J G S HABITAT #7

Goodbye apartment!

Well after 8 months I finally left my apartment in Redfern and I couldn't be happier.

Whilst it was a brilliant layout with new carpet and only 5 minute walk to the station, I never had a moments peace in there and when I look back on what happened in my time there, I truly believe it may even have been cursed.

Whilst I was bang on Cleveland Street and only a floor above street level, the traffic noise was not a problem. Sure it was noticeable during peak time or when a motorbike or ambulance roared past but by bedtime it was quite peaceful enough.

The issue was in the building's design and construction. Firstly, the unit above had hard surfaces in all areas so when everything was dropped or dragged I would hear it. But the space in my unit amplified the noise too so it sounded heaps louder. Plus their sliding balcony door actually made my lounge vibrate every time it opened and that was at least 5-6 times an hour.

Added to that, and unbeknown to me before signing the lease, the unit above me had their kitchen situated above my bedroom. Another hard surface with the same issues.

Now this would be okay if ordinary people lived above me in that unit, but as it was a split level 3 bedroom flat, it housed 6 university students from France and there was activity up there 24/7 particularly in the Kitchen. I would hear everything through the floor, laughs, cheers, screams, shouts, guitars, chair sounds, door sounds, tapping, stomping etc and not just sound but reverberations as well.
Nothing could therefore block it out, music, ear plugs or relaxations tapes.

So why didn't I  complain? I certainly did complain -  to everyone.

Real Estate Agent said they couldn't do anything because they didn't manage the other unit.

Strata said that it needs to affect more than one unit to be dealt with by them - I was the only unit underneath theirs.

I even rang the agent of the unit above who reported that, after speaking to the tenant, they believed them when they declared the noise wasn't coming from them - honestly!

So I was advised to call the police when i heard the noise again.

"Hello Officer, the people upstairs are making pancakes at 2am and I cant sleep"

Mostly I don't blame the students, they are who they are and most of their noise should not have been heard by me if the building was properly sound proofed. But being French their disinterest in caring about anyone but themselves was also a disadvantage.

The days leading up to leaving was the worst noise imaginable too as they were on holidays but knowing that I was getting out allowed me to just handle it till then.

So where am I now? Back to the Burn. (Ingleburn - for those north of the bridge)

I will stay out here for a while to recalibrate and work out where I want to go next.

Added to that I am also starting a new job on Monday which is another change I really needed. Sorry to disappoint many of you but I am still not going to sell ice creams in Darling Harbour :-)

But I will be continuing to help people which is something I seem to have a knack for.

You all know that my day job is just a money job and that the real fun happens in the writing department and of course the performing department.

I am happy to report I am back in the audition game this weekend and next weekend so hopefully there will be some extra exciting opportunities down the track.

So that's why my blogs have fallen behind a bit lately as there's been a hell of a lot of packing, moving, and cleaning to do but now things should get slightly back to normal.

If there is such a thing.

Till next week

J G S

COMICAL CORNER #7 - GARRY LARSON

Garry Larson is most famous for his The Far Side series of humourous pictures and gags.

Born in America on 14th August 1950, Garry's single-panel cartoon series was syndicated to over 900 newspapers internationally for around 15 years until his retirement on 1st January 1995.

During this time he sold over 45 million copies of his 23 books of collected cartoons.

But enough of the info, you wanna see his work :-)

Heres some of my favourites.

1. CATS

 

2. DEER

3. DUMB

There's heaps more of them out there so if you want to see more of his work go to...

The Far Side

Enjoy!

J G S

GRIPE NIGHT #19 - PUBLIC SERVANT BULLIES

The workplace is full of bullies but in the media of late there has been great emphasis on the magnitude of bullies in the public service.

It appears to be absolutely rife and in NSW there are currently internal investigations and formal proceedings taking place in order to address the issue.

But it seems the problem often is that the people appearing to be doing the ground work or the noble act of taking this action are quite often the main culprits themselves and in showing such public disdain for it they attempt to shield themselves from scrutiny.

The public service appears to be full of power hungry nobodies who thrive on being big fish in little ponds and crush anybody who infiltrate their territory, and those who don't behave within their expected parameters.

It sounds very much like a coven of witches with a head witch wielding the office power, flanked by a powerless witch who does all the grunt work and finds out all the gossip under the guise of a friendly colleague.

They hear everything, see everything and know everything through networking under the table and covert operations and if they discover something they do not like, they use this network to crush and destroy.

To the unsuspecting worker, they appear to be lovely and very helpful people. But its all a ploy as they help you so that you are indebted to them, and they own you. The minute you stop feeding them the information they thrive on, they begin to dispose of you.

Bullies and the public service go hand in hand, so if you choose to enter this arena be prepared and have your wits about you. Never give them anything that can be used against you and remember above all else, no one is ever really your friend. They will throw you to the wolves the minute it's in their best interest.

