kjp

Well, the weak Aussie dollar has caught me out. Back in July I ordered a CD from the USA (1 AUD ~= $0.95 USD). They didn’t have it in stock, and put it on backorder. They ordered it (from Japan). They sent it to me a week or two back (1 AUD ~= $0.65 USD). (Basically, price is 30% higher than what I thought it would be). On top of this, I got caught on a higher than expected postage $13 USD (!) plus international transaction fee (credit card), takes it to ~ $45 AUD. Ouch. Whilst expensive (I’ll be more careful in future), it is a very good CD - Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.

Also, in other dodgy music news, I was buying an album from iTunes (couldn’t find it anywhere else). I bought the album, downloaded it all. But then when I wanted to burn it to a CD. All but one of the tracks worked, the last one wasn’t authorised for my computer – even though I’d just bought it 5 minutes earlier. Tried activating and reactivating my computer (an option in iTunes), but that didn’t work. I could play everything with another media play, which I’ve used instead. Be warned.

The piece that I was getting was Charpentier – Messe de Minuit pour Noel – basically a collection of 1600 / 1700 French Christmas carols. Essentially early sacred music. We’re singing that (along with Vivaldi Magnificat) in the choir gig coming up in a few weeks time.