black swans, satin vests

Monday always kicks off the week in an easy way, as it usually entails post-work workouts, family dinners and gathering around X-Factor. There is something about knowing you don’t have to go anywhere after work that makes your day seem that much shorter.

This Tuesday was so fun at work, made extra fun by a big lunch break. The four of us sat at a lovely café and pretended it was warm enough to bake in the sun.  Our waiter was wearing a vintage NFL tee, which struck up the conversation about trendy American brands and lack of actual affiliation with sports teams. It cleared up some serious confusion, as I couldn't get over how many Australians had pledged allegiance to the Yankees empire. Afterwards, I headed to Brunswick to manage the first recording for Right Now Radio. I bumped into the two radio hosts, Rachel and Ben, on the tram and they invited me for pre-radio drinks. Mind you, this is about 6 hours after I’ve eaten lunch so the glasses of wine certainly went down with a little more punch than I would have hoped. I tried my best to maintain my most sober face upon entering the RRR radio station, amidst the radio gods and interviewees. Our first broadcast went without  hitch: great interviews, fascinating topics discussing everything from disability rights to indigenous rights and a general sense of comfortability in the work space. 

Work this Wednesday was lovely, as always, and post work, I headed to the Convent to get my improv on. The train ride homes usually involve Hannah, Katie and I discussing the evening’s activities, who the strangest partner is in the paired activities (there is a lot to choose from in that regard) and how to get work in the budding film industry. Katie also told us about her first “scene of passion”, which had occurred earlier that week for a student film. The film industry is a funny one, particularly when one must feign an intimate bedroom scene with a complete stranger in the company of a crew of cameramen and directors.

Thursday was a bit of an administrative day, running between work and gym and efforts at baking Mississippi Mudcake for the big party on Friday. I also received the best "America" package from home, intact with candy corn, Pop Tarts and apple butter. Mom really knows how to spoil/fatten her children! 

Today, I stayed at work for the full Friday not only because I enjoy it tremendously, but also because, at this point, I probably couldn’t take on another album to review. Currently, there is a stack of albums in my room, glaring at me for my tardiness in their assessment. After work, I went to Annie’s house for her “Girls Night In” party, which was a huge fundraiser for Breast Cancer and other typically female cancers. Everyone was meant to dress in pink and bring sweets and the house was decorated in paper mache hearts and flowers from the garden and watering tins. I couldn’t help but pause every so often to note the levels of estrogen pulsing through the room, only made more tangible by the decibels of the voices. At one point, I’m sure everyone was screaming at each other. 

It must be noted that "Girl Parties" go as follows:

Host: Everyone is welcome to eat!

Guests: Silence. General shuffling, shifting eye contact, an overall, unsaid commitment to not be the first one eating.

Host: Come on ladies, the food won’t eat itself!

Fattest Girl at the Party: I’ll have some (she has now willingly sacrificed herself for the greater good, thus earning the title of “Fattest Girl at the Party”. This is regardless of size. She is noted for being nice to have at parties because she makes everyone feel better about their choices regarding carbohydrate consumption)

Guests: more shuffling, movement closer to the general vicinity of the food. This is called the “breathing it makes me taste it and is thus comparable to ingesting it” trick.

Skinniest Girl at the Party: I’ll split half of this miniature cupcake with someone? Have to fit into my dress at the races this weekend, so. Not too much for me.

Guests: Totally. Such a good idea! You’re so skinny! Lets all split the miniature cupcakes. Even if we eat four half pieces, not quite the same as eating two!

This is typical of female parties with skinny people. This is also typical behavior in asylums.

This Saturday was one of my most fun in Melbourne. I woke up circa 6:45am to get to Brett and Kappy’s Crossfit competition and made it in time to see the boys shine in their respective events. Such a proud moment, they were both so good! Though hugely proud and engrossed in their competition, I was still having a hard time understanding the phenomenon of watching people work out. Literally, a gym packed with spectators to watch people lift weights in a twenty minute time block with the background of American Top 40 hip hop.  This would be like paying to watch actors rehearse. Not to see the play but rather the process before the play. Strange concept. These thoughts clouded my mind until the men started removing the bindings of their t-shirts. I was fine then.

