Finally - Our Wedding Celebration

Well after months and months of waiting, we finally were able to have our wedding celebration! But not without some causes for concern, as covid restrictions keep changing!

In fact it was quite touch and go for a while there, all because of a couple of silly girls from Logan who went to Melbourne on a shopping trip (aka stealing trip) and then lied about it on their border re-entry. The stupid idiots got covid didn’t they, and that sparked a tightening of covid restrictions including the number of people you could have in your house, which was limited to 10.  Ten!  But I have 3 bridesmaids, 4 junior bridesmaids, 1 bride and a mother and father to get ready.  Not to mention the photographer (Anne Taylor from school),  make up artist (my good friend Fi) and two hairdressers (lovely Andy and Jessie).  How was that going to work? I hadn’t even decided the venue for getting ready - it was either to be Mel or Beck’s - but each of those have their own limitations also.  At Mel’s, we run the risk of trying to get the (secret) Cadillac up the driveway - a nightmare if its been raining, as the driveway would all be mud; and at Beck’s, well, its just a lot smaller.  So I even investigated getting dressed at the church - but the only space available that met the 2sqm rule was a ‘hangar’ with no windows.  Not ideal.

The other restrictions, all imposed because of these 2 girls from Logan, included; no dancing at the wedding; no walking around at the reception (everyone must stay seated at their own table); the number of people allowed at the reception; the list went on.  Perhaps the most ridiculous was the fact that we couldn’t have a bridal table - because, even though we could sit with practically strangers at the same table at a restaurant (as long as we were all part of the same ‘group’), the restrictions do not allow for different households to sit together.  So that meant that we couldn’t sit with our bridal party members, because they are all different households.  Doesn’t matter that they’re all family.  How absurd.

It was a veritable minefield, and poor Russell had to do most of the navigating himself, because I had loads of schoolwork.  The biggest challenge was the reception venue, because they just wouldn’t respond to emails or phone calls (we had picked the Kookaburra Queen because it was so iconic, but with covid they had been shut since March and weren’t due to reopen until 2 days before the wedding).  Eventually he was able to come up with a seating plan that met the covid requirements, although we had to have lots of small tables with just 2 people on them and so on.  Fortunately the day before the wedding Armageddon Anna and Jihad Jeanette (as we fondly call the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Chief Medical Officer Dr Jeannette Young) decreed that the bridal couple and their parents can dance one dance at the wedding, and that people can walk around the venue if they have a drink in their hands.  Madness.

Finally the day came.  We had our rehearsal on the Friday night before, complete with our friends Lucas and Andrew who were doing our sound, lighting etc.  I was getting a bit stressed just because I was trying to work out the timing for the bridal entry and it wasn’t working, but then Mel gave me half a diazepam and the night went very smoothly.  Actually she gave me a full one but I only took half - this becomes important later though.  Dad couldn’t grasp the concept of step, together, stop, step, together, stop - so I basically had to talk him through it the whole way down the aisle!  You’d think, having walked 2 other daughters down, he would know - but I guess it has been 20 years between gigs.

Anyway, I spent the night at Beck’s house, which was lovely.  I woke up in the morning to the vision of my dress hanging from the wardrobe door (we had to suspend it on a curtain rail because of the train) - just lovely.  Then Beck and the girls came in for a morning cuddle and it was just one of those surreal moments, lying there all of us together in the bed and thinking “I’m getting married today” (which is weird because, well, we’re already married).

Bang on 6.30 and the door bell went, and it was Andy and Jessie, right on time - all systems go.  Lou and Karyn turned up not long after, then Ava and Calise, then Mel and Bethany - then Fi -  and we were off!  What a jam packed morning. Karyn and the younger girls hair was done first, and Jessie did such a good job.  Karyn had to be completely finished by around 9.30 to get back to Russell’s for photos with the boys. I felt myself getting a bit nervous when Russell rang to say the florist was running late to decorate the church and drop off the bouquets - so I took that other half a diazepam to calm myself and boy, the rest of the day was practically a doddle!

