Shitty Day.

 

At about 9am this morning I realised I would have a slight music stand dilemma at the Art Gallery concerts, which start this Saturday (do come along, they will be grand- 1pm in the Water Mall).

 

So I resolved to fight my inner doubts and demons and see if I could borrow some from the Con.

 

Well it was surprisingly easy. I did do the expected beaucratic roundabout (Venues to Events Management to Ensemble Management who sent me back to Venues) but hey, I had time to kill and it only took thirty minutes. Then everyone was most keen to help me with my problem and subsequently I will have the required amount of stands to collect come Saturday Morning.

 

However, after my shitty Tonal Analysis lecture finished at 4pm there was an interesting voicemail on my phone from K, who is the Venues booking officer. The Events Manager, hereafter known as the EM, wants to use the theatre (IHRH) on the 18th, which I have had booked since February.

 

The 18th is the final rehearsal before the premiere of my brilliant theatre piece the following day. Hence, it's kinda important we can use the actual performance space wouldn't you think? However, K said, I think realising how wanky it sounded, that "EM asked me to remind you that he did you a favour this morning and is sure you'll be willing to do him this favour now".

 

Honestly, the only favour he did me was doing his job and approving the loan of four stands.

 

The plot thickens in that next year, the Con is introducing a  program which allow performances, like my theatre project, that aren't for credit to receive a quasi-grant idea and official assistance from the Con. And guess who will be running it? EM. So if he doesn't get his theatre, it doesn't look good for any funding I may want. Shit.

 

So in the interests of self-preservation, I've passed the whole matter on to my director to decide! Hurrah! I know a stage director would be useful for something!

 

In other news, just as I was getting confident about my body image and buying fitted clothes, I have had multiple people INCLUDING MY MOTHER tell me I'm putting on weight. I've spent most of today sucking in my stomach and looking at myself critically in mirrors.

 

Gosh hasn't it been a long time!

 

I'm sure I was bitterly missed in the online community. Tears were most likely shed.

 

Mmmmmmm not much has happened except (and prepare yourself for another informative dot point essay)

 

- I had lunch with Anne and Marty on Thursday and then we fondled things in David Jones and I chatted to shop assistants ad nauseum. Then followed the Great Office Works adventure. I never knew one person could be so excited over lead pencils.

- I worked more Mamma Mia, but had respite with the very very groovy Lady Salsa. I was also forced to work an extra 5 and a half hours on Saturday because the Senior Duty Manager pulled the "be a team player" speech (and he chased after me to the change room). Subsequently, I spent most of Sunday a walking zombie.

- I got a bit of culture in the form of Cinderella with Anne... yay for opera but argh the first act being 1hr 45mins (sore buttocks, sore buttocks). This was followed by low culture with excessive boardgame abuse, but my Pictionary record remains intact. Was very impressed with my rendition of Fidel Castro (what IS it with me and Cuban history? honestly.)

 

And now, I'm sick. But hurrah for four day weekends, ay. I bought a new puter game to cheer me up- Zoo Tycoon. When I'm feeling angsty and I release all the animals into the screaming crowds. One poor chap was being chased by two saltwater crocodiles and a black bear. How I chortled.

 

Am feeling bitter and cynical. I came home from Stradbroke early and woke up at a godless hour this morning to make my 20th Century Modernism (as opposed to 17th Century Modernism) lecture at 9am. IT WAS CANCELLED. And they've changed the lecturer from one of the finest to one of the worst, and this is the lecturer who I swore would never ever work with ever again. I was so outraged and embittered I skipped workshop in protest and came home (also, I did not want to sit at Con for 5 hours).

 

Subsequently, I am now enrolled in Opera Studies 1 instead... which means, joy of joys, I get to get up at a godless hour AGAIN tomorrow... and then have a day which will end sometime around 10:30pm. Oh goody.

 

Just when the day couldn't get any better, I was called in to work at 5:30pm for a 7pm start with yet another frickin' irish dance show, this one THE SPIRIT OF THE DANCE. Ye gods. The dancing itself was quite good, and extremely well executed. The last piece in particular was simple yet brilliant and cute. But generally the choreography was pretty dull.

 

But what made the show brilliant or pathetic (depending on your perspective) was the brilliant idea someone had was to insert songs between each number. Not only were the songs toe-curlingly corny... they were horribly lip-synced by irish dancers! Point one: vibrato does not come from the chin. When singing vibrato, a singer with even one singing lesson under their belt does not wobble their chin and lower lip to create vibrato. Point two: when a singer of any standard breathes, they do not bring their shoulders to their ears and then let them plummet to somewhere around their knees. Singers with any training whatsoever know that you breathe from your lower abdomen, not your shoulders as if you breathe from your shoulders you fuck up the entire concept of vocal physiology and the sound is shit.

