Once more I’ve been neglecting my bugger blog responsibilities, soz.
I’ve now (well, probably about 2 months ago) moved out and into a room that became available at Simon’s, so I’m still in Bondi Junction. It’s a lot more relaxed, I didn’t really like where I lived before as I wasn’t on the same wavelength of some of the people I lived with. All good then.
The Sydney film festival was running a while back and me liking my flicks, I’d earmarked three or four for my viewing pleasure. I only actually made it to one in the end as I had to work when some of them were showing. The one I did see was excellent though, the biopic of Ian Dury ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’. Andy ‘gis a fish’ Serkis turns in a captivating performance and the whole thing is produced with a brilliantly stylish edge.
My Vespa hunt continues, I’ve been to see 4 or 5 and I’ve bid on some but lost out and not bid on others at all. I’m just enjoying being a bit of a nuisance and getting my 2-stroke fix on other people’s scoots. Since I’ve been here I’ve ridden a Sprint, a Super and a VBB amongst others and also have a session booked in on a wee Primavera for later this week. Magic.
One of my my new house-mates (Redster) has recently reached the big 30. Him being a Kiwi, a load of his pals and family performed the Haka at the do. Unfortunately me and Simon missed it by about 15 minutes, doh. A long night of drinking in the Oxford Street area of the city followed. Memories are hazy but I do recall having my picture taken with a Brian Fontana lookey likey.
Red convinced me and Simon into attending the Supernova pop culture exhibition the other Sunday, a festival of all things weird and geek really. We were initially sceptical and disparaging but he talked us round with promises of people dressed as Chun-Li (spinning-bird kick!!!), the chance to meet cult D-list actors from the early 80s and the opportunity to hang with the ‘R2D2 Builder’s club‘. It was ace purely for comedy value, well worth the $25 in.
I doubt I have ever been in a room with so many virgins over the height of 5’5, there were plenty of ‘individuals’ present.
The highlight was not having pictures taken with a Dalek (ooh watch out Davros’s troops, there’s some stairs over there), watching crap Australian wrestlers strut around the ring dramatically, or even seeing the original Incredible Hulk signing autographs (well sat there waiting for someone to join the queue to get his autograph). No, it was the Kamehameha contest (grown/not grown men and women pretend to force fireballs out at each other in a variety of interesting and strange ways), comfortably won in the end by someone dressed as Raiden of Mortal Kombat fame.
We couldn’t be bothered (but probably should of) hanging around another another couple of hours to see the Japanese manga girls karaoke competition or the question and answer session with the sound effects geezer from Police Academy (I can’t remember his name but I know it’s not Mahoney or High-tower).
This week I have mostly been listening to ‘This Is Happening’
Blimey, Red has just bought an Xbox 360. Much hilarity was had creating derogatory wrestlers of each other in some WrestleMania lark (see this Facebook album for proof) and HD graphics have finally arrived to mine and Simon’s perpetual FIFA clashes, the beautiful game never looked so good.
So the World Cup hasn’t really been a classic has it, moments of quality here and there but little that will live long in the memory apart from those soddin’ vuvuyawatzits and shot after shot ballooned over the crossbar. England were on the whole awful too, ‘ghost goal’ ‘n’ all. There’s lot of work to be done and someone needs to convince Don Fabio that Emile Heskey is of international standard not.
Santo, Sam and Ed’s World Cup Fever has been the best bit for me, the vast majority of Australian TV programming is terrible but this show is consistently funny and entertaining. It’s like an Aussie version of Baddiel and Skinner’s Fantasy Football League.
My contract at Canon finished last Friday and luckily I have secured another one (3 months probably with another 3 extension) with these, I start next week. With that I have decided that I will be staying in Sydney and not moving Melbourne for now at least, I’d like to go but it would be a bit of a mission and it just makes most sense financially to stay here.
The best bit about the new job is that the office is in the next suburb along, Paddington. It will take me 10 minutes on a bus as opposed to a 2 hour plus round-trip in the previous one, whoo! On my daily train commute I sometimes encountered an incredibly chipper and cheesy on-board announcer. Everything is announced in a 70s radio DJ parody style. “Guuuud morning passengersaaa, the next stop is Wynyardaaaa. Please be careful when alighting from the trainaaa. Thank you for travelling with City Railaaa”. Quite funny the first few times, soul destroying 19 times in.
It occurred to me recently that it’s been ruddy ages since I’ve been to a gig so I’ve been looking out for them. I went to see Little Red at the Oxford Art Factory last weekend (ace live, they combine loads of different styles effortlessly) and Broken Social Scene is coming up in a few weeks.
I heard the awful news the other day that Chris Sievey (aka Frank Sidebottom) had passed away from cancer. He was a complete one off, taking daftness to previously untouched levels (Hit the North!). The ‘Frank Sidebottom’s Magical Tour of Timperley’ open-top bus ride I went on a few years back was possibly the funniest experience of my life, not bobbins and really ace. Cheerio Frank, I hope little Frank gets along okay without you.
