Dem Strolling Bones

I wish the Queen all the best for her birthday the weekend before last, which I celebrated most dutifully. My parents, being the lovely people that they are, were visiting again, and we went to the football on Saturday; my brother’s team were playing (unfortunately, they won.)

On Saturday night, my friend had a ‘going away shindig’ (her words, not mine), because she’s gone to Europe for 3 months. Bitch. Anyway, she knows how to throw a shindig, and it was pretty groovy. I consider it my first ‘drinking party,’ because it was the first party where I drank (obviously) – just a glass of champagne, mind. Good to catch up with a few friends from school I don’t see very much – if ever – and meet a few of her friends who were just about as hyperactive and crazy as she was, which made for a pretty fun night.

On Sunday, we saw Shine A Light at IMAX, which was truly awesome. It’s a Scorsese documentary? film? of a Rolling Stones’ concert that was part of their 2006 A Bigger Bang tour. And on the Bigger Screen, it’s absolutely fantastic, second best only to being there, I would think. The film includes footage from the Stones’ much younger days, being interviewed about their success; how long they thought they’d stick around (a 30 year old Mick is asked “Do you see yourself doing this sort of thing when you're sixty?" to which he replies "Yeah. Easily") why they think they’ve lasted this long, and so on. The songs – both well and lesser known – include duets with Jack White, Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera. It's so great to see that they just "love what they do," as they say; you can see from the way they play/sing/work the stage (in the case of Mick) and smile at each other that they really enjoy it. The cinema was packed with baby boomers, but there’s no reason why we Xes and Ys should miss out on the fun.

Monday night was a wonderful climax to the three day weekend. A friend from college (the one I used to get mistaken for in O Week) had two free tickets to a preview of David Williamson’s play Scarlett O’Hara at the Crimson Parrot, so she invited me along and I was only too happy to oblige. It was funny, clever and romantic; an absolute blast. For free tickets, our seats were fantastic, up high and in the middle, we could see everything.

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Scarlett O’Hara at the Crimson Parrot is Australian playwright David Williamson’s first foray into the light-hearted genre of romantic comedy on the stage, and it’s a hilarious success. Quite simply, it’s one laugh after another, pitched both at an older generation that remembers the classic films that Scarlett loves, and entertaining enough for the younger among us to understand. And everybody loves a play that can make fun of itself.

Scarlett O’Hara is thirty-six, a waitress, single and lives with her overbearing mother who desperately wants to be a grandmother. Scarlett loves the classics and can quote almost every one, but unfortunately, life just doesn’t measure up, at least in terms of love, and she’s constantly imaging what it might be like – if her life were a movie. The big screen behind the set means the audience also shares in these amusing moments of day dream and speculation, a feature of the play that very much works to it's enjoyment. The set moves between her lounge room and the restaurant easily, where’s she’s caught between the demands of keeping her job and managing her nagging mother. A rather klutzy and forgetful but delightful young woman, Scarlett seems destined to spend the rest of her life alone and unloved, much to both her despair and that of her mother. But Scarlett’s life is never dull, which means it turns out even more bizarre than any movie.

4 stars/5

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In other news, my Spanish exam today went well, I think. Fairly straightforward, more or less what I expected, I can only hope that I conjugated my verbs correctly. In any case, it's only worth 20% of my overall mark. Uni exams are kind of a shock from the strict structure of IB exams. For starters, the Royal Exhibition building is quite beautiful, like something out of Renaissance archictecture; big dome, angels painted everywhere, light and airy; in short, fairly distracting. Secondly, the 'exam room' is filled with more than 2,000 people, when I'm used to maybe 20-100, max. Reading time starts 15 mins before the advertised time, which basically means when everyone is walking in. As Sara puts it, "the masses of invigilators swooping around...are a bit intimidating compared to the single one we had for our IB final exams, but I guess it's necessary." A nice change is that you can leave early, unlike being forced to stay until the very end.

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Half yearly stock take sales make me deliriously happy. No, really. I wandered into the city after leaving my exam early (I'd finished, and checked, and checked, and had half and hour to go, so figured I'd do something productive. And - it was a bright, sunny afternoon. What better to than shop? Also, I need to buy some groceries food. Everything and everyone is having a clothing/shoe/book/dvd/half price/stock take/up to 80% off sale, which is majorly awesome, because there's nothing I love more than shopping and sales. Ah, heaven. Last week, I bought a pair of Wrangler jeans from David Jones for $60 marked down from $130. See why it makes me happy? Can't wait until the weekend when I'm finished and can peruse the shops - I'm looking for a pair of boots and/or jeans (yes, another pair - a girl can never have too many!).

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Lately, I've developed a thing for the word insane. As in, I use it a lot.

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I'm so used to typing my signature - 'x, Just a girl' - that it's almost become a reflex action, and I nearly sign emails to my parents like that.

x
Just a girl