 

Then there were the faked bagpipers (I went to BBC. I know my bagpipes.) And the fiddler was a fab performer... but I have my suspicions about his playing too. In his first number he broke a bow hair... no big deal... but he never fixed it??

 

Sigh.

 

Tomorrow frightens me already. I'm looking at least 15-16 hours.

 

What a wacky Stradbroke adventure.

 

It took me 3.5 hours to get there but only 2.5 to get back (must be the time difference) on a fascinating assortment of trains, buses and water taxis. It was, as predicted, a crazy night of alcohol, blood, bitchiness and lots of talking about sex but not much having of sex. It was also quite cold and windy.

 

Possible highlights include

 

- the introduction of the word 'fetid' into common vocabulary (eg What a fetid lagoon!)

- the convoy of 4wd's driving along the beach at 10pm, perfectly spaced and suddenly disappearing. This may or may not have something to do with the "Self Governace for Stradbroke" graffiti on the road outside the fish n chips shop

-the evil cow running aforementioned fish n chippery... customers wanting to spend money in your store are just such a pain.

- the crazy giggling antics on Thommo and Dunz's bed after being yelled to shut the fuck up from Stuart.

- Sam getting stitches after falling down loft stairs at 5am (not really a highlight per se, but a notable event nonetheless- especially as he had said but hours earlier "I'm the only one who hasn't drawn blood so far")

- the long convo I had with Sam on the beach this morning about everything and anything, but mostly me talking about myself cos that's what I do best.

- my delusions that "I really must stop talking about grotty things" then starting the next sentence along the lines of "but yeah, with anal..."

- not vomiting due to alcohol consumption

 

 

It was however a pain getting there and back... on the water taxi there the captain nicked on to the back deck for a ciggie and let the ticket boy drive. On the way back, Captain Kangaroo bounced us all the way back to Cleveland. And there were a disturbing number of crazy people wanting to talk to me on the way there, but in the end the old "I'm sorry, I don't speak English" worked  a treat.

 

I've lived in my house since 1984.

 

I can't remember living anywhere else.

 

 

And today, (OVER THE FRIGGIN' PHONE... but at least we'd seen this one... except Alex, poor lad), my parents spent my inheritance on a new family home.

 

I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Out of all the houses we've looked at over the last 8 months, this was my least favourite because I didn't get as much space or a private bathroom. But it's still a nice house I guess. Not that my opinion really matters anymore.

 

Eeek.

 

 

 

I was feeling quite relaxed about my New Music Now application... all quite calm and easy about the whole thing... quite zen really... I didn't really care if I didn't get in (well I wanted to, it looks like the must unbelievable thing ever but I don't really expect to be accepted)... only now I've discovered that my arch-nemesis has also applied. He's good. Very good. This has created a whole new dimension now. I MUST BE ACCEPTED. If not, he will have the laughs for now and that would be unbearable. I could deal with both of us being accepted, because that would shock him in to realising I'm just as good. At worst, neither of us must be accepted.

 

It can be no other way.

 

Eeek.

 

YET ANOTHER SIMS PACK IS COMING IN SEPTEMBER!!

 

It's like a horrible horrible drug, I WANT MORE. It's about time for another fix, as I found Sims Vacation quite disappointing.

 

But yes, SIMS UNLEASHED is coming out in September. Huzzah! Sims get pets! And food! And new jobs! And a market! And yay!

 

 

*convulses* need more Sims... must have more Sims... need more... need need need

 

I saw Bend it Like Beckham last night with Anne, Kirsty and Elmo... then we hooked up with Ben and Stu and had coffee before sitting atop a mountin until 2am. Most pleasant, but woken up way too early this morning by people doing a fire ant inspection. Grah.

 

 

More test results! Yay! (not that I'm on holidays and bored or anything)

 

The entry for the 14th btw was the French national anthem excerpt... not some shitty teen angst poetry... marking Bastille Day. Vive la republique!

 

I realise these entries have been exceedingly boring recently but there hasn't been much of note. Not that anyone comes here that much anyhow.

 

I did get kicks though watching Katie Couric Take It Up The Anus (guess who is hoping that comes up on a search engine) from King Abdullah of Jordan about the US' wacky idea to dispose of Hussein. Sigh. Unilateralism. Sigh. He really put her in her place. It was most refreshing.

 

Before this quality broadcasting was the Ricki Lake special on vampires... and apparently real vampires don't actually bite people or drink their blood because they're afraid of germs, hepatitis and HIV. Well, duh.

 

William is reading the Koran... apparently if I join Islam I can be tended to by boys in the youthood with eyes like glistening pools in Paradise... and tens of thousands of virgins.

 

Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'étendard sanglant est levé,

Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Egorger vos fils et vos compagnes !

