Laura and I went on a gratifying (yet alarmingly impulsive) spending spree last night at JB Hi-Fi where we purchased a bunch of new CDs and DVDs¹. I was very glad she dragged me along in the end - please insist more, Laura.

Music

Right now I'm listening to Permanent Record: The very best of Violent Femmes, one of the two purchases, and I must say I'm loving it. Of course there are all the classics we know and love, like Blister in the Sun, Gone Daddy Gone, Add It Up², Jesus Walking On The Water, American Music...ok, hold on I'm going to name the hole CD if I'm not careful. I'm not up to it yet, but the track I'm looking forward to most is Country Death Song (Live, 1998). I did a crappy year ten drama performance to that song and have loved it ever since.

The other album we bought was Bernard Fanning's début solo album Tea & Sympathy ³. Haven't listened to it yet, but I've got a fair idea how good it is from the thrashing it got on JJJ.

On to the DVDs

Three DVD's were purchased, of which we have only had time to watch one (well I did, Laura fell asleep through most of it). The ones we haven't watched yet are Love Actually, one of the best romantic comedies I've seen (and a Christmas movie to boot!) and Third Rock from the Sun - season one. Third Rock is a great series and it's a huge shame it's not still being produced. I'm saving this one until next Friday when I finish uni forever⁴.

Sex at 24 Frames per Second

Sex at 24 Frames per Second is the third DVD we bought. Presented by Playboy, it's touted as "the ultimate journey through sex in cinema". And I'm very pleased to report that they're not wrong. The only thing it could have done with a little more of is the non-Hollywood perspective. There was a token effort to include some European cinema but it wasn't enough. If anyone can recommend a good documentary on sex in non-Hollywood cinema I'd be pleased to hear it.

It is very much a chronological journey that starts right from the very beginning of cinema. It touches on TV and it's effect and does a great job of demonstrating the struggle society has had with accepting sex on film and the different periods of liberalism and conservatism. It highlights the fact that violence is (or possibly was), for some reason, much more acceptable on film, which in my opinion is totally backward.

The films I've jotted down as must see soons from the first veiwing are:

• Valley of the Dolls (probably worth reading the book too)
• Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
• Midnight Cowboy
• Behind the Green Door
• Deep Throat
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (already seen it but it's worth another view)
• Animal House

Now, I don't want to spoil the ending for everyone but I will say that I'm very pleased that one of the conclusions drawn is that "sex has won" and that it's now out of the box and will never again be put back in. I, for one, think that's great!

1. Though, thankfully we did have the good sense to put some of our selections back and bring the bill down to a more reasonable level. [↩]
2. Which totally reminds me of Reality Bites, and one HOT actress. [↩]
3. Go Australian Music! And even though I've linked to Amazon, it's pretty obvious that all five of my Australian readers should look at purchasing it locally rather than from the states. [↩]
4. Probably. [↩]