BBBB?

Byron Bay Beach Blog

I have been here a week and barely seen the beach for the rain. 

– that is the beach blog.

The Byron Bay Blog - one less B.

I have been in Byron a week and had a very full week of films, seminars, schmoozing and food.

I came up for the Byron Bay International Film Festival this year because my short film KERPLONK (http://vimeo.com/36690263) screened in the Primary School program. Over 4 days it screened to hundreds of local kids and I had great questions from them all afterwards. They would tell me about short films they made and where to find them on youtube and that my film was the funniest and they hope to see me next year. 

We screened in Lismore on Tuesday and then road tripped out to Nimbin. So while wondering around the shops in the afternoon I got recognised by some school kids who saw the film in the morning. That was my 15 mins of celebrity.

I get to walk around with a VIP pass around my neck and am getting to know lots of people involved with the festival. Not a lot of time for a ‘holiday’ as most people would define it but great to be out of Sydney and I am loving it. I am busier up here with the festival than I was the week before I left Sydney. Unfortunately I will be desperately looking for work when I go back home in a few days.

Last weekend seems so far away and so much has happened, met so many people. It’s been really inspirational and I have a few leads to follow up on and more meetings to set up.

What have I learnt?

- it's all who you know. People don't forget you.

- Lismore Star Court Theatre is beautiful.

- Nimbin is really laid back but there really isn’t much to do there -  it's a day trip then move on.

- I tasted Achacha - a south american fruit, thanks to a stranger at the Rainbow cafe.

- I am a very good cook and will never go hungry.

- the lighthouse is further away than I thought

- Don't go fishing in potholes

2012 wrap up and My Summer Holidays

I had 3 weeks off this summer. It's nice when you have something to start up on again. But I will be unemployed, ahem, I mean, "between projects" again in a few weeks.

Sydney Trapeze School

2012 was a pretty busy year mostly working on back to back shows and it was gone before I knew it. I learnt to stand up for myself and noticed more confidence in work me. Social me got out too - the people I drink and party with now are about 10-15 years younger than me?! and I hold my own, so there! Romance...pfft! So I tried internet dating - thats beyond a blog, its going to become an episode of a series I want to write. I visited friends in Perth, went to Alice Springs and Uluru and saw my name on the big screen. I made new friends and said goodbye to friends who have left Sydney.

So what did I get up to on my Summer Holidays?
Well I finished up with some spectacular stunts and car smashes on Saturday 22nd, I always love my Stuntie days! We had to finish on time so we could all get to our own Christmas party at one of my fav restaurants in town - Cafe Paifico. This might have something to do with it being notorious for having the largest variety of Tequillas in Sydney. Hmmm... maybe. So despite the  tequila, I needed to behave that night. So I left at midnight sending the rest of the party off in taxis to the next venue.

Scallops at Dedes

The next day I  had my Mother's Birthday lunch at Dede's in Abbotsford. A lovely seafood restaurant and I am impressed I managed to scrub up ok and get there on time - though I think I taught my nephews something about hangovers that day.

What next? A trapeze class with my niece at Sydney Trapeze Schools outdoor rig in Centennial Park. AWESOME! It's been well over a year since I first tried this and apparently you don't forget and I am pretty good at it (if I don't say so myself).  A late lunch in Kingsford then home to spend Christmas Eve baking Christmas cookies.


Christmas lunch as always at my parents place. Just a simple meal of prawns, oysters, smoked salmon, ham and lobster (again! I had lobster at Dedes too!) And then PRESENTS!!! You know you did well when the kids play with their toys immediately. It rained all day Christmas this year. We would normally go swimming, and I got the boys water related presents. No pool so they went for the bathroom sink! It was kinda like skating on the tiles after we managed to pull the plug and extract them from the water world they had created. Oh - I had to go coz I had a few people over that night. I have no idea what we did that night but I had 2 houseguests and we all got burnt the next morning lazing by the swimming pool. I was just trying to even out the horrible t-shit and singlet tan I got from months of working outdoors! All i did that day was burn my cleavage - ouch! It peeled and everything but all looks good now, in case you were wondering.

Coogee Sparkles

No rest for the wicked! So as much as I love entertaining, maybe I needed some time to myself. Well that was going to have to wait. I had a surprise visit from a friend. I won't go into too much detail but it involved flights to/from Columbia, Melbourne and Perth and early lifts to the airport. You know who you are - I love you but you did leave me with a migraine. You see a mutual friend was also in town so I had not only 1 house guest but 2. Luckily the new couch got delivered just before Christmas and I haven't yet gotten rid of the old couch - so enough comfy places for everyone to sleep. Unfortunately , it felt like I spent a lot of my 'down time' washing bedding.