 

Aux armes, citoyens,
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons !
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons !

 

 

 

Deflated.

 

Was all looking forward to Importance of Being Earnest but it's been postponed. Sigh.

 

However, last night was a wonderful gathering chez moi. Not quite uber-gathering standard but heaps of fun nonetheless. Onya Rish for suggesting charades, and making me do the Cuban Missile Crisis. And silly me for not realising I was wearing a Cuban t-shirt. However I'm sure I excited the gathered audience by pretending to a missile flying acorss the room and blowing up. Except Lou, who seemed to think I was lettuce. Right. And the charade of me watching gay porn was also quite Oscar-worthy I feel. Apparently no one was quite ready for my realistic performance.

 

I'm trying to think of more highlights.

 

Oh there was the Ian As Barbie game, where I was more or less required to get in and out of all my clothes and be reviewed.

 

And yay. Am tired.

 

Anne will probably have a report at https://www.angelfire.com/ego/doyoureallyexist/blogger.html

 

Oh god I just realised Leyton Hewitt won Wimbledon. Argh. I was hoping that he would be beaten by the no-name Argentine. I think I will order pizza....hhhmmm

 

BRILLIANCE- www.somethingpositive.net it's wonderful... I'd spend money on it!

 

I must not buy the Sims Online when it is released. It will cost me a fortune in internet bills, though I doubt my internet would cope, and I will probably never ever leave the house again. I must, must, must not play it. Ever.

 

However, I will play Sim City 4!! Today I have been a-flutter with excitement to find that it is drafted for release late this year... http://simcity.ea.com/simcity4/index.html ... argh it looks so fab. I WANT IT NOW DAMMIT. My only concern is that it may be getting a wee too complex but it looks so pretty... especially the fact you can turn on 'night' to see all the pretty lights, something I've always wanted to do! And it had better be able to convert all my SC3000 cities into Sim City 4 or I will be very very unimpressed.

 

Yay.

 

Oh dear. Tonight was my much dreaded first shift on Mamma Mia.

 

Oh sweet jesus god.

 

It's a nightmare. It's below OK standards. There are one or two tolerable moments but it is just unbelievably poor tripe. I can't believe I have ten weeks of this to come. I'm in shock. It's yet to sink in. It's just sooooo bad... the current opinion is that it is like an out-take of Young Talent Time. The cast dance like teen poppettes and even then the choreography is unbelievably shit. They dance the way you dance when you're really really drunk and think you're the best dancer in the world.

 

Not to mention the terrible terrible singing. I've never heard such shouting. And, why must every single song have an offstage backing choir? It makes this shit even more boring than it is.

 

And there's the horrendous acting... which basically comprises of lots of waving limbs about and yelling.

 

Two nights out of two now I've run into Rhonda Burchmore (literally) backstage. She is really Quite Tall. And she called the ushers tonight, as I bumped in to her, 'little rabbits'. What the hell?

 

And there aren't even any hotties I've noticed in the cast yet. I mean, honestly what is musical theatre coming to?

 

Today in our briefing, our CEO popped in with these helpful words of wisdom "Please smile!". Gee, I was just going to scowl and be unpleasant to the patrons but now that you mention it, I think I might just smile. I find it so patronising when management tells us to 'smile!'. And they've taken away our usher baskets cos they looked untidy, so now we walk around like hobos carrying everything in our pockets and hands instead. It's really stupid.

 

I think I need Long service Leave

 

 

 

Yay yay BRAZIL etc etc...

 

I wanted Germany to win, just so I could see the MACHINE's (aka Oliver Kahn) happy face. That would be worth it. One day, I want to be as frightening as Oliver Kahn. The man is superhuman. If anyone tried to hold up a poster a la State of Origin about his mother, he'd run up the stands, snap their neck and run back to the goals and stop the ball. Last night we came to the conclusion that he was possibly robotic. He's so intense. It's wonderful.

 

Almost as wonderful as the alien embryo cyborg referee who was cool in his own frightening kind of way. Did anyone else notice the man had no eyebrows?

 

Hurrah for Anne's Bake Off yesterday with her three wacky uni friends- Lindsay, Alex and Emma. Hurrah, it was most entertaining. And fulfilling. Next time Anne makes fun of me talking music to my uni friends, I'll remember that when all these eventual med students get together they talk about pharmaceutical (pshaw to spelling) drugs. It's er um enlightening.

 

Went to Circa on Saturday night with my parents which was quite divine... I had a tower of smoked salmon, avocado mayonnaise and quail eggs for entree... then a duck thing with witlof for mains and finally a white chocolate nougat semi-freddo and citrus salad... THEN some reasonably okayish but smelly liquer and they brought out swish little creme brulees. It was very very very fulfilling.

 

I think I'll have a shower, yes... I think I will.