A break in the weather

 

I have hope.

The word on the street is that the drought could be almost over.

I’m talking about the drought that has held Australia hostage for the last 11 years.

03_41_42_waldie_ian_australian_drought.jpg

Farmers are weeping.

 

Blame El Nino.

The city in which I live, has just recorded its highest April rainfall for 41 years.  One of those days was the wettest day in April, ever.

I know it makes me boring to talk about the weather, but it’s important, dammit.   It affects our daily lives.

I’m listening to the rain pelting down outside as I type, and it sounds like a beautiful symphony.

That’s the thing about droughts.

They break.

Eventually.

 

*************************

 

 

Today, this website made me cry a little.

And…

This concept made me snort dry ginger ale from my nose.

[hint: if you're looking for a torture device to compel me to bend to your will, buy me a front row ticket and force me to watch]

And….

This video made me throw up in my mouth a little:

But hey, it gives new meaning to the word “doggystyle”…

(you could also argue that it proves once and for all that masturbation is a perfectly natural thing…. but it still made me feel a bit sick. hah!)

 

Song Of The Day – Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot

 

Photo Source

Extreme Splerkiness!

I’m back!  Yay!

The Monster From Green Hell has left my body for the forseeable future.

It’s been an expensive week:

  1. 7 days of lost productivity in the workplace, between the co-habiter and I.
  2. $270 to replace a door tarnished by a fist sized hole.

It wasn’t my fist that made the hole, and only two days off work for me. The hole and the other five days were caused by the co-habiter losing his voice from sheer force of YELLING.   Not so helpful when he reads the news on the radio for a living.

I take part responsibility, but men will never learn to not answer back when faced with a very pissed off woman on a hormonal spin….Especially when she has a valid point.

For what it’s worth, I’ve taken myself off the progesterone-only contraceptive pill I’ve been on for some time.  It makes no difference as far as contraception goes (make of that what you will), I was just taking it to bring my abherrant hormones into line.  Mind you, I was never tested to make sure that was what I needed….

I’m thinking it wasnt.

I stopped taking them two days ago and I’m back to my normal, calm, relatively cheery self.

It has been hell.

I humbly apologise to anyone I’ve pissed off or made even slightly uncomfortable in the past week.   Although it’s a backhanded apology, because I really couldn’t help it.

I have to tell you, I’m a bit more than over having adverse reactions to drugs.  So far this year it’s been the antidepressants, a nasty reaction to some antibiotics and now this.  I think I have no tolerance to pharmaceutical concoctions after 5 years of poisoning…

We shall see.

A huge thankyou and massive HUGS to the glorious Ranna for her words of wisdom and love during this time.  It was very lonely on my end, and I owe you a message and a whole lot more.  You were there for me in a very, very bad time.  You’re a special woman and I’m so happy to call you my friend…

NEXT!

My best friend lives on the other side of Australia.  Doesn’t that suck?  Her name is Jules.   

Jules also had a bad week.  

I was supposed to find her a box of Bex today (as a joke) whilst I was out shopping, but due to the sheer volume of stuff I had to buy for other people (I should have written it down), it slipped my mind.   Sorry babe.   I’ll try and remember next time, if you don’t get to Woolies first…

Jules and I are both trying to drop a few kilos and due to the week’s state of affairs, she confessed to me she had some choc chip muffins in her cupboard.   My response, (after offering her icecream) was to not eat said muffins because they are EVIL IN SPONGY CAKE FORM.

Next thing I know, I get this in my inbox:

my-pictures_00001.gif

I love that girl…

And if I could afford it, I’d buy her one of these:

angle.jpg

Courtesy: Sexoteric 

Instructions: After turning dial to required setting, turn on and sit with legs out front. 

Humm…. I do have a couple of outstanding loads of washing pending…..

Psst, girls:   You can tell it was designed by a man, can’t you?

****************

Yah, this is a long one (long what?), but I did promise a couple of people a demonstration of my seemingly infamous “splerky dance”.

Some have an innate understanding, some are a little puzzled.

The “splerky dance” is what happens when someone calls to tell you there is no point coming into school/work today because it’s too bloody hot/cold outside, or when you find a package on your doorstep.

I’m sure you’ll understand: (and if you scroll down really quickly, it’s like a flick book..)

splerky-1.jpg

Step One:  Orrhhmigod!!

splerky-2.jpg

Step Two:  YAY!!!!!

splerky-3.jpg

Step Three:  It’s tricky to balance on one heel…(careful if you’re on tiles)

splerky-4.jpg

Step Four: Fling yourself about like you just don’t care….

splerky-5.jpg

Step Five:  Repeat step two and end with a big “YAHHH!!!”

 

To Firm:  Insert toiletries at appropriate um… moments.

Was there something else? 

I suspect so, but I’m too splerkied out to care….

Song Of The Day:  Bloc Party – Positive Tension

Because I cannot speak…

…or more to the point, because I shouldn’t speak – due to every word coming out of my mouth at this point in time getting me in quite serious trouble…..

(I really need to get my hormones checked.  This is getting beyond a joke.)

Here are some crappy quizzes:


You are a Rocker Girl!


If you don’t have musical talent, you’ve got a talent for picking out great CD’s.
Music rules your life – and you’ve got the best MP3 collection of anyone you know.
Many guys find you intimidating, but a select few think you’re the catch of a lifetime.
Start hanging out in more used record stores, and you’ll find love with a fellow rocker!

What Kind of Girl Are You?

