Went to see my other favourite female Icelandic singer at the Forum on Tuesday. Her music, especially Fisherman's Woman, is quite introspective and I thought we were in for a subdued night. Emiliana turned out to be a tiny, enchantingly childlike and UTTERLY ADORABLE woman who looked genuinely excited to be onstage and who preceeded every song with enthusiastic and quirky banter. At one point she commented on how excited they were to play at the venue because "it was full of naked statues",...

Saracene

Went with my Mum to see lovely Martha at the Forum theatre yesterday. Unfortunately, we missed out on the seats because my brother had brought "Rockband" that evening and we just had to stay home and have a bash at it just a little bit longer. So we parted company: my Mum stayed at the back near the bar where she could get some relief from the air-conditioner, and I found a stinking hot spot in GA three rows from the stage.

We missed out on the first supporting act; the...

Saracene

I've spent the last week and a bit on a famil trip in Western Australia that my company sent me on - a nice perk of working in travel industry, I've always wanted to visit The Kimberley and the trip was absolutely amazing. It almost didn't happen because of the bloody daylight savings - thank god I decided to book a taxi to the airport rather than drive. When it showed up at the door at 5.45 am old time I was still asleep in bed, I got ready in about seven hectic minutes and didn't even wash...

Saracene

For some reason, I felt totally wiped out this Friday and to be honest didn't really feel like dragging myself across the city to stand in GA. When I got to the venue it all got worse; to my horror I saw a notice that the main act wasn't going to start until 11.00pm which is pretty much my bedtime these days. I seriously considered just giving up and going home to bed and latest Oasis album, but then decided I was too young to be an old fart yet, and instead drove down to Pancake Parlour where I...

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Woooooooooooooooooooooo! I grumbled about the pricey tickets, but this was one the best concerts I've been to, totally worth the money spent. Thanks, in no small way, to the fantastic (and very well-dressed) audience who were rapturous and enthusiastic from the very first song and got on their feet in the second half of the show dancing and cheering and grooving. Of course the show belonged to Alison, her amazing pipes and captivating stage presence. She seemed to enjoy herself way more...

Saracene

Went to Sydney for the weekend with my Mum. It was my rotten luck to catch a nasty cold on Thursday, I took time off work and spent the entire next day in bed but still couldn't recover. So I felt pretty crooked on Saturday, but at least we didn't do much - just came down to the Sydney Harbour for a few hours before it was time to head back to the airport and pick up our rental car. We had lunch at some expensive restaurant where you mostly paid for the (admittedly stunning) view of the harbour...

Saracene

This was a damn good gig. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Kasey Chambers, but I liked Barricades & Brick Walls (once I got used to her nasally vocal style), and I really liked Rattlin' Bones, the album she's made this year with her husband, Shane Nicholson, which is pretty much the reason I decided I wanted to see her live. I'm glad I did, because I left the show with a whole new appreciation for her music and respect for Kasey as a performer. From the moment she opened her mouth and that pure,...

Saracene

Went to see The Breeders yesterday, my first concert in five months! That's one long dry spell, or maybe it just seems this way in comparison to last year, which was a kind of record year for the amount of gigs I've seen. I really missed live music; the anticipation, the energy, the way excitement of the first few moments as band enters the stage lifts you up and wipes away the tiredness of the working day and the remains of the cold I've had this week. Ok, maybe I didn't miss the GA pushing and...

Saracene

We had a trivia night tonight at my work, which was organised by the social club. It was heaps of fun, especially after a few people at our table got hammered and grew loud and foulmouthed as the night went on. Lynne, our studio manager, pretty much had her face frozen into a permanent state of shock,

Sadly, after the final results were tallied up we ended up in the bottom half, not quite the epic fail but a bit disappointing. It's strange that though I'm not in the least ambitious...

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My recent month of solitary living seems to have sparked an interest in the domestic area I've always tried to avoid as much as possible - cooking. It kinda started off with having to do the grocery shopping in my Mum's absence, when I walked around the supermarket and realised there was a whole world of interesting foods outside of our usual simple dinner fare. So last Friday I decided to try my hand and do the recipe from the Donna Hay book we've got at home; I like this book because the recipes...

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My Mum's best friend came over to our house yesterday and brought her dog, the sweetest cutest friendliest Maltese/Pomeranian creature, mostly to see how she'd get along with our cat in case she has to leave her dog with us while she's overseas. Now, our cat pretty much divides everyone into two vastly unequal categories: 1) people she knows, and 2) enemies. When the dog came in and tried to lick her she jumped onto my desk and sat there looking all paranoid and fluffed up and making low growling...

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Shorter of breath and one day closer to death, as Pink Floyd said. Ok that's too morbid,

So anyway, I've turned 28 today. Doesn't really feel any different from yesterday when I was still 27, except that now I've got brand new watch as a gift from my Dad. I've also made a gift to myself by finally buying the Rome DVD that I've been eyeing for a while, a new electric blue top for winter, and a necklace from the Oxfam shop that looks silver but apparently was made from aluminium....

Saracene

On Friday evening, I sat in front of my computer to unwind after a stressful week at work. Ten minutes later, the screen went black, I heard what sounded like a mini-explosion inside the machine and there was disgusting burning smell. I didn't have my computer for the next two days, which I suppose was good since I spend way too much time on it already.

On Saturday, I went for a walk around the block, then drove to Coles in the evening for some grocery shopping. When I came home,...

Saracene

First, Russia won the Eurovision song contest. Damn I wish I haven't been spoiled before watching the show this evening. I was flicking through the channels in the morning and some news program had a big "RUSSIA WINS EUROVISION" sign in the background - while the newsreader was helpfully suggesting we cover our ears if we didn't want to know the results, I don't know whether to cheer for the Motherland or hang my head in shame; all I can say is that next year's ceremony will...

Saracene

When your job is not hugely creative and requires you to sit at the computer all day, it's nice to make something tangible that doesn't exist in pixels. I've had an idea of making an artwork from bits of fabric based on one of Gustav Klimt's paintings ages ago, but it wasn't until last month that I actually got off my ass and did something about it. In the end I picked "The Tree of Life" as my basis, partly because it looked simple enough for me to replicate, and partly because I'm a bit...

Saracene