The Full “Farewell November” Catastrophe – 22/11/09

For the cricketing nervous nellies among you this is program 87 – the devil’s number for Australian flannelled fools.  Thought I had better set the record straight.

Now on with show.  Ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls give a big hand to Ruldolph Crampburger, Fifi and their performing aardvarks.

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Interstate Boy – Pan Am

The Freaks Come Out – Cevin Fisher’s Big Freak

I’ve Heard That Song Before – Harry James Orchestra

Golden Years - David Bowie

You’ve Got What It Takes – Marv Johnson

Mix Tape – Avenue Q – Cast

Surviving Black Saturday - Carter & Carter

This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us - Sparks

Sora – Dalby Balde

Mr Lucky – Vince Guaraldi

Hush, Hush; Hush, Hush – The Pussycat Dolls

Way Out West – Mary Cleere Harman

Lasar An Oichde – Sunrise Not Secular

Days Of Wine & Roses – Cassandra Wilson

Fly Me To The Moon – Wally’s Swing World

Speedy Gonzales – Pat Boone

Les Amoureux Du Dimanche – George Guetary

Never Enough – Lamya

Snookey Ookums – Elisabeth Welch

I Was Tired Of Being Alone – Klodya

We love you guys, but …

So amusing. So outrageous. So fabulous.

That’s what we are.  But what if we overstep the mark and it’s not done according to “official” guidelines ?

If I felt in the mood, I would shrug it off with an ooh so witty “looks like a good night in to me” kind of remark.  But I am not in the mood.

Naughty Adam Lambert. How very dare he ? How very dare “they”?

 The reaction has been swift and somewhat predictable on both coasts: the New York Times and the LA Times are well into it, as is slate.com.

We are a little bit more grown up here.  Saw a great show at the Mechanics’ Institute in Brunswick last night which would rattle a few.

Go see “The Adventures of Butt Boy & Tigger” while you have the chance.  Funny and truthful.

Facing Facebook

This is a serious one.  Honest.

I folded.  I yielded.  I couldn’t help myself in the end.

I am finally on Facebook. 

I had sidled up to it and strolled around it, but the outcome was never really in doubt.

First a blog, then Twitter, now FB.  It’s the same journey as tim tams to marijuana to heroin – isn’t it ? Just kidding … or should I ?

For those of us grappling with middle age – whatever that is apart from a number which hints at oncoming mortality- Facebook is our last chance to reach back and grab hold of our not too distant past. 

We feel our train is possibly leaving “the station” and if we don’t jump on board we could miss a trip we cannot afford to miss.  It’s the digital version of Mardi Gras in the 90s – it can’t be missed, at any cost.

You put yourself out there, but what will come back ?  You can be passive aggressive, you can go on an acquaintance hunt, you can think before you “search”. But the ball is out of your hands to a large extent.

If this is about stepping back and reclaiming times and people past, it is a tricky task.  There are histories that can re-erupt or re-console.  Those histories may have new and unexpected characteristics.

It’s a step into an unknown of ones and zeros. 

“It had to be done darling, it had to be done.” – Eden’s Lost – Sumner Locke Ellis

And for those who worship at the altar of technology. Never take anything for granted.