Now there must be thousands of lovely people who somehow manage to survive amongst the witches, but bullies are despicable and I pity them for their lives must thrive on negativity and bitterness.

Give me the private sector any day, but yes, even that is not immune from the evils of bullying.

But only recently the Public Service in New South Wales has admitted it's full of bullies and we all know that bullies must be stopped and exposed for the cowards that they really are.

J G S

SYDNEY INSIGHTS #19 - CROSS CITY TUNNEL

The Cross City Tunnel first began way back in 2002 when then Premier of NSW Bob Carr awarded Cross City Motorways the contract to build, own and operate an underground tunnel crossing beneath the Sydney CBD in an East-West direction.

Three years later the Cross City Tunnel was opened by new Premier of NSW Morris Iemma on 28th August 2005 with the same scissors that opened all major Bridges and Tunnels in Sydney since the Harbour Bridge in 1932.

The Tunnel cost $680 Million to build and it was expected that between 60,000 and 90,000 cars would use it every day. However due to its cost and negative publicity it struggled to garner 30,000 cars per day. 

After massive public campaigns and discounts and free trial periods that were offered to the public, there was some increase in usage, however this did not exceed 33,000.

Naturally the Motorway went broke and fell into the hands of the receivers after amassing debts of over $500 Million.

It was then sold to Leightons Contractors and ABN AMRO bank for $700 Million.

Whilst the tunnel remains privately owned it will revert to public ownership in 2030.

Should you wish to take a trip you should be aware of the prices and you must have an eTag as it is cashless. Most motorways and bridges are cashless now but the CCT was the first to be completely cashless.

The full journey from end to end will cost $4.91 one way. If you break your journey at Sir John Young Crescent in the City it will cost $2.32 one way.

Travel times indicate that you can get from World Square to the Airport in under 14 minutes. Of course if you live in Sydney you know that that figure is rubbish as it does not include the high volume of traffic at the beginning and end of the tunnel journey.

A few other facts about the CCT include a maximum speed of 80km/h, between 16-18 traffic lights are skipped using the tunnel, and a 60 metre high ventilation stack in Darling Harbour excretes the air that congests in the tunnel.

The Cross City Tunnel was brilliant in theory and an utter failure in practise which saw it turned into a gross white elephant.

Today its usage has increased to around 45,000 cars per day, but that is still half the expected use. 

It will be interesting to see what the NSW Government does with it when it gets ownership in 2030.

J G S

NRL REVIEW ROUND 19

The Roosters were the big high flyer's in Round 19 when they obliterated a very humbled Sharks outfit 40-0.

The win was quite comprehensive with the absence of star player Sonny Bill Williams and the score line was not indicative of a Top 8 clash. The Roosters are now within striking distance of the Minor Premiership while the sharks have slipped down towards the rim of the 8.

The round kicked off on Friday with a very solid performance by the Warriors who overcame a lacklustre Tigers side 24-14. The win kept the Warriors on target to stay in the finals race and give the Top 8 a really good shake.

Canberra maintained their unbeaten record at home with a 14-0 win over the Eels which was quite respectable given the difference between their performances this year. The win cemented the Raiders position in the Top 8 as well.

On Sunday the Knights showed a very professional performance in another Top 8 challenge when they convincingly defeated a strong Panthers side 32-14 in Penrith. This win puts the Knights in the top spot of the second tier of the top 8 and their for and against record is one of the strongest in the NRL.

The other Sunday game saw the Sea Eagles convincingly topple the Titans at Brookvale 38-20 after the Titans tried to mount a comeback from 24-4. This result not only cemented the Sea Eagles top 4 placing but it also pushed the Titans well out of the top 8.

Finally to wrap up the Round on Monday Night Football, the St George Dragons stunned the entire NRL world especially the South Sydney Rabbitohs, when they stole victory from the Bunnies in Golden Point to win in a huge upset 22-18. This loss has relinquished the outright control the Bunnies had on the Minor Premiership but they still hold a two point lead.

All other Clubs including the Bulldogs had a bye this round which completes the byes for the season and full rounds will now ensue right up until the finals.

So with 7 more games left of the regular season here's how the ladder currently stands. A clear top 8 has emerged with 3 others contenders still in the race. Forget the rest.

32 RABBITOHS
30 ROOSTERS
27 STORM
25 SEA EAGLES
22 KNIGHTS (95)
22 BULLDOGS (10)
22 SHARKS (-41)
22 RAIDERS (-44)
20 Panthers (47)
20 Titans (-23)
20 Warriors (-71)
16 Broncos
16 Cowboys
16 Dragons
16 Tigers
10 Eels

J G S

BLOG REPORT #3

Welcome to the 3rd Blog Report of my daily J G STEVENSON series.