Afterwards, I headed to Penny’s Park Day Party at the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was the most beautiful Spring day, the sun was shining until nearly 7:30pm. Penny’s lovely family set up blankets and beautiful chicken salad sandwiches and treats and the day was spent basking in the sunlight in the midst of the shimmering river and blossoming flowers. Sports were played in the background of a radio murmuring Australian hits and conversation was full of cider-tinged laughter and easy contentment. The girls looked beautiful in their spring wear, lots of floppy hats and flowing skirts and the boys were happy to put on their shortest shorts (in true Australian form) in honor of the weather. The only happening to mar the otherwise perfect afternoon was the pack of black swans that attempted to become members of the picnic. In my opinion, these swans could have stayed on their lake and all would have been well and good. However, those who had imbibed more cider than I felt it was best to lure the swans to the picnic and try to have a cuddle with the baby swans. I stayed as far away as possible but the swans, consistent with any other animal I’ve ever feared, decided I would be the best object of torment. Though I tried to explain my movtives clearly to the red-eyed devil, the mother (and later, the father) swan continued to appear wherever I chose to sit or stand, threatening my existence with their obvious malice. 

I went for dumplings with Ellie, Josh and Podge and afterwards, met everyone from the Park Party at Vic Bar. Ivan and Kevin are some of the best dancers in Melbourne and the combination of the group of us on the dance floor is a pretty lethal one. The dinner group and I met Manos, Ed and Carlos for a bit of salsa dancing at Be Latin in the city. Els and Josh soon left, probably more out of fear of the abundant sequin and satin in the place, but Carlos and I shared a few sassy rounds of salsa. So fun to be back in a Miami-esque setting! After a strange choreographed routine by people wearing satin vests (I’ll offer you no further explanation on that because I have none), we headed to Carlton Club. This multi-level club is adorned with a lot of velvet and taxidermy and that night, I was determined to leave that place with an ostrich feather. And I did. Manos, Ed and I had the best night of dancing and apparently earned the trust of the fedora-donning DJ, who, when needing a bathroom break, asked us to make sure “no one went into his booth”. In return for our guarding, he would grant us a song of choice and holding true to his promise, played us the Kanye we had been desiring all night long.

Sunday, I was sufficiently “stuffed” as the Australians say. Martha and I lounged around and Ciara called in and generally, it was a lazy Sunday. I committed to a massive beach run, however, and afterwards, met up with Bretts, Holly, Lauren and DB for the nicest dinner prepared by Chef Holly. I use chef very seriously because Holly prepares the most gourmet meals I’ve ever experienced. This meal,on the surface, seemed pretty simple: the offer of hamburgers promised traditional American fare and conjured up the image of yellow mustard and pool parties. Alas, the buns were homemade, the sauce of choice was homemade aioli and the French fries were hand cut and roasted in garlic and rosemary. Not your traditional 4th of July pool party fare by any stretch.

Tunes tunes tunes! Enjoy xo


El Perro del Mar: Hold Off the Dawn
http://www.myoldkentuckyblog.com/?p=36122

Desire: Tears from Heaven
http://www.gorillavsbear.net/2012/10/31/video-new-desire-tears-from-heaven/

Laura Gibson: Deschutes River Recording
http://pitchfork.com/tv/youtube/21-deschutes-river-recordings/504-laura-gibson/

Alt-J: "Slow Dre"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz3Qr5SaU2Q


LOTS of love and hugs xo

dinner silence and cool translator

Sorry guys, still a week behind. Somehow time continues to move forward at a pace more rapid than the week before!

This week I began my first official, full week at the new blog.  I so enjoy the company: our lunch breaks are full of banter and weekend anecdotes. And the relationship with the café downstairs means lots of free coffee and tea, which is always a plus. There is also a coveted music chord, which when hooked to your computer means the entire office is subjected to your tunes. I continue to try to prove my music taste worthwhile to my boss, who trusts me more now that I’ve declared my love for bluegrass in addition to obscurity. I had the night off tonight and of course, made it back from the gym in time for a rousing round of X-Factor.  The whole family unit is really addicted, each taking a vested interest in a performer and mercilessly critiquing the performances of the others. Not as friendly as you were imagining, hey?