The morning just flew by.  It was such fun to be getting ready with all the girls, such a lovely time with laughter and merriment.  I was the last to get ready though and I was getting a bit nervous.  I was particularly concerned about my hair as we had had 3 trials and the first 2 were disastrous.  In the end Beck came with me to the 3rd one and Jessie came up with a solution that would work well.  But all was good - hair and make up went smoothly.  Anne, the photographer, was a little late turning up and I was a bit worried about that, but the diazepam helped and I didn’t let it bother me too much. So unlike me.

Once she arrived though it was literally, boom, go.  The girls were still in their dressing gowns because we wanted a photo, and I was still getting make up done, so Anne told them to hurry up and get changed.  Gabby had a minor wardrobe malfunction that I was vaguely aware of, as Mum had to hurriedly sew something, so with Mel and Beck involved in getting their girls and Ava ready, when it was time for me to get dressed, there was no one around.  So Andy and Jessie did it.  Later Beck would say to me that she regretted not being there to do it, but anyway.

Next thing I knew, Ray and the caddy had arrived, and we got a few family photos and bridesmaids etc, then suddenly, we were out to the car.  Beck’s neighbours had come out to see us and wave at us (she had warned them of the activity because there would be lots of cars parking in the area etc).

The ride to the church was quite surreal.  Ray was talking with Dad about the vehicle.  I don’t remember much else.

Finally we were there, but as we pulled in, the girls had gathered off to the left and stopped us from driving right up to the entrance.  They suggested we go around the back, so as to enter unobserved from the congregation, which we did.  Next minute Harry was escorting Mum to her seat - the cue that we were ready - and we were off.

I organised everyone in their processional places, and listening faintly to the strains of Nimrod, I was directing them when to enter.  The procession went smoothly, just as I dreamed it would, timed perfectly.  I guess my only regret is that because Dad had such problems with the ‘step, together’ thing, I had to coach him the whole way down - and I later found out that people could hear me. Makes me look like a control freak or something I guess.

The service was just beautiful.  Firstly because I got to have my all time favourite hymn, the founders song!  But mostly, because we had already gotten married, rather than do this as just a rehash with nice clothes, we took the opportunity to turn it into a blessing on our marriage.  So yes, we did the covenant, but then Shelden sang a beautiful song that Russell had composed, and then we had anointing with oil and a prayer circle.  It was lovely.

The piece de resistance though, was the bridal exit.  At the rehearsal we used the Mendelssohn bridal March, but for the real one - I had doctored up the Throne Room music!  So we had Star Wars at our wedding!!

As is usual, photos ensued afterwards. Anne took lots of beautiful pics of the family groups.  Then we all headed off to Shorncliffe pier for the main pics.  They are gorgeous.  We had a lovely time posing on the pier and enjoying some fun pics.

The Kookaburra Queen provided more excellent photo opportunities on the roof.  My favourite is that the Story bridge was lit green and purple!  

Our entrance music to the reception was “Accidentally in Love” because this is my ringtone for Russell. The food was wonderful, the atmosphere brilliant, and all had a good time.  A couple of stand out moments for me -  the cake that my friend Naomi made was stunning - Star Wars themed. Actually she made 2 cakes because with covid you can’t serve the same cake you cut because you know, you might breathe on it and give covid to everyone. So she made a huge cake for everyone to enjoy - although what I don’t understand is why the Kookaburra Queen people cut it so small.  Uncle David did a brilliant job as MC, with more Star Wars themes, and the speeches were good too.  Beck’s and Bob’s particularly!  The bridal waltz was another fave moment - especially because it was Dad playing Anne’s Theme, a piece that always has a special place for me, and also because darling Katie lost it and bawled on Russell’s shoulder. Also our ‘song’ to Russell - ‘Sisters’ in a quintet, with doctored lyrics by Dad.  So funny.

All too soon the cruise was over and we were back to the dock.  Funny moment here - Beck thought that the Kookaburra Queen would chuck away the flowers so she started giving them away to everyone, including the vases - but they belonged to Gemma from Borrowed and she was waiting there to take them back.  I don’t think she got them all unfortunately!

