Author Archives: dogpossum

exchanges are great

when you’re a DJ.
It was really nice to hear some quality DJing from DJs with extensive collections and mad skills. It really makes a difference.
One of the nice parts of the MLX8 weekends was hearing DJs playing from albums/collections I own, but taking songs I’d never have thought to play.
Trev played a neat song from the Chu Berry Mosaic collection (Chasin’ Shadows, with Putney Dandridge and his Orchestra) which I’d missed, and now I’m revisiting the collection. It’s so very, very good.
I think, if I were to buy just one Mosaic set, that’d be the one. Actually, I’d probably buy that one and the Lionel Hampton one and the Duke Ellington small group one.
But if I could buy any now, I’d get the Kid Ory one and the (early) Louis Jordan one.

waaaaaah

In the two weeks I was in Melbourne I read three of these young adult books. They’re called ‘Pretties’, ‘Ugglies’ and ‘Specials’ and they’re by some guy whose last name starts with W. I want to read the last one, ‘Extras’. They’re not very good, but they’re quick reading. I am very into young adult fiction (YA for those of us in The Trade) atm, mostly because of ‘Titus Groan’.
Now I am reading this other dumb YA book called ‘City of Bones’ or ‘Bone City’ or whatever. It’s kind of crap. No Diane Wynn Jones, that’s for freakn’ sure. Also, finishing off ‘Tehanu’ the other day (go Ursula Le Guin, go!) has ruined me for anything less. Jeez, that’s some good shit. Also, has anyone read the other ‘sequels’ in the Earthsea series? I think I might.
Basically, this big binge on books (I’m also reading ‘1984’ for the first time) is the product of a trip to that giant second hand book shop in Newtown and some time in Melbourne with Galaxy. She made me buy books (well, I bought the two Buffy season 8 volumes I was missing, but didn’t go with the Angel because it was all FREAKING EXPENSIVE. No more Minotaur bookshop for me). I also went to a game shop and bought some more Cheap Ass games (NEED GAME PLAYING FRIENDS! NOW! min. 2 players for my 3-player games). And I bought a broach. And then, because I was obviously ridin’ HIGH on the crazy horse, I stopped. But the ride, while it was on, it was so good.
So now I am all about buying books. Usually I wait for The Mother to bring up a shipment or I re-read, but I can’t re-read those bastards any more. I can’t even count how many times I’ve read them, but we’re over 10. So now I’m buying the buggers.
Also, I am thinking about emusic again.
And, I haven’t bought anything for anyone for christmas except my little brother’s kids. Because I am crap. But I’m not sure anyone but me wants Chronological Classics CDs, jewelry by local artists, squids of YA fiction (actually, I’m not sure about that one – I think one of my nieces is into books. Because she is into adolescence, almost, and has turned into the nerd of the family. Finally – another nerd is born. She aims to be a chef when she grows up, so I figure that’s a win).
Anyways, I hate buying christmas presents. I’d rather make them, but the fabric shop is TOO FUCKING FAR AWAY. It makes me crazy.
And, I have injured my plantar fascia, so I am hobbling around in pain or sitting on my arse watching DVDs (Heroes is less than A1 second time through, but it fills the gap). Or reading YA fiction. Can I just say: YA was better in My Day. Which was about the 70s, apparently, as that’s when all the YA books my Ps had were published. Considering I was born in 1974, I guess they were planning ahead. Phew.
Have I mentioned the pain in my foot? Physio has hopes for me and a big dance camp in January, but I’m not so sure. It’s a lot of pain. I blame MLX. I can’t walk without pain. I can only just walk without a limp. Most days. I do the exercises, though, and I hope. I’m not sure about this getting older thing. It was better when I could just drink drive and get into pakour. Now that I am old, I am reaping the effects of my ill-spent youth. Which, actually, was mostly spent wearing docs and shaving my head. Oh, and going nuts in the university library. With the books. Because, you know, the UQ library had a fair few more books than the Sandgate High library. And you could just _borrow them out for free_!
Anyway, with that and all the disco dancing, I think I damaged myself a bit. The physio reckons fracturing something in my ankle horse riding when I was in my early 20s is responsible for a dodgy ankle today. At the time, I shrugged it off. Today, I suffer. Also, the once-fractured right wrist is also giving me trouble. So this is the lesson: breaking limbs has long term consequences. Which SUCK ARSE.
I am not coping well with the enforced home-stay. I want to go out. Into the world. I hadn’t realised just how much walking I do in my day to day life. To the train station, down hill (excruciating on the home trip). To Ashfield for groceries (returning home to empty house, home alone til the weekend, local shops CRAP for veggies, partner working full time so can’t go to shops: shitful!). To Marrickville to explore the local fabric shop. To the train station for a 2 part trip to the fabric shop in Green Square. Around Circular Quay, just to look.
Not to mention dancing.
Anyway, if I had a car, I could probably get around. But I’m relying on the bus, and it’s not so good. It’s just about driving me MAD.
A trip to Burwood yesterday to see a (terrible) film was really hard. I wanted to look in the Burwood shops and eat dumpling. No. Go straight to the cinema. Once I got there, I was in real pain. Then I had to stop off in Ashfield for our veggies. That was ok, but by then I couldn’t imagine getting home from the train station in Summer Hill. So I caught a cab. It was so frustrating and painful – ordinarily the 20minute walk to our house from Ashfield would be delight. I’d walk through the park and pick some rosemary. I’d sticky beak in people’s gardens. I’d think about things. But yesterday, it was a big piece of crap. Getting a cab felt like a failure.
The physio says riding a bike would be a bit less painful. But I have this stupid left over cold from MLX which is also making me very tired and weak. Which is probably why yesterday was so hard. But I’m also still scared of the traffic.
Fucking hell, this sucks. Injuries: be over! But the physio says we’re in for a month of work before I can dance. Which makes me cry. No christmas performance :( No social dancing at three christmas parties. Nothing.
I think I’ll buy myself another book. Or perhaps a few million more songs on emusic. I deserve them.

