You are here: home > archives > May 2007

May 21, 2007

because i'm on that jazz kick...

Al and Leon demonstrating some jazz, beginning with the Tranky Doo and ending with a bit of lindy.

(from here).

But this is far more wonderful:

A couple of doods pretending to be Al and Leon (from here).

"because i'm on that jazz kick..." was posted by dogpossum on May 21, 2007 7:15 PM in the category lindy hop and other dances

there's some freakin' great stuff on the internet

Right here (via here).

"there's some freakin' great stuff on the internet" was posted by dogpossum on May 21, 2007 1:51 PM in the category clicky

May 18, 2007

think of me, will you

I have started back on the Cranky Poo/big Schnapple/jazz step kick again.
Mostly because I have had to make all new clothes to deal with my increasing girth.
But also because I adore old school jazz routines so much.

Here's a new one:

(from here).

This is the shim sham, a seriously old school jazz routine which has its roots in tap and the shim sham shimmy.
Most lindy hoppers know this version - in fact, you can see a bunch of Australians in this clip (btw that's Frankie Manning there in that clip - I've decided that he's the dancer I actually want to be. Him or Al or Leon, I can't decide which. But probably Frankie. I ask myself, when I need some inspiration, "What would Frankie do?" and the answer is usually 'shimmy so the lady will shake her boobs at me' or 'shimmy my butt so the lady will shake her booty' or 'bow reeeeal low so I can see the lady's undies when she swivels in a swing out'. I feel these are all admirable goals for a young feminist-about-town.

So I think I'll get onto this version of the shim sham. I've spent a couple of days sorting out the timing and reminding myself of the Cranky Poo this week, and I need a bit of inspiration before I get back to the Big Schnapple. It's hard to do the schnapps on my own - you really need a partner for the last bit.

So it'll go:
- tidy up Cranky Poo
- start learning Al and Leon's shim sham from clip (which will take me ages as I'll need to transcribe it and I'm a shit transcriber)
- work on Big Schnapple again til it's perfect
- pull the boring old shim sham out and become superheroine good at it.

Think of me at about 3pm during weekdays this week, will you?

"think of me, will you" was posted by dogpossum on May 18, 2007 10:35 PM in the category lindy hop and other dances

May 17, 2007

fuck off barbie and hello real ladies

I only wear clothes that I've made or bought of the internet. Except for underwear. The Squeeze says it's time to stop when I'm making my own knickers. And dancing requires hardcore support, so no home-made bra action either. And socks - I buy those too.
But besides those things, I make everything else.

Except for tshirts.

I really like threadless tshirts. In fact, they're the only ones I buy. I'd like to say it's because I'm really loyal or cool, but it's actually because I can never find cool tshirts on the internet. I like the nerdy ones (I especially want the 'homie don't right click' T - it's a reference to mac users - from some silly nerd site), but they only come in giant nerd man sizes. The girl nerd tshirts from those sites are designed for nerd boys' imaginary girlfriends.

But with the buying lady tshirts on the internet? Once you find a size/brand you like - buy em. I like XXL American Apparel lady tshirts. Or XL. I am not a tiny little woman - I am a giant, ravening academic beast. I constitute my own public sphere. So no bullshit half-size belly-revealing rubbish for me.

I don't mind buying Tshirts online, really. But when I check out tshirt sizing and see this, I'm not happy. Because, like I said, I'm packing some serious curvage here, baby. Mostly round my belly and, increasingly, around my armies. And boobage? Yes please.
so that little barbie there, she's not helping me pick my size.
1. Where are her hips?
2. Where are her boobies?
3. How does she pick things up with those puny little armies? Can she lead? Could she be base in an aerial? No? Then she's not helping me.
4. Does she eat? Would she embarass herself at yum cha?

No. So why would you possibly assume that she could help me out with choosing a tshirt size?
I say fuck off barbie to those online tshirt size guides. And hello real ladies.

"fuck off barbie and hello real ladies" was posted by dogpossum on May 17, 2007 12:29 PM in the category dogpossum

May 13, 2007

eurovision 2007 finals: bulgaria and turkey and armenia and moldova

Bulgaria.
TS: Urgh, the drum people. They were shit. Couldn't sing for nuts.
dp: better outfits tonight, though.

Turkey.
(Shut up Wogan)
dp: you can see their nipples through their shirts (here).
--------
Brief argument on the couch about whether or not one of us would review the entries.
--------
TS: I dunno. It's good. Conventional.

Armenia.
TS: The drummer girl from Bulgaria was truly crap.
dp: What do you think of this guy?
TS: Dull.

...I guess there's a reason The Squeeze doesn't blog.
Bring on Moldova (but I like the bleeding heart bit at the end of Armenia's act).

Moldova.
dp: You were right. They even use the same camera angles with the semis and finals.
TS: She's actually got worse.

You can see her here.

Ooooh, that's a nasty note.

Ok, so it's pretty much done... what will they do for the last hour of the program?

I think I like the scarves in this act. But it's no Turkey, that's for sure.
Terry Wogan sucks so much.
Eurovision rocks. But I can only take one night of it. I should have started with tonight and not bothered with the semis.

I like Mokko a lot. And I like the lady's green dress.
Ok, now they're getting santa out I need to stop watching.

Ok, West Wing time.

btw, Serbia won. Watch it here.

"eurovision 2007 finals: bulgaria and turkey and armenia and moldova" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 11:00 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: romania

Romania.
The Squeeze has decided he's sticking with eurovision. I want West Wing. He feels he's made a commitment.

Romania sucks.
I suspect that all of the remaining entries will make me angry.

The Squeeze will now review the remaining eurovision acts.

Final verdict for Romania?
TS: dull.

"eurovision 2007 finals: romania" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 10:57 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: serbia and ukraine and united kingdom

I can't take any more.
Terry Wogan is ruining it for me. The doods last night at least sounded like they really liked the whole eurovision thing. But Wogan seems to despise and spends far too much time being derogatory.

And Serbia wins, so there's no point watching past here. Even though there are seven to go.... though there are 2 hours left.

Shut. Up. Wogan. You suck!

... no, wait. Ukraine has captured my attention.
Glitter? Check.
Synchronised choreography? Check.
Not a band act? Check.
Piano accordian/baziki/other novelty instrument that isn't a bhodran? Check.

United Kingdom. No freakin' Bucks Fizz, that's for sure.

"eurovision 2007 finals: serbia and ukraine and united kingdom" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 10:45 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: france and latvia

France. Apparently Gaultier did their costumes. Nice job, John-Paul. That guy's kitty nearly fell off his jacket and he had to grab it. On camera!
I don't much like these joke acts. I think eurovision entries should be serious.
And band acts are dumb. Though it is up-tempo. Not disco uptempo, though. And there are no ladies. Nor is this a boyband. Dumb.
Thumbs down.

Latvia. Ok mates, I'm off to shower. I'm sure I'll miss some.

"eurovision 2007 finals: france and latvia" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 10:29 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: adbreak

Ad break.

I don't know if I have the strength to do the rest of these acts.
It upsets me that cadburys sponsor the SBS and they sell their old gold dark chocolate like it's worth eating. It's not. We like Lindt for everyday eating round here. And Koko black for fancy. Another good thing about lindy hop is that there are lots of Swiss dancers. And they give good chocolate.

"eurovision 2007 finals: adbreak" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 10:26 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: greece and georgia and sweden

If you go here, you can see which countries played in which order.

1. Bosnia & Herzegovina Maria ŠESTIĆ Rijeka Bez Imena
2 Spain D'NASH I Love You Mi Vida
3 Belarus Koldun Work Your Magic
4 Ireland DERVISHThey Can't Stop The Spring
5 Finland Hanna PAKARINEN Leave Me Alone
6 FYR Macedonia Karolina Mojot Svet
7 Slovenia Alenka GOTAR Cvet Z Juga
8 Hungary Magdi RÚZSA Unsubstantial Blues
9 Lithuania 4FUN Love Or Leave
10 Greece Sarbel Yassou Maria
11 Georgia Sopho Visionary Dream
12 Sweden THE ARK The Worrying Kind
13 France LES FATALS PICARDS L'amour À La Française
14 Latvia BONAPARTI.LV Questa Notte
15 Russia SEREBRO Song #1
16 Germany Roger CICERO Frauen Regier'n Die Welt
17 Serbia Marija ŠERIFOVIĆ Molitva
18 Ukraine Verka SERDUCHKA Dancing Lasha Tumbai
19 United Kingdom SCOOCH Flying The Flag (For You)
20 Romania TODOMONDO Liubi, Liubi, I Love You
21 Bulgaria Elitsa TODOROVA & Stoyan YANKOULO Water
22 Turkey Kenan DOÄžULU Shake It Up, Shekerim
23 Armenia Hayko Anytime You Need
24 Moldova Natalia BARBU Fight

We're up to Greece at number 10. Good start:
"first off, she's a lady,
this is a lady's world"
Which is, speaking as a Brunswick chick, exactly the sort of talk I like to hear from a good Greek boy. I like using the term 'lady'. The Squeeze calls us (us being crink and I and D) ladies.

I think I'm voting for Greece!! I like all the freakin' shimmies! I like the shitty syncho backing dancers! I like the song!

