Man of the Moment

The show opened on the 23rd November. I chose that day to do another Photo-essay of A Day in My Life


(click to view.)

It was also the night that two newspaper reviewers came to see the show. Their reviews were published on the 27th and 28th November, respectively.

The Dominion Post


(click to view full article.)


The Hutt News


(click to view full article.)

I'm not going to lie - my favourite is the Hutt News review which reads, in part, Watch also for laugh-out-loud performances from Peter Hughson as Ruy the defeated Gardener, and Sarah-Rose Burke as the downtrodden nanny.

It's still showing ... just so you know.

click here to see the full article

Digging on the Beach, Burying the Kids, Bonking the Nanny, I don't know

Come one, come all to the New Zealand Premiere of
Man Of The Moment
The Award Winning Comedy by World Renowned Playwright Alan Ayckbourn.


click to enlarge

23 - 25 November
29 November - 2 December

What's it about?
Oh, a Murder. But it's really really funny.
No, Seriously ...
Yes Seriously. It's a black comedy with a little bit of slapstick and I have to wear a wetsuit.
A wetsuit !?!
Yes. A wetsuit. And I get yelled at!!
But it's funny?
Very funny. I mean ... I have to wear a wetsuit on stage.



Vic : Just like every man who can should grow a beard. Everything you can do you ought to do. Before you die. That's what we're here for. Right?



Only 14 days to go!
On the 23rd November Craig will have been growing his beard for Six Months.
So I'm going to shave it off.

You can't ... choose your family ... or something like that.

click to enlarge
Yup. That's my Dad.

To see more photos :
click here.

I love Wellington in the Springtime

Actually I hate springtime in Wellington. You have to pay attention to the little people telling you about the weather and then not trust them at all.
They get it right about 50% of the time though, breeding a misguided sense of trust.


On Monday night the weather man I have a little crush on told us that there would be rain all over the north island on Tuesday. He was standing in front of what should have been an image of the north island but was a grey sea indicating rain.
Rain everywhere.


So I got out my rain coat on Tuesday morning in preparation for a slightly damp walk to work. I looked out the door at the rain bouncing the puddles and thought it can't be THAT bad. It's spring! and set out.

The first thing I did when I got to work was to go into the bathroom, take off my pants and wring the water out of them. Not a single thing I was wearing was completely dry. My faded black cowboy boots were so sodden that they almost appeared brand new!
I was at work at 7am and by 3:30pm ... I was still damp in places.


And as such I trusted the weather man when he told me that Wednesday would consist of rain showers in the morning fading to a dingy grey sky in the afternoon.


Instead I spent most of today lying in my backyard, basking in the sunlight and listening to the tui that live in our trees call out all day. Making good use of their two voice boxes. Crazy, noisy birds.


Of course I realised that the tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) is a bird endemic to New Zealand and not everyone knows their strange strange call.
SO I recorded it for you! The tui burbles away and then another, more generic bird butts in and I tell it to shush in my annoying girly kiwi baby voice.

My Sunglasses : Mormon Approved

I had my first nice experience with Mormon door to door salesmen today.
I was on my way walking to work and I saw them off in the distance just groaned to myself.
I kept walking, looking straight ahead and walking as far left as the footpath would allow.

Morman #1: Good Morrow!
inside Sarah's head: Morrow? what the-
Morman #2: How's your day going?
Sarah: Oh I'm actually on my way to work so ...
Morman #1: Oh ok well you have a nice day!
Morman #2: You have a nice day.
Sarah (over my shoulder): You too!
Morman #2: We like your glasses!!
Sarah : ... thanks.

On this, the day of my daughter's wedding ... or rather, the day of her sister's birthday

It was my birthday on sunday and my nearest-baby-sister Charlotte gave me this card:



She had no idea that I loved the wallpaper designs by Hanna Werning (www.byhanna.com) and still she chose this card for me.

But the best part was the inscription:


(click to enlarge)

Anyone would think we were related.

Man who walk through door sideways ...

Craig and I are beginning to seriously plan our trip to London. Seriously as in I write long rambling emails to STA travel and ask them a million and one questions.