Due to there being more than one viable answer for almost every question, I took it again:


You are a Brainy Girl!


Whether you’re an official student or a casual learner, you enjoy hitting the books.
You know a little bit about everything, and you’re always dying to know more.
For a guy to win your heart, he’s got to share some of your intellectual interests.
A awesome book collection of his own doesn’t hurt either!

What Kind of Girl Are You?

Meow.


You Are: 40% Dog, 60% Cat


You and cats have a lot in common.

You’re both smart and in charge – with a good amount of attitude.

However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Do them.

That is all.

(Regular programming will resume….. sometime.  Let it be soon.  Please…)

Song Of The Day – Leonard Cohen – Everybody Knows

Yacht Rock #2

I’m a little quiet on the posting front this week, due to being somewhat under the weather.

This, like all things, shall pass.

A bit of a shame, really. I was quite looking forward to attending the ANZAC Day Dawn Service this morning, but somehow I think getting up at 3.30am to stand around in the cold with 30,000 strangers in my current condition would have been counterproductive.

So, without further ado, fellow cheesemeisters, it’s time for Yacht Rock – Episode Two.

In which our friends Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins are challenged to a songwriting duel by Hall and Oates. Who will take the (non-existant) prize? And why does Christopher Cross have a piece of wire hanging from his face?

There is also a death in the Yacht Rock family. Quite the tragedy.

(Can anyone shed any light on how Oates pulls off such an impressive imitation of a kookaburra? It has to be accidental…)

Yacht Rock – Episode One

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time for a Bex and a good lie down.

 

Coming in Episode Three: Will Kenny Loggins leave behind his smooth roots for a world of hard beats and primal screams? Steve Perry wants to make sure of it…

 

Song Of The Day – Joy Division – She’s Lost Control

How does this still happen??

A good day was to be had….

And it was. 

Until.

Until I was spoken to like a slightly retarded person, simply for the fact I am female.

This is how it went down:

[Vanessa draws in the interesting people to talk to at the pub.  Not so much by flirting, but by sheer intelligence and personality.  There is much frivolity and good, drunken conversation taking in all subjects, especially sport.  The bartender calls last drinks and people start to say their goodbyes]

I don’t care how nonsensical this format is, I’ll try and express it the best way I can.  

It pissed me the fuck off.

Although I didn’t bitch about it until I got in the car on the way home.

To Andrew:

“We’ll be listening tomorrow.  You’re gonna talk about Squid, right? (punter’s nickname).    Oh,  sorry love, what was your name again?” [to me]

[I smile winningly with a warm handshake]

Vanessa.

They forgot my name? 

Well, that’s ok….. until…..

“Hey you’re a crack!  I like you!  For a girl!”

Excuse me, moron says what??

Apparently I was popular because I can provide intelligent discourse about sport and any number of other topics..   Well, that’s all right.  I’m a cracking bird.  No worries. 

The part that bothers me is “for a girl”.

I was happily taking part in all conversation, not thinking for a second that anyone was judging me…..

I am easily bored by feminist rhetoric, unless it affects ME.

I took it on the chin and didn’t make a scene…..

I was too shocked.  I was having such a good time…  I love male conversation, and giving my own unique, female perspective.  I love that…..

I know I’m not the same as most other girls.  I am very feminine, but I like talking about more than fucking pedicures.

Maybe I don’t get out enough.

I was offended.

“I like you.  You’re good to talk to, for a girl”

Is it wrong that I feel slighted by this? 

Which members of the suffra-sisterhood are letting me down?

I don’t think I should be a novelty.

I was treated like a second class citizen, in the nicest possible way…..

Aren’t we…

Aren’t we all PEOPLE?

For crying out loud,

Haven’t we got past this yet?

Drugs, guns and the whole bloody mess

I really, really didn’t want to write a blog about the massacre at Virginia Tech. 

However, I have a couple of bees buzzing around in my wee bonnet that need to get out.  I’m allergic to bees.

I’ll try and keep it brief.  Well, kinda.

I found out today that Cho Seung-hui was on antidepressant medication at the time of the massacre.  

Why does that not surprise me?  

It had already occurred to me that he might be.   In fact, I was just waiting for confirmation.

The reason it doesn’t surprise me, is that I am well aware of the statistics regarding violent and suicidal behaviour under the influence of SSRI’s.  (Selective Seretonin Reuptake Inhibitors).  SSRI’s are the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant.

The following is a sample of school shooters known to have been taking antidepressants:

  • May 21, 1998, Springfield, Oregon: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his own parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22. Kinkel had been on Prozac and had undergone “anger management” classes.
  • April 16, 1999: Notus, Idaho: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school narrowly missing students; he was taking a mix of antidepressants.
  • April 20, 1999, Columbine, Colorado: 18-year-old Eric Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox when he and his partner Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher before taking his own life in the bloodiest school massacre in history. The coroner confirmed that the antidepressant was in his system through toxicology reports. Dylan Klebold’s autopsy was never made public.
  • May 20, 1999, Conyers, Georgia: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with a mix of antidepressants when he opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates.
  • March 7, 2000, Williamsport, Pennsylvania: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was on the antidepressant Prozac when she blasted away at fellow students wounding one.
  • March 22, 2001, El Cajon, California: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman was on two antidepressants, Effexor and Celexa, when he opened fire at his high school, wounding five. Hoffman had also undergone an “anger management” program.

Smells a bit funny, dontcha think?

