about, some I have put in other 'blogs and some I have just not
mentioned. There have been reasons for that - and I'm not going into
them here (right now). Suffice to say that the things I have not
mentioned, are no-one else's business. Those in the know have asked and
have been told - and if you don't know... There's no reason for others
to ask... Right now, it's going back to business as usual.
Enough of the 'cryptic' stuff... OK? :)
What the hell has been happening since Mardi Gras... work, work and more
work. An average of 10-13 projects on board at a time means that work is
busy - and I have little time or inclination to 'chat' whilst there.
March (so far) has been a roller-coaster of things both home-wise and
work-wise. Busy is a word I can say I am at work - though at times it
may not look like I am (from an 'in the office' perspective) but I am
keeping 10 projects juggled (my colleage has 14, and my other colleage
has 4...) we're also keeping our 'offsider' (Erin) quite busy, along
with a constant stream of contractors. 9am through 5pm - IT audits, IT
moves, Dilligence Reports... ahhh it's all quite satisfying in the end.
However, I will admit that at the office I am becoming a little more
self-absorbed (ie: I'm doing what I am doing and having little time for
things of an external nature - it's what I do). Still I am making people
in the office groan due to a surfit of Frank-like jokes and that is a
good thing...er... I think.
Apart from the first week of March - and perhaps a few days after -
(which was full of a plethora of other stuff), there's a lot happening
this month. I mean there's a lot on and a lot happening at The Fortress.
For the short term, The Fortress is full, as the 'spare' room is taken
for about 3-4 weeks by a friend who needed a place to hang their hat
whilst relavations (that's what you get when relatives force you to
vacate your abode the same way that renovating does) are taking place at
their house. Further, there are renovations happening at The Fortress as
well. The side wall (in the back courtyard) is down (due to the Cocus
Palms being removed - they were toppling the wall) and is being rebuilt
by the landlord. This led to the Security Company making more frequent
drive-bys and taking pics of my 'boarder' as they were moving in. Not to
mention that the police have been told as well. Anyway, it's all fun
until someone does something silly and sets off the alarm. Suffice to
say that the kittuns have a new wonderland of 'stuff' to clamber
over/under/through for the next week or so. Of coutrse this also means
that the landlord is building the entire wall himself... which is kinda
interesting for a man who's retired and (at times in the sun) seems that
he may expire - and I mean that in a very nice way, actually, he's a
very cool landlord. Still the wall'll happen, perhaps not overnight, but
it will happen. Of course this means that spas are going to be ... er...
interesting for the next week.
So let's see...2 weeks ago was Die Maschine which was a worthwhile
night, with one excess of alcohol happening, but you get that at times.
Was a good night, though ended with a little misunderstanding between
friends which has since been rectified. A few days later I attended the
Filmink Awards with Imogene, and it was great to catch up and just hang
and chat, albeit seated 10 rows from the front of the stage and right
behind Megan Gale - she IS Wonder Woman, not to mention that Emma Booth
has THE best legs ...ever! - I swear that next year we shall go to the
after-party, right Im? Anyway, the winners (being mostly overseas people
who couldn't/didn't attend) were:
MOVIE EXTRA BEST FILM: Atonement - I absolutely agree with this one.
WORST FILM: Bratz the Movie - I would like toadd: Worst Concept of the
century (so far).
CANON BEST AUSTRALIAN FILM: Romulus, My Father - A good choice.
AUSSIE BUM BEST SORT: Katherine Heigl - Knocked Up - OK, well she seems
to be, yes.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL BEST DOCUMENTARY: Bra Boys - I haven't seen
it, so I figure that I should to make a judgement call, but others
seemed better from what I had seen.
BEST AUSTRALIAN NEWCOMER: Emma Booth - Clubland - Hummina Hummina
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN AUSSIE IN AN OVERSEAS MOVIE: Cate Blanchett - I'm
Not There - A fair choice, and one which seemed obvious post-Oscars.
EQUINOX DESIGN & VFX BEST MONSTOR MOVIE: Beowulf - I SO do not agree.
BEST BLOW IN: Michael Vartan - Rogue - Absolutely
BEST HAIR: John Travolta - Hairspray - As a tongue-in-cheek award...yes,
for 'Best' Hair? No way.
BEST CHASE SCENE: The Bourne Ultimatum - definitely
BEST NUDE SCENE: The Simpsons Movie - FFS!
BEST MUSICAL: Hairspray - Absolutely...have I mentioned that Im
(allegedly) doen't like musicals?
PETER FINCH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Colin Friels - deserved indeed.
Highlights of the Awards can be found here:
http://www.filminkawards.com.au/video.asp
Like I said, Im, next year...the after-party.
The next night... remember what I said about musicals... Im and I headed
to Star City to see Shout! (the life of Johnny O'Keefe). I wasn't sure
what to expect from this as I think I am forever expecting the scope of
'Boy From Oz'. Set in a minimalist set mostly reminiscent of the old
Sydney Stadium (demolished to construct the Eastern Suburbs Railway
link), the production goes from his early schooling through to (but not
including) his last Rock'N'Roll heyday tour through the Australian
leages/RSL club-scene in the late 70's. As a production it was really
very very good, although from all accounts it received a better reaction
in Melbourne than it has in Sydney. Colleen Hewitt took the night off
(which was good in a way as I vividly recall her playing Peter Allen's
mother in 'Boy From Oz') and John Paul Young played several parts which
made me sit up and take note that he's not a damned bad actor at all.
