September 2005 Archives
My TV is now digital. UPC arrived on time, the technician was a nice guy and didn't smell. And though he had some problems initialising the set top box, it eventually worked as it should.
I don't have much use for the E! or Fashion channel, or all the bloody Discovery stuff, but I can't express how great it is to finally have an MTV channel (MTV2) that actually plays music. MTV2 Europe is British owned, they show the NME chart show and the presenters are English, as are the ads. Thank you, lord. They just showed Kaiser Chiefs, Interpol, Magic Numbers and Gorillaz videos. *Cries tears of happiness*. Don't laugh. I've had years and years of MTV/TMF Holland, mostly R&B crap presented by Dutch nit wits, interspersed with the worst bits of MTV USA (Jackass, Road Rules, etc.)
Now I just have to wait (another ten years?) for the rest of their package to become a little bit more interesting.
I may be the only 42 year woman on the planet to get worked up over this. Does '50 quid spinster' exist?
A friend's son turned 11 today and, spurred on by Mr Hg, I bought him his first David Bowie CD, fully intent on corrupting his young mind. I got him a Donald Duck comic and a scientific youth mag too, just to be on the safe side.
He's growing up quite sheltered and seems petrified of going to high school next year, where there are 'bigger boys with gel in their hair'. I don't think he was ready for the CD, but his mum liked it. I had hoped he'd pick up on the 'space' theme and be intrigued by Major Tom, but I forgot he doesn't understand English yet. Hopefully he'll remember the CD is his and will come back to it in a year or two.
The two younger sisters asked me to teach them to eat with chopsticks, the minute I walked through the door. I think their hands were still a little too small to learn. Or I'm a crap teacher.
But I'd like to think I am a better teacher than their brother's primary school 'master'. I was shown one of this man's hand outs, containing 25 'true/false' statements about America. It was full of spelling mistakes and some very dubious questions. Sample question / spelling:
Q: 'The Biggest park in New york is called Yellow stone Park'
A: True
The guy should be flogged. If I had kids, I'd only want the best of the best to teach them. Wouldn't you?
There are too many lenses too chose from, enough to drive a camera enthusiast crazy. But I think I've got it narrowed down. I'm looking to buy a 20 or 24mm prime (i.e. a fixed focal length, not a zoom) in New York. It'll be good to capture the city and should become my standard 'walk around' lens. Good zooms (Canon L-series, i.e. not the consumer type) are too expensive for my budget and consumer zooms are too soft for me as I've become used to the quality generated by my 50mm and 85mm Canon primes.
These are my options:
Canon 20mm/2.8 | Canon 24mm/2.8 | Sigma 20mm/1.8 | Sigma 24mm/1.8
If it's all about saving $$, I should pick a Canon lens. The difference between prices here and in the USA is quite a bit more than $100. There's not as big a difference for the Sigma brand. Around 30 to 80 dollars (though they do come with hoods and tube cases. Canon is stingy on them.). It seems from the many tests and opinions I've read that the Sigmas out-perform their Canon counterparts for these particular focal lenghts. I reckon I'll end up with one of the Sigmas, whichever feels the best on the day. They're prettier too. Always important.
If money was no option, I'd probably get the Canon 16-35/2.8 L.
Also gots me one of these rapid Sandisk cards.
But it doesn't, does it? It gets worse.
If life deals you the wrong cards and you're down on your luck, have the blues, and you can't see the wood for the trees. If you are at your wits' end and you get to that point where there's no way out. If you despise yourself and think you have nothing to offer to anyone and you just want to end it all? Don't be ashamed. Don't be stupid. Be smart. Shout. Scream. Seek help.
Because your friends and your family will live with your problems. But they will never learn how to live with your death.
I picked the winner from day one. J.D. Fortune is the new lead vocalist of INXS.
(I'm smug about it because of the rabid naysayers.)
Someone's put my book up on Ebay with a buy it now price of 250 dollars. It's a signed copy from '91. Like my signature is worth anything. I reckon it won't make more than 30 dollars.
It is my intention to start giving this book away for free in pdf format, if I find the time to complete digitalising it.
But not before I finish worrying and completely obsessing over what lenses to bring, and even which cameras to bring on my NYC trip, while also contemplating buying a new one when I'm there because they're generally 100 dollar cheaper than in Europe. And if so, which?
I reckon if I had an s.o. they'd send me to a head doctor pronto.
J.D. is so going to be the next singer of OB: INXS.
While MiG the most 'theatre' of all and not in a good way, it's J.D. who understands the theatre of rock. Check out his performance of Pink Floyd's 'Money'. The guy has vision. I'm also digging the rhinestone megaphone that he uses in 'Pretty Vegas', the song he co-wrote with Andrew Farriss. Well, I would, wouldn't I? His performance of 'By my side' was subtle and I love the voice. That hint of Elvis that everybody hates so much? It's a good thing. Elvis doesn't have the patent on it. It's Scott Walker. It's Bowie. Totally floats my boat, anyway. I've been humming 'Pretty Vegas' for the last couple of days.
MiG's the next to go. Too feminine, too sweet, too theatre, too squeaky clean. An ill fit with the Farriss brothers. Then it'll between Marty and J.D. And Marty? Maybe an audience favourite, but he's just completely wrong for INXS. The grunge voice and the arrogance cum naivety in thinking he can change and lead this band, come on. His idea that INXS invented 'dance rock' and that he can make them compete with the new new wave bands... please. Convoluted much? Poor sod, I nearly cacked myself when he started to 'explain' the music business to OB:INXS.
My money's still firmly on J.D.
Maybe Suzie can join Fleetwood Mac now she's eliminated. That's where she belongs.
Oh heavenly salvation
our precious city has been spared
the storm is passed
and vanished above us
the storm has ended
and Death steps back into the water
once more
Oh heavenly salvation
Oh heavenly salvation
(iTunes served me this Kurt Weill song just a minute ago. I'd forgotten all about it.)
Did I mention I got invited to the Serenity premiere in L.A.? No, I didn't, because I can't go anyway. Blame New York and general broke-ness. The other day I said I'd wanted to see New Orleans too and a friend said: 'See, you should have done that, but no, you had to go see the same concert one hundred times.' She has a point.
L.A. doesn't sound appealing anyway. A friend is currently holed up in that city for two months and wondering whether he'll go mad or not. I told him not to touch anything containing 'silicones, botox or gak', and he'd be fine. He swears he plans to grow old gracefully.
I say 'gak' as if I've ever put some up my nose, but I haven't. I remember back in the early 80's me and my mates being young and willing to try but none of us having any clue where to get any. I still don't.
Less than a month to go before New York. I've bought a map and a guide book - can't get myself to read it.
Summer Glau (River Tam in Serenity) is very pretty. I attended the premiere in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening, where Summer and Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal Reynolds) were guests of honour. Quite a few good shots even though the red carpet thing was a nightmare. But every time I do this kind of thing, I get hungry for more, and hungrier for better equipment, although you definitely learn to make do with what you have. An L-series 28-300 (dream on) would come in very, very handy. Or a second body.
This is my favourite one of the evening.
There should be something more here than just a post about sushi.
But I have no words for what's going down in New Orleans.
Bush smiling, playing guitar when seven kinds of hell descend on the gulf coast. Ms Rice shopping for shoes in NYC. Refusing foreign aid. Sending in troops with orders to shoot to kill.