Weekend

Ah its the weekend. Yay. Well I'm off to leaders retreat this weekend. Lots of planning to be done for the year to come at Glue (our church youth group on Fri nights). See ya's!

"I'm feeling happy, so highly evolved.."

Last night I saw The Vines (supported by City Lights and Magic Dirt) at Enmore Theatre. It was definitely the most violent gig I've been to. Lots of moshing to be had, and then some. It was fun though (when I wasn't fearing for life and limb). I was right in the middle of the mosh pit in front of the stage when they came on, but after the second song ("Highly Evolved" I think it was), I prudently decided to move back to a less enthusiastic part of crowd. I still was able to mosh a bit back there along with a few others, but then decided I wanted a bit more fun and headed forward to rejoin Andrew in the mosh pit, though keeping to the outer edge of it so I wasn't caught in the crush whenever the enthusiastic (and rather large) guys moshed forwards.

Craig (the lead singer) was, well, quite the rock god. His stage antics were very, erm, entertaining - with him shirtless, thrashing and flinging his guitar about, knocking over the drummer's cymbals, his mic stand and nearly his amp in the process. And if that wasn't enough, he also decided to climb the huge speaker stack at the side of the stage.. then finally culminating his performance with a stage dive into the crowd (only about a metre away from me). It was very interesting, the crowd around him dropped down like dominos (probably from his weight.. heehee). Some "lucky" guy under him managed to rip his belt off. It was also entertaining to watch the security guys literally diving into the crowd to try and "rescue" him and get him back up on stage.

Anyway, all in all it was a fun (and extremely sweaty, I might add) night out. I'm not terribly impressed with The Vines musically, but hey, I was too busy moshing and being distracted by the crazy stage antics to really notice. At least we got the tickets back for keepsake.



Current listening :: Highly Evolved - The Vines

One blister, two blister, three blister..

Last night I had another dance rehearsal for the West Side Story number in Forbidden Broadway, and came away with three blisters on my toes. Ouchie. :( There's one on each little toe, and a small one on the 4th toe.

Tonight I'm going to see The Vines. Hmm.. I still don't really know much of their stuff, and I've heard they kinda suck live.. but I'm going along anyway coz, well, I'm a sheep... hear me baa. Besides, gigs are still fun, regardless. If nothing else, I'll hopefully get a good mosh out of it. :) Now what I'm really hanging out for is "The Bens Rock Over Australia" gig - I don't know much about Ben Lee or Ben Kweller, but heck I'll go just to see Ben Folds!! Also, the idea of those three collaborating and writing songs together piques my interest.

Anyway, I'm off to the gym. Am in desperate need for a work out..

Oh yeh, I updated my live cam page. I decided to be a real cam grrrl and put a tagboard on the page, since I'm "live" on cam almost all day, Mon to Fri.

Current listening :: "Army" - Ben Folds Five

Bored

Gee work is boring. Long weekends are never long enough. *sigh* I had a pretty relaxing and uneventful long weekend. Aside from going to Avalon beach yesterday, I spent most of it hanging out with Andrew at my place or his.

The beach yesterday was very nice.. but the weather could have been a smidgen warmer. It also turned quite windy.. and sand blowing in your face != fun. The waves were pretty small, which was a good thing I guess - I wasn't really up to tackling big waves. I also forgot my boogie board but I guess I can make up for that at the summer holiday I've planned with some friends. We're going up to the Central Coast for 4 days in Feb, staying at this beautiful, huge luxury house right on Copacabana beach - the steps from the house lead straight to the sand! Ahhhh... it'll be soooo nice to just get away and laze about on the beach all day. I can't wait!


