still alive

Been a while since I last blogged - reason being that this is the craziest few weeks of the year. Last year around this time I did a 23-hour day. Let's see if I can beat my record! Last two nights I've worked till 2.30am. Tonight will be the big one. PLUS I have this incredibly bad cold, which surprisingly is getting better. Been downing the garlic, Vitamin C, plus soome good pseudo-ephidrine drugs.

Got my festival tickets booked - 35 films booked and then there's all the non-bookable day sessions I'll try to get to as well. There were a few clashes which mean I'll miss a few films, Bad Santa in particular, but that's okay, it'll come back. Fahrenheit 9/11 sold out in 24 hours.

Okay, back to it. The Souvenir Programme (192-pager that gets sold and also sent out to international festival contacts) goes to print tomorrow... and still so much to do. Keeping sane by chucking on the headphones. Listening to The Sea and Cake, Department of Eagles and Elliot Smith, plus lots of odd downloaded stuff.

Still gotta put up those birthday pics!

Happy Birthday to ME

Well, 40 ain't so bad. Not that I thought it would be. I had an unfortunate moment on the second day of my 40s where that stupid stupid song from 80s (?) "Life Begins at Forty" got stuck in my head. I think part of it was that my brains were very very fried from the celebrations the night before. It had all started off very sedately - brunch with my kids, then a crazed shopping expedition with SOD where we bought 24 DVDs (!) at a sale and then some cute black boots for me, as well as a new black jacket for SOD cos his old one is a bit holey and paint-stained, from wearing it on cold nights in the studio. The evening began with drinks, then, since I didn't know what restaurant we were going to, SOD hald his hand over my eyes during the trip to the restuarant. Francois! Lovely little french place. The food was fanatastic. Big surprise at the end was THE most delicious cake. From there it was a few bars and much deliberation at about 3am as to what to do next. We ended up at a strip bar. Blimey. The night's all a bit hazy from there - not hazy enough to block out the memory of me getting a bit friendly with the staff... enough said. Not the kind of place I would normally go - not out of prudishness, but just that I find it exploitative and sleazy, but it was interesting. A very memorable birthday. It was weird checking into our hotel room at 5.30am. God we must have looked a sight. Some photos will be posted soon! None from the strip club fortunately.

the launch

Had a good night going to the launch of the programme last night. We stood at the door of the theatre and handed out "goodie bags" (having a big sponsor like Telecom this year allows us to do these things). It was funny how some people looked suspiciously, thinking we were foisting some kind of unwanted advertising on them or something. But once they opened their bags and saw choccies, bottle of water, pen, pad, blah blah, they were okay of course. The flick was Touching the Void - pretty good doco. Amazing shots of the mountains of Peru. Totally incredible tale of bravery and sheer madness. Dinner afterwards at the Grand Century was delicious. Feeling a bit jaded and weary today even though it wasn't all that late. Fridays I guess! Started the morning at the local beautician's with a leg wax. Yow! I just never get used to the pain of my bikini line hair being ripped out by the roots. If you ever wanted to torture someone...

rock'n'roll

Got sent some pics from the Pretty Horses gig. Here's one of Venus and the bass player. Great outfits. Wouldn't mind having their legs - they suited fishnets better than I do.

breening

Check out piggyback art. I'd buy one if i could afford it.

help!

OKAY - it's my last day of being 39 tomorrow. It's the big four-oh on Saturday. What am I gonna do to celebrate the final day of my thirties? Suggestions please! (Not sitting at my computer watching my age change on my blogger profile - I already thought of it and it sounds dull.)

let's launch this baby!

Woo hoo! Oh yeah! Tonight the Wellington Film Fest programme is launched - not exactly a grandiose affair, but it's an "invites only" screening of one of our films Touching the Void, and we get to hand out goodie bags, compliments of our sponsors. Afterwards we're all off to a nosh up at a local chinese restaurant. Nicing it up with the festival crew (who are paying for the grub). BYO plonk (which I will be doing - nice spicy Reisling, methinks).

Got another order of music in the post the other day from Warp Mart - they were having a sale of their Lex stuff. Got some real fine hip hop. Boom Bip, Dangermouse and Jemini, and a couple of compilations of Lex artists. Loving Boom Bip/s remixes of the likes of Mogwai and Boards of Canada.

Hey, check this out - this is pretty cool - I could spend a while on this site (thanks to Liv's links...)

