Being Bolshoi in the Bay

I'm excited that tonight's performance of the Bolshoi Ballet in Brisbane will be shown as a live simulcast at Hervey Bay's Seafront Oval. And best of all, it's free!

Image used courtesy of Qpac - the Queensland Performing
Arts Centre, where the ballet is being performed.

I've seen a number of opera and ballet live simulcasts in London before, with picnic and blanket in prime position outside my old office in Canary Wharf. Getting the opportunity to see Russia's elite perform Le Corsaire along with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra is a great opportunity. The Bolshoi haven't been to Australia in almost 20 years and Le Corsaire has never been performed in Australia before. Having access to events like these is definitely a SilverLining on my relocation!

I'll be bringing my Mum (aka Bubba, one of the Grandparentals) to see the Bolshoi's largest and most expensive ballets, from the comfort of a blanket and chairs, while we sip on some wine and nibble on a picnic. Why not bring your own and come join us?!

Date:  Today, 4th June 2013
Time:  Live coverage from 7:00pm, performance starts at 7:30pm
Venue: Seafront Oval, corner of Main Street and The Esplanade, Pialba
Cost:  FREE!

Cheers, KangaRue :)

The Good Enough Mums Club

Pondering my previous post about what the right tools are for a happy life, it occurred to me that surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people is so important.  Reflecting on some lovely friends I have across the world, reminded me of seeing my friend Tasha in a workshop of The Good Enough Mums Club just before leaving the UK.

I expect this workshop was a little different from the show Smash, not only was it paid, but only Mum's were considered to audition, and childcare costs were supported too!

Monologue driven, there are loads of laugh-out-loud moments.  I'll never look at Mr Bloom quite the same way again, and Calpol (paracetamol) has forever been renamed "sweet, sweet nectar".  But it was from the second song, that I started sobbing and pretty much didn't stop for the rest of the show.

Yes, that is a tampon up her nose.
This has only hit home since Pickle's
own discovery recently (see below)...

The show is brutally honest, in ways only your closest friends will ever be.  The second number is all about how each Mum considers all the other Mums are coping really well, and they are the only one struggling with self-doubt, sleep deprivation, and wondering if they are a good enough Mum for their precious little one.  While you don't have to be a parent to appreciate this play, to understand the depth of self criticism and worry, it certainly helps. Having the support of, and inspiration from, trusted friends is invaluable.  I needed this support with Pickle's lack of sleep (he slept through the night for the first time last night, at 16-months old; and for a while there I was getting a combined total of 5.5 hours of broken sleep a night), but the support has never been more necessary since becoming a single Mum.

Pickle's very own
The Young Ones "mouse" moment 

Leaving some of those friends behind in London has been truly difficult and painful, but my SilverLining is the friends I still have in Australia (not least Bubba & Nanna, Pickle's Grandmothers), and the new friends I already seem to have been lucky enough to discover.

So when The Good Enough Mums Club premieres in London, and it will, because it's frankly just brilliant, I strongly encourage you to hurry and see it (and make it such a huge success that it makes its way to Australia, so I can see it again, please!).

Cheers, KangaRue :)

Food, wine, books, song & good friends...

Having handed in the last of my uni papers for the term - one a week early I will boast - I have breathed a sigh of relief and can now enjoy the Christmas season.

Thanks to the London Evening Standard, BoyWonder and I won tickets to Taste of Christmas, which was a lovely day out tasting food and wines, picking up a number of selections for our own Christmas feast.  Not only did I blow the top of my head off with some chilli selections (we bought some of the seeds to grow), had some great pates, we also found nice wine to enjoy at home.

To be honest, the first thing that caught my eye was the name Chat-en-Oeuf (Cat on Egg) a great play on words with Châteauneuf depicted brilliantly on their logo... the wine is actually made just outside the Châteauneuf-du-Pape region and is aged in Châteauneuf-du-Pape barrels.  While it won't be an award winner, it was a nice wine that we'll happily quaff at home.  And I'm still giggling over the logo!


Taste of Christmas also offered a great opportunity to do some BookCrossing.  Having done one wild release at a bus-stop on the way to my Osteo on Friday, I took a couple of books along with me, releasing one outside a cooking theatre and another at the dining tables.  I did this last one after enjoying a delightful pie from Roast, a great texture and taste to the meat encased in a fantastic pastry.  I was sorely tempted by the food at L'Anima but really want to go to the restaurant for the whole experience.

The evening saw me head off to see some friends perform in the London Gay Men's Chorus production of
Singderella.  The singing was absolutely superb - well done guys!  Not sure about the panto and dancing that went along with it - it just didn't compare to the standard of singing.  Having checked my diary, I'm disappointed that I can't see the carol concert the Chorus is singing in a couple of weeks, so will have to wait to the 2010 season to see the LGMC perform again.  And how pretty does Sloane Square look with the Christmas lights up...

Cheers, KangaRue

Does anyone out there NOT know I'm a Fag-Hag?!

Today is International Coming Out Day.  An inspirational way to support equality, raise awareness of the difficulties and celebrate the courage of LGBT people.  It was a simple effort to change my Facebook status, join the Facebook event and post a couple of updates on Twitter to show I was an ally (others chose gay/bisexual/lesbian/transgender as appropriate).

There couldn't have been better timing to see the cabaret group of the London Gay Men's Chorus perform "Far From Kansas - Oklahomo".  It sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, and I understand why.  The story of 18 lonely, gay cowboys looking for love at "Dick's Halfway Inn" was brilliantly entertaining, with some deliciously wicked rewriting of some classic show-tunes.  Laugh-out-loud funny, I'd recommend checking out the video of "Brokeback meets Broadway in the heart of London".

Oh, and there was "Karaoke" in the bar afterwards - but with a lot of the LGMC who were in the audience taking part, there was no way I'd be embarrassing myself, with my distinct lack of tune.  However, my lovely friend Mikey got up to sing "Fame".  The party went on without me - well, I did want to get this blog out ;)

Can't wait to see Singderella this Christmas!

Cheers, KangaRue