Gig anticipation

I'm still pretty excited about playing at Deb's album launch (on Feb 22nd). I've been listening hard to the CD, over and over again, trying to pick out the synth and organ lines. Its pretty hard to hear it sometimes. I've managed to jot down some arrangements for each song on the sheet music. I've also pulled out my (rather expensive) keyboard that I barely used, and actually had a look at the manual! I now know how to access the plethora of sounds (or voices) on my keyboard, as opposed to just the 128 voices on "quick access". I might take a look at creating voices next, and I definitely need to figure out how to store particular voices for quick access. I'm gonna have to make some quick voice changes mid-song at the gig. Hmm.. I'm really enjoying this music-related work quite a lot. I wonder if I'll get any more chances to play at gigs after this one.. or will this just be a one-off, never-to-happen-again sorta thing... *sigh*

I've just sent in my app form for another stint at the Conservatorium of Music Jazz Outreach courses. I've applied for the Jazz Performance Groups.. elementary or (preferably) intermediate level. I guess I had better start practicing again (I'm so lazy, I never play when I don't have class!) and prepare a jazz standard for the audition, which is next Tues. I've done a fair few of these "auditions", but I still get nervous about them, even though I know they won't reject me coz I've done the classes before. I guess I just don't wanna look incompetent, which one tends to after a few months of not playing!

Anyway I guess I should start getting ready to leave. Gotta get back early-ish coz I have another dance rehearsal tonight (for the Forbidden Broadway performance on Feb 14).

Current listening :: "Innermost Being" - Deb Fung

Omg Omg OMG!

I've got a gig.. like.. an actual real paying gig! The gig is an album launch for Deb Fung, who is a christian singer/songwriter from Melbourne - this is her first album. I got the gig through a friend Suzanne (and Vron, who would have suggested me to Suz). Anyway Suzanne is Deb's cousin.

I'm really excited about this... I was like "woah, my head is reeling" for most of the morning (even though its "just a gig", right Vron? ) What's even more exciting (and scary) is that I'll be playing (keyboard/synth) alongside some fully pro musicians, such as Pete Kohloff (bass), Steve Crain (electric guitar), and Spike Mason (sax). These guys are probably among some of the most talented jazz musicians in Sydney! They're christians as well, and well-known amongst the evangelical christian music scene in Sydney (they're the standard KyckStart band, and KYC a few years back before Mark Peterson's crew took over). I don't recognise the drummer or pianist, but I'm sure they're pro as well. At least Vron will be there (she'll be a backup singer, along with Mark Peterson - for those who know what I'm talking about, the Mark Peterson who wrote the new May The Mind melody, Not Ashamed, Highest Place etc).

Anyway, I'm gonna try real hard not to be intimidated.. and to not stuff up too! Though I s'pose its pretty hard to stuff up just playing pads/synth in the background. I'm kinda glad it's this I'm doing instead of the upfront piano stuff - though this does mean it's harder for me to figure out what I'm supposed to play. She's just giving us the chords/melody and her CD to listen to - from which we need to learn all 11 songs. There are no arrangements written out, we have to figure it out from listening to the CD. We've got one rehearsal on the 9th Feb, and one on the afternoon before the gig, then its the actual gig, on the 22nd Feb.

Current listening :: "Dirrty" - Christina Aguilera

Songs of 2002

'Tis a bit late, I know, coz we're well into 2003, but I thought I'd finally list a few songs that represent my 2002.

1. "Special Ones" - George
   
   "Isn't it funny how you never really screamed at my face,
   but your anger so unspoken and unchannelled
   permeates my essence to the point where I
   don't want to see you hear you, be anywhere near you"
   
   This was the first George song I heard in early 2002, which consequently got me hooked on them. It then became very much my song for a goodly part of the year. I suppose it represents the more troubled times of 2002.
   
   
2. "Spawn" - George
   
   This song gave me chills up the spine the first time I heard it performed live (at a free gig at Fish records in the city). The way her voice just soars effortlessly. *sigh* It still gives me chills every time I hear it, live or no.
   
   
3. "Foolish" and "Unfoolish" - Ashanti
   
   "See my days are cold without you
   But I'm hurtin while I'm with you
   And though my heart can't take no more
   I keep on running back to you"
   
   Yeh yeh, another depressing song representing depressing times. You'd think I had a bad year with all these heart-wrenching songs huh.. well no it wasn't, not overall.. there were just those times of heartache.
   