We have decided that we're going to book our flights sometime around the 20-25th November. And since that took us long enough (We are Mr and Mrs Indecisive-son) we thought that perhaps we should take some time (say a month or two) to decide on our stopovers.

See, I am annoyingly desperate to travel (in case you hadn't noticed) and as such stopovers were a high priority for me. As many as possible! Let's hop to London!
So the kind lady at STAtravel replied to the email I had sent her (longer than the bhagavad gita and with twice as many question marks) with a concise message letting me know that [We] will have the option to stop over in Sydney and Bangkok or Singapore if [we] fly via Asia and [we] will have the option to stop over in LA and one other US/Canadian city if [we] fly via America.
And apparently, we are flying via Asia.

Craig says that he isn't all that interested in going to America at the moment, and I'm just dying to go ANYWHERE that I'm excited either way. Besides, I've been to Los Angeles and I haven't been to Australia. Yes, it's strange, I know.

Craig is hoping that we can get a few days at least in Sydney so that we can go out to his Aunt's farm in ... The-Middle-Of=Nowhere, Orange, NSW because he worked on their farm for 2 months when we were still shiny and new and he wants to show me the forest he ... built. (He fenced it in).

The second stop over ... that was slightly harder. Because Craig and made the first decision (Well done Mr Indecisive-son. (Yes I realise Mr Indecision would have worked just as well)) I decided that the second decision should be mine.
At first I was thinking Singapore because I'd heard from many people that it is interesting, and would appeal to the absolute girl inside of me, but Craig pointed out that he had been to Singapore.
Then I thought some more. And talked to my mother. And finally, eventually, after what was certainly a too-long period of time, realised that one of the things I have ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE is in Bangkok.

Wat Pho : The Reclining Buddha



Wat Pho (Thai: วัดโพธิ์), also known as Wat Phra Chetuphon วัดพระเชตุพน) or The Temple of the Reclining Buddha, is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. Its official name is Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimolmangklararm Rajwaramahaviharn (Thai: วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลาราม ราชวรมหาวิหาร).

Wat Pho is the largest and oldest wat in Bangkok (with an area of 50 rai, 80,000 square metres), and is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, more than any other temple in the country, as well as the largest single Buddha image: the Reclining Buddha (Phra Buddhasaiyas, Thai: พระพุทธไสยาสน์). Made as part of Rama III's restoration, the Reclining Buddha is forty-six metres long and fifteen metres high, decorated with gold plating on its body and mother of pearl on its eyes and the soles of its feet. The latter display 108 auspicious scenes in Chinese and Indian styles.

Gah!

Besides, Craig and I love Thai food.
So we're ... going to Sydney & Bangkok!

Join your intrepid rep... event photographer

Hiding - the EP Release



click here
to see more photos from the gig.



(It was, by the way, amazing. But I might be slightly biased.)

This is what I know ... for sure ...

(psst. click on the image for the full poster. I totally took that photo of Kat.)

This weekend one of my most favourite-st people in the world is going to pour her heart and soul onto a stage and turn it into an entire concert-thing.

She has been working on her music for longer than I can remember and now has a sound reminiscent of Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan and yet wholly her own. Plus she's adorable. So you should totally come.

The $15 cover charge includes a copy of her EP (!) as well as a complimentary first drink and nibbles.
And we all know there's pretty much nothing I love more than Free Alcohol. Finger foods! are a close second though. So again, Come!


Kat McKenzie EP Launch
Sandwiches Bar, Cnr Majoribanks St & Kent Tce, Wellington
Doors open from 8pm, gig starts at 9:30pm
$15 entry (includes CD, first drink, and nibbles)


Also! I have been gainfully employed as Photographer for the gig which I am most excited about. I am however disappointed to note that I will not be wearing a Press Pass or anything of the sort. But! I will have a camera in my hand.

Also also I think one of the songs she'll be playing is The Middle which is the song she wrote as a wedding present for Craig and I. It's lovely.
And it can be heard here : http://myspace.com/katmckenzie