Vivid Sydney 2014

It seems that Sydney has a full schedule every May and June, with the Vivid Festival, the Biennale and the Sydney Film Festival all piled up on each other in my calendar. I made it to Vivid twice this year, once to view my work which was projected at Darling Harbour, and another time to see the Opera House and Circular Quay area. It generally rains a lot during Vivid, and despite a fair weather forecast, the night I visited my animations was a washout! We got completely drenched and unfortunately I didn't get any decent pictures, just phone snaps.

 

Circular Quay had some fantastic animations on the buildings, but for some reason the vibe just wasn't happening this year. Perhaps we weren't in the right mood, but for whatever reason it felt a bit flat. There didn't seem to be as many interactive displays and people were just filing past the lights without the exuberance I witnessed in previous years. I still managed to geek out at the animation and wonder how the Opera House approved a post-apocalyptic theme for their artwork this year... The MCA building projection was my favourite, so many interesting things to see and the music was great.


Did you head to Vivid this year? I'm wondering if I chose a bad night to go or if it was a bit dull in general. Unfortunately I missed the ginat bunnies and Martin Place display which a few people said was good. Que sera sera.

Kitty
xo

Best of 2013 - Music + Gigs

We went to a bunch of shows in 2013, here's a selection of the most memorable.

2001: A Space Odyssey | I love this film and was so excited to see a live performance of the soundtrack accompanied by a screening of the film in the Sydney Opera House. I learned one valuable lesson. Even though I know the movie by heart and don't need to sit in the front row, the nosebleed seats in the Sydney Opera House are near impossible to bear. So squishy and high up it was nauseating. Duly noted. Other than that it was incredible to see the film brought to life with a live orchestra. I never tire of hearing a huge group of musicians show off their talents.

Bat For Lashes | Natasha Khan is just lovely. This show was plain wonderful on every level. The crowd were polite and calm (!) and Ms. Lashes was the epitome of professional. Her performance was fun and she sounded great. She wore a beautiful rainbow cape ensemble from local designers Romance Was Born and just put on a fabulous show, complete with humble thank-you's after each song. There was much dancing and the odd awkward karaoke moment.

Zelda Symphony | Geek out alert! We took a friend who is a fellow avid Zelda fan along to the Opera House to hear the Zelda Symphony Performance. (It's always a good excuse to take someone to something you want to see too!) Again, it's exciting to see a performance inside the Opera House and I was doubly excited to spot one of my old classmates from school playing violin! She always practised so hard, so I'm really proud that she has achieved that level of success. The Zelda music was cool too.

Dead Can Dance | Another show at the Opera House. I was looking forward to this show, but the crowd and perhaps something with the band was a bit off. I wanted to enjoy it, but we ended up leaving a bit early. Lisa Gerrard has such an amazing voice though, which we were both in awe of.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor | This show was just incredible. I really love Godspeed, so maybe I am biased, but I was drawn in and throughly admire the hypnotic nature of this music. It was great to see the gradual build up of their songs performed live.

Cat Power | Oh, Chan. We saw Cat Power when she did the Jukebox tour and waited with some misgivings for her to appear on stage. The previous time she was in Sydney (I heard), she broke down on stage and was heckled by some fine members of our city as she hid behind the piano. When she eventually appeared, she put on a brilliant show. This time. Jeez. I don't know. Her performance was amazing, her voice is beautiful, but it was sad to watch her seek attention in such a negative fashion by constantly referring to her drug and alcohol abuse. I hope she sorts herself out because her music is beautiful but she seems like such a fragile lady.

The Drones | Great Australian rock band - please don't spit on the Opera House though. It felt odd to have a super loud show inside the concert hall with drunk people spilling beer on the nice seats. Maybe it was just a weird juxtaposition that I couldn't resolve. Normally The Drones are amazing but I don't think they're a sit down kinda band, you know?

Blade Runner/Vangelis | Another orchestra performance, this time of another favourite film, Blade Runner. It was pretty great, although the cello player had his mobile on in his bag on stage and it kept transmitting through the speakers. Kinda distracting. The music was beautiful though, it definitely transports you to a futuristic rainy cityscape.

Goblin | The Italian masters of horror soundtrack fame (Suspiria, anyone?) did not disappoint. At all. The original members are getting on, but they rocked out like it was the best night of their lives. At the end they turned on the lights to check out the crowd and thanked us profusely. The amount of fun they were having was contagious, it was just great to witness. And that keyboard rack... oh boy. What an amazing collection of beautiful instruments.

Sonalio | We finally managed to catch our friend, Takuto's band in Tokyo. It was really fun watching the opening acts, who were, in my opinion, a Japanese version of post-rock style. (There's probably a proper genre, but I'm hopeless with the specifics of that stuff) There was a lot of spoken word which was super emotional and serious, I wish I could have understood. Sonalio put on an amazing show, damn these guys are good! Takuto is a fellow motion graphics designer and he created a really cool projection show. I'm so happy we were in Tokyo at the right time to be invited to such a special night. (and how great is it that the show was called "Teddy Party"? I love Japan.)