Tuesday continued our exciting improv performances (still festival time here!) and we had quite the stacked audience. Brett, Kaps,  Holly, Mrs. Noone and Ciara all spared their Tuesday night to watch us perform. The performers (i.e Martha, Hannah and I) left a bit distraught but our endlessly supportive attendees promised it wasn’t as painful as we were imagining. Afterwards, we ventured to a nearby bar and found ourselves in the middle of easily the most challenging game of trivia ever played. It was soundtracked to current music but confused by the televisions streaming some of the best videos out of the 90's. I'll take "Don't Speak" as a background any day.

This Wednesday, I took a bit of a leap of faith in my talent and gave Improv Melbourne a try. It is the leading company here and the important place to be for any type of serious improv work. The class was cool, full of very supportive and interested people and despite coming 30 minutes late (a very long commute/bus ride mishap), the instructor was more than receptive to my presence. I was really taken by some of the characters in the class, particularly the male who undoubtedly served as the model for the “Kronk” character in Emperor’s New Groove. I really mean it- I’ve never seen such a caricature of a face in my life. I immediately bonded with an Irish girl called Katie and we trained home, discussing theater ambitions and American tendencies to be competitive in nearly every setting. She had picked up on my intensity in class, apparently.

After work on Thursday, I met Bretts, Jimmy, Kappy and Ellie for an Indian feast. We ate like sultans for $10.oo. It should be noted that I learned a very valuable lesson at this dinner. When people are engaging in the consumption of their food, it is not acceptable to attempt to initiate conversation. When silence fell upon the table, I took this as a cue to ask an innocent and overarching question: "How was everyone’s week?” The response to this was close to murderous (largely glares and exasperated groans) and as a result, I will continue to practice feeling comfortable in food-induced silence. We went to an incredible gig afterwards (showed off some of their tunes last week) and Lauren, Holly and I felt inspired to pick up the cello and marry a guitar-wielding male. Ali Barter and Vance Joy performed for a very excited crowd packed into a wooded bar, with a really whimsical decor of autumnal tones and floral backdrops. The performance of note, however, was not either headliner. Rather, it was the drummer whose facial expression varied from worrisome anger (will he attack the singer, we wondered aloud) to pure joy (alas, he will not because he seems really ecstatic). On the ride home, we basked in the giddiness present from experiencing such a talent-filled show and our sing-alongs were certainly worthy of some Mahogany Blog representation.

Friday, I headed into Beat after work and was gifted with the greatest of all things: the chance to do album reviews. My editor summoned me to his desk (his speech and general being is endlessly in a state of a hung-over drawl) and asked me if I was up for reviewing some of the latest album releases. At Beat, I often find myself masking my excitement in an attempt to not overwhelm the “coolness” around me, i.e. the people who show a limited range of emotion, fluctuating from mild semi-interest to apathy. Thus, I contained my “Oh my gosh! That would be the coolest!” and deferred to my mental “Cool Translator”: “Yeah, that would be rad. I’ve been checking some of these out, so I’m cool to write on them”.  Thank you mental translator.

I headed to Brunswick after Beat for the big Friday show, which was arguably one of the better improv shows I’ve been in.  We were short on cast so the group was intimate, which lent itself to a tremendously close and connected group dynamic. The improvised musical number at the end was way more Irving Berlin than we thought we could pull off and the audience nearly erupted at my Lauryn Hill-esque ode to a stapler earlier in the show.

Hania was visiting from the UK, so Pece picked me up to amble around St. Kilda with Bretts and Kaz. We met Hania’s boyfriend Rich, whose close association with Prince William was only exacerbated by his regal intonation and word choice. We had a great night playing a highly competitive game of Jenga in a bar boasting everything from a bed to a fish tank to BBQ grills in its interior.

Saturday started with a delicious brunch on Chapel Street with Hania, Rich, Pece and Bretts. We had a wander in the sunshine afterwards and window shopped effectively- no purchases made! I squeezed in a quick beach run between strolling and the final improv show. The full cast in tow, our last show failed to meet the standards set by the previous night but there were laughs to be had despite some obvious conundrums. I caught up with Hannah and her sister afterwards and at one point, I think the shrillness of our voices accurately mirrored the excitement of our exchanges. Our anecdotes were just too funny, I guess,  and we didn’t take the hearing needs of other patrons into consideration.

