Loathing; unadulterated loathing for your face (your voice!).

Beautiful day outside in Edinburgh and I am off to a graveyard to take pictures of people's graves who's names were used in the Harry Potter books. I can see the graveyard from where I'm sitting in the hostel actually. Am I sick or what? Is this taking fandom too far? Possibly.

But whatevs, everything is excused when it's Harry Potter. Then I'm off to The Elephant House cafe, where JK wrote a good portion of Harry Potter to meet up with some friends. Was there yesterday and I felt so inspired! You can see Edinburgh Castle from the window and I was thinking, "OMG, she probably sat at this exact table, drinking out of this exact mug!" I almost slipped the mug into my bag but no, stealing is wrong kids! Maybe I'll steal a fork or a spoon today... Hrmmmmm.... *strokes chin*

And off I go on my broomstick!

Wishing only wounds the heart...

Well we can't all travel by bubble!

Yes, another Wicked post. Hey, I'm not as bad as some people who have seen it about 10 times. And I was talking to Ali on skype and she said, and I quote, "WICKED IS BETTER THAN LIFE ITSELF!"

And sooooo.. I totally got to meet Alexia Khadime who plays Elphaba in Wicked on Saturday night and other members of the cast. I had no program, no pen, just my theatre ticket or my German language book for them to sign. I felt the theatre ticket was the more appropriate material. It was very cool, and I didn't feel too much like a weird, old groupie as there were other women there, older than me, who were waiting by the stage door. I just happened to walk passed it and saw familiar faces walking out, so naturally I stopped and thought, "Great opporuntity!" I won't mention the fact that I ent looking for the stage door and wasted 5 minutes heading in the wrong direction when I could have just walked 15 seconds up the road. Still, nevermind. I now have some swirly, illegiable signatures to put in my keepsake box. I would have liked a picture but I left my camera at home and there is no point taking photos with my phone cam as it is shite quality. And can I just say, how the heck did Elphaba get all that green make up off so quickly?

My signed theatre receipt and ticket. You can't really see the other autographs as the ticket recepit has my address on it which I removed before posting the pic (don't want anyone stalking me), but you can see Alexia Khadime's signature here. She was so nice! I can't wait to see this in Sydney!

Now all I have to do is meet Hanson, Johnny Depp, Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg and Bette Midler and my life is complete. Random selection, but these are the people I grew up idolising.

I would have liked to have seen Avenue Q but the tickets were a bit pricey, while with all the Wicked tickets I lucked out. Apparently it is hilarious, with puppets wondering what the hell they're going to do with a B.A. in English (and sometimes I wonder this myself as that is pretty much the qualifitcation I have, just add (Communications) onto the end of it and it actually makes the degree useful). 

I'm in Edinburgh now and met some girls in my hostel room that I'm hanging out with which is nice. I haven't done much yet but once I have, guess who'll be the first to know?

Moving on... I've decided to make a little 'feature' that I will include, well whenever I feel like, and it will be entitled: Things I have learnt from travelling.... I could probably just put 'life' but 'travelling' sounds more worldly and adventurous. So to begin:

Things I have learnt from travelling...
- Make sure your shoes are waterproof so you don't find yourself in a public bathroom trying to dry your socks under the hand dryer.
- Umbrellas and Oxford St on Saturdays do not mix. Someone is going to lose an eye.
- Brits don't actually live in London, only Australians.
- Some people are just arseholes.

Okay, it's late and I'm tired and that's all my brain can think up.

I'll be so happy, I could melt!

So, I went and saw 'Wicked' again last night and it was FABULOUS!!! Ahhhhh, Alexia Khadime and Dianna Pilkington are fantastic! I have been listening to the original Broadway version of the songs and I really wish they would release a CD featuring these two women as they blow those two Americans divas away! Dianna is so fantastically quirky, self-absorbed and whimsical as Galinda (the 'a' is silent) and Alexia brings such sweet innocence to the first act and a real soulful maturity to the second. I was so happy to have both actors perform on the two nights I went, as I was worried I would have their stand-bys. I have heard reports that Kerry, the girl who was Elphaba before Alexia was fantastic in voice but a bit wooden in performance, while Alexia is just wonderful in both regards. She just has this lovely presence about her and creates all these interesting mannerisms for Elphaba. I plan on seeing 'Wicked' when I come back to Oz and we'll see how the show fairs in comparison, I'm sure it will be great! Also, in the souvenir shop they have a shirt saying, "I love Oz". I was going to get it but couldn't justify the money.

Anyway, I love how Alexia performs 'The Wizard and I' much better than the Broadway version that is on limewire, so I have tracked down this live performance she did. I won't put up videos of the actual show performances as it will just ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet. Sigh. So sad I won't be seeing it again. Such a great night out!



This is the smallest size youtube was offering, which doesn't exactly fit in with my settings.

What else can I report... I do have a rant coming but I'll save my hostility for tomorrow, as I'm in such a good mood right now.

And life just got even better because Oprah has announced she is starting her own Oprah Winfrey Network in 2011. Hallelujah! I love Oprah. One of the best nights of my life, and this will prove what a sad and sorry individual I am, was when I took the 25th anniversary Oprah box-set up to Newcastle and sat with Sarah on her lounge for about 5 hours straight, re-living Oprah moments and scoffing our faces with Thai and chocolate pudding (not all at once of course!). I believe I'll run on, see what the end will be...

To London, with love...

Song we're dancing to this week: Bad Romance - Lady Gaga.

You know you have great friends when they get together for dinner back home, have a group shot taken and decide to include you in it by writing on a serviette, "Hi Nicole!!". So lovely!

 Physie girls having dinner for Vanessa's short trip back home. And the little serviette sign saying, "Hi Nicole!!"

*heart bursts* Too cute.

Thanks girls! It put a huge smile on my face when I saw it on facebook. Missing you all! Good luck at Grand, can't wait to hear all about it!

Living in London is a full-time job

Another song from Wicked called 'For Good'. My second favourite after 'Defying Gravity'. Seeing it again on Wednesday with slightly better seats. Can't wait! So I'm going to dedicate this beautiful song to my even more beautiful friends and to anyone who has touched my life in a positive way.

So, I have only been out three times in London and last night was definitely most interesting…

Me and housemates Dana and Suzanne

 

The girl on the left, Dana, is nice enough, though a touch abrasive (or a lot). Most of the time I like her, but I think she needs to watch how she speaks to people. Especially me.

So anyway, this week's weather, for the most part, has been absolutely dismal and I have found myself curling up into a little ball each morning, refusing to leave the comfy, warm confines of my bed. This has then seen me not leaving the apartment until about 1pm, after my roommate Suzanne, has stuffed me full with all the yummy food she cooks.

"Would you like some Tom Yum soup/pumpkin soup/stew/pear tart that I just whipped up?"

The only thing I can really cook is either pasta (pasta, boiling water and sauce - too easy) or things like mussels in vegetable broth, crispy skinned duck in blood plum sauce or salt and pepper squid. Because when I cook it has to be a masterpiece, not something that is practical. So for dinner tonight I had nutella on toast and a hot milo as I just didn’t have a spare duck on hand.

Hey, it's six weeks till Christmas. It's going to be strange not having Christmas with my family in sunny Australia, teasing and gossiping with my cousins or eating a hot meal on Christmas Eve that my Oma has cooked (because even though they no longer live in a cold climate, they still insist on cooking heavy, hot meals for Christmas. Old habits die hard I guess). Not sure what meal we're having this year as we're going to be a bit pressed for time as we’re spending Christmas Day on a sleigh ride up a mountain in Salzburg and then catching a train to Vienna the same day. I think maybe Kristi (and whoever else wants to come) and I will have a Christmas Eve dinner as her family is Finnish and mine is German so we both celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. It better snow. I didn’t come all this way to not have a white Christmas. You hear that Earth? Do as I say. 

It is going to freezing though. I was walking through Covent Garden with Suzanne and we went into Accessorize and they were selling earmuffs, by which I proclaimed I would never resort to wearing something as silly as earmuffs. After Suzanne informed me it will be so cold I will be begging to owe a pair I decided to give them a chance, and as predicted, I looked so stupid. It’s not happening. I would rather have my ears succumb to frostbite and sport the Van Gogh look than wear fuzzy earmuffs.

In other news on my random experiences in London, I walked passed Orlando Bloom the other day! No joke. I had just finished my dance class and went looking for the awesome cupcake place that Vanessa had taken me to on my first weekend in London (alas it was closed). So instead I decided to seize the moment of a gorgeous night and go for a stroll through the streets of London and eventually found myself in the Strand. While I was walking along a secluded street I noticed someone walking towards me who looked familiar. Why would someone be looking familiar to me in London, I don't know anyone here. The person came closer and closer and then I realised... OMG... it's Legolas! We locked eyes for a split second, and let’s not get mistaken here; I don't think it is because he thought I was good looking, it was probably because I was staring at him in a very confused way. Unfortunately, because I had just come from a dance class, my face was still all red and my hair was a sweaty mess. I didn't try to polish myself up too much because I didn't think I'd be bumping into crushes from yesteryear! This is why London is so much more interesting than Sydney. The only person I have walked passed who is even a little bit famous in Sydney was Wayne Cooper and who wants to get excited about that? He’s a woman-basher and not worthy of any kind of recognition in my opinion.

I'm so crushed. This is not how I envisioned myself meeting my teenage crush. In case you don't already know, myself and another girl who I went to high school with, Holly, were obsessed with Legolas. In fact, I think that's a bit of an understatement. I'm pretty sure we went and saw the Fellowship of the Ring about five times - that's 15 hours of sitting and watching the same movie over and over, yikes! But it was worth it. I even created an email account in honour of Legolas and may or may not have written the odd fan-fiction based on Orlando Bloom. Very sad, I know. However, now Orlando has lost his appeal as he hasn't made a movie in a while (how fickle am I?) and he's a bit old. But still, if he had turned around and proclaimed his love for me, I wouldn’t have said no.

So, yesterday I went to the Tate Modern with a friend's friend's brother. I'm pretty sure it was a date, ugh. I met him at a Halloween party and kind of just went with him as he had a free pass to the Pop Life exhibition. Yes, using people is wrong, but when you’re on a budget, well... there's a place in hell for people like me, I'm sure. As punishment though, it was very awkward and it was just I talking the whole time because this person just doesn't speak. By the end I made up an excuse that I was really tired and should probably head home.

As for the Tate Modern, yeah not a fan of pop art. I just don't get it. It looks cool, but I think I’m missing the deep meaning behind it all. Some I ‘got’, while others I just thought were a bit trite. But whatevs, I'm sure there are people out there who appreciate it for what it is.

There were also rooms that contained very sexually explicit picture art. What I found most interesting was watching people walk into the room and observing their reactions as the images, which are about 4mx3m in size, are quite confronting. Some people tried to act cool, like they see this sort of thing everyday; others would laugh; others couldn’t tear their eyes away; some people pretended not to look, while others headed straight back out again. As for me, well I almost tripped over the rope that was surrounding a piece of artwork. It would have been highly embarrassing, though extremely hilarious if I had gone crashing into the artwork, which was a sculpture of two people having sex, connected parts and all. That would have been one for the ‘How Embarrassment’ pages in Girlfriend.

Then another piece of art was just a television showing a video of two people having sex. You could see people wanting to keep watching but felt it was too socially unacceptable to keep doing so. I left everyone else to it, as I just didn’t want to see anymore. There was more material on show, which was also very explicit and a little hard to take.

Overall I was disappointed with the exhibition. Lucky I didn’t have to pay. The National Portrait Gallery has an exhibition on British pop music from the 60s entitled ‘Beatles to Bowie’ so I think I'll head there sometime during the week. That’s a bit more up my alley. After the Tate Modern I did get a few pics in front of Shakespeare's Globe, finally.

And lastly, let's face it, I'm never going to write a post on Greece or Helsinki so just head to my bestie's blog and read the account there: Greece and Helsinki. :-)

Late-erz!

Look at her, she's wicked!

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!

So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown.


Oh. My. GOD.

I had the most amazing time last night seeing the musical, Wicked at the Apollo Theatre. AMAZING! As soon as I got home I immediately jumped online and downloaded the soundtrack and have had 'Defying Gravity' on repeat ever since (and is the song featured on this blog). It's fantastic; the vocal ranges of both Glinda and Elphaba are just mind-blowing.

Photography: Brinkhoff and Mögenburg

The musical is everything I expected and so, so much more! I had heard a lot of hype from Sarah, having seen it twice and telling me how much I'm going to love it. Oh am I Sarah, am I? Then there are some of the physie girls who went and saw the Australian version recently and loved it, as did my cousin Meredith. So it had a lot to live up to.

Photography by: Tristram Kenton

Well, what can I say? I am in awe. As with most musicals I see, I tend to go away yearning for the voice to belt out those numbers (but it will never happen; you either have it or you don't and I, my friends, do not). The whole production was flawless. The story, the costumes, the effects, the music, the actors. I wish I was green and could do magic!

Photography by: Tristram Kenton

Love love loved it (in case you couldn’t already tell). So much so that I am in fact seeing it again next Wednesday night. Sure, I could go see Billy Elliot or Oliver! But, no, I want to see this again. This time I'll have slightly better seats with my £10 upgrade. Can't wait!

Photography by: Tristram Kenton

Anyway, I need to go to bed because I am getting up early to go see the Tate Modern tomorrow. I just wanted to rave about Wicked and post the song so all who love the song can play it over and over again in their offices when reading this, while procrastinating from what you should be doing. I know you all do it.

Photography by: Tristram Kenton

Drop it like it's hot...

After a quite crappy day on Monday (I even bought a pair of shoes but no, still not happy) I head half-heartedly off to my dance class, a little lack-lustre and little red-eyed and pink-faced (or a lot red-faced, more like). I brace the cold, rainy streets of London in my millions of layers, sheep skin-lined boots, thick, woollen coat and make my way to the ever efficient Underground (there will be delays of...2 minutes, oh knows!). I love London transport. A major delay in Sydney could see one being two hours late for work and a talking to by the boss for not foreseeing such problematic transport issues. Is clairvoyance becoming a prerequisite when it comes to employability?

I am not in the mood to deal with other people so I plug my ears with the sounds of Placebo and lament the fact that I won't be seeing them live anymore, as I had made the decision the day before to sell my Soundwave ticket (Any takers? Message me).

I finally arrive at Covent Garden and bee-line it for the elevator, squished in with every other eager patron to escape the blinding (and not to mention, unflattering) fluorescent lights of the tube.

Eventually I find myself out on the streets, which is buzzing with people and black taxis racing by trying not to hit the throng of people carelessly crossing the road. I see my neon dance studio sign and brace myself for what could be another night of unsuccessfully attempting the pirouette or a night of triumph. I silently pray for the latter.

I push my way through the doors and am immediately greeted (for lack of a better word) by the unfriendly staff at the dance studio. After waving my membership card in their face, I’m eventually buzzed in and allowed to proceed to the changeroom. Making ones way to the changeroom is a challenge in itself, as one has to push passed all the people lining up for the next classes, but it also offers the perfect opportunity to check out the talent, dance-wise and other...

After a quick change into my dance attire I head up the steep steps and make my way to studio nine. The teacher is already there setting up the music and I park myself in the middle-back so I can still see the teacher, but no one can see me if I mess up. However, this time I have nothing to worry about, as there is a group of three extremely uncoordinated people to my right and so no one is going to care if I can't do a turn properly (and as it turns out, we do none. Hurrah!)

Instead we begin the ever-strenuous warm up to ‘SOS’ by Jordin Sparks (no, not that Jordan) and begin the ballet sequence of the class, while also loosing up the muscles with some funky moves during the chorus. I have to say my pliés are getting much better, as are my calf and quad muscles. Hello, I thought you had left me. Next the beats of ‘Halfway’ by The Black Eyed Peas pumps out of the sound system and we begin working on strength with leg lifts, second position, fifth position and other ballet positions which I never actually knew until I attended this class. I feel like such a pro and smile smugly to myself over my form, until I look over at the actual pros and realise... mmm not quite. After some splits (Yes, still got it!) we learn we will be dancing to ‘I Can Transform Ya’ by Chris Brown.

Intricate body movements with sharp lines are the theme for tonight and it looks and feels great. We're encouraged to really loosen up and just sit in the groove of the song. Some of my moves are a bit ‘physified’ but eventually I relax and really begin to hit the spots. We get a crowd going outside to watch (or perhaps just the people waiting for the next class) and we're all feeling it; the mirrors are fogging up from the heat and boy, are we hot.

The teacher is even inspired and joins in as we dance and she keeps replaying the track so we keep going. We’re all in unison and look like we could take on any So You Think You Can Dance group performance. Any crappy thought, any sad moment I had previous to this has washed away. I feel confident and sexy; I feel like I can do anything and nothing can hold me back. Yeah, it's probably the endorphins pumping through my body but nothing can take this feeling away at this moment.

Finally the class finishes on a bang with some body rolling, however, when the teacher yells, “double-time” I opt out at this moment as my body just can't move that fast. Instead I watch the pros do it and they do it well.

I was going to stay for the beginner’s ballet class as I have never actually done ballet before and would like to have a go; it can't be that different from physie right? But after seeing the girls walk in with their ballet shoes, pink tops, black leos and tights I think not. I feel a bit out of my league. I thought this was a beginners class?

So I didn't conquer all tonight. I beat my bad mood, but next I’ll have to beat my insecurities and conquer that ballet class.

I’m going to miss these classes when I leave London.