Achtung

You may have heard by now that Radiohead vocalist and songwriter Thom Yorke is going to be releasing a solo album, called The Eraser, in July. The announcement was made by Thom himself on Sunday, New Zealand time. I came across the news after I had gone to bed on Sunday night, and was looking at Xtra News on my mobile phone, perversely trying anything to keep myself awake. When I read the news, understandably I was excited to the point that I had no hope of falling asleep for a couple of hours at least. Hearing that one of my favourite musicians, and certainly my favourite singer, is going to be releasing a solo album was a great end to the day. I'll be sure to plan financially so that I'll be able to buy The Eraser on the day that it is released. This news came as a very nice surprise as I haven't been paying attention to Radiohead-related news in my state of unexpectantness of anything happening on that front -- to the contrary, they've set out on a tour in addition to the announcement of Thom's album! Cor blimey. I must also apologise to the omnipotence of Thom for my interpretation of Karma Police that I gave at Grant's karaoke evening on Saturday night. We won't go any further into that.

Earlier on in the evening in which I had received the exponentially fantastic news, I had been watching Dancing With The Stars with Alison, Cynthia and Nicola -- extra incentive courtesy of Rodney Hide. Unlike in the first episode, where he and Krystal were made to dance last, this one saw them the second couple to take to the floor. Rodney acted as a swooning, posturing post around which Krystal danced for most of the time, and they were scored poorly, although I certainly respect the man more for doing what he's doing. That's why I gave Rodney, Krystal and Saint John five votes, and I feel good for having contributed to them making it through to the next around -- but I also feel a twinge of guilt that Christine Rankin got out. She was a better dancer than Rodney. Yesterday afternoon, I was provided with a burst of excitement as Rodney drove across in front of me as I waited to cross Victoria Street, the Smart Car high-revving as he dove into the Victoria Street car park without braking. He really is just one of us, somehow in Parliament. What a brilliant man.


Whether or not I'll be taking Anthro 215 Human Sexuality is in question. I am sexually bitter and frustrated. If I took that paper, I don't know how I would cope. As it is I feel unwell when people talk about sexuality sometimes, because I'm aware of my lack of proficiency for lack of a better term, and feel distanced from it all in that sense. This is despite the fact that I recognise myself as a sexual being and have for several years placed my sexual orientation and gender identity at the centre of things that make me who I am. It's determined my political philosophy, my views on people, and thus my entire perception of the world. It makes sense for me to take the paper on those latter grounds. But on the basis of the aforementioned feelings of frustration, is it really a good idea? Would it help me with those feelings, or would I just detest it? I guess it's hard to know. Essentially I'm wondering too whether it would be worth it, getting up at seven o' clock every Tuesday morning, to attend a single one-hour lecture (if I didn't take Human Sexuality I would have no classes on Tuesday).

My Internet has been out for the past seventeen hours, and I know Grant's has too, and I've only just been able to get back on. I don't know how widespread the problem was but I don't think it reflects very well on Xtra, particularly considering the recent unbundling that's been enforced. I'm on dial-up, but it's been playing up for several months -- oddly, ever since Xtra started promoting their "faster, cheaper broadband" offer. Being kicked offline has been an overly frequent, irritating occurrence that didn't happen to me prior to the broadband push. It made me realise how much the Internet is woven into my daily routine when I found that it was unavailable. I started pulling my non-existent hair out over not being able to use Voyager to do my media studies assignment that I should be working on right now; to find out what gig I am going to go to this weekend, for the purposes of fieldwork for my ethnomusicology assignment; to get quick and easy access to news to find out why the Internet was down! Well, it's back now, which means I can appreciate it more. Still -- tsk, tsk, tsk, Xtra.