I drastically changed the line-up for my daily blogs during this period and provided more personal insights into my world and how I see things through these rather parochial eyes of mine.

The results were incredible, somehow there seems to be a big interest in my dull little escapades and the stats have gone through the roof. 

The increase overall in terms of views of my blogs is a whopping 34%

So how is my audience shaping up these days? Well it's pretty much unchanged except for a few interesting trends but here is a recap of my previous views since making the change to the current format 18 weeks ago.

Before I changed the format here was the top 10 audiences.

 %

81.4 Australia

12.9 USA          

 1.9  UK              

 1.0  Ireland             

 1.0  South Korea    

 0.8  Germany          

 0.4  Malaysia          

 0.2  Qatar                

 0.2  Sweden           

 0.2  Canada

After 6 weeks of the new format this became....

73.0 Australia       

14.7 USA                  

 5.3  Germany         

 2.5  Russia              

 1.5  UK                    

 1.1  South Korea    

 0.5  Ireland              

 0.5  Romania          

 0.3  Malaysia           

 0.3  France 

Then after 12 weeks, the figures became the following...

65.6 Australia 

20.4 USA

 5.0  Germany

 4.1  Russia

 2.1  UK 

 1.2  South Korea

 0.5  France

 0.4  Ireland

 0.3  Romania

 0.2  Canada

So after changing the daily topics of this new format the figures have now become...

63.7 AUSTRALIA

22.3 USA

 4.8  RUSSIA

 3.9  GERMANY

 2.2  UK

 1.0  South Korea

 0.7  Ukraine

 0.5  France

 0.5  Japan

 0.4  Ireland

The local audience is still dropping in favour of an international audience which is slowly becoming much broader yet the USA market is still increasing to almost a quarter of my overall audience.

In the last 18 weeks over 35 countries have figured in the weekly Top 10 figures as well.

So what are the most popular pages now? Well here's the list.

22.3 FRI    - JGS HABITAT

14.4 SUN  - WAAPA YEARBOOK

13.8 WED - GRIPE NIGHT

13.6 THU  - COMICAL CORNER

13.1 TUE  - SYDNEY INSIGHTS

12.0 SAT   - BOOK UPDATE

 9.9  MON  - NRL REVIEW

I'm thrilled with these results and will continue to keep these topics into the next 6 week series. 

I have been quite erratic with the postings of late, thank you for still following the blogs as they are posted and I can now say it is all up to date.

I hope you enjoy the next 6 weeks of adventures which will certainly see a lot of changes and stories in the J G S HABITAT series and greater updates with the BOOK REPORT. The NRL REVIEW still has another couple of series to go and the Bulldogs look like they will head into the finals series. I will also be commencing the publishing of some interviews for the WAAPA YEARBOOK. There's still heaps of funnies to share for the COMICAL CORNER, more secrets of SYDNEY INSIGHTS to share and I will always have something to bitch about for the GRIPE NIGHTS.

Lots to look forward to.

Till then

J G S

  

             

      

NRL REVIEW Round 18

The Bulldogs were the big winners this week when they took advantage of an under strength Melbourne Storm side to smash them 39 - Nil at ANZ Stadium on Sunday in beautiful sunshine.

Last year the victory against the Storm was the turning point for the Bulldogs as they stormed into the semi finals, no pun intended.

Sure, Melbourne didn't have Cronk, Slater or Smith, but they are still a good team without them as they have shown already this year, and the Bulldogs weren't able to contain other sides under strength previously.

But they threw the ball around from start to finish like it was the entertainers of old and it was a delight to watch every minute.

I haven't seen them play like this all year and Josh Reynolds showed just how stupid Laurie Daley is by taking the bull by the horns in a massive display of defense and attack.

But what about Tony Williams... he was amazing... I'm still in shock over that... but good on him.

And my favourite player Sam Perrett stole the show with a hatrick that was totally deserved as he gives 110% week in week out.

Tim Lafai was on fire and Benny Barba nabbed a try finally after disappointing last week in Mackay.

All in all it was a comprehensive effort for 80 minutes and I hope they roll this on into the finals.

With the BYE this week and a following round against the Eels which they should win, the Bulldogs will be giving that 4th spot a real shake, so the Sharks and the Sea Eagles should watch out.

It was the Sharks who stole a one point win on Friday night against a fast finishing Broncos outfit 19-18, but the Broncos do seem to be heading for the second year ever of missing the finals.

The Panthers had to work really hard to hold out the Eels to win 17-10 in a local derby as well.

Finally on Monday night the Sea Eagles had a comprehensive win over the Cowboys 34-14 and held their 4th spot position over the Sharks.

All other teams had BYES and so the Top 8 has become quite a tussle indeed.

Here is the ladder after 18 rounds.

