Once at the studio we were given our own dressing rooms in the ‘artists’ section of the studios.  For some reason I noticed the names “Millsy and Angela” on my door.  I knew it wasn’t me as none of the other contestants had a name on their door and when my make up was being done I noticed one colour kit was labelled “The Mint.”  Apparently the last episode of The Mint was shot on the weekend – which I mentioned to R as he loves that show.  I have to say it has amused me a lot when I get home late after a big night out.  I just don’t get a broner from Millsy.

Once we’d arrived we got shuffled into the  “Image” Department.  In front of a room of mirrors with lights all around them, I had the dark circles under my eyes and the blotches on my cheeks covered up, my make up applied flawlessly and my hair styled by a woman who did hair styling for Neighbours longer than most stars were on the show.

Whilst waiting for a friend to be made up, one of the girls started reading the trivia questions from a paper.  “How many horsemen of the apocalypse were there?”  “Four!” I blurted out, forgetting that I shouldn’t seem too smart or self-assured in front of the other contestants.  But I still managed to get her other trivia questions correct.  They were heaps easier than the Qantas Magazine (which is some of the hardest Trivia I’ve seen to date).

Whilst in there a petite blonde woman rugged up in a jumper and scarf came in and talked very familiarly with all the hair and make up girls.  She was later joined by a tall brunette woman and a guy who was cute in a little school boy sort of way.  They guy kept looking at me, which made me worry that there was something going wrong with the make up or that he was freaked out at a larger sized person in a workplace which seemed to boast a lower than average BMI (but not an unhealthy one by any standard).  Although in retrospect I was probably spending a bit of time looking at the blonde woman wondering who she was.  I realised later that she was Livinia Nixon, the show’s hostess and the other two were the models from the show!  My bad – they just seemed quite unassuming and fairly ordinary rather than like well heeled celebrities.

After being done up I headed back into my dressing room to chat to R and sign a contract which didn’t really have any surprises (except that I wouldn’t divulge the outcome of the show) and read through the rules.  I also found out that the other woman from Qld, who I was sharing a dressing room with had previously been on a reality show (and won a substantial sum of money).  Other contestants were in and out of each other’s rooms chatting and enjoying themselves.  R kept commenting on how we were all extroverts and must be on a high – I thought I kept that part of me pretty much in check rather than letting it get too out of hand!

Once we were all finally scrubbed and made up (the guys included), we headed into a small room to be debriefed by the outgoing contestant co-ordinator Jess, who was helping to hand over to the incoming co-ordinator Fiona.  We were told that we had been selected as contestants who stood out in the auditions as people that viewers might relate to.  We were supposed to enjoy the experience, take the cash if we were the leading point scorer and were offered the vault and not to bad the prizes as we were on commercial television and they were our sponsors (who obviously made it possible for us to be on telly).  The contestant co-ordinators were introduced as being there to help and advocate for us.  And that as we’d passed the quiz to get on the show, we should have no trouble answering 90% of the questions asked of us as they were a bit more simple to account for the fact that we would be under just a little bit of pressure.  We would also have a bit of ambient noise to deal with from the audience, crew etc and we would have to listen carefully to Ed Phillips as he would only be speaking at normal volume from across the room.  We were also instructed to be present and alert for the whole so and not to look down at the card in front of us with the names of the celebrities on the famous faces screen if we correctly answered the “Who am I?” question.  Nifty idea as I had always wondered how the contestants remembered the names of the people on the board, as I didn’t know who half of them usually were.

And on that note, we headed in to the studio where the set and audience awaited us.

Some one in the audience asked the MC where Livinia got her dresses and if contestants had to wear their own clothes.  Last year, after noticing some contestants looked fantastic and some contestants got their clothes from the sales rack at Rockmans (what can I say, I often remember garments), I figured that contestants were responsible for dressing themselves rather than having the services of an image department.

 I thought I'd let you all know how my Temptation experience went.  It was filme in March and I will warn you that I can not divulge how the actual show went until after it goes to air, so I will stick to the experience of the day for now and the rest will come later.  There's lot's to tell and it was quite exciting, so I'll do more than on entry.  I know one of the grand champions wrote about his experience in the Sydney Morning Herald recently, and was fairly accurate, but obviously every one's experience of the show is different.

The shows in question go to air this week.

On Monday morning I left work a little early to catch a plane to Melbourne.  Not a highlight of my year as I seem to average about 26 flights a year for work (probably 30 by the end of this year), but I will say I was delighted to go through security and not have a laptop to take out of my bag or a weeks worth of clothes to check in.  

In fact all I had was 3 outfits as per the Temptation email, which is to ensure any successful contestants didn’t look like complete dags if they were successful and appeared on more than one night.  A whole week of shows is filmed in one day.  It felt like too much for a night, but my thoughts were just preoccupied by the fact that if I embarrassed myself the next day, it wasn’t just in front of an audience, like when I public speak, it was in front of 1 million prime-time viewers.  And also I’d told most of my friends that I would be on the show so there was no escape!

After a fairly uneventful flight, R and I were picked up from the airport by a car, which for a few brief moments on the walk to the car park, I thought might be a Chrysler (was the very plush Holden next to it).  And then we checked into the Crown Promenade Hotel in Melbourne’s Southbank.  To our good fortune we were upgraded two levels from the room booked by the production company to a Studio room, which was spacious and overlooked the city.  It also had some of the comfiest pillows I’d slept on.

