Feature Film

I showed you all the trailer about a week ago...Now, here is the feature.

Penguins and Koalas!!!

About two hours from here there is place called Philip Island. And on the island they have koalas and penguins, Oh my! Annie, a woman I work with was taking some people from out of town and she offered me a seat. Annie is my sole transporter out of the city. So, the first stop was the koala conservation center. We didn't get to hold them there but they are so freaking cute!!!!

Then we went to the Penguin Parade. Every day thousands of little penguins, about a foot tall about 2 pounds, run out to the ocean. Then every night after the sun sets they come back to their little nests. So we got there early, curled up in blankets and ate dragon eyes, this weird chinese fruit, and cashews until they showed up around 8:30. 2,000 of them! It was amazing. They cross in packs of 2-30 at a time. You can get pretty close to them because after they cross the beach they hang around outside of their houses. There is a small stream that they swim up sometimes too. One woman pointed out a swimming penguin to her granddaughter who asked "do penguins do synchronized swimming?" That was just about all the adorableness I could take in a day. Penguins, koalas and baby Australian accents.

Men of Letters

Yesterday I went to the best display of male affection I have ever seen.
Women of Letters is a monthly happening here in Melbourne where a group of women, get up and write a letter with a common theme. 
And, yesterday, they gave the men a go.  10 men writing letters to the women who changed their lives.
There were comedians from television and radio, essayists and musicians all with different takes on the subject.
One wrote a letter to his sister, giving her credit for all the wonderful things that he became interested in and eventually led to his musical fame.
One opened his letter to his speech teacher with "Dear Mrs. Robinson, How is being dead?"
Bob Ellis wrote the most moving and romantic thing I might have ever listened to. He wrote to his wife, they've been together for ages. He wrote of how they took different partners, like people did in those days, how writing to her was "too hard." How they had two beautiful children and dreamed of robust family dinners but then had "8 or was it 10" miscarriages.
There is something so beauitful in his honesty. It obviously wasn't a perfect life. But their perseverance... their ability to keep it together. That they really did grow old together. It was breathtaking.

This was the first of the series that I have seen, but I want to go to them all before I leave. I want to start this in America. It was gorgeous.

Skeletal Activity

Jake is a boy from Byhalia, who lives in Chicago and is coming to see me in Australia.
He made this trailer with some of his friends to preview a short film that will come out in a few days.
I think it's really funny. You should watch it. Now

Cocktails

I got a group of ladies together and we went to a bar in the city called Murmur. It is the cutest place! With the cutest bartender of all time. A little blond thing called Sarah. They kept the bar closed for an extra hour for us. And they had sweets lined up for us.

We learned how to make 3 cocktails: a bourbon sour with burnt orange...a gimlet....and a mint julep.

We also had a gin palette cleanser with mint and apple.

Then, a few people have free tickets to see a band. Mary tracked down a ticket that was taped to a light pole...Anyway, we all got in for free. There is a hardcore band from LA called The Bronx. They have a side project called Mariachi el Bronx. Surprise, surprise...they are a mariachi band.

It was a pretty fun night!

Intimacy

I'm sorry I haven't been writing much, there is just not that much going on here.
It is getting warm. So there has been more general outdoor time, but nothing particularly exciting.

I did see a play this week as part of the Melbourne Arts Festival...Intimacy. It was about a guy who got bored one night and went out to the street and started having conversations with random people on the street. He talked with a guy whose hobby was to ride rollercoasters so he had been to Ohio. And a guy who dressed up as a bird. And a lady who couldn't sleep for weeks at a time. It was really interesting. As there wasn't really much staging and virtually no set design, the entire thing was peeking in on other people's conversations. I wonder how much was written and how much was this real. Because the writing was really interesting and provoking and the actors were really engaging.
Anyway, I did that.

I also saw this outside of the theatre.

It looks a bit different as it is in Melbourne now...and not on top of a building. But it is an installation piece by a kid called Nathan Coley who is from Scotland.
So weird, one of my friends from Scotland has a picture with this same thing in Scotland. And now it's here.

What's goin' on.

This is the month of festivals.
The end of Fringe. Melbourne Arts Festival. Melbourne Music Festival.

