SEPTEMBER ROUND UP

September - where did you go!?!

September was a blur of so much busy I cannot believe I got through it in one piece.

Work was huge, we opened SEEN@Swansea, an exhibition space adjacent to the library. My role is managing the volunteers who oversee the space. This including recruiting, and training them which was a huge undertaking. And working on events to go with each exhibition, openings, school holiday activities, school visits, and other events. This was initially like taking on a second job on top of my usual work. Then once that settled I had to play catch up. But you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

My health, mental and otherwise withstood the month splendidly too, I am still anemic and still don't have any answers, but I have not been as exhausted as I was so that is good.

The month actually started with Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice at the Civic. It was an excellent production, and I got to christen my lovely silk scarf with Shakespeare's Sonnets on it.

My nephew's soccer team won their grand final, in a nail biting match which was fabulous and exciting. We followed up the next day with family celebrations for Father's Day. And later in the month my niece's special all girls soccer team participated in the Matildas Vs Brazil game. What a great night, I got quite teary seeing all these young girls marching around the stadium, our future!!!! And the game was a great one.

Our choir joined One Song Sing again, this month singing Bic Runga's Sway. probably our best song to date.

French Friday came around again, and we had some yummy delicacies from the French markets before the film, which was a very dramatic one.

My lovely niece turned 10 towards the end of the month and we celebrated at her place of choice, Billabongs all you can eat at East Maitland, lol!

I also spent a day wandering around Newcastle, which was a sheer delight. So many boats going in and out of the harbour that day, and a yummy lunch at Nobbys.

I also had breakfast at Empire Cafe, the Star Wars cafe on Honeysuckle prior to a conference at Newcastle Museum.

The month ended with a great night of cocktails and tapas with my lovely friend D at Serhapdim. We've been friend since Kindy, and truly there is nothing better than these lovely long friendships.

As you can imagine my reviews were minor this month due to being so busy at work, you can read about them here.

And here are some extra pics.

SEPTEMBER REVIEWS

What I Have Been Watching

The Wrong Girl S1 – this is a fun, light series with a good cast. I am not a huge fan of Australian television, but this is not bad. Having said that, I get a bit over the main heroine being an intelligent girl who comes across dipsy.

Hap and Leonard S2 – this is a great, fun series about two best friends causing trouble and helping those that need helping in the South. The arc of this series (infinitely better than S1) is trying to track a bunch of black children who have disappeared over many years. The subject matter and fun actually work, there is great darkness in this series but there is also a healthy dose of humour, which is why i think the series is so good.

Delicious – Fun series about a chef, Leo (Iain Glen), who is having an affair with his first wife (Dawn French) and his second wife (Emilia Fox) finds out. Just as things are getting messy, he has a heart attack and dies leaving his large fortune split between the women. They find out secrets about Leo, and mystery ensues, add in family drama, a lot of humour, and amazing food. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Capture – fabulous series on photography that pairs up a classic photographer and an amateur (usually someone famous) and they discuss photos they have taken, why, circumstances behind etc. Amazing and insightful!

Travel Man – great premise, Richard Ayoade (IT Crowd) and another comedian spend 48 hours zipping through a major city. Richard is phobia ridden and a great straight man. Adam Hills and Istanbul, Noel Fielding and Copenhagen, Rob Delaney and Seville, Jo Brand and Venice were particularly good.

United Kingdom – a British woman marries the King of Botswana. This is based on a real story and could have been great, but I found it clunky and long.

Lone Star –  Been years since I saw this glorious film. I remember loving it but things were hazy. Re-watching it was as glorious as I remember. Dual timelines and dual murders, Lone  Star

Guardians of the Galaxy |Vol 2 – always fun, great cast, great music. What’s not to love?

Alone in Berlin – this sounded great on paper, Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson are a German couple who decide to take on the Nazis after their son is killed in WWII. I found it too dreary and long, maybe I was having a bad day. I wanted to love this, has anyone seen it ? Thoughts?

Paterson – the latest  film by Jim Jarmusch is an utter delight. One of the best new films I have seen in ages. Paterson (The brilliant Adam Driver) is a poet and a bus driver. It shows his lovely relationship with his wife, dog and his very repetitive life and yet he has this lovely lust for life which shows through in his poetry. Utterly mesmerising, this is my must see of the month!

Red Dog True blue – Australian, sequel, animal, saccharine...everything I hate about movies...and yet this was ok, not as good as the first one, but ok.

What I Have Been Reading

Letterman: the last giant of late night by Jasons Zinoman – This was a great read about Letterman, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was a fascinating journey down memory lane.

Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders – you can see why this won the Booker (though I still stand by my choice of Exit West), so very different and out there. The story of Lincoln’s son who died young and his journey in the afterlife. I listened to this on talking book and I think that helped, I’ve heard the book is a struggle. There are a lot of characters and it does take a while to acclimatise to who is who and what is happening. The talking book had a cast of hundreds reading each part which really helped. David Sedaris and Nick Offerman played the main characters and is worth the price of admission itself. Once I got the rhythm I really enjoyed the story, and I really appreciate it’s authenticity, but this is not for everyone. It can be a little bit too clever for it’s own good. I have always enjoyed Saunders’ short stories, but his style and dry humour need some acclimatising, and even so I struggled initially with this. having said that it was a triumph to get through and understand, it paid off well!.

What I Have Been Listening To

Everything Now – Arcade Fire – a bit more laid back than you’d expect, not bad but not great.

Silver Eye – Goldfrapp – brilliant and upbeat!

Turn Up The Quiet – Diana Krall – perfection as always.

Lust for Life – Lana Del Ray -  lovely and lush, great voice.

AUGUST ROUND UP

Well, things started to get hectic in August. Work became increasingly busy with my various projects heating up AND an exhibition space near to the library coming together very quickly. This has taken up a lot of my time, recruiting volunteers, helping with the set up and looking towards the next few exhibits. It's a really exciting time and whilst it is a lot of extra work I am loving every minute of it.

We also had book week, and the girls did a great job working on a show that about 10 classes saw. The week prior was Science Week and my bestie brought her best Science to Storytime and of course was a hit.

On top of this, I still had anemia and headed in for some exploratory surgery to get to the bottom of it. They found nothing sinister which was great but no real reason why which is annoying. 

My choir participated in the One Song Sing at The Edwards again, this time attempting Sia's Chandelier, and it was glorious.

Earlier in the month I saw The Trip To Spain with the hilarious Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, it is pretty much the same at the other movies they have done, but I do not mind. I love the travel stuff, the food, and their odd friendship. They truly make me laugh.

Mid month as part of L's birthday celebrations we headed to the Sunset Studios to see Keegan Joyce sing. Keegan will be known to most as Arnold from Please Like Me or Fuzz from Rake. He is a blues/roots singer, and was a utter delight, musically and in person.

My friend V has been getting out and about and performing his original material at open mic gigs, so I headed along to support him at the Lass and it was great.

Bookclub this month read the latest Haruki Murakami, this time short stories and they were great.

I also popped briefly into C's art exhibition which was amazing as usual.

Spent a bit of time with the family, my nephew's soccer team got into the semi's and A had her birthday celebrations.

The month ended with a massage, which I really needed!!!

Here are my reviews of music, books and film.

And some pics: