Thursday, September 26, 2013

modern adventures in classical shopping

hi there

well, that's a rubbish title, isn't it? sorry, it sounded OK up in my head, but there on screen it looks awful. and no, i cannot be bothered to change it.

for some reason a few people, in particular the Child of the Condiment Phoenix, seem to be interested in what goes on when i go shopping, wishing to hear some tales and see some pictures. i don't quite see the fascination or elements of interest, to be honest, but if that's what people want to read, here you go.

first off, let me confirm the date for you. it's Thursday 26 September 2013. that will be of some relevance a little latter, and indeed right now as you have a look at this first picture.



yep, that's Christmas stuff they are getting ready for sale. i have been musing that i have not been able to get crackers and that so far this month, so i am glad to see they are on the ball. interestingly, no Halloween items or elements if you like seem to be for sale anywhere - i am guessing i missed out, they were no doubt on the shelvees in May.

i have a curious habit of bumping in to people i know whilst at the shops. not too strange for you readers in England, the US and the Australia-NZ axis i suppose, but strange here. it's massive, you see, and people tend to be spread out, not always using the same centres. i also mostly keep my own counsel, not having the most dynamic of social circles.

nice, then, to bump into Kidron today, who i have not seen for close to 5 years.



well, he thought it was nice. i thought it most pleasant, i suppose, and good to see him around, doing well and indeed doing shopping. usually it is Spiros i bump into at the shops and, due to his lifestyle, things tend to get rather homoerotic on such occassions. Kidron would no doubt appreciate it a great deal if i stressed that no such business happened on our chance encounter.

ah, time for a moan. off to the CD section of a CD store i went. why? the wild hope that the new Manic Street Preachers album, Rewind The Film, would be sat there. i bought it on day of release, but alas one of them 'iTwat store' things, i like having the CD. as there remains no sight of either the recent Primal Scream or Beady Eye albums i did not think there was much chance of success. no, not available on CD.

they had plenty of copies of the 2 CD reissue of Another Self Portrait by Bob Dylan, though. they have had plenty of copies since the day of release, which they managed to stock it on and not impose a 2 week delay as was the case with the new David Bowie album earlier in the year. i suspect they have not sold a single copy, really. it is not a fondly remembered album at all, and fans would no doubt much rather have the 3 CD version, featuring a concert, that the rest of the world has.



why is it that an inferior version of a not overwhelmingly popular album manages to be available on the international day of release, yet they struggle with a Bowie release date and don't stock the Manics, Primal Scream or Beady Eye at all? it has to do with who is, or is seen as, the "voice of music" here.

it takes, as you are aware, as special kind of dickhead to declare themself a "guru" of anything. usually someone that describes themselves as a guru in regards of a field or subject is as far removed from being that as you could imagine. so when here you have someone calling themselves a music guru somehow getting on to the radio on a regular basis, you have problems. never mind that he regularly gets basic facts wrong, most recently i heard him declare that the song The Glory Of Love came from "The Karate Kid 1" (it was from KK Part II and there is no such film as The Karate Kid 1, it was just The Karate Kid),  it seems he has managed to convince many that he is a source of knowledge and apparently believes his judgement and words influence what people listen to.

if some brainless moron in the record industry here - and there are many, for once in the 90s i sat in a car with an exec with The Who's Live At Leeds playing and he had no idea that the band were not a new phenomenon - happened to hear this "guru" go off on one about Dylan, then i think i know how this happened to all come into being.

no CDs for me to purchase, then, but i did find some blu-ray discs at a sensational price, one in particular at a really brilliant price.



the more paleontology related title above came up at twice the price it was marked when i took it to the till. far be it from me to name the store, although perhaps i should. for some reason the lady at the till thought i might not notice if she simply took all the wrapping off (it featuring the price twice), put it in the bin and informed me of the sensational, new, double price. oh but i did notice and to her partial credit she looked most ashamed when i asked if she was always this brazenly dishonest.

yes, i paid the price marked on the item, not what the computer thought it might be.

onwards, then, and remember the date thing? as many will be aware, Fifa 14 has a release date of September 27, which is tomorrow. on the off chance the stores here with their wild disregard of release dates might already have it i had a look. most just had posters up, but i am delighted to say one store was busy unpacking it as i walked in.

it is with further delight that i say they had no problem at all with selling it to me a day early.



splendid! if only they could be this class with music releases, in particular music that people actually wish to buy, happy days would surely be a lot closer to frequent here.