We then said goodbye to everyone and headed off to the Stanthorpe.  Our friends Michael and Karen, Pete and Nicky had booked to stay there so Michael had checked our luggage in for us.  We wanted to meet them in the bar for a drink afterwards (it was only 10pm after all) but it was closed.  We tried to go to the nearby Port Hotel but some of us (myself included) didn’t have ID so they wouldn’t let us in - Qld’s infamous lock out laws - so we got takeaway and went back to Michael’s room and had a lovely debrief.

It truly was a fairytale wedding.  I know I have perhaps given more detail than the average person needs to read, but this is my blog, and my diary, and I want to be able to remember every detail from the most important day of my life for years to come...

Our COVID-19 Wedding

June 20, 2020 - has a lovely ring to it, right?  That's what we thought, as we set that as our wedding date, many months ago.  But then, someone in China somehow caught a virus from a bat or something in December, and then got on a plane, and now suddenly the whole world is in lockdown due to COVID-19.  As of the time of writing, there have been 1,518,719 coronavirus cases worldwide; 88,502 deaths; 435,128 cases in the US with 14,795 deaths; 148,220 cases in Spain (14,792 deaths); here in Australia, 6,052 cases, 50 deaths.  New Zealand has completely shut down for 4 weeks (they've got 1,239 cases and 1 death).  Australia is in partial lockdown - schools closed early for Easter (and hopefully stay closed); 'non-essential' services e.g. massage parlours, beauty salons, clothing stores - closed; work from home advised; WW workshops via Zoom; panic buying of toilet paper, flour, eggs, rice, UHT milk; social distancing measures enforced - must be 1.5m from another person; only 2 people allowed to visit a household; no one allowed to travel over Easter; only allowed to leave your house for groceries, medical appointments, to care for someone or exercise.  Outdoor events like sporting fixtures?  Closed.  No NRL. No AFL. Olympics have been postponed.  Ekka cancelled.  Melbourne Cup likely to be cancelled. Funerals?  Only 10 mourners allowed.  Which brings us to weddings...

Yup, weddings affected too - only allowed 5 people - the celebrant, the couple, and two witnesses.  And this is predicted to go on at least for another 6 months!  What to do then, when your wedding is only 73 days away?

Well the only thing you can do!  You elope, of course!

Which is exactly what we did.  With basically less than 24 hours notice!

So I wake up yesterday morning in a bit of a daze - is this really my wedding day?  Why do I feel so sad?  I realised I was grieving for the wedding celebration we had looked forward to for so long - my zillion bridesmaids (my sisters and best friend, plus the 4 nieces), my lovely dress, the flowers, the beautiful decorations of the church, the bridal entry, the Kookaburra Queen reception, our honeymoon in the Caribbean... and of course none of that was happening now.  None. Of course I was upset.

But my lovely sisters, who know me better than I know myself, were there to help. They organised (as much as I protested they shouldn't) a lovely little bridal bouquet, Beck did my hair and make up and we had fun facetiming Mum whilst I got ready.  Gabby ready with 'appropriate' music - TNT, Meghan Trainor's No... all the usual stuff, right?  Beck organised some grapetise and champagne glasses and we had a right proper girly giggle as I got ready.  Then I went to drive myself up to the church - no, they weren't having that!  So the 3 of us piled in my car and Beck drove us to the church for 3pm.  

Surprise, surprise, but this time the Bride was there before the Groom!  And even more surprisingly, my father was there before I was!! Russell appeared a few minutes later though with his daughter in tow as his witness.  

It was completely surreal. You just can not make this stuff up.  We walked into the main auditorium of the church and were confronted immediately with a wall of toilet paper.  Apparently the church had acquired a stash which they were giving out to people in need.  On top of that, they had just taken a delivery of a couple hundred Easter eggs... all laid out in the back of the church!