I didn’t actually sleep very deeply and woke up a bit tired from that and having to get up in the dark at 6:30am – 5:30am Qld time (damn daylight savings).  Even though I didn’t have to do my hair or make up I still took half an hour to get ready and had to rush down to the hotel restaurant for a buffet breakfast before checking out and being ready for pick up at 7:30am.  Being more nervous than I thought I was, I didn’t eat quite so well as I usually do when I have breakfast in a hotel.

After 15 minutes of waiting in the foyer, treating every passing person destined for a tour bus with suspicion in case they were a fellow contestant, I finally found my car in the car park.  There were 7 of us – 4 contestants and 2 supporters.  One contestant was from Sydney, one from Hobart and two of us from Queensland.  All fairly full of energy and excitement that we had been chosen to appear on the show.  I found out that my fellow contestants had been asked the same question I had by their friends, “What if it doesn’t go to air?”  This is a bit of a hot topic at the moment, because I know some bingo show did not air all of it’s episodes and did not pay any prizes to the people who were in the axed episodes.  Apparently there is a lawsuit in the works.  From what I have heard about this story, they had actually signed an agreement as such, which seems fairly logical.  It’s commercial television, they’re only going to give you something if they get their advertising revenue!  Just another reason to read every contract you sign carefully.  Most of us had dismissed this concern because unlike other shows, Temptation requires continuity, champions carry over from one show to the next and it would not only be confusing for viewers if a show was left out, but they may have to re-film several episodes.  Also having started as The Great Temptation, transforming into it’s best known form Sale of the Century and after a few years off becoming it’s present show Temptation, I’d be surprised if it was axed suddenly.  They’d probably also annoy a lot of very generous sponsors.

Arriving at the studio was amusing as our South African driver dropped us off on the pavement after refusing to go into the gated area of the studio as he didn’t trust anywhere he couldn’t get out of.  Logic that would be useful in ZA but not really warranted in Australia…  …unless he gets some dodgy clients.

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I’ve just come across the most wonderful men!  Sadly it was just in passing.

I just left a jewelry store (interstate) purchasing a charm for my bracelet as my usual little pay day reward and I was in line behind two men.  One was making a purchase and instantly signed up for a frequency card reward.  Initially I thought this was a bit odd until the second customer came through.  It was a couple, the lady was buying a bracelet like mine for a friend and the store assistant asked if she had a frequency card.  Even though she had two, almost full bracelets she did not.  However her boyfriend who was with her did.  I know I’m making a big assumption, but obviously he was the one doing the buying of the charms.

I like it.  And I’m surprised by it as I’m yet to go to a jewelry store in Brisbane that isn’t full of women.  (And I do a lot of looking without buying as I plan to treat myself soon).  Even when I’ve had a looksee in Tiffany on the odd occasion. I’m sure there was only one guy in there once.  The only men I’ve seen in my favourite, slightly more artistic stores like Canturi or Jorge Jensen are the ones that work there.  Perhaps it’s just in Brisbane that women don’t get showered with jewelry, flowers and chocolate…  fortunately I’m a modern woman and can satisfy myself in this department.  But I still think I’ve found the most wonderful men.

Last night I went to Gold Class at the cinemas for the first time.  Overall it was an average experience.  But one thing I did notice is that the ladies room was rather well and tastefully done as well as being clean and in good repair.

Usually I wouldn’t notice, as toilets are one of the things you only notice when they are poorly done, but I spent the weekend noticing bad toilet facilities.  I was in Melbourne, I have to say the southern states do not do lavatory facilities particularly well.

My weekend started in Dockside for a work function at a very nice, restaurant/bar with lovely interior design.  This image was shattered when I went to the ladies to find that the seat in my cubicle was not only loose but had been completely removed.  Moments later I also discovered that the one soap dispenser did not work, the water sprayed all over me and there was only one tap working anyway.  There were also no hand driers.

At the risk of sounding/feeling like a middle aged menopausal woman, rest room facilities are vitally important to my enjoyment.

Further to this, there were three of us girls staying in the one serviced apartment for the weekend.  There was one bathroom.  There wasn’t even an ensuite.  We were lucky there were no fights.

On Saturday we progressed to an almost enjoyable club – The Long Room – in quest of cocktails.  Cocktail nights are always good.

When I finally paid a visit to their facilities, which were already difficult to find, I was again, quite disappointed.  The stalls were way too dirty for that early in the night, covered in graffiti and the locks didn’t quite work.  Also only one of the taps worked – one had the handle removed and one had the lever replaced with a very short screw.  On the up side they had a hot iron instead of a condom vending machine on the wall.  The hot iron always reassures me that people aren’t as banal as is suggested by the media.  But straightener aside, this was meant to be a nice club!

I won’t go into the QVM facilities or why I never used the rest room in Melbourne Airport.

By contrast this week I’ve been into the Wintergarden, Queen’s Plaza and Gold Class.  All much better facilities.  So all in all, I must say when you gotta go, go in Queensland.

http://www.toiletmap.gov.au

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So I am sorry to inform you all, that whilst I survived my Temptation experience, I can not tell you about it.  Well not yet.  I had to sign a form to say I wouldn't disclose the outcome and I'm pretty sure that blogging about it is a good way to get caught.

Wilst there were no clauses stating what would happen in the event of a breach, I'm not prepared to risk it.  I am however writing up my experiences and reflections of the day so that when I do publish it on this blog, they will be accurate, rather than a vague recollection of what happened 6 weeks before hand.

I also can't post any images I may or may not have of the show as the set is copyright.  But R did get a nice pic of me all made up for the show.

