update

*

Thought it was time to revisit this.

However, I started this what we used to call 'meme' on the 9/2 and finished it on the 10/2, so sadly you are going to get some slightly confusing results. 

Do you think​ you’r​e matur​e?​ Yes. Have you kisse​d someb​ody in the last 2 weeks​?​​ Sure.​ Who was the last perso​n's house​ you went to besid​es your own? Laura’s Miss someo​ne? ​​Aside from dead people, no. What’​s on your mind?​ Public Records Office. Anyth​ing annoy​ing you right​ now? I’m tired, I think the earthquake woke me up early in the morning. What did you do last night​? ​​Watched episode 2 of Nemesis. It was hott. Who did you ride in a car with last besid​es your famil​y? ​​Huh? You mean including Perry as 'family'? Well, it's too long ago to remember, I think. What did you do Sunda​y? I blogged it…  Do you have any bruis​es?​​ No What were you doing​ at noon yeste​rday?​​I was at the Faculty All Staff Meeting at the Arts Centre. I am not entirely sure what I was doing but I was doing it there. ​How long does it take you to get ready​? ​​Depen​ds.​ Betwe​en 15 and 45 minut​es.​ Have you been outsi​de today​? ​​In the courtyard, yes. Last movie​ you watch​ed? Anatomy of a Fall What do you miss? People and pets who have died, if that can be a 'what'. Last perso​n you hugge​d? Well that's not a mystery but also too personal. The last place​ you went to? PROV Who/​What made you upset​ today​? SCOTUS I suppose, if anything, oh and that the Guardian is once again pretending I am not a subscriber. Do you sing in the showe​r?​​ No. Has anyon​e ever sang or playe​d music​ for you perso​nally​? ​​I guess​ so. If you could​ fix thing​s with anyon​e who would​ it be and why? I don't feel a strong need in this regard. Do you get along​ with your paren​ts? ​​Well enoug​h. ​Ever been stuck​ in an eleva​tor? ​​Yes in 1976 at what would become my high school the following year. Wallp​aper on your cell phone​? ​Sounds ridiculous. Where​ was your defau​lt pictu​re taken​? I don't remember what these were/are, only that they don't exist anymore. What is your curre​nt mood? ​​Meh. Ever had a near death​ exper​ience​? We all have, right? I mean it's always there and most of the time if you're lucky (?) you don't know about it. What are you liste​ning to? I was listening to Neil Young and now, just ambient quiet. Do you get along​ with girls​? ​​I think so. Last movie​ you saw in theat​ers?​ As mentioned, Anatomy of a Fall. Last thing​ you ate? Tempeh and silverbeet. Are you happy​ right​ now? Sure - fine. What's​ the last thing​ someo​ne said to you? Something like, 'see you later'. What were you doing​ at midni​ght last night​? Probably sleep​ing. ​What about​ at eleve​n? ​​Not sure but may have been reading. What'​s the last thing​ you thoug​ht about​? The question of what I was doing at 11. How do you feel about​ your hair right​ now? No feelings. What is one thing​ you quest​ion a lot? Really, I don't think there is one thing I question. Are you marri​ed? ​Not any more. Is there​ anyon​e who doesn​'​t like you? Of course. Are you mad at someo​ne right​ now? Not really, there are some people I really hate, personally, but they aren't people I deal with regularly or indeed have had interaction with for a long time. Do you have any tatto​os or pierc​ings? ​​No. ​When was the last time you threw​ up? I really don't remember, but I am confident it's been years, like, more than five years at least. Do you curse​ a lot? What does that even mean any more. I use the words but not as much as you'd think. Do you have a lot on your mind right​ now? Yes and no. Have you lost frien​ds in the past year? ​​Not officially, though I do feel like the friendship group is contracting a bit, but you know what? That could just be a combination of, firstly, everyone's busy and secondly, we're all on social media, well almost all, so we don't necessarily need to regularly catch up and touch base, which I think are the same thing. Certainly I have not lost friends in a 'fuck you' 'well fuck you' way. ​

That was pretty unsatisfying, sorry. I was wasting time. I hope you didn't read it because then you wasted time, too. 

*this image is an AI-generated response to 'updating a meme in 2024'. Of course, AI in 2024 doesn't understand what we called memes 16 years ago, but still, it clearly had fuck all idea what to produce here, and it's kind of funny that it came up with this. I asked for it again 'with kittens and snails' and got this:

collector scum

Ten years ago I bought a copy of the Coloured Balls' Ball Power from an op shop in Heathcote, and gave it to a friend who I don't speak to anymore because his wife doesn't like me. Yesterday, I saw the LP in question (obviously I don't know whether it was the same copy) at Greville records for $400. To be fair to my friend, he told me a short time after I'd given him the LP that he'd discovered it was worth a lot of money, and he offered to give it back to me on that basis. I declined, essentially because if you give someone something you don't take it back under any circumstances. I know this seems like some kind of weird, I don't know, humble brag? But I actually think it's a shitty album, it has one good song ('Flash') and the rest is banal, like a lot of music (note I am not saying Australian music - a lot of music) from that period. And actually, now I think about it, like a lot of music, no qualifications. In the same Greville visit I bought Neil Young's Everyone Knows this is Nowhere, on the basis that it is by far my favourite NY album, and maybe (I also have the excellent Carnegie Hall 1970 live album) the only one I really need. It cost $55, a new LP. It just makes me wonder what records are worth. The market doesn't seem to make any sense on this. I also bought the LP pictured above, which is definitely the kind of cheesy crap I like (I haven't played it yet - when will I? Well, I bought The Faust Tapes about twenty years ago and cannot remember playing it ever, until yesterday). Play Eurovision Bestsellers was 50c. My question to you is, is Everyone Knows this is Nowhere 110 times better than Play Eurovision Bestsellers? Admittedly, EKTIN is new, and PEB is second hand, so that's something to consider, but that's the only other element I can take into account. 

I also bought two albums for ten dollars each. A Nigel Olsson LP for ten dollars (I really like the other one of his I have, but this one is from a bit later, 1980) and Squeeze's East Side Story. ESS has my (and everyone else's, surely) favourite Squeeze song, 'Tempted', surely about as close to a perfect pop song as you're likely to get from white english men. (As an aside, I note on youtube that there are two videos for 'Tempted', one really drab 'live on stage' style mime where the main focus of the cameraman's interest is shots up the fronts of the backing singers who don't have microphones because if they did it would make it hard to film up their fronts and also they're miming so who cares; and one which someone on yt has labelled the 'original video' when clearly it's the version they did in the 90s. What I was looking for was one I very definitely remember where the group are performing to a whole lot of mops waving before them like the heads of an audience, but I am prepared to concede that I was wrong and this wasn't the video for 'Tempted' but some other song. Or, this video has been suppressed). 

I will have more to say on the topic of record collecting shortly but right now I have actual work to do. I will say just this: going by side one alone (I wish I'd bought this LP in 1981 when it came out not only just yesterday) East Side Story is not five and a half times lesser than Everyone Knows this is Nowhere, which is incidentally, though, a very good record.* Maybe I should just average out the prices. I bought four records (and I picked up a free 12" of Streisand/Summer doing 'No more tears', from the Greville chuck-out pile) so I could say, I paid an average of $15.50 per thing. That actually feels pretty good. Counting free things in the pile really helps. 

*Additionally I have fond memories of listening to it while shelving books at the agriculture library at the University of Sydney about thirty years ago, that and Jona Lewie's album On the Other Hand... both cassettes I bought at a street stall for negligible moneys at the time.