   
4. "Underground" & "Philosophy" - Ben Folds Five
   
   "I was never cool in school
   I know you don't remember me"
   
   It took me a (very long) while I know, but I finally discovered these wonderful songs in late 2002. *sigh* I wanna play like Ben Folds. I wish I were in a band like Ben Folds Five. *sigh*
   
   
5. "You Only Hide" & "Jerry Stand Up" - Something For Kate
   
   "So I keep watch and you keep breaking
   breaking formation to become someone else
   and your eyes become corridors where I wander
   with a candle calling out to you
   and you only hide because you know I'll find you"
   
   Er.. yet another depressing song, but also coz I love Something For Kate, their 3rd album "Echolalia" in particular. When I saw SFK at The Metro, "Jerry Stand Up" really stuck out as such a beautiful and moving song (though can't remember if that was in 01 or 02..?)
   
   
6. Beautiful Collision album - Bic Runga
   
   "Go to her foolish man
   What's the use of having pride if you don't have her?
   She'll endure all she can
   But you could make this easier on her"
   
   This whole album reminds me of 2002, a few events in particular. Firstly, the three marvelous weeks I house-sitted my friend's apartment in the city. It reminds me of evenings at home, chilling out alone.. cooking my dinner with the balcony doors wide open, the sound of the traffic floating up from Oxford Street, the city lights and high rises looming in view. Secondly, this album reminds me of my 2002 ski trip - of that long drive down to Jindabyne in the middle of the night. We listened to Bic Runga's sweet voice as dawn broke, and whilst watching the peaceful Australian countryside speed by, "She left on a Monday" seemed remarkably appropriate.
   
   
7. "Gracie" - Bic Runga
   
   Another beautiful song by Bic Runga, a b-side to the single "Get some sleep". This song was introduced to me by Andrew, and in some way inspired the current layout of this blog. I was listening to the song while I was designing this layout, and to me, the feel of the song matches the feel of the layout.
   
   
8. "Sea Song" - Doves
   
   "Drive with me
   past the city
   and down to sea"
   
   An old song, I know, and one that I discovered earlier than 2002, but any year is a good year for "Sea Song". And I actually saw the Doves live at the Metro in July 02! Yay!
   
   
9. "Someday We'll Know " - Mandy Moore & Jonathan Foreman and "Only Hope" - Mandy Moore/Switchfoot
   
   "Someday we'll know if love can move a mountain
   Someday we'll know why the sky is blue
   Someday we'll know why I wasn't meant for you"
   
   *sigh* I don't think there is a movie that I've cried more in than "A walk to remember". I was literally sobbing for the last half of this movie. It was very therapeutic. :) We brought a bunch of friends to see it with, but the effect of it was spoiled coz we told them how sad it was. It just loses its effect when you anticipate a sad ending - it was partly the shock of what happened that made me cry so much - I was not expecting it AT ALL.
   
   
10. "Dream A Little Dream" - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
    
    "Stars shining bright above you
    Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
    Birds singin' in the sycamore trees
    Dream a little dream of me"
    
    Ahh such a beautiful and romantic song. This version sung by Ella and Louis was introduced to me by Andrew, and of course included in the CD (full of wonderfully romantic songs) he made for me for Valentines Day. This has got to be the best song to slow dance to.... :)
    
    
11. "Gangsta Lovin" - Eve Ft Alicia Keys or "Dance With Me" - 112
    
    I couldn't quite think of a particular song that represents clubbing in 2002 for me. But 2002 was a big year of clubbing.. it was my re-introduction into the clubbing scene, a re-awakening of my desire to club and dance, R&B style. I gotta say, City Live, Fri Jan 25th 2002 was the best clubbing experience I've ever had, not to mention the first I'd had at the time in quite a while.
    