All I can say is be watching from 12th May 2008 when the show goes back to air!

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A few weeks ago I mentioned to my boyfriend that I wouldn’t mind going to the car show.  An entirely selfishly motivated offer as I actually like looking at beautiful pieces of machinery (just don’t talk about them to me too much or my eyes will glaze over) but I thought that as most boys quite like their toys, it might be a welcome suggestion.  It was met with much less enthusiasm than I expected..

On Saturday morning, before going out and doing some council campaigning, I drove my little brother to pick up his new Focus.  He mentioned that he had to go in early as the Ford people were all going to the car show.  I thought that I might head in during the afternoon to have a look see and still be home in time to go out with R.  However whilst we were both sitting on a roadside minding signs for different council candidates R and I had a chat and decided we would go in the evening.  When I finally got home I found out that Bentley would be there so I was in for a treat.  (Surprisingly Porsche and Mercedes weren’t going to be there!)  In the end we also too R’s friend (who will be referred to as V to avoid confusion).

V it turns out was a Motor show guru as he had previously done work for Maserati at previous shows and was musing as to which girls in which stands would be the prettiest…  so much for going just for the machines.

We walked in to be greeted by some nice looking HSV’s and Mazdas.  They were very practical cars, and no doubt, next time I have to purchase a vehicle, I’ll get to see them again.  However, much to my delight, Bentley were in the middle of the floor close to the entrance.  I pointed out to the boys that I would sell my soul and just about anything else for a Continental Flying Spur which I was finally able to see in the flesh.  We walked up to the display area which was fenced off and V immediately started chatting to the saleswoman, who was an old friend of his.  We were also joined by one of the Gentlemen from the adjoining Maserati and Ferrari display who use to work with V.  Obviously with connections like these, I was privileged enough to not only get to see the vehicle up close, but sit behind the wheel and enjoy the wood panelled, leather interior and also look under the bonnet at one of the biggest engines I had seen.  What ever comes after super car heaven without getting to take it for a test run, I was there.

As the Maserati’s were V’s favourite, we then got a look in on their display.  Not quite the luxury of the Bentley, but still super cars elegant enough to whet my excitement.  V seemed very much in his element, however R was still yet to get behind the wheel.  But he was still suitably impressed enough to comment that when his dad looks to replace his Porche 9-11 that he would be encouraging him to check out the A6 1500 GT (I think that was the one we were looking at…)  As the show is very much a place of artifice rather than a true experience to appreciate the vehicles in front of us (how can you do that without driving them?) I had to judge by the surface.  I was just a little bit disappointed that Maserati had included very obvious cup holders – oh so tacky.  Even my little Pulsar and R’s 320i makes some attempt to hide them.

Next were the Ferrari’s and there were two which we got to play with.  Again, this will sound a little girly, but one had the engine in the front and one in the back.  I liked the simplicity of the Ferrari much more than the showiness of the Maserati.  Also the one with the engine in the front was a bit more sophisticated than the other, which was really just a jet engine with a lovely body and leather seats attached.  Whilst still a super car it had a bit more style.

We didn’t get prices for the vehicles (other displays had included them), but I know a Bentley will set you back at least 250k pounds (and would be at least the same here), and I assume the Maserati was a bit more costly than the Ferrari, but that judgement was only based on the quality of printing of their brochures…

Finally, we moved on to BMW, where both R and V were in their element, both being BMW owners and having a passion for the vehicles.  What was most eye catching was the new 135 model coming out in July as it had the same engine and performance metrics as some of the 5-series vehicles and costed just over $70k.  The boys had a great time checking out the BMW’s and the sales guy knew both of them, so we got a lot of good service.  They also tried to convince me to make my next vehicle a 125, which will be highly dependent on some significant pay increases.  Whilst only about $12k more than my last budget, I hate paying for the sodding thing.

We had a further stroll around the exhibits, only really spending time to check out the Mitsubishi Evo.  Mitsubishi’s display was on a raised up platform and they had what would be the ultimate driving video game, where you actually got to sit in one of their vehicles with the projected image of the track in front of you.  Also there were two girls from Mitsubishi sitting in the back of one of the smaller vehicles which was on display.  V got me to sit in the front in an attempt to chat to the girls, which may have been quite a successful move had they not been exhausted from 9 days of 10am to 10pm after having travelled up from Adelaide.

We also strolled through the motorbikes, which were not that exciting, until I spied a jetski in the Honda display.  I love boats and if and if and when I finally get a place of my own, a boat or jetski will be the next investment (okay not so much investment as toy).

On the way out we had a quick look at the Audi’s, which were not that impressive and the Lexus display.  There were some very sexy vehicles on show from Lexus.  And V stopped by the Toyota stand to try his luck with the girls there.  Also whilst V kept looking at the Audi’s R and I checked out the Alfa Romeo Spider – priced at a mere $97k.  Whilst the automatic convertible roof was convenient, it left no room for the golf clubs.  Also the sales guy was a little patronising when I asked him about the car came up with brilliant things like, “It’s blue.” and when asked how fast it went, said, “really fast” before conceding that it did 0-100 in 7s.  Rather pathetic when put next to the BMW’s if serious at all.

We finally got kicked out at 10pm as the place closed and all in all it was worth a look.  I know that it’s often observed that Vogue is actually largely catered to the middle class woman as something to aspire to and set her taste.  I think the Motor show is much the same for middle class men.  All in all, lots of fun.

http://www.brisbanemotorshow.com.au/

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I have just got back from The Police concert at Suncorp Stadium (nee Lang Park) and had the best time!  It was such a good concert.