Georgia. Great. I like the dress. I like the dancing guys with swords. It's an up-tempo disco song, so it's go my vote. It's a bit like Madonna, except with lyrics by someone whose first language isn't English so they have that A-ha feel.
"This precious moment of my life,
holds me excited!"

Sweden.
I really have to go have a shower. I shaved The Squeeze's head earlier and have prickles all over me.
I have to watch this entry - Sweden is the national home of lindy hop in the twenty first century. And Abba.
And this entry is worth embedding.

I'ts ok, I guess, but it's too obvious choice for me.

"eurovision 2007 finals: greece and georgia and sweden" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 10:10 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: former yugoslavic republic macedonia and slovenia and hungary

F.Y.R. Macedonia.
I blogged them last night. Tonight the girl is miming and it sucks. The Squeeze points out that it's the same camera angles, though. She's wearing the same dress too. I'd have made her a new one. That ballet dancing is dumber tonight.

Maybe I'm just a bit more cynical tonight.

Slovenia!
We liked her last night. The Squeeze liked the glowy thing on her hand. I like her frock. And the opera pop. I think she's actually singing. But, really, I can't be sure any more.
I hate Terry Wogan - why is he ruining the surprise by introducing them before the begin?
(The Squeeze just gave me a really excited grin as she shone the light thing on her face).
See her sing here or read my other post about her here.

Hungary. Put some freakin' shoes on. She's singing for real.
I don't think I can sit through all of these shitty songs again.
I might go and have a shower now.

"eurovision 2007 finals: former yugoslavic republic macedonia and slovenia and hungary" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 9:58 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: belarus and ireland and finland

Belarus. I like to say bell -ar -us like an SF character. But The Squeeze says it's Bell-a-roos.
I like this one because there's awesome synched dancing action and girls velcroed to the props. the singer guy is really crap but he has fabulous makeup and a big, crazy smile.
Youtube (or my 5 second youtube search) has come through with the goods for Belarus!

Ireland. Boring. But it's kind of distressing to hear an Irish chick who can't even hold one single note. Surely it's some sort of cultural and genetic imperative? Or perhaps not. No stereotypes here. Pft. Nice head mike (bet she doesn't say "fuck!" into it the way I did during the first dance class I ever taught).
Borrin! Aaargh! I had a friend who was into that freakin' instrument and we nearly shoved it up his arse. Bu-dumba-da-dumba-dee-dumba-dee-dumbda-da-dumb!

Finland. Go Finland! Go! Could there be any more goth acts in this year's eurovision? But I have to admit I like that goth action. Though a bit of choreographed dancing would have helped.
I just have to say here, that it's not a good idea to read the comments on the eurovision clips. There's some scarily racist/homophobic crap on there.

I hate Terry Wogan. He sucks arse.

"eurovision 2007 finals: belarus and ireland and finland" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 9:48 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007 finals: bosnia and herzegovina and spain

Bosnia and Herzegovina: I like this one because of the lady's big seaweed dress and the baziki. And it has kissing.

Spain: hawt boyband action. With tight white shirts.

--------
The Squeeze (who has entered into this eurovision thing with enthusiasm tonight) has suggested that the eurovision doods are pre-recorded. I don't think anyone could be as crap recorded as those guys were last night. But tonight.... there's more synch action.

I am having trouble finding the clips on YouTube. I think it's because it was only on last night. So I'm sorry, friends, but I can't provide linkage. But I'm sure it'll be there next week. :(

"eurovision 2007 finals: bosnia and herzegovina and spain" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 9:41 PM in the category television

live blogging eurovision 2007: the finals!

I didn't think I could cope with any more of this stuff, but the opening sequence is inspiring. I'm not struck on Terry Wogan (dumb dumb dumb - where's the nice couple from last night?), but I really, really like the opening bit with last year's winner Lordy opening the show.

------
Aside: The Squeeze could remember the name of last year's winner from last year. I have no clue - I'm a goldfish with names, which is actually quite nice.
-----

I think I need to go to the eurovision finals next year.
I am in love with the presenters.

He's pretty and a bit dumb. She's clever but hiding it with a pretty frock.

But now - on with the finals!

"live blogging eurovision 2007: the finals!" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 9:33 PM in the category television

jerusalem

fartechokes. We had them for dinner and it's added an extra level of interest to watching Eurovision tonight.

"jerusalem" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 12:54 AM in the category fewd

eurovision 2007: slovenia and turkey and austria and latvia

I like the goth ones the best. Sort of opera goth. That's great. Chicks with dresses made of rags with glowy bits stuck to their hands doing Hitler arms up in the air and wearing leather bodices.

5 seconds into Turkey and I know I love them already. Gold, gold, gold and men in red jackets with gold embroidery.
"Shake it up, shake it ...in?"
This one goes out to all the girls in Brunswick!
I am definitely won over by uptempo songs with lots of dancing. Really poor singing is also a winner.

Austria has a man in a silver glittery mesh coat climbing out of a giant red vagina made out of red feathers and drag queens. Awesome. Go Austria! Go Austria!
Maybe that's not a giant red vagina but a big AIDs ribbon? I like the red faceted cod pieces.

Latvia: more opera-pop. Boring. Dull. Boring. Plus it's dress jackets over jeans and I don't approve. Though their fake medals are interesting because they remind me of a bloke I met at a wedding recently who owned his own business where he remounted medals onto strips so diggers can wear them in marches. Really.

Mikko Leppilampi = hawt.

Acts I didn't blog:
Bulgaria: awesome drums and chain mail.
Israel: joke band singing about bombs.
Cyprus: I must have missed this one - another glittery one.
Belarus: boring boyband action.
Iceland: hair.
Georgia: girly in a red dress shouting a bit with some guys dancing with swords (extra points).
Montenegro: boyband. Boring.
Moldova: more shouting and leather.
The Netherlands: orange, shouting lady with other ladies in lame.
Albania: sort of goth. Dull.
Denmark: awesome drag queen action with quick costume changes on stage.
Croatia: more big hair and shouting.

and then it's back to Poland.

I think I'm voting for ... hm. The vampire song is too obvious. I liked Malta because it sounded like a James Bond song. But I also liked Belgium because it was really really crap. But Turkey man had the goods. Austria did have the vagina thing happening (and we're all about gynocentrism here).... Well, that's my shortlist.

I'm sorry I blocked up your feedreaders with all these silly eurovision posts. But if you were watching and you loved it too... then you rock, and your love gives me ...

VERTIGO!

"eurovision 2007: slovenia and turkey and austria and latvia" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 12:21 AM in the category television

eurovision 2007: belgium

Two thumbs up for Belgium: satin, disco dancing, really terrible singing. Go here to feel the love power coming your way (today is not a bad day).

"eurovision 2007: belgium" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 12:17 AM in the category television

eurovision 2007: norway and malta and andorra and hungary

Norway was boring. So it's not worth it's own entry (plus I'm getting a bit bored with this).

Malta has a weird 'oriental' theme, and lots of shouting about how loving you gives me vertigo. More fans. I think this is my favourite song, though. "Your love turns me blue, my anger (?) is red... i'm ..something... turns me indigo!"

I don't even know where Andorra is. I don't like them because the the lead singer really sucks. Can you say monotone? We like lots of notes with our eurovision. I know they're meant to be a punk band, so they need to suck a bit, but booooring. Where are their dancers?!

They do win for ending their show with "Thank you everybody, we can still save the world!"

---------
Brief pause: can you imagine being on eurovision in the semi finals (that's what I'm watching on SBS by the way)? Would it be great or crap? It'd be scary, though.
---------

Hungary. Missy Higgins in Europe. Nice suitcase.
These conventional ones suck. We want costumes. Not stupid suitcases, fake bus stop signs and singlets that say 'thank god I'm a VIP'.
And WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES?!

It is just like rage. Just one more. One more song.

"eurovision 2007: norway and malta and andorra and hungary" was posted by dogpossum on May 13, 2007 12:02 AM in the category television

May 12, 2007

NERDS FC! second season!

Seeing my first ad for the second season of Nerds FC is the only good thing about ads on SBS.

"NERDS FC! second season!" was posted by dogpossum on May 12, 2007 11:54 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007: former yugoslav republic macedonia

More partner dancing, this time ballet dancers, and not quite as crap. Still not great.
But I like the way he's picking her up and turning her around while she's singing. But not enough sparkles for me.
Song? Bah, dull. though
"music is the only world for me
...
...
ni ni-nah nah, nah nah ni ni nah"

"eurovision 2007: former yugoslav republic macedonia" was posted by dogpossum on May 12, 2007 11:51 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007: portugal

A little conservative for our tastes, but I like the really big fans (though I liked the really big fans flapping around the Danish drag queen more).
This one gets points for men in skin tight, white with glitter ballroom dancing outfits and really, really, really terribly bad 'ballroom dancing'.

"eurovision 2007: portugal" was posted by dogpossum on May 12, 2007 11:47 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007: czech republic

Last year we really liked the 'metal' monster guys.

We're not sure about the 'death metal' czech republic doods. I don't like all the hair. But I like the gravelly voices.

"eurovision 2007: czech republic" was posted by dogpossum on May 12, 2007 11:43 PM in the category television

eurovision 2007: serbia

Androgyny is go.