    
12. "Sightseeing" - Yellowjackets
    
    The Yellowjackets are a jazz fusion band from the US. This, and a few other songs by them, were the stable diet of my Jazz Fusion class at the Conservatorium of Music in the beginning of 2002. "Sightseeing" was the piece our class performed at the end of term concert - something we royally stuffed (well, I sucked anyway). But it was a great experience.. performing is so much harder than just jamming in class - you only get one shot at that solo.
    
    

Gee that took absolutely ages. There are few other memories yet unrepresented, like dance class, but I can't seem to find one song that captures it for me. Ah well, maybe it'll come to me later.

Current listening :: "Just a friend" - Mario

I'm off..

Gotta dash early today coz I'm going up to Katoomba tonight for the weekend. I'm going to this christian youth conference called KYC (Katoomba Youth Convention). Should be great stuff... am really looking forward to it! See ya, hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Waaaaahhh!!! I've lost my favourite bra!!!! It went in the washing machine and then disappeared. I can't find it anywhere! :(

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....!!!!!!

Not happy Jan. :(

Back to life, back to the SDC..

Last night I went to my first SDC class for the year. Ramon's intermediate jazz of course. There were a fair few new people in the class, with many of the regulars absent. It felt strange not seeing the usual people there. Anyway, class was pretty good.. I wasn't as out of shape as I feared. Though I was, perhaps, a little slow on the uptake with choreography. The lyrical routine was really nice, I found it very manageable. The second routine was quite long. Though it wasn't technically challenging, it was fairly quick and involved, and I kept forgetting bits. Took me a fair few attempts before I could get it almost perfect. I kinda stuffed the across the floor section, but hey, three weeks break will do that to you!

I also went to the gym today. It feels great to be back into exercising regularly. It makes such a difference... I feel like crap when I don't do regular exercise, I'm all tired, lethargic and bloated. Ugh.


Good shopping fun!

Ooh, I went shopping today too, and bought a few things that were quite cheap! Sales rock! I got myself some camel coloured thongs from Tie Rack to go with my chocolate skirt (am trying to expand the earth coloured side of my wardrobe... apparently beige's and brown's suit me?) The thongs were $16, down from $30! :)



I also bought a beige singlet top for $7.. what a bargain!



And finally a lippie compact (with 6 colours) and retractable brown eyeliner from Red Earth, together coming up to only $14. Yay! :)



Current listening :: "Murder on the dance floor" - Sophie Ellis Baxtor

Bye bye birdie

I was the proud owner of a green Lorikeet for all of two happy days, before it flew away due to my dad's.. err.. incompetence (tried to think of a nicer word but couldn't). Granted, the bird was found, not bought, so I guess it already had a criminal past. But I really liked my birdie, and was learning how to be a good pet owner, taking care of it daily. It was also starting to trust me, I think. It would eat out of my hand, and even let me hold it while I fed it. I wanted to train it to become really tame. I'd just bought it some toys and food.. and now its gone. :(

*sigh* The cage looks so empty now..

I miss my birdie. :_(

Current listening :: "Here it comes" - Doves

"My name is Rrrita and not Chitaaa..."

ARGHHHHHHHH STUPID BLOGGER!!!!!! I just typed this really long post and then when I tried to publish it, blogger decided to go kerplunk and I lost it all!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I really feel like hitting something!

To summarise, I'm going to be dancing in this "Forbidden Broadway" show that my friend (who is a great singer and dancer - she was in Miss Saigon when it came to Sydney!) is putting on as a fundraising event for her mission to Cambodia. We had our 2nd rehearsal last night. Me and three other girls are going to be dancing in the "America" sequence from West Side Story.

For those that don't know, Forbidden Broadway is a CD put out that makes fun off the latest broadway musicals. They take some songs from different musicals and change the words, poking fun at the director/producer/cast/crew/musical etc. Its quite funny!

