Brisbane in six pars

Storm brewing over Story Bridge, Brisbane

My trip to Brisbane, in six paragraphs.

Day 1: Arrive Brisbane, new year's day. Skippy tells me to catch the train to Brunswick St. We eat dinner at Superbowl with Dr H and his girl. Girl doesn't like Skippy, which gives way to a new Skippy neurosis. Go for gelato where they are playing the Dave Matthews Band. Coincidentally meet Skippy's boy (Vampire) Slayer and a bunch of his friends. Brisbane turns out to be smaller than I thought. It's Slayer's flatmate Smokeless' birthday.

Day 2: Ride the City Cat river service for two hours, then disembark at Southbank in the pouring rain. Take refuge in the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA, G-o-M-A GoMA) by spending a couple of hours at the Andy Warhol exhibition. Have dinner at an Indian place called Sultan's Kitchen with Skippy, Slayer, Skippy's flatmate Melbourne Girl (MG) and the poet Ross Clark.

Day 3: Do the city walk from Roma St Parklands to QUT via Brisbane's monuments, then have Devonshire tea at T-licious in Southbank. Stock up on $7.25 worth of lollies at the Great Aussie Sweet Shop. Stop in at the Queensland Museum to see the Museum Zoo exhibition. Dinner is home-cooked (primo by me, secondi by Skippy), followed by a blackout and a lot of washing up.

Day 4: Head to the hills with the Bird, an old work friend, and her partner the Quail. Visit Eumundi, home town of PM Kevin Rudd, and have morning tea at the Berkelouw book store where the Bird discovers a long sought-after tome. Also do a circuit of Maleny, home of the most contentious Woolworths in Australia, buying up at Maleny Cheese and chowing down at Colin James Fine Foods. We spend the afternoon at Art on Cairncross and discover we look like The Wiggles.

Day 5: A sunny day! Fortitude Valley Markets, a long walk along the river via the Botanic Gardens to the Southbank Markets, catch 'I Am Legend' with MG and a couple of her friends. Meet up with Skippy who is with Green Man and his adorable dog Molly. Green Man comes for dinner, drinks wine and eats Maleny brie with Slayer and Smokeless.

Day 6: Wangle a last minute booking for 11:30am at High Societea in Clayfield for Skippy, MG, Slayer and myself. Although I invited Smokeless last night, his appearance is a surprise considering he arrived home from a bender at 8:30 that morn. Three tiers of tea-soaked goodness ensues. When am I coming back to Brisbane? (March!) Flight delayed for two hours due to storms. Pink Martini awaits me in Sydney.

2007 Film Wrap-up

I saw a lot of films, not least due to the influence of my movie buddy (my flatmate) whose only pastime seems to be watching films and TV (on DVD). I also managed to obtained a fair number of free tickets through vouchers given by family and winning minor competitions, so there you go.

Here's a list of films I saw in 2007 (* = recommended):
Eragon
Babel *
Pan's Labyrinth *
I'm Your Man * (Leonard Cohen fans)
Tibet: A Trilogy
Stranger than Fiction
My Neighbour Totoro
Year of the Hare
300 *
Sunshine *
Paris, Je T'Aime
Curse of the Golden Flower
The Science of Sleep
The Namesake
Before the Music Dies
The History Boys
Spiderman 3
Tales from Earthsea
Zodiac
The Page Turner
Digital Projections (short film compilation)
All in this Tea * (tea lovers)
Comedy Shorts (short film compilation)
Death at a Funeral *
Forever (the doco)
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End
Teeth *
Poison Friends
Heavenly Kings
Romulus, My Father
The Dead Girl
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Shootout (short film compilation)
As it is in Heaven
The Simpsons Movie
4 * (classical music fans)
Day Watch *
Sicko *
Hairspray
Howl's Moving Castle
Rush Hour 3
Across the Universe
Forbidden Lies
Beowulf
Tell No One
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
The Golden Compass


Award for the most hyped movie to disappoint:
Beowulf

Award for the most hyped movie to live up to hype:
Pan's Labyrinth
Honourable mention to 300

Award for the most serendipitous movie:
Teeth
I went to see it on a whim as part of the Sydney Film Festival and found it perfectly pitched as a dark comedy with some great performances.

Best Actor in any role:
Kal Penn in The Namesake
Honourable mention to Eric Bana in Romulus, My Father

Best Actress in any role:
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (not Babel)
Honourable mention to Amanda Bynes in Hairspray

Best movie based on another text:
300, based on an account of the Battle of Thermopylae by Herodotus and 300, the graphic novel by Frank Miller
Honourable mention to The History Boys, based on a play by Alan Bennett AND The Golden Compass, based on Northern Lights, a novel by Philip Pullman

Best Comedy:
Death at a Funeral

Best Drama:
Pan's Labyrinth

Best Documentary:
4

BEST MOVIE OF 2007:
Teeth
Oh so deliciously, darkly, cruelly funny. Teeth treads the fine line between good film-making and bad taste so unerringly, it's difficult to know what to like most - the uncomfortable foreknowledge of certain characters' fates or the snide jibes about society's aversion to vaginas. I'm thankful it's coming out at the theatres soon as I'm dying to share it with other people so I can talk about it.

Am I privileged?

Privilege Meme, pass it on.

Apparently this questionnaire is supposed to show how privileged you are. I've done some poking around and can't seem to find (ie am too lazy to find) the original but I think the more 'bolded' statements you have the more privileged you're supposed to be.

The blurb:
Bold the ones that are true for you.

The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.

(I also acknowledge that this is from the USA and therefore have no idea what some of these statements mean).

Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers (I assume social class)
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home (most were my mum's recipe books!)
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs half (what does 'costs half' mean?)
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house (most of the time)
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child (under 12? No)
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course (I assume this is HSC equivalent)
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College (have no idea what this is)
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (how else would we visit the rellies in Malaysia?)
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (I don't know about 'heating' specifically but I knew what the gas and electricity bill was, which included everything from cooking to lights, fans and TV use as well as our gas heater and electric heaters)

Hmm, seems I'm not very 'privileged'. I think I am. My parents made a huge effort to pay off their house and send me to uni because they thought those were the most important things - who cares about having a phone/TV in your own room? Bah!

Population 1

So I went to Chromeo at the Beck's Bar (Hyde Park Barracks) last night. I went by myself because no one else wanted to go with me but I met three people I knew; my flatmate's brother and two people I used to work with (separately). Makes me think this town is getting too small.

Insert usual grumblings about crowds, drunk people, smokers, being spilled on, being a thoroughfare and people who push in front of you to claim a dance spot (when you've been dancing in the same space for hours) then glare at you when you don't move into the non-existent space behind you.

People suck. I just wanna dance sometimes. Even if it is Monday night.