I think that pretty much takes me up to New Years Eve. Everyone seemed really non-committal this year. I stayed local and watched the 9pm family fireworks on the beach and then drank at a local establishment and welcomed in the new year with a random bunch of people we met.

And the January weeks have raced by in a blur involving beaches, movies, showing up at the gym that takes my money every month, a night out at the Sydney Festival Spiegeltent watching Frank Woodley in INSIDE and an amazing vege lasagne dinner party.

So back at work now and a forced day off helped by a beautifully sunny day and the use of my Christmas massage voucher by the sea.

Weddings Weddings Weddings

I had a blogworthy week recently - so here goes.

Think of 3 of the most different styles of weddings that you can and that was my week.

The first one I went to was a beautiful surprise wedding in a suburban park.  One of my dearest girlfriends “married” her girlfriend. They invited everyone to an engagement party using the gay marriage rights as a bit of a cover. I was one of the 17 (!) bridesmaids dressed in a theme of Fire and Ice or Red & Blue.  A  fun filled event complete with drag queen, karaoke dj’s, live performances from friends and a bridal dance/flash mob. SO much fun and by far my favourite.

The second wedding was a triple wedding for the show I am working on. So completely staged.  In summary and without giving anything away – cops chasing members of the bridal party all over the place,  fights breaking out, guests in handcuffs and a rather disinterested celebrant. I can’t tell you any more coz then I would have to kill you.

Wedding # 3 was completely traditional. Nothing could be faulted really – white dress, 3 bridesmaids, suited up groomsmen, photos, cocktails, canapés, speeches, cake and a dance to a slightly cheesy party band. But that’s just my opinion. The traditional wedding was a relative - I think she was the last cousin on this conservative side of my family to tie the knot other than a few confirmed bachelor cousins in the far away land of Canada and me. Yes, I have been married but nothing says “black sheep” like divorced, creative freelancer living in the eastern suburbs other than relatives introducing you point blank as the black sheep. Hmmm… such fun! Thank god the wait staff were good enough to keep my glass of red wine bottomless, just lovely.

It was the only ‘real’ wedding of the 3 and funny enough it was the most “normal”, traditional one that made me laugh. That was probably more to do with it being the last one I attended rather than it being funny in anyway. During the lovely garden ceremony with beautiful north shore water views was the moment my brain started thinking over a big week of weddings and it made me giggle, a little inappropriately. Thus cementing my title of black sheep/crazy member of the family.

I can admit I am pretty bitter about the whole marriage thing and I still don’t get it, but I’m always up for a party so go for it.

Overindulgence in WA

This week I find myself in Perth. Old friends, new babies, drinking buddies, damn good eating, hangovers and random events. This is my holiday and last little hurrah before starting back at work the day after I get back to Sydney. 
So my terribly difficult holiday sees me lunching with my foodie buddy, and discussing what we will cook up at her place that night, And catching up with my drinking buddy has us checking out the small bars of Perth in a very short amount of time. It was our duty!

Here's what I got up to - its gonna be a big blog this week! Apologies for no visual yet but I'm still learning how to do that on the iPad and the formatting isn't perfect coz I need to board a plane in a minute.

Thursday
Lunch Zing's at Hillary's boat Harbour. Pleasant little spot and we shared a taster platter. All good but I forgot to take photos.
After a settling walk around the harbour we decided we needed to stop for dessert. It wouldn't be fair to baby if we woke him up just to put him in the car. (not really, this is he worlds easiest going baby)
How terrible that we end up at San Churros again. Can't go past it's namesake. I've tried, on numerous occasion to drink the hot chocalate here. I can never finish it. it is soo rich!
And a lovely home cooked meal that night.

Friday
Tapas lunch at Duende in  Leederville with a friend who when we were in Sydney we never quite managed to catch up. I've seen him 3 times in the past week. A lovely meal, good service and an amazing glass of wine, highly recommended.
I really like this area. Lots of cafes and restaurants and a few pubs and bars for later.
From here I jumped on a train to Fremantle to meet up with a regular Sydney drinking buddy who happens to be in Perth right now. We dumped our stuff in the hotel room and freshened up for the night ahead. The three of us jumped on a train back to Perth city.

