WAAPA YEARBOOK #4

So after the week of orientation it was time for classes to begin.

When in First Year back then, we didn't have any performing opportunities that year. It was time to build on your skills and performance techniques without putting it into public performance.

But the Second Years and Third Years began rehearsing their first shows of the year in orientation week and once classes began they would rehearse them in the afternoons.

The first Waapa Musical Theatre production I saw was the Good Fight (pictured above) written by the late Nick Enright and David King and performed in the studio that would soon be named after Mr Enright. It was an example of where we were as a musical theatre nation, we were making shows about our own life stories and sometimes they became commercial successes and sometimes they remain artistic successes. The Good Fight continues to find an audience with newer productions and from what I can remember it certainly deserves it.

But as for us we were being introduced to the class regime and the lecturers who would see us through the whole year, and whole three years in many cases.

Now unfortunately for me I was a beginner at everything and so Level One for all classes meant that I would have these classes for the whole three years. If you were skilled enough and possessed previous qualifications to support this, you could skip a year or two of some classes and pass the final level or have the whole subject written off with another degree. The people that entered the course at this higher level were, in hindsight, the ones who excelled the most at Waapa and achieved earlier success in the industry.

For a Level Oner like me the subject that this was most important in this regard was Music. It was divided into three sections. Music Skills, Aural Skills and Keyboard Skills. Music Skills was simple Music Theory like you do in school about reading music and writing it and evaluating the terms and the language etc. Aural Skills was about training the ear to recognise pitch and also intervals which I found bloody hard to master. But Keyboard seemed very exciting at first to learn but when you saw all the pieces you had to work on before the next class, it became a hugely time consuming topic for me. I was putting in 8-10 hours a week on keyboard practise in first year and I still struggled with the prescribed "fingering" - let's not go there.

We all had to attend Dance Streaming that first week as well and by putting us through a few simple routines Jenny Lynnd our Dance Mistress was able to place us in the proper levels. In Dance you could begin at second or third level and simply repeat the level three as much as you had to. For me it was a goal to get to level 3 in all dance streams by third year. But you do have to pass the level to advance at the years end. Naturally I was put into level one for all three dance classes, Ballet, Jazz, and Tap.
We did a fourth dance class every week that was called Song and Dance, where you would work on the song as an ensemble and then work on the dance then put it together over a few weeks. The First and Second years combined to do this class together - which was a great way to get to work with the others who had already done a year of the course. Sometimes we would do a mock audition dance call.
I had a very memorable mock audition dance call when I was partnered with Mary Poppins herself and we won one of the dances which was a real highlight of the year for me.

But Music and Dance were only two strands of the course. There was also Acting and in first year we had two Acting Classes a week, two Voice Classes every week, and one Improvisation class every week with the magnificent Chrissy Best who was just brilliant as a nurturer and taught us how to be more generous as actors. Improv frightened me and advanced me in many ways and the atmosphere created in that room was probably the most comfortable I felt to be brave and make strong choices on the floor. I never seemed to have that when dealing with text, not sure why it was like that. Voice though was intimidating, it was everything I always feared about acting classes where you run around the room acting like a demented frog. The very first exercise was Cow and Tree, one person was the Cow, the other a Tree, and the Cow had to rub against the tree and vocalise the enjoyment it felt from the friction.

Yeah...

But there was still more, it was musical theatre so there was also singing and there were two lessons for this every week. Back then, as part of the course, you got a private one hour lesson with your acquired singing teacher, I had Roma Conway. To be honest I think she did more counselling than teaching singing as you tended to take advantage of the one on one rarity that it provided. Also, singing is so connected to your emotions, if you were going to have a break down, it was always going to happen in your singing lesson. I felt sorry for the girls who had to contend with all those chemical imbalances they frequently had to deal with at the same time as well. The other class was Song Rep, where the boys and girls were separated and worked with the head of Music Theatre David King on a song. I kinda didn't hit this class running and it took me a while to understand what it was we were achieving but we all had to learn the same song then one by one we would get up to sing it and sometimes you only did a little bit and sometimes a lot. Some songs were so hard for me, particularly if I couldn't go through it with my singing teacher and I would have to sit it out which was very embarrassing and disappointing.

Other than those classes we also had Dramatic Literature once a week, which would have been interesting if I was actually interested, and we also had Holistic voice where we gained tremendous information about the physicality of our vocal equipment and how things impact on it. Kris Moffat was our lecturer and she put up with a lot of very strange and naughty questions from our class members. One notorious question about the affects that 'deep-throating' had on the vocal folds was very awkward to sit through but extremely well handled by Kris, and hilarious in hindsight too might I add.

But that was pretty much it in First Year from what I can remember, though for half of the year we also had to attend a 3 hour lecture every Wednesday morning for a History of The Arts subject. It was what contributed to the course to make it a BA I guess. Sadly some were able to cheat in the final exam of the year to pass it but kudos to the student who sat for it honestly and failed the exam, only to return to sit it again and pass. Well done for keeping it real. I was happy I got through and didn't have to go through that again.

When I hear how most university students only have about 12 hours a week of classes at uni I can't believe how heavy the workload was for us.

But hey, we were in Perth, what else are you gonna do :-)

There was more to first year than the classes though. More on that next time.

J G S

GARDEN PALACE BOOK REVIEW #16

Whilst working on Chapter 6 I thought it a good time to look back on what started the inspiration of the book.

It was indeed a story about a ghost in a theatre that to me seemed as boring as hell.

Now don't get me wrong, I love a good ghost story and love going to so-called haunted places.

But this story seemed to lack anything spooky at all to me.