I have vast personal experience of SSRI’s.  I was on them for five years and they cost me almost everything, including three attempts on my life.  I never would have thought in that entire time I was on them, that it was the prescribed drugs making me ill.   I only stopped taking them because I thought they weren’t working, after my last suicide attempt.  Not for a second did I expect that they were the cause of it all.  

I’m still putting my life and myself back together.  It has been devastating.  I only went to my GP once with a complaint about my arm and I happened to mention I was having a hard time at work and that I was very stressed.  She wrote me a prescription.  Boom.  Hello drugs and hello psych ward!  I had no history of mental illness or depression.  

But enough about me.  I’m just telling you this, to put my passion regarding the subject in context.  I am not in favour of these drugs.  They may work for some, but there is no way to tell what is going to work and how.  There is no way on earth to measure brian chemistry.   It’s all hypothesis and guesswork.  

Would you want people playing with your brain, knowing that they’re just guessing?

If only I had known.  I was so naïve.

There have also been a number of celebrity deaths linked with antidepressants: 

  • Phil Hartman’s wife was on them and complaining of adverse side effects just before she shot and killed her husband. There is now a law suit against Pfizer, the makers of Zoloft, claiming it was the cause of her violent rage that induced her to murder her husband, before committing suicide.
  • Michael Hutchence was taking antidepressants at the time of his apparent suicide in a hotel room.
  • Del Shannon shot and killed himself on Prozac.
  • Elliot Smith was on a cocktail of psychiatric drugs, including Avanza when he died from a self inflicted stab wound to the chest.   I mean, who the hell in their right mind does that??

I could go on…

Here are a few  more handy facts:

Dr. John Zajecka reported in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry that the agitation and irritability experienced by patients withdrawing from one SSRI can cause “aggressiveness and suicidal impulsivity.” In Lancet, the British medical journal, Dr. Miki Bloch reported on patients who became suicidal and homicidal after stopping an antidepressant, with one man having thoughts of harming “his own children.”

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) can cause anxiety and agitation, bizarre dreams, and akathisia. It is estimated that between 10% and 25% of SSRI users experience akathisia, often in conjunction with suicidal thoughts, hostility and violent behavior.

A 1998 British report revealed that at least 5% of SSRI patients suffered “commonly recognized” side effects that include agitation, anxiety and nervousness. Around 5% of the reported side effects include aggression, hallucinations, malaise and depersonalization.

In 1995, nine Australian psychiatrists reported that patients had slashed themselves or become preoccupied with violence while taking SSRIs. “I didn’t want to die, I just felt like tearing my flesh to pieces,” one patient told the psychiatrists.

5% may not seem like many people at first glance, but when you consider that there are approximately 1 million people on Antidepressants in Australia, that’s 50,000 people suffering adverse effects of these drugs.  That’s a LOT of people, and some are going to be worse than others.   Goodness knows what the figures are for America.

So, do ya think prescribed psychiatric drugs might have played a part in sending Cho Seung-hui off the deep end? 

I reckon so. 

At the very least, it’s worth investigating.

I keep reading about the media furore in the US, with everyone looking for someone to blame.  It’s obvious there are too many factors at play to point the finger at one entity, although I am utterly convinced that this would never have happened if it wasn’t for that young man being on antidepressants.

I see American gun laws as the other major player. 

Being an Australian, I find American gun culture a most curious thing.  It’s just so alien to what I know.  We don’t ‘do’ guns here.  After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 (which is still the world’s worst.  Something to be proud of, eh?) the Australian government spent $500 million on a gun buy-back scheme.  640,381 personal firearms, including semi-automatic .22 rifles and shotguns, were handed in.  Now, some types of guns are banned altogether and you need a strict licence to own one, which involves background checks and giving a bloody good reason for needing a gun.  Such as being a farmer, law-enforcement officer, or sports shooter.

The only other people who have guns in Australia are the occasional well-off criminal, who can afford to buy one on the black market.

I don’t get the impression Cho Seung-hui was terribly well off.

I do understand that the psychology of gun ownership is far more complex in America.   I mean, just look at the Wild West.  The culture is way too ingrained to ever hope of pushing through legislative changes like Australia did after the Port Arthur massacre. 
 
I don’t want to go on and on about this, but I’ll leave you with some brief statistics:

Gun ownership in Australia is 5.2%. 

Gun ownership in the US is soomewhere between 38-50%.

Here is a comparison of US gun homicides to other industrialized countries:
In 1998 (the most recent year for which this data has been compiled), handguns murdered:

373 people in Germany
151 people in Canada
57 people in Australia
19 people in Japan
54 people in England and Wales, and
11,789 people in the United States

Note that these numbers account only for HOMICIDES, and do not include suicides, which comprise an even greater number of gun deaths, or unintentional shootings.

Even if you put the population of all the other countries together, which would roughly equate to the population of the United States, the death toll doesn’t even come close. Do you suppose it’s because the other countries have gun control laws?

Just, maybe.

Lastly, a disturbingly humorous video to lighten the mood:

Watch as this DEA agent shoots himself in the foot in front of a class of students.   Literally.  My favourite part is when he pulls out the bigger gun.  Oh, and when he says “I am the only one professional enough in the room to carry one.”   That’s a cracker.  I am however slightly disturbed that there are children in the room.  Check it out:


In other news:  Over 200 people killed by suicide bombers this week in Iraq.  Just thought I ought to mention it….

Other Sources: Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights, ICHV.org

Song Of The Day: Pop Will Eat Itself – Wise Up Sucker!