Now here is where I had to start referring to Facebook to remind me what we got up to.
Friday 5:47pm Greenhouse

some fruity cocktail @Greenhouse

This is the first bar we walked past and we were thirsty so we stopped. Not bad but we could have been in any city CBD. The bar looked cool with bottles hanging off hooks above their heads. Looks can be deceiving, the bartender did have a little trouble trying to get the bottle down. But the drinks were good and it was a good start. And from the reasonable high turnover of patrons tells me that most people use this place as a starting point.
6:25pm Helvetia bar
A little rum bar hidden down a little city ally. If you are a regular reader you will know that apparently women aren't supposed to drink dark rum. And i find this a challenge so i drink it without screwing up my face. I had a dark and stormy, a nice gingery one. After the very girly looking fruit filled cocktail at the last bar, it was the boys I was with that got their drinks in fancy glasses while I got a tumbler. Dark, noisy converted warehouse that tries a little too hard and didn't quite get it right on the decor.

tea - long island style

7:17 pm Bobeche
This place was good, although the staff were a little rude and not as attentive as i think they should be. I shared a teapot of long island iced tea with one of my male minders for the evening. Served in a fancy teapot and very pretty teacups. The drink was fine but they forgot our order of chips and I had to flag down bar staff. The crowd were a bit older and it looked pretty cool in there, good atmosphere but the bar staff weren't having nearly as much fun as the last establishment.
Time to get out of the city
9:17pm the Stanley
A general thumbs down here, we order basic beer, and i think it should be a cafe. And the only thing they had on the food menu was peanuts, olives and some other insignificant snack. Also a few too many religious icons and not sure how ironic or kitche it was supposed to be. Next!
Moving on to Subiaco ( I think, started getting hazy around here)
Kebabs, but we forgot to check in. I'm pretty sure we tried a bar or two but can't remember coz we didn't check in on Facebook.
10:46 pm Fire and Ice
Cheap and tacky but above Subiaco station so perfect for that last drink before heading home. Well that was the plan. We lost one person who had to be responsible and work the next morning. So then there were 6? How does that work? Easy, you find like minded individuals who just don't want to go home yet. 2 girls, 4 boys so the odds are looking good for me and we hit a few bars in Subiaco. It was late so some establishments were closing, others brimming to capacity. But it's all who you know and one of my new friends says, "wait here, gimme a minute" and goes to chat to the bouncers. Is he being a wanker and just trying to impress us? We wait, he comes back followed by one of the hostesses who leads us around through a car park and in the back door. Ok. Drinks in hand and some danceable tunes like Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie?! Yes, Facebook says so.
12:55am Purl - all night long with Lionel Ritchie
We got in so no, not a wanker and yes, suitably impressed.
So when this place closed what are a bunch of drunken party people to do in a town that is closing down for the night?
Well, assuming this blog doesn't get read that far and wide I don't think I'm getting anyone in trouble by saying that we ended up having a few more drinks at my new friends work place. It's all who you know.
You can find out where if you really wanted to but it doesn't need to be listed here.

I know my head hit the pillow at 6:30 the next morning.
The next status update was
Saturday 1:03 pm - ouch.
I at least managed to get out of the hotel, wander around Freo and find some food unlike my companion who I left curled up in bed for the day.
6pm and my companion managed to down the medicinal bundaberg ginger beer I got him, make it to the shower and get ready to head out for dinner.

my mini steak

6:48pm char char bull
Steak dinner in Fremantle - yum! My salt and pepper squid was average but I couldn't fault the steak. Ironically, Fremantle is mostly geared around seafood, basically the "fisherman's wharf" of Perth. But we felt like steak and their seafood was average.

8:00pm Little Creatures
An local institution and a must for any visit to Perth and Freo.  1 pear cider and a Chinese lion dance. Yeah the Chinese lion dance was rather random but very entertaining none the less. Due to the previous nights activity we were going kinda slow on the alcoholic beverages...for now. Took us about an hour to get through 1 pint, pretty sad, I know..
9:21pm the Sail and Anchor pub.
Met up with a few more folks and got going on the beer games. Taste testing and basically being beer wankers trying to pick the aroma and flavours and what it would best be paired with.
Because we have very little will power we continued drinking beer til about midnight , grabbed yet another kebab befor heading back to our beds again.

Sunday 9:48am Cafe Lumos
If you get the chance check it out. Great atmosphere, good menu and the chef' s not a bad guy either. How you doing?;-)

12:55pm yum cha at Emma's in east Vic park.
This is the best (albeit, only) yum cha place I have tried here. Don't miss out on the shanghai dumplings that we like to say look like little spaceships.