It's a story that a figure of man is sometimes seen in one of he highest boxes of a theatre, some said it seemed to be smoking a cigar, and yet whenever they tried to open the door to get in to see who it was it would not open. Yet once the show had ended the door would unlock and wouldn't you know it, the ghost was gone. They even said that the ghost was often seen with a smaller ghostly companion resembling a boy.

Now I am far too cynical to accept that story and re-tell it because the minute someone picked it to pieces i would be on their side.

Firstly, why didn't they just bring the house lights up during the show if they were that worried?

Secondly, wouldn't the house lights come up anyway at the end so you would see if there was anything there without needing to get in?

But also if you cant tell who it is, how do u know it was a little boy and not a girl next to it?

But ultimately I just thought the story was simply lame.

But! - Imagine if this story was only very small part of an even greater story!

And that concept or idea is what lead to the Garden Palace series being born.

The Garden Palace series answers all the questions I had.

Yes, there was a ghostly figure of a man in that box, and yes, there was a little boy next him.

But who were they? What were they? And how did they get there? And how did they remain unseen?

By following Max Peterson and his gang you will certainly unravel this mystery in time, however things don't always go according to plan and there are others who have their own reasons for keeping this mystery dead and buried.

But before they can unravel the secrets of this mysterious ghost, they need to uncover who the Garden Palace Devil is first.

For that is an entirely different legend in itself.

J G S

J G S HABITAT #4

Ye Olde Musicale Castle

Well the end of another financial year and tax time loomeths.

We left off last Friday night after the football and I was staying out at Ingleburn again.

Saturday was a cold and wet gloomy day and I was hanging out at Mum's with really nothing planned except to go to my sisters that night. But we went over and had drinks and pizza whilst watching the Tigers play Canberra at Campbelltown Stadium. I thought it was quite ironic and humourous that we drove straight past the Stadium in Leumeah to get to my sisters to then watch it on TV. But when you saw those people sitting out in the freezing cold rain you kind of knew you made the right choice.

I stayed at Mum's again on Saturday night then drove back to Redfern around midday. Still rainy and yuck I stopped off at Surry Hills to get some groceries and there were no spaces in the car park, lucky I had my umbrella. I bought stuff to make meals for the week ahead to make things easier, healthier and cheaper. My unit was a mess and so i had planned to clean it up on Sunday and, well, I at least did the dishes.

Monday was back to work and it was a long day to get through. The bad weather continued to make everyone feel gloomy and irritable, including me. That night though I refused to let the weather beat me and I walked down to Newtown Fitness First again to do the cardio whilst watching the football thing. It pissed down the whole way there and back but i was sufficiently tired enough to crash out without being too bothered by the noisy arsehole neighbours upstairs.

I woke up Tuesday morning with a hideous head cold god dammit but as I still haven't signed on the dotted line to be full time, I didnt have any sick leave so I had to go to work to get paid. I bought some cold tablets from the chemist at lunch to get through the day easier. It was usually a gym night but the cold was affecting me too adversely to get any benefit from working out - its not a good thing to workout when sick peoples for many reasons. I crashed out on my lounge that night and woke at 2am and crawled into my bed.

Wednesday I was still the same and kept gobbling the tablets to get through. I was very thankful that I wasn't going to the gym that night. Watched the end of Prime Minister Gillard's reign and felt bad that history will probably mostly remember her for the politics and not the achievements. Whether you agreed with her decisions or not, and I did not agree with all of them, you have to give credit for what she achieved in a minority government in the middle of a war on two fronts being Abbott and Rudd. She must be an incredible negotiator and I hope this country gets to benefit from her skills and talents in another way. I will remember her as that immensely strong resilient successful woman who withstood undue taunts, hatred and sexism. I know I will never see another female Prime Minister in my lifetime after witnessing what this woman copped for being female. Anyway, NSW followed the origin script that night and lost so that the decider would have as much interest as possible. Cynical you ask?

Thursday I just wanted to get through it as I felt hideous with the cold and was running out of tablets. I had a short fuse and felt pissed off all day for no reason. I again had to miss gym that night but I could feel my body was really getting affected by the bug I had and rest was my only salvation.

Which brings us to Friday and I felt considerably better and had a course for the whole day that was an introduction to General Insurance. What an exciting topic that was! Several coffees later I was clock watching. Though there were some interesting details. I never knew for example that Lloyd's of London was not actually an insurer. It's simply a marketplace where insurers inhabit booths to do their business. Yes that was the most interesting fact of the day which gives you a rough idea why I was drinking so much coffee.

At the end of the day we had a team building social drink upstairs of the Macquarie Hotel in Wentworth Street. It's a nice old fashioned room and we had a bar tab so it was all free booze till about 730pm. I think I had about 5 or 6 beers in that time but I didn't feel very drunk. I think they must severely water beers down these days because I would have been hammered on 6 beers in 2 and a half hours I would have thought. I mean I was tipsy and stuff but, you know, I didn't kiss anyone which is usually a good indication of being pissed.

So yeah I walked home and watched the footy and had an early night.

Not a very exciting week but when the weather sucks and you have a crappy cold, just getting through it feels like an achievement. With the weather predicted to continue this way for the whole weekend it's a bit disappointing. But hopefully it wont be for too much longer.

See you next week, hopefully a little dryer and much more healthier.

J G S

December 18th 2015

This has been my most popular blog of all-time - no surprise that its about funny cats. there has been about 800 views of this post so let's see if we can get it over 1,000 :-)



Who doesn't like cats that can run away on two legs

FUNNY CAT #1










Everyone loves Grumpy cat too

But of course the funniest cat that I have seen lately is the one which thinks it can fly.

FUNNY CAT #2

Click the above link














Finally lets not forget our own shy cat Willy - still going strong in Ingleburn

Lazy Sunday Afternoon at home :-)




Hope you enjoyed the Funny Cats and that it inspired you to check out more on Youtube.

