I WISH!

From the ever-awesome Toothpaste for Dinner

Watch this. It will blow your tiny mind.

This dude has some serious talent. And also makes me lol! :D

WATCH!

Time travellin' mama

No, I don't gots a DeLorean (oh man, I WISH!!). I just discovered a sweet site where you can email yourself one, three, ten years down the track (www.futureme.org). I can't wait to get my first one - can't remember what I said, but it ended like this:

Dear Future Me,

You are awesome and I really want the best for you! Stay young forever, keep your hair long, listen to loud music, dance like a 'tard, take risks with your outfits, get wowed by nature, call old friends, play your horn, sleep long and late and never, ever take anything for granted.

Love,
Now Me.

Now I won't forget to remember to be awesome!! :D

Language facists uber alles!!

I simply *heart* whomever wrote this, from 'The Great Comprise Debate':

I overhear quite a few of you undereducated, oversexed proles use the inaccurate phrase, "I could care less," increasingly often these days. With this loathsome phrase, you establish that you could care less, but you do not reject the possibility that you could also care more. So you really aren't saying much of anything at all (which probably suits many of you just fine), except perhaps that you don't know if you even have an opinion, that you have very little, if any, self-respect, that you are unstable and fearful, that you are a slob and, in short, a cloying weasel with no dignity whatsoever. What you mean to say is that you "couldn't care less." Now this is a phrase that states a position with conviction, because when you "couldn't care less," you really don't care at all. It says, yes, I know where I stand, and, furthermore, I know what I'm talking about. It says, I'm an individual of confidence, I'm a leader of men, yea, verily, life itself doth burst forth from me, my very existence affirms life, and rumors of my sexual prowess are not completely unfounded. So if you find that you "could care less," remember, ye heathen, speak not, for the rest of us really "couldn't care less."

This particular point has been quite a large bug in my butt for quite some time. I'm so glad someone else feels the same, and can vent our collective spleen so eloquently. Vive le frustration!

Webcomic of the Week - For nerds only

OH GOD YES

Webcomic of the weekzor

From the ridiculously high-larious XKCD...

Playing High Notes Louder Than Possible (Brass): $25.00

My dear friend William (sensational violist in the Tasmanian Symphony) sent me this one today. He assures me it's is an oldie, but I've never read it before and I laughed my semi-retired musician's arse off. Sorry for those not of the music nerd persuasion, but this is comedy gold!

Orchestral Fines

Serious thought

May I have a cheeseburger, please?

Finally, a sweet backlash against the sagging internet phenomenon icanhascheezburger! Don't know who's responsible, but I am quite digging on mayihaveacheeseburger.com. Ahh, Lady Grammar lays in the boot for the cause of right. Refreshing, no?










(Cheezburger version)

The Saga of the Premolar

Doing: Suffering with sore face - ow, my toof!!
Reading: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (it's getting juicy now!)
Watching: Nodame Cantabile (adorable anime about a music conservatory in Tokyo - it's me all over!)

Move over Spanish Inquisition - here come the dentists.

Well, here I sit propped up in bed, suffering in my jocks after a horrible day of dental torture yesterday. After years of avoiding the dentist (cost being the biggest deterrent) I finally went along last year, only to discover two cavities. The first one was easily filled and happily done, but the second one (my sad little upper right second premolar) was very angry indeed, and refused to be drilled or filled without excruciating pain. My lovely dentist (whom, though I've just likened members of his profession to 15th century torture-mongers, is a splendid, gentle chap) told me to go away for a while and "hope the tooth dies". I should be so lucky.

Cut to six months later, and my angry little tooth is now irate, barking at me constantly to "Get thee to a dentist!" (quite the eloquent Shakespearean, despite his shonky dentine). I acquiesced, and took myself along to the doc, who assured me he could numb the tooth no matter what so he could "go in there" and perform a root canal, which apparently is the only course of action for such a cantankerous beast.

So in I go, bolstered by my well-wishing friends and family, sucking up my bravery to endure it with an iron stomach and a bare minimum of girlish weeping. The doc proceeds to put four or five healthy needles full of local anaesthetic in and around my upper jaw (including right into the roof of my mouth. That one tickled. *sobs*). The drilling commences, only to be interrupted by an enormous yelp of pain as they hit the "hot zone". It seems my tooth, much like Ozzy Osbourne, cannot be killed by conventional weapons.