Beware the Phantom Knicker Nicker

This is the first in a line of stories about my adventures with perverts and freaks.  I have an impressive track record.

“Freak Magnet” is one term I’ve always used to describe myelf.  I just wish there was some way to demagnetise…

This fellow was up there with the freakiest of them all:

When I was a teenager, my mother and I lived alone together in a townhouse near my highschool.  It was a relatively small block of 10, with a small private courtyard, backing onto a laneway that stretched the length of the suburb.

We lived there for 5 years and over time, it became apparent that we were running out of underwear. 

We both noticed it. 

“Where are my undies?  I’ve only got a few pairs left.” 

“I don’t know, but I’m sure I have more than this, too…”

“When did you last do the washing?”

“You know when.  It was last Wednesday.”

“Well, that’s wierd.  I should have more than this.”

“Lemme check mine…….. No.  This isn’t right.  I should have more than this, too.”

“I think someone’s stealing our underwear.”

“Noooo…. Surely not.  Look at the size of our courtyard!  It’s tiny and the clothesline is right under my bedroom window.  Why would anyone do that?”

“I don’t know, but we are definitely missing underwear… I’m sure of it.”

“No.  God, do you think?  How?  No…”

“I don’t even want to think about it.  How do we find out?”

“Call the cops.”

“Do you think?  Would they care?”

“No harm in trying… Call them.”

“Let’s just give it another week or so and see what happens on the next washing day.”

“Okay, but I seriously need some new underwear…”

“Yahh…Me too.”

We waited. 

Next washing day came around and we hung out our smalls as usual, along with the rest of the load.  Sheets, clothes… We let everything dry overnight.  We both knew something wasn’t right and we were worried, but we had to test our theory before calling the cops and potentially wasting their time.

The next day after school, I took the basket outside, to bring in the laundry.

I saw immediately that there were gaps where our panties had once hung. 

We were now down to about two pairs each.

It was pretty clear we were being targeted by a snowdropper.  We bought some emergency underwear.

The very next afternoon, I took a walk to the shop up the road to buy some bread.  Whilst I was wandering along, I heard a bird chirping in a tree.  I looked up, and saw a pair of undies hanging from one of the lower branches.

Sorry, what? 

I looked closer. I recognised them. They were my mother’s underpants. They were low enough for me to reach.  I grabbed them and put them in my pocket. 

I quietly started freaking out, but kept walking and looking up.

There was another pair, a couple of trees up.

I couldn’t reach them.

I arrived at the shop and bought my goods.  On the way home, I took a different route and walked down the laneway behind the block that lead to our house. 

I tend to live in my own little “Vanessa” world when I’m on the street.  I look around and drink in my surroundings.  Many things catch my eye.

Like, the beauty in a bloom.

Or..

A pair of knickers.

As I was looking down, trying not to think about what I had in my pocket, I saw a piece of cloth on the ground.  I looked closer.

My breath went a little bit funny and I started to feel a bit panicky, but not in a very serious way.  Just a little bit.  Honestly.

I scooped them up and kept walking, keeping an eye out on the way.

A few metres down the lane later, more undies on the ground.  My hand went over my mouth.

Mine.

Then, more again… Mum’s.

Okay.

I started to look up.

There were tree’s above me and as far as I could see, there were three pairs of panties hanging from high branches.  Higher than I could reach.

I grabbed what I could reach and ran the rest of the way home.

“Muuummm!!!”

“What? What?”

I spilled all the item’s I’d gathered on the dining room table. 

“I.. I found these… IwaswalkingupthelanewayandIsawtheseonthegroundandinthetreeandwhen Iwascoming backthey wereintheSTREET!!!!!”

“WHAAAAAT?”

“I’m not joking.  They were hanging in the trees… and strewn everywhere…”  I started crying.

“That’s it.  I’m calling the police.”

The police came to our house.  They took us seriously.  So seriously, they organised for surveillance to be set up in our tiny, little courtyard.

They cut a hole in a box of laundry detergent and put it in the laundry window, which overlooked the washing line.  Poking through the hole was a camera lens.  The laundry window had no covering and if you were in the courtyard, by the back door, you could see right into the loungeroom.  This had Mum and I really worried.  Had someone been watching us?  If so, for how long? 

On the ground, after we put out the next load of washing, we were instructed to drape a bed sheet on the ground, under the washing line, to look as though it had fallen off the line.  Under the sheet was a mat.  To step on the mat, would set off the camera in the window.

We were freaked out. 

We were two women alone (I was 14).

Somebody was watching us and now the police had set up this trap.  We were pretty sure we were going to catch whoever it was who was doing this.

We did a load of bogus washing, hung it out and waited until the next morning. 

I don’t think either of us slept well that night.

The next morning, I was first to leave the house on my way to school.

I opened the door.

A smell hit me.

It wasn’t pleasant.

I looked down and saw something on the doorstep. 

It was brown.  A brown lump.

It was shit.

Someone had done a shit on our doorstep.  A big, fat shit.  In our little gated courtyard. 

He (assuming it was a “he”), had entered our space yet again, stepped around the trap, pulled down his pants and left an enormous, smelly shit on our doorstep.

I put my hand over my face to block the pungent odour and looked around. 

It was then I saw that our friend had taken a two pairs of my underpants off the line, wiped his arse and had left the soiled garments under the clothesline, in the middle of the courtyard.  In fact, he’d left them on top of the sheet, under which was the mat that was supposed to set off the hidden camera.

