Talking Bob Dylan Blues #3

Bob Dylan was in town again so Cindy and I went to see him last night, the third time for each of us. This is what he played. (Including five songs from his most recent album, which is about three too many seeing as it's his worst since Under the Red Sky. But I suppose when you tour as often as he does, you have to keep updating the set list.)

What's more, Tom Waits was in town too. Bob invited him on stage to sing a song. Unfortunately Tom sang just one verse by himself, no gravelly duets. Still, it was enough to remind me of this video:

J'aime bien Tarzhé

We changed the clocks back last night so this morning Cindy and I went to Target bright and early to stock up on cheap Halloween lollies. (We also noticed that TIm Tams were on sale, so we ended up buying a ton of chocolate!)

But the best bit was at the check-out when I asked her to put them in a reusable shopping bag and I got a 5c discount! Apparently now Target gives you 5c off the total for every bag you bring yourself. It obviously doesn't cost them that much to give out plastic bags so I'm impressed with a PR exercise that might actually help the environment. I doubt that this carrot will work as quickly as the Australian stick approach but it's less likely to produce a revolt from liberalist Americans.

Cîndy the Activist

One of the things I had to give up when I came to America was political activism. When I was working and had spare time I quite enjoyed talking to pollies: letting the baddies know that they're voting the wrong way and getting the goodies to table petitions in parliament. But I can't get involved in American politics, not being a citizen and not having the time.

However, Cindy has stepped up to the mark and become involved in campus affairs. For a long time we've both been bothered by the fact that the campus's smoking ban is being flouted regularly. After contacting campus police, various deans and the provost (≈vice-chancellor) Cindy was invited to be on the IU Tobacco- and Smoke-Free Campus Committee. She's been going around taking photos of people smoking in front of signs and asked them questions (it turns out that some international students with poor English just haven't read or haven't understood the little "Tobacco Free Campus" signs on every door).

So when she was at the first committee meeting (in a very formal boardroom, with big high-back chairs) it was Cindy who said, "Let's not wait for reports on the state of things. Let's start talking about what we've already seen on campus and plan a course of action." She's very happy that the provost is enthusiastic about the problem too and not likely to dither. E.g. we've been asked to report any professors seen smoking on campus to the provost!

They're Back!

As promised in their countdown, Pepperidge Farms have brought Tim Tams back to America! Cindy and I went to Target today and bought a couple of packets of Original and Caramel but they didn't have any Dark Chocolate in yet. Still, there was a spot on the shelf for the dark ones so we'll have to check back later.

23rd October
I can now confirm that the port-based Tim Tam Slam works best with dark chocolate ones.

Strangely, it's being reported that Pepperidge Farms employees are not allowed to publicly discuss the Tim Tam Slam. We already told our friends about it (including the Brazilian guy who'd already encountered Tim Tams).

More Hayfever

Last week I had another couple of bad hayfever days so today I went to the doctor to get some advice. I'd been to the university Health Center a few times before but this time I noticed something different - most of the people in the waiting room were wearing masks! The weirdest thing is that this didn't surprise me all that much. Indiana has become a bit paranoid about swine flu, to the extent that they're telling students not to go to the doctor and spread the disease if it's a flu and telling teachers not to demand proof of illness when they miss class. But the people wearing masks didn't seem all that sick, some were playing board games while they waited!

It was only then I discovered that they have a full pharmacy (not just prescriptions) which is run not-for-profit so my anti-histamines and decongestants cost me only $3 all up.

21st October
Those anti-histamines don't actually work that well for me, so I guess it's not such good value.

Mooncake Festival

Yesterday was the Chinese Mooncake Festival. I'd heard about it before in Australia (lots of signs up around UNSW every year) but it was only when I moved to the northern hemisphere that I realised that it's an autumn harvest festival.

So one of our Chinese friends invited us to her place for a little get together. (Actually, being poor penurious students we first went to campus and scored a free Chinese feed courtesy of the Chinese Students Association.) We took along a bottle of French cider (sounds autumny) and a packet of TimTams. Before we even got inside a Brazilian guy who was joining us said, "TimTams! I know what those are. I ate tons of them when I was in Sydney and brought back many packets to share with friends." So he was very pleased to hear that they will be coming to Target in the near future.

But the thing that attracted the most attention was the hat I wore. Yes, I wore the Chinese cap Mum and Dad bought in Hong Kong, the one with a queue. When they gave it to me I had no idea how much Chinese people would love it! I got a great reaction last time I brought it out, photos were taken. And this time we got similar enthusiasm from another couple of Chinese and other assorted international students.

Noise

We've been disturbed by our new neighbours' music for a few weeks now. They must have fantastic subwoofers because we can feel the bass through the floor. Sometimes it continues after midnight when we're just going to bed so I've been meaning to have a talk to the landlord, ask what they think is a reasonable hour.

Then last night we were awoken at 2.30 am by bass coming through the floor. It was enough to wake us both up but I really didn't feel like getting out of bed, so I rolled over and eventually managed to get back to sleep. But then it happened again at 3.30! That was enough to get me up. At first I had trouble believing that anyone would have the audacity to try that in an apartment building so I looked out the windows to see if it was coming from one of the party houses, but the bass was clearly coming through the floor of the bedroom. So I put on some clothes and went downstairs.

I rang the doorbell and heard conversation inside, "Hey, did you hear the doorbell?"
"No, there couldn't be anyone calling." I rang again repeatedly. After more discussion a young guy opens the door and asks, "Is the music loud?"
"No, I'm selling magazine subscriptions!" is what I should have said but I was too tired for sarcasm. I explained to him that I didn't want to call the police because I know that they don't give warnings, just fines, and asked him politely to look at the time in future.

I wonder how long the contrition will last.