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Do you know the way to Brisbane?

Or more importantly I sure as jaggery hope that Mr Bacharach does because I have a ticket to seem him when he comes to the Convention Centre on July 6 (the day before Karl turns 28!) and I will not be a happy chappy if he gets lost. Perhaps I should send him a map?

When I saw the advert that he was going to be playing in Sydney in Feb, I was ready to walk out the door and start walking to Sydney. It was going to cost me an arm, a leg, an eye and possibly even my soul but this is BURT BACHARACH we are talking about. However I decided that I really did want to keep my soul and two eyes are just so much better than one so I resented myself to not going to see Mr B this time round. Then Mr B had an accident and his daughter died which meant that the Sydney and Adelaide shows were canceled. Then there was a note saying he would be coming back in July and adding some more cities to the show. Yeah for Brisbane. Yeah for Helen having a ticket to see Mr B and The Queensland Orchestra. July 6 will be a total treat 🙂

Or do you know your way round Africa?
The other night Karl sent me this link – 53 African States. It has fast making the rounds of my family and friends either on the web site or on a piece of paper. When I did it this arvo I had 2 states that I couldn’t get 🙁 compared to the 13 so so I couldn’t get the first time I did it. The challenge now is to be able to place them all in the right place on the map. That will be a challenge. How many countries in Africa can you get?

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In my garden

One day I’m going to make me a big big star. Well I already am but only a few people realise that at the moment.

A large handful of years ago (2001) I used to have a little veggie patch. It wasn’t a big producer but I still enjoyed my little patch of soil except the snails and other bugs probably liked it more than I did. They saw it as very much their own little salad bar. At around this time I was listening to The Lion Sleeps Tonight a lot. For some reason or the other I decided to change the lyrics round a bit to suit the snails who saw my garden as a salad bar.

A-wimoweh etc

In my garden
My growing garden
The snails eat my peas
In my garden
The quiet garden
The snails eat my peas

A-wimoweh etc

Near the peas
The dying peas
The snails make their way
Near the peas
The dying peas
The snails eat their feast

A-wimoweh etc

Hush my garden
Don’t fear my garden
The snails will sleep tonight
Hush my garden
Don’t die my darlings
The snails will be gone

A-wimoweh etc

I remember rushing out to Mum as I decided on better words to suit rhythmic patterns and singing to her the most recent version of “In my garden”. I was changing a few things round on my desk the other day and found the piece of paper that it was printed on and thought why not post it 🙂 Though it also means that I think that a large number of my recent posts have been musically based.

Today is Pancake Tuesday(Shrove Tuesday). Matthew and I had pancakes for lunch. mmm yummy. Sunday night I roasted a duck for tea, though this duck must’ve been a duck on a severe diet as it was pretty meatless. Luckily I made heaps of roast veggies to go with it, which were perfectly roasted in duck fat and tasted like heaven. For dessert we had a Blueberry Sourcream cake that I made from a recipe which was in a BBC Good Food magazine a couple of years ago. The cake didn’t just taste like heaven, it was heaven. I should take a photo of a slice before it is all eaten (there is only two slices left).

I am going to get my hair cut this arvo before work 🙂

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All you need is love Beatles

So last night was The Beatles tribute gig and it was a fantastic night out. There was myself, Clare and four of her convicts, followers, converts, friends.

11 bands, a full house, 2 and a half hours, one small super sweaty room, one great cause, 200+ songs in The Beatles catalouge. One rocking night. We had fun guessing which songs would be done by the various bands. It was a great format with the bands doing between one and five songs each with most doing three or four, super quick changeover between sets (always a bonus) and of course a great cause in Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders). Since there is talk of doing a similar format later this year with a different artist and charity, it will be great to see who will be the focus of the next tribute.

I don’t have photos from all the bands who played but I do from six of the eleven.

Hot Liquid Sex.
These girls were glam. The drummer had pearls on. I don’t think we need to go further.
Hot Liquid Sex

Ace
How rocking is this Beatles shirt? Last night was alllll about The Beatles shirts.
ace 1

The Blood Poets
This guy stood on my foot later in the night, I went ouch, he said sorry, it was all fine.
The Blood Poets

Kristy London and The Other Halves
Kristy was a total treat.
Kristy London and the Other Halves

Emma Dean
Again another total treat. Probably the main attraction for Clare and I last night and she didn’t disappoint.
Emma Dean

Glasshouse
These guys were big organisers of the night or came with the idea and as the second last band they had the floor bouncing as they channeled as much Beatles vibe as they could with a rip-roaring cover of A Hard Day’s Night
Glasshouse

Tyrone Noonan finished the night and was a treat pulling out the tin whistle, as was Tara Simmons who opened the night in a cello trio, 26 who also had a large string section, Asa Broomhall who shined in his one song and The Gin Club who also gave all they had to the night.

