to) barks, "Find out!"

As in: "Vicki? Do you feel that since this is listed as part of the promotion mix, it should be classified as such, despite it being big enough to be it's own heading? And don't most companies include it?"
"Find out!" Oy.

Well anyway, as of Thursday I'm on school holidays for two weeks. Thank fuck, as my wonderful, sophisticated, erudite Tanja might say. During said holidays, despite working my usual hours, Tanja and I will be heading to her folks' place for Easter, David and myself will be going to see Buddy Guy and Robert Cray at the Enmore (!!!!!!!!), and (hopefully, if our schedules will let us pull this off) Tanja and I will be going to see Worth's band in Katoomba. Brad willing.

I've been getting Neil Gaiman's Sandman books (graphic novels, not comics) out of the library and really enjoying them. I'd be telling Tanja this, but she's confessed that she doesn't think Gaiman's "all that" and that he has an "ordinary guy fetish". She did this five seconds before I could properly gush. Oh well. I don't like her Sharon Penrose novels. So nyah.

And I've just filled up my little USB keychain with MP3s off the Fat Possum Records site. Hooray for post-punk-blues/blues/garage/rock.


And a guy here at TAFE is making me a CD of his "Baleric filter-tipped French gay biker haus not-proper-electro Prog". I'm afraid to actually listen to it.

Oh, and thanks to Tanja's diet thingy, I'm at 79 kilos. Actually 78.5, but Tanja says it's 79, and it's her scale. So I'm not going to argue.

Oh, and another thing.

Fancy new clothes! Tanja got me two shirts and a fancy pair of jeans from Fcuk. Very posh. In order that I wouldn't step all over the backs of the jeans, I finally bought the pair of 8-hole Doc Marten's I've been ogling. Like a moron, I wore them to work on Sunday. Shredded feet. Hobbled around. Waited two days, let me feet heal, and wore them again with two pairs of socks. I was fine all day until i had to run up a flight of stairs to get to the train. Shredded heels again. I'm still happy with them, though. Heh.

"I was happier then, with no mindset..."

(The title has bugger all to do with my mood, it's just a line I like from a song I'm listening to at the moment)

We finally got a new music guy at work. We hired him last week, but he didn't show up for his first few days. It seems my direct boss Worth neglected to call him to tell him when he was supposed to start. Well done, Worth. Dumbass. Oh, and guess what the blighter's name is. Two guesses, but you'll only need one. Lucas. Yes. So now I'm "Lucas B" or in Tanja's case when she calls in, "Lucas from Canada". Just rolls off the tongue.

Oh, and to people in the area, I'm planning a dinner/night at the pub next Saturday (the 1st) for my birthday. Plan at the moment is to meet up here for an early dinner (this has been decreed a wine only event in order to ensure that we actually GET to the pub) and then off to the Rose in Erskineville. Sound good?

As for other birthday stuff, Tanja and I are going to see comedian Charlie Pickering at the @Newtown venue. I've not heard of him before. Does anyone know if he's any good?

Also, if to beleaguer an open-ended paragraph structure, I’ve begun properly reading Robert Rankin, and I’m really getting to enjoy his books (despite not liking “The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse” as I was unfamiliar with his style). Any of our English brethren know of/read him?

This is too much fun:
It's like Buster the Dummy from Mythbusters!

I need a haircut soon. I'm starting to look like an exhibit from The Golden Age of Muttonchops.

Long time-y no update-y

Olympics over. Tanja and I went to Noosa. Ate much, got rained on a lot. Bought fancy pants. Got a tan. Back at TAFE. Stresses begun anew. Not looking forward to work on Wednesday.

Watching the Olympics

Well, not REALLY the Olympics. Three daily hours of Olympic highlights. Tanja and I watched the snowboarding and the downhill skiing, and now we're watching the luge, and the Canadian guy was doing so well, on a run that was faster that the gold medal guy, and then he slipped! Oh. It's quite sad. and I read on CBC.ca that the Canadian woman's hockey team drubbed the Italians and the Russians. Sadly, i don't think they'll show the whole games on Australian TV. le sigh. Back to CBC.ca for me.

Guess what happened to us tonight?