I have been trying to get around to a bit of everything. I have been most interested in these lectures that the Melbourne Music Festival.

The first one was this guy who was the magazine editor and founder of the first music magazine for melbourne. He interviewed Blondie and INXS. He had a really interesting story and talked about how Melbourne came to be the major music city in Australia. He also told how live music became so popular here in pubs.

Then, I saw a neurologist give a speech about how music and marketing work together. This was amazing! I love science and sound together.

In other news, it's getting pretty warm here. It's like 70-80 degrees here everyday. I actually got a little sun burnt yesterday. Though, this weekend it is meant to be like a high of 53 here this weekend.

Well, Now that that's done...

The show was...well, the show was whatever it was. But, it's done now.

I got some press. I got some friends along. I had some people whose work I am very impressed by come along.

And. Now. It's all over.

I'm pretty glad. That was a bit stressful. Amazing. But, stressful.


On average I had about 38 people in per night. Which was amazing. And, I am told quite good for a fringe show.

I made some money.

I got some new followers on twitter.

Now...Ya, now I have no idea. I am longing for home. And longing for Asia. And can not eat enough sushi and coffee to ever get my fill of Melbourne. So, where do I go now?

Well. As soon as I know, you'll know. 

Some many Peeps!

Guys, I'm overwhelmed. Opening night was good. There were some hicups, but it went ok. I was happy.  I had 25 people come on Wed.

Tonight--56! It was amazing. The show was great. There were no problems. The Grace Daring People are the best of all time.

Last night, people I knew from Ediburgh were at the show. Tonight, people I met in Bratislava. I can't even wrap my head around it all the way. But, it was great.

Yes.

WOOT!!  2 more days!

More Media

Hello, Hello, Hello everyone...I got another interview.  I met Sarah at the first interview and was nice enough to post this one on the front of her website for the show's opening.

Hidden Documentary

Opening Night

It's opening night. I'm a little nervous. But, very, very excited as well. So far, I've sold about 20 tickets. Which is great. And hopefully, more at the door. Trial show went well. My dress still fits me. That's encouraging. And, soon, this madness will be over and good God, now I can't believe that I have made something that people are coming to watch. Overwhelmed.

Oh, and in case you missed my interview, here is the link. I come in pretty late, but the whole thing is very interesting I think.

Listen to me Here!

Radio....I Be on the Radio

OK, ya, this is a big deal.

I landed a radio interview for my show.  A big one.

Jon Faine has interview Richard Dawkins, Henry Rollins and Geena Davis.

The closest thing I think I have to compare it to would be NPR "Fresh Air."

I'm freaking out a little.

So, yes...this is the link for the show http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/conversations/?section=about

And, if you want to listen in, it is from 11-12 here which would be 9:00 PM EST.

But, it's also available on podcast.

No Lights. No Lyrca.

This has to be the weirdest thing I have ever done. Seriously.

My Camerican (Canadian/American) friend Rachel invited me along to a dance party..."Lycra something" is what she said. I wore leggings, chucks and a v-neck. But, the title if the night is "No Lights. No Lycra."

It was like a youth group dance meets hipster-hippie revival. I mean, I'm pretty sure most of the hipsters went and got a beer after the dancing. But, there was no beer there. Well, it was in a church. And, ya, the lights were off.

Seriously, walking in there felt like a commune gathering. You can see arms and legs shooting in all directions, all free spirited like. You can see everyone is wearing frames and skinny jeans. But, they played when the saints go marching in.

I'm doing a poor job of expressing this, but maybe that's because I have no idea what happened.

But, I found an article about it.

So read this, and understand.

Melbourne

Well, I'm back. I arrived safe and sound. I even got delivered to my door. Amazing.

My schedule is a wee bit off...I went to bed at 7 last night. Woke up at 4 am. It's 5:30 now and I don't feel like I am going to pass out yet, so that's a good sign.

I miss America. I can't believe I am saying it, but I'm homesick.

My trip home was just so fun. Damn all of you, making me have fun.

But, my show goes on in like 2 weeks so I will remain busy until then it opens and then sort out off of my feelings about America.

In the mean time, I miss you all. I miss corn. I miss summer. I miss fairs. I miss tacos.


