Dyed to the Bone: On Nekkid Trees

Current Music Cravings

The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Mika: The Boy Who Knew Too Much
I was a bit worried when a young artist releases a really wonderful first album. Is that all there is going to be? Is that as good as it gets? Mika once again proves how bloody talented he is. This is a far more lush and darker album. I absolutely love it! Cannot wait to see the boy in action in November 2009!!!! (*****)
We Are Golden
Mika: We Are Golden
I am loving this! To say nothing of the film clip ;-). The Boy strikes again. I love it! Cannot wait until the album comes out. Only a few more sleeps now!! (*****)
Some People Have Real Problems
Sia: Some People Have Real Problems
F*cking Awesome. (*****)
Number Ones
Michael Jackson: Number Ones
This one was brought the day he died. The kids have not let me play anything else in the car ever since. Dear God, as much as I love MJ, please let me play another album one day soon?!?!? (*****)
Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller (CD+DVD)
Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson 25th Anniversary of Thriller (CD+DVD)
Yeah yeah yeah, I know... Excellent version of Beat It featuring Fergie (*****)
Dangerous
Michael Jackson: Dangerous
Gotta Love it. Great Album!! (*****)
Measure for Measure
Icehouse: Measure for Measure
Saw the ballet of Boxes which Iva Davies scored. It had the wonderful "No Promises" song. I am loving this album all over again, having just got it on CD. Sort of a Down Under answer to the great Bowie (*****)
The Conversation
Tim Finn: The Conversation
This is such a lovely album. I never realised how distinctive Eddie Raynor's piano playing is, and how much it can lift Tim Finn's music. Beautiful, balanced, thoughtful, totally immersing - just as a good conversation should be! Love ya Tim. (*****)
Raising Sand
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand
Sublime. Although T Bone needs to get some more producing tricks up his sleeve, he can turn anyone into a Patsy Cline clone. Not that this is a bad thing..... Really nice album, but no real surprises. (****)
The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1
Robert Plant: The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1
Robert Plant strikes again. God how I adore 'Sea of Love'. It was playing in Myers today, and I started to sing along. Ya just cannot help it! Lovely (*****)
Appalachian Journey
Yo Yo MA Edgar Myer Mark O' Connor: Appalachian Journey
I got this one as I love Appalachian music, and Alison Krauss features on some of the tracks. Yo Yo rulz the cello!!! (*****)
Vol. 2-Countdown One Hit Wonders
: Vol. 2-Countdown One Hit Wonders
Boo Yeah! Great selection from in some cases, truly forgettable artists. Mind you, I do NOT agree with groups like DEVO being lumped in as a 'one hit wonder'... (****)
Watch Me Disappear
Augie March: Watch Me Disappear
Haven't yet finished this but am very EXCITED. Very Finn sounding.... (****)
P!ink: Funhouse
I really like P!nk's music. I particularly love the filmclip to "So What". Gotta love a girl that can take the p!ss outta herself. (*****)
Laura Marling: Alas I Cannot Swim
I SO love this album. Really unique. Despite being compared with Duffy and Colbie, I think she maintains her uniqueness and I think is a step up from the rest. I actually paid for a hard copy of this, as I think it's in line with Laura's philosophy of maintaining that intimacy with the recording artist.... Thank you to 666 ABC radio Canberra for turning me onto this artist! (*****)
David Bowie: Best of Bowie
Ah now, what can you say about the man who has been part of your musical life for, like, forever. Sigh. He's always had it, has still got it and always will! (*****)
Colbie Caillat: Coco
Really nice album. Gracie in particular likes this. This just shows you how bizarre my taste is in music. One minute it's the Cavester, then Colbie Caillat. Very easy listening without being like the rest of them there young Americans... (*****)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig Lazurus Dig
The Cavester returns. Only he now sounds a little bit like a cross between Tom Waites and Johnny Cash. Not at all a bad mix, just a bit disconcerting. But Nick, like the rest of us is getting on. No longer the skinny teenager scaring the hell out of the mundanes with the Birthday Party... Heh, now those were the days
Soundtrack: Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street Deluxe - Complete Edition
Despite people hanging sh*t on the very idea of Hollywood making this version, Johnny Depp carries off the title role quite impressively thank you very much. It's a very different interpretation, and Sondheim has really, really knuckled down on the singers as far as following the highly syncopated melody lines. This is an incredibly hard musical score and the cast are to be commended on how well they handle it, particularly those actors not known for their singing. (*****)
Mika: Life In Cartoon Motion
Gotta LOVE this guy. Freddie Mercury will never be gone while Mika lives! Fanastic voice. (*****)

Podcasts and Audible books I am LISTENING to...

Walsh Peter: It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED]
Really quite good. Read by the author who is Australian. Nice to hear an Aussie accent for a change. There has been nothing startling just yet, Fly Lady and Shannon Lush have already covered most of it, as well as DIY's "Neat" show. (***)
Andy Gilbert: Go MAD - The Art of Making A Difference (Go MAD!)
Very cool so far. Sparta likes this one too. Sends him to sleep like nothing else 8-) (*****)
Jonah Lehrer: How We Decide
How do we decide, neurologically speaking? It seems I will find out. Seems really good so far (only listened to the first chapter... (*****)
John Medina: Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)
Jury's still out on this one... (***)
Fred Kaplan: Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer
All 11+ hours of it! Ahh for the days when political survival relied on oratory and literacy... This man could write!!! Am enjoying this one hugely. (*****)
Dawn French: Dear Fatty
Have only just started listening. Sounds very promising though. I really admire Dawn French. (****)
Terry Pratchett: The Wee Free Men
This is the first fiction work I have got from Audible, and it's fantastic!! Love it. (*****)

Every April/May in Canberra, huge flocks of White Sulphur Crested Cockatoos give the grass of Canberra a bloody good going over. I believe they are digging for native yams. You can see well over one hundred birds on the ground at once. Stunning sight!

The other foggy morning on the way to school, Matthew and I saw a huge nekkid (read it has shed its leaves) tree, with about one hundred cockies perched in it.

I said to Matthew "Quick, look at the cockatoo tree". For a nano second he almost believed it 8-)

We roared laughing at this bizarre sight, that for all the world looked like it had a crop of cockies on it, and have been keeping our eyes (and my camera) peeled ever since.

Of particular hilarity and riot is when their crests are up. This happens in moments of extreme emotion, and when they land.

This morning two of them were patrolling the median strip alone Adelaide Avenue. One head down, digging and the other stalking very solemnly around. Just as I noticed them, a Police car shot past at about 120 KPH, missing them by less than two feet.

I now know what a Cocky looks like when he's saying "WTF!!!!!!!!". Tallest crests I ever did see...

Gotta love Canberra in the Autumn.

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