Day 120-126: Sydney (Week 13)
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
24
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Sunday, January 16, 2005
A manic morning at work as even more people returned from the xmas and new year break so the calls went through the roof, not a great time for me to bugger off to a casting but tough! The casting was at the ad agency in Pyrmont, walked from work and it took about 30 mins to get there. Not long after I arrived another guy from Rosey's arrived, he was at the same shoot as me at the beginning of December, he hadn't been paid yet either...I didn't realise that the talent doesn't get paid until the agency do, does it cost them anything to run that business??? He said he hadn't had a lot of work, just one more casting than me and he didn't get that job either. Got called in and had to stand in front of a camera and pretend I was holding a poodle who had just eaten and torn up mu slippers...all in the days work of an actor you know! I had to look down at the slippers with despair and then look at the dog as if to say "I know what you've done!", had to do that a few times trying different facial expressions and that was it, took about 10 mins. They said I'd hear something by the end of the week so fingers crossed....didn't mention of course that I don't like dogs, guess I'll have to suffer for my art if I get it.
Rest of the day was mad with calls so was glad to escape at 5 (stayed a bit late to make up for the hour out in the morning, but every one else takes the piss so not make up all the time). Al & I exchanged emails during the day, he's joined a gym so will soon be all buff and toned, asked him to do me the favour of thinking about what he wants us to be so I'm not stuck in limbo forever.
Went to the gym straight after work, 20 min cycle then work on the upper body with weights for an hour or so, then done Combat at half 6. Gabby took this class, she just asked me if I wanted to do one of the tracks with her. Wanted to catch David as I'd taken all my certificates in to see if I can get some Combat work but he wasn't there, will have to try again on Weds. Just spent the night in after gym coz I didn't get back til about 8 after going to supermarket and waiting for the bus. Was pretty knackered too after getting crap sleep over the weekend. Sent Carlos a text to see if he's around this week for a drink in the evening, reply was "Ok, we can talk. I got BF now. Is nice guy so far. How are things with Allan? Talk soon."...see what I have to contend with, bloody foreigners, the response made no sense compared with the question I asked, and amazing that he's got a boyfriend in the space of a week...wouldn't even call Al a boyfriend and we've been seeing each other for 3!
Tuesday:
Another busy day at work and nothing of note to mention. Arranged with Al to go to the cinema in the evening as it's Tight Arse Tuesdays (usually about $5 off tickets). He's back at work now in Surry Hills which is only a 10 min drive from me so he came straight to mine after work. Went out about 6 over to Bondi Junction to check the films at the Greater Union there, couldn't see anything we fancied starting early enough, so Al suggested we go over to Westfield Eastgardens instead. Hung around the Junction for an hour or so to get some food and do a bit of shopping....things between us seem the same as they were before the weekend so maybe it was just a blip, seems as if we're just carry on with the dating thing and just go with the flow.
Drove over to Eastgardens, turns out the only showings they had left were after 9 and Al didn't want to be too late as it's a school night. So we just went back to Oxford St (Al's got a fetish for the $10 CD shop and has to visit it practically every time we're in the area), then we went back to mine and listened to some music and chatted, including talking about urban planning in Sydney...see what an exciting pair we are! Guess that one of the things I like, we can talk about all sorts of stuff and we've got shared and diverse interests between us.
Wednesday:
Work work work.....it's making the daytime completely dull with nothing of particular interest or note to put here, well at least it makes it quicker to write this thing and less for you to trawl through....
Went to the gym after work and spoke to David who as usual was entirely unenthusiastic about any potential combat work for me, I don't think he even remembered our conversation before Christmas. I gave him copies of all my certificates and said that I'd like to do the audition. He said he'd speak to Gabby to see if she's ok with me teaching a couple of tracks in one of her classes and let me know, I'm sure I'll have to chase him about it. Just had a 20 min bike ride and a Combat class then walked home.
Getting warmer as we move toward the weekend, was high 20s today and is due to be around 35C by the weekend so looks like a trip to the beach is in order. Walked home from the gym, too hot for all this walking malarkey! Had thought about taking a trip down to the harbour to take some pics of the Harbour Bridge as there is a light display on it as part of the Sydney Festival, but by the time I got home I frankly couldn't be arse....that's another reason work is bad for me, it makes me too tired to do more interesting stuff! Just threw some Spag Bol together to take into work tomorrow and plonked myself infront of the telly. Started with a nice high brow documentary about the influence of big corporations on SBS and then watched some reality tv trash called 'Outback Jack' on Channel 9.
