A number of musicians, whose work I have liked in the past, put out new material in 2016. However, I haven't been bothered trying to purchase or download any of it, since I've been off in the land of the lousy internet connection, and generally quite busy to boot.
Anyway, here's the title track from Norwegian metal band Sirenia's new album, "Dim Days of Dolor". The music video is rather shit, so I've included something else for you to watch while you listen. I was going to write a little script to automatically play the audio from one clip and the video from the other, but I don't have time to gin around working out how the YouTube API works right now. You'll just have to do it manually.
PRESS PLAY ON THIS VIDEO, THEN SCROLL DOWN
PLAY THIS VIDEO ON MUTE
Now, tell me all about all the music that got you excited in 2016, whether you've actually listened to it yet or not.
I was on my way back to my quarters this afternoon when I almost got bowled over by a bush turkey that came darting hell for leather around a corner. As I watched him disappear behind a building, I pondered why he was in such a hurry. Then the second turkey came bolting around the corner and stopped just short of colliding with me. He started eying me off, puffing himself up, and strutting back and forth menacingly, like he wanted me to know he wasn't a fowl to be fucked with. It was then that I realised what the first one was running from.
After a few seconds of macho posturing, he cantered off in the direction I was heading. I walked a few paces behind him. Outside my front door, a female turkey sauntered back and forth. "Boys fighting over you, are they luv?" She shot me a quick look in reply, but I didn't really get what it meant—turkeys' facial expressions are notoriously hard to read.
A minute later, I was standing in my kitchenette, waiting for the kettle to boil, and mulling over that indecipherable countenance. I wondered if female animals were 'aware' in any meaningful way that males actively fought over them, and if they felt any kind of emotion over it—one way or the other. What goes on in the mind of a clucky bird?
For a while, I thought about how adorable turkey chicks are, and then I noticed my hand had somehow found its way onto my belly again. I sighed and poured my tea.
Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to getting back home?
I don't use Twatter or Facebag, so I don't know how widely circulated this thing is, but I've been informed by some of the locals out here that the latest big online controversy is over this video of some bloke giving an overly-aggressive roo a swift bop on the snout.
Apparently some cunts have even petitioned the guy's employer to have him sacked. What the fuck—when did whinging to somebody's boss—because you don't approve of something they do in their personal lives—become a thing people do in this country? Christ almighty, this is why it pays to be anonymous on the internet.
All I can say is thank fuck there were no mobile phones or social media around when I was a teenager, since a lot of my time was spent doing pretty much exactly what those fellas are doing right there—and worse. Actually, I should see about doing some illustrated posts when I get home (oh, home sweet home).
Oh, as an added bonus, here's a version of the video narrated by that bloke who Melba put me onto during this year's run of Game Of Thrones. Enjoy.
For those of you who secretly wish I'd spend more time talking about cricket (come on, you know you do), this is your lucky day. The 2016 Women's Big Bash League (WomBBL) starts tomorrow. I had a chat on the phone with the nieces & nephews the other night, and everyone is looking forward to it—although—I noticed the boys were quick to point out that it's not as good as the blokes' tournament. Oh well, the women's league is only in its second year, and most of the players aren't even fully pro yet, so I'd say we've still got a fair bit of room for improvement. … So long as it generates enough of a following to sustain itself.
Last year, I bitched about the level of coverage the WomBBL got. While the tournament received plenty of hype, only about half a dozen matches actually got televised—which is a bit fuckin' disappointing when you consider that Network Ten has two secondary channels that appear to play nothing but repeats from the main channel and old Yankee shit from the 1980s. But the most egregious part is that they didn't even bother to stream the non-televised matches over the internet. Come on—in this day and age, any tit with a phone and an internet connection can run a HD broadcast online for zero dollars. Virtually unforgivable.
Anyway, I'm pleased to say that this year they've rectified this outrage. For the 2016/17 season, all non-televised WomBBL matches will be streamed live (and presumably free) through Facebag, and the cricket.com.au website. Well, thank fuck for common sense, 'ay.
For the sake of readers' sanity, I'm going to put a link up in the right-hand column, and I will then endeavor to keep the majority of WomBBL talk confined to a single page. No guarantees though, okay.
And on a related note, I'd also like to mention how much the niblings are looking forward to the start of the women's AFL next year. One of the cousins is supposed to be playing for one of the Melbourne teams, so Aussie Rules is very chic around our neck of the woods at the moment. Interesting, since it's all pretty solid Rugby League territory up here.
I have it on good authority from The Terra that the Sydney Sixers are the best girly team, 'cause dey have pink shirts wiv sparklies on dem.