So... we had someone try to break into our flat tonight. Well, I say break in, more like saunter in. We're on the third floor, and we had our balcony door open. Tanja (bless her incredibly light-sleeping little cotton socks), heard a sharp click (that, in her half-dreamy stupor, she thought was the coffee pot, domestic thing her) which was his flashlight. She saw the curtains move, and the light shine in. She poked me and woke me up and frantically whispered that she thought there was someone in the house. I got up, and snuck into the next room, and saw a shadow staning on the balcony. Summoning my best housemaster what-the-fuck-are-you-doing voice, I bellowed "EXCUSE ME!", and I heard him scramble away, and he then leapt off the balcony hitting the railing and, after a moment, the edge of the car ramp into the garage. I ducked outside onto the balcony, and he was walking away. I got a look at the guy, but not a good one: shaved head, black hoodie, jeans, young white guy. Nothing was taken (my iPod was right there on the table, within an arm's reach of the door, but he didn't see it, I guess). We called 0-0-0, and got an impatient snarky woman who told us that if we didn't need police right then, then to call Directory Assistance and get the number from them, before hanging up. I waited a blink, then called again, and got a much more helpful guy. He sent a couple of cops out. They found the place without trying too hard (see, Ted? It can be done) and took my statement and details. They were shocked he didn't take the iPod, and twice as surprised that he jumped. The guy-cop was hopeful that the "bloke had maybe snapped a few ligaments on the way down, eh? Or maybe broke 'is leg?" He sounded hopeful. Heh. On the way out, a call came in about a guy in black shirt and red pants stealing a mobile phone near King Street (about two blocks from here). same guy? Who knows.

It's now 5:29 am, 45 minutes since it happened and neither of us can sleep. Tanja's got the over-talking "stupids" as she calls them.

We're so hitting the landlord up for some security flyscreens. And a deadbolt.

And maybe he can fix the dishwasher while he's here.

Acquisitions

So it's been a spendy-grabby-acquisitiony few weeks. I went and bought a record player from Dick Smith that would be compatible with our stereo system, despite the dickhead who works there trying to talk me out of it ("You know how fast these wear out, man? And the sound quality of vinyl just sucks." Dude, I have money in my hand and know exactly what I want. Shut your damn mouth.) So now I can play the Shadows, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, John Denver, Neil Diamond, and John Lennon records I found by the side of the road/got from Tanja's father. Also, I made my first foray into Egg records. Appalled at the prices of some things (70 dollars for the Clash's London Calling! And it's not even an original. It's a RE-RELEASE! Get over yourselves!), I ducked into the bargain racks at the back of the store. $4.95 for 1, $15 for 5, $25 for 10. I found some good ones:
Scott Joplin - The Sting: OMPST (Nice ragtime tunes. And "Solace" is one of the loneliest songs I've ever heard)
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (I was inspired by it's use in the Battle Royale novel)
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Flaunt It (It's not just a High Fidelity joke anymore)
The Guess Who - Live At The Paramount (with a 15 minute improv on American Woman)
Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra (I know, i know, but I like the band, and I couldn't find one with The Joker or Jet Airliner on it)
(And these last five are for Tanja, purchased to make her not yell at me for wasting my money):
U2 - War
Kim Wilde - Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde - Select
Abba - Arrival (bwa ha ha)
Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust

Also, speaking of music acquisitions, David at work has decided to reciprocate my burning him 2 or 3 CDs every week ever since I've known him by lending me a bunch of albums which are now residing in my iPod:
Sublime - 40 oz To Freedom
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl (Really good)
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Eskimo Joe - A Song Is A City
Faith No More - Angel Dust
The White Stripes - Get Thee Behind Me Satan
Goldfrapp - Supernature
Grosse Pointe Blank - Soundtrack
Nirvana - Nirvana (the black one)
Morphine - Cure for Pain

Of course, all this was the day I bought myself the following CDs form the $10 CD shop:
Beck - Mellow Gold
Eel - Souljacker (Really, really, ridiculously good. like Beck. But easier to digest)
The Ramones - The Ramones (the re-release with bonus tracks of the first album. I got into a 2-hour argument with Victoria from work because she saw me CD, and started the conversation with "Oh, I don't like the Ramones. They suck." and my lashing back that without the Ramones, there wouldn't BE a punk scene. Dagnabbit. I made myself a Ramones T-shirt, just to wear to work and spite her. Heh)

Oh, and Mom's parcel (that she sent in OCTOBER [doh]) finally arrived with my three Mystery Science Theatre 3000 boxed sets. Happy happy joy joy! I even submitted a few of them to Tanja and she laughed! Hooray! I won't have to watch them alone.