He was onto our trap. How much was he watching??

“MUUUMMM!!!!”

“What??”

“COME HERE AND LOOK AT THIS!!!”

As she made her way downstairs, I ventured further.  I looked at my bike, which was in its usual spot against the only tree in the small area. 

I nearly choked.

It was covered in shit.

I rode my bike to school nearly every day.

My bike had shit smeared all over it.

There was shit, everywhere.

We were speechless (except for this):

“MY BIKE!!!”

Neither of us knew what to do.  The trap hadn’t worked.  Obviously we needed to call the police again…

They didn’t quite know what to do either. 

They told us they’d work on it.

A close school friend of mine Justine, lived in the next suburb, but not too far away from me. 

A week or so later, Justine’s mother was in her backyard hanging out her own washing, when she heard a strange sound coming from the yard nextdoor.

Really, quite a strange sound.

She ventured over to the fence and peeked over to her neighbour’s garden.

There, she saw a young blond man over the fence, who was naked apart from a pair of women’s panties’ on his head, standing under the washing line, masturbating in full glory.

She tried not to disturb him/puke and snuck back inside to call the police.

The police arrived quickly and caught him.

Meanwhile, at our end, we cleaned up the shit and replenished our supply of underwear.  We also lived in fear that our pervert was going to return.  Leaving the house was a trial on a daily basis.

A couple of weeks passed…

We never found out for sure who the phantom knicker nicker/shitter was, but after Justine’s mum caught that man, we were never bothered again…

MORE PERVERT STORIES TO COME

Song Of The Day – Elbow – Any Day Now

Yacht Rock to the rescue

(previous text deleted due to reasonable fear)

****************

I know a little something that might cheer me up.

Yacht Rock.

Yes! That’s the answer!

Never heard of Yacht Rock? It’s an internet tv show and a fictional satire about the lives and times of the big players in soft rock from the late ’70’s and early ’80’s. Think, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Toto etc.

Yacht Rock makes me laugh in watery ways, although I seem to laugh at different things than most of the people who commented on YouTube – go figure. It’s ridiculously stupid and deceptively clever, riddled with more pop references than you can shake a stick at, and shot like a really cheap porno minus the sex.

Thre are 10, 5 minute episodes and I’m thinking I might post them all here as a series in weekly installments.

In Episode One, we learn the origin of the mother of all Yacht Rock songs. I will never hear What A Fool Believes in quite the same way again, heh…

Teehee!

Viva le Yacht Rock!

Ah, I feel better already.

Coming in Episode Two: Hall and Oates challenge Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald to a songwriting duel.

It’s that freaky tag again…

Alright, alright already.  I finally made iit.  The lovely Ms Max Adams tagged me and I’m to list 5 freaky things you never really wanted to know about me. At least I think that’s it. There has been some tag mutation from the time I was tagged (last night) until now.

I’ve just about missed the boat on this one, but I did have to get in a few hours sleep and a working day in between seeing the tag and doing the tag. At least that’s my excuse. When I finally got down to it, it took less than 5 minutes. Hah.

Hokay…

1. My speaking voice can still be heard regularly on around 20 or more radio stations around Australia, as the voice that gives the station ID (or callsign).  It usually sounds like a sexy whisper. 

2.  My first proper kiss was with a 24 year old man, when I was 12.  He knew how old I was.  I enjoyed it.  Taught me a thing or two, too….

3.  My father was a fairly big time international drug runner, between the US and Australia, but I didn’t find out until after he died.

4.  I was coerced into leading a seance at my Year 8 camp.  A girl was taken to hospital as a result.  I was very nearly expelled.  It was a bad scene.  I still don’t quite understand what happened.

Are you sufficiently bored yet?  No?  Here’s one more….

5.  I’m allergic to nuts [insert testicle joke].  Except for pistachios and peanuts, because they’re not actually nuts.  Strangely enough, nuts don’t make me vomit if they’re encased in chocolate.  Work that one out.

Rightio chaps.  That is it.  I’ll be lucky to find enough people to tag, seeing as half the people I know have been tagged already and I’ve only been here two weeks, but let’s see, shall we?

Charity Case

Rannaland

Alluring Butterfly

My Little Corner

Hedonistic Pleasureseeker

Phew. Just made it.

Show us what ya got, ladies!

Song Of The Day: The John Butler Trio – Good Excuse

Gimme guitars!

I have a slight fetish for all things retro.  I use the blanket term ‘retro’ because there isn’t one specific era that interests me.  I love design from pretty much every decade of the 20th century, although I would have to say that the 1930’s, ’50’s, ’60’s and ’70’s would top the list.  There is often confusion over the words ‘retro’ and ‘vintage’ – ‘retro’ being inspired by a certain look from the past, and vintage being the real deal.  It doesn’t really matter to me if it’s one or the other.  I just like old things… and things that look old. 

So, imagine my excitement when I happened across the John Hornby Skewes & Co website, where they have a plethora of beautiful, vintage inspired Danelectro guitars. 

I’ve played guitar on and off for years, but I’m not very good because I don’t keep it up.  I’ve been in a couple of bands, although more in a lead singer capacity, due to my dubious guitar playing skills.   Making music is something I enjoy immensely though and seeing these little beauties has just inspired me to tune up and get playin’.

Danelectro may not one of the better known makes of guitars, but I reckon they’re one of the coolest and they have a more than impressive pedigree.  Syd Barrett, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix ,Tom Verlaine and Link Wray all played Danelectros, and that’s good enough for me.

