Dining out

Because the incredible Fooderati is so much more eloquent on this subject than I, here's an article that I thought was actually quite interesting, entertaining and highly relevant at the moment.

This post originally appeared on the Fooderati blog.

DINING ETIQUETTE
I've decided to go all Emily Post on your arses. Far too many times over the past few months have I been privy to crazy dining stories. Working in the restaurant industry gives you an insider's perspective to diner behaviour - the good, the bad and the really really stupid.

The following is a list of essential knowledge for anyone who likes food... and consuming it, er, not in your home. i.e. Everyone.

1. DO NOT book multiple restaurants for the one event and then decide later which one you want to go to

Restaurants are lean businesses. It may surprise some people to know that restaurants aren't cash cows with shedloads of money churning out like so much sweet, sweet dairy product.

Booking allows businesses to plan ahead when it comes to staffing, food ordering and general financial management. By booking and then cancelling multiple restaurants, you're really screwing the pooch, especially if it's a small restaurant that relies even more on each and every seat that's booked and filled.

It's been a hot topic of discussion within the restaurant industry for some time, but like any issue, rather than bitching about it, it can be dealt with successfully through communication. If you know someone who does it, tell them why it's not ok. Simple.

2. DO NOT book a restaurant and then not turn up

For the same reasons above, if a restaurant is expecting you, it isn't simply a case of calling someone else to replace you. Deciding you don't feel like eating out that night isn't an adequate excuse. In the same way you make a dentist appointment and stick to it, however much you wish you didn't have to - you're making an agreement with a business that you should honour.

If you are ill, have an accident or some other kind of last minute emergency - call the restaurant at the earliest opportunity and give them a heads up. Ignoring follow up phone calls or messages is a great way to get you black listed and restaurant folk have long memories. Not to mention the fact that it's bad manners and just plain rude.

Some restaurants have started to address this issue by taking a credit card deposit at the time of booking, with no-shows charged a cancellation fee. You'll see this become more prevalent if this type of behaviour continues to grow.

3. DO give plenty of notice if you have dietary requirements

While most restaurants these days do their best to ensure there are adequate menu options to cater for all manner of dietaries, don't assume this is always the case.

If there is something really specific you can't eat, call the restaurant and tell them. Even if it is a restaurant that doesn't take bookings, it always pays to ask whether they can cope with your request, rather than turning up on the night and getting pissy because they can't help you. You'll be surprised that given enough notice, how easily a polite request will be catered for.

4. Don't be a douche bag

Restaurants sell booze. You might get drunk and have fun. Weird, huh? But there's a line between enjoying the company of friends and pissing off the people around you. Whether it's loudly recounting last weekend's loose bender to anyone within earshot, pulling out a fuck-off DSLR in an inappropriate environment, or banging your cutlery on the table because you feel like pretending you're 5 (Bentley Bar, last Saturday night, no joke) - have some respect for those you're sharing a room with when you're out and about, it's really not that difficult.

There are plenty more gripes had by restaurants and I could go on, but at the end of the day it's about manners and respect. Restaurants are in the pleasure business, that much is true. That by no means, however, delegitimises their role in society or importance in the economy. As financial times get tough, we owe it to ourselves whether as diners or restaurants, to behave decently towards one another so we can see through to better days.

Pointless

I recently started carrying around a little point and shoot camera again. I know, I know. I have a camera on my iPhone, but sometimes I feel like I need better quality than what that can give me, even with the funky filters of Instagram. Yep - wannabe photog right here. I blame my photography-obssessed father.

I was feeling quite chuffed with myself about having this camera in my handbag today, as I decided I needed a photo for a work project I'm doing. I set up the photo, pulled out my camera and... the lens got partway out and stayed there, even though the activity light was working when I pressed the power button. CRAP.

A quick trip to the marketing team and some digging around for spare batteries quickly diagnosed the issue: it was the batteries running really low, not the camera*. Which led to my face looking something like this (but with more work-appropriate clothes on at the time):



I mean really, what is the point of carting around a camera in my handbag if the batteries are going to be flat a mere week or two after a charge?

(*Marketing did try to convince me that I just needed a new, more awesome camera. I quite like my little "wooden spoon" PowerShot A480 as my just in case portable camera. Thoughts anyone?)

Three months is a long time

I mentioned a shopping ban recently. Oh yes.



Well I do want, really. But my shopping-loving self is screaming inside.