If you feel like helping some cats out, check this Facebook page.

EVELEIGH STREET CATS

J G S

GRIPE NIGHT #16 - COLDS

Okay let's face it, these people are out there in abundance!

Droplet incubators who spew their contaminated liquid through the atmosphere without care or consideration where it falls.

These people are worse than sewer rats and those flying rats also known as pigeons who spread disease throughout society.

One of these vile human beings gave me a cold and I am not happy about it.

But you look back once you have gotten a cold and you remember all those people it could have been.

That sniffler standing behind you in the elevator.

That student before your singing lesson too sick to sing.

That baby slung over its mothers shoulder with candle wax on its lip.

That colleague coughing over the desk petition.

That seedy man who shook your hand.

That chick that sneezed without a tissue like in the picture above.

Naturally we blame someone else for giving us a cold and why shouldn't we? I mean its not like I got sick because the air conditioning broke at work on Monday and we all froze for a day. It's not like I sat out in the night air last Friday watching football in 7 degrees celsius. Its not like I left the gym all sweaty last Thursday night and got a chill.

No it's that bloody baby or the idiot colleague.

Bastards!

J G S

SYDNEY INSIGHTS #16 - THE CROSS

The Cross is known as Sydney's red-light district, and is often seen as the home of organised crime. 
But The Cross was once known for its music halls and grand theatres and was rapidly transformed after World War II by the influx of troops returning and visiting from the nearby Garden Island naval base. 

The intersection of William Street, Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street at the locality's southernmost limit was named Queens Cross to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897. Confusion with Queens Square in King Street in the city prompted its renaming as Kings Cross, after King Edward VII, in 1905.

During the early 19th century the Kings Cross-Potts Point area was one of Sydney's most prestigious suburbs, being far enough to escape the noise and smell of the central city but close enough for easy travel. An additional attraction was the commanding harbour views to the east and north and (from some points) views to the west as far as the Blue Mountains.

In 1828, the Governor of NSW Sir Ralph Darling subdivided the area, then known as Woolloomooloo Hill, into large allotments which he granted seventeen estates to favoured subordinates and leading businessmen. They built a series of grandiose mansions with sprawling gardens of up to ten acres (4 ha). The remnants of these gardens helped give the area its leafy character, and many of the mansions are commemorated through street names such as Roslyn, Orwell and Kellett. Most of the grand estates were ultimately subdivided with all but a handful of the great houses demolished. One of the surviving estates is Elizabeth Bay House, a quintessential example of Australian colonial architecture. Others, now used for other purposes, include Tusculum in Manning Street and Rockwall.

The Kings Cross district was Sydney's bohemian heartland from the early decades of the 20th century. The illegal trading of alcohol, known as sly grog, was notorious in the area up until mid-century, led by rival brothel owners, Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh.

From the 1960s onwards Kings Cross also came to serve as both the city's main tourist accommodation and entertainment mecca. It thereby achieved a high level of notoriety out of all proportion to its limited geographical extent. Hundreds of American servicemen flocked to the area each week in search of entertainment. Organised crime and police corruption was well entrenched in the area. One of Sydney's most notorious illegal casinos operated with impunity for many years, although it was known to all and located only yards from Darlinghurst police station. 

Apart from the famous Coca-Cola sign, the other major landmark at The Cross is the El Alamein Fountain which is at the entrance to the Fitzroy Gardens on the corner of Darlingurst Road and Macleay Street. It was commissioned as a memorial to soldiers who died in 1942 during World War II in two battles at El Alamein, Egypt. It was designed in 1961 by the New Zealand-born architect Robert Woodward. Its dandelion design, which has since been copied for fountains around the world, was Woodward’s original design.



On a personal level, I avoid Kings Cross like the plague as its still a grotty strip full of degenerates and criminals. Yes they have cleaned it up but its still carrying the influences of drugs and organised crime.
But the main reason to avoid it is because of the out of control behaviour of revellers who often become violent on the strip with notorious recent events resulting in the death of a young man 'king hit' walking down the strip. Yes there are some nice venues, but to me its not worth wading through the crap to get to them. But its certainly living up to its reputation as our red-light district and all this comes with the territory.

J G S

NRL REVIEW ROUND 15

The Bunnies were the biggest winners in what was a very small round of football this week.

After the very close match between the Bulldogs and the Roosters which saw the Roosters prevail 20-18 the Wests Tigers put on a massive display in torrential rain on Saturday night when they took on the Raiders. The Tigers toughed it out to win 17-12.

It was then on Sunday that the Rabbitohs triumphed over the cellar dwellers Parramatta. It was #1 versus #16 and it was a testament to the Eels defence that the score line didn't blow out further. The Eels put in a good effort and were competitive for most of the game finally losing 30-10.

Finally on Monday night the Gold coast Titans hosted a very depleted Melbourne side having many of their best players absent for Origin duties. The Titans dominated but the Storm wouldn't go quietly and the Titans managed to seal a very important 18-12 victory.

The Ladder after 15 Rounds is as follows...

26 RABBITOHS
23 STORM
22 ROOSTERS
19 SEA EAGLES
18 TITANS
18 SHARKS
16 BULLDOGS
16 RAIDERS
14 Knights
14 Panthers
14 Broncos
14 Warriors
12 Cowboys
12 Dragons
12 Tigers
 8  Eels

#WAAPA YEARBOOK #3

So now you all know how I got my nickname we can move on.

The very next day after that barbecue it was day one at Waapa.

Now for those of you who aren't aware, WAAPA is part of Edith Cowan University at its Mount Lawley Campus. So not only was there much to learn about the Academy, there was also a lot to learn about the university as a whole.