Plus, they’re just so damned pretty!  (and so damned expensive)

Anyone feeling generous?  I don’t own an electric guitar, and I’d be more than willing to try one of these as my first…

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I can’t make up my mind which colour I like best.  I’m not too hot on the grey, but the others are just too cute.  I love the shape…

Then, if I did play electric guitar, I’d need one of these:

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The sweetest mini amp on the planet.  Also comes in ‘daddy-o yellow’.  Dig it!

Oh, and not to forget:

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Groovy effects pedals!  There was a gorgeous purple one, but I’ll go with this one because it matches the amp.  Note that I have no idea what effects it actually makes.  I just like the way it looks.  Hah.

*sigh*

Alas, being a little short on funds, I’ll just have to stick with boring Ol’ Faithful for now…

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My birthday is nearly a year away.  Plenty of time to save!  *nudge nudge, wink wink*

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to toddle off and salivate over some vintage cameras….

Song Of The Day  – The Beatles – I Me Mine

Inspiration via Retro To Go

Vinyl Beauties – Part 1

I have an enormous collection of vinyl records.  I mean, too bloody big.  Around 900+ albums and God knows how many singles (45’s).  Could be around the same number.  I can’t play any of them because both my turntables are out of order, but I just can’t let go.  I’ve given away a few albums over the years and regretted it.  Still.  So, I lug them around from house to house…

I’ve been collecting records since I was a kid.  Pre-teen.  I was earning my own money from the age of 9, and what did I spend it on?  Yup.  You got it.

I was obsessed with music.  Not much has changed in that regard, except that I’m running out of space.   Records take up a LOT of space.  

I worked for a huge record company for a couple of years and had access to their entire back catalogue.  Holy Jeebus.  I went nuts.  They probably got the bill after I left, heh.   My CD collection is almost as large as my vinyl, or possibly larger.  I’ve never counted.

Part of the reason I hang onto records, is because I love the big covers.  There was nothing quite like lying on your bed, listening to your new purchase and examining the artwork and words in fine detail.  Ahhh… memories.  CD’s just aren’t the same…

Occasionally I still buy vinyl secondhand, if I see a cover I really like.  Covers were and are, that cool…

For some time now, I’ve been collecting pictures of joyous vinyl album covers I’ve come across online.  There are too many to post in one hit, so I’m starting a series:

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I hate to say it, but she reminds me of me when I’ve had a few too many to drink.  Well, I don’t generally try to set my face on fire and I only smoke when I’m very sloshed, but she speaks to me.  Hah!  Almost makes you want to hear ‘Bolero’ again, eh?

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Doesn’t everybody love Herb?  This album cover has been parodied numerous times, I believe most famously by Soul Asylum. They had the best covers in the 60’s….

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Well, isn’t Eddie a lucky guy?  Who would think there would be naked, piano crawling beauties at the Open Face Sandwich Club? 

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Someone I know saw this recently and said at first glance, “That’s hot!!”.  Umm.. ok.  Apparently women on the toilet turn him on…  Hey, what ever floats yer boat, I say.  I think Millie Jackson (is she related??)  is just feeling wholly satisfied for being back where the shit is.  By the look on her face, she’s been waiting a long time. 

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Well, what can you say except, WHAT THE FUCK??  At least he gives a warning for sensitive eyes, but not before you’ve seen the rest.  Not that I’m offended. I’m just trying to work out what the hell is going on here… Is there a point?

I’m sure someone has an explanation.  If not feasible, at least amusing…

I’ll just leave you with those for now.  Vinyl albums that most likely will never be released on CD and if they were available digitally, what would be the point?

Vinyl rules, ok.

More to come…..

 

Song Of The Day – James Brown – King Heroin

It’s true what they say about gardening…

I used to really hate gardening. I could kill a plant at 20 paces, just by looking at it. I used to joke that I had a brown thumb. It all just seemed like an enormous chore to me.

Then, at the beginning of this year, I went through a strange and rather complicated metamorphosis*, which saw me turn into SUPER NAKED GARDENER.  I had a sudden urge to take my clothes off in the garden and plant things, often.  Fortunately, I got really lucky with the costume. Gardening is a dirty business and a cape would just get in the way.  

I’d heard people talk in whimsical and reverent tones about the wonders of working with the earth for most of my life, but my utter self absorption and short attention span never allowed me to truly discover the deep satisfaction that is to be had by sinking your hands into the dirt and nurturing a plant into bloom.

It’s true what they say. Gardening is a form of meditation. There is nothing else (with the possible exception of having an orgasm, oh and skinnydippng), that clears my mind in the same way, or takes me to such a simple place of pleasure and sheer enjoyment of life.

Ok, the pleasure principle is somewhat different between gardening and sex, but you get my drift, right?

I love planting. That’s my favourite part. I love mixing the different soils and mulch. I love digging my bare hands into the soil and letting the dirt fall through my fingers. I love popping the seedling out of the container to admire and gently free its delicate root structure. I love digging a little hole and placing the seedling, just so. I love giving them water and verbal encouragement daily. It matters not to me that they don’t have ears. They respond to my care.

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These flowers are blossoming in my garden right now. I can’t take credit for them, for the plants were here when I moved in — but if you click on them you’ll see they are very pretty, indeed.

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I have discovered my true love is growing edible plants. Flowers are nice, but there is nothing like eating food you have grown with your own loving care. This is a photo I took of some baby carrots I planted on 1 April.