Monday

med platter and green beans

The ladies (and baby) lunched at Broads cafe at Upper Ridge winery.
Highlight! Amazing menu. The two of us mega foodies couldn't decide between about 4 different entrees and another 3 mains.. Best menu I have seen in a long time! Thank god they had a Mediterranean plate that included most of the entrees we were after. Happy now. But we had to go over to the cellar door and do some tasting to decide what wine to have with our meal.

just a few dumplings - YUM!

After stocking up my hosts wine rack we moved onto Lancaster Winery known for its Old vine grapes. Not a huge selection but made for my taste buds. And a sticky Shiraz that you can mix with the muscat. Or chill in the summertime. YUM-O!!

Quickly headed home to start making our Home made wontons and gyoza. My generous host asked about making dumplings so it was my duty to share my dumpling skills with her and the yumminess of it with her and her partner.
I'm bursting with dumplings right now.
And we teamed it with a sparkling Shiraz from upper ridge.

Tuesday
Japanese Lunch in leederville
Chai tea and tiramisu at Greens
"work" woohoo, this is now a business trip! (Seriously, it's a screen australia forum.)
Nachos and beer at a little "local" pub in Wembly

Wednesday

all gone

I have some time to kill so I am abusing the free wifi at the apple store here before one last dumpling feast with my food buddy over in east Vic park. Yummy house Chinese restaurant. Quieter than Emma's and I can see why. It was yummy enough but the menu too big for an easy lunchtime fix. Oh well.






So here I am at the end of a HUGE week and sitting at the airport I know I am ready to head home.
Why does it look like all I did is eat and drink in Perth? Oh coz I did. Food buddies and drinking buddies are here so how do I not? No touristy stuff this time round, but a great week of visiting. I reckon I could live here if I had to. BUT I did have the illusion of being more popular than I actually am because I had to see everyone I know in a short amount of time. I caught up with 4 good friends, only two of whom knew each other before this visit, spoke to another on the phone and made a few new ones too. Busy week. It'll be shell shock when I get back to my little apartment and an empty fridge and calendar.

Boring!

I have no excuse for not writing at the moment coz I am pretty much doing nothing these days. Since my last post, I have been gyming it, got a haircut, went surfing, schmoozed a bit at an indie film forum, done a few tv series marathons, got a hangover, over eaten, seen every movie i want to see, caught up with a few friends, and even got all my tax bits off to the accountant.

 But this week I got bored! I think I need to work again now, or find more people that can play during the day. Or find friends that will actually call me from time to time to catch up or at the least check in. I just realized I didn't make one phone call in or out all weekend! So to counter this what have I done? (not a lot really) I have started dreaming up what to do next. Right now I want to move to another country and re-invent myself. My bestie pointed out that this brings mixed feelings for her. On one hand she is excited for the new adventure I will embark on but sad that I won't be around. I get it, but seriously, who would miss me if I went away for a few months, maybe more? I'm lucky to see my friends every few months as it is.
Oh trust me there is still a lot I could do -  I could do a huge house clean, I could tackle some sewing projects that are buried away, I could write that award winning screenplay, I could research all manor of things from film festivals to internships in New York to holidaying in Thailand to renovating the apartment but these don't encourage much social interaction which is what I am lacking at the moment. Not sure what happened?
 Facebook happened!
What has it done to our social lives? Has it increased social activity due to ease of contact or has it decreased activity due to people now socializing via digital means instead of real live interaction? I'm starting to get over the whole Facebook thing. They say the more online friends you have the fewer actual friends you have.  I tried not adding everyone that I meet but then there is the politics of it not accepting friend requests, coz they know. I thought about unfriending people that I really don't need to know anymore but that didn't seem quite right either. And I find myself sensoring what I post on Facebook because of the range of people that I have on there. I know you can change all your settings so some people see certain things and others don't but that means wading through your friend list to categorize them all. Do you really wanna to be put in a box and categorized? Family, old friends, new friends, school friends, work friends, work friends from one job, work friends from another job, someone I met on holiday once, a friend of a friend who you got drunk with once...the list goes on.
I didn't realize how private I chose to be with certain people until FB. Odd thing to say when I am pouring out my thoughts in a blog that is more accessible than my FB page. I realize there is a work me, a social me, a family me, and a private me. I used to be so focused when at work that I didn't really get to know anyone, and they didn't get to know me. It wasnt until I worked on a very different paced project that I relaxed enough at work to make friends. That's a bit sad really isn't it?
The freelance friend is a funny category. As a freelancer, you jump from project to project and it's now rare that I don't know someone from another job and it's all very friendly as long as you see each other. Once you take the need to spend time together away, then a friendship requires effort! And that's when it gets difficult. Hmm, oh well, I know that in a few weeks time I will, once again be too busy to write these as I will be immersed in another all consuming project. I vowed not to let it take over my life last time, but it didn't work. Methinks I'm gonna have to shake things up a bit real soon!!!! Stay tuned...if you dare!