But the first week was known as O Week, short for orientation, and I remember attending a meeting in the Theatre with most of the new students across the whole campus. This was where a student leader of some sort was talking to us all to enthuse us about uni life. It was also the first time we heard the term ECU 2002 where U and the 2 were drawn out in rhyme. I still remember the first and last sentence of her speech too so it certainly made an impact but mostly for its simplicity. "Are you ready for some fun?" or something along those lines.

I must admit I never went to Waapa to have fun, I mean it was never in my mind that i went all that way just to have some fun. I think I should have listened to that girl closer though and adopted that philosophy more because I realise that I very rarely go anywhere or do anything with the intention to simply have fun. There's always a greater, deeper or serious purpose that i tend to focus on. Well I decided to change that now and lets see if it brings better results :-)

Anyway in O Week our class of 18 got together for real for the first time and we all had to sing for each other our songs from our Waapa audition. It was a strange thing to have to do as it was done in a really tiny room that we squashed into. I was always paranoid my songs were not contrasting enough and looking back they did sound very familiar in style. One was "With Anne on My Arm" from La Cage Aux Folles and the other was "On The Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady. The class was very encouraging to each other but i guess we were also sizing each other up at the same time. I always thought my voice was my strength and that acting and dance was what needed the most improvement. But i realised that day that my voice was pretty ordinary compared to those others and for some reason it matters to you that others may be better than you at your strength. It was unnerving and something that I needed to overcome. I'm not sure i was ever successful at that :-)

This all culminated in the O Week concert for first years and we all had to sing one of these songs for the rest of the students and faculty. On the Street Where You Live became my song and we were arranged in order to perform. It was quite nerve wracking but the atmosphere was electric. I remember us all pacing and warming up in the adjoining room to the music auditorium and hearing the audience having fun chanting and cheering and when we came out they erupted in support. I think it was the highlight of the whole first year as you don't perform as part of the course in first year, with some exceptions of course. When I was singing my song I can remember being conscious of the thought that the crowd was very quiet. They were smiling and listening but it had gone so quiet that I thought I must be terrible. To try and get a reaction I decided to do a very poorly placed, and tasteless groin thrust into the song on the words 'overpowering feeling' and of course it got the desired result, they all laughed and I felt better in the moment. Though in hindsight that was a cheap and tawdry attempt at acceptance :-)

That pretty much wrapped up O Week and the climax was an outdoor party called Lark in the Park and it was a very well earned beverage for all involved. After that weekend it would be time for classes.
So that Lark in the Park also kicked on, sadly and possibly fortunately I can't remember that one. :-)

J G S

GARDEN PALACE BOOK REPORT #15

The Garden Palace was a truly spectacular building and in my imagination, the rebuilt building 100 yeas later would have been even more spectacular with colourful garden surrounds and water features around every corner.

Chapter 5 is complete and is on its way to the editors. So this week I have begun to tackle Chapter 6.

It is going to be a slow task as I am entering a period with other external commitments so the process becomes painstaking but once complete I will have passed the midpoint of the revised edition and that will be very satisfying.

I have recently received very good feedback from the editors and pointers to fix up when I go through with the next draft. Whilst I appreciate this feedback and intend to implement the recommendations I can't put the cart before the horse.

This current draft has one true goal and purpose and that is to relocate the story from an existing Sydney iconic building to a fictitious building that is based on a real iconic building that was destroyed by fire 130 years ago.

The next draft will pay particular attention to style and detail and of course any continuity issues.

I need to ensure all the name changes and plot tweaks have married up from chapter to chapter as well.

This will also be observed in the drafts that follow, but for now the focus is on making this story fit this new location, and lets face it, this location can be bent to suit the story, but it still needs to have the elements of the original location that inspired this adventure mystery.

Apologies for the lateness and delay of blogs, i am having some IT issues with my Internet.

Hope you are looking forward to the Garden Palace epic as much as I am.

J G S

J G S HABITAT #3

Don't miss this place :-)

Hello and welcome back to my habitat which is kinda gloomy today.

Last Saturday I went back over to my sisters again after cleaning my mums house all day and I hung out and watched the football again. It was nice to catch up with them again.

Sunday I had to pick mum up from the airport at 830am and I drove in but once I hit Arncliffe it was very slow and choked up traffic heading in. I decided to go around the airport and approach it from the north which turned out to be a very good idea. I parked the car in the parking area and went to her arrival gate. It wasn't long before Mum came out and we walked back to the car with her luggage and by the time I got out the car park it had only cost $8, not too bad. I caught up on some of her stories on the way back and then went through her pictures on her camera of her cruise through Alaska.

Mum, (left) in Gold, at the Captain's Table

After catching up with her I headed back to my apartment in Redfern which seemed kinda disappointing as the noise was as bad as I was expecting. But it was time to prepare for the week ahead and so I got everything in order.

The week at work was a very full and busy one and I counted down the minutes to knock off time each day. I did feel quite energetic though and after packing on a few kilo's whilst in Ingleburn I was keen to get back to the gym. So I added a cardio night for Monday to my routine and walked down to Newtown Fitness First just to mix things up. The football was on Fox so I watched the last 15 minutes of the first half whilst on the cross trainer then did some stretching and ab exercises during the half time break. I then returned to the cross trainer for half of the second half and then the cycle for the last 20 minutes. I then went to Happy Chef for a light meal and then walked home and crashed out.

Tuesday was work as usual and another gym night. I got back into my weights program and found it a huge struggle after nearly 3 weeks break. I had dropped significantly in my reps and weights but that's understandable and creates the bench mark for the improvement to get back where I was and then pass it.

Wednesday was a rest from gym - yay - and I caught up with a mate instead. We ate at Chinatown which is always a treat and then I walked home in the freezing cold. Bloody winter, i hate it already.

