Feelings

So I hadn't been asleep long when I woke up to find my bed shaking. In my very dozy state I thought 'How could there be anyone under my bed?!' I couldn't work out if I was having a very vivid dream, but I was too scared and tired to check under the bed and was asleep again within seconds of it stopping.

Today I found out there had been an earthquake in England through the night. Exactly at the same time as the monster shook my bed as it happens. A bit scarey all the same...

This afternoon I went for a walk; you know, getting out, clearing the mind. And, oh joy, the first spring bulbs are coming out! Not the bluebells yet Jane, but snowdrops, yellow and purple crocuses and daffodils. All the songs of green men, springtime blossoming and winter ending make so much more sense now. I always love spring in Brisbane, with the jacarandas and my frangapanis and all. But here everything has looked dead and bare for months and you get to see things coming alive again. What a pleasure - it makes my heart glad!

These daffodils are across the road from my house. It's still very cold, so I think these flowers are very brave. I'm looking forward to being able to go out without my coat (and multiple jumpers!). What a Queenslander!!!

Royal Shakespeare Company

On Friday night Maeva and I went to see the RSC production 'Noughts and Crosses'. It was adapted from the book by Malorie Blackman, and is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. The Noughts were white people who had no political voice, little access to education and limited job opportunities. The Crosses were black people who had political and economic power. Callum (a Nought) and Sephy (a Cross) were the two teenagers in love.

The story was very powerful (politically and emotionally) and the production and acting were fantastic. I have been thinking about it since.

Busy Bee

So much to tell!
It's SO cold. I thought Spring was coming. There were little shoots on plants and I saw a couple of pink buds. It was getting warm: it even got up to 12 degrees a couple of weeks ago. But no! We're back in negative numbers again. It was so cold yesterday that there were patches of thick frost still on the ground at 5pm, where the sun obviously hadn't shone during the day.
Last week I had, well, a manic week. Surely not, I hear you cry! But strangely enough I had over-committed. I was playing in the orchestra for the Newcastle University Gilbert and Sullivan Society's production of The Mikado, which ran for 3 performances. It went quite well. Only one little incident really. On openning night we could hear the smoke machine going throughout the (5 page) overture. The curtains openned for the first number onto a cloud of thick smoke, so thick you could barely make out the actors. You can see where this is going? Yes, we were barely through the first page of the number when the smoke alarms went off! Luckily we'd been through the drill. Off we all toddled to the meeting point, while the fire brigade came and confirmed that it was safe to re-enter the building. Now, while this wouldn't be a problem in Brisbane in February, let me tell you that taking thinly clad bodies and instruments from a well heated environ to the open-air carpark in Newcastle in February is a completely different matter. It took another 3 numbers once we were back inside to get fingers working and instruments back in tune.
On Saturday evening I also played in another performance. Two of the PhD students I know had made a silent film and one had composed the music for it. It was being presented at The Sage on Saturday. They wanted me to play and Sergio wrote a part especially for me. So I spent last week in rehearsals for the film and The Mikado. It was going to be fairly tight doing both performances on Saturday, but as the musical director and the Mikado himself were both involved in the film as well, I thought it would work. The 23 minute film was being screened at 6:30pm and The Mikado started at 7:30. And the venues were only a 7 minute taxi ride apart.
Once again, you can see where this is going... Due to technical staff illness at The Sage, the film performance was delayed by half an hour! But they didn't tell the performers, who were getting more and more twitchy as the minutes ticked by. Once we finally played, it all went very well, and we were in that cab by 7:25! Let me just say that I've been sleeping a lot since then.
And guess what? I've agreed to lead the orchestra for Westside Story; rehearsals start this week and the show is on in the first week of March.

Celtic Connections

WOW! What a line up at Celtic Connections this year. I saw Diamh, Shooglenifty, Aly Bain, Blazin' Fiddles, Bruce Molsky, Phil Cunningham, Annbjorg Lien, Christine Hanson, Catriona Mackay (and other harpists), Southern Routes and kd lang. All fabulous. And I did workshops in fiddle, gaelic and puirt (mouthmusic) and stepdancing (where I actually worked up a sweat). Pretty busy, but a great way to end semester 1.

Semester 2 started straight away. I'm playing in the Gilbert and Sulivan Society production of The Mikado next weekend, as well as for a film that a couple of PhD students have made and composed music for - also next weekend.

This weekend I popped down to London to see Wicked. It's a musical about the witches from The Wizard of Oz. It was great - story, cast, songs, singing, costumes, set -all great.

I also did a London Walk about Sheakspeare. This is the New Globe theatre where Sheakspeare's plays are staged in the summer. (The lovely thatched roof does not cover the building!) I might pop down again to catch a show when it's warm...