always last to the bar

cwsk.jpg
Can’t believe I missed CW Stoneking in Melbourne. I’m a dummy.
Old timey blues and low-down action. Just my cup of tea. listen here.
Can be bought via itunes (blurgh) or amazon (double blurgh), or via his label Voodoo Rhythm (check their punkrockingly dodgy site) or here.
And he’s Australian, no less.
Also, note the musicians in his ‘band’ – the sorts of jazznicks you know you can love.

think of me… but in a kind way, not a revolted way

I know it’s been a long time, and I’m sorry. Faceplant is to blame.
Update:
– I have been teaching a lot, marking even more, and am now at MLX, so this may be the last update for a while.
– I have been at the telly/national conference where I had a lovely time, learnt a lot, and kind of wished I’d read some telly stuff. Learn = on.
– I have been mooching off friends for the past few days after a bit of time in a hotel. It’s been nice being a hostee in a city I used to live in only a few months ago. We are currently staying with The Squeeze’s mum in Heidelberg, and are just about to go down to St Kilda Rd and our flash hotel for the hardcore MLX weekend. They have internet there, but it’s crazy expensive, so don’t expect any updates.
– I have been having a nice time catching up with locals and staying in Brunswick (where all my friends seem to be). This meant that I did as I used to hate having done unto me: dropping in on Scotty during the day to kill half an hour because I was at loose ends and I knew he worked at home. But it was a good thing I did: who would have helped him clean his fish tank if I hadn’t been there?
– I did a very excellently fun set at funbags last Friday. It was in the St Albans church in… some suburb on the south side. It’s a FABULOUS venue – not cold or naff or echoey like normal, lame church venues. This was a gorgeous space and felt really good to DJ. It filled up with crazy-keen-to-dance dancers and I had a really good time DJing. I felt as though I’d shaken off my recent DJing craptitude (two bad jobs recently, one at SSF, one at a local gig). Let’s hope my confidence holds for this weekend and doesn’t become anxiety: worry makes me DJ craply. I feel some pressure for my MLX sets, but I think it’ll be ok.
– MLX8 is already big. More passes than every before have been sold, and if the proportions work out the same as previous years we’ll be seeing 400 through the doors at late nights. That’s kind of scary, but I think it’ll work out ok as there are two rooms. I dunno if it’ll actually reach those figures, but we’ll see. Either way, MLX is the largest social dancing event in the country and heading towards the largest of all the events. This is something I’m quite proud of, and for which I’m very proud of the other organisers. I’m also chuffed to see that our instincts about what would make a good event reflected wider interests in the community. We always set out just to run the sort of event we’d like to attend. And that’s the way it’s ended up. So it’s nice that this is the first year I’ve been able to attend MLX in its current non-profit, all social dancing incarnation as a general punter and DJ. I’m quite excited.
– It’s nice being in Melbourne, but I don’t want to live here any more. I really miss all the bike riding and bike lanes and flat roads, but I don’t miss the weather. The weather sucks arse. We arrived in the middle of that super cold spell last week, and I had to ring The Squeeze to request he bring me PJs when he came down. I had actually managed to forget a few key items in my packing last week: PJs, some sort of nice outfit for the MLX ball, more than two Tshirts for day wear, more than four Tshirts for dancing. I’m not sure what I was thinking, except that I’m suspecting I wasn’t thinking. This explains why my backpack was so light.
– I am reading Titus Groan atm, and loving it.
Ok, I have to go do some DJ prac for this weekend.
Think of me suffering in the Victorian dryness with my horrid snotty nose and exma, will you? But in a kind way, not in a revolted way.

