NOVEMBER ROUND UP

So I got my Mojo back in November!!!

Things started to turn around for me, became less stressful and my anxiety started to pull back. Being back in therapy certainly helped as did lovely friends, but things just started being less awful and less intense. The universe eased off, lol and that was very good!!!

Having a month off also was a huge help.

As always the month starts celebrating my brother-in-laws birthday. This time we dined at the Junction Inn Hotel, located on the river at Raymond Terrace, and always a great meal.

My final week at work was very hectic but also included some great moments. I love our Movie Book Club group and the fabulous discussions we have. This month we discussed the book, The Devil and the White City which was a great historical story about the Chicago World Fair and spurred amazing discussion. and Friday night was our Movie Night, which keeps growing and growing. This is thanks to my fabulous colleague T who runs the show and charms our attendees Bill Collins style. The movie was the cult classic, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which everyone loved!

The next day I flew to Melbourne to commence my holiday.

I have never felt so in the moment as I did whilst in Melbourne, it made me realise I was getting back on track and my worries were somewhat behind me.

I arrived home from Melbourne, had a nap and headed out for a movie with J. We saw Girl on a Train. I had read the book when it first came out and it was ok. One of those blockbuster, page turners from the airport, not really my thing and I found all the characters annoying. The book was better than the movie which would have been god awful if it wasn't for Emily Blunt's performance.

I also saw the new Woody Allen later in the month. Beautifully shot, but the story lacked somewhat, I think the casting left a bit to be desired actually. But still an average Woody film is better than most of the shite out there!

That second week of hols was fairly low key. I had a lot of little jobs to do at home. I slept in, I napped, I read, I wrote, I watched DVDs etc, I went for walks. It was really lovely.

I also had a work thing, although it was so much fun, it hardly felt like work. We hosted William McInnes as part of the Share The Story with Carol Duncan event that I look after. It was a hot evening but 120 people turned up to Toronto Library to hear William talk about his latest book. He was hilarious and kind and generous and had everyone in the palm of his hand.

L and I attended opening night of the Italian Film Festival seeing the funny film, God Willing. It had a huge attendance with the film needing to be shown on two screens.

Saturday was Rodriguez and you can read about that here.

I caught up with my lovely friends A and B for dinner at Supper Lane. I have been busting to eat there since it opened. The food was outstanding but the company perfection. Love those gals!

The third week saw more pottering at home, with lunches and brunches and dinners with family and friends added in.

Monday I caught up with M at Qs, Tuesday dinner with family, Wednesday supper with B, Thursday Christmas shopping, and Friday dinner with my sister and a mammoth binge watch of the new Gilmore Girls, which made us laugh and cry. It was a lot of fun.

Also during the week I took a flying visit to Sydney to catch up with my cousin D and see The Nudes at NSW Art Gallery. D was heavily pregnant and luckily bubs decided not to test Aunty Cathy by coming too early. He decided to appear a week later...what joy, and soooo cute!!!!!

D is an artist and always has interesting insight into what we see. The exhibit was from The Tate in London and was a range of Nudes throughout the years. It was a stunning exhibit, with my highlight being Rodin's The Kiss. A remarkable white marble sculpture of a couple intertwined. Huge and breath taking, it gave me shivers down my spine.

We had a lovely lunch at the Art Gallery, then parted ways as a storm hit and I hot-tailed it for Central!

Saturday was huge. I did my usual market thing after a sleep in. But still tired from a huge night of binge watching Gilmore Girls and a big night ahead of me, I had a lovely nap to ready myself.

I had back to back events at The Basement, a newish cocktail bar. Our lovely Bibliotweeps Book Club had out final meeting of the year there, discussing Bill Bryson's Walk in the Woods. This morphed into out yearly Newy Twistmas outing. This is where Newy Tweeps catch up IRL and have fun. We've been doing this for a few years now and it is always fun to see old friends and make new ones. The Basement was a great venue, had an amazing burger for dinner, and some lovely cocktails. I spent the night at Js which was fun as always.

I caught up with J at Canon and had the most amazing smoked salmon salad.

I also had a lovely afternoon in Newcastle where I did some Christmas shopping on Darby Street, caught the John Olsen exhibit at the gallery, indulged in Popolo Gelato finally, and attended the opening of The Civic Subscription Series for 2017.  I must admit in recent years this has not been a great series, but this years was stunning and I cannot wait to see all the fabulous shows.

And here are my reviews for the month.

And late November means getting Club Cathy ready for Christmas.

And some pics as always.

RODRIGUEZ

I only became familiar with Rodriguez a few years back when I watched the Searching for Sugarman documentary. Like everyone else who watched it, I fell in love. Funnily enough, the music was quite familiar to me, I guess I had heard those songs at some stage in my life.

I bought all the albums and revelled in his late life success, one of those great news stories that warms your heart and makes you smile.

And also, the music was spectacularly good, the lyrics of the time AND ahead of his time...in that they were indeed timeless.

I think he has toured once or twice since and I never went as no one was keen to come with me.

But when this recent tour came about, I wasn’t missing out and got two tickets for a friend and me. They were Day on the Green tickets, not my favourite place to go, but it suited at the time. But my friend couldn't make it which was a real shame. Luckily for me, my bestie was happy to stand in. She watched the film and like me was hooked.

And so we headed up to Bimbadgen on a stormy afternoon in hope of a great evening of music. I could go off on a tangent about the crowds at these events, but let's just say they are horrid. I always go for seated areas which helps a little. But really middle aged bogans drinking all day is absolutely the worst thing you can view. And some of the shite you see simply cannot be unseen!

As always with these large outdoor concerts, there were other great artists on the bill.

We got there in time for Archie Roach. I have seen Archie a few times over the years and he is always a pleasure. Political and heart felt lyrics backed with great melodies.

Next up was Russell Morris. I am a huge fan of Russell. I think I have seen him 5 or 6 times since the first time I saw him around 20 years ago. And I swear he just gets better and better with age. His new material is fabulous and his old stuff sounds exactly like the original records. My favourite song is Sweet Sweet Love and it never fails to make me smile. Utter perfection.

I have never seen Xavier Rudd live and he was great. A bit rocky, a bit reggae. Very laid back and fun. I was impressed.

Finally, as the evening became a little cool - we'd been lucky with the weather, not too hot, only a couple of drops of rain - out comes Rodriguez. He had a lady help him out to a chair front of stage. I had forgotten he was legally blind. So I was a little concerned what to expect. 

I should not have been concerned. He sounded great and played his guitar with that inimitable style of his. What a supreme joy this was.

He commenced with his version of Your Song. Other covers throughout the set were Light My Fire, Want Somebody to Love, and Love Me or Leave Me. With only a couple of albums to draw from, he needed a little padding and it worked well.

But he really shone with his original, sounding like they were written for today. Highlights were Sugarman, and I wonder.

He chatted briefly throughout showing a grand sense of humour, with lovely comments like, "I want to be treated like an ordinary legend."

So glad we had the opportunity to see a living legend, despite his late age, performing and killing it.