So anyway, the dance we're doing pretty cool, and we're getting costumes made for us - an (almost) full circle skirt that flares when we turn with a matching flower in our hair, and a black leotard underneath. We have to wear heels too, which kinda sucks coz its so much harder to dance and balance in them. The dance routine is fairly simple, which is good coz the timing of the song is really syncapated and hard to follow. We get to ruffle our skirts a lot too. :)

Oh hey, check out the flowers my bf sent me for my birthday today. They're so beautiful.. and huge.. and they smell reeally nice. Isn't he sweeeeet! :)



Since everyone is away this week, I'm just gonna be having dinner with Vron tonight, at the Sheraton on the Park buffet.... yummmmm... :P~ Oh, and I also booked myself an aromatherapy massage & hydrotherapy spa treatment before dinner - just a bit of indulgence for my birthday. :)

Current listening :: Forbidden Broadway cd

Haaaaaaappy birthday..

Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to meeeee..........
Happy birthday to me! :)

Indeed... I am the big two four today. Hello the mid-twenties. *sigh* How depressing. :P

Oh and a big happy birthday to Michelle, whose birthday is exactly the same day as mine! Hope you have a great day today! :)

Finally the weekend!

Yay! Its been a loong week. Especially with Andrew off at kids camp. :( But now he's back. Double yay! :) I'm looking forward to this weekend, with my birthday dinner tomorrow night, clubbing at Jigsaw.. its time to party!

So I'm off.. hope everyone has a great weekend!

Mmm... cornbread

Looks like the Boston Market next to my work has finally opened. I'll have to try lunching there one day. I had corn bread for the first time today.. diagnosis, delicious! :) I also like how they're open till 10pm at night! Just the thing for hungry IT workers working late at the office.



On another note, I went to the gym today for the first time in almost 3 weeks. Suprisingly, I was not as out of shape as I thought I might be. In fact, I did 30 mins on the X-trainer with ease. It seemed all too easy... :P My abs however weren't quite as toned as before, so I'll have to get that back in shape again.

Over the past few days, I've been busy organising my birthday dinner. I can't believe I'm going to be 24 next Tuesday (yep thats Jan 14th). I've invited a bunch of friends to have dinner with me this Sat night at an italian resturant, Amo Roma, in The Rocks. Then we're gonna go clubbing - probably Jigsaw.. anyone know if its any good? Anyway, should be a fun night out! :) I even bought a new top for the occasion! Its a sparkly beige halter neck top... its preeeettty. Actually I have it here now.. I'll take a piccy for ya's. :)



Current listening :: DJ Ace Mixed R&B mp3's

New computer & work cam! Woohoo!

Our new computers at work just came in! I now have a brand spankin' new Pentium 4, with half gig ram. :) But the real exciting thing is that the computers have win2000 installed on them, which means I now can use my webcam at work! Yay!! :D

I've just installed the webcam, but I won't always be on that computer coz my old one is still running at the moment while I move files across, and the new one is sitting in the empty cubicle next to me.

Current listening :: "There goes the fear" - Doves

"Drive with me, past the city and down to sea.."

I have recently been rediscovering the Doves first album, "Lost Souls". I tell you, "Sea Song" has got to be one of the most beautiful songs ever written. *sigh* Listening to it just makes me wanna cry.. out of pure emotion and joy. It makes me feel like I'm flying. The whole album is really really really good. I know people rave about Last Broadcast, but I can't get over Lost Souls.. its still my favourite. I guess the feel of it appeals to me more.. that and the fact that they use more piano in it. ;)

When I hear the amazing quality of music that's produced by them, it makes me wonder why on earth I listen to pop music so much. But I guess, to me, pop music still has its place. For me, its about fun and frivolity.. the sorta music you listen to when you're feeling damn good! Its happy, girly (to a girl anyway) music that's wonderfully light and frothy. Just the thing that suits when you're in a good mood. Anyway, the music I listen to always, always reflects my mood. I just can't listen to something if I'm not feeling that way.