However it was Tim Campbell's show and to be honest I didn't like him at
first... but as soon as he really hit the stage, performing as O'Keefe,
including catching the nuances and timbre of O'Keefe's electric
delivery, he won me over. A brilliant performance and one I heartily
recommend.
Of course the next day was 'Steak & A Blowjob Day', and what better
place to spend that evening but having a steak at The Oxford Tavern. Say
no more. ;)
This takes me up to last Saturday night when I got to see Immortal at
The Metro. Originally I knew that Jules was going, and I suspected that
Liv would be there as well. However, I was reminded by Heather - and
with a ticket mix-up all solved, I headed in. Joined Liv at bar Ace,
thence to The Mtro to pay their overblown prices and drink with Jules
and company whilst Ruins were playing. No offense, I was enjoying the
company. So, imtermission and then Immortal. Now not usually being a big
fan of Norwegian Black Metal, I wasn't expecting to see so many people I
knew there... silly me. This was my first time seeing them live (no not
even a DVD, OK?) and as far as I am concerned, Immortal had a huge
stage-presence, they hit all their hallmark numbers AND did their
standard fire-breathing at the end. I may get pilloried for the
comparison but I found them very KISS-like (except that the music is
much more gravelly and a lot more [dare I say it] hardcore). Where KISS
has the market in commercialist-performance, Immortal has the market in
edgier hardcore performance. They seemed to get off on the Sydney
audience, and that's the important thing I think. If a band so obviously
hits their marks and they get off on the audience, the feed-back to and
from is something electric and this indeed was just that. I like them,
and I'll be back to see them again, though hopefuly in an intimate venue
like The Metro. A larger venue would seriously detract from the rapport
with the audience. After the show, I did lose Heather and I did lose
Jules and company as well... it happens after a show like that.
Finally... after the weekend (and with the absence of my God-daughter
who had a ticket waiting for her): last night was Ozzy Osbourne
(supported by Sevendust). Eleven years ago I missed him when he toured
with Black Sabbath, which was unfortunate as I would have liked to see
him at the peak of his powers. After seeing him in The Osbournes (on
MTV) I was initially hesitant about getting a ticket. I am very glad
that I did. Met up with Michelle after work, had some Japanese and Sake
before heading into Acer Arena, where (having Gold Standing Tickets) got
up close to Sevendust's last couple of numbers, which were surprisingly
melodic and quite powerful. Means that I will be investigating them in
the next week or so. Intermission, an Ozzy Tour T-Shirt... (WTF is with
it and the prices? The cheapest T was $50!! Talk about seriously ripping
people off!) ... and the great man hit the stage. Still a little bent
over from having over a decade of (allegedly) having an incorrect
prescription for his condition, followed by his near-fatal quad-bike
crash 4 years ago (Jeez! Was it that long ago??) his voice still
steadily rocks out. He's a fcuking madman onstage, loves the attention,
and can still belt out 'Mr. Crowley' and 'Suicide Solution' like no-one
else can. Many solo numbers (remember that he has been solo for almost
twice as long as he was with Sabbath) interspersed with some Sabbath
numbers made the night seriously good (at times I think I have a gift
for understatement). He goaded the audience into participating (Pft!
like they needed any encouragement) to the extent that at one early
point he simply dropped trou and mooned the multi-thousand strong
roaring crowd. Of course that roaring jumped up several notches as soon
as the opening beats of 'War Pigs' started. I should note that his voice
is strong, frenetic as ever, and steady; and (apart from some sound
issues which seemed more technical than anything else) his lyrics are
still clear and still speak with that manic undercurrent of forbidden
darkness. His support band was amazing and his lead guitarist, a Viking
guitar legend ripped out of Norse mythology by the name of Zakk Wyldd,
gave Ozzy a mid-set rest as he launched into a blistering 15 minute lead
guitar solo which sent the entire auditorium into paroxysms of stunned
cheering (coupled with main-screen projections of female fans baring
breasts to gain the attention of both Zakk and the rest of the heaving
crowd). This man had all the Rock-God tricks of the trade, not only with
the stance and the body to carry it off, he weilded his guitar like a
weapon of old, even to the extent of playing it behing his neck and even
melodically hitting chord progressions with his teeth. I was
breathless... the girls next to me had 'melted'. The show finished up
and the encore was as good as expected, and Paranoid being the very
Sabbath-oriented finish that we fans wanted. Unfortunately, the
hoped-for second encore didn't happen... but no matter. The Prince Of
Darkness had returned, graced us with his still hallowed presence and
has sworn that he will not wait another 11 years to be back and bless us
all again with his dark gift.
Tonight is resting up for tomorrow night's marathon of KISS and
Hellfire-head-Shaving, to be ably assisted by Heather, Gill and Barbaera
- with the head-shaving itself to be performed by Rin.
--
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