So I after further (unbelievably painful) prodding and patching I am send off to see a specialist in Fullarton. It seems this is only the third time in his career my dentist has encountered a tooth he just couldn't numb enough to work on. Lucky me!! The specialist is a grand fellow and, after a cursory poke-around and xray, tells me I have two options - an attempt to work on the tooth with lots more needles and still a fair amount of pain, or a serious all-in-one-hit operation with an anaesthetist and everything. Suffice to say I chose the latter. So I'm all booked in for next week, and though they say the whole "twilight drug" thing is well fun I'm still a little scared...

Anyway, the point of this whole post is two fold - a big vent to the universe cursing my angry little toofypeg, and an even bigger shout-out to all you candy-munchers... GET THEE TO A DENTIST!!!

*hugs and ouches*

Buggs x

This is bad juju

Doing: Having my arse bored off with nothing to do at work. It’s not my fault, seriously!
Watching: The clock tick ever so slowly, and the accusing, scrutinous eyes of the volunteers in our office as they watch me having nothing to do.
Listening to: Tapping fingers on keyboards. Can one type accusingly? I think they’re managing it…

*sigh* I reeeeeally need a new job.

Getting stuff done

Doing: Sewing and practicing Japanese
Reading: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Watching: Gokusen (anime about female yakuza boss/schoolteacher. Kickass!)

In a typically wanky Livejournal-esque turn, I've decided to keep track of what I've been watching/reading/doing in my blog posts. I figure it'll make me get on with the stuff I've been putting off (like finishing books) and keep me honest about how much bloody time it takes me to get stuff done. Now, I am fully aware noone reads this stupid thing but me, so what does it matter if I've become a navel-gazing tosspot in the blogosphere (yes, I used the word 'blogosphere' to reinforce the 'wanker' motif. Ph33r my irony, Myspace!!)? I care not, internets. Do your worst! *shakes fist*

...

...

...

Ahem. That may well be the nerdiest outburst I've ever had. And that's against some pretty stiff competition. Sorry, all.

In other news, I've been putting together my new crafting/sewing/costuming blog Crafty Buggles. After going through my stuffed-to-bursting suitcases full of once-loved costumes I started wondering what the point of it all was. I mean, I loved making them, but after a brief wear they are consigned to the suitcase, never to be seen again. So I decided to keep a record of all the costumes, crafty bits, sewing projects and cooking triumphs (and failures!) for posterity - really, just for my own interest. It makes me feel like I'm actually achieving something. Weird, huh? Anyway, it's just for me. If someone else reads it, then woo. :)

Fairy Tale party is AWN!

Can't wait! We've already got a Snow White, Big Bad Wolf, Little Miss Muffet, Little Mermaid, Puss in Boots, Frog Prince, Rumplestiltskin, Pied Piper and Belle from Beauty and the Beast coming. Omg, recipe for debauchery or what??

The weekend is in 31 minutes

facebook status: Kate is at work for another hour and a half and is BURSTING for the weekend. Oh god, I think the clock in here just ticked backwards.

I have a fun weekend planned. And this whole work thing is totally ruining my buzz! Today is one of (not 'the', but definitely up there) the slowest days since I started here - and the worst thing about it is the place has been full of people, so even though I have nothing to do I have to LOOK busy, which is infinitely worse than just being bored. Luckily I have a tried-and-true technique for just such an occasion: Having a pen in your hand at all times makes you look busier. It's true! Just pick up a pen and walk around the office with it. Feel busier? You bet! I picked this little gem up while I was working at one of Sydney's busiest inner-city record stores. I could walk around the store all day, browsing CDs, picking out stuff to buy, flipping through poster racks, and while I had that pen in my hand everyone assumed I was hard at work. Sweet.

I don't aspire to so flagrantly flaunt the system these days, but when your job is boring and you've run out of things to do, this little tip can help while away the mind-numbing hours. Do itashimashite! :)

------------

Addendum: Just found this link - more great tips for looking like you are really on the job!

Costuming overload!

After a long period of rest costume fever has hit the House of Awesome once more. Enken has decided with some serious prodding from yours truly) to have a fairy tale party for her birthday. We've gone into squee mode thing of the sweet possibilities for costumes - Enken decided right away to do a twisted Snow White (the Snow White dress and hair but in a different colour scheme (blacks and greys, I think). Chris is going as the Big Bad Wolf. This should not prove shocking to anyone who knows him. Or anyone who has met him. Or heard about him. Or seen him. Papa, you know it's true!! I'm seriously torn - I wanted right away to do Little Red Riding Hood, but everyone has said they think it's a given someone else (or several!) will show up with the same idea. Right now I'm leaning towards a Little Miss Muffet with sweet embroidered spider on the apron, but it still seems a little boring. *sigh* Any suggestions?

