New Edition

E and I attended the launch party - "an evening of fun and frivolity" - for the New Edition Bookshop on William Street in Northbridge.

I have been a fan of New Edition in Fremantle for a while, ever since I wandered in one day and saw the prominence that they placed on Booker Prize nominated books and all things literary. This was while they were still on the main drag (Market Street).

My sister E, usually sharp on all of the trendy stores in town, initially believed that it was a religious bookstore (due to the name!) but has since revised her assessment.

Never judge a book by its cover!

They really know how to put on a party, with the wine free flowing, yummy nibbly things and live entertainment.

We were both keen to buy a book but the press of the crowd was too much. I like to browse well before I make up my mind on what to buy, so we will definitely be back later when there are less people and more room to move!

We also wandered past the newly opened Fox Hunt and tu. C was with us by this stage so we saved those stores for another occasion.

Go Gorillaz!

E and I went to the Gorillaz concert last night at the Burswood Dome. It was AWESOME!! The concert itself was such good fun, the music flowed for a couple of hours and there were some awesome special guests.

I was curious to see how they handled the fact that the Gorillaz are cartoon characters, and it seems that a massive screen and huge band were the way that they coped! We were treated to Little Dragon and De La Soul as the support acts, and both acts made it back on stage during the Gorillaz to join in the fun! De La Soul in fact are part of the Gorillaz performance group and it was awesome to see songs being performed live!

Damon Albarn, the main voice behind Gorillaz, was in fine form and he bounced his way around the stage and tried to get the crowd enthused. At one point he commented on our "weird" venue - I cannot remember his exact words - but what he said rang true! Getting into the Burswood Dome is fairly straightforward but exiting through the airlocks is a pain in the rear, as the crowds bank up behind the revolving door bottle neck.

It was such good fun and E and I were buzzing as we made our way home! I half joked that we should fly to Adelaide tomorrow for their next concert. Woo!

19 slice pudding

My uni mate T is not often in Perth. He has been working overseas now for nearly four years and so when he comes back the uni crew have reason to celebrate! This time around was a fairly low key affair and he dusted off his culinary skills to impress us.

Impressed we were, first by a smooth and creamy chocolate mousse and then by his truly unique apple and currant bread and butter pudding. T was not content to follow the recipe in its recommended quantities. Six slices of bread was not generous enough! So nineteen slices later we had a pudding. Luckily he had bought two loaves of bread, otherwise he could have been in strife during the construction process.

You can see T proudly displaying his pudding. M is pointing out the fact that T bought THE WRONG BRAND OF CUSTARD!! Our friend P who also enjoyed mousse and pudding is employed by one of their rivals, and we really must support his employment.

Quiz for a cause

On Saturday evening we caught up with some friends for a quiz! The money raised all went to a good cause, the Breast Cancer Network Australia. This group provides support for those affected by breast cancer and much more.

Back to the quiz. There were questions, and lots of pink, and cupcakes for sale and all things good! We were not a standout, coming in the middle of the pack - back to studying for us! - but a good night was had by all and it was great to catch up with friends for a bit of a laugh.

Thank you P for organising the table and let us know when the quiz rocks around next year. I promise to study up on my trashy teen and reality TV in preparation for the quiz.

The Sleeping Beauty

Last night I went to the ballet with my sisters. Well, sister and soon to be sister-in-law. The performance was The Sleeping Beauty by the West Australian Ballet. I had high expections of the show, being a score by Tchaikovsky and a familiar story.

It was a lovely performance, although to me it seemed to wander around the actual story a bit - lots of padding - and the final act was a puzzle as the King & Queen were joined by characters from all different fairy tales! We played spot the fairy tale and I was hard pressed to try and recognise them all. There was Snow White and Seven Small Bearded Children, Puss-in-Boots and his wife(?), Red Riding Hood and the Wolf and Rapunzel and her rock-climbing prince amongst others.

It was great to see and hear something a bit different from the normal, and attending a classical music concert always prompts me to try to listen more often to my modest collection.

All dressed up - again!

I have been with my current employer for a few years now and have been to the company ball every year. It is always a good party, with around 800 guests, and we usually have a great group of people on our table. This year was no exception!

The ball this year was at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre. The food was not too bad and I liked the layout of the venue this year. We had a theme of Carnivale and the entertainment included trapeze artists, strongmen and ribbon twirling and hula hoop lasses.

One thing that I did not understand was what they were doing with the lighting. We struggled to identify our entrees under the blue light, and our main and dessert were decidedly red!

You have to love those ribbons!


PS We left the night early because Chad had a horror cold and I had a hockey preliminary final the next morning. Unfortunately we lost our game so I could have stayed out partying anyway!

Dinner with the hockey girls

Second last fixture of the season and I finally managed to get my act together to organise a dinner for my hockey team! Ten of us were able to make it, so not a bad number for a team of eleven plus reserves.

Dinner was at The Windsor Hotel. Coincidentally this is Chad's and my favourite pub and we generally have good food and a good time!

It was great to catch up with the girls socially and it is always fun to see everyone out of uniform and with their hair down. It was an especially good day as we had won our game earlier and we were on a high.

The team... well, most of us!

Kirsty and Dannii

Janelle and AJ

Marie and me

Ellen and Sara

Meg and Molly!

Out of this world

Tonight C and I went along to the Perth Concert Hall to watch the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) play Space Classics!

From the photos I took you may be mistaken in thinking it was actually a Star Wars Spectacular. In fact, half of the pieces that were played were by John Williams, with the other half made up of some of Holst's planets, Johann Strauss (courtesy of 2001: A Space Odessey), Star Trek, Thunderbirds...
The encore was music from the credits of Star Wars! So in fact John Williams pieces did make up just over half of what we heard.

I especially enjoy the Holst (Mars, Mercury and Jupiter) and the Strauss (Also Sprach Zarathustra and Blue Danube Waltz). It has been a while since I saw live classical music and I really need to make an effort. Personally though I was disappointed that Doctor Who did not crack a mention! But then I am such a fan.

Bounty hunters playing up for the camera
C watching Darth Vader and his crew glide past
Waiting to take off!
Do not mess with this crew
A dancing storm trooper (he tap danced for me!)
Obi Wan Conductor (he also dressed as Superman!)
Guarding the stage
Our concert hall at night

All dressed up

A couple of weeks ago C and I got all dressed up to go to my (current) workplace's annual party. I had started there the day the invitations were sent out and was stoked that we would be able to attend.

They call it the annual party. This year the theme was "Russia" and the early entertainment was provided by Ukraine dancers. I could not help but wonder whether there was any bad sentiment due to the fact the theme was Russian and they were being represented by Ukraine dancers. I have not got a very good grasp on politics of the region so it was a passing thought.

We were placed on a random table and made some new friends. We sat next to a lovely lady and we spent a lot of the evening chatting to her.

Our table was in the back corner, away from the entertainment. This did not concern us and was especially convenient once the curtains at the back of the room opened to reveal a vodka bar!

There was dancing and merriment and fun was had by all. A great night out for us.