I was all excited to see Justin Timberlake at his “intimate” show at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney in June… until I went to buy tickets and saw the price. $180 each! Good grief. Sorry, JT, but I wouldn’t pay $180 to see anybody.
Update: Hmmm, it looks like the $180 is only if you miss out on the regular $130 ones that go on sale tomorrow. But jeez, even $130 is still too much for Justin.
Edited 26/04/2025: Removed links to buy tickets.
Watch as I kill your childhood: Corey Haim has apparently resorted to selling his hair and teeth for extra cash. Ick-o-rama.
Edited 15/04/2025: Link is dead and not archived.
The iTunes Music Store has sold 1 million songs in 3.5 days. Alas, not one of them was to me. Anybody in the US mind if I switch my credit card address to your house?
In other products-I-desperately-want-but-can’t-get-my-mits-on news, the Snook has made great strides with our homegrown “TiFaux” DVR project. We’re using this system and so far he’s got it playing live TV, displaying the program guide, and recording shows. Unfortunately we seem to be getting some antenna interference from the computer itself so the quality leaves much to be desired. Of course, as soon as we spend a ridiculous amount upgrading the machine they’ll probably bring the real thing out here anyway.
iTunes for Windows is now available as a free download, which means all you American PC lusers can now purchase music from the iTunes music store to your hearts’ content while we loyal Apple fans that happen to live overseas cannot. Not that I’m bitter or anything.
Max asks the question: “What things do you dislike that you’re not supposed to?” My answers would be Radiohead, William Gibson novels, animé, Nigella Lawson, tea, sushi, foreign arthouse films, and that whole nebulous category of music that we Hoosiers simply call “techno”. Sad but true.
Somebody’s selling her high school yearbook!
Edited 29/04/2025: Link is dead and not archived.
The five worst live rock performances ever. Actually that’s a weird list. Four out of the five are in Australia, which made me think that it was strictly an Australian list. But then they throw in Oasis at Wembley (which is in England), which throws the whole thing into doubt.
1. What was the first band you saw in concert?
My first “real” rock concert was when I saw Bryan Adams play in Cologne, Germany during the summer of 1994. I was sixteen. I was there for a study trip and my host sister and her friends took me. I wasn’t the hugest Bryan Adams fan, but every German there knew all the words and that made it so much fun. And come on, “Summer of ’69” is a GREAT song.
2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?
Hmmm. Well, historically I always answer R.E.M. to this question, but I haven’t actually been listening to them a lot lately. I think Dar Williams probably gets the most iPod playage these days.
3. What’s your favorite song?
I don’t think I have an absolute favorite. I tend to hear a song on the radio and get obsessed with it, only to drop it two weeks later. Enduring favorites include U2’s “One”, Ani Difranco’s “Both Hands”, and Blondie’s “The Tide is High”.
4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
I used to play the trumpet in school, which was a lot of fun but – let’s be honest here – isn’t the sexiest talent to boast. I think secretly I’d love to play something difficult, like the violin or the cello. I’d be afraid to try to learn now though. I have this idea that if you haven’t been playing those since you were three, you’ll probably never get very good.
5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?
I don’t think I’d want to meet any of my musical heroes, because they’d probably be really obtuse or confrontational or uncool and then I’d be heartbroken. So I’ll go the starf**ker route and say Elton John. Seriously! We could become best friends and then he’d invite me to fabulous gay costume parties and introduce me to Geri Halliwell and send me thousands of dollars worth of flowers. That’d be neat.
There’s nothing like a rock concert to make you feel both young and old simultaneously. The Snook and I went to see Goldfinger last night for their first Sydney visit in seven years. On one hand it’s fun to listen to loud rock music and drink beer and dance. That’s the “young” part. But on the other hand…
See what I mean? I wanted to go have a hedonistic evening and embrace my generation, but instead I felt old and alienated and surrounded by assholes. Is it going to be like this from now on? Maybe it’s time to trade in the steel-toe Docs for a season pass to the opera.
(That said, the music itself was pretty good. They played all my favorites: “Superman”, “Here in Your Bedroom”, “Mabel”, and “99 Luftballoons” complete with the German verse. That was pretty sweet.)
I don’t like these questions so much. I’m too indecisive.
1. If you could only choose 1 cd to ever listen to again, what would it be?
Ugh. There’s no way I could pick just one. It would have to be a mix CD that I burned myself of all my favorite songs.
2. If you could only choose 2 movies to watch ever again, what would they be?
Pride and Prejudice and the Star Wars Trilogy. (I can count Episodes 4-6 as one movie, right?)
3. If you could only choose 3 books to read ever again, what would they be?
Jeez. No clue. Seeing a pattern here? If I absolutely had to pick… To Kill a Mockingbird, The Stand, and a book of Greek mythology. That covers a lot of ground.
4. If you could only choose 4 things to eat or drink ever again, what would they be?
This one I like. 1) Mountain Dew. 2) My aunt Berb’s chicken and dumplings. 3) The Snook’s chicken risotto. 4) McDonald’s french fries. *dries drool off keyboard*
5. If you could only choose 5 people to ever be/talk/associate/whatever with ever again, who would they be?
What, you expect me to answer honestly? My family reads this site! Actually, if you’re talking face-to-face association, I don’t think I even have five people here that I see on a regular basis. There’s the Snook… and that’s it. Yeah, I really need to make some Australian friends.