32 RABBITS
28 ROOSTERS
25 STORM
23 SEA EAGLES
22 SHARKS
20 KNIGHTS (77)
20 PANTHERS (65)
20 BULLDOGS (10)
20 Titans (-5)
20 Raiders (-58)
18 Warriors
16 Tigers
14 Broncos
14 Cowboys
14 Dragons
10 Eels


Go the Doggies

J G S

WAAPA YEARBOOK #6

So to wrap up the first year at WAAPA it's fitting to discuss the people who graduated that year because they are the people you automatically looked up to when you were the new students on the block :-)

Of course the biggest export from that class is pictured above, Ms Lucy Durack who has been Australia's Galinda in Wicked and of course just recently completed her run as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. When Wicked returns in 2014 Lucy will be also returning to the bubble once more :-)
Back in 2002 Lucy turned 21 and invited everyone from the WAAPA Music Theatre course to her party which was one of the highlights of the year. She was the first to leave WAAPA that year too after securing a spot in the Australian production of MAMMA MIA.

But there were many others in that year that have gone on to be very successful in the industry and I still enjoy seeing them pop up all over the place.

One of my personal favourites was Kaeng Chan who has done very well for himself.

Most recently I saw him in Jonathan Biggins' play Australia Day and he was very funny and held his own alongside the rest of the brilliant cast.

But Kaeng has gone from Disney to Miss Saigon and has graced many publications with his heart-throb good looks.

But best of all he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and I am very glad to see him doing so well.

Last year I was lucky enough to see many of these guys in several productions too but noticeably Andrew Broadbent and Natalie Alexopoulos (pictured in Avenue Q) both in South Pacific and Monique Pitsikas in Forum.















Other favourites of mine included David Somerville, Melle Stewart, Hayley Johnson, Dean Vince, Frank Hansen, and Joseph Connell.

Apart from ogling these guys in performance and social events, we also had to do a few performance pracs and it was pretty exciting for us being the only performance we could do that year. Although the boys in my class were offered the opportunity to perform in the ensemble of the Opera course's production of L'Orfeo and we took it up all except one of us. Luckily enough for one of our boys, he got to share the lead role with then student Andrew Moran who is now a regular principal with Opera Australia. My pracs began with Duets, and I performed Sue Me (Guys and Dolls) with a female classmate of mine. I then did a kinda fail with What Kind Of Fool Am I (Stop The World I Want To Get Off), and ended the year with Those Were The Good Old Days (Damn Yankees).

Then it was time to farewell the graduating guys at the end of the year with their Showcase, and then we all had to undergo exams of course.

After that it was time to hear the announcement of the shows and the castings for the following year.

It was announced that the second years, my year, would do an outdoor play called The King Stag, a Commedia dell'arte type of performance, then be the ensemble for the mid-year musical Fiddler On The Roof, and then end the year with a musical review called Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris. I had no idea about any of them except Fiddler but many of my class got very excited at these announcements. Tony Sheldon was announced as directing us in the Jacques Brel one as well so that was pretty exciting for us also. 

I was cast as "The Bear" in King Stag, "Reb Nachum" the beggar in Fiddler, and given the song "Jackie" in Brel.

We sadly lost one of our class mates that year and I regretted not spending more time to get to know him better. He certainly didn't let it beat him though and went on to work continuously in Musicals all over the world. He is always included in our get-togethers and will always be considered one of the class.

But that's a very quick run down of the first year hope you enjoyed a slice of what it was like.

J G S

GARDEN PALACE BOOK UPDATE #18

Hello book fans,

Above you can see a candid shot of me and Nana Sakata, Artist and Illustrator of my yet-to-be-released novel with a current working title of Garden Palace.

For those who are new to this blog, I originally wrote this book last year and published it as an eBook on Amazon.com but sadly had to remove it from sale and completely revise it to ensure its longevity.

This was a blessing in disguise as it forced the premise of the book to shift to a new and totally fictional location which has caused the adventure to explode in detail and the book has grown dramatically.

I had professed last week that I would have the draft of Chapter 6 complete by this blog, but I have to admit I have not reached this target. It was a very strange week trust me.

But I can say that I have been sent 5 illustrations from Nana for the first 4 chapters and the prologue and they are awesome!

If you read the original published book you would have seen her brilliant sketches for the chapters and if you liked the artwork then, you're going to love the new images.

Here's a sneak peek of one....