On the upside, Tom has locked in Puss in Boots *squeeeee!!!* ^_^ It'll be super cute. I was thinking of something like this -
- but with no hat, kitty ears and tail, and some approriate makeup. Will be too adorable!!! *faints*
---------------------
In other costuming news, we've decided to hit Melbourne again for Manifest, the Melbourne Anime Festival Tom and I went to last year for our anniversary.

Looks like Jack and maybe Enken are coming along too, and I'm starting to get super-excited!

We are planning on cosplaying, and I have narrowed mine down to two:

Ame-Warashi from XXXHolic (Snowball fight outfit)


(The redhead at left)

OR

Ruby Heart from Marvel vs Capcom 2

She has a kickass battle anchor Jack said he'd help me make, so that's a big plus.

I'd love to do both, but with the Fairy Tale costume coming up, not to mention Tom's, it looks like being a punishing sewing schedule. I'm torn!

Look, maw! I gots the sack!

After much buggering about with bureaucracy the axe has finally fallen today and I find myself out of a job.

My contract runs out in three weeks, and instead of thanking me for my outstanding work and service to the organisation (ha!) the powers that be have decided to dissolve my position due to ‘budget constraints’. It’s not personal (apparently the director of HR has heard nothing but “exceptional reports of my work” and the contributions I’ve made) but it stings all the same, and make me wish I hadn’t tried so hard. Which is sad, if you think about it.

I could be angry, or weepy, or slightly gassy, but instead I feel like I’m in the eye of the storm – it’s blissfully quiet in here without the uncertainty. Sure, there’s plenty of it to come, but today I feel really serene and almost relieved. I think it’s because, in the midst of a really terrible fortnight (illness, funeral, losing my job), I am still left with the stuff that really matters – amazing family, supportive friends and my lovely bf – and I realise things could get SO much worse than this. I’m pretty damn lucky.

Anyway, one day I’ll wake up, jump out of bed and toddle off (sipping a Milano Cucina skinny flat white) to a sensational job where I can work in my chosen field for an organisation I believe in, doing a job that interests and challenges me, with not a hint of shitkicking, monkeywork or douchebaggery to be seen. And that will be a beautiful day.

Webcomic of the Day

Got Milk?



www.lefthandedtoons.com

Webcomic of the Day

Short but sweet. Bam!

www.lefthandedtoons.com

OMG SUGOII!!!!

Well, my big news just in is that I’M GOING TO JAPAN!!

So it went down like this…

Step 1: Look at Jetstar Sale online
Step 2: Start dreaming crazy dreams of an bonanza otaku tour of Japan
Step 3: Dismiss idea as silly and proceed to kill dreams
Step 4: Tell Enken about fantasy trip to Japan
Step 5: Enken revives dream – check website again
Step 6: Find perfect dates
Step 7: Discover retardedly cheap airfares
Step 8: Whip out Enken’s credit card
Step 9: ???
Step 10: Profit!
Step 11: We’re going to Japan!!

It couldn’t have worked out better. One minute I’m playing The World Ends With You (more on that later) and dreaming of Shibuya, the next minute I’m GOING to Shibuya! Sweet fates!

Looks like we’re going to Osaka for a bit, then Kyoto for a little longer before spending the bulk of our time in Tokyo (we fly in and out of Osaka). It’s such a huge thing to plan, as there is SO much I want to see and do, and we only have 17 days to do it, so maybe I should start a list and plan around it. The sweetest plum is that Enken and I are fairly well of a mind as to what kind of things we want to do while we’re there. It’ll include:

Shibuya and Harajuku shopping and gawking at cosplay and pink stuff
Eating lots of mystery sugar
Orange Range or Home Made Kozaku concert (or Umibozu!!)
Visit a maid café
Go to a sumo match
Studio Ghibli Museum
Kyoto geisha dressups
Anime stores
A bunch of shrines and castles
More sugar

That’s it so far, but the list will get SO much longer as I do more research – and the research is always my favourite bit of a trip!

Woo! Can’t wait!! :D

Swing DJ sets

I have to base this blog on the assumption that only people who know me are reading what could only be described as a sporadic, barely comprehensible mishmash of the dull minutae of my life. Given that, it seems to be a little pointless to give the background to contextualise every one of my random and disjointed posts. But just this once, I shall briefly explain that I am (among other things) a swing dancer in Adelaide, Australia, and that I DJ for swing dance events around town (and, hopefully, soon interstate). Any more questions? Leave a comment and I'll post an answer!