I don't like the slow songs - I like the ones with dancing and crazy costumes, not reeeeally slow Washington hand dancing and faux lesbians.

"eurovision 2007: serbia" was posted by dogpossum on May 12, 2007 11:40 PM in the category television

eurovision: poland

she: "don't get crazy"
he: "Let's party,
you got the right to party!"

Red leather, really short skirts, tartan pants, ladies in cages.
And, as The Squeeze points out, 'crazy' rhymes with 'party'

"eurovision: poland" was posted by dogpossum on May 12, 2007 11:36 PM in the category television

live blogging eurovision

I thought I'd have lots to say, but I don't. I'd like to think I watch this tongue-in-cheek, but I'm afraid I just think it's wonderful. The lyrics are weird, but the costumes are fabulous. No one can sing, but they can all dance. Mostly.
And holy moley there are a lot of people there. Eurovision Helsinki.

Crap, the website is busted so I can't provide excellent links. But you can see bits and pieces on the BBC Eurovision site.

I can't look away. Eurovision does this to me every year. It's like Rage. One more song... just one... more...
I love the costumes.
I love the dancing.
I love the (freaking amazing) light and sound action on the stage.

I think I'm voting for Switzerland's Vampires are alive because they had mannequins on the stage with the five (or was it six?) singing/dancing group members. And because they sang a song as vampires. And of course, YouTube saves our lives with some truly fabulous clippage. Go here to see some amazing clips - filmed on mobile phones, Simms versions...

"live blogging eurovision" was posted by dogpossum on May 12, 2007 11:14 PM in the category television

May 10, 2007

i know...

It's 16 degrees and I know it's winter because the papers are steaming as they come out of the printer.

"i know..." was posted by dogpossum on May 10, 2007 4:30 PM in the category domesticity

in which i embarass myself with poorly researched comments about other people's blogs and laugh at spideremo

It suddenly got cold yesterday and today I've shut the window so I don't get cold while I work.

Last night The Squeeze and I went on a date and saw SpidermanEmo 3. It was boring, but it was nice to see Topher, who I think should have been Spiderman all along. Glen talks about it a bit and makes that joke far more effectively than I can.
Then we went to have dinner at Bismi, because I wanted something Indian and with the sort of spices and chilli levels that skips don't like, and because I'm obsessed. It was goood: best roti in the whole world. Then we walked home (about 30minutes walk) and remembered the days when I first moved to Melbourne and walked everywhere, before I discovered bikes.
The Squeeze and I (in the days of Not Dating) would go out for dinner or a film or something interesting a couple of days a week, walking from my place in Carlton North to the Nova or Brunswick Street or whereever, carefully not touching. Then we would come back to my place, drink a lot of tea and watch some telly. Then he'd go home. It was all very 1950s and quite surprised my friends. It seems we are, therefore, an excellent advertisement for abstinence, because we're still together four (or is it five?) years later.

Now I'm sitting at the computer, trying to ignore the laundry detergent perfume that's rising from a pile of clean laundry next to me. I erred when purchasing the detergent, and it's not enviro-safe. Which seems to translate to 'way over-perfumed'. I'm also trying to finish editing that paper, but it's not really happening.

I'm also wondering about notions of vernacularness, especially after reading about Jean's recent conference experiences and her vernacular creativity on the street post. I really enjoy Jean's blog and her articles. But I can't help but giggle at that entry's post - for me, the term 'vernacular dance' is really the same as saying 'street dance' (especially a that's the better-known term with dancers). To see the implied surprise/delight in finding vernacular creativity on the street makes me smile. I like her enthusiasm and genuine pleasure in the drummer on a Boston street, and her sense of affinity, and fellow-buskerness. But something isn't sitting right. I need to follow up that thought.

I also think I need to read more about this vernacular stuff that those doods have been doing in Brisvegas, esp in reference to flickr. I just know those big brains are saying something really neat. But somewhere, I'm feeling uncomfortable with the way the term vernacular is being used. There is the implication that people are writing from outside a vernacular culture, and all the resistant stuff of 'vernacular' is getting lost. I know that's probably completely inaccurate, but I just... I just feel like I've missed something. In fact, I'm pretty certain it's my error in comprehension, rather than their error in writing, and I need to fix it. But not right now - when I've finished this article, ok? Or maybe I should read it all now, before I publish this...

Seeing as how this is what I'm writing about in my paper right now, here's a chunk where I define 'vernacular dance':

Lindy hop began in Africa, where dance was firmly planted in the everyday life of every person. Some ten million men, women and children were sent into slavery to the Americas from Africa – primarily west Africa – between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. They brought with them the music and dance traditions of a number of different African nations and cultures, as well as a history of slavery prior to the European invasions. Dance in west Africa was a significant part of public and community life, and Katrina Hazzard-Gordon writes in Jookin’: the Rise of Social Dance Formations in African-American Culture that "We can say without exaggeration that dance competency, if not proficiency, is required of all individuals in west African society" (1990, pp. 4), and she extrapolates from this to site dance in all west African descended communities. Africanist dance forms – dances brought to various other communities throughout the Americas and beyond – not only share steps and specific movements, but also more general tropes in terms of aesthetics of choreography and physiology. They also share similar approaches to the social function of dance. Dance is seen not as a ‘leisure’ activity or ‘work’ or ‘performance’, bracketed from normal life as it is in mainstream Australian culture today. It is in everyday life as rhythmic movement. This everydayness is read as a key feature of vernacular dance, wherever and in whichever culture it is found. A study of vernacular dance as everyday cultural practice seems the natural preserve of a cultural studies project, and in the following discussion I will both refine my definition of the concept of vernacular dance, and therefore its role as a public discourse for the representation of individuals’ identities and ideas and the negotiation of consensual ideology in public space.
The word ‘vernacular’ is commonly associated with discussions of language and dialect, referring to the language used by ordinary or everyday people. In a discussion of dance, the essence of the term is taken to refer to the everyday or ordinary common dances of a particular dance or culture. Though I take African American vernacular dance as my central concern, there is a substantial body of dance studies literature discussing vernacular dance in other cultures, including Sheenagh Pietrobruno's work on salsa. Vernacular dance is distinguished from concert or theatre dance through its positioning in everyday spaces, rather than existing only as a formalised, and usually choreographed performance of a particular dance on a concert stage. It is intrinsically participatory and happens in all sorts of spaces, both public and private.
Vernacular dance also always exists in a state of constant change, responding to the desires, interests and needs of its participants, reflecting the ideological and social values of a particular community at a particular time. This rhythmic hybridity (to use the term in Stuart Hall’s sense) and mutability offers evidence for dance as social discourse. All dance serves as a public forum for the presentation and discussion competing ideological positions, the representation of the self and the representation of ideology on the social dance floor, in the bodies of dancers. Its mutability and reflexivity allows performers to improvise and rework or introduce new steps to suit their cultural and social needs. Ralph Ellison describes African American vernacular in the following terms in Going to the Territory:

I see the vernacular as a dynamic process in which the most refined styles from the past are continually merged with the play-it-by-ear improvisations from which we invent in our efforts to control our efforts to control our environment and entertain ourselves. And this is not only in language and literature, but in architecture and cuisine, in music, costume, and dance, and in tools and technology. In it the styles and techniques of the past are adjusted to the needs of the present, and in its integrative action the high styles of the past are democratized… Wherever we find the vernacular process operating we also find individuals who act as transmitters between it and earlier styles, tastes, and techniques. In the United States all social barriers are vulnerable to cultural styles (1986, pp. 139–41).

"in which i embarass myself with poorly researched comments about other people's blogs and laugh at spideremo" was posted by dogpossum on May 10, 2007 12:42 PM in the category academia

May 9, 2007

quick freakout

Right now I have some pretty nasty anxiety.
Got a sore neck and an achey head. And even some stomach churning.

Why?
I'm trying to finish the editing on an article for an important journal I've had accepted. It's neat, but the pressure, the pressure! I'm out of academic practice and I can't remember how to think, let alone make articles wonderful.
Plus, what do you do when one referee says "perfect - change nothing" and the other says "this sounds like a rough draft"? I vote with doing the latter's changes - no article is ever perfect. But at least it makes me sound like my ideas are clever, even if I can't seem to use the English language properly.

Other anxiety issue? The MLX is coming a bit slowly - we are a bit behind schedule and it's causing me anxiety. We don't have our logo done yet (argh! we got on it too late!), we haven't started operation PR Snowstorm yet, we have some decisions to make about venues and bands, I have to do the website (www.mlx-7.com btw) and...

Now I write about it, it's actually not very important stuff. Certainly nothing that can't be solved quite simply. We have a meeting on Friday night where we'll make new decisions. I want to write about our new MLX apprentice/handover scheme, but I don't really have time now (The Squeeze is patiently waiting for me to come back to the last half of a West Wing episode while I send of a freaky email), nor am I sure it's appropriate.
But it's making me think more about a paper I wanted to write about labour and administrative management in events management in swing dance culture. Whatsit who writes about girls and raves in the UK (Birmingham school - can never remember her name... Mcsomething?) talks about cottage industries and rave culture. I have some stuff I've written about volunteer labour and exploitation of volunteers by for-profit bodies and individuals in swing, and how that's justified by the communitarian bullshit that gets around... I also want to write some stuff about gender and volunteering and event management - is it any surprise that there are only 2 men on the 8/6 person MLX committee?

