I was kindly informed by my flatmate that Wellington Hatters Ltd is soon to be closing down and is currently offering the remaining hats at 50%. As part of the shopping trip for our flatwarming party, we’d stopped off to see if I could get sorted out. I’m pretty happy with the result.

I’d been hesitant about hats for a long time, but it’s important to find something that suits me. The fedora is a bit too wide-brimmed for my liking and the bowler I tried sat up too high. I think it’s just a matter of trying a few out and seeing what I can find. We’re considering hosting a hat-themed party next month. That leaves about 3 weeks to see if I can find something better than my new trilby.

While walking down to the farmers’ market last Sunday, I happened to spot a book lying on the footpath. Anne of Avonlea – it should have twigged, but I didn’t realise what it was until doing the title search. There’s not much obvious damage to it. It appears to have all of its pages. I might even give it a read before taking it back to Arty Bees.

So, is the world a better place because I’ve saved a book from the gutter? Hard to say. There’s slightly less rubbish on the streets of Wellington. But if you’re a fan of Jasper Fforde, there are probably some very relieved characters who were pulled back from the brink of disaster.

Ages ago, I was given a knife. It was nice. So nice, that I eventually brought it back from Canada with me. Unfortunately, there was a fracture in the handle, presumably from some long-passed event. It fell apart in the hands of my flatmate not long after I’d returned with it. I’ve been struggling away with crap knives ever since – low weight, horrible edge, flimsy, gaaahh! Finally suffering a shocking case of mutilation of some poor, unsuspecting chorizo sausage, I reached a breaking point. I didn’t snap and go for anything top-of-the-line, but it’s not the cheapest knife on the block, either. Fully forged with a riveted handle, it feels good and glides through tomato. It actually kinda glides through most anything at the moment. Butternut squash, anyone?

After spending a few days digesting the soundtrack from Les 7 Doigts de la Main, I have come to have an appreciation for much of the music that was used. I was already familiar with Temptation, as performed by Holly Cole, but found myself captivated by Santa Maria.

I had originally taken a quick look through a shop the other day, but didn't really have time to find what I was after. On my walk home today, I was able to collect the CD that Santa Maria came from. I had heard the name Gotan Project before, but never at the same time as hearing the music. After only 5 minutes at the listening booth, I had decided that I found exactly what I was after. La Revancha del Tango was mine.

I am still on the first listen, but am suitably impressed. There are many european flavours, with a touch of electronic and live drumming. (There are samples loaded within the flash animation on the website. Coincidently, it was the same song that was playing on the CD player at the time, providing a very interesting effect.) The biography speaks of argentinians exiled in Paris, which does make sense as I listen.

It would be a safe bet to assume that this CD will be taking up a regular spot in my playlist, and should be making an appearance on my audioscrobbler charts in the near future.

I don't think I actually intend to buy half of the stuff that I get. Most of it never graces my wishlist. It just falls directly into my hands. Neither of the two things that I bought today were planned, but I've been thinking of both of them for a while.

While I was cutting through Borders today, I glanced at the new releases shelf, as always. There are a few interesting things in there, but I didn't dwell. Since I had just finished my run, I was sweaty and smelly. Definitely not people friendly. Continuing across the store, I noticed that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was still on special. I had glanced a couple times at it, read through the first 30 pages or so in the café. I guess the time has come.

Slightly earlier on in the day, I happened to be walking past Thievery Corporation's Outernational Sound, but can't find it for less than $30. I took a listen to The Mirror Conspiracy and ended up walking away with it. It should be a nice addition to the randomiser.

I'm trying to catch up a little bit. This bit of shopping actually took place last week, but I seem to be too busy to mention it.

When I was out for coffee with Adele last week, I happened to be armed with a coupon for $10 at Borders. We never made it to coffee, but we had dessert, which was just as good. And on the way back up the hill, we stopped back to pick up a copy of the second installment of Clive Barker's Abarat series, Days Of Magic, Nights Of War.

I really can't comment much on this yet. I absolutely loved the first book. After reading a library copy, I ended up buying it. I didn't hesitate to pick this up when I saw that it was released. Now to just find time to start in on it. Luckily, it's close to the top of the reading pile.

Finding new music isn't always easy. At least, not if you want something that's really new to you. If you want something that's similar to something else you listen to, it's not too hard to find. But if you don't know what you like, it's hard to find it on the shelf. Thankfully, most stores allow album previews. As I was stopped off at Real Groovy, I was searching for an album that I may have heard a bit of when I was having lunch with Ryan down in Christchurch. I didn't find it, but I did find something else, which might even be similar. The Now Sound Of Brazil is a cross section of modern Brazilian music. Of the artists featured, I am familiar with only Suba. Everything else is new to me. New, and good. I was happy from the moment that I stood at the listening station at the store. I've had a few good listens already, and I'm still impressed. And it's fueled my shopping list a bit further.