Niki came home worse for wear after a night of drinking.....she goes back to work tomorrow after a ridiculously long xmas break so of course she was whinging about that. Hadn't seen her for a few days so we had a catch up, I updated her on the Al thing, she told me tales of her man hunt, including going out on dates with a divorced 42 year old (she's 30 in a couple of weeks)....you see my attempts at finding a man aren't all that bad after all!
Thursday:
Was having a little surf at work and looked at the UK Top 10...what the hell's going on over there?? Elvis at numer 1, Iron Maiden in the top 10??? And who's Steve Brookstein? Only been 3 months and I'm out of touch already, good to see Erasure back tho!
Still haven't heard anything from the casting on Monday, supposedly should hear by the end of the week, but that's only if they want me, if they don't I won't hear anything and have to assume as such.
It was much quieter at work today which was kinda nice but kinda boring too...thank god for net access! Walked home through the city and stopped off to do a bit of shopping. Took a look at Boxing gloves after Saturday's fiasco, not too expensive but just don't know how much use I'm gonna get out of them, did buy some hand wraps for Combat tho - hand wraps being a long strap which you wrap around your hand for protection and stability when training....there ya go, you learn something new every day!
First choir practice for ages this evening, it's been about a month and I haven't practiced at all. It's a bit difficult to practice when you only have sheet music and you're trying to learn harmonies, I can read sheet music to an extent but without hearing the notes it's difficult to know if I'm singing it right. Anyway, was a good rehearsal, loads of people there, caught up with Chris who I hadn't seen since New Year. We went through a few of the Mardi Gras repetoire and also got an update about the concert. It's on Saturday February 26th and detail of the concert are also on the Mardi Gras site. As the site says it's called 'Queer Idols' - yes it's a crap name! - and we're basically singing contemporary stuff from 50s to now. Stuff we rehearsed last night include 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', 'True Colours', 'What Do I Have To Do?',and 'Freedom'.
One quite exciting annoucement was that Mark Trevorrow will be one of the special guest singers at the concert. Now most of you wouldn't have heard of him but you may well of heard of Bob Downe who is the character that Mark plays. I love love love Bob Downe, I remember going to see him at the Theatre Royal in Norwich years ago. and almost wetting myself (thank goodness for Tena Lady!). Mark's been doing Bob less lately and has been concentrating on his own singing career with a series of concerts across Oz, but Bob isn't dead and buried which is good. So I'm v excited about meeting him....another special guest that they're currently in discussion with is someone called Todd McKenney, who I've never heard of but is well known over here apparently. Other guests are going to be announced in the coming weeks so I wonder who we'll get!
After choir I went for a drink with Chris to the Oxford, the first time we've been for a drink in weeks so we had a catch up, chatted about his recent split and I found out some very interesting info about Aaron (Dark Side guy). You may recall that Aaron and I went to Chris' birthday drinks in December, well Chris' ex was there that evening, turns out a couple of days after that Aaron had 'relations' with Chris' ex!!!! Wonder why he never mentioned that!? Later King and Heiko joined us for drinks, King and Heiko are the guys I spent Christmas Day afternoon with - I think previously I may have referred to King as Keane coz I misheard his name...oops! King's a really fun guy, always laughing, plenty of tales to tell - Heiko on the other hand barely speaks a word unless you wrench it out of him, guess he's shy. Wasn't too late home, just after 11, is a school night after all.
Friday:
The day started off as normal, very very warm this morning, supposed to be about 30°C later today. Work was quiet...then late morning I got a call....from the casting agency! Guess who's gonna be in a Frontline commercial!!! Yay! Of course the minor downside is holding a dog for two days but I think the $1500 bucks will be worth it, less agency commission and tax of course. Filming is next Thurs and Friday, asked work for the 2 days off and didn't even argue about it which is good. Oh I'm all excited about my minor taste of stardom...they'll be shouting in the street "There's the Frontline man!", autographs, film premieres, lunch with Brad now he's single again, supermarket openings, appearence on Celebrity Big Brother...I can see it all now!
