6. When I See You Smile - Bic Runga

So I broke my glasses today.

At this point I should point out that I:
a) wear glasses; a fact that is not so obvious through this medium
and
b) while we're on the topic, I am not a 12 year old kid from Brazil.

Luckily I have enough contact lenses to keep me from colliding into the walls.

Bic Runga is from New Zealand and in famous for inventing the Bic pen. Well that and writing/performing the song 'Sway' a few years back. I liked 'Sway' even though I still can't catch and understand a few of the lines in the song. It was the bit about "tell you why, I say its in from your ???room". Is it "klichroom", "kitroom"? Are those two suggestions even words? I'm guessing no, and I did get a study score of 46 for VCE English so I should know.

However, this song "When I See You Smile" is the first track from her second album, "Beautiful Collision"; the album with incidentally does not include the song "Sway". It happens to me quite often actually, I buy a CD based on a single song by the artist, even though that one song that I actually know and enjoy isn't on the CD. It happened with Bic, and it happened with Natalie Imbruglia with "Torn"/"White Lilies Island CD".

Elseways, I leave for Thailand/Singapore in just a few days. Just a little trip for some R&R from, well doing nothing over here. That's right folks, I'm taking a holiday from taking a holiday. Don't you love the long uni breaks? Gives you enough time to get tired of doing nothing.

But the trip is looking good, I just got to get bag for my body-board, but I met some guys last night who said they can hook me up when I get to Singapore. Aren't they the nicest folks?

5. How To Be Dead - Snow Patrol

Had my first snowboarding dream of 2006 last night.

Just a few days into the new year, its bloody hot outside and here I am dreaming about the snow. Can't really remember much of it, but I was definitely boarding at a higher degree of ability that what I possess. That and my board was really really scratched up.

Strange days huh?

So this week is pretty much like last week in that I'll be working every night. Pulling in a total of 32 hours, which equates to enough money for my accommodation fees for my upcoming trip. Well that's the plan anyway.

Had one of those conversations yesterday where I was asked, "What's wrong, you sound sad..." Now these conversations aren't good at the best of times, but they take another turn when you're actually not sad or depressed. But it got me thinking about stuff.

Stuff.

I like stuff, Now I really can't see what stuff could be annoying me at this moment. I've got a holiday coming up in a two weeks, and more importantly, I have some graduate employment already lined up for the start of 2007, meaning that I won't have to jump through all those grad app hoops and trials and fights to the death in the coming months. So what's bothering me?

Umm nothing.

Well I still have Jo's cds. That's not good karma.

You see, a few months ago my friend Jo decided to travel the world for a while, and me being the good friend that I am, decided to go over and pretty much steal her entire cd collection. My justification was that the cds wouldn't be used anyway, so if anything I was providing a valuable service in ensuring the cds were in working order when she came back.

To cut a long story short, Jo came back sometime in November 2005. Needless to say, I've still got her cds.

And just if you wanted to know, this falls under the category of conversion of a chattel in tort law. (Who in god's name would want to know that?)

So yeah, maybe I have this enormous guilt thing working against me right now. I really really should do something about it. Maybe something along the lines of returning her cds.

And Snow Patrol? Yup you guessed it, its hers as well.

4. #3 - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

I'm currently formatting my computer.

And its taking forever.

So to past the time, I'll just type away on my ibook while listening to Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals; Live from Mars.

Its amazing that with all the money and resources at NASA's disposal, a bunch of musicians were about to get to Mars first, and record a cd there.

Or maybe there is just a theatre somewhere on Earth called 'Mars'.

Yeah that would make more sense.

Its only the start of the second week of the new year and I'm already getting bored. I think I just need more structure in my life.

In other words, waking up at midday is begining to lose its charm.

You know what I need? I need to get back to swimming on a regular basis.

That and I need to put a tee-shirt on. Its still quite warm in my home, and I'm sitting in a leather chair without a shirt.

Most uncomfortable when I move.

Re-installing windows isn't as fun as I thought it would be.

So I'm working a total of 34 hours this week, which equates to a shift a night from tomorrow until Sunday. And when I say working 34 hours, I mean I'm getting paid for 34 hours of work this week.