What's the hurry?

In the words of Ferris Beuller "the world moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around, you could miss it!" (have i used that line before?) It's not until I get out of Sydney that I realize how crazy the city can be. Everyone is always in a hurry, everything is urgent. But is it? Get out of the city and it can take a while to wind down, but it's worth the ride. I went to the NT and yes, I had my boss on my back to get things done immediately, but things in the NT just move slower. There was nothing I could do about it.
I went surfing this week. Its been a few years but after a few wipeouts I got my confidence back. I was rushing it and falling off. I had to zen out and slow down. Once I did that, I got better. It was weird, I had to slow down and think about what I was doing, and the more I thought about it, the less I thought about it. I relaxed and that is what led to happiness. Stop, breathe.

The city teaches us to be uptight and impatient. I do this too. My chosen career has been a role where I am the whip cracker and schedule keeper. My responsibility is to keep things moving and get things done on time. So is it odd that my down time truly is DOWN time. I like to keep busy and on the move. But I know how to do nothing and do when I can!
I did have a few calls for work in my down time and somehow turned them all down. I was offered 1 or 2 days filling in for someone due to illness but I had just locked in my trip up north to go surfing. I was buying tea at the time and asked the sales person "should i take the work or go play?" His initial reaction was - take the work, its work. But then I told him I work in film & tv and he quickly changed his mind, saying "I'm dating someone in that industry! please go play, go spend time with people that love you!". So I did.
Kids have the right idea. I once asked my nephew what we would do if he didn't  have to go to school and I didn't have to go to work. The answer was simply "play". And I think that is beautiful! I f I don't make time to play with some of the kids in my life - that's when the bitch comes out. What is adulthood? Is it responsibility? Is it when you forget how to play? I don' t ever want to forget that. Neither should you - go play!!

Nothing!!!

Pt 1

Doing nothing is harder than you think. Well for me it is. It's quite a challenge, seems I have forgotten how to 'have a life' in one month where I gave a little too much of myself to a project. Seriously - what happened? What the f#*k am I doing with myself? I find myself going days without speaking to anyone and I can survive without leaving my house too. Don't worry, I find it odd too. It's been about 10 days since I finished up completely. I justify it to myself by saying that I deserve the down time and there is nothing wrong with spending a day on the couch doing a series marathon of Avatar- the legend of Korra, and/or other movies I have waiting for me. Then there is the cooking, and the eating! I either need to curb the eating or start burning a hell of a lot more energy on a daily basis. I go to the gym, but I'm starting to get bored with it. I'm so edgy right now! Gotta find a new challenge - any suggestions? Hmm... Too many damn options. I have good and bad days. I was pretty restless today, but thanks to iPad I am writing this with a cup of tea in the sun down at a beachside cafe. So I have until the battery dies coz I forgot to charge it. Still trying to work this into my daily life. This is a damn good start - me likey! I can go anywhere, do anything - but the choice is so vast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pt 2
Nothing seemed like an appropriate title this week.
It nearly became "Nothing or What to do when you find out your ex is getting remarried"
It was a bit of a surprise coz I found out via facebook thanks to mutual friends commenting on his photo of his betrothed with an actual engagement ring on her hand. Sorry, I'm allowed to be a little bitter there coz he never actually gave me a ring that I could wear. So if that is anything to go on, hopefully he has learnt a thing or two about relationships and how to be a decent husband.
Anyhoo, when I first read the news I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Society tells me I should be upset, but I wasn't really, so I became confused. I spoke to a few friends about it and they all think he should have had the decency to give me a heads up so as not to find out through other people. It has been over 3 years since we separated and about 2 since we last saw each other. We are not in each others lives anymore, there are people who know us both and there are photos of a time when we knew each other. I can honestly say if the roles were reversed, I don't know if I would feel the need to tell him about it either. So my answer to the question of What to do when you find out your ex is getting remarried? is NOTHNG, hence the appropriateness of this weeks title.

But on a much more fun note - what I got up to this week - visited a friend in Newcastle, stopped by the Hunter Valley to stock up on some faves, spent lots of play time with nephews at the beach in the beautiful weather, started kick boxing (loving it, mostly coz I'm not as sore as I thought I should be), booked a flight to Perth, decided to shoot the next film at the end of the year and had the satisfaction of putting together a few IKEA pieces for a friend.