It's not the kind of weather for doing much other than sitting around and waiting for the cool change, but I forced myself to go outside, at least for a while.

I'm trying to be fairly restrained, so whereas on other days I would've just bought yet another Ben Sherman shirt because it's been a while since I bought one, today I just looked around and sighed. I read a few more chapters of Douglas Coupland's All families are psychotic, which is perhaps a little overwrought, but still has the odd insightful paragraph or two. Second Spin had some stuff for me though, and I ended up with :

• The Birthday Party Peel Sessions disc (now I just need to be in an appropriate enough mood to feel like listening to it). Once upon a time, back in 1996, I had some Singaporean (but Melbourne-based at the time) net friend who got me into liking Nick Cave, but it took me another handful of years to start getting into the Birthday Party. I've lost contact with her (for a number of years now), and so I wonder if she's still out there, going on at somebody about how much she likes Six Inch Gold Blade and the like. I wonder if she likes Rowland S. Howard's other (wonderful) works.

• Following on from my Gun Club purchase the other day, the Alex Chilton-produced Cramps album, Songs the Lord taught us. It's not as overtly sexual as their later stuff - I picked up and listened to A date with Elvis, but couldn't quite bring myself to buy an album with songs like can your pussy do the dog ?. I guess I'm still too hung up for that. Bummer.

• It seemed like a good day to buy something by the Ramones, so I got Rocket to Russia, although when I put it on this afternoon and went to track 6, track 6 didn't sound anything like Sheena is a Punk Rocker, whereupon I discovered I'd been given Leave Home instead. This gave me an excuse to go back and the food shopping I couldn't be arsed doing earlier in the afternoon, so I now have the right CD, and it sounds good.

• and this year's Mark Lanegan release Field Songs, because I've been interested in getting interested in his stuff for a while. Or something like that. Nice voice, as if he might turn into Tom Waits in another 5 or 10 years' time, or something.