All the Pretty Horses

Sunday night topped off a great weekend. Here's Ang and I all dollied up to go out (that's me on the left for those who don't know me). All the Pretty Horses was lots of fun - I haven't seen so much shiny PVC in one place ever. They all looked extremely glam - big high boots, corsets, fishnets and lots of long hair - black PVC of course. Can't say the music was to my taste but they sure rocked and were fun to watch. The finale was a fetish performance piece - Venus held a metal plate against her crotch while Madmat used a metal grinder - sparks flew. Pretty spectacular. I heard that the night before Venus had cut a chunk off her hand and had blood all over her guitar. Ow. I went and said hi to Venus before the show. She was sitting watching the support band play. Her makeup was sexy - a strip of red across the eyes like Daryl Hannah in Bladerunner. She/he seemd very very nice. Very quietly spoken. When I introduced myself and said I had done the posters, she gave me a hug. Didn't get home till round 2'ish. Have had a fairly low-key day working on my laptop from the comfort of the couch. Have got most of the way through two of my Caritas projects today. I think I'm winning the battle (just!).

getting out and about in the real world

They've let me out! I'm actually having a life this weekend, and a busy one it is, too. Friday night was spent having a quiet one while SOD went out to visit a mate - lay around on the couch not doing very much at all. Saturday - went off to see a doco at Out Takes Gay & Lesbian Film Festival called Venus of Mars. Really loved it - totally uplifting and honest story of a transgender man (Venus) living in a relationship with his wife of 20 years. They're an amazing couple - very inspiring. Venus is lead singer/guitarist in a band called All the Pretty Horses - dark glam rock - who are on tour in conjunction with the release of the documentary. I met a few of them and also the filmmaker because I had done their poster - when I heard from the Out Takes crew that Pretty Horses were coming over I volunteered to do the poster for them and anything else I could do to help cos they were on a shoestring budget. Anyway, tonight they are going to play tonight at Bodega bar. Yay! It's gonna be fun. Getting dollied up - might put on my big fuck-off shelly boots and get my hair teased ad coloured up. Might even manage getting a pic up on the old blog.

Oh, but there's more! As part of the Prospect show on at the mo' at the local galleries, there was a sound art performance up at Adam Art Gallery at the University. Cool, cool. Not many people there really, although the small amount of seats would have been 3/4 full. Small interest group I guess. Not everyone's cuppa tea, but we reall liked it. Something to close your eyes and get lost in. Big soundscapes, pretty much all computer generated, but not cold at all - some of it was very organic sounding. Nice.

And today we went to see The Life and Times of Count Luchino Visconti, a BBC doco on the renowned Italian filmmaker. It's spurred us on to see some of his films, which we will try and do soon while the doco is fresh in our minds. Interesting man - apparently a communist since his 20s, but happy to live a life being waited on by 8 servants who he hardly ever spoke to. Bit of a dichotomy. Guess he had his ideology, but didn't manage to live by it. There were some shots of the houses he was brought up in - his father was a duke in Milan and he lived the life of the privileged few. I wouldn't have minded living in one of those castles. They were prety freaking cool.

And so.... just cooking dinner, and waiting for the lovely Angela and Ben to turn up and drink some wine with us before we head out. Angie's gonna help me with my hair.

Have been listening to Franz Ferdinand and it's growing on me. But you're right Mr Couper, the first few tracks are the best.

...and back to you, FF

I'm not so sure about Franz Ferdinand. Part of me liked it, another part thought, "oh, I've heard this all before" (as it so often does when you get to nearly 40 and listen to a lot of music). I'll probably have a few more goes at it. It might be a good sign that I didn't think much on the first play. It just might grow on me. Here's what Pitchforkmedia says about it - they're always good for reviews...

Out Takes

Went to an Out Takes film last night. I got some freebie tickets which was great - not really for designing the their print stuff, but more cos this year I took out an ad in the programme. (Advertised my business' website, but still haven't got anything up there - god I'm stupid.) Anyway, went along to see Madam Sata - set in '30s Rio de Janiero. Sexy and beautifully shot. It was about a drag queen living a difficult life in the brothel district of Lapa in Rio. Based on a real person - Joao Francisco de Santos (I think) there was a brief bio at the end which left me wanting to know more. I'm off to see another couple of films in the weekend as well, which I'll have to fit in around work. The Wellington festival programme went off to print yesterday, but now I have all my other work to catch up on - a newsletter for Caritas and some work for Council for International Development, along with a couple of jobs for Huia Publishing - one needs finishing and the other needs starting. I need a holiday!