Sunday was a lovely bonding day for Martha and me. The weather was incredible so we basked in the sun and listened to music, opting for a beach walk for further Vitamin D absorption. I went to the market to buy supplies for dinner for the family and ended up planning one of the seller's upcoming trip to the states. Feeling pleased with such a cool human connection,  I ventured to the hot yoga class at the gym, coming home feeling peaceful and ready to try my hand at Thai food. Success! 

So many good songs this week, had a hard time choosing!

Deerhoof: Sexy, But Sparkly

http://famousclass.bandcamp.com/album/lamc-4

Daniel Rossen: Untitled

http://soundcloud.com/drossenbro/untitled-december-2009

La Sera: Break My Heart

http://www.myoldkentuckyblog.com/?p=35948

Haim: Don't Save Me

http://soundcloud.com/overmuziek

Lots of love xoxoxo

24 cloves of garlic

Sorry guys, this one is for the week before last. I’m officially a week behind and so sorry about it.

I had this Monday off, which was such a lovely respite after a crazy weekend. The sun came out for my day off and I tended to errands I hadn’t accomplished because of a 9-5. The biggest one was the first set of postcard send-offs, something I had been aiming to do since I got here. Send me your address and you can get your very own postcard in tact with a kangaroo’s apparently grinning face and my undying commitment to script (the only way to write a letter). Monday night, Martha, Hannah and I headed into Fitzroy for the rehearsal for our show in the Fringe festival. The show is being held in a bookshop called “Hares and Hyenas” and you should know that the only literature available in the bookshop is homoerotic “how tos” and hyper-sexualized cartoons. Rehearsal went well despite the graphic surroundings

Tuesday was our first show and it really was the premiere of the century. Well, nearly. There is a game in the show where the audience tells a story and picks a style of music and I have to create a song (verses, chorus and all) based on that prompting. Usually, I lean towards a more blues or jazz genre but tonight I was gifted with “dub step”, as desired by the audience member. Have you ever tried to make a dub step song with just your voice? Try it and see how successful you can’t be.

Wednesday I started at my new blog in trendy South Melbourne. I’m working with Pippa and Charlie and though it sounds like a Dickens novel, it is an exciting new venture (the best of times and the worst of times, if you will). We took our lunch break in the sun and Charlie treated us to cakes and pastries from the café below, with whom they have a lovely working relationship. I met up with Annie in the city afterwards for a music journalism workshop. Such a cool night! People working for the premiere music-oriented websites, magazines and television stations had an intimate “this is what my life is and how I got here and how I got to speak to Billy Corgan over coffee” session. So interesting to hear about the music journalism scene as something so viable and profound- there were arguments that album reviews can rival the literature of the times. Loved that! Met up with Uncle Jim for trendy Mexican afterwards (scoff Americans, scoff) and was barely let in by the guy at the front wearing suspenders and jean capris. The exchange was as follows:

Suspender/Jean Capri combo guy: I know you’re meeting someone, but we might not have room for you.

Me: Seriously? I can see him from here. He’s right by the bar. His name is Jim.

Suspender/ Jean Capri combo guy: Hi Jim.

Me: I’m not Jim. He is Jim.

Suspender/Jean Capri combo guy: Right. Except that we probably don’t have seats for you.

Me: There are two next to him. I can’t actually tell if you’re kidding.

Suspender/Jean Capri combo guy: I’m not kidding.

That, American friends, is how cool Mexican is in Australia.

Thursday was another day at the new blog and a lunch spent hanging out at the café downstairs. After work, I headed to Brunswick for our first official radio stint at RRR, the NPR equivalent in the states. Such a cool station-the headquarters are here in Melbourne, so everything being heard comes through right where I was standing. Like NPR, RRR is on top of everything important: music, culture and world news and the best part is, I get to be in the thicket of all of it! I got to meet the team with whom I’ll be working and start combing through the equipment for future production management. Afterwards, I headed to Chapel Street to catch “On the Road” with Ciara, Penny and Martha. Such an important story to put to film, I was so eager to see the characters with whom I created such an intimate understanding and bond put on a screen.

