Day 162-168: Sydney (Week 19)
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
30
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Sydney,
Australia
Monday, February 28, 2005
Usual Monday nightmare at work with not many people in and newbies taking about 1 call an hour. Money from the TV ad appeared in my account today, $1035, which seems less than I was expecting based on the amount deducted from the photoshoot, anyway have emailed Rosey's to find out how they've worked it out and also to find out if I get a pay slip of some description.
A guy at work mentioned that he saw my ad last night! Apparently it was on at about 3 in the morning...lol....great coverage! Well I must be on for a reasonable amount of time if he recognised me. I called the ad agency to get a list of the spot times (ie; when it's on) and they only had a list for Channel 9 which the emailed over. There are 3 different versions of the ad, a 45, 30 and 15 second version - apparently i'm in the 45 and 30 which is pretty good. The ad is on 40 times over this week, mainly in daytime TV though there are a few on Thurs and Fri evening so will try and spot it, it's going to be running for some time so sure plenty of people will spot it. Also tried to get hold of the production company to see if they could send me a copy of the ad but no answer.
Walked home and then got ready to go to Park St for Combat, jogged there, 20 min cycle, then done the class...turns out there's a new release for combat next week, they had the release weekend this weekend but didn't know about it, wouldn't have gone anyway as I won't be looking for teaching jobs whilst I'm travelling...will be interesting to see what it's like though. Walked home after and showered before going out to see another film for the MG Film Festival - Raspberry Reich by Bruce La Bruce. It's a pretty controversial film as it includes some, erm, pretty hardcore scenes, but it's art so that's ok! lol....it was actually quite funny, I thought it was going to be really heavy but there was humour, some of which was derived from the appalling acting. Definately worth seeing, not sure how they manage to get away with showing it in a cinema coz it would have at least an R18 if it was released on DVD. Anyway, the film has it's own site here.
Just wandered home after, spent a few minutes killing cockroaches when I got home, getting sick of it really - earlier before I went to see the film I was gonna have some toast, a couple of minutes after the toaster was on and heating up 3 small roaches crawled out - they're living in the bloody toaster for gods sake!!!! Talk about put you off eating, obviously don't want to spray insect killer all over the toaster so what can you do??? Was even one crawling on my bed when I got in....fucking things!!! Niki always used to say it's just one of the things when living in an old place over here - but I can't believe that it should be this bad....no sign of her yet by the way, which is good.
Tuesday 22/02/05:
Three managers on holiday and 2 people sick today....great! Thank god I don't have to work here permanently! Nothing else eventful occured. Called the production company about getting a copy of the ad and they said the ad agency would do that...so going round in circles, emailed them so we'll see what they say. Also called around a couple of dentists to find out how much a checkup and polish would be, I'm overdue since my last checkup coz the dentist in Norwich cancelled my appointment just before I left....but really want to get them looked at and polished up so will have to pay shedloads of money whilst i'm over here - quotes ranged from $150 to $200 (£60-£80) which is obscene considering I'd pay about £15 on the NHS...so don't whinge about dentist charges over there!
Bond St after work to do the usual lower body on Tuesday. Bumped into Al's mate Nick there, he's one of the couple who live out at Castle Hill - the other half cuts Al's hair - asked me how I'd been, if I was going to the Mardi Gras party, he didn't mention Al and neither did I though I was hoping he'd say that he was in a pit of depression having not seen me for over a week, unfortunately he didn't. Like Nick and Rob, pity we won't see much of each other anymore, though might bump into them at the MG party, though with 10-15,000 people there the likelihood of that may be slim....lol.
Bus home, Niki had reappeared, asked her if her redundancy changed me leaving early, unsurprisingly she said she didn't think it did coz she's got it in her head that I'm leaving then and she's placed ads in the paper. Basically she wants me out, she said that she wants a change of flat mate, she was nice about it, well as nice as she can be, but it was obvious she wanted me out asap. Of course the feeling is mutual, it's just a matter of convenience that I wanted to stay longer so I've got a proper base for the rest of my time in Sydney. But with Aaron's offer to use his spare room I should be ok, though I'm gonna check there aren't any conditions to that offer coz I want to be somewhere I can come and go as I please.
Wandered down to Sushi Train to get something to eat, then had a drink in Stonewall before wandering to the cinema to see another MG Film Festival film - Pumping Velvet. Basically an autobiographical documentary made by a guy called Dustin Robertson, the guy has website of the same name here. He had a shite childhood because of being gay but has now become a well known bodybuilder and music video producer/editor. It was a good film, obviously it was entirely self promoting but hey if you've got the money to make a film about your life you would probably make it a bit of an ego trip too. Home after and straight to bed.
