Sometime in 2007, or 2008, I was on an aeroplane. I am not sure where this
aeroplane was, or where it was going. I am quite certain it took an awful
long time to get there though. So either it was a long way away, or the
plane was actually a paddle steamer. My memory can be hazy like that.

What I do remember, clearly, is that I listened to the Country & Western
in flight radio programme. Twelve times. It was an hour long. It was a
long hour. There was one song I liked, well I think they probably also
played Ring of Fire or something by Hank Williams, but that doesn't count.
I never could remember the name of the singer or band, or assistant
engineer, but I did remember the title <i> I fell into painting houses in
Pheonix, Arizona. The important thing is that I wrote, typed, it down. On
my desktop, dashboard, in the top left corner.

Now its May, 2010, I plug the song title into Google, Wolfram Alpha was no
help at all, and it turns out the song was written and performed by
<i>Richmond Fontaine</i> the band, not the person, and what I was
listening to was in fact "alt.country<" (well fuck me dead). Though I am
unclear if the band can themselves be held responsible for that last
point.

Anyway, its now fifteen minutes subsequent to me first employing Google,
and it transpires that Richmond Fontaine is playing in five days time. On
a Sunday.

I am, these days, pretty scared about flying, I don't want to go to
Portland, Oregon to see them. Though if I had known whilst I was there I
may have felt differently.

So I am going to see them in Melbourne. It's a compromise I know, I will
be surrounded by people and I will complain that it's too loud, and that I
have to stand up (and that people are talking, and that it sounds bad, and
that the beer is shit, and that the girl by the bar isn't looking my way),
but I am going to go.

Would you like to come? What if I promise to keep most of those complaints
to myself?


Also, would you believe, this is the second time I have had to write this,
so I either shortened it or spicied it up a little. Perhaps both.