i <3 PT

Ringing up to find out about fares for a new bus service, the lady mentioned that that service had been very popular. I like the thought of a bus being ‘very popular’. Having failed to renew my license (as in swap from Vic to NSW) three times now (it’s all my fault – failure to procure and then bring correct documents. every. single. time), I am all about PT. It will make hiring a car difficult this week in Melbourne, but still…
So yes, I’m off to Melbourne this week. A heinous weekend of exam marking behind me (hand written exams. Hand written first year exams. Save me, save me), I’m off to Melbourne for the telly conference and MLX. I’m feeling a little trashed, having combined an exchange (SSF) with the marking. I am, obviously, seriously hardcore and badass, but I am also a bit snotty and a bit tired and confused.
In a couple of hours I’m off to the university for a markers’ meeting (let’s just hope no one asks me to describe what I read in the exams – it’s all a blur to me now… well, it was kind of a blur to me then, too). Then I’m off to the airport from there. Carrying a backpack full of dance clothes (I’ll need at least two outfits a night, then at least 3 Tshirt changes per night) and a smaller bag full of DJing gear. I will be like a little tortoise. But I think the L10 will save me – from my place to Leichardt, then Leichardt to the university, then the university straight to the airport. That’s three different buses, but at least the L10 goes from Leichardt, which is near us, only 10 minutes on my normal bus first. No navigating the CBD and Central station.
I still haven’t organised accommodation for the second week of my Melbourne trip, the dancing part. Frankly, I just can’t face it right now. So I’ll figure it out later.
Ok, I have to go get it all together.
:)

firehouse five

My desire for the Firehouse Five (specifically this album) has forced me to think, even more seriously (as in, will probably do it) about emusic.
This band is in the vein of the New Orleans Jazz Vipers, the Firecrackers and other recreationist bands. Excepting the Firehouse Five are actually from the revivalist period (mostly). I’ve just bought this CD, but I think I could go on and on and on. I know it’s tighty-whitey cultural appropriation, but dang. The quality is good. And, well. You know. I want it. And thinking about music means I don’t have to think about the masses of reading I have left to do.
But the sudden plummeting dollar has meant that buying CDs is expensive, mostly because of the postage. I like to have the liner notes, emusic will hit me with an extra bill each month, but… instant music. Sweet. Cheaper music. Double sweet. I think I will use it for ‘taster’ songs, finalising my departure from itunes, and for albums by newer artists where I don’t need the liner notes. I think I’ll also keep back up copies on CD with copies of the album cover (just in case, and because I’m a bit ob-con).