Wednesday 23/02/05:
Guess what I found on the web today....the TV ad!!! It's on the aussie Frontline site and a direct link to the page with the ads is here. There are different file sizes and formats but I think they're all the 45 second version. I'm on for about 1-2 seconds in the second scene so don't blink near the beginning if you want to spot me. Not a bad commercial really, at least it's not one of these crappy cheap looking ones, be interesting to see what it looks like on TV. I'm quite pleased with it, not that I'm on for long but for the money and the experience it was good....doubt the acting offers will be flooding in though...lol.
The rest of the working day was uneventful, walked out the door at half four and luckily the bus rolled up only a couple of mins after. Had arranged to go round Chris' to practice some choir stuff so had a quick change and walked down Bourke St to his place which was about 25 mins away. Hadn't been there before, he's sharing with 2 others I think in a 3 bed house, good location, quiet, plenty of room too. Ran over a few songs just to get the words right and tried to remember some of the actions too. I realised that we're singing 2 songs which I've never heard of and that we've only sung a couple of times, we don't even have music for one of them! So I've basically got to learn them in 2 days....great! Chris invited me along to a pub quiz in the evening at the Lord Robert's pub on Stanley St which isn't far from me. So we headed back my way, I popped home to have a shower and change and met Chris, Nick and Leon there.
It's the first time I'd been to that bar and it's really cool, it's got a great outdoor mezzanine area so you can sit outside under the stars without being stuck by the road. The quiz was really good fun, not too huge, only about 5 or 6 teams, free entry and booze for prizes. We won a pack of breezers and then came second so got three bottles of 'champagne'/sparkling wine/brut which wasn't bad. Made a nice change anyway, might do it again next week if they don't mind me tagging along. After we wandered up to Stonewall for Malebox.
Was a bit quieter than last week, this time I was number 203. Sent a message to a guy that I'd seen on the beach at the weekend and got a reply, but it takes such a long winded process...you write the message, put it in the box, the box is emptied, they go through the messages, then list the numbers on screen, probably takes about 15 mins before the numbers appear...of course it would be easier to just talk to people but that defeats the object..lol! Anyway, I got a reply to my message but that was over an hour after I sent it and he'd left by the time I got it, ah well....some other time maybe. Chatted with a German guy called Jan who's holidaying here for a few weeks with friends in Bondi, nice bloke, swapped numbers. Chris had already given up and gone home, I left Nick and Leon and crossed over the road to the Oxford for a quick one on the way home, got chatting to an english guy called Bobby who's got himself a business visa over here and is living not far from me off Victoria St. Didn't get to bed till 2 in the end, completely shattered and the alarm is going off in 5 hours!! Eurgh!
Thursday 24/02/05:
Didn't feel too rough this morning, just knackered, bought a smoothie and a bacon and egg roll on the way to work to help soak up the alcohol and give me some energy. Booked a dentist appointment today for next week so I'll have sparkly teeth for Mardi Gras and will pay $150 for the privilege. Got an email to say the Ray Bans are being despatched so should have them in a few days as they make their way over from the states - god I hope they're definately the right ones! Things were much much quieter at work which was great, got the lyrics to the 2 songs I don't know and went over them trying to memorise them, they're The Rose by Bette Midler and Lullaby by Billy Joel - mean anything????
Sent a text to that Jan bloke I chatted to last night...is that too soon, don't care really. No immediate response but that's not a suprise. Went for a swim after work, still at 1700 metres in about 45 mins. Had a quick bite to eat before going to the last rehearsal before the concert on Saturday, also watched the commercial on TV for the first time, looks much better on the screen than in a tiny window on the net. Got there for 7, ended up spending the first hour-and-a-half rehearsing with the solo artists - Shane aka Courtney Act and Belinda Lemmon who's a Bette Midler impersonator. It's the first time we'd rehearsed with them so took ages. Then after the break we ran through every song, so we ended up finishing about 10.30. Considering the concert is 2 days away there were some dodgy bits which are a bit worrying but I'm sure it'll be alright on the night. Part of the uniform for the concert is black trousers, both of my pairs have pin stripes so checked whether they would be ok and unfortunately not as I'm on the front row - which means I gotta go spend money on a pair of trousers just for one night. Didn't go for drinks afterwards as I needed to get a decent amount of sleep after last night.
Friday 25/02/05:
Went to Myer at lunch time to get the trousers, only $60 bucks but i'm still only gonna wear them once, so will try and keep the tags on and take them back....I will be a poor traveller again soon after all! Been tracking my sunnies as they make their way round the world to me, started in Italy for some reason, then went to Paris and now in Sinapore....quite exciting really - well I suppose not but adds an element of excitement to my dull working day. Sent out invites to leaving drinks next Tuesday evening, tried to remember some of my Notes developer skills to set up interactive response buttons....god I've forgotten everything!!! It'll be months before I try to get a Notes job again! Got a reply to my text to Jan yesterday....takes his time, anyways he said was out with friends tonight so would say hello if he saw me.