BAHAHA - SORRY GUYS YOU'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO WAIT :-)

See you next week

J G S

J G S HABITAT #6

"Waiter! There's a girl in my cake"

I thought I'd end this first cycle of J G S Habitat with a random shot of me and my good friend Alison Manifold. It's a bit of an oldie of us but it gave me a laugh when I came across it and thought it post-worthy :-) Ali is a former colleague of mine from the SOH but we go way back before then as she constantly reminds me that I rejected her when she auditioned for me once  :-) But whilst that role may not have been for her on that occasion, I certainly gave her the role of Friend without any need to audition :-) Not only that, we have remained close even after leaving the SOH and I was very fortunate to watch her perform in recital earlier this year and listen to her beautiful classical voice. Ali was also the inspiration for one of the principal characters in my book :-)

As for the week that was, well it has been quite a learning curve for me and certainly not a very ordinary week!

There are a lot of changes afoot and as they are not yet finalised I cannot give all the juicy details just yet, but you will be the first to know when I can :-)

But the weekend itself was a bit of a downer as the Lions flogged the Wallabies and the Knights downed the Bulldogs so if it weren't for my friends rallying around me I would have probably swallowed draino or ate my weight in chocolate.

(*Please note I refer to the previous weekend - my blogs are late sorry!)

When Monday rolled around it was time to make some serious decisions and one was to end my lease and put my apartment back on the rental market. An inspection has been set for Saturday and I have been frantically cleaning and hiding all my valuables. :-) This is a shot of my apartment I took at Christmas last year.

That was the main focus of the week plus I did work on my book for a bit and hung out with my friends and the gym a lot too.

Apart from that, I will just simply have to leave you in suspense until next week when I am hoping to reveal some more interesting details :-)

J G S

COMEDY CORNER #6 - TIM MINCHIN

Now if you don't know who Tim Minchin is, you are in for a real treat once you sample his work.

Very rarely do we see such a successful export from Australia who can entertain in the way that this bloke can.

I hear him called a Comedian, but that is such a tiny part of his skill set, this man is a Musician, and a bloody good one at that.

I'm not going to list his credits and such I mean I will supply you the links to check all that out, but he is quite topical right now for my entire audience out there.

For the Aussie and UK viewers you may have recently seen him in Jesus Christ Superstar, but he is also about to appear for the Sydney Theatre Company stages very soon in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

He will also appear at the Helpmann Awards at the Sydney Opera House on July 29.

For the US viewers you may have already enjoyed his new music score for the Broadway musical Matilda, which opened in the West End initially then Broadway. There is a rumoured musical remake of the film as well.

But for the die hard Minchin fans globally, you have probably enjoyed his live shows recently with the biggest orchestra's in your city playing similar material to that which he recorded with the Heritage Orchestra.

But do yourself a favour, if you have the opportunity, go and see this man perform - you will not be disappointed.

Minchin's music is as diverse as his credits as he flows through moving self examining moments of life to hilarious parody and the mocking of serious institutions of society.

His sound ranges from vaudeville to hard rock at times and his lyrics are as clever as the likes of Stephen Sondheim, yet funnier and a lot more vulgar.

The best song to examine Minchin's style is his infamous Pope Song, for it shows his work is like an ice burg, 1/8th above the surface 7/8ths below.

On the surface it appears to be a vulgar offensive attack on Pope John Paul II. But when you listen to the lyrics, you realise he is questioning how you measure and form your morality and beliefs and whether you are basing it on the right influences.

Have a listen, and a laugh.

POPE SONG - Audio with Lyrics

But he doesn't stop at the Pope, he likes to question how people accept very unusual and outrageous notions like miracles. In his song Thank You God, he mentions how God fixed a very treatable condition on a woman who could easily afford the minor surgery on a cataract after her congregation prayed for her. He thanks God for doing that even though God is doing nothing to stop babies dying from malaria or people starving to death in third world countries.

But then Minchin also manages to give a heart felt rendition of what Christmas means to him and the devotion he feels to his family.

White Wine In The Sun - Youtube clip


MATILDA

I am yet to see Matilda as it still has not reached the Australian Stage but after hearing some of the songs I am really looking forward to it.

Minchin has written the music and lyrics for the score and he was even nominated for Best Original Score at the Tony Awards for this work.

MATILDA on Wikipedia


Being a huge fan of Minchin's I once penned a libretto for a musical based on Minchin's works contained in the Heritage Orchestra album. In what began as a personal challenge to see if I could derive a story that used every song from the album in a relatively believable context, it became a piece that I was very proud of, and dare I say enhanced Mr Minchin's humourous lyrics with the script.

The premise was based around Politics and how a very unlikable man is thrust into the role of Prime Minister just before an election due to an enormous political scandal. He is an absolute liability and it is up to his team to try and clean him up and get him across the line. (Living in Australia, this is a pretty typical event in our political landscape)

I really enjoyed writing it but sadly and not surprisingly, I could not secure any rights to use the songs to work the musical up. I lack that kind of talent and ability to challenge that as well so it still sits on the shelf.

But I remain a true Minchin fan and I look forward to enjoying his works into the future.