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And this is how they look today, 12 days later. The rapid growth is almost like instant gratification, with a lesson on patience thrown in for good measure. I can’t wait to see what’s below the surface!

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I adore rocket. I could just munch on rocket leaves all day. This is my rocket 12 days ago…

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And here it is today. Growing like a rocket, no less! Yummm….! I’m having salad tonight….

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I’m so excited to taste these cherry tomatoes, I can barely stand it…. but they’re taking so long to turn red! I mean…. HOW MUCH LONGER?? There are around 20-30 of them in that pot and I’m loving that specific, pungent aroma of the tomato plant. It takes me back to my grandparent’s vegetable patch from childhood…

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Jalapeno’s anyone? I love chillies, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this many of them. There are about 10 on that one plant right now and more popping up every day. I guess I can always freeze or dry them… Don’t you love that green?

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This little fella makes me smile. Look at the way he’s climbing up the trellis all by himself. I thought I was going to have to tie him up, but it turns out he’s a very independent and capable little snow pea plant! If you look closely you can see 3 snow peas of varying sizes…

I’m also growing a lot of other things, like various herbs, red onions, and a lemon tree in a pot amongst other things — but we’d be here forever if I showed you them all. These are my star performers.

So, it seems I may have a green thumb, after all.  Who knew?  I think I was always going to have to be in a still and quiet place of personal transformation for the growth of a plant to become something I appreciate deeply.  It’s quite symbolic.

I also love that when it’s warm, I can just turn around and dive in the pool to get clean.

It’s the simple things…

Now, I have a question for you:

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I recently got hold of these rusty old buckets and I want to plant bulbs in them next week (jonquils, tulips and hyacinths). I’m really new at growing things and I don’t want to take any chances in terms of poisoning them, so I’m not keen on putting the soil directly in contact with the rust. Does anyone know of any product or method to coat the inside of the buckets to form a barrier between the metal and the soil? I’m thinking I might just have to line them with plastic….

I’d appreciate any ideas…

* My amazing metamorphosis may or may not be discussed at a later date. I’m a bit over talking about it for now.

Song Of The Day – Donovan – There Is A Mountain

Things I Wasn’t Allowed To Do On The Radio

Some of you know that I have a background in radio.  Up until five years ago, I was a radio dj on a music station in the city in which I live.  It was a fun job at times, but looked a lot more glamourous from the outside than it actually was.  I loved the act of talking on the radio to hundreds of thousands of people at a time, and the often interesting interviews and events that would crop up; not to mention all the free stuff.  People would recognise me by name or voice, and sometimes ask me for my autograph, which always weirded me out, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a little thrill from the recognition. 

The truth about being a radio announcer however, is that for the most part, it can become quite mind numbingly dull sitting alone in a room, waiting for the music to end so you can get to the good bit.   The challenge was to not sink into the pit of tedium.  Believe me, it really was a challenge at times.  Same songs day in and out, weather that hardly changes, traffic, station ids etc etc.

So, I made things interesting for myself by getting in trouble a lot.  I was forever being told off by management for some errant deed or for being too opinionated off air.  Every year at the office Christmas party I would win an award for some apparently outrageous exploit.

My friend Tommy wrote a blog some time ago, which he recently reposted, titled, Things I Wasn’t Allowed To Do In The Navy .  Tommy is a self confessed smartarse, and it’s a very funny and cheeky list, which makes me giggle in silly ways every time I look at it.  After re-reading his list the other day, it occurred to me that I could probably put together a list of my own, “Things I Wasn’t Allowed To Do On The Radio”.  So, I sat down with a pen and paper, and within an hour, this is what I came up with:

Oh, before I start, I did actually do, and get in trouble for doing all of these things.  I am a very naughty girl.

THINGS I WASN’T ALLOWED TO DO ON THE RADIO

1.   I am not allowed  to “talk faster” on the radio in the hope that I can finish my shift in time to beat peak hour traffic.

2.   I am not allowed to implore passers-by from the second story window to “rescue me because I’ve been taken hostage by religious fundamentalists with really bad taste in music.”

3.   I am not allowed to sing ‘My Heart Will Go On’ over the office intercom, to prove my point that nobody wants to hear that song ever again in their lifetime.

4.   I am not allowed to make effigys, voodoo dolls or sock puppets out of microphone socks (y’know, the spongy bit on the end..).

5.   I am allowed to refer to ‘The Rack’ (internal transmitter set up) as the radio station’s brain, but I am not allowed to tell tour groups that it has an inoperable tumour.

6.   I am not allowed to write a detailed critique of the music on the printout of the updated playlist that is posted weekly in the on air studio.  Footnotes are also not acceptable.

7.   I am not allowed to fling mashed potato or birthday cake from the second story window, at vehicles in the carpark. 

8.   I am not allowed to develop a scoring system for flinging mashed potato and birthday cake at vehicles from the second story window, with highest points awarded for a direct hit on the Music Director’s car.

9.   I am not allowed to refer to my job as “talking to a stick in a padded cell” to any tour group, no matter how accurate the statement may be.

10. I must not be seen to be making a noose out of headphone cable in view of tour groups.

11. I am not allowed to make faces and hand movements like a goldfish at members of the general public, who are watching me do my job through the internal window.

12. “Because someone might think I like this shit”, is not an acceptable excuse for removing songs by Michael Bolton, Boys II Men, or Celine Dion from my allocated playlist. 

