Sugar Pop-tart or something…

So, I said to a friend, who I was having lunch with today, I reckon I could easily turn his teenage son into a pop star.  We were discussing ‘kids today’ and their goals etc. My friend said, “He can’t sing.” Phut! Like that’s an issue. Most pop stars can’t sing. Their voice gets modified in the studio to sound good and girls screaming at their concerts drown out the sound anyway. Singing well is not an issue. A teenage boy just has to look cute, be good at chatting up the girls and have the edge of good boy who could go bad at any time look about him.  I tried to convince him his son could be the next big teenage sensation. He wasn’t convinced.  Hells bells - look at that Bieber person, Brittany and even that ghastly child pageant diva who’s all of ten and called something like Pookie-Bum or Sugar Pop-tart or something. Going back in the dim, dark distant past of my childhood there was Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, the Bay City Rollers… talent? Hell, just look good to teenage girls and you’re golden.  

He’s missing a golden opportunity…

The mystery of shuffle pants...

I was talking to an intelligent young man last night. He’s 12 and desperate for a pair of shuffle pants. I had no idea what they were, so I researched them and I discovered this – they’re a conspiracy to bring back ghastly 1970’s fashions. They’re flared, in bright colours and you wear/have braces with them. See pics. Shuffle pants reminded me of Bay City Roller pants. Remember those? I had friends who would not speak to their parents for weeks because they were denied access to buy them.

As the young gentleman explained his dire need for them, it reminded me of being a kid all those years ago. Are they a fad? Oh hell yeah. Are shuffle pants designed to drive parents mad? Of course – it’s cosmic payback for whatever fad those parents were desperate for when they were 12. Are they cheap? Nope – they cost a bomb. Will he get the shuffle pants he craves? Of course. He’ll wear ‘em for a couple of weeks until the next fad hits the streets and they’ll be ditched. He’s a kid – that’s his job.

Shuffle pants - nothing is new under the sun.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Beam me up Scotty...

I am doing the guest blogging gig on http://www.totalebound.blogspot.com/ please wander over and take a squiz, leave a comment, shoot the breeze or check out the Jones girl books.

Today…

I wanted a particular job. I went to the interview determined to get it. I charmed the pants off the interviewers. I can be disgustingly charming when I choose to be. The things that come out of my mouth astound me– “team player”- “dedicated to the job”- “sure I know how to use that program (not)” - “no, I never listen to gossip”…you know, the usual stuff....anyway, I got the job. Yay me! But guess what? The job offer got cancelled an hour later due to ‘budgetary constraints.’ Well – bugger. You have to laugh don’t you?

So, I was driving home from work thinking about how bloody funny life is– ha-friggin-ha - and I decided that I take it too seriously. I always aim for stuff I cannot have. It’s a genetic coding issue. I suspect my convict ancestors believed they should have Captained the convict ship over and been pardoned when they got to Australia. We’re just like that. We expect to charm and bluff our way into stuff…probably how the convict ancestors got transported. Though I personally think they were framed. Anyway, this got me thinking about living the simple life – which if you knew me is hysterical as I am not programmed for simple. I am extra difficult with a side order of bossy and ‘oh god, not her again.’ So back to the simple life…for some reason I thought of Star Trek fans…you know Trekkies. They seem to lead these amazingly happy lives dressing up as Captain Kirk or whomever and going to conventions and speaking in Klingon. I loved the original Star Trek as a child. My brothers and I used to watch repeats religiously on a Sunday arvo many moons ago.



So Trekkies, to me, seem to have a good time. They are out mingling, swapping stuff, using pretend phasers and dreaming of beaming up somewhere into the final frontier of space. Good on them. That’s their passion in life. I admire passion. Then I started thinking about other people like Elvis impersonators - sorry tribute artists - and the Kiss Army and other similar groups . These people seem to have a bloody excellent time. They follow those they admire and they hurt no one. So why am I not following some pop culture phenomena with slavish devotion? What is wrong with me? That’s rhetorical by the way. As a demented teenager I once had this obsession with the Bay City Rollers. Yes, go figure. I loved them. I realised in later life when travelling in Scotland, and falling in immediate lust with a Highland god, that it was just the accent that had me. So spill, who did you have or still have a ‘thing’ for? Is there anyone you would slavishly follow with the devotion of a Trekkie? I bet you have someone Miss Molly.



So, it was only a fifteen minute drive home, but I thought much. As I wandered into the local bottlo (liquor store) I came to the conclusion that I probably will just remain the way I am – aim for stuff, get shot down then aim again. You know why? Because it’s so good when you stop.

Anny is talking about romance on www.annycook.blogspot.com. As always she is deep, meaningful and Zen like. I suspect she did not have an erratic crush on the Bay City Rollers when she was a teenager. Kelly, who is no doubt saying – who are the bloody Bay City Rollers – has the next riveting episode of the blog serial on www.kkirch.blogspot.com. I believe she is insane. Just a personal opinion. As always, I recommend the fine blogs to your left. They are wise, odd and funny…but then aren’t we all?

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/

Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?