We went into the stadium to the sounds of a band which I was told to be Sting's son's band.  A little unremarkable, but something to provide some background as we grabbed drinks and snacks.  Our seats were only in the B-reserve, but in the 17th row of the first teir of seats and fairly close to the front - I was duly impressed.

Fergie performed first, entering to sing some of her favourite hits.  I was quite impressed and the set included some regge-style songs which suited the tone of the evening.  All the instrumentation was live and she was accompanied by a group of dancers who were in their forte when showing off some break-dance moves later in the show, but at times seemed a little ameture when dancing in a group.  They also had some odd and un-matching outfits which irked me a bit.  Fergie herself was quite impressive with her own dance moves.  After changing from her initial white and gold outfit, she came out all in black to do some awesome covers of some amazing rock songs including Stones covers, moving on to a medley of BEP songs.  From memory it was during this set where she managed to do single handed backflips across the stage whilst still singing and not dropping a beat.  One final costume change whilst the dancers were showing off and she sung three of her more famous songs - Glamourous, Big Girls Don't Cry and (to R's delight) Fergilicous.  I was actually quite impressed with the final costume change as well, which was a gold and bronze happi-coat worn as a dress in some towering heels, which did not stop her dancing a step.  All in all it was an impressive act to see and I heard a lot of comments that she could have had her own concert with the act rather than being a support number.  I was a little disapointed that the sound guys did not make such an dynamic performer who had such a good voice sound better.  At times there was too much distortion (possibly because the stadium was still filling?) and too often the instruments were much louder than her voice.  Most big performers that I've heard here always comment on what they got up to during the day, which more often than not involves a theme park or Australia Zoo.  I was impressed that she mentioned that she'd actually gone fishing!  Perhaps not the most exciting thing to do in Brisbane, but definitely a pretty Aussie thing to do on your day off.

The Police came on after a short interlude, starting with Message in a Bottle and continuing to play through so many of their timeless classics for almost two hours.  I was surpised to see  Sting with a beard, but he mentioned that he'd been in Australia for a little while and grown it whilst down in Byron Bay...  not sure if it's true, but defintiely an amusing thought.  Unlike other sad old tired rockers still around (not naming any names, Keith Richards and Ozzie Osbourne), these guys have obviously looked after themselves and are still in top form.  Sting's voice is unaltered from his hey-day, still sounding wonderful.  The guitars were awesome (the bass player reminding me of Alan Rickman for some reason) and the percussionist, Stewart Copeland is just amazing.  These guys are absolute top-class performers.  Ocassionally I felt sorry for them, not having an audience which was a big as it could be (capacity for 50k and only 30k sold) or as responsive as it could be.  One song they had every one clapping at the beginning and it had stopped only a minute into the number.  But all in all, an awesome performance and awesome repitoire and well worth getting to for those in other parts of the country.  Brisbane was the first concert in Australia, with Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth still to be visited.

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Well the rain has finally stopped and the threat of EI has been on the decrease for many months now.  With that in mind I orgainsed a trip to the races yesterday.  Whilst there were no special races to be run, I thought that the long gap since last attending would warrant a new trip.  I must say I was a little disappointed that so many people expressed a desire to come and in the end it was just R and me.  I was fully prepared for the fact that we would be leaving early, however we stayed the day and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was certainally off to a slow start having had a little flutter on the first two races we were there for and not doing well at all.  However after the third race (4th for the day) I did quite well, picking the horses that same first and second in the 5th and 7th races of the day.  I must say if my fortunes had not turned, I may have just resigned myself to consuming large quantities of the Killawara Dusk that always seems to be served at Eagle Farm (very drinkable, but very cheap and nasty sparking pink wine).  I was also on a budget thanks to an overdrawn fee which was twice what it had been in the past and only because I'd put money in the wrong account (grrr).  When there are more people at the races, you do get more people like me placing almost insignificant bets, but when I came to collect yesterday I was collecting $10 at a time where others were collecting $200.  But I guess that's not much money for other people!  Also R was picking a few winners (and I'd converted him to going each way rather than just on the nose) so he enjoyed the day much more than I thought!

The day was actually rather pleasant, even though it didn't match up to my social expectations.  It wasn't too hot and cloudy, it wasn't too crowded and every one seemed to be there for the races.  There were a lot less show ponies off the field than usual, possibly because the lack of a big event but also because some people may also think that the races are off due to the Equine Influenza outbreak, which is not 100% over, but the racing ban has been lifted.  It was actualy quite a down to earth crowd and I could have even got away with wearing jeans and not standing out too badly.  Especially amongst the thongs and shorts brigade.

All in all, a lovely day out.  I just wish that a few more people had joined us!

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For the next few months the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane will host an exhibition of Andy Warhol’s work.  The exhibition has two components – one for general exhibit ($20) and one for children (free).  I’ve been twice now and not only enjoyed seeing the dynamic work, spanning 4 decades, of one of the defining artists of the 20^th Century, but also thought it was good value.  The exhibit has over 300 artworks and took just under 3 hours to view both times (making pricing on par with most major cinema chains for the time you’re there, but with much less to disappoint).  The work also covers a variety of mediums, from painting and drawing, to Warhol’s famous screen prints, to film, photography, time capsules, music, television and samples of his magazine Interview.

