My Weekend
Friday night shopping, me and Pen first dropped in at the Lambs Go Bar. We had a Belgian beer, Floris Chocolat, which was fruity and bubbly and lovely. After shopping we relaxed at home with the first three episodes of Firefly.
Saturday afternoon, I went to Audio Lifestyle on Brunswick Street to buy my first ever stereo. I took two well-produced CDs, California by Mr Bungle (with a lot of variability) and From The Choirgirl Hotel by Tori Amos (with a lot of depth); I also took a poorly-produced CD, And Justice For All by Metallica. I’ve been into Audio Lifestyle before and also looked around at places like JB and Myer - which really only sell home theatre systems, these days, nothing for sound only. I don’t care about movie sound, I care about music. I got the owner of the store (he sells $130,000 speakers), got some good advice, listened to my CDs, and came away with a Yamaha AX-396 stero amplifier and a pair of Focal-JMLab Chorus 714 S floor-standing loudspeakers. Hearing sounds I’d never heard before, in ways I’d never done, on CDs I’ve loved for years - I almost cried. The speakers need a thirty day breaking-in period, so I’ve got CDs on repeat while I’m out. I feel so adult. (I do currently have everything, including the DVD/CD player, going through my old JVC VCR, which probably introduces a little signal distortion, but I’m not prepared to give up on TV or video cassettes yet.)
Watched another ep of Firefly (Bushwhacked).
Saturday night, we went to a fundraising gala ball which my boss had bought several tables at. I’m still bitter about being roped into this crap event instead of hanging with friends.
Sunday midday, me and Pen went to Chadstone the Fashion Capital. Our mission: seek out a suit (or at least a jacket) that I could wear for our wedding. And we succeeded. Yay! I bought a lovely suit jacket that goes with the lovely pants I purchased from Melbourne Central last week. Now I just need a shirt. (Pen also bought some bits and bobs she wanted, plus photo frames.)
Went home, cleaned up, watched another ep of Firefly (Shindig).
Sunday 6pm, our parents came round. Walked them to the park where we’ll be holding our wedding ceremony. It was a lovely night and the trees are all rolling out their summer leaves now. For tea, we took them to the Marquis of Lorne, where we’ll be holding our reception on the top two floors. Everything for the wedding seems to be coming along nicely and the parents are very happy with it all, which is nice. I sampled another scotch, a Highland whisky, Glenmorangie. Smooth, straight whisky flavour, but a bit watery, and had an alcohol spike to it. Reminded me a bit of Glenfiddich. Not recommended.
Only two more weeks of Bendigo for Penny!
Firefly
Five episodes in. Really enjoying the characters and dialogue. The stories are little more than an excuse to let the characters do their stuff.
I don’t like Book and Inara, they really seem designed primarily as story motivators, unlike the rest of the crew. Inara gets a bit better in Shindig, but seeing as I know where she is by the time of the movie, I’m still not terribly sympathetic. I like River at the moment and it seems a pity she’s going to be turned into a story motivator too (and the worst kind: like Xena, like Angel). The morality can get a bit overbearing.
Something I forgot to mention in my movie review: no sound in space. How often do you see that? I love the whole approach to space in Firefly.