13. “It’s my surrealist phase”, is not an acceptable reason to hang every picture in the building upside down.

14. I am not allowed to terrorise or “haunt” the telephone helpline counsellors when in charge of running the station after hours.

15. I am not allowed to use the logo of a rival radio station as my PC screensaver, when my desk is in view of tour groups.

16.  I am not allowed to build a “House Of CD’s” in the record library.

17. Neither, “I have council approval”, nor “It’s a damn sight sturdier than this bloody building” are acceptable reasons to build a “House Of CD’s” in the record library.

18. “Because Lance did a smelly in the studio”, is not an acceptable reason to neglect to pre-record the midnight-to-dawn shift in Studio 2.   Even if he did.

19. I am not allowed to pretend to be a recorded message to visitors on the after-hours front door intercom.

20. I am not allowed to use unravelled cassette tape and sticky tape, to add “hair” to the pictures of people hanging in the foyer.

21. I am not allowed to toss empty water cooler bottles or lemons at the dj on duty, when he/she has the microphone open.

22. During my airshift, I am not allowed to cut short Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal The World’ during the talking part, with the words “That’s enough of that”.

23. I am not allowed to invent my own station positioning statements on air, to “jazz things up a bit”.

24. I am not allowed to stand outside the voice-over booth and perform an imitation of a kookaburra or any other bird or animal whilst recording is in session. 

25. I am not allowed to swap 85% of the music in any given hour during my shift, to better suit my taste.

26. I am not allowed to “deface” publically displayed photographs of my colleagues with drawings of spectacles, facial hair, warts, horns, daggers or arrows in the head, silly hats, captions or thought bubbles, because I think they are a tosser.  Even if they are a tosser.

27. I am not allowed to rearrange the songs within any given hour of my shift, because I really, really feel like saying on air, “This set was brought to you by the letter ‘B’”.

28. “I’ve locked myself inside my house and I can’t get out”, is not an acceptable excuse to get out of an air shift. 

29. I am not allowed to cartwheel in the office (especially in a skirt), or challenge the news staff to running races in the corridor during business hours.

30. “I’m the best you’ve got”, is not a good enough reason not to have to work on Sundays.

31. “I was meditating and needed quiet” is not an acceptable excuse for dead air.

32. “It just looked so much more interesting than our weather” is not an acceptable reason to broadcast another city’s weather report, which includes cyclone warnings, on Perth radio.

33. I am not allowed to suggest in the promotions meeting that setting off a bomb in the building during office hours would make an excellent publicity stunt and improve the structure of the building, thereby killing two birds with one stone.

34. I am not allowed to suggest we use station funds to send our technical staff to Afghanistan or East Timor to act as human shields.

35. I am not allowed to say “fuck” on the radio.  Not even by accident.

I know there is much, much more, but that’s all I could come up with from memory, at short notice, and it pretty much sums up my experience in radio.  I hope it made you smile.  Now go and check out Tommy’s list.  It’s bloody funny.

Song Of The Day – T-Rex – The Slider
 

Immersion

She removes her clothes and stands naked on the edge. The heat of the day has pushed her to it. It’s been a while and she’s unsure whether to prolong the torture, or follow her outstretched hands. She opts for the latter.

Oh!

She remembers the feeling. It snaps back to her in a shock of saturation and sudden charge of algidity.

She resurfaces and opens her eyes, acutely aware of all her senses. The taste of salt is on her lips. Not like the sea, just a subtle familiar flavour. She closes her eyes again and leans back to allow her whole body to rise to the surface. Lying in a Jesus Christ pose, her face drinks in the afternoon sun which is now tempered by a gentle breeze. Bright blue gleams through the cirrus, and the green of the palm trees is nature’s striking contrast.

She hears it. How soon is now? She hears it below the surface. She keeps her head low and listens, bemused that musical notes are still audible. Parts of her body start to move balletically under the water. She feels the sun filling her with an energy she can barely recall and she turns her body prone before kicking out and diving dolphin-like to the depths. She relishes the silence underwater more than any. Legs together and toes pointed, she thinks she could be a mermaid, could she take a liquid breath.

No, this can’t be so. She is far too bouyant.

Faster than she dives, she surfaces. Parts of her naked body want to float and are very insistant about it. She laughs at herself and twirls around, loving the gracefulness that the resistance of the water provides to her movement. She is dancing.

Nobody can see her and she savours the freedom.

She spreads her legs and arms and lies back, upheld by the bed of liquid. She holds the pose, then becomes vertical and forces herself under, before curling and tilting. One, then the other and over again. She stands on solid ground and watches her silhouette. The water creates fluid shadows and she manipulates their mutability, loving the lines and blurrs. She runs her hands over her skin and marvels at how her body feels in the weightlessness, pleasuring in the sensuality.

As the sun dries her body, she smiles.

She hopes it will be hot again tomorrow…

Song Of The Day – Kenny Rogers and The First Edition – Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)

My wardrobe turns me on…

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It’s set to be the lastest thing, kids!

Now you can have your lover’s face right where you want it ALL THE TIME!

I suppose it wouldn’t have to be your lover.  It could be YOUR MUM if you were that way inclined.  Ew.  I don’t think I should have gone there…

The thing I have to wonder is how much of a turn on would it be to be greeted with a larger-than-lifesize image of your own lips/eyes/nosehair…. Any takers?

There is something else I must know:

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Will somebody please, please tell me what is going on here?

Song of the Day -  X-Ray Spex – Oh Bondage, Up Yours!