Regardless, I've decided to post my set lists for posterity and (however unlikely)random interest. Chyah!

Studio 89, April 15 2008, second set

Song Title - Artist - BPM

On Revival Day - LaVern Baker - 142
Smack Dab In The Middle - Count Basie - 132
Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? - Buddy Johnson - 148
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho - Sidney Bechet - 178
Love My Baby Jimmy Witherspoon - 165
Peacock Alley - Bill Doggett & Earl Bostic - 140
Hallelujah, I Love Her So - Ray Charles - 137
Splanky - Count Basie - 155
Second Balcony Jump - Earl 'Fatha' Hines - 140
Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy - Ella Fitzgerald - 124
Everybody Eats When They Come To My House - Cab Calloway - 156
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen - Girls From Mars - 186
Jeep Jockey Jump - Bill Elliot - 222 (request for Big Apple)
Fare Thee Well Deacon Jones - Lucky Millinder - 158
Alright, Okay, You Win - Peggy Lee - 133
Boo-Wah Boo-Wah - Cab Calloway - 184
Royal Garden Blues - Bill Henderson - 149
Yes Indeed - Sy Oliver - 128
Stuffy - Campus 5 - 152
Good Queen Bess - Duke Ellington - 160
We Cats Will Swing for You - The Cats And The Fiddle - 185
A Mellow Bit of Rhythm - Andy Kirk - 140
Lemonade - Louis Jordan - 118
On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Ella Fitzgerald - 102
Knock Me A Kiss - Louis Jordan - 117
Is You Is or Is You Aint My Baby - Dinah Washington - 139
25 Miles From Home - Edwin Starr - 124

Wee Ninjas

These little mangs are on my crafting wishlist. I'm going right out to buy felt tomorrow. Kawaii!! ^_^


Wee Ninjas @ ThinkGeek

Me me cakey!

In my latest culinary adventure I attempted to craft a One-Up Mushroom cake for Tom's birthday. Christor was witness to the exercise in frustration: Katey pacing the kitchen with green butter cream icing in her hair and chocolate on her face ranting about how 'this f*&@ing cake is going in the bin if one more thing goes wrong'. In hindsight the choice of butter cream rather than fondant icing was a poor one - it's stupidly hard to work with. But in the end it got made, appreciated by the boy and eaten by a room full of D&D gamers. Which is all anyone could want of a nerd cake. Rad!

Floatin' me boat: Part The First

Just wanted to add a quick post to outline for posterity what, as the title suggests, is floating my boat at the moment. In other words, what I'm digging hard.

I'm reading: Eclipse

Well, I'm currently burning through Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.












Damn, but this stuff is the guiltiest of pleasures. It's (in a nutshell) about Bella Swan, a teenager who moves to the tiny town of Forks, USA, and falls in love with a vampire called Edward Cullen. There are lots of other vampires too. Hot vampires. Also... werewolves. Mmmmmm, avez vous fromage? Sounds cheesy I know, but they're actually beautifully written and extremely evocative. And romance porn of the highest order. No sex, but PLENTY of woman-swoony, fan-girly, star-crossy, bosom-heavey romance. And it's great. Did I mention it's about hot vampires? *sigh*


I'm playing: Tales of Pirates

It looks like I've finally succumbed to the siren song of the MMORPG, or Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game.

NERRRRRD!!!!

The bf has been trying to get me to play Ragnarok Online for ages, but as the server has died, it looked like all hope was lost. But then I found Tales of Pirates and the timewasting commenced!! It's fun, it's cute, and I can actually play it on my laptop. WoW it ain't, but still MMO madness - and the added bonus of kawaii comes standard with every log-in. :D



To be continued...

i can has whatnow?

In the fine tradition of lolcats and roflcats etc etc, my good friend Pooch Badger (aka Alexander Rose) has started posting lolmormonz on Facebook, inspiring me to create my own personal line of lolfriends for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy!

















































Postscript - It has been brought to my attention that these "aren't funny if you don't know the in-joke". To that I say... tough nuts, jimmy. No soup for you.

Arrr, me loyal fans!