I was inspired by the lovely Cclarebear, who fairly recently went through her own shopping ban. In her case, her lovely other half had promised her a high-stakes prize.

I, foolishly, organised no such thing.

On the first day of health kick (which I am still doing, thank you very much... except for the exercise as I currently have a sinus infection AND tonsillitis), I decided on a whim that I should immediately address the shopping habit I'd developed while I was forbidden from maintaining my usual routine. I can be so spontaneous sometimes.

Being on myriad antibiotics on and off for several months, no exercise, feeling sick and unable to cope left me eating a lot of junk food and resulted in me feeling (and looking) a bit of a mess. As a defence mechanism, I started going to the shops and buying little things. Lip glosses here. Eye shadow there. Nail polish too. I was amassing more makeup and skincare products in an attempt to perk myself up and feel better about the fact that my skin and body were protesting to this cruel and unusual punishment. It was starting to add up and it was stressing me out.

After being given the all clear and giving myself another month to recuperate, I decided enough was enough and started the initial health kick to rebalance things. And to make it twice as hard, I also imposed the following shopping rules on myself to try and break the old habit:

1. 120 days. 30/04/2012 - 28/08/2012

2. No new beauty, hair, nail products or homewares.

3. Two exceptions: If the MAC palettes I have on order at the Chatswood store come into stock, I am allowed to go pick them up. I am also allowed one nail polish order in May after the Spiderman OPI collection comes out - that's something I've been planning for the past month!

*Note - this was written before I found out about MAC's changed animal testing policy. I'm currently deciding what to do about my backorder.

4. If I run out of something and need a replacement I am allowed to purchase it... only if there are no similar products that I already have that I can use instead.

5. If an appliance breaks I am allowed to replace it if it used regularly.

6. If I break the ban, I have to pay a $150 fine into my savings account immediately.

I hadn't thought about giving myself a prize if I make it through to the end of the ban unscathed. The question is... should I even do that, or does it defeat the point?

One awesome thing though - well before I started my shopping ban, I placed a pre-order at Darling for some of their AW2012 nail lacquers. They're due to ship sometime this week... so I'm going to get a nice little package of pretties while not breaking my ban! If that's not cause for a happy dance, I don't know what is...

Goodbye MCA

My return to blogging here used the title of a Beastie Boys album as the post title. An indicator, if you will, of where they sit in my head.

This weekend the world had to farewell part of the act that influenced my musical taste through my childhood, up until now. Goodbye MCA, we'll miss you. But you know you can't, you won't, and you don't stop.

A Return to Animal Testing?

It would appear I'm a bit behind the times on makeup news, but today I received a shock.



Estee Lauder (Who own MAC, Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, Clinique and many other well-known brands) have recently changed their stance on animal testing, after many people began to notice that many of their brands are sold in a region that requires animal testing on cosmetics by law... but they themselves said they never test on animals. Their policy has now been revised to "[insert EL brand name here] has a longstanding policy to not test on animals, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except when required by law." Logical Harmony received this response both from MAC and Smashbox.

To be quite honest, right now I am pretty furious that several brands that had touted themselves as cruelty free to their consumers were actually secretly testing. On the flip side, if what they are saying is true, then they are only conducting those tests required to pass their products for sale in the particular region that has animal testing as a legal requirement.

I'm actually quite concerned about this, and I think it's going to take some time to consider what my next actions are. Do I stop supporting the brads as a whole? Do I just scale back my use of products made by them? Do I do nothing about my purchase behaviour and simply continue to petition them to do all they can to get the government of the region that requires testing to change it's policies?

I'm on a three month beauty shopping ban anyway (more about that coming soon), so I have some time to consider my decision. Any ideas?

If anyone wants to read more about this issue, you can also head over to read Phyrra's blog post, and also this article in the Independent.

Ill Communication

Sometimes, life gets in the way.

Here's me bringing you up to speed as quickly as possible. Imagine it's being done in 30 seconds by bunnies:


Flu coughs moving house volunteer job two changes to paid job projects work travel more volunteer work pneumonia sinus infections volunteer work with cats more flus coughs colds suspected bronchiectasis claratyne eye injuries two relatives passing away car spraying petrol into the engine cavity car battery dying car headlights dying cats

I think that should do it.

I've had quite enough of my life being like a bad 90s daytime soap, and quite frankly I've told it so. I'm hoping that it cleans up it's act in time for next week.

Now, if only someone can find my inspiration and motivation. I'd be happy to pay for the postage to get it back.

