Boomerang

Mariah
Originally uploaded by Jhuny.

I just simply haven't been inspired to update my blog like I used to. Hopefully touring will change that, I'll have something to write about instead of: "oh! look what's happening at the Opera House - Bangarra!"... Which is great for the first couple of weeks but there really is only so many ways to skin a cat.

So with few things to inspire me to write, I turn to my trusty old camera to get me going.

Oh! Look what happened at the Opera House!!!

I had just d/l a mash-up of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" and Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". If that sounds like a double cheeseburger with cheese, it is. Just listening to it causes you to gesticulate wildly and knock your head with a coke can.

It's currently getting the most spin time on my car stereo. At traffic lights I make sure the windows are tightly wound up and, to be sure, I turn the volume down a notch.

Haven't had much time to get over the last show and it's on with the next: Regional Tour 2005. In terms of performance locations, this tour pretty much takes the cake, going from Townsville to Launceston via Victoria before ending in Wagga Wagga. Which means packing is going to be fun. There are so many things to get excited about:
- escaping the winter (though admittedly it's been a rather mild one this year)
- upon arriving in Launceston, I will have been to every state.
- we get to spend quite alot of time in Melbourne.
- we get to see Wagga Wagga again.
Just kidding about the last one. But by far the best thing is TRAVEL ALLOWANCE!!! Yay! Which is great because my Walkman died and it's about time I got myself an MP3 player.

Oh. And there's the show as well. After all that ensemble work that was Boomerang it'll be nice to have a bit of stage time to myself...

Tags: Dance, Bangarra, Tour, Spirit.

Was having a nice coffee down at Sappho Books, with live Jazz music in the background, a fabulously warm winter afternoon, only to find myself blowing blood out of my nose. Pretty.

Anyway, after the craziness of last night, the final performance and the subsequent partying and excess consumption of alcohol at various locations around Sydney, I just wanted a nice relaxing afternoon of nothing. Picked up the latest Dance Australia with the review of The Show though unfortunately from Melbourne, the show had grown alot since then. Then wandered down to Gleebooks and bought Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, having finished James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds a couple of days ago. I would have spent more time at Sappho Books but the nose bleed and the dizziness, not to mention the coffee that I spilt on myself, forced me to go home and have a lie down.

Meanwhile, Sappho Books on a lazy Sunday afternoon might end up being a regular thing. It's quite nice out there.

Apologies for the boring post. I could talk about last night's drinking, the random guy, ST's b/f punching someone in the mouth at Stonewall. But I'm not in the mood at the moment.

Tag: Sappho Books, Gleebooks.

Five shows left. After doing nothing but Boomerang for the last few months it'll be good to do something different, even if it is a show that we've done for the past two years.

Apparently tonight Ian "Dicko" Dickson was in the audience, Row R. Having watched the first two Australian Idol seasons I can't help but think what his thoughts were about the show, whether it was a TOUCHDOWN or something like that.

Tags: Dance, Bangarra, Boomerang.

It happened quite quickly. He was marking an exercise. Then he was sitting out massaging his knee. Then he was gone. I had a job to do, I was getting warm, and didn't realise the consequences: the previously four man canoe crew was now three. Cue the impromptu rehearsal an hour before curtain, figuring out how three men can do the once four-man-job of carrying and dancing with a canoe.

Consider, too, that with DM already gone there had already been changes made earlier this afternoon to cover a rather significant role.

In the end, the changes were relatively easy for me. In fact, it's a bit easier now - there's more room in the canoe and there's less chance of tripping up on other people's feet when we're carrying the canoe on our backs. It's just that the stage is rather bare now, I feel like I have to put out more energy to cover the missing person.

There was one other major consequence of his absence: the dual trio Mining dance was reduce to just one trio, the one that I'm not in. This meant that I had all this extra energy for the final scene, one that doesn't feel right to do unless I'm exhausted, drained and leaving large pools of sweat on the floor.

The fear was that he dislocated his knee cap but it turned out not to be that serious. However he's most likely out for at least the next couple of shows and we have extra rehearsals tomorrow to consolidate the changes.