I just got an email from Mikah saying only this -
__________________________________________________________________

ya you updated

__________________________________________________________________

Wooo fanks, man!! :)

omgbloglol

It really is quite ridiculous. I go to all the trouble of setting up a blog and then I never write in it. Sure, I get sporadic nags from friends, asking for the veritable smorgasbord of awesomeness that is my blog (*plughshh* Sorry. Milk came out of my nose just then.) and it fills me with good intentions, but then I go back into hibernation until the next onslought of hassles. Not to say I mind - it's nice that some poor chump actually wants to read anything I'd write.

And on that note, my big news is that I have just been given an Internship at a local magazine/newspaper. It's a pretty big coup for a journalism student (I got some sweet props from my fellow postgrads, which made me think it's a bigger deal than I originally though!). I had a meeting with my editor last week and was given my first story - a 1500-2000 word piece on Adelaide's pagan community. I interviewed three lovely lovely women (who also happen to be witches!) on Saturday and they gave me some great material. Now I just have to make a decent story out of it! There was a suggestion that this might be a cover piece (gulp!!) so I'm feeling the pressure to make this a real crackerjack of an article. Will post when I get published / fail miserably.

It's been a weird couple of weeks. Just when I thought I'd be totally poor forever I got this fabulous three-month contract at Oxfam Australia, doing office support/dogsbody stuff three days a week until just before Christmas. I absolutely LOVE it there - there are five of us in the office (an advocacy exec, two campaign managers, the office and volunteer coordinator and me) and it is the nicest and most supportive work environment I've ever been in. The other four (all ladies) are gorgeous people and I'm totally happy there! Now to make myself completely indispensible so they can't bear to let me go and beg me to stay permanently! *crosses fingers*

So the other things that are packing my life out at the moment are uni (I only have 2 weeks of this semester left, but have 13,000 words to write in that time. That's right, you heard it, I am going to FAIL!! :D) and the Adelaide swing dance performance team (more on that later). That leaves me with a sum total of 15 minutes in the week to scratch myself and/or see my boyfriend, friends and family. Fun times. Well, it's better than being bored and directionless. Slightly.

Damn you, people!! *coffee comes out of nose*

In the silliest move since Chris stuck Enken's knitting needle up his nose, my lovely friend Kara Martin has started a Facebook group entitled The "Get Buggs To MLX07" Foundation. The tagline reads: "Alright kids, we need Miss Buggles in melbourne for Mlx07! Show your support for this very worthy cause."

To backtrack just a litle, MLX (for those not of the swingdancey persuasion)is the Melbourne Lindy Exchange, Australia's first and, IMHO, most awesome swing dance exchange. I've been every year I wasn't overseas or playing in Der Ring des Nibelungen I've make the pilgrimage to Melbourne for four days of dancing, drinking, carousing and general insanity. Some of my best dancing memories are from MLXes past. I've also made some of the best friends I have there.

So these krezzy people have decided to start a fund o get me there. They're insane. But I appreciate it so much.

*hugs to all*

I'll let you know how it all pans out!

So. Much. Lol.

I cried literal tears of mirth on viewing these gems. Courtesy of Jack the Red.

The Catapult, Part 1

The Catapult, Part 2

Pandora's Box

Wow, the sewing bug has bitten me right in the ass. I'm overloading on vintage reproduction patterns, Victoriana websites and cosplay pics. Enken and I are msn-ing each other photos of Edwardian button-up boots on Ebay. There are daily trips to Spotlight and Lincraft, with obsure purchases (invisible zipper machine foot, anyone?) the norm around here. I really have to get this out of my system so life can return to normal!! Actually, what I have to do is finish the myriad projects I've only half-done so I can start something new in good conscience.

So I hereby pledge to the word and the internet that I will finish my:

- Knitting of Jack's scarf
- Chinese Cheongsam
- Stripey hoody
- Stupid annoying pink top (well, that might just get the chop. I think I'm over it now.)
- Altering of the gingham nightie and navy striped dress,

before I start:

- 1939 floral dress
- phatty pants jeans
- victorian dress with bustle
- my first corset

So many exciting ideas, so little time (and money). Why, oh why, did I take that first hit of the crackpipe that is dressmaking?? *itches self and sniffs*

:D

The limit of kawaii?

Just when you thought you'd seen all of the Roflcats and Lolcats on the internet, and they weren't getting any cuter, they drop this one on you. KAWAIIII!!!! =^_^=

Craft-a-rama

After a long long sojourn I've decided to get back into blogging with a vengeance. My motivation? Sweet crafting.