Takuto rocking out on his bass :)

Sleep | Another gig I was super excited for that the crowd kinda ruined for me. If you're familiar with Sleep, you'll know that they play really heavy, slow music. Honestly, I've never seen a more violently excited group of stoners(?). The moshpit was kind of out of control with fist-fights, head butting and general mayhem. We stayed for awhile, but got fed up fairly quickly and watched from the edges. Since when did doom music incite such rage? (Is that a silly question?) Meh. That's Sydney for you. Like that one time we went to see Guitar Wolf and a skinhead threw a glass at Guitar Wolf's face and broke his tooth :( The next time we went to see Guitar Wolf, the gig was full of "loli girls", go figure.

We saw sunn o))) and Boris in Melbourne a few years back, (same kinda scene as Sleep) and it was a pretty laconic gig. Maybe that highlights the difference between Sydney and Melbourne? (no rivalry guys, we know who's better - and I'm a traitor)

But I digress. Looking back at 2013, we went to so many big shows, I can hardly believe it! There seemed to be a wealth of great music going on in our city this year. Did you see any amazing bands this year? I'd love to find out if we have music tastes in common, or what kind of shows you've been to :)

Kitty
xo

   

What I Wore - Bladerunner - Like Tears In Rain

We've had a busy week of shows and events, two of them at the lovely Sydney Opera House. On Sunday evening, it was Dead Can Dance, Lisa Gerrard's vocal skills did not disappoint, her voice is incredible. Her unconventional tones combined with the cacophony of drums and delightful sounds of her dulcimer and Brendan's sitar sent me to a happy place.

We shot these pictures after listening to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra perform the Zelda Symphony. Yes, you read that correctly. There is a Zelda Symphony. I believe it was the first time it was played in Australia and it was an awesome all-out geek-fest. I love Zelda, and music, so this was so much fun. Also, as an added bonus, a friend from high school, who I had not seen since, was up on stage playing violin. I felt like a proud sister, she worked so hard on her violin practice all through school and is now playing in the Sydney Symphony!

After our heatwave, it's been cold and rainy, so I had the perfect excuse to bring out my extra-special umbrella that was a gift for Christmas. I love the film Bladerunner and C managed to score me a replica of the umbrellas that people (and replicants) use in Syd Mead's vision of the future.

The other performance we witnessed was Bat For Lashes, I already had a deep admiration for Natasha Khan and she did not disappoint. Her voice, dance moves and rainbow cape captured my heart as I danced along to her beautiful music. What a week huh? I still have some shows lined up in the coming month including Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Cat Power.

I really wanted to tell you of my love for Bladerunner, Dystopian visions of the future and Deckard. Another time perhaps.

Dress // Modcloth (old)

Tights // Basque

Jacket // Saxony

Booties // Diesel (gift)

Bladerunner Umbrella // Gift

Pixel Hair Bow // Gift

Camera Bag // Jo Totes

Kitty

xo

Night at the Museum

So I posted on the night, but I promised to show more photos of our Halloween party in the Australian Museum, which is a natural history museum in Sydney. I really couldn't believe they let hordes of people party in the museum after hours, but hey, I'm not complaining, I had a great time! I think we spent more time looking around the normal museum stuff than the party, I hadn't been since primary school, so it was cool to look around at all of the displays. Here's some of the party photos before Halloween is completely eclipsed by Christmas. I have a tonne of amazing taxidermy and skeleton displays to share as well, I'll save those for another post. Thanks Penny for asking us along, it was awesome!

No seriously, that's the first thing I saw when we entered the museum. A huge, walking around dinosaur. It was an incredible costume, so realistic! I think it might have belonged to the museum for demonstrations, it was pretty cool! (ignore the man legs sticking out the bottom)

There was a face painting section, one for Dia de los Muertos and one for zombies. Unfortunately the line was too long for me! This random girl we snagged for a photo looks great though!

Ever wondered what Boylesque looks like? Me neither, but each to their own ;) There's a little taste^

Penny hanging out with a mammoth.

 Whoa, snakes... How cool is that turtle as well? Amazing!

There were living creatures too, some Sea Urchins (above) and Stick Insects (below). I am amazed they let people consuming alcohol near the stick insects, but perhaps they were doing a quick sobriety judgement before they let people handle their precious stick dudes! I wasn't brave enough... at first. Then when I was, the stick insect was conveniently being passed around a big group of other people. Maybe next time huh?

 We were trying to replicate the masks... It's kind of hard to tell... I guess you had to be there...

 I hope you enjoyed these pics, we had such a fun night.
Kitty
xo

Dinosaur Party!

This is just a super-quick note to let you know the lovely letters post is on it's way, I just got caught up at an impromptu Halloween party in the Australian Museum amongst the dinosaurs. To be honest, it was impossible to say no.

Penny in a Frida inspired, PomPom Dia de la Muertos ensemble.
Me in my work attire : / (it WAS last minute) and kitty ears courtesy of Penny, severed foot... erm...
C as glampire

Our host, Mr Rex.

I have a squillion amazing photos from tonight, but it's way past my bedtime. The Lovely Letters task will be up tomorrow morning (in the next 12 hours or so)

I apologise for the brief delay my letter writing friends :) Happy Halloween!

On a more serious note, my thoughts are with all of my friends in the Eastern USA (and Canadian!) states. I hope you are all safe and sound, it was very sad to see the pictures today of places that I have visited and loved, places full of happy, caring and hard-working people. May you and your loved ones be safe and sound.

xox