I've just found a bunch of old White Stripes songs on iTunes. B-sides mostly, if that terminology still applies - stuff that's not on their albums anyway. I'm sure the songs weren't there last time I looked. They are mine now. I will listen to them tomorrow. I've been listening to the White Stripes - my favourite band - today. I have many favourite songs, including the live Under Great White Northern Lights live cover of Jolene. It's just so damn raw. It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. I doubt another straight man has so convincingly begged a woman not to steal his man before.
I had yummy lemon cheesecake gelati at Fritz tonight. We're still doing our Friday night Grill'd and Fritz thing (although we haven't had the gelati so much lately). Soon the weather will be warm enough for us to start walking there again instead of driving.
I spotted a ghost sign on the way there tonight. I can't believe I haven't seen it before since it's on a road I've been down many times. I guess I've just been looking the wrong way every time.
I watched Masters of Sex after I got home from dinner. It was excellent, of course.
The view from my office window turned completely to white during the rain this morning. I'm not sure if we were in the clouds or if the rain was heavy (or both), but we couldn't see anything. Eventually the city re-emerged as the rain eased.
I found a Freddo Frog in my pocket when I left work tonight. Yay! I'd forgotten it was there from lunch time. Ten minutes later I pulled my iPod out of my pocket and a Caramello Koala came out with it. I forgot that was there too. Double yay! (Absentmindedness again proves to be a source of joy...)
I was thrilled today to find a cafe near my office that offers gluten-free bread. I'm looking forward to having a sandwich for lunch tomorrow instead of sushi.
I've been listening to The White Stripes again lately. I love this old cover of Black Jack Davey.
It's Friday night and I'm enjoying having it to myself for the first time in about a month. Even if I'm just sitting at home on my 'puter listening to The White Stripes and eating crackers and dip.
I'm looking forward to visiting my friends and their two little boys tomorrow - my quasi nephews, one of whom is the three year old with Spiderman on speed dial. Hopefully I'll get a cuddle.
I know I'm definitely getting corned beef for dinner. Yum. My favourite. It'll be the first decent home cooked meal I've had in quite some time (I haven't been looking after myself very well, even when I've had the chance...). They're very good to me.
Speaking of anticipation....THIS TIME IN TWO WEEKS I'LL BE EN ROUTE TO NEW YORK!!!
I discovered some old White Stripes songs on YouTube today that I'd never heard. Sweet.
I'M GOING TO NEW YORK CITY!!!!!!!! *squeals* I booked my flights yesterday. I'm flying out on 14 May and returning on 29 May. I got a really good deal too, which is a nice little sweetener.
I haven't mentioned this before here (I dont think...) because I dread the reaction it usually provokes, but for you to fully understand the gleefulness of this trip, it should be revealed: this will be the first time I have set foot outside Australia. No, really. It's not that I have never wanted to travel, it's just not been at the top of my list of priorities for one reason or another. But I decided I was going to do it before I hit 40, and I am.
So, it's a big deal in more ways than one. And I'm doing it on my own! I can't deny that I'm a little daunted at doing it alone, but I'm also looking forward to it. I know I won't regret it one bit and it'll do me good to push myself outside my comfort zone - personal growth blah, blah, blah.
Now I just need to work out what I'm doing while I'm there... Of course, I've already decided to visit the libary!
Speaking of doing things on my own, I went to see The White Stripes music doco Under Great White Northern Lights last night on my own and I didn't even feel like a friendless loser. There couldn't have been more than 20 people in the whole cinema and I think I was the only one flying solo, but it didnt bother me. Go, me.
There were only three people in the cinema when I walked in. I made my way to my allocated seat and it was right next to a not unattractive man all on his own too. I left a seat between us (not like it was sold out) and we had a chuckle and a quick chat...and then his girl friend showed up. Dang. Then another lone guy sat a seat away on the other side of me...and then his girlfriend showed up. Story of my life....
Anyhoo, the movie was great, not perfect, but certainly visually and aurally pleasing. It follows the band on a tour taking in every province in Canada to mark their 10th anniversary. They played gigs in small towns in a range of unlikely places, including a bowling alley and a pool hall, and also did a string of impromptu free performances, like the one on a bus where they had the passengers singing along to The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round!
There was lots of grainy black and white footage, both on stage and off. I love grainy monochrome pictures. The best was the film shot at Iqaluit, waaaaaaaay up in the far north of Canada, where Meg and Jack went for a wander against a backdrop of stark and desolate scenery, including the beach and a cemetery with rows of white wooden crosses. Beautiful.
This is macabre, but I really like cemetries - to look at, I mean. When I was watching Meg and Jack at the cemetery I thought, "Hmmm...maybe I could visit the cemetery in New York...." Yep, I've googled New York cemeteries. Am I strange?
The final scene in the doco was the most powerful - Meg and Jack sitting at a piano as he played and sang White Moon. About half way through, tears rolled down Megs cheeks. Meg is so painfully shy and hardly speaks during the doco which makes the scene so much more affecting.
Oh, and Jack White....I could watch that man all day long.
Here's a bit of the Iquluit footage (wouldn't fit properly, dammit - click on it to view on YouTube).
Today is Day One of National Blog Posting Month, which means I'm going to be posting a blog every day for the next 30 days. Not sure how I'm going to go, but I'd better get cracking because it's 11.35 pm. How embarrassing to not even make it one day!
I hope I don't bore you all to tears... It's one of the things on my 101 Things to Do before I'm 40 (participating in NaBloPoM, not boring people) so even if I do bore you, I get to cross something off my list.
So, gleeful stuff that happened today...I bought myself a new pair of shoes - marked down from $200 to $60. Sweet. A pair of black satiny, beaded sandals that fasten with ribbons. They're purdy and they're comfy. I bought them to wear to the Gangster's Ball next weekend.
Tonight I went to see It might Get Loud, a doco on Jack White (of my fave band The White Stripes, among others), U2's The Edge and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. Lots of awesome guitar playing (funny that) and lots of old live footage, historical information and insight into what makes them tick.
Also, I'm a bit in love with Jack White, even though he's kooky....or because he's kooky? I'm not sure. Either way, I think he's hot.