I've been sewing, making accessories, knitting and cooking up a storm in recent months and inspired by the lovely Enken (and her blog, Bad Influence) I thought it would be nice to keep a record of my projects, especially since I have aspirations to join the Australian Costumer's Guild to motivate me in my sewing adventures.

One of my recent projects was one of epically geeky proportions - a sweet pouch for my boyfriend's many Dungeons and Dragons dice. He wanted something cool to carry them around from game to game in, and asked me to use my (modest) crafty skills for good instead of evil. We put our heads together and decided than an awesome velvet bag would be the ultimate in ironic nerdly stylings.

So after a very simple construction, followed by an inordinate amount of dicking around with the drawstring, the bag was done and ready for gaming. Here are some pix and notes for posterity (sorry about the slight blurriness of the photos! I'm a nub at using Enk's camera)!

1) The boyf's nick online is Sen (Japanese for 'a thousand') and he asked me to put the kanji symbol somewhere on the bag. I found a pic online, enlarged it, placed a piece of white felt on the screen and traced it onto the fabric in pencil. It's a weird idea, but it totally works! I cut it out and embroidered it onto the un-sewed velvet.

2) The bag is lined with black drill for manly toughness. In fact, the idea was to make this as manly and butch as a little velvet bag could possibly be. Lol.

3) The drawstring was a real bitch. I started with a piece of shiny braided cord, but the twistiness, matched with the phatty thickness of the fabric, meant that the bag wouldn't close all the way. I ended up buying a $2 multipack of cheapass shoe laces and plaited three of them together, tipping them with some silver leather clasps covered by a pair of dice-style black beads. Worked ok in the end.

4) End result? According to aforementioned Sen, "Heaps pro, Katey!". Zang. :D

A fleeting moment

I heard the other day that an Aussie swing dancer had passed away. I was stunned to hear who it was - a young, pretty, vibrant girl from Melbourne called Marnie Oliver. I had met her only once, but that memory was so clear I had to write it down. Her parents have set up a memorial website where you can post remembrances of Marnie. I feel funny about posting this there, like somehow it's presumptuous to contribute to a record of her life when our contact was so fleeting. But I'll post it here, because I need to try to make some sense of such a huge tragedy.

Her memorial website is at www.marniemoo.net.

This is the story of how I met Marnie. She flitted in an out of my life in one night, but left an indelible impression that will never fade from my mind.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am working the door at the Downtown Stomp, Cat's Corner's Friday night social dance in Montreal, Canada. I've been away from home a long time, and Australia is far from my thoughts tonight. I stand behind the counter, chatting to friends, taking money, answering questions. The lighting is dim, the music is swinging and the dance floor is pulsing with the movement of a hundred feet.

The door swings open and a petite blonde girl pops her head over the top of the tall counter.

"Hi!" she says, giving me a dazzling white smile. "How much does it cost tonight?"

"C'est dix dollars ce soir," I reply, absently. She hands me the money with a grin and disappears into the crowd. It is only after she is gone that it registers that not only had she not spoken to me first in french, but that she had a soft Australian accent. I feel a wave of homesickness and resolve to track down our mysterious guest once I finish my shift.

Halfway through the night, the DJ announces that we have a visitor, Marnie from Australia, in the house. The penny drops. It must be Marnie from Melbourne - the girl who entered the Up and Comers at AJC with Skenny, the dancer doing big things with Swing Patrol, the 'Glitter Fairy Princess' I'd heard so much about. The dance floor clears and Marnie steps out into the circle. She's grinning and looks like she's about to jump out of her shoes - a big ball of energy in a tiny package. The first lead grabs her, the song starts pumping and they're away. The crowd claps in time, letting out whoops and cheers as Marnie flies around the floor. She shines.

After the jam, she barely has a chance to sit down. Every lead in the place has seen her dance, and they are lining up to take a turn with the gorgeous little Aussie firecracker who impressed them all.

Later in the night we meet in the hall and introduce ourselves. We spend ten minutes chatting about people we know, gossip from home and our plans for the future. She is moving on to her next destination, moving ahead to the next adventure. I say goodbye and watch her walk down the corridor, wishing I was off on an adventure, too.

Months later I hear on the grapevine that Marnie's swing dance career is skyrocketing and that she is making a name for herself all over the world. I always love hearing these stories, of people I have met succeeding in their passion. It makes me feel that no matter where we are, we are connected by our shared loves, the friends we know and all the amazing people in between.

I like to remember my brief meeting with Marnie, of her shining on the dance floor and then walking down the corridor on the way to her next adventure. It fills me with hope that we all can live an extraordinary life like she did, and leave everyone we meet with a little piece of us.