I'm watching Bob Brown on Q and A on the ABC while I write this. He's leaving a huge hole in Aussie politics, and is one of the pollies I admire most. So calm, collected and rational.

Is this thing on?

Still here, still alive.

Insert platitudes about normal transmission resuming here.

Runupdate: I has a sad.

It's now one week out from the Mothers' Day Classic. I should be on the tail end of my training, preparing to run the race next week.

Instead, I still have a nasty cough and have found that trying to sustain a pretty brisk walk will put me out of breath (and send me coughing and spluttering) pretty fast.

So... I'm pulling out of the Mothers' Day Classic. I'm totally gutted, as I was really looking forward to giving it another go this year.

I'm going to take a decent break from any hard training and try to get myself better. I'll be back... watch the runupdate space.

Runupdate: Good and Bad

A week ago, I was elated. I received my race number for the MDC in the mail and it terrified me into training hard again... and the funniest thing was that I was making leaps and bounds in my distance. Let it be said that fear is a great motivator!

Then I got a cough. While the doctor has assured me my chest is clear (and the tearing feeling it occasionally gives me in my throat marries up to this so, so well), it still means that I can't breathe as easily as I'd like to. I stopped training to try and give myself a chance to rest... but the cough is still hanging around a week later. I'm on the verge of cashing in the antibiotic script just in case that may help.

It's getting awfully close to race time, and I may have to call it. It's a crushing feeling.

I'm going to risk going for a jog tomorrow. No way would I be able to complete a boxing class, but maybe some exercise will help?

In which I become the invisible woman

There's an election in NSW soon. Elections are always a touchy subject for me. Not because I detest smear campaign and scare campaign ads, but because I suddenly become invisible.

I'm not married. I don't have children. Therefore, it would appear that I don't count to the politicians.

During an election campaign, everything suddenly becomes about "helping the families". Now I don't begrudge for a second those with families out there - I totally agree that families should be on the priority list for governments, but it would be nice if singles and those without children were also acknowledged. We also pay our taxes, we contribute to society as well... so it would be nice if the major parties thought to include us.

Now with that said, I have to admit that I've been a bit puzzled by this current campaign. I've not been bombarded with policies that ignore me. In fact, I haven't really been bombarded with any policies at all. The major parties seem to have been strangely silent on what I would consider to be vitally important policy areas. I've heard of some of the bigger promises, but neither party seems to be rushing to be giving any great detail. It's all "OMGZ TEH LIBZ, THEY ARE COMING!" from the ALP and "Well, they suck. Vote for us" from the Liberals.

What does that leave me with? Self research. Something that while totally necessary is incredibly painful to do.

Trying to compare political party policies is a bit like trying to buy a new car (funnily enough, something else that is happening to me at the moment as well!) With cars, every maker seems to have their own ideas about what specifications to provide in the brochure or on the website. This makes it impossible to properly compare and cross reference two vehicles - you often can't find information that pertains to the same thing for both. Same with the major parties. There's no handy-dandy table on their websites. Each policy area needs to be clicked on separately, and each party addresses things in different ways with different stats and details.

It's almost like they're trying to make it hard... just to make sure that us voters don't get too confused with the actual issues and focus more on the smear and scare campaigns. Clever pollies.

Come Saturday, I can only hope that I've done enough research to make the right decision for my vote. Then I plan to watch the results by candlelight, with knitting and wine, which is useful for toasting successes and also helping to cope if results don't quite go the way I want them to.

Anyone else having an election party?

Runupdate: Or not.

It's been a bad couple of weeks. I picked up a sinus infection last week that laid me up pretty quickly (movement just hurt) and needed some antibiotics, only to recover enough for the weekend and proceed to pick up a cold!

I've now been at home for 1.5 days and am slowly starting to feel alive again. It could have been the massive soup intake today though. I maintain that there is nothing like a spicy udon noodle soup or a big bowl of tom yum to chase a virus away. Must be all that chilli!

I'm starting to feel a little worried about my prep for the Mother's Day Classic now that I've missed two weeks of training. Here's hoping I get better and stay that way soon.

Just got real - Runupdate.

Registrations for the Mothers Day Classic are now open! Yours truly has signed up and so far (all 20 minutes of bliss) has served as a swift kick in the derriere. I'm running as part of the geekgirlrunner team, so hopefully I can keep up.

Another way of looking at my registering: sh*t just got real. My first event is now locked and loaded. I ran this one injured last year, so I need to make sure that I'm prepped and ready this time around.

