Sorry Russell Crowe.....

I took myself to the movies this morning to see Les Miserables. I am always a bit concerned about going to see films of which I have heard good reviews. Inevitably, I am disappointed. Perhaps my standards are too high? Whatever. This post isn't about me. It's about Russell Crowe.

First though let's talk about the good things. Anne Hathaway has finally delivered a film performance I can praise because let's face it The Devil Wears Prada was too long, very boring and extremely superficial and the less said about The Princess Diaries the better. Her singing was impressive as Fantine and she did the part justice. Of course Hugh Jackman was outstanding as Valjean. Did we expect anything less? If you have seen him in Oklahoma (which let's face it you may not have) you would know the man can sing. Here he is perfect in every way. Amanda Seyfried is fine as Cosette, the most boring part perhaps but she manages to convey some substance. Eddie Redmayne (?) is excellent as Marius. I was genuinely moved by Empty Chairs and Empty Tables. This chap can sing and act. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen are fine comic relief as the Thenardiers. I expected a little more from them. At points I felt like they may have been phoning it in, but they got away with it as the comic foils all the same. The sets and costume were fabulous. The new song, Suddenly fitted seamlessly into the score. Unfortunately though Russell Crowe is dreadful miscast. That is, Crowe can sing but with the high standard surrounding him he fails to bring any sense of power to Javert and that is what is needed. Everyone else tromps all over him and (spoilers) when he falls into the Seine at the end all I thought was "meh" where it should have been a major moment in the plot. Also, he totally failed to do justice to Stars - one of the treasures in the many wonderful songs in Les Mis.
This is what it should sound like: I imagine there are a lot of excellent theatre actors who are currently despairing at Crowe's casting. It leaves a big hole in what otherwise is a great movie version of Les Miserables.

Christmas Countdown: the Christmas Eve version

And here we are at Christmas Eve. In an effort to have a Christmas event without my grandmother, for the last few years I have my parents and sister for dinner on Christmas Eve. It's not a big foodie event. It's just a moment before tomorrow when we can have some family time. Soon I will make some salads and a trifle. I will also have to clear the dining table of all sewing paraphernalia but that can wait until much later. For our entertainment I think I will find some Xmas episodes of TV shows for us to watch. Yep, forget the carolling around the piano. We're a TV watching family from way back. Traditions! I checked through last year's Christmas Countdown and it seems I restrained myself and did not include my favourite ever Christmas song. Apologies if you saw my tweet from a few nights ago. I make no excuses for loving this song. That's correct. I am unashamed and for once, not being ironic. If that's too much for you enjoy my number one choice from last year. Such Fun! I adore Rockwiz Christmas Specials. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown: the PICK A KEY version

Christmas Countdown: the gravy version

Here's one of the best songs about Christmas. Ever. (thanks for the reminder 612 ABC Brisbane)

Christmas Countdown: The Mel and Judy version

Oh Judy and Mel.

Christmas Countdown: two for the price of one

I missed posting yesterday so here are two of my favourite traditional carols.

Christmas Countdown: the Nat King Cole version

Christmas Countdown: the 60s folk go tell it on the mountain version

Back in the days when Art could still hit those high notes nice and true :-)

Christmas Countdown: the community O Come All ye Faithful version

Last night was the final choir concert for the year at the Holy Rosary Church with the Bundaberg Municipal Band. This is what is an important part of my life here in Bundaberg: community music. And while sometimes I may complain about having to go out every Monday evening to choir rehearsal, ultimately, I do it because I believe in the power of music to bring people together; the power of music to provide individuals with a place, a voice, a sense of purpose; the power of music to generate a sense of belonging in a community. The majority of people involved are not professional musicians - a few are. That does not mean we do not strive for a high standard. We do. Sometimes though we do it with only two tenors, or sopranos missing in action. We soldier on. Seriously, though I think the real reason we do it is for events like our concert last night. This is a time where we can be involved in the community, where we make a connection and use music to engage with others. And let's face it: quite simply, singing makes you feel great!

Christmas Countdown: the carol of the bells version

This is one of my favourite Christmas songs and here is a great version. Enjoy.

Christmas Countdown: solo violin version_2

Here's another one I prepared on Sunday: In the Bleak Midwinter. I was mucking around with some double stopping. My rusty violin fingers certainly were surprised as you may hear!

Christmas Countdown: the solo violin version_1

Here's me playing one of my favourite Christmas carols: O Come O Come Emmanuel. I don't know what came over me the second time through when I went up an octave but apologies in advance for slightly dodgy intonation.

Christmas Countdown: Bring a torch version

Here's me playing the piano in the new room for the first time. I chose this simple carol: Bring a torch, Jeannette Isabella. Sorry about the light. No curtains.

Christmas Countdown: The Snowing Sinatra version

This is for everyone enduring the stinking summer heat in Australia.