The exhibition commences with his work from the 50’s and early 60’s, including some early work as a commercial artist.  It shows an iconic 60’s style which includes some amusing works, but also some meaningful ones.  The works then progress to the beginnings of his Pop Art, which included prints of money, boxes, and his most famous works, the Campbell Soup Cans.  Warhol’s portraits, including commissioned portraits and images of popular icons of the time are on display, showing his distinct style of vividly coloured backgrounds, and screen printed images in striking colours.  Many of the commissioned portraits came from sessions in New York photo booths with his subjects taken in a variety of poses and also just talking or laughing.  Many of the photos used for the portraits in the first room of the exhibition were on show in the second room.  Many of the subjects are as interesting as the portraits themselves, with Warhol choosing images of people who were just popular at the time – some much younger than I was use to seeing – Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jager (who had signed his) and Marlon Brando amongst others.  Mao Zedong also appeared in some imaged and coupled with images and abstracted images of the Hammer and Sickle later in the exhibition, I wondered if it showed left-wing or communist sympathies.  But given the environment of the time, it was unlikely and also the commentary put with the images was that he was featured prominently in the news due to some of Nixon’s activities at the time – like most of his work, it was a reflection on the popular not the underlying meaning.  The back wall of the first room was covered in huge portraits of about 21 people – most of them famous, but also including his mother.  Unlike some of the other images such as the ones from Ladies and Gentlemen series (portraits of transvestites and drag queens) which had patches of bright colours seemingly randomly placed in the background, these were more flattering images, still in Warhol’s particular style and colour selection.  One of the images which caught my eye was of Truman Capote, the writer, who also featured in some of the time capsule items displayed in the same area as the portraits.  Coupled with drawings with homoerotic undertones early in the exhibition, I started to wonder if they were involved at some point.  The other two portraits that I particularly liked were of Liza Minelli and also Deborah Harry – the portrait of Harry in particular showing that over time that the pop art portraits had almost mellowed and the colours became more flattering (natural is hardly a word that could be used).  On display, were also the pictures of Marylin Munroe, possibly Warhol’s most famous  and notable images after the soup cans.  The were part of a series called ‘Death in America’ which also had silk screens of electric chairs, funerals and car crashes.  There was also an extensive piece showing the news and images of John Kennedy’s assassination, funeral and Lee Harvey Oswald’s shooting by the police.

The first room of the exhibition also included some of his film work, such as his film portraits, The Kiss and Blow Job as well as a separate room showing Chelsea Girls, which apparently was a commercial success.

The remainder of the exhibition wasn’t as striking and focused on Warhol’s later works, which were still quite interesting.  In between the two gallery spaces one of the three story walls was covered in quotes from Warhol – one I thought particularly pertinent for R, “Don’t read what they say about you, just measure it in inches.”  There were also exhibits of his TV show, which was fairly unique (I won’t say bizarre as it wasn’t, nor was it post-modern, as Warhol is very much part of the modern art movement).  There were also hundreds of examples of covers from his Interview magazine, always graced by the cover of celebrities.

The second gallery started with a display of religious works.  Warhol was an active Roman Catholic, and I’ve also just read he also funded his nephew’s studies to go into the priesthood.  Some of the images were simple such as sculls and crosses, but there were also giant images of Jesus and Mary, coupled with images of bikes and prices – some of them spanning whole walls.  There were also a number of prints of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, which put me to mind of Umberto Eco’s comments in Faith in Fakes regarding how the original is now often much less spectacular and impressive than the copies.  Following on from this there were also some of Warhol’s photographs.  Whilst early on he liked using his Polaroid camera, he eventually bought a proper one.  There were also photographs of him in drag – not total drag, just the make up and various wigs.  This was a good lead up to some of his self portraits and further photos of him with a variety of celebrities and friends.  By the time the self-portraits had emerged (at least the ones on display), it was the 1980’s and Warhol had used fluro colours in some images.  This was also seen in his abstracted images, which were not so much images abstracted by him, but prints of abstracted images in popular culture such as Ink Blots (used in the past for some very bad psych testing) and camouflage.

The time capsules also provided many points of interest, apparently Warhol created hundreds during his life, largely of things that he had just come across that day, but also including other items of interest such as the photo booth pictures used for his portraits.  Sometimes there were invites, pictures of stars and famous people, books, letters of interest or also business.  One display was the almost obsessive collection of place cards from a dinner, and there were also packages of cosmetics and skin creams which Warhol had used.

At the end of the display there was the option to go into the Sliver Factory, the children’s display.  After the main exhibition the little bit I saw was not quite as interesting, but would have been great for primary aged children.  One highlight, which my friend and I did have a go at was Silver Clouds – a room full of pillow sized silver bags filled with helium.  Some were more filled than others, so they would drop down and participants were encouraged to push them back up to sky – they were encouraged to do it gently, but I’m not sure all children understood this.  (I also wondered if any parents were tempted to recreate this at home with some cask wine bags…  if you drink that sort of stuff).

Whilst I was exhausted at the end of the exhibition, I really enjoyed it.  How often would we see so many works by such an iconic artist?  And love him or hate him, Warhol created a movement which shaped the Art world of the last century.  I thoroughly recommend seeing the exhibit, and if possible, recommend holding off until school holidays are over.  It will be in the GoMA until March (I think) and certainly distracted me from the generally awful environment of the gallery.

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Summary:

There was Mud

...lots of mud

It was unsanitory

And there was some good people watching

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 I had mixed feelings about how well my Moreton Bay College reunion went and at the end of that night, I was a little nervous about how the St Margarets one would go.  I wasl also rushed to get ready in time due to all the election stuff.