It's a good thing that I've got Christmas covered for myself. Where would I get all of these cool things otherwise? Of course, my bank account has been taking the brunt of the damage. I'm sure it will need a bit of recovery time...

While I was in Hastings, we stopped off and visited a friend of Jo's. She happened to have a book kinda half hidden on a shelf in the living room. I saw enough to catch my attention. Furry Logic is a cute little pick-me-up book that looks at life and puts it into perspective, with the help of the animal kingdom. I grabbed a copy for myself later that afternoon, and I'm exceptionally glad I did. Jo and Sandy both kept mentioning friends of theirs who would love it, too.

I happened to be walking past Borders yesterday, and noticed that they, as with everyone else, was having a post-Christmas sale. Everything was 15% off the regular price. New to my bookshelf is The Art Of Looking Sideways. It bills itself as a primery for developing visual intelligence. I've only had a few glances inside so far, but I have a feeling that digging in will give me a continual feeling of "further down the rabbit hole".

The last new thing, and probably the greatest inner controversy of them all, is my shiny new leash. After just over 2 years in New Zealand, I buckled to the pressure and picked up a mobile phone. After looking at a huge range of new models, I settled on a Nokia 6100. It's the only phone that didn't make me want to kill all the people who are designing phone interfaces these days. I haven't had much of a chance to play with it yet. It's been activated for about an hour now.

After Matthew Good Band split up a few years ago, Matt kept going on his own. And so he should. He's a strong singer and a good musician. I happen to love his lyrics, too. Strange Days has to be some of my favourite lyrics, full stop.

As I was glancing through a music shop this afternoon, I ran across a copy of Avalanche at a decent price. I figured that it would be a safe buy, so off I went. I'm still on the first listen, but I've enjoyed what I've heard so far. Not surprisingly. Matt's style is easily digestible. I haven't had a chance to pay much attention to the lyrics yet. I'm imagining the magic will be hidden in there, for the most part.

With Candace's trip to Auckland, she brought a painting that I had commissioned from her. A few months ago, I had given her a few photos that I had taken. At least one of the pictures had really good colours, and at least one of the pictures had a good skyline. In the end, she painted a wonderful composite of the images that I provided.

It's an entirely personal view of Christchurch. While the perspective does not actually exist, I can recognise the skyline as it was from my balcony, and the river from trips around Hagley park. The ducks weren't there in my pictures. She threw those in for free.

Some of her other works can be found here. They share very little resemblance to the painting in front of me, though. With permission and digital camera, I may add a link to the painting.

Over the same weekend, we were walking around the markets in Aotea Square. As we were passing a booth of paintings, I noticed that the painting that I was interested in was actually still there. I had looked and didn't see it the weekend before. I pointed it out to Candace and she seemed to like it. The lady working there told me that she was allowed to drop the price a bit. Instead of $380, I could have it for $320. I was definitely interested, and Candace was more than willing to give me permission.

So now I have two new paintings. Candace's is still waiting to be hung, which is waiting for me to get hooks to hang it with. The other one (I will try to track down the name of the artist) is already hanging upstairs.

Now that I think about all of this, I think it's time that I get some insurance for my flat and contents. While none of the pieces that I have are overly expensive individually, they are starting to add up. Combined with the personal value (three of the five pieces were done by friends), I think it's worth protecting.

Update

After talking to the lady that I bought the painting from, I've gotten permission to photograph it and put a couple images online. I'll have to borrow a digital camera sometime soon. In the meantime, you can find samples of the painter's work at StratasOils.

I stopped off at Real Groovy on my way back to the house after lunch today. I didn't really intend to buy anything, but that's often the case. I ended up with 3 new things to shuffle through the player.

In 2003, Amon Tobin recorded a live show in Melbourne. The world is a better place because of this. I've been blown away repeatedly over the course of the last hour or so that it's been playing. It shows off both talent and vision, and carries an energy that really draws you in. Recorded Live is a must have for everyone. Really.

A few years ago, back in Calgary, I ran across and album that made me dance. I was in Eau Claire market and I don't dance. It was pretty impressive. That was São Paulo Confessions. At the time, I didn't know that Suba had died right after the album was released. Time passed, and some of his mostly finished work came to light, combined with remakes and remixes of some old work. This is what Tributo has become. I had heard of the album before, being released in 2002, but I never ran into a copy. As I was listening at the store, I waffled a bit. Good moments, average moments and some great moments. Picking it up was a last minute decision. Since getting back, I've decided that it was probably a good one.

After the really infectious samba shows at the carnival last night, I was interested in grabbing a bit to explore. I had a hard time finding something that might be representative, and the jury is still out. What I ended up with was a compilation album. I'm hoping it's a decent cross-section of the genre, but I may never know. I have yet to get all the way through it, but the randomiser has pulled only average moments so far.

All told, I'm winning this round. I'm happier having them than not having them.