Mika Mika Mika!

Earlier this year my mate Scotto introduced me to Mika when he found out I was going to the Scissor Sisters gig. Scotto said that Mika makes the SS look butch in comparison! Well, on that recommendation I promptly investigated this Mika, and got his album which is really fantastic. It's pure pop - songs you can bop along to as well as some pretty good ballads. I was impressed immediately with Mika's voice - there's a touch of Freddie Mercury in his singing and performance skills. He's also a very, very pretty looking man.

So I rounded up Kyls to come with me, along with some of her friends and we saw him perform live 2 Saturday nights ago at the Forum venue in Fox Studios. I'd never been to this venue before and I think it's going to become one of my faves. From every vantage point in the 3 level, circular layout there is a decent view of the smallish stage. Gus, from my old work, was there so that was cool to bump into him as well. Hard to believe, but I reckon the crowd was even gayer than the SS one!

Well let me just write, that this gig was one of the best I'd been to. Mika is fantastic live. He sounds great, looks great and he and his band completely energise the stage. The crowd went totally off during his songs, and when he did a cover of Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" everyone went bezerk.

The encore was side-splittingly funny, with Mika and his band returning to the stage dressed in giant bear-suits (wonder if they take them around the world? that's a lot more luggage....) to the recorded tune of "Teddy Bear's Picnic". They then proceeded to hold hands and dance in a circle!!!! The crowd was in hysterics. The band finally ripped off their bear heads, took up their instruments and did Mika's first hit "Grace Kelly". Bouncing balls were thrown into the crowd. The atmosphere was alive with laughter and music. It was like totally awesome dude.

AIH...

are Architecture In Helsinki, a Melbourne band that has been around for a few years.

I saw them with friends a few weeks ago at the Metro Theatre. Geez, I hadn't felt so old at a gig since seeing Muse in January. I swear there was a 10 year old girl in the all-ages crowd, and hordes of teens dressed 80s style.

AIH were heaps fun, bouncing around the stage, swapping instruments at every song change. That's the sort of band I would love to be in!! The girl singer is really cool. She reminds me of one of those 60s backing singers with her girly voice.

We had a really good spot in the venue, behind the dance floor on the 3rd tier with an uninterrupted view of the stage. This may have not been the case, when the 2 women in front of us got up off their bums to stand up when the band appeared. One woman was a giant, and she turned to me to say "sorry". We were all cracking up. Thank god she moved a bit so I could actually see.

For one of their last songs, they had recruited half a dozen audience members to enter from the wings of the stage and dance around the band. The lead kid was waving a mop, sweeping the floor and twirling it in the air as he led the kids dancing behind him. It was very funny! And funnier when kids up the front started to crawl up onto the stage so they could also dance! Beefy security guards started to remove these kids off the stage, and the female singer began pushing kids back into the crowd!

Some members of our group preferred the band's old stuff, which is fair enough, but I thought their new stuff was really cool and percussive.

Greenwich Walk

This afternoon I did a short bushwalk in Greenwich. I started from the ferry wharf which gives you a view of Woolwich and Cockatoo Island. Then this leads through a bushtrack to Shell Park on the Lane Cove River, overlooking all the pretty boats there.

Then after walking down some street past the Shell Refining Terminal I ended up at Manns Point Park, which affords a 180 degree view. The magnificent city is in front, with Berry Island on the left and Birchgrove/Anzac and Iron Cove Bridges on the right.










All up, the walk took about an hour. I got to listen to the new Bloc Party album on my ipod as well :)

Pigeon death

The other day I saw a pigeon die.

It was AWFUL.

I was driving home, and a few streets from my place I found myself about 30m behind a car. I thought I saw the driver throw something out the left window, and I got angry. Then I realised that something had hit the car instead, and that what I thought had been chucked out the window, was in fact a pigeon's decapitated head rebounding off the car's side after the impact of hitting the car.