Thursday was my second weights night and I did a bit better than Tuesday which was reassuring. Work was really draining me this week and I was testing a new database for an hour everyday and was getting pressure from both management and testing people regarding time. My boss didn't want me gone too long and the IT guys needed me to be putting in the time to ensure the new system was tested properly. Both understandable but certainly made me feel like piggy in the middle and I kinda got annoyed with the whole set up. But with the weekend getting closer I was getting happier. After the gym I drove to Lidcombe to park my car in readiness for the Football on Friday night. I caught the train back to Redfern and was home before 1130pm. I was so tired i feel asleep on the lounge with my blanket.

Friday was a long cold day and with the promise of a visit to ANZ Stadium that night it was a fairly fast moving day. I finished the data base testing that i was given which was good and once 5pm hit i was in my Bulldogs gear and on the train to Olympic Park. I arrived at the half time of the Holden Cup which is always a good game to watch as our team is doing pretty good and they ended up winning it 23-16.

The main attraction was a different story and whilst the halftime score was only 6-10 in favour of the Roosters, it never felt like my team was on top of things. The Roosters took control in the second half and surged ahead 6-20 and there was still heaps of time but our attack just couldn't get a go on, not that the Roosters being offside all the time helped, but that's part of the game. It was also one of those nights when everything seemed to go against us like the bounce of the ball or the balance of a referee decision, or the proximately of the line it just wasn't our night. A late surge gave us something to go home with and a respectable loss of 18-20.

I am optimist with NRL and I always look for the bigger picture of things and I say when you first lose 0-36 to a team, and then only lose 18-20, you have turned it around by 34 points, and that's huge, and if that trend continues, you really hope to meet them in the Semi Finals :-)

So that's my week, just Work, Gym, Footy and Family. But it certainly fills it overwhelmingly.

See you next week.

J G S

COMICAL CORNER #3 - SWEET BROWN

AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT

                                               SWEET BROWN aka Kimberly Wilkins

Sweet Brown is a pseudonym used by Kimberly Wilkins, an Oklahoma City resident who was interviewed by local news station KFOR News Channel 4 after evacuating from her apartment building that was set on fire. Her emphatic testimony of the chaotic scene quickly led to massive exposure on YouTube.

On the morning of April 7th, 2012, a three-alarm fire broke out at an Oklahoma City apartment complex in Oklahoma, leaving one person hospitalized for smoke inhalation and five units damaged.

The local station KFOR News Channel 4 was among the first to arrive on the scene and interview one of the displaced residents Sweet Brown. During the interview, she stated that she had woken up to get a “cold pop” when she thought someone was grilling before she realized there was a fire. Brown then proceeded to run out of the apartment without shoes. In describing the heavy presence of smoke from the fire, she explained that she suffered from Bronchitis then uttered the now famous line “ain’t nobody got time for that!” which became one of the more memorable lyrics in the song created from her interview.

If you have never seen this clip of the interview and ensuing song then you absolutely must look at it.
If you have seen it once, you absolutely have to see it again.
If you have seen it hundreds of times, you totally need to watch it again and again!

I never tire of this clip and I never tire of Sweet Brown.

I always got time for that.

CHECK IT OUT!!!!

AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT - SWEET BROWN

I love the dancing chimps best :-)

Want more? Well there are two other similar stories turned into songs.

Antoine Dodson "Bed Intruder" and Eccentric Witness Lady "Backin Up"

(Click on their names to get a glimpse of their statements-turned-pop-song)

J G S

GRIPE NIGHT #15 - HYPOCRITES

Its time to end the hypocrisy!

This city is crawling with people who say they are one thing yet their actions suggest another!

Sure we can point the finger at the politicians first and foremost but as it's part of their job description its not very fair to then criticise them for it.

How about the fundraisers? In my building there are several people who work for very world famous charities yet they walk straight past the beggars on the street and ignore the friendly man selling The Big Issue (which is a very good read might I add!)

How about the priests? Shall we go there too? Why not? They are some of the biggest hypocrites in the world with the splendour and grandeur they live in and the expenses they run up. Not to mention the taxes they dont pay. Would they really need to fund raise for the poor if they lived a life that's a little more humble?

And the cyclists who believe that what they are doing is good for the environment and survival of the human race yet they illegally ride on footpaths and nearly kill or maim innocent pedestrians.

Then there's the racists who think they are not racist even though they only want to marry someone the same race as themselves.

How about the so called well-mannered colleague who swears like a soldier on the phone to her husband then reports the young office guy for saying "Fuck" in the lunch room.

And the large woman who tells the school kid to get out of the train seat because she paid full fare then gives the slim lady a serve for asking her to move her bag so she can also sit down.

Or the executive who condemns a constituent for calling an aboriginal visitor an ape, then suggests publicly the same visitor would be suitable to promote a new musical about King Kong.

I'm not racist, it's just humour - I'm not homophobic, I just find guys kissing groce, I care about homeless but they should just try to get a job, I am proud to be Australian but I intend to ignore its laws - all hypocrisy!

Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, that one does not actually have.

Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie.


Wake up to yourself people and stop the negative impact you are having on this great city of ours.


J G S

SYDNEY INSIGHTS #15 - CENTENNIAL PARK

As a kid, this was the place for special family picnics where we would take all the stale bread from the fridge to feed the ducks in Centennial Park.

Well as you can see Centennial Park was opened in 1888 to commemorate 100 years of European settlement. 

The government began plans for a celebratory park in 1886 and passed an Act of Parliament in 1887. 

There were grand plans to have a museum and a national convention building there but this never eventuated. 

Centennial Park was dedicated by Sir Henry Parkes in January 1888 and he described it as 'emphatically the people's park'. 

 The Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun dedicated the park 'to the people of New South Wales forever'.

