JEKYLL - The Happy Thread

[Fredus]

I missed out on Mary Poppins too. I really wanted to see it, but we couldn't afford to get to Melbourne. On the upside, it's much easier to reach Melbourne from here than it was from Adelaide... and if we're going down for Wicked anyway, it's not all that much more to go twice. At least.

I still haven't seen Les Mis. I'll get around to it eventually though.

[Injeanious]

I had a flying visit to Auckland on Friday to see Manhattan Transfer. They are still absolutely wonderful. The only downside was that they did a lot of "vocaleese" which I don't like but that was okay, it was worth going to just to hear Route 66, Boy from New York City and Chanson d'amour. And - if I had been in charge of the Oscars I would have given best actor to Hugh Jackman!

[tori2210]

My family fly home to New York tomorrow. It feels like they only just got here, so it'll be sad to see them go.

I didn't pay much attention to the Oscars this year. Though Anne Hathaway's was well deserved. And I hope she keeps her short hair for a bit. I like it.

[Master Warlow/Lost09]

Just saw anthony in Annie is it normal to feel numb and have a high at the same time? Still half way threw the show right now.

Musical is over I had the best time!

[mazza]

@ Master Warlow Great news, did you find the stage door? I know what you mean about the feelings. I remember the effect of Anthonys first line in Dr Zhivago. I didn't see him come and stage, as I was watching Lucy at the time, and his voice just pinned me to my seat. Its a great feeling!!!

[Master Warlow/Lost09]

Yes i did find the stage door but unfortunately Anthony does not come out that way i was told. I did however, get to see the kids come out and sign stuff for people that was cool. The person said that if i send a letter to the theater for Anthony they can get him to sign stuff for me which i will be doing soon. wish me luck

[Marie-Cris]

Mar 4, 2013 8:39:45 GMT 9.5 Master Warlow/Lost09 said:

Musical is over I had the best time!

[Injeanious]

Our summer just goes on and on. We are now down to 20 days of water left. What will happen then - who knows? The city council closed down one of the storage lakes at Te Marua for maintenance work - idiotic of them really. It is unheard of for Wellington not to have rain. Actually I am getting sick of the sun. A few rainy days would be great.

[Fredus]

I'm well and truly over this summer too. I'm hoping for a cold, wet winter to make up for all this heat and dryness!

That's pretty scary, the 20 days of water left. I hope the rain kicks in soon for you!

[tori2210]

www.rainymood.com/
Probably wont make it rain, but this is the closest we've got.

This summer is ridiculous. Even Auckland is in drought now. Wet, damp, rainy Auckland is in drought. Although it's nice not having as much humidity for once.

[Fredus]

Question, as someone who has never been out of Australia, I was told once that in the UK they run out of water quite quickly because it's so rainy that there's no infrastructure to hold water for the long term. Does New Zealand have the same problem? I mean, how long can you go without rain before it's a major problem?

Also, way off topic, but we've found a new home for our two foster kittens, Foxglove and Patchouli. They'll be going together, which is awesome, they'll be inside cats with a family that has had a cat before but currently are catless (they lost their last boy about three weeks ago and couldn't stand the empty house). Our photo plan of always sticking up photos with the two kittens together worked, the lady said she actually only wanted one cat, fell in love with our kittens, but didn't have the heart to split them up.
They'll be going into the vet on Wednesday to be desexed, wormed, vaccinated and micro-chipped and the new owner will pick them up from there. I'm going to miss them so much.

[tori2210]

That's probably true, though I'm not quite sure. We haven't had any serious rain for all of February and March now and it's getting pretty dry. A lot of our sports fields are turning dirt ground. Though it drizzled here for like two minutes. I think we'll be getting rain soon.

[Fredus]

But then, what counts as serious rain? Does that mean you've had some rain, but not a day's worth, or something?

Sorry, I am really interested though. I've never been anywhere else, so I have no experience but what goes on here.

[tori2210]

Like no rain. At all. We've had none... until today! It's been drizzling all day and it would seem Auckland is back to it's wet humid self. I really have enjoyed this summer though; it hasn't been humid and it's so nice.

Also sorry I didn't reply properly to your post Fred, it's great to hear the kittens have a new home! You and Mar must be happy you've found such a nice home for them.

A friend from Canada just introduced me to Finnish a capella 'Rajaton'. They are absolutely incredible. If you want something different to listen to, look em up.

[Injeanious]

Fredus - we have reservoirs/storage lakes here in Wellington but one was drained so that earthquake repairs could be done over the summer. The Hutt River which is where we get most of our water from is very low and the councils have to get special permission to take more water. Don't quite know why as it only flows into the sea at Petone. It has rained here a bit at last - drizzle yesterday and a bit heavier over night and then drizzle again today and it is helping the gardens but not the general water problem. Apparently it will take a week of solid rain before the problems are fixed. We now have a total ban on any outside watering - sprinklers, hoses, watering cans, washing cars, waterblasting etc - all banned.