Fitting then that today is an update on my training.

My Christmas kilos have proven to be a little stubborn... through no-one's fault but my own. I've been very lenient with myself (diet and training), so I'm still where I was four weeks ago. I'm a little fitter thanks to boxing starting up again, but my running training has been sporadic. Sydney has been in the throes of a heat wave, so training has proven difficult.

Take Saturday, for example. The hottest day of the recent heatwave - it topped 42 degrees in the city - and innerwestlive and I decided that it would be a great idea to do the bay run in the morning. We can be stubborn like that. Needless to say, the run quickly turned into a walk. I haven't experienced heat that brutal in a while and my body just wasn't ready to run in it.

Where to now? Time to start an actual program - interval training ahoy! I'm off to do some research and set myself up so I'll be ready for 8km in May. I'm also tracking my food using Calorie King again, so hopefully that helps me rein in my diet.

Skinsdate:

I'm still trying to run in my Skins as much as possible. Again, it's proven difficult in the last week due to the heat, but I am really seeing a difference in recovery when I use them. At the moment it's a small benefit, being that I'm working my way back into training, but I definitely have a shorter recovery time after I've worn them. So far I'm really liking them!

What Revolution?

Warnng: Angry rant ahead.

As a little girl, I was never allowed to play soccer, a game I loved, because "it's not a game meant for girls". This, along with the attitude that it was the woman's place to keep house were my introductions to gender stereotypes.

Fast forward to now, where everyone hails equality. Except that's not the case at all.

I was extremely surprised to read a post on Mia Freedman's website recently entitled "What is your idea of foreplay?" It wasn't the subject matter or the fact that it was a sponsored post that surprised me, but the content. On a website written by women for women, I'd become used to seeing well-written articles (ok, so not always applicable to me and my stage in life) that also had a women's point of view and often a feminist stance to boot.

Here I present the bit that got me particularly shouty for your amusement:

Because of the differences between men and women, our needs when it comes to foreplay are different too. And whilst we women have perfectly reasonable expectations of what constitutes foreplay, men can be WAY out of synch….

What Men Consider Foreplay:

His partner removing her clothes (whether to get into bed, hop into the shower, or put cream on a painful rash)
A nude woman on TV
A sex scene on TV
Nothing on TV
Getting into bed
Lying in bed
Waking up in bed
Giving his partner that ‘special look’
Pinching his partner’s bum
Saying ‘Hey hon, wanna do the wild thing?’
Breathing.

What Women Consider Foreplay:

Receiving flowers
Receiving chocolates
Receiving a full body massage
Her partner doing the dishes
Her partner doing the laundry
Her partner doing whatever she wants
Being told that she is gorgeous
Being told that she is sexy
Being told that the kids are asleep and that her partner will get them up in the morning
Watching a film of Simon Baker (okay, so maybe that one is just me).

Back it up there. I'm sorry Mamamia (and the sponsor of this post), but I was not aware that receiving flowers was foreplay for women. Ditto for chocolates or having someone do the dishes. Colour me embarrassed, all those times my flatmates washed up after dinner and I didn't hold up my end of the bargain afterwards. Where are my Brady Bunch manners?

I'm sick of seeing cliches like this. The insinuation men are always ready for sex and that women don't really enjoy it and have to somehow be bribed into it is outdated and simply untrue on both sides. To continue to reinforce this myth leaves men under pressure to live up to this so-called expectation, and continues to shame women who enjoy sex and intimacy... when really there's nothing for anyone to be ashamed of.

(Of course the frequent application of flowers, chocolates, doing the dishes etc may help your quest, boys and girls. But a friendly tip: all of these things come with one of those little asterisk-thingys that often appear on mobile phone ads with the following message: "does not imply you will get some". Believe it or not, the sexual organs of plants do not a person ready for sexytimes make.)



In what can almost be called uncanny timing, I came across a piece in the Punch regarding (NSFW I'd say) Filament magazine. This isn't a magazine that I've seen before, but a quick flick through the online preview shows that it seems similar to the layout of something like Ralph or FHM - but aimed at women and featuring men. Given the list of international stockists and the fact that older issues are sold out on their website, I'd like to hazard a guess and say that the magazine seems to be doing quite well... which is at odds to the opinion that women aren't in to that sort of stuff and just want to snuggle with a box of chocolates.

I'd like to think that in this day and age both women and men had the freedom to express and live out their sexuality as they see fit, without having a set of expectations thrust upon them. Whatever turns you on, as the saying goes. It'd be nice to not be reminded of what we all should be according to an outdated idea.