Watch Marnie dance -

I'm sure the Germans have a word for this

The last few days have been an exhausting flurry, but I'm feeling great today. Not only because I actually pulled in a FULL 9 hours of sweet sleep (first time in I-don't-know-how-long I've slept right through the night) but also that I danced, laughed and sillied my sweet patootie off last night. After doing a last minute dash on my Journalism Principles and Practices seminar paper (which, might I add, wrote its 1200 word self to my immense satisfaction in just a few hours) I gave myself permission to skive off Uni and go to Monday night swing class. Meral and Enken usually work the door together, but as Miss Mez was unable to make it I was asked to sit in her stead and help out. Which was fine, because the mood was high for highjinks and funsies. And I wanted in.

We arrived full of beans with JuJu in tow, and set up for the night. Numbers weren't huge, but there were some lovely people to chew the fat with, and the newbs were superkeen as usual. Highlights of the first wave were Rob, arriving in an actual bowler hat and looking like the very image of Badger from Firefly, Amelie (who looks more like an Amelie than anyone else I've ever met) and Mel, who I haven't seen for ages and who announced, to my extreme envy, that she and Suzie had gone to Hullabaloo the previous weekend.

Then things started getting silly. We had an exhibition of Julian's sexiest dance moves; there was the wearing of moustaches, the handling of phatty lewts and much stupid posturing. The photographic evidence is irrefutable. When Level 3 class began, we all jumped in the rotation and helped out, with the girls rocking their newly-learned swivels and the boys busting out some footwork variations (I was among the lads, and let's just say that the ol' left arm is feeling the pain today). After class we danced into the wee smalls, working on the details, busting out the big stuff, charlestoning up a storm. The night ended when we were too tired to dance but had just enough energy left to skulk off to the Red and White Cafe for a late night feast.

I fell into bed in a state of happy, satisfied, slightly delirious exhaustion. I know the Germans must have a word for that glorious state. I'm too tired to wonder what it is but whatever it is, it feels really good.

Webcomic du jourz

It's a little too big to post this comic, but follow the link for extreme rofl. It's from the slightly bizarre webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.

Bahahaaa, so true. *wipes eyes* :D

Back in the saddle again

It's been a long time between drinks, but it looks like I might actually be able to call myself a musician again. I've had a recent explosion of work that has really inspired me to get back into my old form. And, quelle surprise, it's not going too badly.

I started in late March with a performance of the Faure Requiem at St Peter's Cathedral in North Adelaide - four horns (Mez, Katie, Anna and myself), strings (mostly ASO) and a big fark-orf choir. The soprano (Emma Horwood) was utterly gorgeous and the atmos was great. A sweet gig.

Next up was a pretty big one - I played two shows in Adelaide with Australian singer Sarah Blasko. I'd not heard much of her stuff before I was booked for the gig, but they sent me her two CDs (The Overture and the Underscore, and What the Sea Wants the Sea Will Have) for research. Not my usual style of music, but it really grew on me. Although I should clarify that it look me a good month before I could listen to it without wanting to throw myself off a bridge. Yeah, it's pretty dark stuff (listen to the track 'Showstopper' if you don't believe me. It's depressing).

Anyway, the gig came upon me before I knew it, and there we were - five instrumentalists, Sarah's band, and the girl herself. Let me at this point add that apart from the Faure requiem (which I must admit was a pretty low stress affair), I haven't had a gig since December, and before that not one since Montreal, so I was pretty damn nervous (especially as Tom and Sunni were in the audience, and neither of them had seen me play before. It was scary.). So there was a little freaking out done in the opening numbers, but we settled in ok and did a pretty reasonable job. The second show on the Sunday was infinitely better, and I was totally stoked at how I played - just wish someone of mine was there to hear it! Always the bloody way. :D My musical highlights were Always On This Line and Planet New Year - they closed the show and were just wicked fun to play. The band and crew were utterly lovely and Miss Sarah was a sweet delight. Her voice is even better live than on the recordings, and if you ever get a chance to see her in person, take it. Amazing musician, that one.

