Monday 3 November 2008

The spare room has been used!

Suddenly it’s Monday evening again and another week has whirled by. This week has been a special week though, thanks to a relatively impromptu, fairly whirlwind and very lovely visit from my mum. Somehow she pulled off an amazing feat of sticking to UK time for her trip here, which meant sleep during the day while I was at work, then evenings of sightseeing and nighttimes of reading and observing the ‘things that go bump in the night’ in our street!!

Particular highlights were the champagne cocktails at the Shangri-La with panoramic views across Sydney Harbour and a beautiful orangey-gold sunset. All too soon it was back to the airport though, and I was definitely a bit misty-eyed…

Drinks that evening with folks from work followed and sitting around sharing beers, good chat and a very balmy Friday evening was a good way to perk myself up. After a few fairly cold days, Friday was hot and humid (36 degrees at one point). But, as is the way here, the weather turned in a flash about 8pm Fri night as a cold southerly wind blew in and the temperature dropped a good ten degrees in ten minutes. It’s quite a phenomenon to experience.

Saturday was spent not doing too much, although we went to the local cinema in the evening to see Body of Lies with Leonardo di Caprio and Russell Crowe. It was okay but pretty forgettable with both actors playing versions of previous characters from previous films and a fairly dodgy plot centred around the CIA, the Middle East and a love interest. Predictable. There was also a gruesome torture scene!

The local cinema is quite fun though – it’s an old art deco place with old fashioned seats and furnishings, and a live organist (!)

Sunday was swimming, a meal out in China Town and then a trip to the Metro Theatre to see The Vines, supported by The Wa-has (teenagers with tight jeans, bad hair and lyrics no more imaginative than “Satan come home” repeated ad infinitum). Don’t really know The Vines stuff that well, they were okay but I wasn’t massively inspired to get to know their stuff any more, and I found myself mostly fascinated by watching the light tech at work, which probably isn’t the kind of review most bands want to get…

And so back to work today. This is my last week of doing my current two jobs. I start my main job properly next week (Mission Australia) after a long weekend away with K when we plan to go diving and driving. It will be good to get into a longer term challenge – it’s been fun doing shorter term stuff but my brain is itching to get stuck into new things!

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