So what is my mood now I'm listening to the Doves? I guess its kinda deep & introspective.. tinged with a dark melancholy. Not quite angsty, more a languid sort of sadness, mixed in with a sense of peacefulness. Why? Well.. thats for me to know. :)

Oh in other news, I went swimming tonight at the Lane Cove council aquatic centre. I LOVE that place. $4.70 gets you access to the 50m outdoor pool, indoor pool, kiddy pool and play areas, huge spa, steam room and sauna. How good is that! Tonight I swam 10 laps.. thats 500m! Then relaxed in the spa, steam room and sauna. Ahhh.. bliss.. :)

Current listening :: Lost Souls - Doves

Back at work

As you can see, I'm being a very efficient and disciplined worker, earning my keep. Yep.


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Argh I'm so tired. That's probably the worst thing about going back to work for me.. the getting up early in the morning. I'd been living like such a uni student the last 2 weeks (you know, sleeping after 3am most nights, getting up after noon) that my body needs to readjust to working life hours. I couldn't get to sleep last night till sometime after 2am. *yawn*

Current listening :: "Sea song" - Doves

Search hits revisited

Hahah... Vron, it seems someone is searching for "free vron pics". Is there something you haven't been telling us?! :P

My site came up number one, with yours a close second. Hehehe. :D

Current listening :: "You drive me crazy" - Britney Spears

Long time no blog

Wow, its been a while huh. Sorry the updates have been few and far between, not to mention sub-standard. I've had a very busy two weeks.. with christmas, new year and practically going out every day of my holidays. Now the two week holiday that seemed so long at the start has ended. I'm back at work on Monday. *sigh* :(

Things have been rather busy and tumultuous, particularly this past week, with many-a-happenings. (Might elaborate later.) I spent a quiet christmas day at home - lunch with my mum and brother after church, and then just chilled in the evening with Andrew. New Years was spent at a friends house, and we watched the fireworks on Vron's HUGE tv screen. Very impressive. :)

What other news.. I got my hair straightened (again) last Tuesday! (Using the "magic straight" technique from Japan, where it makes your hair incredibly smooth and straight.) Yay! I like the results muchly! The whole process (including a deep protein treatment afterwards) took about 3 1/2 - 4 hours. A painfully long time to wait I know, but it was worth it! Even the obscene amount it costed was probably worth it - and I think the salon I got it done at was cheaper than other salons. So now I don't have to blow dry my hair anymore and it'll dry perfectly smooth, silky and straight.... even a swim at the beach doesn't cause any frizz or boofiness. Ahhhhhhh bliss.... :D Here are some pics (and this is after no styling, except to tip my head upside-down to blow dry it a bit to give it more volumn :P):




Livin it up!

So what else have I been up to.. yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon at Maroubra beach with Andrew and some friends. Though the morning didn't look optimistic, it turned out to be beautiful once we got there - blue skies, warm sunshine and refreshingly cold water. The waves were a tad large for my liking, which made it very difficult to get out on my boogie board - I kept getting dumped. Not fun. :(

It was much easier to get out beyond the breaking point without a board, but then I went a little too far out (or the current pulled me out further than I realised) and I was in deep water where I couldn't stand.. and where the larger waves were breaking. It was quite scary actually - the combination of constantly treading water and diving under these huge waves was tiring me out, and I was losing breath. I tried to swim back in, but I couldn't coz the surface current kept pulling me out, and this tired me even more. I was starting to panic because I couldn't see any way out, and was really afraid of getting dumped by a huge wave because I didn't know if I would have enough breath to last the dump. *shudder* Anyway, fortunately some guy helped me get back to the sandbar where I could stand.. he took my hand and swam back with me which was very nice of him. Anyway, apart from that scary moment, I had a good time and got quite a tan! (I tan reaaally easily, and almost never burn.) :)

And if an afternoon at the beach wasn't tiring enough, I went clubbing at City Live last night with two girlfriends. It was fun! We danced for about 3 hours straight... I was so sore today! We also saw Fatman Scoop perform. Interestingly, I found myself in two photos on the RnB Superclub website. See if you can spot me.. I'll give you a hint - I'm wearing beige and white. :) (Oh, the shirtless large dude in the 2nd photo is Fatman Scoop.. scary huh. :P)

Current listening :: "Cry Me A River" - Ella Fitzgerald (a beautiful voice singing a beautiful song)