Toddy had set up a laptop with a Zoom link for family and friends to witness the ceremony.  It was a pretty quick ceremony too - a brief preamble, the vows and the signing, and that's it.  Mum, Mel, Beck and Kevan were watching in the foyer - you're allowed 5 people in the foyer due to social distancing laws regarding square metres of the room. I remember panicking over whether it was "I will" or "I do" that I was supposed to say.  Mel had said if Toddy says "Do you..." then it's "I do"... of course Toddy said "Do you...[and then] Will you..." so I went with "I will"!  Fortunately a couple of weeks ago we had been shopping for wedding rings - although unfortunately we hadn't got mine, but we did get Russell's, and although we weren't going to do the ring thing, we decided we would.  So now my engagement ring doubles as a wedding ring, until we have our big celebration - goodness only knows when that will be...!

Then it was time for the signing - wow, so many bits to sign - and we were suddenly announced as Mr and Mrs Woodford - and everyone unmuted their computers and clapped!  And just like that, we were married!

The church had organised a cake, and Russell brought some de-alcoholised champagne, so we had cake and champers - all socially distanced - a couple in the foyer, some outside.. I even got my Star Wars in, as I put on the music for the Throne room for the cutting of the cake!!

Next thing I knew, we had some photos out by the front garden of the church, and up rocks my nephew Harry in his hi-vis work attire.  So he had some cake too.

We then hopped into Gertie and drove off to see my 95 year old Grandmother, Russell's mum and my bestie Lou. They had all watched online on the zoom (although I now find out that poor Grandma had no sound whatsoever - but at least she got to witness it)! One of my favourite memories is of Russell's mother, standing and practically jumping for joy on her back verandah, clapping with delight when we came over to see her.  So lovely.

We had booked into a hotel in the CBD at Beck and Mel's suggestion - just to try to make the day sort of special - and I'm glad we did.  Of course, with all the corona stuff going on, we couldn't eat out at a local restaurant, or indeed even get room service.  So UberEats had to suffice - but not before a conference call to the rest of my family who had just randomly scheduled a facetime catch up that evening.  Kind of bizarre to be talking to them on my wedding night in my hotel room!  Also had a couple of chats with friends from overseas which was lovely.

Then to cap it all off, at 4.30am we were awoken by a fire alarm at the hotel!  Out we file, down the fire evac stairs, into the garbage bin loading dock - no wait, that can't be right - so back up to reception and finally out to the evacuation point in the car park (again all socially distanced) - barely 10 of us staying in the hotel.

The next morning (today) we had our boxed breakfast of cereal, a pastry and a biscuit, followed by take away coffee from the Death Star Canteen, before I dropped Russell back home (and back to work) and headed home myself to start to pack.  

And that, in all its surreal glory, was our COVID-19 wedding...

Doing the make up

Ready to go!

The wall of toilet paper at church

Mum and Beck socially distanced in the foyer, looking on

The ceremony

A traditional family pose

Welcome back to the blog!

Well it's been an eternity since I was blogging last.  Part of the problem was that I couldn't remember my log in details, and now that Google seems to have a hold on blogger, it kept trying to log me in as something else.

The other problem was that at some point, I lost ownership of my domain name (which was kmuki.com) and some blighter bought it.  When I tried to buy it back they wanted a small fortune, which of course I was reluctant to give.

I even contacted blogger.com to see how I could get ownership of my blog back (i.e. be able to log in) and never heard anything.  This was a real pity as I had wanted to use my blog whilst I was overseas on #kyliesepicadventure2016 and of course, I couldn't.

But here I am, on Australia Day (happy one to you all at that too!) and just sitting with my Dad and showing him how to buy a domain. And I thought to myself that I might buy one too, in the hopes of re-establishing my blog.  Which then led me back here, because apparently if I upgrade the domain I want to purchase, it links easier with blogger.   So I thought perhaps I best see if I can get the blog running again - and lo and behold, as if by magic!  Here I am.  To be honest this is a really a test post to see if it will publish.  If it does, I just might go and buy that domain - stay posted.

We'll see, eh?

2014 - The Year I Blog Again!

Ok, its 3.29am and I am wide awake because I am jet lagged.

I know its normal to make New Year's resolutions actually at the start of the New Year and clearly this is many days post New Year.