Tags: Dance, Bangarra, Boomerang.

Lots of little things this week.

- Boomerang. Not only does it go there and back, it also goes up and down. And boy did we hit a low this week! Thankfully it bounced right back and the last few performances this week felt pretty good.
- Pain. With alot of the traditional dances, the idea of "do it on the left" isn't really relevant. Suffice to say that I'm feeling rather lopsided and the left side of my lower back is quite tight. Carrying a canoe on your back five nights a week really doesn't help either. Also, my left wrist is sore. Not to mention the foot injury from Japan.
- Steven Johnson - Everything Bad Is Good For You. Super-fast read, extremely interesting and yet it sounded so commonsensical it didn't seem as significant as I was expecting. Of course playing computer games is good for you, how can you possibly think otherwise?
- Lunch Date. How long has it been since I've been on a date??? This time around it was pub grub and wine, a get to know you, a friend of a friend's boyfriend. We've already locked in our next date which has been postponed slightly (for good reason) which brings me to my next point...
- Disappointment. The last three sets of tickets that I've bought for *friends* have ended up being no-shows. That's seven non-refundable tickets too many. And let it be said that tickets are usually non-refundable. Three of those tickets I had to book through the company because the show has been selling so well. Luckily the last two I was able to pass onto one of the backstage crew's friend but that still leaves five tickets I have to account for. I am NEVER buying tickets for people ever again (unless they're for family). Not to mention several cancelled engagements with friends this week.
- Feast. Because it was DM's last performance day with the company, a friend of the company cooked up a Saturday post-matinee feast TSI-style for us which was very tasty. A bit too tasty, I went back for fourths, had to have a post-feast nap and felt extremely heavy and fat for the Saturday night show. Twenty four hours later, I still don't feel hungry. It's interesting, too, the similarity between TSI food and Filipino food, the only thing missing was the pig but I guess that would have been too difficult to fit into a Sydney Opera House board room. There was a spectacular harbour view from the board room, one wonders how anyone here gets any work done with such a distraction.
- Mars Lounge. Happy belated birthday ST. Name-on-the-door situation. Smokey, despite the new anti-smoking laws. Pop dance music with occasional live instruments over the top. Expensive but tasty cocktails.

Tags: Jhuny ('cos I couldn't really tag it any other way!).

After finishing the early matinee we were greeted by a large crowd at the stage door. Hmmm... the show's good but this is a bit ridiculous. Then a white car with white ribbons drove by and suddenly the mob were heading towards us. Got caught up in all the excitement and found myself running along with them. The mob got stranded at the driveway, haha, I have a backstage pass but, for a moment, it wouldn't let me through and we were stranded, straining to see the passengers of the car. Then I realised that I had rushed to catch a glimpse of, presumably, Lleyton arriving for his wedding and decided that I would much rather pay more attention to my stomach that was demanding to be fed.

Half an hour later, stomach appeased, and the bridal party had arrived. For one fleeting moment I considered selling my backstage pass for $500 and using the money to pay the lost pass fee but thought the better of it. Anyway, security is pretty good here, a little too good because I was kept out of our changeroom area as Bec and co were preparing to use the lift near the Drama Theatre to get up to the North foyer HOW DARE THEY!!! This is my office and I can't even get in? I HAVE A BACKSTAGE PASS!!! Finally managed to get up to the green room to be met with the sight of a line of people outside apparently trying to see into the foyer. It was quite amusing for a while, watching people watching people, very exciting, I found it hard to put myself down for a nap.

By the time I woke up, the crowd had gone and Mr and Mrs Hewitt had left the building. A shame, I wanted to do my little skit where I would yell out to Lleyton, while pointing at ST, "who is this poofter?" I thought that would have been rather clever and earnt me some press time as I get thrown out of the building by his bodyguards. Meanwhile his apology was rather disappointing but, hey, it's not like I expect gentlemanly conduct from the world number two.

Congratulations to the bride and groom.

Tags: Sydney Opera House, Wedding, Lleyton Hewitt, Bec Cartwright.