...and I need to start sending off emails getting some serious facts about women DJs in Australia in swing culture - I need to do some follow up research stuff (I think there's been some serious changes lately). How come Melbourne has a zillion female DJs, but nationally there are about 4 who are well known? How come Perth has so few DJs? I suspect it's because Melbourne has so many social DJing opportunities - DJing has become lower status/more accessible. There's also a strong network of new women DJs. And all that illicit file-sharing and music swapping? It's definitely an important counter measure for high-priced and inaccessible CDs and the 'high art' 'professional knowledge' 'heirarchy of knowledge' thing in swing DJ culture. No one's bothered to tell these Melbourne chicks that you have to know every major song by Artie Shaw before you can DJ, or that you have to have been dancing for 5 years or have 60 thousand CDs. So they're just getting on in there and learning on the job. Often in pairs or buddies - all-girl buddy partnerships.

Ok, CJ calls....

"quick freakout" was posted by dogpossum on May 9, 2007 1:29 AM in the category dogpossum

May 8, 2007

i know there are only about 3 of you who have never seen this

But I feel it is my duty to open this particular world for you.

"i know there are only about 3 of you who have never seen this" was posted by dogpossum on May 8, 2007 8:15 PM in the category clicky

May 7, 2007

excessive sensuality

Last night I did some fancy cooking.

It's been a while since I really cooked - you know, the sort of cooking where you use every single pot and pan, the blender, the food processor and at least sixty zillion ingredients. Sure, I cook regularly, and have people over for meals, but I'm talking serious cooking. And for me, serious cooking means Indian cooking.

When I first moved to Melbourne I lived in a 4 person vegetarian share house. I took to it with a will, and relished our proximity to the Vic Markets. But it didn't take long for me to get into dancing hardcore, and then I discovered that not everyone in Melbourne likes to eat. I was incredibly disappointed by swing dancers' dining habits. And still am. There's far too much bullshit pizza and ordinary pasta. No Indian. No Very little Asian (meaning any Asian cuisine) and far too many over-priced variations on meat and three veg.
The hours that I kept, as a hardcore dancer, meant that there wasn't time to cook fancy food, and there wasn't really much point when I wasn't home long enough or often enough to enjoy it. I did enjoy the household - which had shifted from vegetarian to vegan, heavy on the co-op. I liked going to the co-op at UniMelb to pick up grains or to make my own peanut butter. I liked the Vic Markets very much, and eating sixty zillion types of veggie slop a week. But my inner epicure missed the challenge of serious cooking.

Seeing as how I'm now living the patriarchy's dream - the little housewife* staying home to keep house while her man goes off to hunt down the bacon** - I've started getting serious about my domestic duties. I've started cleaning again (and now I'm thinking of PavCat and her post which sticks in my mind - I should print it out and stick it up on the wall), so our house is nice and I don't have to wear thongs inside. I've been buying groceries regularly so we don't get scurvy. I've been doing laundry regularly as well. And I've decided I needed to step it up, culinary-wise.

I am more than a little ob-con. I like order, I like strucure, I like tidying and sorting and putting things in containers. When we moved into this house The Squeeze was worried he'd come home one day to find his underwear in jars, lined up with the flour and sugar and lentils in their brand new Arc homes. If I'm working on something acka, it doesn't matter if the house is blown up and there's nothing to eat, so long as the words are all lining up nicely and carefully divided into chapters. But now that the whole writing thing isn't working so well...
I've decided that I need to get into the hardcore cooking.

Last time I was into hardcore cooking, the rest of my domestic life wasn't going so great. My seven year relationship was crumbling, my Masters was being squeeezed out of me, very slowly, and my family was kind of exploding. But fuck, I was eating like a princess. Home made pasta. Six course Indian feasts. Chutneys. Baked goods out the wazoo. Etcetera, etcetera.
Now I realise all that was seven years ago - it's not long til I've been living in Melbourne for ten years. Ten years! I'd never made a definite plan for how long I'd live here, nor where I'd go next. Right now, I'd really like to go somewhere new, do something new. But that's not really an option. Melbourne is great - I love it. But it's getting kind of ... old.

But, look, I'm off track, and wandering on with the introspection in a way that's making my male readers uncomfortable.... holy crap, can you believe I actually wrote that?!?! GEEEZus. I really am slipping.

So anyway, back to me and what I want to cook.
Now I have this time on my hands, I'm thinking about getting jiggy with the food. Last night I was home alone for the third or fourth time this week (it's been a busy week for The Squeeze, what with APPA and work meetings and interviews and things), and decided that I wasn't going to cook stupid pasta again for my dinner, nor would I buy some dumb takeaway. I was going to use some of the neat veggies I'd just bought and get some curry action happening.

I have a few favourite Indian recipe books. Madhur Jaffrey, of course. A couple of others. And this great job. This is Camellia Panjabi's 50 Great Curries of India (though mine's cover looks more like this). It's one of those lovely books with lots of useful desriptions and histories and tips. The recipes, though, are freakin' hardcore. No canned coconut milk here - only fresh, grated coconut (which is kind of hard to get in Brunswick). Six zillion spices per dish. Whole Spices, though - no ground action. You roast them, then you grind them up. And spices and ingredients I've never, ever heard of. We're talking a level above black cardamon here, at least.
So last night (at about 7pm, I should add), I decide that I'd like to whip up a veggie curry. At first I was kind of clumsy. I couldn't figure out how to fit all the jars of spice on the counter. Then I realised all those spices were kind of old and neglected. Then I found my two cans of coconut milk had gone off (I subbed in a bit of dessicated coconut and some canned coconut milk for the fresh coconut - you have to fry the grated coconut a bit and the flavour is incredible. But adding too much dessicated coconut to a curry gives you a big pot of all-bran - chewy, kind of flavourless, frustrating). Things weren't looking too great, so I swapped recipes. And then it was like my fingers and some unconscious part of my brain suddenly remembered what to do. I was the queen of frying whole spices, grating ginger, chopping cauliflower.

Midway through, I realised that I'd made this recipe before and not really liked it (I should have removed the cinamon stick rather than blending it in - it's too strong), so I decided to whip up a quick chickpea curry. Do you know how long it's been since I made chickpea curry?! That's how far I've fallen. It took me about 10 seconds and I even remembered the recipe, after at least five years! But then I needed some greens. There was cauliflower, sweet potato and carrots in the curry, I'd found some frozen peas in the freezer (ask The Squeeze about those) and I had a big stack of spinach. So, while the rice was cooking (brown rice, because we'd run out of Basmati (!!) and I felt like it), I threw some chopped garlic and mustard seeds into some olive oil, then some chopped spinach into that. And I cooked it just right - still bright green and full of watery goodness, but not underdone - and it was perfect!

And then I sat down to a plate full of lovely goodness and at least three episodes of Gilmore Girls (did you know that Sam from Supernatural was Rory's boyfriend? Or that Peter Petrelli from Heroes was her other boyfriend?!).

The smells! The aromas! How could I have gone so long without this?! I haven't cooked Indian from complete scratch in years - there's nothing at all like it. Nothing so sensual, so pleasing. And when you're in there, making that spice paste, about an hour in and with at least an hour to go before you even put the rice on, you think this is complete indulgence. No freaking housewife would take this much time and effort! Cooking like this is pure indulgence. It is luxury. It is taking a whole lot of time to do something that could take half an hour. It's taking cheap ingredients (all those vegetables) and making something truly special. And I didn't even get into naan (of which I am a master) or sweets!

But really, this sort of cooking is cooking for pleasure. When it's not the cooking you were raised with, or the sort of cooking you're expected to do, it's extravagance. Profligance even. And it makes me think about the way cooking means different things in different moments. It's the luxury of time - to cook, to hunt down ingredients, to research recipes and particular food items and utensils. It's also a marker of affluence and social opportunity. And when you get into things like Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson, it's about ideas of luxury and being wealthy enough to afford Oliver's cuts of meat in London, or Nigella's kitchen accessories. Or - perhaps more importantly for women - being able to simply indulge, indulge, indulge. Without consequence. No calory counting. No expanding girth. No increasing weight. No guilt. It's the complete and selfish absorption in a utterly sensual and unnecessary activity. This isn't subsistence cooking, it's intensive gastronomy. It is about waste. There's time alone, cloistered in a lovely clean kitchen with just the right tools and raw materials. There are the physical sensations - the softness of fresh dough, the sting of cut chilli, the earthiness of ground spices. The intellectual and creative stimulation - considering how it will taste, making decisions about which ingredient to omit or increase and knowing how this will effect the end product. And the pleasure of expectation - imagining how it will taste, how it will look, how it will smell when it is done and displayed on just the right plate.

It all sounds very artyfarty, wanky, ridiculous. And that's because it is, and that is what sells television like Nigella's stupidly ill-focused and unsteadily filmed program and creates cults for cooks and chefs. There's certainly an element of power and control - at least for me. When I'm cooking, I'm the boss. If there are mistakes, they're my mistakes. If there are successes, they're my successes. And there are always new and uncharted territories to explore. Or more excitingly, reams and reams of charts to be ferreted out of bookshelves, stalked in book shops and television guides and on the internet.