But I rediscovered my blog tonight when I was looking for a photo that I lost.  And then I re-read some of the stories and realised just how useful a tool it was as a travel diary.  So I got to thinking.  Which is why I'm back here.  Time to start recording everything again, even if only for me.

Stay tuned.  Kilimanjaro travel diary to come....

Madagascar 3 Madness

So on Tuesday my niece Miss M rings me.

"Aunty Kylie," she sweetly intones in that very cute way of hers, "next holiday, can we have a sleepover?"  In the background you can hear Miss G piping up "Me too, me too!"  Well, as it transpires, no, we can't have a sleepover next holiday - cos next holiday starts next weekend and they are going camping with the rest of my family to Bonnydoon (no, not really - but I can't pronounce where they're going so we've all just been calling it, "Bonnydoon") - and anyway, I'm going on a school trip to Cambodia.

But that doesn't mean we can't have a sleepover this weekend - and all that this entails.  Basically, a sleepover at Aunty Kylie's involves the following: junk food, junk food, and more junk food.  Lots of Barbie movies on the TV.  Maybe a trip to the movies or at the very least, the local park.  Drawing, playing with dolls, laughing at the cuckoo clock, occasionally a spot of cooking - but always, junk food and lots of fun.  Oh, and its an unwritten rule that whatever the sleepover guest wants (i.e. Miss M or Miss G), they get.  But I learned last time not to take the guest shopping for the junk food - no, that results in way more junk food than we (a) want or (b) need.  So I did that bit, a couple of days ago.

Anyway, I get the phone call that Miss M and Miss G are ready to go, so we meet at Chermside.  Madagascar 3 is on, so we decided to go see that.  Two very excited little girls jumping up and down at my side as we queue for tickets, then finally, we are in the cinema.  Munching happily on twisties and drinking barbie / dora drinks, I think, can it get any better than this?  Then the movie starts, and I realise that this was probably the worst choice of film to take them to.  Plot?  What plot?  Well, to be fair, there was a plot - but it was, in my opinion, way above the understanding of Miss 5 and Miss 3.  Hence the PG rating, I guess.

It was all too much for Miss G, who promptly starts demanding her 'blanky'.   Well, at least that's what I think she wants - when she says it, it sounds like she's saying 'manky', so I usually do a double take.  Only problem is that manky is in the boot of the car, and in order for us to get it, we'd have to all leave the cinema - its not like I can leave Miss 5 alone in the movies to go get a manky from the car.  The news of this prompts more tears however.

Fortunately, the tiredness and sugar crash from the party they'd attended earlier kicked in, and Miss G nodded off.  Miss M stuck the movie out to the end.  We had to wake Miss G who was deep out of it as we left - and then who promptly wanted to go to the paid bouncing castle next to the cinema.  Oh well, it'll kill a bit of time - off we went.

They played quite nicely there, even played with the other children and built several forts, the purpose of which always was to knock down afterwards.  Soon enough it was time to go.

Back at the ranch, and immediately it was Barbie movies on the box.  Barbie Nutcracker being the favoured one.    Then Barbie Rapunzel.  Then we lost attention span with Barbie and wanted to do some drawing - which at the moment consists of asking Aunty Kylie to draw something which she is then supposed to display on her wall.  There is a reason Aunty Kylie is a music teacher and not a teacher of Art!

Dinner - no one wants it - then more Barbie - then Miss G drops the iPad on her foot, cutting her toes - and the night went downhill from there.  Didn't want a bandaid.  Didn't want me to wipe off the blood. Wanted to go home.  Didn't want to go home.  Wanted Mummy.  More tears.  Finally we call Mummy and then Miss G says she wants to stay for the 'leep over'.  Ok, great.

But at 9.30 it was a totally different matter.  No one was sleeping.  One of the airbeds had sprung a leak and deflated.  Miss G wants to go home - really - and there are tears with this.  But Mummy isn't answering the phone (she's at a movie herself), and the only way to get Miss G to calm down is to tell her that Mummy is on her way (liar! liar!).