(And now that Angry McRantypants has had her say, normal transmission will resume. General update soon.)

New Year, time to shed the old skin and wear a new pair...

Once again I find myself in the post-Christmas rush. Funnily enough, I always find January a busy time of year. Several birthdays, Sydney Festival, various renewals and registrations due. The biggest difference between January and the holiday period is that some sense of routine and normality begins to return.

Enter the dreaded post-Christmas fitness stocktake. This year it wasn't a pleasant experience - I've put on a few kilos over December thanks to illness (tonsillitis) and being lazy over the holidays - too much good food and drink! I've also been slack in my training, so my fitness level has fallen. It's time to knuckle down again though - if I want to be running the Mothers' Day Classic, the Bay Run and the city2surf this year I need to get my training hat on and start getting my discipline back.

Just before Christmas, SKINS Australia were kind enough to send me a pair of their A400 3/4 tights to try out. It was really a great Christmas present to receive, and I unpacked them in the office as soon as they arrived.

My first reaction was one of disbelief (as anyone who follows me on Twitter would know). These tights were tiny! TINY! Holding them up to myself, I wondered out loud (several times) if they were going to fit over my butt, because they looked like something my thirteen year old cousin would wear. Having read all the sizing charts and finding that I sit smack bang in between sizes, I went for the smaller size. Despite my disbelief (and colleagues' laughter), I discovered later that evening that they did, in fact, fit over my butt. Score Skins 1, me 0.

So far I've only done one run in the Skins, so I'm not making any final calls yet. I can tell you that Christmas certainly affected the fit and comfort - the weight gain has actually pushed me over into the next size, so these are now extremely snug instead of just snug. the biggest thing for me is getting used to the seams and the tight fit. I normally buy my tights a size larger than usual for comfort, so going to compression tights was a big shock to the system. I'm also a fan of as few seams as possible, so the seamed construction of the Skins was a change. (Interestingly, I didn't have many seam impressions as I expected on my legs when I peeled them off, so it shows that the compression is actually happening.)

The tights were comfortable to run in - I didn't feel any uncomfortable rubbing from the seams and they didn't ride up on my legs. The waistband was also high enough to prevent rolling. I found them a little too tight, but I'm blaming that on my own weight change, so watch this space. Overall I was happy with the way they performed, my legs still had some pain from adjusting back to my routine, but it wasn't close to what I experienced without the tights.

I'm really looking forward to wearing these on more runs. I'm hoping they help alleviate some of the issues I get when I ramp up my training on hills!

Skins also meet the approval of the shouty males in souped up cars. I know this because I received the most intelligible shout yet from a passing car while out on my run.

Please note: SKINS Australia sent me this pair of tights for trial and review free of charge. I am not being paid to write reviews.

The mau5 is back in the hau5

It's no secret that I am a big fan of Deadmau5. The Canadian purveyor of bleepy goodness has been on high rotation in my musical bag of tricks for a long time - in fact, his previous release For Lack of a Better Name is my go-to running soundtrack and "I need some stomping good amp up" music - more than a year after it was originally released.

With that in mind, it's probably fair to say that I had incredibly high standards set when I purchased a copy of his latest release 4x4=12. It was a bit of a fluke actually - I hadn't heard anything about the new release, but happened to spy it on a rack in a record store while wandering past, as luck would have it only the day after release.

Unable to wait I threw this on in the car on the way home, expecting to be utterly blown away in the manner of For Lack of a Better Name. I was initially disappointed, but persisted the next morning with a re-listen to the album (again in the car) on the way to work.

4x4=12 doesn't carry the same initial punch and grab of For Lack of a Better Name - it has a totally different mood and the tracks carry off in a totally new direction and style. This is not actually a bad thing, as it's a very solid release and once I'd given it a couple of listens it started to grow on me a lot. It just took me a little bit of time to accept that it was not a second For Lack of a Better Name.

mau5 is known for taking his listeners on a musical journey, and in that respect this album definitely does it's job while managing to be a little less progressive than the last. Some of the track layout isn't as smooth as it could be, but it's the price you pay for getting a wider variety in the music. It's a lot easier to glean the mau5's influences on this album, picking elements from various electronica legends through the ages. The most notable of this is Cthulhu Sleeps (one of my favourite tracks on the album) which is ten whole minutes of whumm-whumm awesomesauce, a la Timo Maas and Azzido da Bass circa 2000.