Nearly lost my expensive RayBans at lunch, went to the Coles in the city, after going through checkout I went to put my sunnies back on and couldn't find the buggers. Retraced my steps to discover that someone had kindly put them on the shelf near the orange juice that I'd just bought, good job they didn't realise the value of my expensive and attractive eyewear.
After work I went for a swim again, another 1500 metres, done it in 40 minutes this week instead of 50 last friday....still tough tho. After the swim I joined some work guys for drinks at Bar 333 on George St. On the way to the bar I got a call from the ad production company to let me know that there'd be a wardrobe check on Monday, they also wanted to know if I had pyjamas and a dressing gown...pyjamas!! Honestly! Of course I told them I didn't so they're sorting them out, didn't realise they check whether you've got your own wardrobe! Cheap buggers....I am gonna be using my own dressing gown tho. The work drinks were for a couple of guys who were leaving, it was the first time I've socialised with work people. Just stayed for a couple then made my way home.
Al came over about 8 and I cooked up a quick chicked salady thing, We just ate and chilled for a couple of hours then went out to Brighton Bar. Now I don't have the time of the energy to go over exactly what happened that night, suffice to say that we had another long chat about stuff after Al decided to say to me that he didn't think it was working between us, this he tells me in a busy bar when his friends are sitting next to us!! So at 3am we're sitting in a park going over stuff again whilst I'm being eaten alive by mozzies. By the end of the night I was still confused about where we're heading, he was supposed to stay at mine but obviously didn't, he said he was gonna sort his head out and get in touch over the weekend. The whole conversation is much more complicated than I can explain here, basically the ball's in his court, it's his head stuff that he needs to deal with, I like him enough to wait a little while whilst he does that, tho I'm not prepared to be in limbo forever, and I don't think he'd make me wait that long.....the weird thing is that I wasn't that upset about it, mainly because I know there's nothing I can do, so why worry about it.
Saturday:
Woke up about 9ish so got about 6 hours kip, not enough really. Just nodded on and off for another hour or so. About 10.30 I got a text from Al....asking me if we were still on to go out for his friend's birthday meal tonight at Bondi. Was a bit weird coz it was if last nights converstation hadn't happened, didn't reply straight away, needed a couple of hours to just do other stuff and take my mind off it, chatted to Niki to get someone else's point of view, had brekkie, done some ironing, had a shower. Phoned him back early afternoon....he said the message was just trying to say that I was still welcome to go to the meal and that he wanted me to go with him still. He admitted he was out of order just suddenly saying that in the bar last night, he wanted to meet up before tonight meal so we could just go over stuff and so that he could tell me what he's thinking and how he feels. So we agreed he'd pick me up late afternoon and we'd go to Bondi early.
In the afternoon I went to the Australian Museum to check out one of the many photography exhibitions I want to go to over the Sydney Festival. It was the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2004 exhibition and there were loads of amazing pics, think some of them can be seen on the site. Also had a wander round at some of the other exhibitions. Went into the city after and treated myself to a couple of shirts coz I've only got t-shirts to go out with, nice chocolate brown linen shirt and a brown short sleeve number.
Met Chris from the Choir for a quick coffee late afternoon coz I wanted to get someone else's perspective on what's been going on between me and Al, Chris is a good listener and coz he doesn't know Al he can maybe see things from a different point of view. Had a really good chat with him and he said a lot of things that made sense and helped me see where Al's possibly coming from. After coffee I went home and showered and by the time I'd done that Al was at mine.
We went to Bondi and got there about 6, the meal was starting at 7.30. We chatted on the way there then Al parked up on a cliff overlooking the Bondi bay. Again, we spoke about too much to be able to put it all here, basically he doesn't want to get into anything serious, he wants to take things slowly, he was feeling smothered but openly admits that we've seen each other so much because of his instigation, he still wants us to see each other, but just wants us to take it easy and get to know each other, he likes me a lot and he enjoys being with me. It just seems if he occasionally has wobbly moments and I told him I don't want to be having conversations like this every weekend, I don't want a therapy session every few days, and he doesn't want the either. Afterwards it felt good coz we'd cleared the air, he'd got quite a lot of stuff off his chair and I'd told him what I think and feel too, I'm glad we had the chat before the meal tho coz it made the night much more relaxed.