Finally Miss G nods off - and Mummy calls - and the decision is made not to pick up Miss G - she'll probably sleep through the night, right?  Wrong.  1am, 2am, 3am, we saw them all.  Each time crying, "want Mummy!"

I swear I have never known tiredness on any level as draining as this.  Miss M enjoyed herself though, sprawled out across my bed so I had nowhere to go.

But you know what?  I'd do it all again - just love those little precious gems...

Reflections on NYE 2012

This is a post that I started in January - but now with the new blogger, when I published it just now, its no longer in chronological order.  Oh well.  Here it is anyway:

Seeing that last year I was so dismal on the blogging front (a measly 6 posts!) I'm not really sure how successful I'll go with blogging 2012 style, but anyway, here goes.

I saw the New Year in with my dear friend Aga in Sydney, which was fabulous. Having never been to Sydney for New Years I didn't really know what to expect - sure, I knew there would be fireworks - I've seen them on the telly before - but I really didn't comprehend the magnitude of the whole thing!

You see, we arrived in Sydney a few days early, on the 29th, to a rather miserable day. I met Aga at the airport as she was arriving from Melbourne, and then we got the free shuttle to our hostel West End Nomad Backpackers in Pitt St. The shuttle was free because we were staying more than 3 nights - and actually, this should've been my first clue to how mad the city would be at this time of year, because when we tried to book our accommodation, there was really not much left at all, and that which was available had a minimum booking period of 5 nights, or 7 nights, or in many cases, 14 nights. Madness. We were lucky to get in at Nomads!


Anyway, we checked in to our hostel (or rather, we tried to check in but they told us we couldn't until 2pm or some silliness, so we left our luggage there in the very manky, very damp and smelly luggage room - the key to which had a huge bit of pvc pipe as its keyring) and then headed off for a spot of sightseeing - after a Starbucks, of course!


We decided to do the open top HOHO (hop on, hop off) bus tour, as then at least we could see a bit of Sydney before maybe meeting up with Uncle David later.  This actually wasn't so bad, despite the weather being a bit inclement - it didn't actually rain but it was overcast, although at one point (as luck would have it, when we arrived at Bondi) the sun came out and it was actually quite warm.  A good thing if you're at the beach in your togs, but a bad thing if you're decked out in jeans, as we were!  Oh well, it didn't stop us going for a bit of a paddle though!


In the evening of the first day we met with Uncle David for dinner, heading off to a place in Chinatown.  It was actually quite pleasant, and we wandered a little bit around the immediate vicinity first, stopping to get a $2 etching of our profiles (which actually looked nothing like us!), before enjoying our meal, which was lovely.   David was on fine form as usual, chatting with everyone we met, including tipping the street entertainer (who was really awesome, actually, such a fine example of excellent core body strength in his display) rather well.  


The next day he picked us up around 7.30am and we headed off for the Blue Mountains.  This was a fabulous day, even if it was quite cold.  I really enjoyed visiting the town of Leura, where we had a magnificent brunch, and a good stickybeak in the shops.  Then it was off to Katoomba, where after taking the obligatory pics of the Three Sisters, we headed off on a quick walk to see them.   There was a bit of a queue to get out to the ledge bit - but it was all worth it.

After this we headed to the actual Blue Mountains resort thing and did the skyway and the railway - the steepest rail incline in the world.  It was brilliant, we had a lovely time walking through the rainforest also - truly beautiful.

It was getting on a bit in the afternoon but we decided, rather than drive back to Sydney and hunt for a restaurant, seeing as David has a full picnic set and portable stove thing in the car, we might as well have a BBQ.  We went to Coles to get some meat - and I saw they had Kangaroo.  Aga, having never tried kangaroo, was quite keen on the idea - so we bought it, and had beautiful skippy steaks.  It was really a magnificent end to a lovely day.