My picks on the album are Sofi Needs a Ladder, Cthulhu Sleeps, Raise Your Weapon (the first single) and A City in Florida. While there aren't any tracks I feel that I have to skip, One Trick Pony is easily my least favourite - interesting since it also features Sofi who appears on the earlier Sofi Needs a Ladder.

Overall after a few listens this album has come into it's own right for me and I'm enjoying it on high rotation. I'm yet to test it out for it's run-ability but as it's a mixed album it should fare very well. Another solid performance from the mau5 - not at epic as the last one but still a lot of fun.



And for a little bonus - here's Deadmau5's personal highlights of his Aussie tour in November/December last year. The opening animation sequence is what introduced him onstage, and see if you can spot me in the middle of the crush when he kicks the inflatable roo off the stage. It was absolutely crazy in there.

Today, I Ran

You know when you're in trouble when you track a run with RunKeeper and you immediately get a personal milestone email saying you beat last week's distance... and it's your first run of the week.

It was actually the first run I'd posted in a little over a month, but unlike the last time I tried to get back into the swing of training, this run felt good. I decided to run after cruising my way through a fairly easy boxing class - we only had four people today, and I was paired with the only other girl. We're not a good match (I'm twice her size), so I was taking it fairly easy. I didn't feel like I'd had a proper workout at the end.

And so, onto the run. 4.28 km, 0:30:30. In my run intervals I was holding sub-7 minute average pace. Overall my pace was 7:08 - which is pretty respectable for a first run in a while. Despite that, I can't help but feel a little disappointed with it, because I know what I'm capable of. If anything, it's good motivation to keep myself in regular training again.

On another note, it's only a few weeks until Christmas. Eek.

Yes, me. Camping.

It would appear that I have a reputation as a high maintenance girl. A high maintenance girl who likes the good things in life.

While that's not a false statement in the least - I do like the good things in life. Amongst those things is spending time with good friends, having a good time. It was at the suggestion of one such friend that I decided to brave camping again.

The last time I went camping I was eleven-ish, with a scout group. I ended up in hospital because the camp leaders thought I had measles, when in fact I was just being devoured alive by mosquitoes. It seems that I'm a walking cocktail for the blighters, missing only a fetching paper umbrella if I'm not carrying my parasol, but I digress. As you can see, this past experience left me a little apprehensive about camping and other outdoorsy activities.

if anyone is now hoping for more camping horror stories and amusing anecdotes about how I'm never going to do that again, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I loved it. I still have amusing stories though.

On the Saturday of the long weekend I woke up at an ungodly hour (I believe it's called stupid o'clock), packed the car up and started to drive down to Wee Jasper.

I was lucky enough to drive through Yass, and thus see the famous Maccas sign. From Yass you then take the one (!!) road that winds it's way down to Wee Jasper village. I would love to post pictures of the drive as there were some beautiful sights, however as I was only one in the car I felt staying on the road was a higher priority. Arriving in one piece and all that.

Arriving at Wee Jasper meant one thing: a break from technology. There is no phone reception there, which means no checking the phone, no 3G, no Twitter, no internet, no SMS. Nothing. Bliss.

After setting up camp (and helping a friend put up her Taj Mahal of a tent, I swear it would have fit in at the Quidditch World Cup), a couple of the girls and I headed into the village to check out the general store and make some calls on the public phone (just to let people know we'd arrived safely etc). While up there, I spotted some flowers and took a few shots.



We also spotted a marquee on a nearby property. It looked like a wedding being set up.

That done, a night of relaxing around the campfire was in order. Wee Jasper is one of the few places where you can still have a campfire, so burn baby, burn.



I had also brought along some glow sticks (for safety, I promise you!) Give a kid a couple of glowsticks on string, and you'll keep them amused for hours!



And so to bed. I was looking forward to enjoying a good night's sleep. Maybe. I was thinking that I might have to deal with the odd wombat wombling past, or perhaps a koala or something. I didn't expect Daft Punk.

Yes, Daft Punk. That marquee I mentioned earlier? Not a wedding. Someone was holding a rave/dance party thing on their property... and the music was echoing into the valley where we were camped. Nature, isn't it fab? The music continued through the night until 9am the next morning. Well done kiddies, you went hard! It was actually quite funny - I'd wake up through the night, not because of the music but because I was in unusual surroundings, and each time I'd think either "Oh, that's a great track" or "I HATE THIS SONG MAKEITSTOP!" before falling asleep again.