I. Miss. America.

Me, Holding a picture of ME!

Remember those pictures from so long ago...ballet Jolene. They are in the magazine. One of them is in the magazine...So, if you are in Australia, go buy Post Modern Ink. And if you aren't, wait till I come home cause I am brining a copy with me.

 

LAKSA

Oh my god.

I miss Mexican food (like really cheesy, bad Mexican) so much. I miss Taco Bell, too, but we won't talk about that.  I've had some mexican food here.  Look, it's better than what I had in the UK, where they don't even sell Black Beans. But, it's not the same!!

So, every time I crave mexican, I make up for it by eating copious amounts of sushi. Or, you know, other things that aren't so abundant in Ohio. I've been loading up on Vietnamese and Malaysian and Indonesian. I can never order something that I am use to having at home because, well, we don't have these things. 

Everyone kept talking about Laksa. My friend Rachel ordered one the other night when we were out and it is my new obsession. Coconut curry soup!!!  Filled with vegetables and tofu--I order it vegetarian because the idea of fish cakes is still weird to me. It tastes like sweet heaven and I want to live in a land of LAKSA.

The thing that I find myself missing are foods and smells. Things that you don't realize you miss. You know you will miss your friends and family. But, I miss the smell of the farm. For real. And the wonder bread factory. And snow.

And what's weird, is that one day I will miss the smells and tastes of Melbourne. And it's not like home, where I will always come back to it. Leaving to come back to Ohio is making me realize that one day, I will leave this place for good.

And then, I will miss Laksa.

The Best Little Whore House

Madame Brussles.

Apparently, this place got it's name from, you guessed it, a madame. She ran brothels. She took care of her ladies.

Looks nothing like a brothel. It looks like a 50's patio. And I'm told in the summer, they have a pool.

Right now, they offer you hot water bottles and blankets.

They serve punch in glass pitchers. And when I walked in they were playing the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing. And all the boys that worked there were wearing white pants, sailors caps and polo shirts.

I felt pretty fancy so I ordered and Old Fashioned.

Old Fashioned is a really gross drink.

And the show goes on...

You all know I am working on a show, right? For Melbourne Fringe festival.  Which is quickly approaching. And, sort of scaring the hell out of me. I have two weeks until I leave and 9 weeks until festival and, whoa, is there a lot of work left to do. But, it's getting there. And thank God, most of it's over. Like there are posters now, and working out the tech  and some rewrites. But press things are done. Photos are done. The mass of re-writes are done, though I will continue to change this bitch until I am on stage. 

Anyway, writing all that is just making me nervous. The whole reason why I am on here is to share some images that my flatmate took for me. He is a really ace photographer. Matt Solomon. <Just for reference, that's the link to his page there, just click on his name.  Oh, and there are some boobs on there, so just be aware of that. So, he took these for me. Which was really nice of him. 

 

Anyone For Tennis?

So, like 90% of my friends here are comedians. I laugh a lot. They are all very clever.

As comedy if performed in front of an audience, there is not great oppurtunity for my far away American friends to see all of my new Australian friends and what they do.

But, one comedic duo just released what I think is maybe the best youtube video of all time...

Doody and Jase make up Anyone For Tennis? Besides being funny, they are heaps nice! 
They have made several other video clips that are smart and creative, but I've never seen anything like this on the interwebs before.

Trams

I live on a tram line-- the 86 tram. It can get a little loud at night but I have learned how to sleep through it. And, I love walking less than a block when I need to catch the tram. I might have taken less great Australian road trips since I've been here, but I can definitely manage this city with out a car. Between 8am-7pm, a tram comes every 8 minutes or so. It takes less than 10 minutes to get to the city and from there, I can go anywhere by train.

The trams here lack the certain, adorableness factor that the buses in Edinburgh had. Last week while riding the tram, I witnessed 2 physical assaults. Then again, the trams here are taking a few more people around. And while public transportation in America that isn't in New York or Chicago frightens me, here, even when people are a little crazy on the tram, I still feel pretty safe.

During comedy festival, there was a show here called Stories from the 86 Tram. This guy, called the Bedroom Philosopher did 12 different characters from the tram line that lives on my street. This one is about the suburb just north of me:  Northcote--So Hungover.