Today's List

Today's little list:

1. What I'm Annoyed At: the usual populist political bullshit that's wafting around like fart particles (farticles?) upon the news Sandor Cikos is to be released from prison, where he has been serving a sentence for the murder of his de facto wife and their two children.  He has served the non-parole period imposed by the sentencing judge, and the NSW Parole Board have granted him parole.  Listen up, folks: the judge and the Parole Board know the facts pertaining to law, and all the associated facts pertaining to this case.  Right wing shock jocks know pretty much in the area of - how shall I put this? - FUCK ALL.

2.  What I'm Listening To: 'Sunny Afternoon' by The Kinks.  For some reason, I'm identifying big time.  The taxman has not taken all my dough (mainly because I have very little for him to take), but Ray Davies delivers this in a tone of resigned ennui, blah-ness, and I-Don't-Give-A-Fuck-ness.  That's how I'm feeling today.  I'm actually looking forward to going out later, but at the moment I'm in a sludgy fugue of Meh, and I don't know why.  I am also feeling like I've got a touch of writer's block, which bothers me greatly.

3.  What I'm Doing Tonight: attending a local pub and watching an INXS cover band.  I've mentioned before in a previous post that I used to see cover bands quite frequently when I was in my mid-twenties.  They were very prevalent back then.  I've seen homages to The Doors, Abba, Australian Crawl, Kiss, and Neil Diamond just to name a few. In their own way, tribute bands are very entertaining because they often don't take themselves seriously and have fun.  I also like to internally critique the artist's interpretation and performance to see whether they have truly captured the musician he or she is attempting to emulate.  It was fun the night my cousins and I saw the Kiss band at a club in Bondi.  We were sitting at one of the long rectangular tables that just are the defining feature of the auditorium of just about every licensed club in the country, and I saw 'Ace Frehley' walking up through the audience area - maybe he'd been to the bar for a schooner of New.  Maybe he'd been using the public phone in the foyer (the mobile telephone was pretty much the toy of the extremely rich and yuppyish back then).  Maybe he'd been using the dunny.  In any event, I had fun watching the show.  A phalanx of flanno-wearing mullet-haired yobs lined up along the front of the stage and obliterated the view of all behind them.  'So inconsiderate!' complained one of my cousins, and her younger sister said to me, 'I didn't realise there was now a direct train line from Penrith to Bondi, Bing!'.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed the show (the only difference between these guys and the real thing was their heights - the members of Kiss are quite tall, and this band comprised of a bunch of short-arses), but I feared for the mental health of the 'tard who sang out, 'Play Acca Dacca!'  It was interesting to see 'Paul Stanley' reply in a very broad Australian accent, 'Mate, we're a concept band!'  And yeah, their drummer 'Peter Criss' sang 'Beth', and like the real thing he sounded just like he was gargling phlegm.  But anyway, let's see what this INXS show will be like tonight.

4. What I'm Doing Tomorrow: driving my 11yo to Newcastle for an MRI.  He had one when aged seven, but nothing showed.  Now that his brain has had more time to grow, it is the view of his neurologist that scarring might now appear, if there is indeed any scarring there to which his epilepsy can be attributed.  He is not looking forward to it.  Not because he is afraid, but because the procedure is so damned boring.  Also, he's bound to want to scratch his nose and will be unable to.  The previous time this was conducted, the staff fitted the cylinder with a periscope type device, and I was able to go in the room with him (after I had removed my watch) so he could see me and be reassured.  He was very brave last time, and I'm sure he will be just as courageous tomorrow.  Actually, he wrote a very good composition for his teacher after his last MRI, and described 'the big tunnel' with clarity and creativity.