So I'm off to the shops in a minute. The Indian grocer is next door to the fresh pasta guy on Lygon Street, just up from a middle eastern nut shop. And then I have to get to the greengrocer on Sydney Road before I finish off at the Halal butcher for some goat. Or perhaps some lamb mince - Madhur has a nice recipe for boiled eggs wrapped in mince and then cooked in curry. Something The Squeeze would like.
Or perhaps, even better, I'll just get a bunch of things I know I'll like and make them for myself.

*I should point out here that 'housewife' is meant to refer to that imaginary beast who happily spends her entire existence thinking only of others, cooking, cleaning, entertaining, buying white goods, fetching, carrying for children and husband. Career? Are you kidding?! She doesn't write books (or blogs) or draw pictures or sew anything other than clothes for her children or herself. She doesn't teach or talk about anything more interesting than which brand of soap she should buy. She aspires to nothing more than domestic harmony and pleasing other people.

This housewife is not the same person as the woman who chooses to be the primary caregiver in her family yet doesn't switch off her brain. This housewife is the person whose entire being is validated and justified by her service to her family, and she would never, ever consider dropping it all for a quick trip across to Richmond to chase down Japanese quilting fabrics, or that mythical Jazz shop in St Kilda or to take photos of installation art in the CBD.

**There is more than a little bitterness here. All that tertiary education and no corrections, and for what? A clean fucking house? Nice. Glad I put that effort in. Sure, being a housewife is fine, but not for me. In fact, for me, it's like the world is saying "hey, you know how you're really clever and can really write and research and stuff? It means nothing. Everything you are - it is worth less than your ability to wield a broom.

"excessive sensuality" was posted by dogpossum on May 7, 2007 2:02 PM in the category fewd and gastropod

May 4, 2007

classy jazz musicians

There's an audio file of Buddy Rich giving his band a good talking to, post-gig, which you can listen to here. But be warned - there's a bit of F-word action.

From this SwingDJs thread

"classy jazz musicians" was posted by dogpossum on May 4, 2007 2:53 PM in the category music

May 2, 2007

hullabaloo round up

So a couple of weekends ago we went to Hullabaloo.

Thursday

We flew in on Thursday, taking a midday flight because we're sensible. I was really excited and had trouble sitting still on the plane. I took my laptop and headphones and copy of The Swing Era so that I could prepare for my sets over the weekend, but ended up far too excited to concentrate. The Squeeze slept the whole way. I ended up watching a dumb Hillary Swank film called the Freedom Writers which made me cry.

We arrived at about 6pm, and headed off to Chez Chez to dump our gear and change clothes. Chez's flat is quite small, and we filled it up with a Taswegian and us and Chez. But we're used to each other - they stay with us at MLX time each year.
From Chez's house we went off to a pub in Cottesloe to do some dancing. But first we ate fish and chips, and I was very pleased.
Then we went up to start the dancing, but got sidetracked by a lot of old friends who needed squeezing and teasing. I was delighted to see Dust For Eyes, who taught me how to do Snake Hips dancing and snaps.

After a lot of dancing there, we moved on to the late night venue so I could set up for my first set (eek!) at 2am. The late night venue was an interesting dance studio space with hiiiigh ceilings. The sound set up was not ideal. In fact, it was pretty damn ordinary and I really struggled to make things sound good. Well, to make them sound ok.
People straggled in slowly and I was mostly playing to a very small crowd (ie 5 or 10 people) for a while, but that was ok because I just played stuff to test the limits of the sound set up and to please myself. And those 5 or 10 people.
Once the rest of the punters arrived I stepped it up a bit.

I can't really remember how the set went, other than that I wasn't really happy with it, but it didn't suck. It was probably a combination of nerves and adjusting to an exchange crowd. This is what I played (title-artist-bpm-date-album-length-date/time played if it's accurate):

I'm Comin' Virginia- Maxine Sullivan - 110 - 1956 - A Tribute To Andy Razaf - 2:48 - 20/04/07 2:13 AM
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - 120 - 1957 - Ella And Louis Again [MFSL] - 4:15 - 20/04/07 2:17 AM
I've Got A Mind To Ramble - Alberta Hunter - 112 - 1978 - Amtrak Blues - 4:13 - 20/04/07 2:21 AM
It Takes Two to Tango - Lester Young and Oscar Peterson - 104 - 1997 - Lester Young With the Oscar Peterson Trio - 6:09
B-Sharp Boston - Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - 126 - 1949 - Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 - 2:54
Jive At Five - Count Basie and His Orchestra - 147 - 1960 - The Count Basie Story (Disc 1) - 3:02 - 20/04/07 2:30 AM
Easy Does It - Big 18 - 129 - 5:14
Every Day I Have The Blues - Count Basie - 116 - 1959 - Breakfast Dance And Barbecue - 3:48
C-Jam Blues - Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - 143 - 1999 - Live In Swing City: Swingin' With Duke
Blues In Hoss' Flat - Count Basie and His Orchestra - 142 - 1995 - Big Band Renaissance Disc 1 - 3:13
Good Queen Bess - Duke Ellington - 160 - 1940 - The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 10) - 3:00
Flying Home - Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra - 197 - 1942 - Lionel Hampton Story 2: Flying Home - 3:10 - 20/04/07 2:52 AM
Lavender Coffin - Hampton, Lionel and His Orchestra with Sonny Parker and Joe James - 134 - 1949 - Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings - 2:47
Cole Slaw - Jesse Stone and His Orchestra - 145 - Original Swingers: Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips vol 2 - 2:57
Four Or Five Times - Woody Herman Orchestra - 141 - The Great Swing Bands (Disc 2) - 3:09 - 20/04/07 3:01 AM
Stomp It Off - Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra - 190 - 1934 - Swingsation - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:08
Savoy Blues - Kid Ory - 134 - 2002 - Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 3 - 3:00 - 20/04/07 3:07 AM
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho - Kid Ory And His Creole Jazz Band - 160 - 1946 - Kid Ory and his Creole Jazz Band 1944-46 - 3:12
Perdido Street Blues - Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra with Sidney Bechet - 148 - 1940 - Blues In Thirds 1940-41 - 3:00 - 20/04/07 3:13 AM
East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - Michael McQuaid's Red Hot Rhythmakers - 152 - 2006 - Rhythm Of The Day - 3:21
Jungle Nights In Harlem - Charlestown Chasers - 213 - 1995 - Pleasure Mad mediumenergy - 2:48
Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee - Hampton, Lionel and His Orchestra with Sonny Parker - 134 - 1949 - Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings - 3:23 - 20/04/07 3:23 AM
Till Tom Special - Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra - 158 - 1940 - Tempo And Swing - 3:23
For Dancers Only - Jimmie Lunceford and His Harlem Express - 178 - 1944 - 1944-Uncollected - 2:22
Shoutin' Blues - Count Basie and His Orchestra - 148 - 1949 - Kansas City Powerhouse - 2:38
Turn It Over - Bus Moten and his Men - 148 - 1949 - Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) - 2:38
Jump Session - Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart - 162 - Slim & Slam, 1938-1939 - 2:35
Don't Be That Way - Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra - 137 - 1938 - Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets great mediumenergy 2:35
Massachusetts - Maxine Sullivan - 144 - 2006 - A Tribute To Andy Razaf - 3:18

We don't have any photos from that night.

Friday

The next day was Friday, and The Squeeze was determined to get up in time for the tour of Fremantle. I was tired. But we bundled into the car with K (Chez was off to work - suckah!) to start our tour at the Round House. The Squeeze had heard there would be some kick boxing action to start off with, but this proved to be erroneous.

The tour was fun. We met up with some people, saw a cannon fired, were told a few lies by whiley Perthlings (I have discovered being lied to is as good as telling lies) and moved immediately to the best cafe in the area for sustenance. By this time it was at least 2pm and we were in need of caffeine and fewd. You can see some photos from the tour here at George's site. I'd like to say we saw more of Fremantle than a series of pubs and cafes, but that would be lying. We've seen Fremantle before, and we had people we needed to talk to.