I worked Friday morning until about 2:30 then headed into Richmond for none other than the love of my life, Beat. Today was “Hat Day” at Beat and the discovery of a Sultan-esque hat prompted “Turkish 90’s Music Trivia Day”, which then evolved into “What I Remember About American 90’s Music Day” and “Why Rick Ross Should have an Australian Tour Day”. As you can see, my days spent at the music magazine are some of my favorites to note. Afterwards, I met up with Brett, Kappy, Jimmy and a few new additions at what was the most tragic attempt at a restaurant ever to be experienced. Kappy chose the restaurant, “Auction Rooms”, in the hopes of appearing to be the “foodie” of our group of friends and arguably, to continue in his pursuit of impressing me. So, we were faced with a menu of four options, one of which was a chicken with 24 cloves of garlic for $70 (in the chicken’s defense, it was a meal to be shared) and Jerusalem artichoke. Needless to say, the table was up in arms at both the prices and the content of the menu. However, the waitress (a Pulp Fiction era Uma Thurman look-alike) patrolled our table until our nerves/pride/combination of both prompted us to order things like “skate” and “pork floss” with bated breath. Somehow, by some intervention of the restaurant gods, Uma Thurman-waitress returned to tell us that our meal was going to take 45 minutes. Alas, we were given our “way out” as the show we were seeing post-dinner opened its doors in 30 minutes. We tried to act less happy than we felt in apologizing for inconveniencing them but our joy couldn’t be masked as we dashed for the door. We raced to Urban Burger, greeting the disgruntled teenaged employees with insurmountable (and for the rest of the clientele, inexplicable) passion for their burger patties and oily French fries. Afterwards, we caught a hugely enjoyable improv show starring the esteemed Dr. Brown. The show is silent, progressed only by his character work and audience involvement. He is actually incredible in his physicality- the hour passes by as if it were a second and you feel like you saw a full cast perform.

Saturday, I hung out with my older lady friends at Body Pump in the morning then got ready for the epic all-day concert with Holly, Lauren, Brett and Kappy. The venue was full of felt couches and we called the closest spot to the hand-crafted wooden stage. So many cool acts: all acoustic performances by local Aussie musicians. Holly, Lauren and I fell in love with each new guitar-toting male. After the frozen night started to set in, Kappy, Brett and I took our frozen selves to Nandos for our traditional meal and post-concert debrief.

Sunday, I met up with Jan for a lovely brunch and catch-up. Afterwards, I trained to Ellie and we strolled along the beachside at the St. Kilda Sunday markets. We took in the fleeting moments of sunshine and discussed futures and bad bridesmaid dress colors whilst examining guitar pick necklaces and terry cloth onesies. I came home to grab dinner with Martha before we headed to see “Choir Girl”, another incredible one-woman show. The show, written, produced by and starring Sarah Collins, was so impressive and so fun. We were singing along the whole time and also secretly plotting how to write an equally profound script.

Beautiful tunes this week!

Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSNHofCE4rg

Breakfast: Grizzly Adams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-Zg6yIAuw

Ali Barter: Marigold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JizMb4SseA

Vance Joy: Riptide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5VM5Zco9Rg

Lots of love and hugs xoxox

mattress covers and law degrees

Sorry this one is so late, the pace has really picked up around here!

Monday, I committed to watching the film “Gigantic” after a lovely dinner with the Noones. I’m trying to get as many films in during the week as possible, an ambition that usually results in a staggering one or two. That being said, I watched “Gigantic” on Brett’s recommendation and as a continued commitment to the glorious Paul Dano.

Tuesday was such a lovely day. Sun was almost shining and I had an hour break after work to sit in a coffee shop and drink nice green tea and watch the sun go down. Afterwards, I met up with Hannah and we went to this amazing exhibition. The artist was a friend of Hannah’s who used mattress covers to create Renaissance era clothing pieces. Massive gowns, high collared vests all created from the material covering your bedsprings! Not only did she create and style the pieces, she painted huge canvases that rested behind the gowns. Said canvases had celebrities like Keith Richards painted on them, wearing her fashions. The celebrities varied in age and genre but were amazingly human-like and even better, rocking her outfits. Such an impressive exhibition and further, such an impressive artist!

