Adam Luke

You know those weeks where nothing seems to go right? I just had one.

But in other news, today’s idea for blog entry came from a conversation among me, Flamboyant Gaga Fanboy (who went to both Lady Gaga’s Melbourne shows), and Top 40 Girl:

Top 40 Girl: What was the highlight of the show?

Flamboyant Gaga Fanboy: Definitely “So Happy I Could Die”.

Me: Really? [as I learnt when I saw The Decemberists, show highlights can come from unexpected songs, but I was still incredulous, because it's a pretty crappy song. But then again, most Lady Gaga songs are!]

Top 40 Girl: I don’t know that song.

Me: How do I know it and you don’t?

Flamboyant Gaga Fanboy: How do you know it?

My point is that people don’t listen to entire albums anymore, and it’s sad. What with the rise of the iTunes Store and peer-to-peer software, people mainly just listen to lead singles, which are really not always the best songs of the album. Albums should be listened to in full!

But anyway, I have sort of a reputation for listening to obscure music. In fact, Lady Gaga is the only thing I know about Top 40-type music. It’s hard not to know her music. Here’s an example conversation:

Friend: You know that “Sexy Bitch” song?

Me: No.

Friend: Oh…

I often listen to gapless albums, and concept albums; songs from which are not exactly meant to be listened to out of context. I do it anyway, but perhaps it’s another reason I find it disappointing that people aren’t listening to entire albums…

Focus Questions: What about you? Do you listen to entire albums, or just a few songs?

It started with a tweet. It ended with a coating of squashed bugs on the windscreen. It was? A trip to our overly-circular capital city.

Friday

We (Amanda, her boyfriend, her brother, and I) departed Melbourne at around two o’clock in the afternoon, and after various stops (such as Albury, for dinner), we finally arrived in Canberra, where we met up withother people. Namely, Carmen and Michael¹. Canberra is a pretty quiet city, but it was a Friday night, so we went bar-hopping, and Fun Times were had by all.

Saturday

We left early for the the main purpose of the trip: the Masterpieces from Paris exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. We had to queue for a few hours, but we saw some pretty impressive stuff. I was most impressed with Cézanne’s and Khnopff’s work, but less impressed by Monet and pointillism.

The other main tourist-y attraction we went to see on Saturday was the Australian War Memorial, which is enormous in comparison to Melbourne’s Shrine.

The night was capped off with pizza, Yet More Alcohol, and Skyfire, an annual fireworks show over Canberra’s large man-made lake, Lake Burley Griffin. It was pretty cool, and lasted longer than New Year fireworks shows (i.e., the only firework shows I ever see) generally do, and it was easy to get a prime viewing spot, which would not be so readily-available in Melbourne or Sydney.

Sunday

We did a few bits and pieces, and then drove all the way back to Melbourne. I’m supposed to have read a lot for uni subjects this week, but alas, I only managed a page. But overall, I had a completely excellent weekend.

1. Canberra has a small enough population that the bloggers:non-bloggers ratio in Canberra over the weekend totally had a significant change.

Just a quick note to say that, as I mentioned last entry, I’m off to Canberra for the weekend. Shout-out and massive thanks to Amanda, who is awesome enough to organise the trip, drive me, and book accommodation!

I’ll be without Internet access, so if I go insane? That’s why. Too dependent on the Internet, I am. I have free mobile Twitter for a little while longer, so I’ll still be in your mobile network, reading your tweets, if I have a free moment.

I think I packed whatever I need. Almost forgot to pack underwear, though!