The next day was New Years Eve - we got up late, did a spot of shopping (spot isn't really the word, Aga practically bought out Myers of its Ralph Lauren sheets and bedding) - had to take the shopping back to the hostel - then did the usual sightseeing things - Harbour, Harbour cruise, Opera House etc - before heading off to queue for our spot to see the fireworks.  Unfortunately though we didn't think to queue early enough, so all the best spots were taken - Lady Macquaries chair, the Opera House forecourt etc - and we ended up at the Observatory.  It wasn't so bad - Aga was disappointed though as she really wanted to see the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge behind for her photos.  But I knew if we left there, we'd lose our spot, and we quite likely wouldn't get anything else - so we'd totally miss out.  So I had to sweet talk her into staying.

It was wonderful though.  The fireworks were just magnificent.  I was so pleased to be in Sydney, with the Harbour Bridge behind, watching the fireworks and seeing in 2012.

After the fireworks we ended up walking all the way back to the hostel as there was no transport really.  Crashed into bed, then the next day, up and att'em - off for more sightseeing - before our wonderful Harbour Bridge climb in the afternoon.  It was fantastic.  I was actually quite scared when we started, because although I don't really think I'm afraid of heights - still when you're standing on a see-through grill high above the fast moving Sydney traffic - and you still haven't actually got on to the bridge yet - that's scary.  But once we actually got on the bridge, the 'floor' is fully enclosed - so you can't see cars and trains whooshing past underneath.  

We spent a wonderful 3 hours on the bridge, and then it was time to come down.  Headed off for dinner with one of the girls who'd been on our climb.

All too soon though our Sydney extravaganza was over - the next day, very early, Agnieszka had to head off to the airport for her journey back to London.  Sad to see her go, but boy, we'd had a great time!  Happy New Year!

Jazz at the Spiegeltent

After the joys of the boys in the morning (the Vienna boys choir, that is!) I then had the pleasure to attend Sunday afternoon jazz at the Spiegeltent, as part of the Brisbane Festival.  I was quite proud of this, as I had done something VERY CLEVER - by booking the ticket through school as part of 'professional learning' (because one of the performers did a workshop with our kids) - I can write myself a certificate and count 3 hours of professional development towards the stupid 30 we have to do as part of maintaining teacher registration!  I'm now even thinking, given that the Vienna Boys choir concert feature SSA singing, that I might be able to stick that down as PD as well!

Anyway, the concert was quite good.  The first group, the interestingly named Luara Carlson-Carp trio (either a typo and it should really be Laura - or the product of yet another parent who can't spell, and thus lumps their child with some stupid name for the rest of their life - methinks the latter more likely!) were surprisingly quite good.  She has a lovely, silky, inoffensive quality to her voice.  Whilst I wouldn't go buy the CD, I could listen to her again if I had to.

The second group was the Jacam Manricks (seriously, where do they dig up these names?) band - and they were VERY GOOD.  Fantastic in fact.  I loved it.  Or maybe I just loved him - he is sooo cute!  Regardless, I've never heard anyone play a saxophone like that - not even at Ronnie Scotts - well actually I never heard any saxophonists at Ronny Scotts anyway!  It was just amazing.

The final group was the one we'd actually come to see - Ingrid James and the San Gabriel 7 featuring Bill Watrous.  Awesome.  Clearly the best group there, they literally wiped the floor with everyone else.  Magnificent.  I mean, maybe I'm a bit biased - Ingrid James is after all the mother of one of the girls I teach and she comes to our Weight Watchers meetings also - but still, they were clearly the best.

So in all, a very pleasant Sunday - with the added bonus of ticking off another hour of professional development!  Nice one!

Bye bye, kmuki.com!

Recently I posted about my frustration at having discovered that my blog address, www.kmuki.com, was no longer pointing to my blog, but to some bizarre word press thing.  Well, I did a bit of digging to try to find out how I could my domain back, and boy, it gets interesting.

First thing I did was hunt through google apps website - to no avail - to try to find where I could pay for the thing.  Nope, no luck there.  Did a google search on how to renew the subscription - but you can't do that if its not showing in your account settings anyway.  So no dice there.

