Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!

I finished work yesterday at 8am. I was feeling quite awake and hungry, and I knew mc_shamo had the day off, so I rang him and arranged to meet him at Verb (our local awesome cafe) for breakfast. I was slightly late, due to coming out to the carpark to find our car completely iced over. Good Lord it was cold!

After a very yummy breakfast and a long nap we headed out grocery shopping. I had a craving for Tom Kha and chicken satay, so we hit KFL on Racecourse road, a big Asian supermarket. Unfortunately they were fresh out of fake chicken (I refuse to buy non-freerange chicken but alas can not often afford it- so fake chicken is the go) so we wandered over to Safeway where we ran in to mousebane and Will and were able to point them in the direction of KFL, which they had not known was there. We also got fake chicken, woot!

Once home I chucked the stock, water, lemongrass, chilli, lime leaves, garlic, ginger and galangal in a pot and let it boil up to make the tom kha broth while I curled up with Nemesis, the new Lindsay Davis noval (I finished it this morning, unlike the last two it's actually very good but very dark).

After soup we headed out to the Incinerator Art Complex to see a play called Black Face White Mask, it was an amazing experience. Written by an Englishman and a Vietnamese man working very closely for over a year with a group of about a dozen local youths, mostly African, one white, one Afgani, and one I think Italian or Greek. It was about growing up black in Australia, Melbourne in particular (most of the action was set around the Flemington flats). It was well written, though it did kind of peter out at the end. It was also incredibly funny, and the young people in it were obviously very invested in it. I really hope they get a chance to put it on again. I think with a bit of polishing it would make a great Fringe show.

We got home, had the satay and polished of an amazing chocolate tart of awesome each, then after a day of not-much I was so exhausted I went straight to bed and slept through until 7:30am this morning.

This morning I was treated to pancakes a la mc_shamo before he had to go to work. I then attacked the pile of detritus that is our computer desk. It took a very long time, some impromptu filing, a hunt through the recycling for tin cans able to become pen holders, some serious dusting and scrubbing and two episodes of Miss Marple on youtube (so conveniant when working on the computer desk!) and we now have a desk so clean and clear you could eat off it if you were so inclined. I finished up with a satisfied sigh, looked at the time and swore likea trooper as I hurled myself in the shower, through the bedroom for clothes and kitchen for food and out the door to get to work.

So far tonight has been pretty quite, the strong wind means we can only fly south, and as Melbourne is basically at the southern edge of mainland Australia this is not terribly helpful. However, apparently if we did have to go to Tasmania we'd get there really really fast.

So, all you Victorians on my flist, take care of yourself tonight!

Come see Trackers! You know you want to!

Opening this Friday and running on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for the next three weeks. 7:30pm

Booking info at www.omniprop.org or go to the MUDfest festival club in the Arts Centre (the one at uni, not the big impressive one, it's in the building on the corner of Gratten and Swanston)

Plundering the rubbish dumps at Oxyrhynchus, on the verge of nervous breakdown, two Oxford archaeologists hunt frantically for cultural treasure… and dig up ancient anarchy. Based loosely on modern fact and ancient fiction Omniprop Productions presents Tony Harrison’s London smash hit, The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus.

In 1897 Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt are supervising a team of unruly natives at the dig-site of ancient Greek-Egyptian city Oxyrhynchus. Hoping to discover lost works of cultural significance they instead uncover the petitions and pleas of commoners. Once hope is nearly gone they find fragments of a lost satyr play by Sophocles, Ichneutae, “The Tracking Satyrs.” This discovery unleashes the play’s characters from the papyrus and Apollo, Hermes, Silenus and a chorus of lewd, crude and rude satyrs (complete with their traditional costume of beards, ears and detachable phalluses) bring Sophocles’ long lost work to life. This bawdy and gory play gives new perspectives on the Sophocles of tragedy with whom you may be familiar.

Tony Harrison, most famous for his 1985 poem V, has been called Britain’s leading film and theatre poet. A Classics scholar from Leeds, he believes that, especially under censorship, “audiences read classical plays with a contemporary eye”. With Trackers he has skillfully woven the ancient and modern to make a compelling, thought-provoking and entertaining play.

