Saturday, December 30

I sometimes forget how big Australia is.  Marilyn is reading a book where one of the characters is travelling by train between London and Vienna.  It's set in the mid-1900s, so it's taking days and Marilyn asks, How far is it?  Off the top of my head, I suggest it's about the same distance as from Launceston to Brisbane, because it's no use quoting a number.  Marilyn prefers a more concrete explanation than an abstract number.  In any case, I had no idea but when I checked it was more like the distance from here to Canberra.  Hardly any distance at all in our vast continent but, in the Old World, you would have crossed several international borders in that time.

It was nice to read the review of Jamie's latest album:

... after 10 months in the making, JJ.Christie releases his full length release for the year after sitting on it whilst other projects were being finished and released. After the success of "The Big Melt", including the runner-up for the Echosynthetic Synthy Awards, Collaboration of the Year, JJ takes us on another journey of exploration into the parallel universe of progressive synthwave with the incomparable "Synaesthesia: Cognitive Perception". This album brings into the frame, the perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. 

Its an album full of hooks, laid down grooves, and downright great songs. Its sure to delight for listen after listen as the layers peel away to reveal surprise after surprise.