Sunday saw us at the Wee Jasper markets, were I ate my bodyweight in (well, half a dozen) dutch donuts.



These things were amazing - like a piece of deep fried raisin toast. I might have to try and crack the recipe for them! Another thing of note at the markets were some alpacas!



They were babies, just seven months old. Their coats were so unbelievably soft. I was devastated to hear that their soft fluffy coats were to be discarded after they were shorn - but they were so dirty and full of grassy bits that it's just not feasible to try and spin them up.

Back at camp, I amazed myself at remembering how to cast a fishing line. We were camped right near a river (no pics, I was too busy skipping stones), so some of the kids got a chance to try and catch some trout.

And then...



Into the darkness! Carey's Cave was only a few kilometres from our campsite. I was quite surprised by the tour - the tour guide was extremely knowledgable (and very talkative), but there were also elements to the tour that you just don't get at other cave sites. Like the bit where the guide demonstrates how the cave would look by candlelight...



Candle smoke is actually quite bad for the cave (as is the mere presence of humans) so most other cave sites just won't allow it. It was amazing to see how the cave would have looked to those who first explored it. The cave is a set of large chambers, so it's easy to navigate and has some really beautiful features. We were also lucky enough to see it after some recent rain - so there was water around!





The cave tired us all out, but of course next on the agenda was the NRL Grand Final. I have to say, watching this at our (unpowered) camp site was an experience. We had a McGyvered solution: Satellite dish -> TV running off a Land Rover Defender. It was most amusing and it attracted quite a crowd. Good times, and an amazing piece of work by one of the guys!

It was quite a shame to come back to reality on Monday.

Things I learnt from this trip...

* I don't need that much food
* I don't need that many clothes
* I need a bigger tent
* I was serious about the food

Anyone up for a camping trip?

Baaaa! Murder in the Dark/February/Time at the Sydney Fringe Festival

It's been too long in between theatre visits for me, so on Friday night I braved the cold and visited the New Theatre for a Sydney Fringe triple bill...

Murder in the Dark
The world's fascination with whodunnits and crime shows is indicative of one thing: A killer's mind is a fascinating and terrible thing. It's a point of view so different to the norm, so twisted out of the usual day to day grind that it makes people want to know why and how it happens.

This stage adaptation of Margaret Atwood's Murder in the Dark is a view into one such mind. Through a series of small snippets we are drawn into the life of a killer, never quite sure of what is going to happen next.

While occasionally this production feels a little disjointed, over the course of the piece it becomes apparent how it all fits in together. The cast (Richard Drysdale, Samantha Neaves and Scott Clare) do an amazing job, moving seamlessly through the harshly cut scenes. Awkward silences, the addition of well chosen music and crafty use of lighting only adds to the eerie atmosphere, helping to make sure the audience isn't feeling at ease. Overall a very solid piece.

February
February is the shortest piece of the triple bill, but as a child of Sydney suburbia it's one that spoke volumes to me. Two girls, both trapped in the suburb of their childhood but for very different reasons, are reliving the past and recounting the events that have brought them to where they are today.

The emotion in this piece was absolutely incredible - I was actually blinking back tears at times. Madeleine Jones (Clare) and Felicity Keep (Frankie) really manage to capture the spirit of their characters and they work so well together - there's one particular scene where they are both fighting for your attention and I can tell you, it's not easy to choose either.

This particular piece could easily have been sustained for longer, as there's so much more that could be explored and brought out. As it is, I was left wanting to know more, yet at the same time I had so much to think about from the complexity and twists in the plot. One thing I was definitely left with was how some things just don't change, even though the times apparently have.

Time
After dealing with the heavy issues of Murder in the Dark and February, Time is a little bit of comic relief of the black variety. A successful single woman, an uninvited guest and a few surprise discoveries all add up to an entertaining show.

The story is a well worn idea that has been done many, many times (fans of Terry Pratchett and Monty Python will recognise it for what it is pretty quickly), but the cast and the script really it carry it through and give it a breath of life. Shannon Rae Kappes (Samantha) and Christopher Sellers (the Guest) have an incredible rapport on stage, bringing a sense of the normal to something that is anything but.

I found this production a little predictable (I'm blaming that on my love for all things Pratchett) but that's no bad thing, especially with this piece's place in the repertory. It also doesn't hold back with making the audience question their very existence - there's something about the way Samantha learns how to live for the moment that really gives you a jolt.