Then DFE, The Squeeze and I sat in a nice cafe and ate a lot (I had a FABULOUS fettucini pescatore!) and talked a whole lot of shit. After a couple of hours The Squeeze got bored and went away. Then he came back. Then we walked to a pub where we saw more dancers drinking and eating. Then we went to another pub the Little Creatures Brewery and saw more dancers. And some of us drank a whoooooole lot. And some of the rest of us caught up with lovely friends. By this stage I had already talked so much about music and DJing I had almost grown my own pocket protector. But that part of the weekend was far from over.
After the beer had been drunk and the sun had gone down, we left that pub and went home to change our clothes nap. We accidentally missed the Friday night dance at a local pub gig. So we went straight to the after party where I had another set lined up. That's the gig where I did that (look right). I have no excuse for my ineptitude. I thought I could DJ for blues dancers. But apparently this crew weren't into old music. In fact, they weren't really into much except standing on the spot, really close to their partners or make human waves with their torsos. I ordinarily like blues dancing, but this was dull. But enough of that! Let's see the terrible set I played:

Harvard Blues - Kansas City Band - 83 - 1997 - KC After Dark - 6:50 - 21/04/07 3:36 AM
Wee Baby Blues - Big Joe Turner with Pete Johnson and Freddie Green - 79 - 1956 - The Boss Of The Blues - 7:18 - 21/04/07 3:43 AM
Hear Me Talking To Ya? - Ella Fitzgerald - 98 - 1963 - These Are The Blues - 3:02 - 21/04/07 3:46 AM
Back Water Blues - Dinah Washington with Belford Hendricks' Orchestra - 71 - 1957 - Ultimate Dinah Washington - 4:58
I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl - Nina Simone - 65 - 1967 - Released - 2:33 - 60 - 21/04/07 3:54 AM
I'm Gonna Take What He's Got - Etta James - 57 - 1967 - The Best Of Etta James - 2:35 - 21/04/07 3:56 AM
Son Of A Preacher Man - Aretha Franklin - 77 - Greatest Hits - Disc 1 - 3:16
When I've Been Drinkin' - Jimmy Witherspoon - 71 - 1998 - Jazz Me Blues: the Best of Jimmy Witherspoon - 3:38 - 21/04/07 4:03 AM
Slow Down Baby - Walter Brown with Jay McShann and His Kycee Stompers - 73 - 1949 - Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) - 2:56
Hamp's Salty Blues - Lionel Hampton and His Quartet - 86 - 1946 - Lionel Hampton Story 3: Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop - 3:10 - 21/04/07 4:09 AM
Minnie The Moocher - Cab Calloway - 97 - 1994 - Are You Hep To The Jive? - 3:16 - 21/04/07 4:13 AM
St. James Infirmary - Henry "Red" Allen - 98 - 1991 - World on a String - Legendary 1957 Sessions - 3:45 - 21/04/07 4:16 AM
Reckless Blues - Velma Middleton with Louis Armstrong and the All Stars - 88 - The Complete Decca Studio Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (disc 06) - 2:30
Willow Weep For Me - Louis Armstrong - 90 - 1957 - Ella And Louis Again [MFSL] - 4:21
Rocks In My Bed - Ella Fitzgerald - 68 - 1956 - Ella Fitzgerald Day Dream: Best Of The Duke Ellington Songbook - 3:59 - 21/04/07 4:27 AM
Amtrak Blues - Alberta Hunter - 95 - 1978 - Amtrak Blues - 3:23
Resolution Blues - Dinah Washington - 65 - 22 Original Classics - 3:14 - 21/04/07 4:34 AM
It Takes Two to Tango - Lester Young and Oscar Peterson - 104 - 1997 - Lester Young With the Oscar Peterson Trio - 6:09 - 21/04/07 4:37 AM
Smooth Sailing - Ella Fitzgerald - 118 - 2000 - Ken Burns Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald - 3:07 - 21/04/07 4:40 AM
Happy Go Lucky Local (Night Train) - Oscar Peterson - 103 - 1962 - Night Train - 4:52 - 21/04/07 4:45 AM
Easy Does It - Big 18 - 129 - 5:14 - 21/04/07 4:50 AM
B-Sharp Boston - Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - 126 - 1949 - Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 - 2:54
Jump Ditty! - Joe Carroll and The Ray Bryant Quintet - 134 - Red Kat Swing 1 - 2:53
The Deacon - Count Basie - 110 - 1959 - Breakfast Dance And Barbecue - 5:52 - 21/04/07 5:02 AM

It was round about "Minnie the Moocher" that things were at their lowest. I had trouble getting the feel of the room (I'd actually been told I'd be playing an hour later than I ended up starting, so I hadn't had a chance to be in the room and get a feel for things) and those kids - I don't really think they were ready for blues dancing just then. So I took the energy up with some "St James Infirmary" (though I should have gone straight to the Louis Armstrong), but it didn't help. Finally, things picked up at "Willow Weep for Me", and I decided to ooze into a bit of groovy lindy hop, then up the bpm ladder til the room was working again. It immediately improved numbers on the floor.
I tried some lower tempo stuff with Dinah again a bit later (because I felt I should play a blues set if I was booked for it), but that crashed. So I recovered with dirty Lester Young action.
And fled Mt DJ after "The Deacon".

Not my finest hour (and a half), and if you take a look at the set list of the DJ before me (lovely Jason from Perth), you'll see there were some double-ups.
In fact, there were quite a few repeats over the weekend - "Savoy Blues" was played by every single DJ on Thursday night up til me. If I'd been dancing more and talking less at the dance I'd have noticed.

So, thank god that set was over.
We went home after that - The Squeeze was tired and so was I.

Saturday
The next day we slept til 1 or 3pm. I forget which. We went and bought some fewd for dinner and drove and saw some sites. Then we went home and got ready for the dance, which was fun. I really liked the band at the dance, and had some fun dances with fun people. Trev won the Jack and Jill and I heard some good DJing action. Then we went to the after party. First we tried to organise a trip to eat nice Chinese fewd, but we failed. So we just went on to the after party, which was at the better two-room venue.

Some of us went in a team battle. At the time I was really regreting entering, and I didn't really have a good time at all. But in retrospect (ie, after watching the clip), it wasn't so bad. I was in Team Brunswick (named for Chez' shirt) - you can even hear me answering Trev at the beginning. We were ok. The best bit (in my mind) was where we (entirely by coincidence) did a 'waterfall' of swingouts to just the right bit in "Flying Home". I'm not a big fan of team battles (sorry Trev), and I've never seen one go really well or really inspire me. The secret to a good lindy battle is actually dancing lindy. But mostly people do dumb stuff, which I'm not all that interested in. Because I am a boring straighty-one-eighty stooge.

After that was all over, things got fun. There was a band (I think - or was that the night before? I can't remember). There was a lot of dancing fun, and I did another set (my best of the weekend, I think). Here's the set list (title - artist - bpm - date - album - time/date stamp (minus 2hours because I was working with Melbourne time, not Perth time):

Blues In Hoss' Flat - Count Basie and His Orchestra - 142 - 1995 - Big Band Renaissance Disc 1 - 3:13 - 22/04/07 4:19 AM
C-Jam Blues - Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - 143 - 1999 - Live In Swing City: Swingin' With Duke - 3:33 - 2/05/07 1:15 PM
Sent For You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today) - Count Basie and His Orchestra - 172 - 1952 - Complete Clef/Verve Count Basie Fifties Studio Recordings (Disc 2) - 3:13 - 22/04/07 4:26 AM
Back Room Romp - Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - 151 - 2000 - Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington - 2:49 - 22/04/07 4:29 AM
A Viper's Moan - Willie Bryant And His Orchestra - 153 - Willie Bryant 1935-1936 - 3:25 - 24/04/07 4:31 AM
Good Queen Bess - Duke Ellington - 160 - 1940 - The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 10) - 3:00 - 22/04/07 4:35 AM
Stomp It Off - Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra - 190 - 1934 - Swingsation - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:08 - 22/04/07 4:38 AM
Four Or Five Times - Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra - 140 - 1935 - Swingsation - Jimmie Lunceford - 3:07 - 22/04/07 4:41 AM
Turn It Over - Bus Moten and his Men - 148 - 1949 - Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) - 2:38 - 24/04/07 4:34 AM
Easy Does It - Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra - 155 - 1939 - Yes, Indeed! - 3:15 - 22/04/07 4:47 AM
Apollo Jump - Lucky Millinder - 143 - Apollo Jump - 3:26
Krum Elbow Blues - Mora's Modern Swingtet - 162 - 2004 - 20th Century Closet - 2:45
Blues My Naughty Sweetie - Sidney Bechet - 140 - 1951 - The Blue Note Years - 5:43 - 22/04/07 4:59 AM
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho - Kid Ory And His Creole Jazz Band - 160 - 1946 - Kid Ory and his Creole Jazz Band 1944-46 - 3:12 - 22/04/07 5:02 AM
East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - Michael McQuaid's Red Hot Rhythmakers - 152 - 2006 - Rhythm Of The Day - 3:21
Jungle Nights In Harlem - Charlestown Chasers - 213 - 1995 - Pleasure Mad - 2:48 - 22/04/07 5:09 AM
Lavender Coffin - Hampton, Lionel and His Orchestra with Sonny Parker and Joe James - 134 - 1949 - Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings - 2:47
Cole Slaw - Jesse Stone and His Orchestra - 145 - Original Swingers: Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips vol 2 - 2:57 - 22/04/07 5:14 AM
Shoutin' Blues - Count Basie and His Orchestra - 148 - 1949 - Kansas City Powerhouse - 2:38 - 22/04/07 5:17 AM
For Dancers Only - Jimmie Lunceford and His Harlem Express - 178 - 1944 - 1944-Uncollected - 2:22 - 22/04/07 5:19 AM
Just Kiddin' Around - Artie Shaw and His Orchestra - 159 - 1941 - Self Portrait (Disc 3) - 3:21
Don't Be That Way - Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra - 137 - 1938 - Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets - 2:35
Chicken Shack Boogie - Lionel Hampton and His Sextet - 124 - 1949 - Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings - 3:16 - 22/04/07 5:29 AM
Hey Now, Hey Now - Cab Calloway - 121 - 1994 - Are You Hep To The Jive? - 2:56 - 22/04/07 5:32 AM
Effervescent Blues - Mora's Modern Swingtet - 122 - 2004 - 20th Century Closet - 3:07
B-Sharp Boston - Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - 126 - 1949 - Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 - 2:54 - 22/04/07 5:38 AM
Massachusetts - Maxine Sullivan - 144 - 2006 - A Tribute To Andy Razaf - 3:18 - 22/04/07 5:41 AM
Splanky - Count Basie - 157 - 1966 - Live at the Sands - 3:52 - 22/04/07 5:45 AM
Hallelujah, I Love Her So - Count Basie - 145 - 1959 - Breakfast Dance And Barbecue - 2:36 - 22/04/07 5:47 AM
King Porter Stomp - Kansas City Band - 170 - 1997 - KC After Dark - 4:38 - 22/04/07 5:52 AM
Till Tom Special - Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra - 158 - 1940 - Tempo And Swing - 3:23 - 22/04/07 5:55 AM
Shout, Sister, Shout - Lucky Millinder - 140 - Apollo Jump - good medium tempo dancing 2:44 - 22/04/07 5:58 AM
Le Jazz Hot - Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra - 144 - 1939 - Lunceford Special 1939-40 - 2:41 - 22/04/07 6:01 AM
My Baby Just Cares For Me - Nina Simone - 120 - The Great Nina Simone - 3:38 - 22/04/07 6:05 AM
Bli-Blip - Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - 134 - 1999 - Live In Swing City: Swingin' With Duke - 3:16 - 22/04/07 6:08 AM