Gym straight after work, only had an hour and a half but managed to get some cardio in and do most of the upper body stuff. Had to jump on the bus home as I had a ticket to go see That Man: Peter Berlin at the MG Film Festival tonight. Was cutting it a bit fine, the bus got me home about ten past 7, and the film was starting at 7.30, had a quick change and walked to the cinema. Bumped into King with a friend in the foyer, wasn't sure if it was a date so left them to it and went in. The film was excellent, really enjoyed it, it was another sort of biographical documentary, but unlike Pumping Velvet it was less egocentric and you felt more empathy towards the guy.
Caught up with King again after the movie, turns out it wasn't a date, just a mate. Walked up Oxford St, I went home to grab something to eat and get showered and changed ready for a night out. Chris called, he'd bumped into King too who said I was going out so arranged to meet Chris at the Oxford around 10. Was really humid tonight, felt sticky even after a shower...eurgh! Got to the Oxford just after 10, was absolutely heaving....much busier than I've ever seen it before, Friday night being Harbour City Bears night is usually one of the busier nights but you could tell that it's a week before Mardi Gras coz everything is getting busier already. The Oxford have just finished building a new terrace outside so it was lovely to be able to stand outside and have a drink as it was a very warm night. Chris finally rolled up about half ten.
After hanging out at the Oxford for another hour or so we wandered down to the Shift, busy again, a few more drinks and had a little boogie, Chris gave up about 1am so left me to it. Next stop for me was Stonewall, got chatting to a Greek guy called Spiros from New York who's in Sydney for Mardi Gras, he was with a girl friend who also lived in NY for a little while but was back in Newtown now. He was staying in the Sheration by the Park which is NOT a cheap hotel so must be slightly minted, nice bloke though and ended up staying there until about 3. Tried to get into Manacle but forgot they close at 3....so went to Bodyline instead, it was heaving too.... and it was half 3 by now. Anyways, to cut a long story short - which is something I rarely do - I got to bed at 6am. Niki was up when I got in coz she was going to a market or something, she was selling a load of clothes with her friends, kind of like a car boot type thing I guess. Anyway, stuck the earplugs in and went to sleep.
Saturday - SGLC Concert - 26/02/05:
So that was a good idea wasn't it, getting to bed at 6am on the day of the concert, oh well - I'm young enough to be able to cope, I hope! Wasn't a great sleep, think I got 2 hours solid, then woke up on and off until I finally got up about half eleven. It wouldn't have been so bad but we had to be at the Seymour Centre for 2.30 in the afternoon to do the tech rehearsal. Didn't feel too bad when I got up, but could tell a headache may be coming on so took some drugs. Had some cereal and half an orange for brekkie, thought I should have something healthy as last night I had a slice of pizza at some ridiculous time of the morning. I had intended to get my hair cut for the concert but didn't think I'd have enough time, wandered down to the supermarket to get stuff for the day because basically we're imprisoned in the the theatre once we arrive, popped into Gowings Barbers on Oxford St but there were about 5 in front of me so no way I would have had time. Also bought some pick-me-up stuff from the chemist to stop me falling asleep.
Ironed the wardrobe for the night and then laid back down on the bed for 20 mins to a mini nap, didn't sleep but it was still nice....how will I get through the day???? Taxi was picking up at 2pm, jumped in the shower at half one, running around in the last 10 mins getting everything together, getting washing out of the machine, double checking I had everything, etc....taxi arrived on time, jumped in a relaxed for the drive there, took about 15 mins. The Seymour Centre isn't the prettiest building in the world as you'll see in the pics, it's part of the University of Sydney which looks like it's modelled on the UEA in places....lots of hideous concrete everywhere. Quite a few people were there already when I arrived, went to the dressing room, compact and bijou to say the least - 20 blokes in a 6 person dressing room! Of course I'm used to having a garage as a dressing room so it was positive luxury....no air con or windows that would open tho so a wee bit sweaty.