YOU GREW ON ME - Youtube Clip

TIM MINCHIN'S WEBSITE

TIM MINCHIN - Wikipedia

Enjoy

J G S

GRIPE NIGHT #18 - MOVING

One of the most annoying things we need to do in life is when we have to pack up all our things and move out of a place.

Whilst it can often be exciting to be moving into a new home, we never realise just how much crap we keep in our cupboards and wardrobes until its time to count how many boxes it takes to contain it all.

It is a good opportunity to chuck all this stuff out but if you are like me and far too sentimental to not think there may be a use for that gift you got at 22 even though you still haven't used it and you are nearly 40.

I hate packing, I really do.

I hate how the gaffer tape sticks to my arm hairs and gives me an instant, artistic wax job.

I hate having to trudge up and down the stairs box after box to load up the car.

And what is your reward after moving everything out of the place? You get to clean it!

All that dust that's built up over the months of dwelling there behind furniture and under the bed and lounge.

All that scum that has stained the tiles in the bathroom and laundry you always meant to clean but never got around to.

And who really washes the walls and windows on a regular basis? Honestly?

Well I don't think I have met anyone who likes packing up a place and I am certainly one of those people.

But what about removalists? Those expensive slow moving shysters with all those catches in the contract to nickel and dime you even though you were given a quote for much less!

Well that part of it is not an issue for me anymore because I am lucky enough to have an old classmate in the business who is awesome to hire.

They only charged me $100 an hour for the two gents and they are not just hard working but they are very friendly and pleasant on the job. No back to base or extras of any kind at all! I even had a tricky entrance too, being on a main road, and they found a way around that very bravely.

Best of all, they are Bulldog supporters :-)

But this is not an ad for them haha you can check them out for yourselves if you like.

HAPPY DAYS REMOVALS INFORMATION

I will certainly be giving them a call when its time for me to move out of my apartment, which might be soon as my apartment is now being leased as you can see below.

My Apartment

But I still hate moving, but you do what you can to make it easier.

J G S

SYDNEY INSIGHTS #18 - Mrs Macquarie's Chair

Many visitors to Sydney find themselves right here to take the best possible views of Sydney Harbour and its two greatest landmarks.

It is called Mrs Macquarie's Chair and funnily enough, it is located at the end of Mrs Macquarie's Road on a peninsula called Mrs Macquairie's Point.

Some have called it Lady Macquarie's Chair, but this is incorrect so make sure to speak up if you hear it referred to as such.

But is it really a chair?

It is actually a sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench and was hand carved by convicts in 1810 for the wife of the Governor of New South Wales.

Elizabeth Macquarie was married to Major-General Lachlan Macquarie the Governor of NSW from 1810-1821. The story goes that Mrs Mac used to sit on this sandstone rocky bench and watch for the ships to come sailing in to the harbour from Great Britain. It was her favourite spot on the property and she often enjoyed the panoramic views of the harbour and held exclusive VIP parties every New Years Eve to watch the million dollar fireworks display.

... oh hang on, that's Clover Moore... but back to the chair...

Should you ever wish to visit and take a seat for yourself it is always open to the public 24/7 and is between Garden Island and Bennelong Point. It faces North-East towards Fort Denison and the Pacific Ocean.

It's an extremely popular site these days for all visitors as they can get a photo of the Sydney Opera House with the Harbour Bridge framing it nicely behind it.

This location provides the best angle for it, little did they know back then.

Many brides and grooms also rush to this spot after their ceremony to get some pretty amazing wedding day pictures.



It's a must see location for any visitor and resident of Sydney.

J G S

NRL REVIEW ROUND 17

Manly were the big winners of Round 17 after muscling out a big victory against the Eels in their usual roughing it up style. Parramatta certainly did hit back, sadly that was not on the scoreboard and the Sea Eagles won 50-10 in a Monday night fizzer.

But the unbalanced games began on Friday night when Melbourne Storm blitzed the struggling Broncos 32-0 and the Sharks played a more interesting encounter against the Tigers also that night finally running out winners 36-22 after leading 24-0 early in the game.

It didn't get that much interesting on Saturday either as two out of three games were also lop-sided beginning with the Roosters who smashed the disappointing Dragons 36-0. This was followed by the Panthers surprising the top 8 Titans 40-18 and pushing their way into the Top 8 themselves. Canberra continued their Home Ground dominance and remain unbeaten at Canberra after beating the Cowboys 26-18.

Sunday brought personal disappointment for me as the Bulldogs were very disappointing at Mackay playing against the Knights. Whilst it was nothing like the 44-8 smashing we copped at Newcastle, the Bulldogs just couldn't gain control of the game even though they did have the lead just into the second half 12-8 but the knights came home far too keen and far too strong and won 18-12.