The land was originally set aside by Governor Lachlan Macquarie for grazing and watering stock. 

The ponds to the south, known as Lachlan Swamps, were named in his honour and were the chief water supply for Sydney from 1830 to 1880. Water was carried to Hyde Park along a tunnel called Busby's Bore, after its designer John Busby. The tunnel served the needs of Sydney until the Nepean scheme made it redundant in the 1880s.

Centennial Park has seen it's fair share of drama over the years but in 1851, it saw a good old fashioned a duel between the first Premier of New South Wales, Stuart Donaldson, and the Surveyor-General, Thomas Mitchell. Both men survived to fulfil their duties.

I think Politicians should continue to head down there and settle their differences this way. 

We'd certainly get a higher turn over. 

Within the park is the Federation Pavilion which encloses the Commonwealth Stone 1901, and its significance is that it is the site of the official ceremony to mark the Federation of Australia and the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Designed by Alexander Tzannes, it was erected around the 'Commonwealth Stone' as a permanent monument to Federation, in the Bicentennial Year of European Settlement in 1988. 

The building was renovated and plaques were added to celebrate the Centenary of the Federation of Australia on 1 January 2001.

The Commonwealth Stone is made of sandstone, and it is almost the only remnant of the original pavilion used by Lord Hopetoun as most of the structure rotted, being made of plaster of Paris. 

But this is what it's all about, big shady trees, winding ponds and waddling ducks and lots of grass to roll in. 

It is the perfect spot for a sunny winters day picnic, a spot of reading or a leisurely walk or run.

If you haven't been down there recently do yourself a favour and take your family there, it will be almost exactly as you remember it.

J G S

:-)

#NRL REVIEW ROUND 14

The Broncos were the big winners of Round 14 when they beat the Wests Tigers 32-12 tonight in Brisbane.

But who cares, the NRL is a bloody disgrace tonight after Blake Ferguson, the NSW Origin Player was sacked after being formally charged with indecent assault of a woman in Cronulla. Now everyone makes errors in life and sometimes we do silly things when we get drunk that we regret. Usually our mates keep us out of trouble and look after us. But do we indecently assault people? I'm not so sure. But think about it, Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson drinking at a pub prior to origin camp, could anything possibly go wrong?

Did the whole world forget this photograph incident when selecting the NSW Origin team? Was this taken a few years ago and the boys have grown up? This photo was taken in MARCH 2013! And Dugan was eventually sacked from Canberra. Did the NRL congratulate and support Canberra for having such a low tolerance of dickhead behaviour that brings the game in disrepute? No, they let him sign with the Dragons only a few weeks later. That will teach him wont it? Sure he was playing well for the Dragons, but surely the NRL would not allow this scandalous man to be elevated into an Origin game only a few months later, and yet they did! And Ferguson was awarded a Blues Jersey by Laurie Daley for game one. The first thing these idiots-in-arms did when back together for origin II was a piss up together. The NRL got what they deserve for continuing to reward bad behaviour. They talk about Women in league and go on with all that rubbish and then we see the likes of Ben Teo, now Ferguson, and let's not forget the girlfriend glasser Carney, all current or recent origin players. It's an utter disgrace and its a smack in the teeth for all those model football players who give kids a legitimate reason to look up to them. Like Jonathan Thurston for example, we saw what Dugan thought of him this weekend, and yet he was cleared of that late hit, that was fine was it? What a joke. But the bogan supporters wont understand what all the fuss is about I guess. They will continue to defend these boofheads and cheer them on.

So........... lets wind things right back to Friday night when the Bulldogs faced a huge encounter with Manly at Brookvale. I was watching this with my sisters family and it was a very vocal affair. I was stunned when the Bulldogs went out to an 18-nil lead after 18 minutes but I knew there was too much class in Manly to start celebrating. Manly kept in there for an 18-6 half time score but the Bulldogs kept kicking a head first 24-6, then 30-12 and with 15 minutes to go I thought yes, the team has never lost a game when they score a minimum of 20 points so there's no chance they would be run down at 30. But when the Eagles scored a couple of tries and it was 30-24 it was a bit scary and there were a lot of dodgy refereeing decisions and foul play being missed but I still thought 30 would be enough to win until the unthinkable happened and Manly levelled with a freak try to the man suspended several times in his career already Steve Matai. Not that the NRL rewards bad behaviour. The conversion from the side saw the game levelled at 30-all at full time. I didn't think the Bulldogs slackened off at all, I think they were too tired to match the upped tempo of the Eagles but momentum and luck and a few blind officials saw them nab us in the end. I still thought we had done enough to deserve a win but I didn't want it to end the way it did. A penalty for the flick up of a leg in a tackle that saw Reynolds flip himself over as he tried to get out of the tackle occurred on the half way line. It would have put the Bulldogs in a very good attacking position and build for a field goal attempt. But that was not to be as the referee marched the Manly side 10 metres for back chatting and from the 40m line it gave amazing goal kicker Trent Hodkinson an in-range goal. I think the marching was harsh and unnecessary but as a Bulldog supporter I was relived when that ball went through the sticks because as I said before I thought we had done enough to deserve it. But its a shitty way to win and an even shittier way to lose, but the final score was 32-30 and a win to the Bulldogs.

Golden Point is absolutely ridiculous and needs reform. I think its great to try and unlock a leveled game with some extra time, and the idea of first scorer wins is fine as a concept, but Golden Point in its current form is awful. They should make it GOLDEN TRY, and the teams can only win by getting a try. That way it is more difficult to win and we get a longer period of extra time, without it being a field goal contest or lost on a penalty goal. GOLDEN TRY will be incredibly exciting, especially if it goes to the video ref and you see the words GOLDEN TRY on that screen in golden yellow writing. That result would be earned and not won by a stroke of luck.

