I liked this weekend - overall 'twas fun :)

It was a full weekend of Burlesque, Die Maschining, spa-madness, and Olympics.

Overall, things were good, though I do have gripes about a few things, which is a little sad, because I really did have a good time whilst I was out and about, and in and being spa-ified.

First thing is that I got my new phone (another one) from Vodafone. I'm starting to think that Nokia's are getting worse... or Vodafone is buying bad batches. It's a Nokia N95 8GB. Not sure how it'll work out - but we shall see - it takesd a little getting used to. Also, for the time being, whilst I am trying to work some things out, I have another number as well... but that's what I am using to call out from - there's no change to the number that people call to get a hold of me. Just an admin thingy - though there was a mixup on the weekend with these numbers and phones and so there was a little (very avoidable) tension caused by a lack of a simply phone-call.

<lj-cut text="Anyway... On to Friday evening.">Anyway... On to Friday evening.

I was very much looking forward to seeing the Olympic opening Ceremony, because it's become a huge production and the Event-Manger in me just loves seeing what they manage to put on and peering behind the production and seeing the logistics involved. That doesn't mean that I just sit there and disect the thing in a cold manner, far from it. I watch, I appreciate, I go "ooohh!" And "ahhhh!" at the right times, and I ocassionally get very pleasantly surprised. I had that happen with the opening ceremony on Friday night. It was good to share it with <lj user="pornofairy">, Elliot, <lj user="sophronia"> and <lj user="arby_doll">. There was a brief appearance from <lj user="piratenoir"> as well. I was impressed by the sheer spectacle of the opening ceremony, the synchonisation of the 2008 drummers, the LCD effects, the projection ytechnology, the aerialists, and of course the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron. I could have sworn that the flame went out as Li Ning soared up toward the rim of the stadium for his lap around the rim of the 'Bird's Nest' Stadium toward the cauldron (which I didn't see appear at all - or was I that bluind to not notice it?). However, apparently there are 2 flames in the torch, one which you can see, and another inside the torch proper, which automatically re-lights the main (visible) flame if it goes out. I was unimpressed with the Channel 7 HD Coverage of the event though. The picture quality wasn't/isn't really that much different to the coverage on their non-HD channel (clarity wise). I was somewhat unimpressed (to say it lightly) that Channel 7 decided to drop the ball during the Opening Ceremony, with ads popped in at the most inopportune times, causing some parts of the Ceremony to be missed (and to be honest, if I'm watching a spectacle like this I don't care about their advertising revenue, they could have found a more logical place to insert their necessary jarring adverts). A live event of that magnitude and interest (which you can't just ask to pause whilst an ad-break is running) deserves more respect (as do the viewers), but of course "this is a business" which is the common catch-cry, so viewers get 2nd-rate status to the advertisers. Then (later in the weekend) there was the dropping of the Olympic coverage  for an AFL game. Now I know there are AFL fans out there somewhere, but I know that many many people were unimpressed with the decision to stop the coverage to telecast the footy (again we will hear the term "contractural obligations" and "so forth, as an excuse to cover up the gaff). Anyway, that's my big grumble for the morning out of the way.</lj-cut>

<lj-cut text="Then there was Saturday."> After the evening had fled, and sleep was found lurking in my room somewhere, Saturday was full of a bit of house-cleaning... and some Olympic Games-watching (Beach Volleyball and Road-cycling come to mind). Then it was a downhill run (yet with a small associated clothing crisis - must get to Wild One to get that vest fixed... Dustan? Yoo Hoo!) to get ready for the opening night of The Ruby Review at The Supper Club. It was easy to get to, with traffic being somewhat light. Firstly, I noticed that it was a little packed on the staircase... and for people in stillettoes (or PVC fetish-boots) it was a pain. Still, once at the door, the reserved tickets were taken care of and we were showed to our... er... seats? The downstairs seating area was full. The usher assured us that she's look for a table, but she was swamped with what I can only term as an over-selling of the venue. Whether that was the venue, or the promoters I can't say, but there weren't enough seats, nor were there enough tables for the 'dinner'-guests, which annoyed me no end. I know it annoyed other patrons too, as some left early because of the crowding. Now let me be totally honest... the extra $10 per head for a 'dinner' ticket was definitely NOT worth it. Lamb-shank pie my backside. It was a fake pie (the kind you have when you just spoon a stew into a bowl and plop a pie-top on top). VERY Poor value for money - but I place that squarely at the feet of the venue. Also, the drinks were exhorbitantly expensive - I mean seriously overpriced. I hope the price point changes for the next one otherwise this may be a short-lived monthly event. Apart from the normal teething problems for a new performance-laden evening, it was quite enjoyable (though I did raise my eyebrows at the R&B-styled Christina-Aguilera-sounding singer... not sure where that fits into burlesque performance, but that could just be my music-snobery coming through - and she DID have a good voice) - though the sound-mixing was somewhat atrocious (again I put that down to teething problems, or perhaps the venue needing to tweak the mix for next time). I'm going to drop a note to the promoters this morning - especially about the seating/food/drink issues.</lj-cut>

<lj-cut text="...and Saturday becomes Sunday">Afterwards, it was off to Die Maschine. Now that was a worthwhile night - which saw much frivoloty, though it was a little under-attended. I was chatting with a few of the attendees - and a couple who had been to injterstate clubs recently. Overall it seems like Sydney clubs are going through a bit of a downturn in attendance - for that matter so are a few Sydney gigs. Why this is so I can't say - perhaps the cold? Maybe that coupled with a lot of choices for the dollar right now - I know some gigs are expensive and as such people aren't willing to shell out so much right now - especially if they also have a car to run. However, that (costs of fuel etc... which is a country-wide issue) doesn't explain why Sydney clubs/gigs have less attendees than other capital cities... (including Canberra). Still DM is always a good night - and at the end of the evening, it was a sojourn off to The Fortress with Abigail, <lj user="arby_doll">, <lj user="pornofairy"> and Elliot. Of course the day consisted of spa-lounging, trashiness, some photography which will stay buried somewhere, some promises to set up some shoots - which will be happening in this comnig week actually, and a rather surprising offer from some quarters which was really really sweet and something that I am going to take them up on. I won't say more here - but I have launched the application today.</lj-cut>

Of course, then there was the ramifications of having a new phone number, being outside all day in the spa, and not grabbing online messages in time - to the extent of having someone (IMO) going a little overboard. I think that's been resolved now - but sheesh. A long-standing something almost seems to be coming to an end - though I'm not sure if that's actually happening or not - I think, though, that it might be - well it feels that way nonetheless. Those involved know about it - those who aren't don't need to. <lj user="sithmagician"> understands the way these things happen.

Later in the evening was a little more cable-watching, some interweb bashing, and then bundling Abi onto the couch, and retiring to bed where blissful nuconciousness happened.

This leads me to today - a 'normal' day at work, which will lead to some cabling at home this evening, followed by an early start to tomorrow morning - 7:30am again - because of a newly scheduled rollout at Lidcombe, and perhaps later this week - a rollout up in Gosford (well somewhere up on the Central Coast). It's always fun here at Camp WTF ;)

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