We started rehearsing about 3 after a little warm up, our first break was at 5.15!! Was starving by then....however I have to say it was sounding really good, it's the first time we'd sung with the band and it really made the songs come out even more, especially Kylie which without music didn't really seem to do much but with the band was great. We had a short break whilst the guest artists - Shane aka Courtney Act and Belinda Lemmon rehearsed their solos, then we came back and rehearsed the songs we sing with them and the final 3 and we were done...and by now it was 6.30 and only one hour to showtime. There were a couple of speeches and the Choir Virgins (ie; those for whom it was their first performance - 5 of us inc me) got a round of applause and words of encouragement too. So we ended up having about 45 mins to relax, chuck some food down our necks and get changed into the first half wardrobe, black tshirt with red ribbons, black trousers and black shoes. I cunningly managed to hide the tags on my trousers under the belt so I can take them back on Monday.
So performance time arrives, turns out we've sold about 500 tickets, that's pretty good for a choir audience apparently. We were waiting in the wings, because I was at the front on the end of the row I was one of the first people to walk on, you could actually see the audience through a small crack in the boardsof the set, looked pretty busy. There are 3 theatres at the centre, the one we were in is semi circular and the seats rake down to floor level where the stage is, it isn't a conventional risen stage so we're at the same level as those on the bottom row of seats. Our first two row were at floor level and then row 3 and 4 were on risers so the audience could see everybody. We walked out to fantastic applause, Julie McCrossin was the MC for the night and done an excellent job. The songs went really well, I made no (obvious) mistakes...lol, and it all sounded fantastic, the audience were very enthusiastic and it made the whole evening so much better. They even liked the guys medley which had Macho Man, the audience loved it, it was the comedy piece of the evening. Belinda Lemmon done her Bette Midler stuff as part of the first half too.
The final song before interval was 'We Are Family' and as planned we invited members of family and friends down onto the stage to sing along with us, we didn't think many would come but in the end the stage was almost full - unfortunately the only people I knew were in the choir already, but Chris invited me to join him and his friends bless him. The audience loved it and it was a great way to end the first half. We had about 15 mins to get changed into the second half wardrobe, long sleeve black shirt, purple waistcoat and the same trousers and shoes. Came back and the second half was just as popular especially the Judy Garland Medley, Courtney Act did her bit and then we had the stage to ourselves for the final 3 songs before inviting Courtney and Belinda back to sing Freedom 90 with us. Then it was presentation of flowers and our encore was We Are Family again, and that was it....done and dusted. I took a few pics before the concert but didn't have anyone to take any during unfortunately, will see if anyone had anyone taking pics I can get copies of though.
Drinks and nibbles were held in the bar afterwards, people stuck around for quite a while, some guys from the choir went on to The Imperial afterwards but after my ridiculously late night last night I didn't have the energy, got a life home and was in bed by half 12.
Sunday 27/02/05:
Had 10 hours of fantastic sleep and felt so good in the morning, still had songs from last nights concert running through my head. Tidied up the crap from last night as I just dumped it before slumping into bed. By the time I'd showered and got out it was practically lunch so wandered down Oxford St with yesterdays paper which I never got round to reading, walked past a restaurant called Rush which was doing a $5 Egg and Bacon on Turkish Bread special so though that sounded good and sat at a table facing out onto the pavement so I could watch the Sunday strollers going by. Food turned up all ok, pretty good really considering it was the equivalent of £2! However the tea I ordered never appeared, I asked twice for it and when it turned up it wasn't English Breakfast, some weirdy fancy tea instead. Just paid for the food and left.
Took a stroll down Oxford towards Paddington, wandering along for about an hour, popped into the Sunglass Hut en route coz I'm thinking about trying to exchange the Oakleys even though they're out of the 14 day return. Found a gorgeous pair of Ray Bans but didn't have the Oakleys with me to exchange them, will have to go back. Dropped into The Chocolate Man which is the chocolate cafe I visited on one of my first days in Sydney, where the first pic of me here was taken by the Swedish guy Dan. Had a cup of tea - proper English Breakfast this time - and a gorgeous triple layered chocoalte mousse thing....mmmmmm, my weekend treat. Slowly wandered back toward the Academy Cinema on Oxford coz I wanted to see a movie called Summer Storm at 2.45, it was sold out when I booked the MG Film Festival tickets but they do a late release if people don't show up. Started queuing about 20 mins before, there were only about 4 people in front of me and luckily enough I got in. The film was fantastic, a German film subtitled, a typical tale of a teenager struggling with sexuality and falling in love with his straight friend - been there done that, but it was brilliantly told and just a good feel good film.
Went home and made some dinner after, watched Simpsons then wandered down to the net cafe to load up pics that I'd taken during February, you've probably had a link emailed if not they're here. Also put my bed on eBay in the hope that someone will be able to collect it and take it away on Sat 12th when I move it, so if you're gonna be in Sydney and need a bed then bid here. Dropped into the Shift and Stonewall on the way home, busy but not much going on really so was home and in bed for 11.
Last two days at work and the big Mardi Gras week...woohoo!!!