Anyway in other games of course the Cowboys earned their win against the Dragons on Friday 22-16, and on Saturday the Raiders put on their 10th consecutive win in Canberra 24-12 over the Panthers. It really must suck to go down there to play as a visitor. Later that night the Sharks bounced back from their horrific loss in Melbourne to beat the Eels 32-14 at home. Sunday saw two very close encounters as the top two teams of the competition were given a real shake. The Rabbits held off the Titans tho 30-24 and the Storm clawed back to pip the Knights 16-14 in Newcastle. later that night the Warriors continued their amazing form at the moment when they did the Roosters over at Allianz Stadium 23-12.

So in what was a dramatic weekend of games and plenty of drama off the field it does make you realise that this is a game played by men who are as flawed as they are talented and not all of them can handle the lifestyle of a professional football player. You really need to develop great self control to not believe all the hype about yourself. Some guys like Ferguson just forget that they are not above the law and he is paying the price now that he faces a very serious charge.

Let's hope the good guys of the game keep our flags flying.

J G S

WAAPA YEARBOOK #2

So when we last were looking back at the beginning of my Waapa days, we left off at the "Welcome BBQ" where finally we got to meet all the Victorian class mates and the one from Queensland.

I remember it was a hellishly hot summer day in Perth and I was getting public transport there because I hadn't yet inter-mingled with anyone since arriving in Perth. I had pre-arranged to stay with a friend of a friend in Maylands which was the neighbouring suburb of Mount Lawley where the campus was. Little did I know that Maylands was a huge suburb as was Mount Lawley and it was quite a journey up and down hills and required crossing the railway line. About 6 months into the first year I left Maylands and moved to Menora which neighboured Mount Lawley on the other side.

Anyway I remember I was seriously dehydrated that day and had been dealing with a couple of nose bleeds which was a very shabby way to start the Waapa social calendar and I must have looked pretty disgusting by the time I got there. I remember the first people I met was the blond hostess and her brunette friend who bared a striking resemblance to a young Ann Margaret. I put my beer in the fridge and was taken out to the pool area to meet the other students from my class and those in the two years ahead of me. It was a whirlwind of bubbly excited voices and pretty and handsome faces. It was a lot to take in and I tried to concentrate on who was in my class. Everyone was in their swimmers and I didn't bring any. It was a conscious choice though as I have always been very self-conscious of my body and I did not want my first impression to be of that. So I stayed clothed and mingled and I remember meeting two of the Victorian boys and immediately assumed they were both gay, however only one would prove to be.

This one was a very city boy and the other was a very country boy and the former had a quick wit and dry sarcastic sense of humour, the latter was just so damn happy and genuinely friendly. They were like chalk and cheese and yet they were rooming together in a street that was renowned for its Waapa population. I then met the girl who was forever having to spell her name to everybody as without fail everyone repeated it back to her wrong, myself included. She was so damn beautiful like a young Olivia and with the deepest blue eyes. Another Vic boy I met was very tall and quite aloof and we didn't really talk too much that day and for some reason that was how it was for almost the entire 3 years that followed. Then I met the zany hilarious girl from Geelong and she made me laugh a lot the moment we met but I was overwhelmed again a bit just like the picnic back in Sydney. I don't remember meeting the girl who would become my first room mate later that year. I'm sure she was there as I recall having the big class photo half in the pool and half out. I'm not sure if anyone has that picture somewhere out there. But that wrapped up meeting the Vic peeps. I also met the girl from Queensland and she was another blond and very tall. She seemed quite grounded and naturally friendly which was helpful as she went on to become my wife two times before we would graduate. :-)

As everyone drank more and the sun began to fade it was decided to kick on into the evening but that would need to be done at a place other than the beautiful City Beach abode. So we headed back to a place that was affectionately known as Porn House, I'd be very surprised if this building is still standing today. But I know I had drunk quite a lot and I really don't remember whose car I went there in. Whilst at Porn House I became engaged in a serious conversation with another student with the same name as mine who was a year ahead of me. He was half joking when he explained that he liked being the only James at Waapa so to avoid confusion it was decided that I should go by a nickname. I can't remember who else was in the room at the time but I think it was a kitchen of some sort and we were seated around a square wooden table. I offered up all the nicknames I could recall that I had been given in the past but none of them seemed appropriate for Waapa so James asked me what my initials were and so I told him JGS. After a few different letters interpolated around it suddenly the name JiGSy was coined and cemented as the name I would be known as at Waapa. Immediately I knew the name didn't suit me and I would never be a "Jigsy" what ever that really was. I knew if my friends and family back home heard that people were calling me that they would screw their face up as well. They would share the same view of the name that I had.

To my surprise, and somewhat horror, that nickname took off like wildfire and every student was calling me Jigsy. I still didn't feel like this "Jigsy" person but I responded to it and eventually I began introducing myself as Jigsy. But it took about 18 months for that to happen. By the time I graduated, every student past and present called me Jigsy and every member of the faculty including all the lecturers I had, and those I didn't have, teaching me called me Jigsy. All but my singing teacher Roma, but she did different very well. To this day I am still Jigsy, and I embrace Jigsy so much so that I am trying to stay Jigsy in an ever diminishing musical world for me.

So how did this epic day end up? Well, unfortunately I remember being driven home (legless) by a couple of second year fellas who seriously must have taken pity on me. I was a mess that night, stains everywhere on my clothes and I was utterly embarrassed the next day. I always wondered if any stories went around about my messy state after that day. It was not the impression I had hoped for, but you are who you are, and no matter how hard you might try to fight it, you just have to embrace it and all the challenges being you brings.

That's the real essence of Jigsy  :-)

J G S

GARDEN PALACE BOOK UPDATE #14

After completing the revised draft of Chapter Four last week I began to tackle the fifth chapter of the new edition of my book - The New Chief of Security.