So we come to this past weekend, where I travelled up to Waikerie with the Adelaide Art Orchestra to play at Music on the Murray, an annual concert usually set up on a huge floating stage moored on the Murray river. I was able to coerce my ever-patient Tom to drive up, and we took Enken and Chris along with promises of clifftop jaunts and other flaming capers. In the end the kybosh was put on the whole affair by way of the weather, which, though awesome for the farmers, made the whole trip a somewhat soggy affair. We got up there safely, just in time for my soundcheck, and while I was rehearsing Chris, Enk and Tom were off to explore the bustling metroplis that is Waikerie (Enken's pics). The gig went off without a hitch (apart from having to be moved to a huge marquee on the football oval thanks to the bad weather) and we rocked on home, tired but sated, having had just enough country to last us for the rest of our natural lives.

So I'm hoping this happy spate of gigs will continue, because my playing's getting back on track. And, between you and me, I've missed it horribly. It feels good to be back. :)

~ Photo of Sarah Blasko by Daniel Boud (www.boudist.com)

With all due respect, might I say that Madam is in possession of a capital derriere

All backed up

You know how it is when you have a blog. You spend hours dicking around with layout, picking just that perfect shade of pink, trying to mess with html when you are endowed with less computer skill than a pillowcase full of doorknobs... and then it's done. Perfect. You have the sweetest looking blog in the known (or unknown) universe.

Then what?

I have reached that particular state of atrophy that comes through absolute lack of motivation to write. Don't get me wrong - I have lots to write about. So much fun, weird, creepy and generally interesting stuff has happened to me lately I'm almost not sure where to begin. So I've sunk to the ultimate cop-out, the bloggers cliche; I've got writer's block... and I'm writing about it. *sigh*

More to come soon. I promise. No, really.

IT'S REX MANNING DAAAAAAY!!!!

So I'm trawling the shelves at Alpha Video (the most kickass video store in the known universe... well, Adelaide, anyway) last week, looking for a sweet flick to watch with the fella when I happened across a rare treasure that shall become the stuff of legend - a six-dollar mint condition DVD of Empire Records. I greedily grabbed the hallowed plastic case and clutched it to my chest. After all, there were only four copies in the bargain bin, and at least two other completely disinterested patrons on the other side of the warehouse-sized space - I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't have tried to roll me for such a precious piece of nerdly film gold?

I can safely say that I have seen this movie more times than anyone should ever see a movie. Any movie. But Empire Records is one of those that combines sweet mid-90s nostalgia, a great soundtrack, adorably annoying characters and quite the most usable quotes of any film this side of The Big Lebowski.

It's been years since my first marathon exposure to the movie (I believe it was on constant play-rewind-play on our crappy VHS for at least a week), but none of it has escaped from my subconscious. I was horrified to discover I could quote just about the entire script from memory, from the shoplifter's pre-pubescent dummy spit ("My name's not fucking Warren!!!") to a full rendition of Rex Manning's 'Say No More, Mon Amour' (complete with puffy-shirted dance moves). It was something like meeting up with your high school friends, years down the track. It's great to see them, you've missed them like crazy and there's a lot to catch up on. But then you go over the same old stories a couple of times and you realise that you don't have anything in common any more, except the old music and the memories. And that's okay. I can always keep the DVD on the shelf, and watch it any time I'm feeling sentimental for the old days of flannel shirts and Coyote Shivers.

"Attention Rex Manning fans, to your left you will notice a shoplifter being chased by night manager, Lucas. This young man will be caught, deep fried in a vat of hot oil and served to our first hundred customers. Just another tasty treat from the gang at Empire Records!"

Quote of the Day

"But you know, even though I live on my own now everybody's really hassling me to do something with my life, you know, to become an adult. I feel like I'm in a John Hughes rite de passage movie. But what I'd really like to do is something extraordinary. Something big, something mega, something copious, something capacious, something kujunga. But... I'll probably end up working at Great America, mopping up hurl and lungbutter.... Chyah!"

- Mike Myers, Wayne's World 2

I *heart* Natalie Dee

This comic made milk come out of my nose. And I wasn't drinking any at the time.

Huzzah for bloggy goodness!

It's been an awfully long time since the slow demise of my first blog (The Spectacularly Average Adventures of Miss B) and I've been pining away for an outlet for all of my daily miscellany. There are so many new activities, new friends and new paths for me right now - it just seems fitting that I start a new blog for this big new phase in my life!

So... woo! I'm really happy with the banner - goes to show I'm actually learning something at Uni! I made it using Adobe Creative Suite (CS2), specifically InDesign and Photoshop. The cute japanese girl I jacked from a blog template I found online, and the background from another. I've played with it and picked at it and have finally decided to leave it be and actually post something!

Anyhoo, I love my new blog. It is so freakin' awesome. It deserves a parade. Yay!