Many questions go unanswered after the game including 'Will the Bulldogs make the finals?' After what we have seen so far the answer must be - NO. They lack far too much discipline and eagerness and to be honest they lack guidance on the field, particularly in attack but they constantly sit back and wait for the teams to come to them. The Knights were up in the Bulldogs face every time and we were sitting back and waiting to see what they would do. That's not how you win games.

But what happened to Trent Hodkinson? That's what I want to know. The man went into the game with  a near perfect Goal Kicking record. He'd kick them from anywhere on the field, ugly yes, but accurate. Yet in Mackay, he missed them all. 0/3. It proved to be the difference in the scoreline as well. Is that why the Bulldogs have been winning? Trent's goal kicking?

It's not rocket science to say that the Bulldogs season comes down to this Sunday's game against the Storm. Due to the loss against the Knights it is now a MUST WIN to have any hope of the finals this year. But do we fancy our chances? Not confidently.

So far this season every team that beat us once, has beaten us again when we faced them twice. With one exception, Manly. That game was 30-all at Full Time and a penalty goal to Hodkinson won the game for the Bulldogs.

Which brings me back to the last question, were the Bulldogs only winning because of Hodkinsons kicking?

Last year when the Bulldogs won the Minor Premiership we beat every team at least once. That is, no team beat us twice.

The only other game left was between Rabbits and Warriors who finally had their unbeaten run ended by the Rabbits 30-13. Not a bad showing when the Bunnies have all but won the competition this year.
I can't see any other team coming close to them yet I'm certain they will face the Roosters in the Grand Final.

So that's Round 17, check out the major changes to the ladder below.

30 RABBITS
26 ROOSTERS
25 STORM
21 SEA EAGLES
20 SHARKS
18 KNIGHTS (+77)
18 PANTHERS (+58)
18 TITANS (-5)
18 Bulldogs (-29)
18 Raiders (-58)
16 Warriors
14 Cowboys
14 Broncos
14 Tigers
12 Dragons
10 Eels

* ALL TEAMS IN BOLD WILL GET 2 POINTS IN ROUND 18 FOR A BYE

WAAPA YEARBOOK #5

During my experience at Waapa, every year there was a big production staged that would take two performing slots to get onto it's feet. It was referred to as the Mid Year Musical.

Whilst other productions were usually smaller in scale, the Mid Year was designed to create a similar experience to the types of commercial musicals that make the big stages of the world.

Naturally this meant there would be a principal cast and an ensemble cast so both the 3rd years and 2nd years would combine to create the full cast.

The remaining 1st years, like me and my classmates, were assigned backstage jobs for the production which could be in wardrobe, staging, audio and lighting and so on.

I was placed into the backstage crew and it was still quite nerve wracking back there as a lot of the scenery and props had to be manually positioned on the stage in a very short time and that included striking what was on there in the first place. It was well drilled and well orchestrated and all happened in a systematic way.

The set itself was centred around a big block construction that had panels placed on it to for the Office scenes and the House scenes.

This was also stripped back for the raunchy Hernando's Hideaway number.

When creating the office scene the stage crew had to run up those stairs with desks and typewriters and the like as performers scuttled down to get out of the way.


But it was great to be a part of the production in some way during its run and to be given responsibilities that were completely different and virtually unknown to me prior to that experience. It was also a good way to get to work alongside the other students, not only the other performers, but across the staging people and the musicians as well.

I recall during a rehearsal, a backdrop was being lowered, and a female lead who was in discussion as she was leaving the stage walked under it. There were calls shouted out as some technical folks could see the impending disaster but it was not quick enough and the set landed right on her head. It clearly hurt her but not in a very serious way but everyone was extremely concerned. She handled the whole thing very well and did not get angry at anyone except herself and I found that pretty impressive. She continued with the rehearsal as normal but I'm sure she was in some sort of pain throughout.

I think the Mid Year was the type of show I like the most when it comes to theatre, the whole dance spectacular and the comedy and the glamour so I was looking forward to my own experiences in the next two Mid Years to come. But I really enjoyed the experience backstage and got a really good feel for that theatre and how everything all works behind the scenes.



But in all honesty, I was still the spectator at heart and I was as star struck then, backstage at Waapa, as I was in any seat of any theatre watching this thing called a Musical.

I waited to laugh at the same gags every night and found delight every time, and also listening to the audience and waiting for their similar reactions every night to the action on the stage.

I loved watching the routines and the flurry of colour from the sides as much as I usually did from the front.
I loved it all, and I was drawn to the charismatic leads like any of the Hollywood matinee idols from the great classics.

As much as I felt like I was a part of it, I still felt that I was a bit of an impostor because of that, but that was all part of the process of being there I guess.


It has been a joy to be able to go to the big theatres today and still enjoy the talents of these people.