The last few days, though, I’ve been oddly sick. Not cold-sick. No runny nose or anything like that. It sort of happened after I walked in the rain 3 times and ate lukewarm soggy pizza at 2 pm. Then at 5:30 that day I felt unbearable lethargy, soreness like I’d been beaten, lightheadedness, dizzy spells, and a massive headache. I begged off work early. Between work, the train platform, and home, I developed a fever and chills. Tanja helped me once I got home, but the night was filled with half-waking odd dreams of nonsense words drowning me like quicksand (shut up, I’m trying to explain here) sore muscles, and only about three hours of actual sleep. I got up at 4:30 am, and read in the living room, then passed out on the couch for an hour. That morning, my fever and chills were gone, but the headache, dizziness and muscle pain remained. I went to the doctor and got a sick certificate for that day as well, and was feeling nearly normal when I went to bed at 11:30. Cue awakening at 2:47 am. I was so dehydrated. Not just normal dehydrated. This was can’t-swallow-skin-raspy-eyes-hurting-bleeding-from-nasal-capillaries-dehydrated. After sculling a glass of Tanja-recommended Gastrolyte electrolyte drink (though sculling is a misnomer: it tasted horrid, so I read a magazine and drank it over 40 minutes), I was able to sleep until 8. I awoke dehydrated again. Bought two bottles of Gatorade from the IGA and sculled them too. I’m feeling slightly more human now. My nose is no longer bleeding. And there was much rejoicing.

Anyway, I was able to buy said Gatorade for this reason: yesterday, emboldened by my scavenger/bargain hunter spirit, Tanja spotted what she called a tall-boy chest of drawers left out by the curb. We lugged it back home, her blushing furiously, and me crowing in triumph. After some finagling, we got it into the bedroom. In the aftermath, this conversation occurred: (paraphrased)
Tanja: “Hey, Lucas, you know that brown leather 3-seater couch we saw at the store on King Street? How much was that?”
Me: “I think it was around $1000.”
Tanja: “Oh. I’ve been looking in the Ikea and Freedom catalogues, and they don’t have one for less that $1500. I think maybe tomorrow on your day off, you should swing by and get it.”
Me: “Okaaaay.”

So that’s why I was out. It won’t actually arrive until Saturday or so next week (they’re waiting on the next shipment), but we have a new couch! No more futon-thingy. I’ve even convinced Tanja to put the futon out on the balcony (a covered balcony, mind you) for our smoking guests. So I was out ordering the couch, and sculling Gatorade, and I wandered back into the record store. The bargain bins called to me, and I made the following purchases:
David Bowie - Changes One (Surprisingly fantastic. Then again, maybe not so surprising)
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (!!!!)
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (Also !!!!)
BB King - Best of, 1974 (Some of it recorded live at Cook County Jail)
The Kinks - One Golden Hour (Another Greatest Hits, but I enjoy their early stuff)

So now I’m playing Command & Conquer, reorganizing my closet, listening to records, and hoping I’m not still sick tomorrow.

And that’s all I have to say aboot that.

Alright. Let's wang this chung.

Ok, Pre-Christmas work-thingie. Got through it with lots of black V (taste the evil), and headed out to the mountains. Slept for a few hours. Woke up, endured annoying brother-in-law. Opened presents. Got lovely things. Loathed brother-in-law. Went to sleep. Woke up feeling wretched, nausious (however you spell that) and headachey, and had to sleep it off. Was given records and record player from Tanja's Dad. Huzzah! This should allow me to listen to the records I found by the side of the road. Except the player is too old to interface with our system. Damnit. Well, this is just an impetus to buy a new one. Go JB Hi Fi! Post Christmas Spending: New shirts, new brown hat, new jeans, Beck CD, Eels CD (fanTAStic), and Ramones CD. Sweeeet.

Now back to regular life. Although I got to personalise a Futurama quote yesterday. Jason wanted new music for the store, and he goes "We need new music for the store. Do you have anything David Gray-ish?" "No. Not really. Oh, but we do have David Gray."

Heh. I also put on Oasis, Welcome Back 1966-69, and the new tribute to Rubber Soul. It's good to be in control.

And Ted, Catherine, and Craig came over for New Years Eve and we watched John Safran and I got rather drunk. We also learned that TISM has the coolest dance ever. You sit in a chair, thump the microphone against your chest and wobble your head around. Stylin'. And Craig brought me Zero Hour expansion pack for Command & Conquer: Generals. Great. Now I'll never leave my house.

Oh. And I got my watch fixed. That's the real news of the post. Well, when I say me, I mean Tanja, but to be fair, it had sat in her purse for like 2 weeks before we brought it in.

"Isn't it true that you have been paid for this testimony?"
"Yes. You gave me a dollar and some candy."
"And yet you still won't say what I told you to say. How can any of us trust you?"