This chapter originally saw the end of the tour training and the introduction of the House Revue where staff perform to raise money for their Christmas party.It also saw the emergence of Terrence Knight, our villain, as he rises to the role of Acting Chief of Security, practically overnight.

There were a few significant changes required for the revised edition, namely the House Revue. We were no longer in a "House" we were now in a Palace so our new revue became the Palace Revue and to be performed in the Palace Theatre. As Max was now new to the venue, we had to find a way to get him suggested to Direct the revue as well. So we beefed up a few characters and they bridged the gap.

Other than that it remained fairly unchanged including the introduction of another main character Tom from the Building Maintenance department who instead of singing decides to do the Full Monty. Also Max still has his very first one on one encounter with Terrence Knight.

I am delighted to inform you all that I managed to knock this over in a week thanks to some temporary commuting on city rail and I am just correcting the spelling and shifting it on the editors.

It's a very satisfying achievement to adapt this story to its new surrounds and finding the ways to make it all still connect.

We have picked up a little speed and hopefully we can get the book out before Xmas.

As it stands we are currently looking at January 15 2014

Stay tuned...

J G S

J G S HABITAT #2

Hey viewers,

So for a short week that certainly felt like a long one.

The Long Weekend was awesome though, it was so nice to just hang out in the peace and quiet of Ingleburn and do practically nothing.

I hit the town though on Saturday night and caused a stir amongst the locals at the world famous Ingleburn RSL Club. I decided to go down there to watch the football on the big screen as the Bulldogs were playing the Cowboys up in Queensland. I wore my Bulldogs jersey down there which was given to me for Christmas by my mum last year. Well the other Bulldog local supporters who were there were also wearing their Bulldog jerseys that they bought last year at the Grand final and when they saw mine I was swamped because it was a newer version than theirs. I certainly felt like a celebrity and I managed to get home with the jersey still in tact. The game was also a favourable one as the Bulldogs overcame the cowboys to win 36-26.

Sunday I went further afield to Ingleburn town centre and looked at all the upmarket clothing shops such as Target Country. I even ended up back at the RSL club to watch some more football.

Monday was the productive day and i caught the train into the big smoke and went to the gym in Wynyard. I then came back and did some grocery shopping for the meals for the week and washed and pressed my clothes for week as well.

Tuesday I began my commute from Ingleburn and found it quite pleasant. It was a very busy day at work due to the loss of the Monday. There was lots of talk at work about the recruitment and I was told that the suggestions had been sent to the government and once confirmed they will make job offers so again I had to sit in suspense on whether I had secured my job permanently.

Wednesday was much of the same but the commuting was giving me a lot of time to work on my book revision, though I am rather self conscious of others looking at my work on the screen so I was very secretive with the laptop.

Thursday is my long day though as I have my weekly singing lesson with Voice Teacher to the stars Peter Bodnar. After a long day of work the last person you want to see is Peter and his ridiculous vocal warm ups that are totally designed to appeal to his sense of humour and perverse interest in torture and pain. He is always angry and strict and if you ever sing a wrong note he whacks you with one of the legs he rips off the piano. Sometimes he squirts you with Mortein bug spray as he suffers terrible paranoia and often mistakes you for a mosquito in his ear. I am always so happy to walk out of his studio once a lesson is complete and I have paid him his fee which goes up $5 every week.

I'm sure you all realised that was all jokes, let's hope he does too. My voice has been changing a lot since joining Peter's studio last year and whilst I am only just making breakthroughs in releasing more air and reducing the clenched tension I am delighted as to how much more I am enjoying singing these days. It would be nice to get an opportunity to start showing off the improvements, but sadly these days I am finding it very hard to get auditions for the big shows. Hopefully going back to basics and starting to rebuild the career path will help finally bridge this gap. I thoroughly enjoy my lessons and have complete faith and trust in Peter's instruction. He is brilliant and wickedly funny.

Peter Bodnar - ageing gracefully

(image may be slightly exaggerated and not of the actual Peter Bodnar referred to in the blog)

(WARNING - this parody may not be funny)

So today was great to finally get through although it was a bit strange at work as I was taken away from my usual duties for other in-house purposes. As we are a very new NSW government funded agency, a consultant has been interviewing staff to assess whats working and whats not working and about 2-3 hours of my day was with the consultant. I was also involved in User testing of our new database that is being created and had to follow the work flow charts to ensure the new system performed the tasks correctly. It was slow and pain-staking but integral to the integrity of the upcoming database.

I rushed home to put camera-shy Willie to bed and then drove over to Mount Annan to my sister's house to watch the Bulldogs play Manly at Brookvale. We had a nice chat before the game and then I sat around the telly with Kathy and Rob, you may recall them from last week's Habitat blog, and their twin sons Cooper and Riley. The game was heart attack material full of controversy and ups and downs and went longer than the usual 80 minutes. The result was a win for my team but it was not achieved in the manner I had hoped for nor the kind I enjoy. I do think they did enough to deserve the win, but they took their eyes of the prize and were very lucky to walk away with victory in the end. But it certainly kept us happy enough to not spoil the evening. My nephew Jack came home with his girlfriend Courtney and the other boys fell asleep on the lounge. Kathy and I spent the remainder of the evening laughing at funny YouTube clips. Very fun start to the weekend.

Former Sea Eagle Trent Hodgkinson the hero of the Bulldogs tonight

Mum gets back Sunday morning so tomorrow is about getting everything in order for her happy return. Haven't heard much from her whilst cruising Alaska so there will be heaps to catch up on when she returns.

That's my habitat for this week, not very exciting perhaps but certainly has been fun.

Till next week,

J G S