buying vinyl from abroad

Hate to break up the comedy, but this thread was titled

Buying vinyl from abroad

From Australia’s viewpoint, almost all of you are abroad!

In Sydney, new classical records are very hard to find these days.  HiFi stores keep a few, and George has started to sell vinyl through his pop-up stall at Sydney Opera House concerts.

So almost all of my new vinyl comes from abroad - mostly from Presto Music or from Hyperion, both in the UK.  I have never been charged anything except the purchase price and standard shipping.  If a record has been damaged, Presto simply refunds or replaces it after receiving photographic ’evidence’.

Both Presto and George are experiencing difficulties with Deutsche Grammophon at the moment - delays of months.  The inner sleeves of their sister company Decca can be problematical - there are ridges from folded cardboard that can abrade.

I can’t rely on the web to find record stores.  Fine Fish Music is listed on the web with daily opening hours although it closed years ago.  Nearby Red Eye Records, listed as Sydney’s biggest, has about a foot of shelf space for classical vinyl.

"From Australia’s viewpoint, almost all of you are abroad!"

What exactly are the gender laws there?

@thecarpathian 

What exactly are the gender laws there?

Mate, we are a free country!

The Australian Bureau of Statistics listed 24 definitions of gender, the last time I looked.

Our outstanding Foreign Minister is a gay broad of Asian (Malaysian Chinese) heritage.  The Chief Minister of the ACT is also in a gay marriage.  More and more footballers are coming out.  It is nearly compulsory. Sheep are looking more relaxed ...

24??!

That must include things like fiddler crab, wombat, and Klingon...

Wombats prove that square pegs can come out of round holes!

So I had to look up what the ABS says, and it seems I confused sex (due to biology) and gender (social view: man, woman, non-binary).  In surveys, the ABS asks four questions!  Both sex and gender offer a spectrum, and in Australia it is unlawful to discriminate on either sex or gender grounds.

Reminds me of a conversation between an airline hostess and a fatigued passenger, as she helped him fill out his Landing Card.  "Sex?" she asked.

"Infrequently" he replied.

"Is that one word or two?"