Christmas Countdown: The Fairytale of New York version

If you don't think this is an awesome song that references Christmas then I can't help you. I know it's featured in previous Spiralling Shape Christmas Countdowns but it's my blog and I'll post what I like. Enjoy.

The size of an envelope

I cried on Tuesday afternoon when I arrived home from work. All because of the size of an envelope. I shall explain.

When you enter students into music exams in the AMEB they do their exam and then you have to wait for about a week and half for the AMEB to process the results in Brisbane, put their certificates together and send them back to you in the post with the comments sheet. On Monday afternoon I arrived home from work to see the great big A4 envelope stuffed into my letterbox. This was it. The results. I had 10 students sit exams and one of them sat for her AMus.A diploma which unlike all the other exams is basically a Pass/Fail exam. It is a recognised Diploma examination and requires a very high level of technical ability and musicality. So when I saw the big white envelope my heart started to race as I got out of the car. I didn't even wait to get inside. I stood on the footpath, ripped it open and madly flicked through all the reports looking for the AMus. report. It wasn't there. What a let down. It must still be on its way. Maybe they do something special and magic with that one I told myself. Maybe she didn't pass. Who knows what the hell happened. WHY WASN'T IT THERE? Anyway, all my other students passed so I dutifully went inside and read their reports and then phoned their parents. They were all happy. Another restless night. I went to work on Tuesday and tried to forget about the postman until I got home. I drove in the driveway and immediately noticed that there was no big white envelope. Phew. I was off the hook for another day. I didn't have to open anything with trepidation and worry. But, wait a minute. What's this? A small, ordinary sized envelope from the AMEB sitting in my letterbox. What the hell was this? Where is the big A4 envelope with the certificate inside. That's it then. She failed. I was a failure. The previous year of endless lessons, discussions about Bach, Mozart, Chopin, the history of the piano, etc etc etc, the extra lessons, the worrying about musical maturity, the questions about whether I had chosen a suitable program of pieces washed over me. I walked towards the front door feeling sad and opened the envelope. I looked at the section where the examiners wrote the result. It said "AWARD". Sorry? I looked again. "AWARD". Not "NO AWARD". She passed. I burst into tears in my lounge room and stood there for a good five minutes sobbing. No wussy little tears running down my face. This was full on crying the like of which I have not experienced for many a year. I rang my mother and was unable to speak. "What does the report say?" she asked me. "I don't know...I can't see to read it". It's a wonder she understood what I said.

Why was the envelope so small? Because they don't send out the certificate for the AMus.A. You get invited to a graduation ceremony to receive it. How was I to know that? I haven't had a student sit for an AMus. exam before. The opportunities for this in a regional area are few and far between. Usually by the time students get to this level they are ready to leave town and go to university. It might not happen again for many years.

saccharine promos make me ill

Sunday again? Already?
Sadly, I have no tales of incident-packed personal grooming for you today. I managed to shave my legs again yesterday without any leftover salad hijinks. It's been a week of busy busy busy.

Next weekend my piano students have their AMEB exams. For the first time in many years I have more than about three students sitting. This time I have a student sitting for her AMus.A diploma which has meant many hours of extra lessons. I also have 7 other students ranging from preliminary to grade three. Some of them have done more practice than others which makes for interesting lessons as well. Two of them I have not seen for a fortnight as they have been on a holiday to the Seychelles. They will get one lesson before their exam on Sunday. I'm really hoping there was a piano in the hotel they stayed at and that the guests didn't mind two kids playing a few scales now and then. Thankfully, the students who I accompanied for their instrumental exams are now all done. The last two were yesterday. I like accompanying a lot. It's just the fitting in of the rehearsals with them into an already jam-packed week that is the tricky part. So I have been working at my actual job all day and then coming home every afternoon and doing lessons and accompanying until 7pm. As you might imagine I am a little bit brain-fried after that. As a result I am behind on my marking and on my study. However, yesterday I did manage to set up the new printer that I bought two weekends ago. It only took an hour and a half. Yes, I am a technical genius after all. ;-)

In between all of this I have been trying to find at least 20 minutes a day to play my violin. Next weekend the Bundaberg Youth Orchestra is having a 40th anniversary concert and past members are going to join in and play in the concert. Here is evidence that I was once in the orchestra.

This means a three hour rehearsal on Saturday afternoon and then the concert on Saturday night. Given that I barely play my violin for more than 15 minutes at a time, sometimes with months in between, I thought I should do some playing beforehand so I don't look like a total fail. The program is Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Death of Ase, Night on Bare Mountain and Finlandia. During the week I realised it had been nearly ten years since I had put new strings on my violin. Probably dumb to change them so close to a concert but I did it anyway. They are settling pretty well after a day.