It was such a fantabulous night. Lots and lots of singing along 🙂

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Good Day Sunshine :)

Well I have some good news and than it follows with either good or bad news depending on how you look at it.

At the moment I am semi-busy applying for jobs as I find ones that a)interest me and b) I am semi-qualified for. Last Friday I sent off an application for a job. Monday I got a call back saying come in for an interview Tuesday arvo. Tuesday I hit the shops as I was shall we say lacking in the business suitable clothes department. Tuesday arvo I had the interview which went really well. Wednesday I got a call back saying I was on the shortlist and could I come in for an hour or so on Friday just to do a trial run of the job and have another chat. I went in and did the job for an hour or so, had a chat, met some more people and went home knowing that I had done my best and hopefully that was good enough for them. Friday arvo I get a call back saying I hadn’t got the job but could we keep your info on file as we are going to have a few vacancies in a couple of weeks that you may be interested in.

I didn’t get the job but I did get to the second round which is better than not passing the first round, the the beginnings of a business suitable work wear (and a pair of pretty killer shoes) and probably most of all experience in an interview and an idea of what questions they will ask in a the future.

I am still looking for that job ad which says “We are looking for Helen Palsson, are you here?” and then the job description of an job where I would utilise my degree and make a difference in the world in what ever way small or big.

Beatlemania

Tomorrow night, this is going to be a treat in The Valley and I do believe that all those of you are in the Greater Brisbane area should come along to a) hear some great bands doing some great songs and b) to support a great cause. I am going, Clare is going, Clare is dragging people along, I am trying to drag my brother and his mates along. The Beatles need I say more?

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Hell in D

This little youtube video rings so true to me. I really enjoy listening to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. In year 12, I talked the music teacher into letting us play it for Band. We played it very delightfully. As a flute player it is quite a nice piece to play. However, in year 12 I was all Bassoon and to put it mildly the Bassoon part for Canon in D is well pretty darn boring. The Bassoon plays the Cello part. Now sit back and watch the video below.

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Die Happy

Last night was a blast and I can now Die Happy (incidentally a pretty cool German band I saw at the Pumpwerk in Wilhelmshaven. In terms of live music venues, the Pumpwerk stands out as one of the best for me. Just the right size. Just the right atmosphere. Just the right everything. I would love it if the Pumpwerk were in Brisbane). Back to the topic at hand which was Sam and Helen’s semi-big night out.

The highlight of my night was of course when Women in Docs pulled Sally Dastey up on stage near the end to do Tin Roof. It went off. In case you haven’t realised Tin Roof is pretty high up in that handful of songs that make up my all time favourites. It sits up there with Marrakesh Express by Crosby, Stills & Nash (who are playing in Brisbane in 3 weeks but the tickets are waaaay to pricey for me), Ice Cream by Sarah McLachlan, Safari by The Breeders, The Waitress by The Waifs, You Sound Like Louis Burdett by The Whitlams, The 59th Street Bridge Song by Simon and Garfunkel, Lady Madonna by The Beatles, Adelaide by Old 97’s, You or Your Memory by The Mountain Goats and a handful of other songs. Classic songs. Of course going to a concert and hearing one of your all time favourite songs is just top shelf stuff.

Last night with Sam was fantastic. So was the night before with Andrea. Though how could it not have been fantastic? Great music and good friends always equals fun times.

After the show was over we made our way down to Eagle St where Sam works to see Cory and to munch down some wedges and fold cutlery bundles for the next days trade. I have to say at the start of the night I didn’t think I would spend part of it wiping cutlery dry and giving it to Sam so she could wrap it up in a serviette. A couple of hours out on the town, dancing, drinking, chatting, walking and generally having a good time. Then we made our way home and that takes me to where we are now.

If you are going to be in Melbourne, Nowra or Canberra between March 14 and 23, I reckon you should check out the Gig Guide on the Women in Docs website and get a few friends or family and plan an easy night out with good music and lots of laughs 🙂

fireworks