I started a bit earlier than expected because Russ had technical troubles and I had to take over. After the first three songs he gave up and introduced me. I was really happy with those first three songs - I had the room on fire. It's a pity Russ had to interrupt to introduce me, as we lost quite a few people then. But them's the breaks. I should probably have continued with hi-fi action to keep the room, but now I've learnt something useful.

I actually consciously chose to play a fair proportion of hi-fi because we'd heard a lot of old scratch so far that weekend. I wanted to change the vibe a bit and catch people's attention. It worked well, and I found that a useful thing to remember through my set. This was my first real late-late night set at a hardcore lindy exchange and I learnt a lot. I discovered that you need to change the energy in the room a bit to keep people dancing - from slow to fast to hi-fi to scratchy - and change more regularly than I normally would. The most important thing I learnt was that if you give people a chance to remember how tired they are when they're dancing at 2:30am (take two hours from those time stamps) they sit down and then they go home. So you have to keep the tempos above 120, or the energy levels nice and high.
Round about "Effervescent Blues" I let the tempos get lower and noticed a distinct drop in the room's energy. So I did a bit of stunt work with Maxine Sullivan. That version of "Massachusetts" is really swinging and energising. It's pretty hi-fi and hitting on the groove barrier, but it feels like fun. The band she's working with are so freaking good, you just want to dance.

From there I decided we needed more hi-fi action to wake people up. So I used some old favourite action - "Splanky" is a real swinger favourite, and that version is nicely uptempo and upenergy - and hi-fi. But it doesn't feel too crazy - people also think of "Splanky" as being slower, as many of the most popular versions are about 130bpm. That's the advantage of different versions of favourites - you can exploit people's expectations. By this stage I had the room really cooking, but I wanted to get the tempos much higher. Thing is, the dancers were actually a bit tired (it was 3:45am) so I gave them a bit of break with the hi-fi favourite "Hallelujah" (not my favourite song, but very effective and live which always feels good). Then I chucked it up with "King Porter Stomp", another hi-fi (but sounds old school) live song. It's a longish song, so I had to drop it down from there.

From there I went with an oldie but a goodie - "Til Tom Special" is upenergy, but it creeps up on you. It starts with a more mellow feeling, but builds. So I could get the kids who were sitting down (but ready to dance) up on the floor. Then another very safe favourite.

And I decided to change things again completely with Nina Simone at 4:00am. Hi-fi, super favourite, nice easy tempo. And I had 100% strike rate - everyone in the room dancing (which was about 30 or 40 people? I'm not sure). From here I was to hand over to the closing DJ, so I couldn't do much more than close up with a fun favourite. I really could have gone on a bit longer, I think, and had just begun to hit another wave of inspiration - "Blip Blip" could have gotten us to other, more interesting places - but that was the end of my set.

Then I wanted to dance and dance and dance and dance. The Squeeze was long gone by then - he was tired and had gone home to bed. But I was feeling all energised by a successful set, and thought I was the dancing queen. So I had some dances, proved - despite all that thinking - that I wasn't the dancing queen. And then I was taken home.
To Deb and Glen's home, where seven of us had toasted sandwiches and hot chocolate at about 6am. The Squeeze turned up with Chez who'd dropped home to pick up cheese (really), and he impressed people with his fleecy pajamas. Then Glen, Trev and I had a really lovely, nerdy music talk.

Then we went home as the sun came up and went to BED!

Some more things I've learnt about DJing at exchanges:
- the stuff that's old and boring at home isn't necessarily old and boring somewhere else. People at exchanges are from all over, and you can't be sure of what's cool in their home town (though it helps to know who there local DJs are and what they play). So songs like "Lavender Coffin", which I'm really sick of was new to the Perthlings. And "Cole Slaw", which is newish (ie new for new dancers and the groover crowd, old for people like me who learnt with old school teachers) for Melbourne is old for Perth.
- Perth DJs play a lot of scratch, so hi-fi was novel there. I had to be careful what I played, though - stuff that Melbourne kids would adore, Perthlings (especially Perthlings who'd been around for awhile) wouldn't like.
- The Squeeze reckons exchanges are the place to play safe favourites, because dancers are dancing with strangers and want each dance to be good. But I reckon it's also a place to experiment with more challenging stuff because you tend to have a more experienced crowd. Really, though, it's a combination of both, and depends on what time you play (that time slot was a really choice set), where you're playing, what the crowd is like and how the room feels.
- Having workshops affects how late people stay and how much energy they have. Workshosp can often leave people feeling trashed about their dancing, so 'safe' songs can be nice.
- Hullabaloo wasn't like MLX - it was a bit smaller and had more new dancers. At MLX you can really play the most hardcore stuff, because you have the most hardcore music. But Hullabaloo is a more mixed crowd. Having said that, Hullabaloo has a crowd of older dancers with more sophisticated taste - there's little they haven't heard and they want to be pushed.

Overall, I was happy with my sets in an okish way, but I don't think I pushed any envelopes and have certainly done better sets in the past. But it was lovely to DJ in a new town, far, far away from the bullshit politics of Melbourne. It was especially nice to be DJing in a town where set times and numbers weren't determined by whether or not you're in with the 'cool crowd' or best friends with the organisers. I was just one DJ in many, and I had to prove myself on the night - no pre-existing rep to protect or prove.

Sunday
On Sunday we got up at 3pm, and then looked for some food. It was hard because the shops are all closed in Perth on Sunday. People have been telling me that this is 'cute' and 'nice' and gives workers a break. I say it's BULLSHIT. We saw some more sites. Some by accident.

But after a bit we got some stuff. We made dinner for the crew and spent some time getting ready for the ball. I'm not a big fan of balls generally - I don't like the dressing up or the big, echoey barns they're held in. I like a more intimate venue and casual vibe for hardcore dancing. I'd also made a particularly crappy dress, which didn't help. But there was free food, I did more talking and that was nice.

After that we went to the late night party, which was at the first venue. There was some sort of DJ mix up and the music wasn't good for lindy - apparently the DJ'd been booked for a blues set, and was determined to play that no matter what. Which didn't make the mixed crowd happy (who were predominantly lindy hoppers).
Later I was asked to fill in at the end of the night with some stuff, so I ended up DJing some lindy then blues as the lindy crowd had pretty much gone home by then. It was an ok set, a bit dull, really. Kind of the 'greatest hits' of 2004/2005. The first lindy bit (up until "Smooth Sailing", then I swapped with a buddy, then we swapped back and I closed the night) was good, but it was really too late by then to catch the lindy crowd.
But here's what I played:

Every Day I Have The Blues - Count Basie - 116 - 1959 - Breakfast Dance And Barbecue - 3:48 - 23/04/07 6:28 AM
Lavender Coffin - Hampton, Lionel and His Orchestra with Sonny Parker and Joe James - 134 - 1949 - Hamp: The Legendary Decca Recordings - 2:47 - 23/04/07 6:31 AM
Solid as a Rock - Count Basie and His Orchestra with The Deep River Boys - 140 - Count Basie and His Orchestra 1950-1951 - 3:03 - 23/04/07 6:34 AM
Everybody Eats When They Come To My House - Cab Calloway - 151 - 1994 - Are You Hep To The Jive? - 2:46 - 23/04/07 6:36 AM
Oomph Fa Fa - Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five - 129 - 2003 - Jammin' the Blues - 3:35 - 23/04/07 6:40 AM
Jump Ditty! - Joe Carroll and The Ray Bryant Quintet - 134 - Red Kat Swing 1 - 2:53 - 23/04/07 6:43 AM
Smooth Sailing - Ella Fitzgerald - 118 - 2000 - Ken Burns Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald - 3:07
Get Back Temptation - Ollabelle - 80 - 2004 - Ollabelle - 2:49
Heartattack and Vine - Tom Waits - 90 - 1980 - Heartattack and Vine - 4:50 - 23/04/07 7:10 AM
Son Of A Preacher Man - Aretha Franklin - 77 - Greatest Hits - Disc 1 - 3:16 - 23/04/07 7:13 AM
My Chile - Jay McShann Trio - 145 - Hootie - 3:20 - 23/04/07 7:16 AM
Organ Grinder's Swing - Jimmy Smith - 168 - 1996 - Talkin' Verve - 2:15 - 23/04/07 7:19 AM
My Handy Man Ain't Handy No More - Alberta Hunter - 76 - 1978 - Amtrak Blues - 3:49
Reckless Blues - Velma Middleton with Louis Armstrong and the All Stars - 88 - The Complete Decca Studio Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (disc 06) - 2:30
Do I Move You - Nina Simone - 53 - 1967 - Released - 2:46
I Never Loved A Man - Aretha Franklin - 90 - Greatest Hits - Disc 1 - 2:51
Dead End Street - Lou Rawls - 75 - Best Of Lou Rawls - 3:33
Please Please Please - James Brown - 74 - 1991 - Sex Machine - 2:45
When The Lights Go Out - Jimmy Witherspoon - 100 - 1998 - Jazz Me Blues: the Best of Jimmy Witherspoon - 3:00 - 80 - groovy blues - 25/04/07 7:22 PM
Slow Down Baby - Walter Brown with Jay McShann and His Kycee Stompers - 73 - 1949 - Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) - 2:56 80 - 25/04/07 7:25 PM
I Feel Like Layin In Another Woman's Husband's Arms - Blu Lu Barker - 89 - 1946 - Don't You Feel My Leg: Apollo's Lady Blues Singers - 2:56 - 25/04/07 7:28 PM
How Long, How Long Blues - Ella Fitzgerald - 80 - 1963 - These Are The Blues - 4:00 - 25/04/07 7:32 PM
Willow Weep For Me - Louis Armstrong - 90 - 1957 - Ella And Louis Again [MFSL] - 4:21 - 25/04/07 7:37 PM
Amtrak Blues - Alberta Hunter - 95 - 1978 - Amtrak Blues - 3:23 - 25/04/07 7:40 PM
Back Water Blues - Dinah Washington with Belford Hendricks' Orchestra - 71 - 1957 - Ultimate Dinah Washington - 4:58 - 25/04/07 7:55 PM

I'm not sure what happened to the date stamp there - it was all on the morning of the 23rd/ late night of the 22nd, but the times are accurate if you minus 2 hours for Melbourne/Perth time differences.

I don't have much to say about this set as it was uninspiring to DJ and is kind of dull to think about (though it was very popular on the night - which just goes to show, considering it's almost the same as the other blues set I did that weekend - that timing is everything). That Ella blues album? Don't bother with it - Ella can't sing the blues. It's a nice album to listen to, but lacks emotional veracity.

I went home from here a bit tired and over it.

Monday:
We got up at about 12 to go to the picnic in the park, which was nice. They had GREEN GRASS!

That night we went to the final dance, and I have to say, I was kind of over the whole thing by then. It was fun, but I was bored and tired and actually more interested in interesting conversations that lasted longer than three minutes. I did hear some sweet DJing though (Trev and Glenn esp, with nice work by Russ).

It ended, then there were two rival after parties at people's houses. The teenagers' party blues party and the nanna party lindy party. I decided I wanted to go to a party where some lights were on, decent conversation was likely and the room didn't smell like heavy petting (yes, I had to say it - blues dancers stink, and not in a healthy exercise sweat way). That was fun. From there we went to the blues party to close up, and it was exactly as expected. The Squeeze was very disappointed - he was looking for the party where people were drinking and laughing and doing stunts. So we watched other people rub up against each other very slowly dance and went home to bed.

The next day we had a 1pm flight which we caught quite happily, then flew back to Melbourne to our beds.

Overall, it was really really nice to catch up with interstate friends and hang out. I think I prefer the day time stuff to the night time stuff, but I do like the late nights more than the evenings - there you just put on your comfortable hardcore dancing clothes and dance and dance and dance. I will get a bit fitter for next time so I can go harder and I will get hardcore with vitamins - the first day home I had a cold which had no doubt been brewing the last few days.
It was great to get a chance to talk nerdy DJ talk with other DJs, and I do love catching up with friends.

"hullabaloo round up" was posted by dogpossum on May 2, 2007 7:17 PM in the category djing and lindy hop and other dances and perth

when swing djs get bored...

I'm Duke Ellington!

Just like the greatest of American composers, you see the big picture. You make the most of your resources by arranging them just so. A calm, cool demeanor on the outside is often just a front. Capable of a wide range of emotions and a prolific need for something new, you are at heart a whistful dreamer.







Take Which Jazz Musician Are You? today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.

"when swing djs get bored..." was posted by dogpossum on May 2, 2007 6:30 PM in the category djing

strong-arm

Galaxy's little brother (I never get tired of writing that - I'm sure it drives him nuts, but I feel like I get to associate with Galaxy's Big Sister pride in Stew because I've known her so long) has been making nice things again. I particularly like that photo of the nannas with the the athletes. It reminds me of a comment a dance friend made about images of black men being intimidating. At the time I was kind of floored by the inadvertent racism at work, but now I'm also really interested in the idea of pictures of people being intimidating. And by the way particular people are set up to be intimidated. And of course, the ways race and gender are at work in all this.

...I'm always really tickled by the way certain types of men find me really intimidating. I think of myself as a little baby - I spend half my time worrying that I'm not clever enough or good enough or whatever. I like to wear a lot of pink and I like necklaces made of bright wooden or plastic beads. And when I come across another young man who finds me really frightening... I have to say, I like it. I like the power. I like being able to think 'HA! Take that, patriarchy!' And of course, I take shameless advantage of it.

"strong-arm" was posted by dogpossum on May 2, 2007 2:20 PM in the category clicky

a long dry route

It's been a slow month or so for me.
The first rush of post-thesis creativity/productivity has ebbed, and I'm not doing any writing at all any more. Plenty of sewing, some crocheting, some quilting, some dancing, some DJing. We're also getting onto MLX7 stuff - a trifle late, but still, getting on. Slowly. But there's not been so much of the high-brain stuff lately.

I can't honestly say I've been sitting down to write much lately. But I have a heavy post-exchange cold (of course) where my throat is killing me, I sport a temperature and some snot and generally poor concentration. So writing is hard.
Yesterday I had lunch with a scribbling friend who's had similar issues. But it's pictures for scribblers, not words.
But I noticed it's Big Brother season again (why are all the characters the same person - I can't tell any of them apart! But I do love listening to them talk crap - it's like gossip. I love gossip. I love the complexities of group politics and personalities), and that seems to be a good time for writing for me. So maybe I'll get lucky. Or productive.
I have a couple of zillion papers in the works. The one that keeps catching my interest is about the type of music swing dancers are into, and how this is about jazz - as 'art music' or 'high culture' - becoming young people music with a physical purpose. It's there to be used again, not just listened to in silent clubs or theatres. It's turned up really loud, having a few beers and arguing about room on the dance floor again. It's thinking about sex, it's touching other people inappropriately and laughing loudly and rudely. Finally.
So I want to write about how young people are getting into this action, and how they're developing new relationships with bands. And, somewhere in there, I want to write about how the other people at the band gigs who best appreciate this, and really like it, are not the younger, cooler 30-somethings, but the nannas and poppas, who best appreciate the fact that jazz is about being rowdy and disreputable and having fun. And that black polar necks are really quite inappropriate wear for a jazz gig.
The other paper I'm thinking about is to do with gender performance on the social dance floor, and the way dancers use digital clips to learn ways of performing feminity or masculinity (remind me to tell you about K dancing with C at Perth: amazon lindy!). This is something I should have written about ages ago in a paper, but haven't. It's hard to write because I have so much to say. But it's the sort of thing that feminist media studies people like.

So I kind of feel as though I'm getting a bit closer to being able to write some stuff down again. We're kind of in the same room again. Not sitting next to each other, but closer.

On that note, I'll leave you with a picture from the Hullabaloo ball the other weekend. Those Perthlings give good venue, that's for sure. If you click on the pic there, you'll be taken to the larger picture in The Squeeze's gallery. And, for those who are interested, we love picasa Aperture (sorry) in our house, though it can be a bit resource hungry. It's a lovely program that organises your photos and helps you make galleries for the internet quickly and simply. It makes The Squeeze all smiley.

"a long dry route" was posted by dogpossum on May 2, 2007 1:48 PM in the category academia

May 1, 2007

new things to be strict about

The other night we were standing outside a bar saying goodbye to some friends, when one declared "What's this rain? This sucks!" And I thought, as he was uniformly rounded on and told off, 'This would never have happened a few years ago - we're in Melbourne. We're supposed to complain about rain.'

"new things to be strict about" was posted by dogpossum on May 1, 2007 2:03 PM in the category dogpossum