Tagging is everywhere that matters on the internet, so why not tag your itunes library as well? Here’s how I’ve done it.

com / comedy / comedy tracks followed by the comedian

ele / electronic / anything electronic, ie. drum machines, no guitars, faceless souless techno, whatever.

fav / favorite / My favourite tunes, usually by genre such as gat, ele, or anything. You’ll think of better ones than me.

gat / guitar / Anything with a six string on it. Lighters in the air, stage dives, brush cotton shirts, you get the idea.

new / new (geddit?) / Just new stuff you want to listen to, to see if you like it. New songs from Mp3 blogs go on here.

rnd / random / If you have plenty of a paticular artist, make a list of all their albums and set it shuffle for untold random Saxon, Debbie Gibson or George Benson. It’s up to you though, those are just examples, like.

trip / trip soundtracks / When you make a list for a trip, you might like to save it and name it to remember that car journey / plane ride / whatever. Does that sound soppy?

Other tips:
– I use the ‘my top rated’ function a lot to tag songs I want to mess with later. This often happens when you’re shuffling all your songs, and it’s really easy to on the go, too.
– Try and keep tags short, so you can read them on your iPod screen.
– Set all the lists to random, while you’re at it, it’s loads more fun.

Thames 311205 001
Originally uploaded by richirvine73.

Ahhhh…..

So I wound up watching the new Led Zep DVD on Saturday night after the show. And couldn’t stop laughing. Now, I know Led Zep’s music pretty well – all the bogans at my school were into it, and eventually I got it as well. I own a copy of IV. Got a few songs in iTunes. But I’d never really watched a video of them, until now.

And now they’re ruined, because Spinal Tap got it so right. The mental drummer. The bass player standing there looking all serious. And especially David St. Hubbins / Jimmy Page. It’s all there from the ridiculous poses to scary facial expressions during the solos. I couldn’t stop laughing. And when he bought out the violin bow to play his guitar I almost had to leave the room.

I reckon it’s a great example of where a sharp parody makes the original material redundant, and reminds me of when I used to read Mad’s movie satires, which were so dead on you didn’t really have to see the film – and when you did, it was never as good. It’s all in the details – you have to study your ‘target’s’ expressions, tones of voice, their ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’, and then just crank it up a notch without going too OTT – it’s why shows like The Office, Fawlty Towers and Seinfeld were as popular as they were. What’s your favorite parody or satire?

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NEVER go to a costume hire place for your Office xmas party outfit. Not only are they always rammed with harassed mothers, their bratty children going nuts over all the toys, and annoying Sales-y types (“HEY! I need a bigger wig for this Edina outfit! MISS!”), but it takes at least 35 minutes to serve each customer, meaning you’ll be in the place for three hours minimum. And air conditioning is rare.

No, show a bit more imagination by making a Token Effort costume at a fraction of the price. There’s a myriad of advantages:
1. No need to return it the next day with a hangover in this sodding humidity
2. No worries about spilling shit on it and losing your deposit
3. People will be more impressed with something you’ve thrown together in an evening than those with hire costumes costing $100s
4. Token Effort costumes are usually worn over your normal clothes, so you can chuck it in the bin when the party is over, and you don’t have to go to the pub dressed as a Wizzard / Postal worker / Pirate

John Cleese — His Life, Times and Current Medical Problems show. Auckland, 10 December review.

This was one of those ‘What’s the show about? Got no idea, but he’s a legend, so let’s go’ ones. Our group warmed up by sampling the tapas at Vivace (the pig’s belly was the big highlight) and walking through the humidity to the theatre. It’s a bizarre transition to step off muggy, dirty old Queen St into the Civic, with the elephants on the walls and intricate detail everywhere you look. From there it was into the theatre itself – FUCK it was hot. I thanked the lord it’s OK now for males to wear sandals almost everywhere, in that long honored Kiwi-male tradition of ‘I just don’t give a fuck what I look like’. Anyway…

Then he came out. The show is loosely autobiographical, touching on his childhood, his relationship with his parents (his mother in particular), the Pythons, Fawlty Towers, and his life now in America. Also in the show is Cleese’s daughter, Camilla, who apparently had a hand writing the show. Brave girl. In all honesty, hers were the weakest bits, like ‘get off the stage, and bring back JC’, and so the audience never really warmed to her, but she suffered from, well, not being John Cleese.

So what we got in between was the life and times of a very funny man, complete with supporting AV material. The Pythons got the once over lightly treatment, with emphasis on the death of Graham Chapman, and how the remaining team still miss him and consider him part of the group. There was much on Fawlty Towers and the hotelier who inspired the Basil character, JC’s pride in the success and universal love for this short lived program was very evident. The best bits were the audience participation section, where we got to have our own personal moment with JC, and the dead parrot sketch re-worked especially for New Zealand audiences. With not a parrot, but a NZ national icon that had ceased to be (not a kiwi!).

As it was the last show of the tour, we got introduced to the other cast members twice, and learned they were his tour manager, PA, and tour secretary in addition to his daughter. While you’ve got to love someone who goes to such lengths to include those near and dear to him, these bits jarred with the rest, and might have been better left out. Still, even from the back of the Civic, you can’t help but feel like you’d been let into JC’s world for an hour or two, and a fascinating and very funny world it was, too.
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shoes 004
Originally uploaded by richirvine73.

Old shoes (on the left)
New shoes (on the right)
No point changing, innit?

Wenesday afternoon
Originally uploaded by richirvine73.

It’s been ages since I’ve had time off – I’d almost forgotten what it’s like. Maybe it’s just me, and a sign of how I haven’t quite evolved since school, but it still feels kind of funny and almost naughty cruising around during work hours. Who ARE all these people, and what is it they do so they can sit around outside cafes and shoot the shit? Shouldn’t they be at work?