Over at the farm the ponds have dried up and the water tanks are low which means the water pressure for showers etc is dreadful. But with the rain hopefully the streams will be a bit deeper which will then help fill the water tanks.

You have such gorgeous names for your pets Fredus. I bet you will really miss the two kittens but it is great they are going to a new home together.

[tori2210]

Got the email for the Wicked presale today. Jesus Christ it's selling fast. They've got student concessions for A Reserve seats so I'm looking to book my tickets very soon.

It'll be nice feeling that big show anticipation again; it's been a while.

[Injeanious]

I went to Melbourne on 22 March to see the last Melbourne shows of Jersey Boys. The final show was wonderful and as soon as the first cast member came on stage for his bow the audience stood up and everyone got a standing ovation. It was a really good feeling, as it certainly didn't happen in Brisbane, Auckland or Adelaide. I was sad though knowing that I have only one more trip to see my "obsession" as my kids call it and then it will be over for good in Australia. We have had a bit of rain but nowhere near enough to stop the drought conditions in our area.

[tori2210]

Up to my eyeballs in schoolwork at the moment. I have a three day trip to Rotorua next week and the prep work we need to do on top of everything else is ridiculous. I'll manage. Last week I went along to see Auckland Summer Shakespeare's outdoor production of King Lear which was fantastic. Exhausting and mentally draining, but fantastic. A large number of fellow English students went along too and it was quite interesting seeing what was for many, their first experience of live theatre. Some really loved it, others not so enthused.

Speaking of theatre, I booked my Wicked tickets tonight. I'm glad I got in on the presale because they're already mostly gone. This show's gonna be a big one.

I'm also quite interested to see Madame Butterfly which'll be put on by the NZ Opera this month, but with Wicked tickets and two albums by my favourite bands coming out soon, I'm not sure how far my wallet will stretch.

[Fredus]

Sorry I've been gone for so long! Terribly impolite of me, particularly when I can't actually remember why I've been gone so long!

Thanks for the explanation about the reservoirs and stuff, Inj. I love to know how things work in other countries, and it's always the little basic stuff that nobody ever thinks to explain, because it's all so natural!
And thanks for the pet naming compliment. We go to a lot of time and effort to try to think of the best names we can... it's always hard, but it's great when we finally find something that fits. In fact, four months after we brought him home, I'm still trying to think of a last name for Minstrel. He needs it, but I haven't found the perfect thing, yet; I will though. Eventually. And we did miss our two kittens at first, but now it feels more natural - and I was amazed at how much less kitty litter and food we've been going through! I had no idea that two small kittens could make such a huge difference.

I'm glad you got to go to Jersey Boys again, but sorry that it'll only be one more time! It always sucks when things have to end.

And, Tori, yay for the Wicked tickets! We'll be hopefully going to Melbourne to see it when it comes back to Australia next year. Not to mention going to Beechworth next January to see Warlow... it's only a 45 minutes drive away. Woohoo!

[tori2210]

By the sounds of it you guys have a lot to look forward to! I'd love to come to Australia for a show one day and actually meet some of you. Let's see how small I can keep my student loan over the next few years. As for now I'll just count down the days until Wicked. I've never bought tickets this far in advance before so the next five months will probably go incredibly slowly.

[Fredus]

Well, two things and they're both next year... so far away! We'll get there eventually though.

Those five months will go much faster than you expect, trust me on this.

[Injeanious]

If you go to www.acmn.com.au/ on the home page there is a section called showreel and on it are lots of bits and pieces from shows - there are several clips of Anthony in Annie - no singing but still quite good to see (and for those interested in Jersey Boys quite a few shots from the show).

[Fredus]

Predictably, just as I was posting that I'd check that out when my internet wasn't being so slow and patchy, it dropped out. So this is the second time I've typed a reply and it lacks all the charm and spontaneity of the first time. Ever so sorry.

Thanks for the link though, Inj! Much appreciated.

[tori2210]

They're putting in 'ultra-fast broadband' down my street (apparently until June), so mine has been patchy at best. Probably a good thing though, as I've hit another load of assignments. They seem to come in waves. Wicked is gonna be great; I'm going on the second to last day of term, after my prelim exams. Pretty good incentive if you ask me.

[Injeanious]

Well, first we had the drought, now we have flooding. Torrential rain, thunder, lightning and because the ground is so hard from so long without rain, it is just running off and flooding houses, garden, roads, carparks etc. One good thing about living on a hill - can't get flooded.

[Fredus]

Well, at least there's no drought any more.... I am glad you're on a hill! Sucks that there's flooding though!

[tori2210]

Grease has well and truly begun. Tomorrow afternoon I meet up with our contact in the local theatre company to book the amount of lights we need and they should all be hung by next week. Then it's designing time. We open in six weeks.

Before then I also have my Grade 5 music theory exam and a paid gig with a friend at the Massey University open day on Saturday. The gig came out of the blue, but I'm my cut is $300 pretty damn excited.