i recall, many years ago, my Mum returning from a trip to England and giving me the CD (What's The Story?) Morning Glory by Oasis. this was impressive as she arrived here a full week before the CD was due for release anywhere. apparently the stock had arrived at the airport and my Mum sweet-talked them into selling it to her early.

i've always been quite chuffed that i got my hands on one of the first non-press review copies of that album, and James in a similar way is most impressed that he got this game a day before the majority of the world can go and buy it.



is it any good? no idea. James says it is, and he has been busy with it since he got home and found it waiting for him. it's not like EA have done anything too brilliant from what i have seen, for in the game Gareth Bale remains a proud Spurs player, and i believe Ozil is stil a Real Madrid man. and that Belgian with the funny hair remains an Everton player.

still, it features a lot of the things that Fifa like the world to see, which is Messi and Qatar.



i am imaginging that this is the last ever game to be made for the PS2. it claims it is a "legacy edition" on the cover, which probably confirms that. i think the only other game made for the machine in the last year was Fifa 13 anyway. lots of great games on that machine, but i think maybe Santa Claus may upgrade to a different machine for the boys this Christmas.

not that William is all that bothered about games as such, to be honest, but he might be now that he has a class new Spider Man chair to sit in and play them!



the boys kind of needed camping or camper style chairs for reasons i shall not go into at this stage, and so i went and got them. i was delighted to find Spidey ones, since everywhere just seems to stock ones featuring Cars. the kids of the world, you see, really, really, really do not like the Cars films at all. they are over long, dull, filled with boring characters and just basically rubbish. this did not stop Disney relentlessly manufacturing merchandise for it; merchandise which pretty much sits unsold around the world.

the boys probably did not require any new clothes like they did the chairs, but i find it hard to resist when i see class t-shirts. i did indeed see 2 very class t-shirts today, so they got bought.



i wish i could get that Batman one in my size; i am not however too worried about Ben 10 items. it's a good show and that, don't get me wrong, but it is not Batman, is it?

and to wash those clothes, moving on to the realm of practical purchases? why not that Ariel liquid stuff, which appears to do a very fine job in the machine.



i find this liquid detergent works well. some, like my Mum, reckon they are rubbish and keeps to using powder. fair enough - some other brands have a liquid version out there that does not really do the job well, but this one from Ariel works good enough for me. so there's my unpaid endorsement for you.

other practical things? it is not every day that you walk into a store and find a box of 12 Shredded Wheat and 12 Sponges in a packet. this unlikely set of circumstances is what fate dictated i would face a trial by today, and i think i conquered the trial by buying them.



my (considerably) better half is most impressed with the shredded Wheat, at the least, and i think up to now she is unaware of the sponges i bought.

was i at all able to obtain some coffee on a special offer and some tea towel things too, you ask? why, yes, i was, i answer, taking up a bit of space between pictures.



i was also able to get some deodorant for myself and indeed my (considerably) better half. i bought a type for myself that i would not usually do, but it was on special and it is not quite as bad as some of their scents.



Apollo is not the scent i like the most from Axe. i am not going to tell you which one i do, though. it's OK, but it is frustrating that they chose to market it on the use of Apollo by NASA in the moon missions and other space things. i like to imagine, when i use it, that it is in fact named after Apollo as he appears in the mythology of the Greeks and Romans, or even as if it were the stuff that Apollo out of (the proper 70s version) Battlestar Galactica uses. or Apollo Creed, for that matter. basically anyone or anything called Apollo that has nothing to do with the moon.

cigarettes? yes, certainly. they are expensive things, and work out cheaper when bought in bulk.



you are not allowed to advertise cigarettes and that, so please ignore the fact that it says Marlboro on the packaging. in fact, pretend you did not see the above, for who knows, just now some expert will say you can die instantly from just looking at cigarettes.

check this out instead.



that Cap Colombie stuff is, for me, the best instant coffee on the market. it's also the favourite of my (considerably) better half, so i usually leave this to her and i make do with the cheaper stuff.

as for those class, towering purple mugs, how they appear should in itself be reason for them to be bought. oddly, though, there was a more practical reason for their purchase. for some reason we have recently experienced a cup carnage carnival, with handles breaking off a few mugs. the cup cupboard was somewhat bare then, if not entirely naked, so these looked like they would make it look more decent. and they do.

well, as i said, i really don't know why any or many would find this interesting, but to those that do like this sort of stuff i can only hope you've dug this.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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