I arrived a little late, but was worried when I went to get my name tag and a few of the people I wanted to see had not arrived yet.  However the venue was fantastic.  Just after I had left school they constructed an Arts Centre overlooking the city from the hill on which the school is situated.  It was a fantastic facility and the view was spectacular.

First I chatted to my friend Julie, who I had lost contact with, but was a family friend.  She was on the list of people who could not be contacted.  They had sent the notice to her old address, which is in the same block as where I live now, her old place was not a construction site.  My grandparents and cousin, however were in contact with her father and I managed to pass on the details to her.  We had chatted before hand and she was in two minds about coming.  I'm glad she came and she said by the end of the night that she had enjoyed it.

I also got to chat to a few friends who I remember spending a fair bit of time with at school and had since befriended on Facebook and MySpace.  There was a lot of drinks and food (included unlike the other reunion) and I had to be careful as I was driving.  Which was in retrospect a poor move.

It was interesting to see what all the girls were doing and I found that one who was in the motor industry actually came across a lot of people in my line of work.  To borrow a word that got my boyfriend in trouble - jackpot!

It turns out one of our school captains had become a lawyer and the other worked as a journalist for a number of magazines including Style.  Awesome job, very jealous.  And another girl had moved to Melbourne and was working on the DJ scene, which again is envy inspriring.

There were a lot more single girls at St Margarets and there seemed to be quite a few that lived interstate or out of town.  This however seems fair enough as it was a boarding school.

During the night the news that the Liberals had lost office came in.  Most people shared my disappointment.  And given that only two were happy with the result, if I hadn't been working on a booth in a 'strong' Labor area, I never would have believed it.  But that's another story.

Towards the end of the night we heard one of the girls, Rebecca Lavelle, sing.  I remember her being very into drama and arts at school and since leaving had studied in the area further.  She also sung the soundtrack to McLeod's Daughters.  We then had trivia relating to school, which I was terrible at as I had only been there for two years.  We had to compete in house groups - fortunately I remembered the name of mine, but not who was in it, at least not very well.  My house came last

There was talk of moving on to Jade Buddah, which would have been fantastic, but first we went to Portside.  I FREAKING HATE PORTSIDE, it's all pretention and full of people with no sense of class or manners.  I think I may have actually mentioned that to a few people...  whoops.  I was also a bit sick of not being able to drink.  Generally and in light of the election result, so I left, even though I really really wanted to stay on.

Before leaving I also found out that one of the girls is good friends with a girl who works for one of the Liberal senators, and that some girls never change.  One, who I was not a huge fan of to start with, I remember very well at school from a particular incident which surprised me.  She had purchased a certain substance for another girl who claimed that she had only received half the amount she should have.  Then some of the others realised that she had in fact, consumed the substance herself.  How or where is beyond me and I don't care to know.  Ironically I left as she was chasing in after some friends asking who had the d**gs?  Oh well.

But all in all a fabulous night and I do hope that I get to catch up with some of the girls again sooner rather than later!

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I was just reading one of my past entries about Sydney, which has prompted a couple of responses from different friends.  But I thought I should update any one who was interested in what happened with the DVD, and no I didn't bring it home to pass on to a certain close friend of my boyfriend's who enjoys that stuff.  I have to say it was pretty shocking at the time.

Eventually, after compensating me for shock with a bottle of red that I'm yet to try out, the hotel left a message saying they had investigated the incident and resolved it.

The assistant manager explained to me that if it had been deliberately placed there it would be a sackable offence.  (Seems harsh but justified).  But what had happened is the maid who had cleaned my room on the second night had obviously done a better job than the previous maids, found the DVD behiend the TV stand and placed it next to the TV assuming it was mine.

Apparently it is company policy there to put anything found on the floor, rather than the bin, back on the tables etc in the room.  Fair enough.

The big issue was that after a guest leaves, the maid's supervisor is meant to inspect the room and ensure that everything is in order.  Obviously this hadn't happened properly after the last guest left. 

The supervisor has now been given a warning.

Also the video has to be kept for a month in case it is claimed*.  My mother's response to this was, "you should have brought it home with you."  To which I have no response.  Thanks mum!

All in all I have to say the hotel has done well.  And as long as work is paying for it, I may just visit them again!

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*To those who wish to be able to claim the DVD (fraudulently), I've forgotten my room number, so I can't help you - sorry.

Last night was my first of two high school reunions.  This was the exclusive girls school that I did junior (up to year 10) at rather than the exclusive girls school I did senior at - that reunion is on election night (no victory parties for me).

I had to be very beligerant with the Old Girls to get my invite as I never had the chance to join before I left and only decided that this year it would be a good thing.  Also I Facebook-befriended one of the girls who became school captain after I left and learned about it that way.  I also learned she's living in New York and was appropriately jealous.

Originally I was determined to party as it was at Chalk and fairly informal.  Those plans went by the wayside, espeically when none of my other friends were out so I could meet up afterwards.  And also as I was faced with the prospect that this was an event where I'd probably have to act more professionally than if I was at a networking function.

As the time grew closer I started planning in my head what all my trump cards would be in the unlikely case some one tried to out-snob me.  As if they'd try.  And if they did, as if they could!  Education I had my masters in finance (tick).  My job was not brilliantly successfull but sounds appropriately w@nky (tick).  I've travelled a bit (tick).  No kids (sigh of relief but maybe no a tick for all).  No husband, but a pretty awesome boyfriend (not sure how that rates).  No house (cross) and no car worth boasting about (Pulsar).