First performed at the ancient stadium at Delphi in 1988, award wining theatre company Omniprop will perform Harrison’s Trackers of Oxyrhynchus among the arches and cloisters of the Old Law Quad at the University of Melbourne as part of the MUDfest festival. This will be the first not-completely-ancient play the classicists of Omniprop have undertaken, as well as their first performance outdoors.

Director Helen Slaney, a veteran and founding member of Omniprop, has a string of arrows to her bow; acclaimed actor, director and scholar. This will be her final Australian performance before departing to pursue her PhD at Oxford University.

Fall through the gaps in Sophocles’ text and be swept up in the satyrs’ search for the source of Poetry, Art, and all that Bull.

Please note this is an outdoor performance with standing room only, Omniprop recommends theatre-goers dress in warm and comfortable clothing.

Warning: may contain traces of ancient Greek.


Please come? I'm producing for the first time ever, and I want it to be a success!

On Sunday evening I was picked up from home by _audhumla_ and Stevie and we three drove to Bendigo. As much as I'd like to say it was a spur of the moment road trip performed by three mid 20s women in search of wacky adventure to a kickin' 90s soundtrack it was in fact a pre planned event. We were meeting mc_shamo, Helen and Sharon there and in the morning were going to perform Aeschylus' Persians for 70-odd VCE students. The others had already been at a rehearsal camp for Mostellaria all weekend, so were a tad worse for wear...

We managed to find our way to the YHA despite Bendigo's ludicrous amount of one-way streets. The YHA was really nice, we got an 8 bed room for the six of us all to ourselves and one of the lower bunk beds was a double, which was welcome as Seamus had been on rehearsal camp the night before and we'd missed each other. It sounds silly but I don't sleep well without him anymore. We sat and watched the multi media part of the play (John- the messanger- had been pre-recorded to appear as a news-report-cum-documentary) then as Sarah and I were getting noisier and noisier about our desire for dinner we all headed out to a local Chinese place where the staff were incredibly nice and possibly too ready to bend over backwards for us (no, really, what's on the menu is fine, we don't need the chef to make things up...). We then realised we'd prepared nothing for breakfast, silly us. So we asked the lovely Chinese lady about supermarkets and discovered we were a mere block from Coles, awesome.

The Coles, and it's carpark, was surrounded by teens and extremly young adults, most of whom had spilled from old cars with P plates on them. Many were still in the cars and engaged in driving very fast for very short distances. we had to walk through them, it was mildly disconcerting. Once out of Coles we had to walk through again, and we nearly jumped out of our skins when from a car parked near us there came a shriek of "Christina!!!!!" and a slim blonde girl jumped out- my cousin Heather. We hugged and I explained what I was doing in Bendigo and why I had not come to visit her family (feeling incredibly guilty as I did so) she was waiting for her boyfriend to come out of Coles and I would have liked to have met him, but by now it was past 10pm and we still needed to run the show before the next day, so with a final hug and directions to send my love to her family we left her among the youth of Bendigo.

Back at the backpackers we stumbled through a few lines runs before succombing to exhaustion and piling into beds. Best. Sleep. Ever. Oh lordy were we all tired! (Well, except Stevie, who sensibly had brought a book and a reading light) There wasn't even any chat after the lights went out.

The performance the next morning went very well considering. The kids were quiet and seemed absorbed, though turned shy afterwards and didn't ask questions until most of them had left, then a few came up to talk to us. I was feeling a little grumpy as Seamus had accidentally grabbed my ear instead of my hand to fling me across the stage (an easy mistake to make in the circumstances, though hard to explain on paper, and I was not grumpy with him just grumpy it had happened) and it bloody well hurt. We also chatted to one of the teachers who seemed really interested in what we'd done, especially with the concept of comedy within tragedy, with the idea that some of the lines can be comic. He was expecting the scene between Queen Atossa and the ghost of King Darius to be high drama I think, and instead we gave him a squabbling domestic tiff. I think he really liked it, and hopefully we get asked back again!

We walked through the park after the performance and hit the second hand books and clothes shops with a vengence before discovering that the brewery we were planning to lunch in (and drink in) was shut for the day. Bollocks. So we searched and search for a closeish decent pub, found one and walked in. Only on actually being inside did we discover that we'd managed, like the homing pidgeons we old MUCAAS types are, to end up in a Pugg Mahones.

A very nice few hours then passed, til we realised it was nearing 3pm and Seamus had to be back in Melbourne by 5:30. So we walked back to the cars and with a little too-ing anf fro-ing and organising of luggage we were off back to Melbourne, where I has the fun of driving un-accompanied through the city to get home after dropping seamus and Sharon off!

I got home, fed the cats (who had been fed that morning by the obliging _bounce_, thanks again!) and was just contemplating my own dinner when I received a very welcome text from vivienne_astor, asking me to come around, watch dvds and have Thai take away. And thus an evening was very pleasantly passed. :-)

The next day I blitzed through errands and housework like some sort of domestic goddess. I can breathe in my own home, oh joy!

Altogether a wonderful weekend, I'm so glad to have finally had a proper one. It makes up for the fact that I am now halfway through my hell-run at work (Thursday overnight, Friday afternoon, Saturday morning shifts- with only 8 hours between them).

Only three weeks til my next weekend! I think I may have to plan to do something fun with it...

Turns out mc_shamo can't make tonight for MacBeth after all :-(

So we'll be going next Thursday instead!

Anyone want to come too?

Preview tonight! $14

Season opens tomorrow: $16/$20

(Tightarse Tuesday $14)

Get a group of ten together and it's $12 per ticket

Show runs until 5th October. No Monday show.

Book at www.melbournefringe.com.au

Tech and dress were last night and were brilliant! And I'm saying that as someone who was a in a great deal of pain and went to the hospital straight after. (Mouth stuff, very unfun, and gross, if you come tonight or tomorrow you may still be able to discern a swelling on the left side)

I love Omniprop, I love this time of year.

Now accepting bookings!

I had my first rehearsal for Lysistrata yesterday. Due to circumstances beyond our control, I was the only one there, yay for individual attention! :-)

We had a big discussion about what we want this Lysistrata (character, not play) to be. What she's like, how old she is, does she have a back story etc.

Guess who my inspiration is to be? Go on, guess!

Linda Day.

Freakin' AWESOME! :-D :-D :-D

Hmm, looks like I can't post on Artshub without some money. Bum.

My weekend went quickly, as most seem to these days. In some ways it's nicer than when I was studying and working part-time, because the weekend is now absolutley deligated to "not-work" time. Sleeping in feels delicious, wheras it used to just be the norm (though I will never EVER get used to waking before 7:30am, and this is after over a year of waking around 6:15)

So on Saturnday mc_shamo and I slept in a bit, then went and had breakfast at Verb cafe. I caught a train then a tram out to Fitzroy to participate in Helen's Seneca acting workshop. It was awesome, and a really good way to remind myself that hey, I'm good at this, I can find stuff in the text, I can be convincing, I can act, and I enjoy it. Always good to be reminded of this before going into rehearsals for a new play :-)

Before arriving at the studio for the workshop I stopped at the ISHKA factory outlet on Nicholson street. Afew months ago I'd been in the Richmond ISHKA and seen a top I'd really liked, but could not afford at $52. The same top, in a colour I like, was in the outlet for $10, score!!

After the workshop I caught tram, train and tram to the gym, then walked home and started on dinner. I made an awesome dinner, I marinated calamari in honey, oil, soy, chilli, garlic and paprika, then I grilled it for a few minutes before tossing it in a salad. We had rin_tin_tin_ over as she and Seamus had a production meeting, and _audhumla_ and her friend Gus as they'd drove rin_tin_tin_ out then had their own plans cancelled. It was nice, we got the extend out table, and they got gelati and soft drinks! Yuuum! I went with them to pub, but did not stay too long.

Sunday morning I went over the top half of our house thoughroughly with a feather duster and vacuum cleaner, then cleaned out the bath, shower and basins. I can breathe a lot easier now, and it only took about an hour and a half. Seamus and I then visited a cafe we'd not been to before and had a quick light lunch, jumped on a train and headed off to the Lysistrata read-through.

Read-through went well, I like the new people I had not met before, and was glad to see so many familiar faces. I'm also really pleased that ephant has decided to give Omniprop a try! (She did Lysistrata back when the Classics Students Society- from which both MUCAAS and Omniprop grew- did it, it was... an interesting performance, this one will be better!)

After the read-through a half dozen or so of us went and got warm food because it was GOD DAMNED COLD. Then those in Twelth Night headed off for their call, the rest of us made our way leisurely through the city, Cleggs Fabrics and Brunettis, and then up to J-studios, where Twelth Night was being performed.

I have not laughed that hard at a show in ages. I think it was my favourite show I've seen this year, and that includes Wicked (which, though it was ok, didn't really grab me...) and other professional shows I saw while still with Ticketmaster. Oh my God; hilarious. I thouroughly enjoyed it, and wished that I could have come another night too (unfortunately it turned out the last night was the only one we could make). Even better, I'm sure I would have found it just as hilarious, enchanting and captivating had I not known more than half the cast. Any of you crazy kids reading this- well bloody done! I hope you're all proud of yourselves, and given the show finished last night, I hope you're all thoughroughly hungover!

It only took us an hour and a bit to get home, which is good considering it was a Sunday. We had a supper of oysters Seamus had bought me as a treat from the market the preceeding day, I got out an extra blanket after deciding it was too cold in bed (which occasioned some quoting of the play we'd done a read-through for that day...) and I finally, FINALLY, slept an entire night through! Did not wake until 6:30am. Fantastic.

At some point, I'll have a relaxing empty weekend EVEN if I'm not sick. I just don't know when..

I am ambivelant enough about work that I won't mind if my contract finishes or is extended, either is fine.

I still can't sleep a night through, but I'm getting better at only waking up once.

mc_shamo is sick, but I have not yet caught it.

I got in Lysistrata, I was originally cast as Kalonike, but there was the obligatory people-accepting-their-role-then-declining-later and I was bumped to Lysistrata in the ensuing re-shuffle. I'm excited and nervous, and though I've made cracks about it before, will probably get quite oversensitive about "sleeping with the director" jibes, just to warn you. Please don't make them.

I get to go to the gym less than I'd like, but when I'm there I realise how much fitter and stronger I am than this time last year, and think about how fit and strong I'll be this time next year if I keep it up.

I only seem toget to catch up with people in half hour blocks, but those half hours are very precious to me.

I'm busy, I'm working, I'm keeping a house under control, I'm playing with and feeding a kitten, I'm maintaining friendships and relationships, I'm constantly assessing feelings and avoiding depression traps. I feel like I'm drowning a lot of the time but when I look at it objectivley I'm doing ok.

On Tuesday night I went to the gym and went the whole way through my new program. Huh, I thought when I'd finished, that wasn't very hard, I barely feel anything, I don't even think this program is doing anything! Yesterday morning I woke up with my body one big ache. Ok, so maybe the program is working after all. Going back in tonight after meeting my little brother for coffee. I'll probably be there around 6:30pm if anyone is interested in joining me (vivienne_aster? fnoo? _audhumla_? etc.) :-)

Yesterday I worked eight hours like the good, wage-earner I am, then met up with impostinator for dumplings and hot chocolate. I had to be home by 8pm to be in photos, and I realised when on the tram that I was going to be early, but then out of nowhere I saw doesthemgkdrgn with his girlfriend Aimee which was a pleasant suprise as I thought they were still off fruit-picking somewhere warm. I got off the tram and had a ten minute chat with them, very glad I did, because they're leaving for Canada on Monday, so I was lucky to run into them now!

I managed to get home a few minutes before 8pm and chatted with mc_shamo and _bounce_ who was very kindly lending a hand (hee! pun!)for the photos. Then the very very awesome sunshinenoir arrived to take photos. We were re-doing the publicity picture for Lysistrata for the posters. Very similar to the publicity shot, except with a woman's hand flicking over one of the soldiers (thanks _bounce_!), a better background, a much better camera, a professional photographer (thanks sunshinenoir!) and, surprisingly, less falling over of the soldiers than last time, even though I think I was lying there longer (and kept giggling, it's very hard to stay still when the others are all cracking jokes and when everytime they re-arranged the soldiers it tickled!) From what I got to see afterwards the shots look really cool.

By the time all that was finished and I'd eaten and gotten into bed it was nearly midnight.

I'm tired.

Happy, but tired.