But in reality;

I can leave after 3.15 hours into a 4 hour shift, meaning that I'm still getting paid while I drive home.

And of that 3.15 hours, I'm only really working working for 1.5 hours, the rest consists of either reading a book/newspaper or just chatting to people.

And then theres the sheer beauty which is double pay Sunday.

So in essence, I'm only really working for 10-15 hours this week.

Have I mentioned that I have what could posssibly be the easiest job in the world?

3. Let's Fall In Love - Diana Krall

If only I could play a piano.

Then I'd use my piano playing abilities to make you love me.

Well that and learn how to play jazz like Diana Krall. I like Diana Krall's music, its very relaxing in a relaxing type of way. 'Let's Fall In Love' is a romantic song, not hopelessly sappy romantic, but happy romantic. It reminds me of the days just after meeting a girl, when you have that stupid grin stuck on your face and all you can think of is what could happen.

I'm currently in the middle of reading two books, and it must be noted that I wrote that not to show off my sheer intellectual brilliance but rather as an introduction to a discussion on two separate topics. So two books, 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury and 'A Wild Sheep Chase' by Haruki Murakami. And both were written before my birth, 'Fahrenheit 451' coming in in 1954 and 'A Wild Sheep Chase' in 1982. But thats where all the similarities (if that could be classified as a similarity) end.

'Fahrenheit 451' is a modern day classic, a tale of a world where books are banned and the free will of the people is virtually non-existent. Its said to be up there with Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World', two books that I have read previously. An interesting premise yes, but I must say, its not the easiest read.

'A Wild Sheep Chase' however, is easy to read, but completely confusing in terms of its story. Translated into english, its a tale about a japanese man, a sheep with a black star and really have no idea what else. But one thing that really intrigued me was the 3 chapters dedicated to the beauty of a girl's ears. Now I love the female form as much as the next man, but I must admit that the female ear is not a part of the body that has previously captured my attention. But after reading this book, I've found noticing the ear. Its strange and a bit worrying.

2. Lullaby - The Cat Empire

Last weekend was a weekend, and it was more than quite sunny in the park.

It was hot, but not as hot as the night Johnny Viti got married.

And that, my friends, is the first of many obscure comic book references (Batman: The Long Halloween).

One thing about this whole '83 Songs.' idea is that it puts my musical taste (or lack thereof) right in the front and centre. Just by looking at the song titles I've choosen, I guess you'll all pretty quickly get an understanding of what generally plays in my ipod. But don't worry, I'll do my best to throw some things from the left field, or even in some cases, from the right field.

Catch; The Cat Empire.

I'd admit that when the Cat Empire came onto the Australian music scene, I wasn't too impressed. From my limited knowledge, and please be aware that this knowledge is not founded from any research or evidence, the first song released was 'Hello'. I can kinda remember hearing it on the radio, and I can somewhat remember that I thought it was just a gimmicky song. Fast forward to a few months/possible years, I on a whim, I bought their first cd at a cd selling establishment.

Naturally, I loved it.

There is a few things you got to learn about me and my music. As much as a I appreciate the cut-n-paste brilliance of today's rnb, I'm just a sucker for a good brass section. Give me something with a good trumpet, a horn of any description, a sax, and I'll love you with 4/9ths of my heart. Just give me some music that makes me feel happy, give me music that will put a smile of my face and a bounce in my step.

And that's why I like the Cat Empire. Their music is about love of well girls and booze, but also a love for the music itself. You can feel it in the songs, you can tell that they just like playing. 'Lullaby' is from their second album, 'Two Shoes', and I'll admit that I like the fact that the starting piano part reminds me a lot of the music from an Amiga game I played when I was a kid. The name of the game now alludes me but it was very pac-man like but with fruit and I'm certain there was a Mr or Doc Pineapple involved.

Nonetheless, 'Lullaby' is what the Cat Empire is about, a song about a sexy babe, movie-marathons, triple-expressos and alot of rambling that I still can't quite get. Not to mention a horn solo right bang in the middle of the song.

Anyway, I need to start heading off to work, so I'll end it here.