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| R.A.T.! Random Aussie Tune! This is part of my ongoing attempt to make Australia seem like a country not just populated by wildlife out to kill you (even though it is) and always on fire or under water (only half the time, to be honest) by posting songs I like by Aussie (not Kiwi) artists. The Boys Next Door (also The Birthday Party) were a short-lived post-punk band. The song here was really their only truly big hit in this country, and they would disband after a few years of plying their trade. However, they are important for one very important reason - the lead singer and songwriter was Nick Cave, who (with the Bad Seeds) has become a stalwart of Australian alternative music, and has made waves overseas. But it all started here. Oh, and because of the opening line, it was banned from many radio stations in the USA. Seen live? No. Overseas success? No. 'Shivers' by The Boys Next Door (1979) |
I've added a new entry to my "Writing Blog Number 2"  : "20250613 Novel #10" The journey continues... |
| A good read for anyone wanting to get a sense of how rough the road to getting a novel traditionally published can be. |
Reply| R.A.T.! Random Aussie Tune! This is part of my ongoing attempt to make Australia seem like a country not just populated by wildlife out to kill you (even though it is) and always on fire or under water (only half the time, to be honest) by posting songs I like by Aussie (not Kiwi) artists. Australia has a few guitar legends, but the one that most think of in a classic rock sphere is Richard Clapton, and not just because he shares a surname with another guitarist of some renown. He released a string of albums in the 1970s and 1980s that were just wonderfully player and laid-back. And this, his first charting single, about ladies who work at night, is still one of his best. Seen live? No. Overseas success? No. 'Girls On The Avenue' by Richard Clapton (1975) |
New (if slightly late) question over at:
And it might be here: "QOTD: Friday June 13 2025" |
All 5 participants in the May edition of
received a merit badge. I could not decide on a winner, so decided, meh! Award them all! There will not be a horror writing contest for a little while now, as my numbers have dropped markedly. In the meantime, I will be bringing back an activity I did last year come July. Be ready for drabbling! |
| I loved Donna's Dark Dreamscape; but, like many a contest it went poof. Only broad contests seem to prevail, and even they have to be promoted or they peter out. Maybe 2-3 times/year would be better. |
| Friend got back from the USA and was telling us about the alcohol in the place. "So I went to a Bahhh," he said, drawling it out like a stereotypical Seppo, "and got a beer. The barman nodded at the window and said, 'Looks like rain.' "I sipped the beer. 'Tastes like it, too,' I told him." |
| True story: went to a bar in South Dakota, the only redeeming feature of which was it was close to the hotel so I could stagger back. Sat there drinking the only half-decent beer they had, a Belgian style from a Colorado brewer. Place is a dive. Not that there's anything wrong with dive bars, mind you. Guy comes in, sits down next to me. Bartender comes over. "What'll it be?" Guy says, "I'd like a Bud Light and a water." I was just drunk enough -- and here's where I remind you that I'm a short guy in a dive bar in an unfamiliar town infested with bikers -- to say, "So, two waters." Fortunately, the guy didn't get mad and/or punch me to death. |
| R.A.T.! Random Aussie Tune! This is part of my ongoing attempt to make Australia seem like a country not just populated by wildlife out to kill you (even though it is) and always on fire or under water (only half the time, to be honest) by posting songs I like by Aussie (not Kiwi) artists. I saw this performer on television and then, a few weeks later, this video clip was released. Then I caught him on another TV show. He is a country singer, but this weird song is his best known and only cross-over hit so far. Seen live? No. Overseas success? No. 'Sort Of Dunno Nothin'' by Peter Denahy (2008) |
| This could be interesting for writerers out there... |
| One minor quibble about Alice (and maybe also Wizard of Oz): the "it was all a dream" thing works for those stories not just because the narrative is dreamlike, but because it's telegraphed/foreshadowed at the very beginning. To use Alice as an example, it starts out with her lazing on a riverbank. So she was considering in her own mind, (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid,) whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. There was nothing so very remarkable in that ; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, “ Oh dear ! Oh dear ! I shall be too late !” (when she thought it over afterwards, it oc- curred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural) Which just screams "falling asleep." I copy/pasted from a pdf, so the formatting is what it is because it would take too much effort to fix it. |
| Another bookfox video!! |
| I'm currently in the middle of watching this on his YouTube channel...or I was before I got distracted doing something else. Thanks for the reminder to get back to it. I've already liked it and will probably subscribe to him. I appreciate you sharing him! I hope he shares that video at the end because I didn't see it linked in the show notes below. |
| I've added a new entry to my "Writing Blog Number 2" : "20250611 Types Of Writer" An opinion piece. Where do you fall? |
| There are a lot of words that describe things in terms of animals. Feline for cat-like, canine for dog-like, avian for bird-like are the most common. But there are others. OBSCURE WORD OF THE DAY! Today's word is trichechine. This means, "like a walrus (by extension, like a manatee)". Generally used to describe a large person with a thick moustache. While not necessary, they can also have prominent teeth. Think David Crosby. Your challenge today, should you accept it, is to identify someone who could be considered trichechine. |
For those curious, I have set myself the challenge of writing a poem or short story for every single song in
Some will be long, some will be short; there will be drabbles, dialogues, monologues; the poems will be funny, serious and memoir. It is a mixture... but my goal is to write 40 of these suckers this month. We are halfway there, so if you want to see what The Beatles inspires in me, a completely normal and not at all messed up person, have a look at:
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