But I did find a link that told me that the address was now owned by a company called enom.  So, as I couldn't find any way of contacting google for help - there's no email addresses there to contact anyone - I tried then contacting enom.  Who promptly wrote back with the godaddy.com search that I had found before, telling me that my domain, kmuki.com, is now owned by a Patrick Edwards, of Parker, Colorado.  No business name but I have gleaned, from his email address, that he's probably a chartered accountant or something - he has CPA in his email address.

I wrote to Mr Edwards and basically asked him if he was a business that bought / sold domains, or whether he was a private company that just happened to buy this one.  I explained how it had been my blog address and the situation behind how it came to expire.  And the blighter didn't answer my questions, but wrote back saying he'd sell it to me, for the right price.

So, I wrote back again - again asking what sort of company he was, and asking what he'd paid for it, what currency etc.  The prick wrote back wanting $400 USD for it - for a free domain that cost $15/year to maintain (and would still cost $15 / year or so even if I bought it back) - now honestly, as if I'm going to pay $400 for a more personal blog address on a blog I rarely use (although I've posted 3 posts or so in the last few days).  Get stuffed.

So alas, kmuki.com has gone.  But I'm being a bit sneaky - I can have kmuki.net if I want - $9 - and I can 'backorder' kmuki.com when it becomes available again.  So look out Mr Patrick Greedy Edwards - kmuki.com might just be back with its rightful owner sooner than you think!

Hold the Pergolesi

If you told me last night that today I would go hear the Vienna Boys Choir I would have laughed in your face - primarily because everyone knows that concerts at QPAC cost an arm and a leg (why? I don't know) and this would certainly be true of a world class choir of the calibre as this - so of course I wouldn't be going. Yet this morning, lying in bed, I discovered that there still were some of the cheaper ($69 mind you!) tickets available, and on a whim, given I would be at South Bank later today for a much cheaper event, I decided to hop on the train and go. Fortunately the $5.95 online booking fee prohibited me from booing the tickets online - I figured, given the lateness of the hour and the fact tickets were still showing as available, I'd just try my luck at the box office. Luckily I did, as, whilst waiting in the queue for tickets, a woman approached and asked if I wanted a free one. She was from Kenmore high school and they'd had a no show, so rather than let the ticket waste, it was mine if I wanted it. I however couldn't in all conscience take it for free, so I offered her what was in my wallet - $20 - and the ticket was mine. I couldn't believe my luck!

The concert consisted of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, followed by an interval and then a selection of shorter pieces. First of all, someone needs to educate the Brisbane concert public on concert etiquette. You absolutely DO NOT clap after EVERY SINGLE SECTION of a major work like the Stabat Mater!  How to look like a bunch of provincial, uneducated plebs! It was quite disgraceful - but then I realised - alas, so was the performance! Just diabolical! Intonation all over the shop, soloists who REALLY SHOULDN'T be soloists (some very good ones of course, but some shockers!) - and wherever did they drag up that string quartet? Hopefully not Brisbane locals (but alas I strongly suspect they were!).  I quite seriously was disappointed and debated not returning for the second half. But what to do to kill time in the meantime?

In the end, I returned for the second half - and was quite pleased I did. Much, MUCH better performance.  Mozart's Laudate Dominium particularly was a stand out. And the Trisch Trasch polka was quite good.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning - now lets see how the Spiegeltent gig shapes up...

Something Weird Going On

Something weird is going on with blogger.  Ok, granted I haven't posted on here for, well, a VERY LONG TIME - but still, I don't get it.  I tried to open my blog today and discovered that my address, the wonderful www.kmuki.com, now points to some strange wordpress thing - and my blog is missing!  This is most definitely NOT GOOD.

When I tried to contact blogger about it - do you think I could? No, there's no way of actually contacting blogger.  And because there's now all this weird google stuff going through blogger, google apps and so on - I can't even figure out if the issue is caused by the fact I should've paid some money or something.  Pretty odd if I have to, considering that www.kmuki.com was set up as a free address.

But what takes the cake is that I can't even find the tab on google apps to let me change my bank account / payment details if I wanted to...

Meanwhile, I've tried, for now, to solve the problem by going back to www.kmuki.blogspot.com.  Let's see if in the next few days I can figure it out and GET MY BLOG BACK!!!