Guilty pleasures
I am happy adn secure enough in my indy/metal/rock skin to be able to admit to the odd guilty pleasure.
I don’t mind the odd bit of Christina Aguilera.
I am curently watching Kylie’s Showgirl tour.
I love that it is on ABC! If it was Channel 10, I would so be ditching it because the ads would frustrate thehell out of me.
She really is a showgirl too – I do not get the feather headdress. And I am a bit uncomfortable with the boys running around and dancing in their Speedos, although I guess it does demonstrate a certain amount of equality of the sexes – we can exploit each other in the same ways. Seems to me, though, that chicks who have male dancers tend to do so in a more almost camp way, or tongue in cheek; perhaps this reflects the perception of male dancers being homosexual? At any rate, it is often – although now always – less overtly sexual than female dancers with male performers.
That’s my 2c.
Fun at church
J got out a Bible this morning, in preparation for reading Romans 1 before the sermon… and there was a medium-sized cockroach. Eeek. Then it disappeared; then he opened the Bible, and there it was again, so he squished it in the pages. At least he died in Romans – a righteous death if ever there was one.
I made him open the Bible later and scrape it out, so that some poor Ridley student doesn’t get a shock sometime later. Well, they’ll still get a bit of shock because there was a bit of guts left, but you know….
This a couple of days after chasing a fly in Queenscliff, and Anne finally splatting it, and green stuff going everywhere – it looked like it was fly guts, but it was actually detergent that that was on the fly swat.
Church really was good, though, aside from the cockroach, and then afterwards we had pretty much everyone – maybe 40 or so, including 6 kids and a month-old babe – back here for a BBQ. Great weather for it, which was a blessing, and even better because I didn’t have to provide salads – other people did that. I did have to make a tomato sauce run, though….
Authors and authority
I’ve noticed this before, but it struck me anew this morning.
Authors have authority.
Those with authority are authors in some way, too.
It puts an interesting spin on the whole Barthes of the author is dead thing, I think – an idea I have never subscribed to anyway – and also means an interesting way of thinking about the place of authors and how we think about them and who can/should be ‘an author’.
I have no answers to the questions raised, but I like pondering the issues.
Darwin and its rain
Apparently Darwin is flooded. At least, that’s what the news said – I don’t know what they’re counting as Darwin, whether it’s just Coconut Grove in its tidal zone, or if it’s way out at Bees Creek, or exactly what. Maybe I’ll hear from my brother at some stage. Ha!
Witches of Eastwick
I couldn’t get my video (so very retro) of The Mummy to work tonight, so I have been stuck watching The Witches of Eastwick.* It’s pretty bad. The finale is ridiculous. Susan Sarandon is dreadful, although I quite like both Pfeiffer and Cher (she’s probably the best of the lot). Truth be told, the main reason I don’t like the movie is Jack Nicholson. I really, really can’t stand him. At any time. No, that’s not true; he was great as the Joker. But that is absolutely it. Urgh.
*Yes, I know I didn’t have to watch it, but I’m home alone and writing reviews so I wanted something on the screen.
Some of my least favourite words
Kids at school use the word ‘verse’ all the time, as in “Australia is going to verse the world in cricket.” I understand where this come from – it seems to make sense if you can say that the game is Australia versus the world – but of course it’s a reflection that they don’t know how to spell versus, nor do they know what means. It nearly drives me to distraction, particularly because it’s very hard to explain it properly while on the run, as I usually am when I hear it.
In a different context, using the word action as a verb makes me nutty too. I know it’s all very typical business language, but I Don’t Care. You don’t action something, you just do it.
Gar!
So many books
I’ve read heaps over the last while. Lots for ASif!, but all of those have been ones that I’ve enjoyed too, so it’s not like it’s a hardship!
Days of Allison by Eric Shapiro – robots, as partners that you can programme, basically. A novella, so you don’t really have time to get jack of Louis, your utterly spineless (for most of the book) protagonist. I guessed one of the twists, but not the last.
Monster Blood Tattoo by DW Cornish, which it turns out girlie jones hated; there you go. I really liked it – an interesting take on monsters, where they’re pretty much like the Huns or Goths: barbarians at the gate, to be kept away, but not all of whom might be bad. It’s the start of the series, and I don’t mind that there will be more – I hope they’re as good as this. Rossamund (male; a bit of a Boy Named Sue thing happening, I think) is a fun little hero.
There have been others, but they escape me right now. And I just found out yesterday that Lady Friday has been published!! Hurrah!!!
Michael Mori is my hero
He didn’t have to take this case on so strongly. He didn’t have to take the US government on just because it’s the truth and justice and it would be right.
But he has. And continues to do so. Despite what I imagine it’s doing to his reputation – at least in the military; I imagine he will be able to get a job with any human rights legal group anywhere after this.
What A Star.
Joy joy joy
Oh yes, joy joy joy: Lady Friday has been released! Woohoo! I thought I was going to have to wait until June or so, but turns out I can buy it this weekend! Yay!
Unless, of course, Readings is stating what will be published this month, meaning I have to wait another couple of weeks… oh, that would make me sad sad sad.
Randomly Yours, Alex 