Wednesday I took on the new challenge of boxing at the gym. I’ll never go back to standard Wednesday cardio. What a workout! The camaraderie in the class is also tangible, with everyone supporting each other in all of the partner work and throughout the grueling circuits. Except for the guy with small hands who always ended up being my partner. I was no less excited about it than he was. He kept trying to work the circuits so that he could partner with his strange girlfriend and essentially corrupted the entire established system. Unfortunately, his frustration for the establishment (and/or his small hands) was taken out on both my hands and the punching bag I had to hold for him.

Thursday was Girl’s Night with Martha and Rach at Jackie’s beautiful house. After an ambitious drive, we pulled up to Jackie’s home, the front of the house composed of two story windows overlooking an impressively diverse and abundant garden. When you first walk in, you’re immediately surrounded by an Eastern ambiance, an ambiance created by the coy pond and various Buddha idols littered throughout the garden. The house winds into a wooden kitchen, with warm walls and darkly colored curtains that assured a rustic pizza-having experience. The ambiance was perturbed only by the cat door through which the cat moved quite violently, often causing us to fear some type of intruder. We made homemade pizzas (Jackie providing us with homemade dough as a base!) with the most beautiful toppings of salmon and feta and fresh vegetables. The dynamic was just so good, a tangible and female connection was very present in our recounting embarrassing stories, high school flames and travel loves.

Friday, I got to go into the music magazine office and kick my weekend off in the best way. The moment I was sure that it is the best place to work ever was when my writing manager came around with “the beer cart”, a customary practice for 6pm on Fridays. I went to Shabbat at Brett’s house after and we committed to a good ol’ Friday night movie with Steph and Kaz. We watched Taken and I was forced to “keep my comments to myself” (I began to suggest that there was a rampant case of overacting in the film) and worship Liam Neeson alongside the men in the house.

Saturday, I went to the gym early in the morning with the ambition of “starting my day off right”, though a case for staying in bed could certainly be made. I also knew the afternoon held Grand Final parties. The Grand Final is our Superbowl equivalent and the whole of Melbourne was rapt with the afternoon of Australian football ahead. Ever the party-hosters, the Noones threw a party to celebrate the football and the neck-in-neck competition. Afterwards, I met up with Brett and Matty for a night at the exclusive ‘Liberty Social’, where the hip go to pretend to dance poorly but not care because it is ironic. We did just that and followed it up with late night chips and taxis. As we waited in the taxi ranks, we befriended everyone around us, reaching out in solidarity of being way too cold, slightly inebriated and too tired to still be wearing heels.

Sunday, I met Ellie, Matty and Brett for brunch at a lovely little place called “Spout”. It has become quite a routine for us and our Sunday debriefs always provide tremendous laughs. I stayed with Ellie and went to the fruit market (“the best in town” as assured by Els) then went on to Maddie’s house to catch up and have tea. We combed through her latest Spring fashions and committed to tutoring Australia’s youth in the variety of languages we could offer, essentially monopolizing the tutoring market and fostering globalization one child at a time. Afterwards, I cooked a big soup (that’s right guys, still freezing here) for the new “college house”. The Noone parents left for the week so we’ve officially established a bachelor/bachelorette pad intact with baked scones and chicken noodle soup. Getting wild. Caught my third movie of the week (beating the odds!) and watched “Blow” with Martha, Jack and his friend, Seb. Seb was very moved by the film, the poor dear. His 17 year old mind was pretty upset by the idea of a life so wrought with sadness. I advised him not to get into the drug trade and also to not get a law degree.

Love you guys so much! Here are some great tunes!

Taken By Trees: Large

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rTc8Bv4Xk0

Perfume Genius: Take Me Home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrpr5ARPO84

The Concretes: You Can't Hurry Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTdwQG3pGKQ

The Walkmen: Dance With Your Partner (yay!)

http://www.myoldkentuckyblog.com/?p=35542

lots of love xx