I felt sick as I got closer towards the carnage. I could see the pigeon's body on the roadside, and the lil head lying a few metres away. I veered my car onto the other side of the road to avoid it.

A part of me wanted to go back and view the remains, perhaps pick them up and bury them. But I was dry-heaving on the way home.

It was such a shock. One second alive. The next, decapitated after colliding with the moving vehicle.

No upcoming gigs :(

Not Happy Jan. I have nothing planned. And everything I want to go to has been sold out - Damien Rice (not Leith), Snow Patrol, The Killers.

And seems like no one wants to come with me to see Peter, Bjorn and John (yes, that's a music group and Swedish too) :( Let me know if you wanna come along, as I think the gig will be fun. It's cheap too.

The only thing I have planned (social-wise) is the Mardi Gras Film Festival Opening this Thursday night. I have a short film I edited in the selection, so it will be exciting to see the audience's reaction. So far, everyone seems to enjoy the film. I've edited the director's last 2 short films, and we seem to have this great collaboration going. Fingers crossed it leads onto a feature.

Usually with these things, however, at least half of the films selected are crap. There will be a few gems, but in general queer filmmaking in Australia is pretty tragic. Seems like it's hard to make a "coming out" or "drag" film well. I am dragging along 4 friends with me, so HOPEFULLY they won't get too bored with the evening's entertainment.

Scissors!

I saw them on Monday night with Amanda at the Entertainment Centre - sheesh! had not been there for at least 10 years...

Seems like attending a Scissor Sisters gig gives people the right to dress up like pirates and tarts etc!

It was a pretty good gig, although I tended to enjoy the bits where Jake Shears was singing and strutting - apparently, he was a stripper in a previous life - as opposed to the songs where Ana Matronic performed - she suits the MC-style of her role, but her singing is pretty BLAH. They sound great live as well, with a fun lighting and visual show on the stage. "Filthy/Gorgeous" had soft porn projections with 70s-style big-boobied ladies shaking their good stuff at the camera.

We had great seats, although we spent most of the night on our feet boogieing. There was a group of fans 2 rows in front of us who started dancing as soon as they took their seats even before the Scissors came out! I swear, one girl, who was decked out all in pink was on something funky. I don't think she stopped moving all night!

Life stuff

Geez, my family and friends have had a rough trot lately.

Two weeks ago, one of my grandmothers died. She was one of 4 grandmothers I officially have - it's a long, complicated story - so that was pretty sad. She was 87 years old, and had a tough life.

Then last night, one of my oldest friends who now lives in the UK emailed me to say she had had a miscarriage on Sunday. Very sad news indeed. But her email seemed to be hopeful for her and her husband's future.

And now today I find out that my very sensitive 3 year old niece had an allergic reaction last night to some food and was rushed to hospital. Her reaction was pretty bad apparently, much to the concern of doctors there. But she's ok now, at home. It just goes to show that we can never be too blase when it comes to taking care of young children.

So, all in all, not a good time!!! It's why i try to never dwell on everyday crap that can irritate you. When, in the bigger picture, we should be thankful that we wake up each day healthy.

Dreamshit

I saw "Dreamgirls" recently and was pretty underwhelmed. Can't say I'm not surprised it didn't get a best film oscar nomination - not that it means much anyway these days.

Jennifer Hudson, who plays Effie and has been nominated for best supporting actress, is good but only great in one scene when her friends and colleagues dump her. I have a soft spot for Jennifer, way back when she was in American Idol. She was unceremoniously evicted from the show, when the bottom 3 idol contestants were all, controversially, black american women and the show at that point stunk of racism. It's pretty amazing that she can come from that show and now be oscar-nominated. I'm not holding my breath for Guy Sebastian or Casey Donovan....

I've been reading quite a bit of stuff online about how popular "Dreamgirls" has become for gay audiences, who wax lyrical over the songs, costumes and storylines but I just don't get it. Ho-hum.