The TV has been rubbish lately. While the Olympics coverage from Channel Nine was pretty darn hopeless I did enjoying that I could turn on the telly and have something to watch. I am looking forward to the Paralympics now. I have returned to my DVD cupboard over the last week or so. I finished watching Lark Rise to Candleford, rewatched all three series of the IT Crowd, revisited Standing in the Shadows of Motown ( I never tire of that) and watched Gigantic (the TMBG doco) again. Last night I recorded the 25 years of Rage early 1990s so will do some reminiscing when I get to that. The only thing on the actual television I watched was I Will Survive a second rate, yet mesmerising reality TV, singing competition based on Priscilla Queen of the Desert. From this I learned that both Jason Donovan and Stephan Elliot must be pretty hard up for a gig. I also learned that I had no idea who the host was because I refuse to watch Packed to the Rafters on the grounds the saccharine promos make me ill so why would I watch an actual episode? Oh..of course I watched Rockwiz. That goes without saying because it is the best thing on the teev at the moment. Mary Wilson from the Supremes last week was truly inspirational. When I grow up I want to be Julie Zemiro.

And in my spare time I worry about the Kath and Kim movie. I love Kath and Kim. Before it moved the Channel Seven it was wonderful telly. I wrote a PhD chapter about it. I still use "noice, different and un-ewe-usal" in daily conversation. But I think it was of its time. And that time is gone. So I worry that the movie is going to be bad-cringeful rather than good-cringeful.

Yes we all wear glasses

The first two weeks of July also happen to have been the first two weeks of the teaching term here. They have whipped by in a flurry of Moodling frustration, parts of speech, sentence structure, emails and discussion forum posts and replies. The only thing that kept me going last week was the knowledge that by Friday there would only be 10 weeks left in the term. What a dreadful attitude!

Still, there have been some highlights. One was the whirlwind trip to Brisbane last weekend to see Flight of the Conchords. It was a Davis sibling excursion to the Entertainment Centre. We had pretty good seats on the floor about 30 rows back. This meant we could actually see the Conchords without having to rely on the big screens. Pity the people at the back. Anyway, it was excellent and much better than the review of their Sydney show in The Australian might lead you to believe. Here we are before it started. We're smiling because we're happy to be there and we made it through giant traffic snarl to get there.

Yes we all wear glasses.  We're nerds.

My only disappointment was the gigantic crowd at the merchandise counter which meant we could not get anywhere near anything. That, and the delight of the hopelessly huge traffic jam that greeted us on the way out as well. Driving in Brisbane is less than lovely.

Anyway, here's one of my favourite songs that they didn't play. Enjoy.

one fell/foul/fowl swoop

It's been my favourite kind of Saturday and the kind of Saturday that I haven't had in a long long time. I slept in until 8. Got up just before 9 and managed to be showered and dressed in time for my dear mum to pick me up at 9:15. We nipped downtown for a morning coffee. I had a toasted sandwich for breakfast (cheese, tomato and avocado). We did a little bit of people watching and enjoyed the comfy lounge seats at the cafe. Then I came home via Officeworks where I picked up some archive boxes. With a great sense of satisfaction in one fell/foul/fowl swoop I plonked all of Term One's bits and pieces from study in a box and neatly stored it in the hall cupboard. Then it was time to start the washing (an ongoing project as I write), have a bowl of cereal for lunch and watch the end of The Lake House which I recorded last night. Yes I know it's a crap film. Yes, I've seen it before. Yes, I still can't understand the whole time difference between Keanu and Sandra or why the mailbox is magical but that didn't stop me recording the last half and watching it over my Just Right and muesli. I think I have a problem.

Then, and only then, it was nana nap time. Two and half hours later I woke up on the lounge to the sound of a very bad 1950s musical starring Janet Leigh and some other long forgotten Hollywood stars.  It certainly wasn't any Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire number but they did sing Manhattan which is one of my favourite tunes. And incidentally it is the name of Woody Allen film on ABC2 tonight after the second half of the doco of his life. Here it is in a very early version. Old Rodgers and Hart could certainly put together a tune.


Anyway, after that music interlude Saturday continued with some soup for a late snack. Now I am enjoying a green tea and posting this final #blogjune. I'm looking forward to a quiet night, perhaps with some @TunnFM for @KyliePC 's birthday playlist and a little bit more Haigh's dark chocolate. That my dear friends, is Saturday.

piano reductions

This *is* the post for Saturday June 16 despite what the date on the post says. Last night's concert went smoothly. I survived the horrid accompaniment for the Beethoven Hallelujah from the Mount of Olives. Piano reductions of orchestral scores are not the friendliest things at the best of times but this one is particularly awful. I've always thought that accompanying is often about knowing which notes to leave out. I left out quite a few in that I have to say. Who's going to know? I followed Beethoven's endless V and I chords so hopefully he isn't rolling over in his grave. We do it all again this afternoon at 2pm. Then that's one more thing ticked off my list of things to do before going away on Wednesday.