I really enjoyed the entire repertory - each of the pieces has their own mark and left you thinking about something different, yet they fit in very well together. I also found that the themes of the Sydney Fringe were very well represented. Spot the black sheep...

Murder in the Dark/February/Time is on at the New Theatre as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival. $24/$20 concession.

Melbourne, part two.

I promised more about Melbourne. Perhaps the most important thing I discovered when I was there was this: I am hopeless at taking pictures and documenting a trip. Why? As soon as the camera comes out I'm constantly stopping to take pictures and I'm not shy about trying to get a different angle of the world. This of course means it takes me about half an hour to get one hundred metres down the road.

As such, on a trip with limited time and a long list of things I want to do, photos tend to take a backseat. It's my own fault I was perpetually in a rush during my stay... but luckily I plan to go back soon. Next time the trip will be more leisurely. I hope.

On Saturday night I caught up with some friends. The original plan was to eat and drink at Borsch, Vodka and Tears in Windsor, but the place was far too busy for us to get a table. We ended up at TGI Fridays. I actually found this tremendously exciting as we don't have one in Sydney. To celebrate, I ordered something I had not had in years. A Long Island Iced Tea.



It was as delicious and potent as I remembered. It also had the side effect I seem to have erased from my memories of previous experiences... and that's the side effect of it making me think that a Pina Colada is a BRILLIANT idea, because I want the tiny plastic cocktail-toothpick pirate sword that holds the garnish together.

I'm told that there is a picture of me brandishing said pirate sword cocktail stick, but I haven't seen it yet.

After feasting on deep-fried macaroni cheese and burgers, we wandered back down Chapel St and managed to get a table at Borsch Vodka and Tears, where we proceeded to drink our way through as many different Polish vodkas as possible. I personally had Żubrówka (one of my favourites) on the rocks, Wódka Żołądkowa Gorzka straight up (delicious!) and an Apple Pie - Spiced vodka, apple juice and cinnamon.



Much more civilised, don't you think?

I will definitely be revisiting BV&T on my next trip to Melbourne.

Another thing that absolutely knocked my socks off in Melbourne was the Tim Burton exhibition at ACMI. If you get the chance, go! There are no cameras allowed in there so I don't have any exciting photos... but the view into Burton's head is weird, wonderful and at times a little disturbing. There's drawings, sculpture, video and movie props and it was far bigger than I thought it was going to be. When I walked out I was reeling from the sheer volume of amazing that was in there!

A shoutout also to Mr Johan Vonshag who sent me to the best coffee in Melbourne. You rock, sir.

I am a bad blogger

But then, you all already knew that.

I think it stems from having so many ideas and so many things I want to say. I sit down to post... and stuff comes out. Just a jumble of words that really, really don't reflect the fact that I am actually capable of stringing a sentence together. There's no coherent idea or structure that comes through.

While this is probably caused by my not actually sitting myself down and writing enough (thereby causing a metric shit-tonne bucketload of ideas trying to fight their way out every time I do), I'm choosing to blame the internet. Purely because the internet must be to blame. MUST. It's certainly to blame for the fact that every time I have an idea I start wondering if I could fit it into a 140-character space, therefore it is at fault for my inability to write longer pieces. It's also to blame for several pairs of shoes, countless books, lots of clothes and various other things that I don't quite need but that's not for here.

So, where was I?

Ah yes. Melbourne! I took the time to visit the place recently after a hiatus of several years. Joss Whedon was coming to town and a fellow geeky friend stood over me telling me I should go until I bought a ticket gently reminded me that it would be a great idea. He was right! Joss was funny, interesting and inspiring. It was an opportunity I am glad I didn't pass up.

I was (recites alphabet in head while counting) ten rows back and mere metres away from one of the audience question mics, so I managed to snap this pic (as usual, all pics in this post are enabled for clicky-embiggen):



I know he looks demonic, but I think that adds to the Buffy-esque charm.

Other than a wonderful evening with Joss, I also spent some time enjoying a plush hotel room (where's the fun if you don't splash out a little every now and then?), shopping (but of course! pictures to come at a later date), catching up with some friends and wandering through Fitzroy Gardens.

Fitzroy Gardens is probably one of my favourite places in Melbourne. I love walking through the gardens from the East, feeling like you're so far away from everything... only to emerge in the CBD. The times I've spent in the gardens it's usually been quite quiet as well, which only helps the illusion.







(Notice the balloon stuck in the tree?)

More Melbourne to come...