So that was my first experience of the Mid Year and of course the moment it ended there was a big party followed by a 4 week break and so flights were booked to head back home.

Half the year was already over.

J G S

GARDEN PALACE BOOK UPDATE #17

So another whirl wind week with very little progress to report.

I have made it a priority to complete Chapter Six this week but I can report that by passing the half way point of Chapter 6 last week we are indeed half way through the rewrite!

That's very exciting and a huge effort.

But there is so much further to go and I really need to start giving Nana Sakata some inspiration to get her awesome sketches beginning to come to life.

In the current chapter titled The Chief Of Security, we see a very sudden change in this role at the Garden Palace which was held for quite a while by a very likable lady.

The decision was made by the Executive of the portfolio but what remains unclear is the actual  reasoning for it.

Officially, a breach of the code of conduct is cited, but on the surface it seems to be quite a trumped-up charge.

Nonetheless a replacement is urgently required to act in the role and one of the newest recruits in Security is chosen, Terrence Knight, which causes great disdain amongst the other men in Security.

Our hero, Max, is certain he had seen this man attend a preview at the Palace alongside the Executive doing the hiring and he senses something about it just doesn't smell right.

It's just another mystery contained within the walls of the Garden Palace.

But does Knight have the best interests of the building at heart or is this his way of being just one more step closer to achieving his ultimate plan?

One thing is for certain, there is more than meets the eye in this place.

J G S

J G S HABITAT #5

Well another week has come and gone and I must say it has been eventful to say the least.

I have been having a lot of problems with my Wifi this week and many blogs are delayed and I am trying to catch up as quick as I can.

Last weekend was a bit of a fizzer with the rain continuing to get us down in Sydney.

On Saturday I didn't really do much more than tidy up around the house before heading out to watch the Rugby at a local pub. I was very glad to see the Wallabies take it to a decider against the Lions and met some interesting people in the process.

Sunday was not all that much different as the rain was still annoying but was beginning to clear, I was just making preparations by shopping and getting organised for the week ahead.

Monday was much nicer weather suddenly and I made my usual pilgrimage to Newtown Fitness First to watch the football that night whilst ploughing through on the cross trainer.

On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to be able to catch up with a friend for dinner and was given a little gift of some different tea's to try. Will leave that till the weekend though.

Wednesday brought what was probably the biggest highlight of the week. I went back to the Opera House for their annual staff Trivia Night. I had been a participant for the past 4 or 5 years and whilst it was great to assemble a table of friends for the fun of it, we never really gave it much of a shake. One year we did finish a random 10th which won us half a dozen bottles of wine which we all got together to share at a later date.

This year my friends still on staff, Nana and Ali, organised the team and I was an invited external guest. I hadn't been back to the building since January and it was nice to walk through the back areas again. We  catered our table well with a good mix of sweet and savoury and all drinks were $5 so I had a coupe of beers during the course of the evening, which was about 4 hours in duration.

There were 28 tables this year and the game was 3 rounds of questions plus a photo sheet where you had to guess who the people were and after the first Round our table was in 1st place with only 2 incorrect answers. We were delighted naturally and whilst happy with our answers, still surprised at the outcome. But after Round Two, despite feeling equally happy with our answers we had fallen back into 2nd Place but still very happy with that.

At the end of Round Three we were not feeling very confident, we had gotten a lot of answers wrong but were confident we got 5 out of 6 points for the last question which was about Daniel Craig. They also collected the Photo sheets and we were pretty confident we had about 23/26 for that. But the third round was our poorest result of the evening.

I was still pretty confident we would be in the top 5 but you only get prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. We were still in there though when he read out 4th and when it wasn't our name, we knew we were now Top 3 and we'd won a prize! So we were very excited.

When he read out 3rd place and it wasn't us, we knew we had either held our 2nd position or we had actually won the whole kit and caboodle. Then he read out 2nd place, and it wasn't us. We had won! My first ever trivia night victory and it was amazing. The 8 of us got to share a prize that was a voucher at the Opera Bar worth $750. Very happy with that and I think most of us intend to get back together and enjoy the prize with a good expensive meal and a few drinks. Very happy effort.

Thursday was pretty much a downer after that and I was pretty exhausted and tired after the weeks events and crashed out watching Wimbledon at home. I have been still battling this bloody cold for 2 weeks and whilst its slowly improving it still has been preventing me from having my full strength and so I still haven't gotten back to doing weights. Next week should be fine.

Finally on Friday I had a friend in town for the night and so we caught up for dinner in a cool Japanese place near Pitt Street Mall then had drinks afterwards in the bar of the Boulevard Hotel on William Street. It's on the 25th Floor and had really cool views of the district.

So all in all a pretty cool week with a highlight or two to make it interesting.

So good to see the sun back in Sydney and supplying us with such glorious wintry afternoons.

See you next week

J G S