By a stroke of fate, I'd re-scheduled my hair appointment to the Friday before and also ended up finding my Christmas dress, which was an appropriate new dress for the event.  [Looking fabulous (tick)].  I also realised that I was getting nervous and making a bigger deal of the whole thing than I originally wanted to.  I was only there to see what had happened to my friends, right?

So I turned up to Chalk, slightly late, but still early enough for there to not be too many people there.  Whilst I don't usually get nervous about going to functions or big groups, I find if you turn up early you get to meet people before their groups etc arrive and tend to meet more people than when every one has settled in for the night.  The first person I got to have a good chat too was Eleanor, who had been a friend of mine at school and I had even ran into a few times a uni.  She was now working in Customs in Canberra and enjoying it and still had the same good sensibilities that I liked when we were younger.

After that I got to chat to a few girls who were in some of my classes, but I wasn't particular friends with.  But I did enjoy catching up with them and seeing what they'd ended up doing.  Fortuantely we were all single girls in fairly good jobs, so no snobbery necessary.  I also found out that one of my other friend who I had dearly wanted to catch up with was at home looking after her two young children - good and bad news.  Later in the night I found out that one of the other girls had her child in the same play group so I asked her to pass on my details.  (I hope they get there).

And then my friend Kate arrived.  Kate was (and still is) the loveliest girl you can imagine.  She had people coming up to her all night surpised and happy to see her.  She'd left in year 9 (the year before me) and had lost contact with most of us.  Sadly she trumped me with the education, being in the last few months of a Phd in Crime Prevention, but there is no one I would rather have been happier to loose that or any other card to!

I also got to chat to the daughter of a family friend who has started a boutique here in town.  I was just a little bit jealous, as whilst I'm not so keen on retail, I love my fashion and fashion history.

There were a few other girls in the group that I hung out with that I said hello to, most of them working, some of them with children, but I felt a little bit closed out of their clique.  It may or may not have been connected to the fact that my champagne glass slipped through my fingers and broke shortly after I came over and said hello.  (It was only my third glass in as many hours, so it's not like I was drunk either!)

One girl (and her husband) I had a chat to later and then ran into in town again on Monday!  But it was a bit of a treat getting along with some one that I wasn't that close to at school.

The last notable person I managed to have a chat to before I left was a girl who actually use to go out with my boyfriend.  I knew she was in my year, but I never really spoke to her as we had different friends, were in different houses and did different subjects.  But I did pass on my regard and learned, that my boyfriend had actually been to the school formal with her!  Not only that but a video of it was playing on the screens in the bar at the time.  If only I'd worn my glasses!  Intially I was weirded out by walking up to some one and announcing that I was going out with their ex, but I hope "I hear you know my boyfriend R, he said to say hello," wasn't too confronting or pretentious.

But all in all it was an enjoyable night, but would have been better if there was another party for me to head to afterwards.  There was probably less than 50 people there (in a year of 150) which was a shame.  All in all most people had put on weight (only three or four exceptions to note - why do teenagers get to be so skinny!), done some territary study, changed their hair (our school, being an exclusive girls school,  was strict and did not allow dyed hair), and either over the first steps their career or had put it on hold to look after children (only one girl had more than one from what I understood).  There were also quite a few girls overseas.  Most people I wasn't friends with in the past I had even less in common with, however there were quite a few people that I still managed to get along with much better than I did at school.

It will be interesting to do it all again in a few weeks, especially as today I noticed the name of one of our school captains on an article in Style magazine (freebie newspaper here in Brisbane) and been in contact with two or three others who I wished I'd stayed closer to. 

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Well I'm in Sydney this week.  By an amazing stroke of fate, two friends I haven't seen for ages and was not optimistic about catching up with actually decided to have lunch the same place as me, which was one nice thing that's happened.   Also I get to catch up with Kitty next week!

But it's been a week of freaky things.

First, I did not know about the moths.  Apparently millions of these insects migrate through Sydney each year.  They are everywhere.  You walk down the street on dead bugs.  The hotel is clogged with them and every time I go into my room there seem to be more no matter how many I kill.  On Sunday night I turned down my covers only to find them all though my bed.  Which is fine, but house keeping to a whole freaking hour to change my sheets.

Then some one I who stopped speaking to me for some reason has started contacting me.  I'm not sure how to not be suspicious.

For my birthday yesterday I eneded up eating near the Opera house...  at a Lenin themed restaurant.  Sadly the most affordable with a still decent menu.  I will have to campaign extra hard for my friend's Mr Vasta and Mr Coulson when I get back to Brissy in penance.

And today to top it off I got back to my hotel room to find that some one had decided to leave a pornographic dvd next to my tv.  (There's no dvd player in the room).  Fortunately they're investigating, but it's a bit freaky.  Actually I feel a little violated.  That and I'm sick of having to complain at this hotel.  It's a nice hotel near the Rocks and I did have a slightly higher expectation of the place!  I won't name names until I try the bottle of red they've offered me.

I arrived in Sydney much earlier than I usually do getting back to Brisbane from Perth.  I checked into the only hotel I could as I'd left it until Friday to book and unbeknonwnst to me it was the opening game of some variety of football and the Harbour Bridge's 75th anniversary celebration...  fortunately all I wanted was a bed and a reasonably clean shower, which is all I got (and didn't even get the shower to myself).