It was Shannon's birthday and the meal was in a tapas restaurant called Mojo's on Bondi's main strip. There were about 15 people altogether, got chatting to the people at our end of the table, english bloke called Nippa, Irish guy called Fran who's Shannon's other half and a couple of other people that I can't remember now. Also got to meet Nick and Rob, a couple who are friends of Al. The meal started off with plenty of sangria and eventually we got to ordering the food. Al was upbeat and having a good evening and I felt really good and relaxed and found it quite easy to chat to the people around the table. Al told me that Nick and Rob thought I was a good bloke - and why wouldn't they!!! Also got to speak to Nick on and off during the night, it's good to chat to his friends coz it gives me an idea of where he's coming from, Nick said that Al's a good guy and to stick with him, I told Nick what Al had said to me the previous night and Nick said that Al's finding it hard to move on from the ex but that I should give him time....as I pointed out to Nick I wouldn't have been sitting at the meal if I didn't want to be with him and if I hadn't already invested a lot of time and emotion....it was a good chat and Nick and Rob are good blokes too.
After the meal we wandered round the corner to Fran and Nippas flat where we hung out for an hour or so having more drinks...I didn't feel too bad at this point and had enjoyed a really good evening out. Whilst at the flat began to feel increasingly more drunk as the effects of a large amount of sangria and a large vodka started to kick in. The party started breaking up about 2ish so we left, by the time we got to the car I was feeling pretty bad, think the fresh air helped the alcohol kick in even more! For some reason Al wanted to go to Oxford St for another drink so he drove over there, by the time we got there there was no way I wanted another drink. We ended up getting a couple of bottles of water and I knew what was coming next. We were sitting in Taylor Square and I made my excuses and wandered down a side street and spewed everywhere, felt so so bad. Turned round and Al had followed me bless him, went and sat down again, had some more water but after about 5 mins needed to chuck again, he came with me this time, rubbed my back to make me feel better....it's when he does stuff like that that I realise what a good guy he is at heart.
I said he should just take me home but he insisted taking me back to his so he could look after me, I had one more chuck up in the car park of his block when we arrived. He gave me some more to drink and I had a quick shower and just crashed out on the bed, it was about 3am by then, last thing I remember is Al bringing a bucket to the side of the bed and that was it.
Sunday:
Woke up about 9am feeling rough as rough can possibly be! I hadn't been ill again during the night so didn't need the bucket thank god. Slept on and off for another couple of hours and finally got up about 11. Al told me to go back to bed and he'd fix up a good breakfast to help with the hangover, my head was pounding like mad. I hadn't been in that sort of state for years! Must have been the sangria, it was so easy to drink and I must have knocked back quite a lot, the straw which broke the camels back was the vodka at the flat, it was about 50% vodka and the glass wasn't small! Al gave me some painkiller and cooked up a breakfast of egg, rissoles and potato to line the stomach again, it was lovely but I just couldn't stomach very much of it. I barely moved for most of the morning but he was so kind and attentive to me it meant a lot to have him want to do that for me.....I guess it helped confirm that despite him sometimes having wobbly moments he does care.
Barely moved from the sofa most of the day watching the telly, the headache slowly disappaited. As I slowly came back to life we played on the PC for a bit too, Al also showed me some of his digital pics, pics of his friends, pics of him out and about. Got a couple of calls during the afternoon about the wardrobe check tomorrow for the ad, the wardrobe woman wanted to confirm sizes and what I did and didn't haveLate afternoon I slowly started getting read as we decided to go out for something to eat, jumped in the shower. Al lent me some clothes coz I couldn't really put last nights back on and we drove into Newtown, after walking up and down the street deciding where to eat we ended up in Burgerlicious which I've been to a couple of times. Stomach was still a bit delicate so couldn't really eat much but enjoyed what I had. After Al drove over to Fox Studios and we wandered around there, it's the first time I've been since I went on that long long walk with Dan from the hostel. Al knew quite a lot about the place to wandered explaining what was there before and how it had changed. It's also where Al used to work when the Cirque de Soliel was in Sydney, he was in event catering then - very different from the training job he's got now.
Was beginning to flag around 9pm tho after the night before so Al took me back to mine, he came in for a little while but by 9.45 I needed to sleep so off he went and I crashed out.