I spent Saturday morning checking out the NSW Gallery, which has always been a favourite, but perhaps lost something since I spent the Sunday a fortnight earlier in New York's Metropolitan Musem of Art (the Met). They were rearranging some of my favourites, but whoever was arranging the collection seemed to put together a strong theme on Orientalism (as most paintings are victorian) and also portraits (seeing as the archibald prize winners were on display).  I skipped the Archibald, but there was a Tezuka display on which I did enjoy (think Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion and Princess Knight).  Then at midday I headed for Olympic Park...

Upon arriving at Olympic Park I found out that it's freaking huge and I had no idea where the best place for a picnic was.  The info centre helped me out and I headed to Bicentenial Park where I was walking arround for half an hour before giving up and sitting on the grass to text Kell to see if she was coming or had someone else's number.  Failing that I'd go to the DFO, which as close, or go back and have a look at the Musem.  At this point I was trying to ignore some lady chasing a couple of very active children up a hill trying to attract my attention.  I turns out that that lady, who later came and approached me, was Kitty!  For the record Kitty looks a little different to her pics!  I'd also been looking for a group with more adults than children (which were few and far between as the park was mostly full of kids parties and families riding bikes and the like).

Kitty greeted me with a smile and asked me if I had come to meet with some one.  Then it dawned on me who she was.  We went to go and meet CC, who had brough her children along.  The girls were brilliantly organised and had brought so much food and even baked a white chocolate mud cake with a shamrock on it.  It was a good time chatting to the girls, they're both very animated and open and I'll spare you the smutty details.

Our picnic was also interrupted by rain.  Which was a surprise considering when I'd arrived the skies were blue.

We spent the next hour or so ducking between cover as the rain continued to set in and took shots at guessing what the wedding party would be like for the celebration that had been set up for the convention centre.  I'm still betting against Cath and Kitty that the dress wasn't poofy...

Kitty and I then caught the train back to town where we talked for hours and hours...  and consumed copious amounts of vodka (okay partly my fault as I mix it strong when free from the shackles of responsible serving of alcohol laws).  Sadly it was short of the rowdy bar hopping night that some of you might have anticipated.  It was just a good girls night in and it was awesome to meet some one from blogland in real life.

When in New York I had the treat of spending a few hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It is absolutely amazing.  I only got to see a fraction of their collection.  There was an amazing collection of Egyptian Art and I also spent a fair bit of time looking through the European collection, and room after room I kept staring in disbelief that I was actually seeing some amazing monumental, significant pieces.  I just walked arround in a buzz.

Rembrant's famous self portrait and one of Van Gough's more famous works.

Degas is one of my favourite Impressionists and the gallery had a good collection of his paintings of dancers.

On the upper levels I could get a good view of the hall of Renaissance sculpture.

I also got to go through an exhibition of Lois Comfort Tiffany's design work - he was the son of Charles Lewis Tiffany who founded Tiffany & Co. which was pretty spectacular (and popular).

Somehow I found the idea of Cheese Danishes some what disconcerting...

I'm use to seeing a Gideon's Bible in hotel rooms, but the one in Philadelphia had the book of Mormon as well.

Okay that was all I took pics of.  But when I got out at LAX there was a sign up at the baggage transfer to ensure that all weapons were unloaded...  because we'd bring them to the airport.

Sorry to to another seagul blog (where I dump crap on my blog but don't look at others).

Have the first pics from the US - it's 5.30am, I got up an hour ago as I couldn't sleep, even though I got home at midnight.

At Madam Toussards (near Times Square).  She's not plastic, it's wax!

Outside Rockerfeller Centre and Times Square

Ground Zero Memorial (other than this and the names and photos on the fence arround the site, there's nothing there!)

In 2004 I travelled to New Zealand.  I spent 4 fabulous days in Christchurch and 6 days on tour.  I will note that it was not as fabulous as I'd planned as I broke my coccyx thee days before I left...  didn't appreciate the girl sitting beheind me on the plane that kept knocking the seat either.

Beautiful Lake Wanaka, South of Chirstchurch.

Our tour went to Milford Sound - the bus ride (6 hours) was more painful than white water rafting.

As I couldn't go skiing in Queenstown I went on  Lord of the Rings tour.  All the die hard fans will be able to tell me which scene with Liv Tyler this place was used for.

On my third day in Christchurch I hired a car and went on a tour of some vineyards.  On the way I saw a lovely little country brothel

I've just got my photos out from all my foreign ventures and I thought I'd scan a few and share.  The first ones are from Japan - I travelled there in July 2002 and returned 12 months later.

This is a shrine in Mitsushima, a little North of Sendai where I lived for 9 months.  It is near the seaside and is a really magnificent area.  I got my first taste of green tea ice cream after this as well.

The snowman was from months before, but my friend Rebecca and I went to the park to make our first snowmen (we are both from Brissy and had never seen the snow before).  The pic was taken from my phone - hence the poor quality.  I remember learning that night that snow is very very wet.

My friends are the closest group - they were my students when I taught at Nova but kept in touch after I started working in a Junior High School.  I've included this so you can see the truth about Hanami (watching the cherry blossoms) the parks are crowded and smelly from every one eating and drinking under the trees continuously for 7 days.

This is my favourite memory from Kyoto.  This is me, the give away - I'm smiling, real geisha don't do that.

The international centre in Sendai had a cultural day where I got to go in and see a tea ceremony, try flower arranging and paint a traditional doll- it's one of my favourie souvineers, I still have it.

Proof I became a karaoke queen in Japan.  Note the glasses on the table - you do karaoke in a private room and you pay arround $25 for all you can drink for two hours

I have heaps of landscapes and building shots, but I've left them out as I'm never sure which ones are best.