FF so far

hmmm - first three tracks in and I'm thinking White Stripes-meets-Blur-meets-Beach Boys - with a smatting of ska beats and some 80s sensibilities... to be continued...

my car is clean

Just for anyone who cares, I put my car through the car wash this morning. I realised a while ago when someone wrote "hi" in the dustiness of the rear window that my little red rover was actually rather grimy. I love my car, so somehow I managed this morning to get it dealt with. She looks so sparkly-clean! Just thought I'd tell you that incredibly exciting news. Just had to share...

Franz Ferdinand (again!)

Stopped in at the music store on the way to the Film Festival office this morning and grabbed a couple of CDs (as you do) - one being Franz Ferdinand (let's see what all the fuss is about) - and the other the latest Sonic Youth (Nurse). Gonna have a listen now. Let's see if FF will make it onto my profile. To be continued... (Might be a while though. I think I am about to be annoyed by a pesky client to do some work. Oh how difficult life can be!)

Franz Ferdinand

Why does this come up all the time on people's profiles as favourite music. I think this must be another White Stripes phenomenon. I keep hearing about it for ages, then finally listen and think - oh yeah, that's okay. I did end up buying a White Stripes album after hearing the hype for ages, and yeah, they're pretty good, but you listen a few too many times and you don't want to hear them again. I like an album that grows on you - lasts longer, and, in the end, sounds way better. Must have a listen to Franz Ferdinand though. See what all the fuss is about...

More on music

When I bought my music in the weekend I had been shopping with SOD who also made some purchases. I commented afterwards that it was funny how he always buys the old stuff and I always buy the new stuff. Funny because I'm the older one by six years. His is normally stuff that he used to listen to but either has sold off, lost along the way, or never owned. Unfortunately his nostalgia crosses into mine only occasionally with the likes of David Bowie or some old Dunedin stuff. Some of it I don't at all like, and I'm sure the same goes with my choices. I think that on the whole though, we tend to have similar taste in music which I think is a really important thing. I can't imagine having disparate musical tastes. Imagine if my boyfriend liked Bucks Fizz (no offence Angie-baby, in case you fancied them!). But having a bit of your own thing going on with music as well, like SOD's boysie-noisie stuff and some of my more mainstream hip hop, is probably a healthy thing as long as you don't drive each other crazy with it.

Spending money on music is good

After so much work lately I took some time out for some retail therapy. Got myself a delicious double album by Themselves, along with 4 CDs - double CD of cLOUDDEAD, a Stereolab album from '01 that I didn't have, Boom Bip (had THE most wonderfully designed sleeve - yum, yum) and a bunch of remixes of Can tracks. All in all a jolly good haul. I've been enjoying the cLOUDDEAD - among my internet purchases a while ago was a cLOUDDEAD DVD of their tour in '02 in the States. Most of the footage was them in San Fran. They rocked. Oh hell, living in NZ is all very nice - we have a beautiful country and lifestyles that many would envy - but all this amazing live music we miss out on just kills me. Thanks goodness for the live music scene in Wellington or I would go mad, but some overseas talent would be very nice. (Not that I get out all that much cos I'm always working!) Mostly I want to go to an ATP gig in Europe. My friend Caron is working in London and has been for a few years. She was telling me about the last ATP gathering she went to where she met Vincent Gallo at the local pub and was chatting to him for some time. She told him, in her straightforward kiwi way, that she heard his album was actually pretty good, although she hadn't listened to it herself. She then asked him if she could cop a snog. He said "no - kissing was just too intimate" so she got a few pecks on the cheek instead. She said it was worth a crack. Good old Caron. I wouldn't have the balls. Okay, back to work - getting the Wellington Film Festival programme file into shape now. And when that is finished, I CAN BOOK MY FILMS!

If any of you follow those music links, you'll see these guys are under a label called Anticon. Most of the artists on this label do a fair bit of cross-pollination. I guess they are a kind of collective. Some say this is the future of hip hop. I would say, I wish, but I doubt it. I enjoy hip hop a lot, but the majority of hip hop these days focuses on bling bling and pussy - totally misogynistic and pretty depressing. Mind you, it ain't just the guys. Missy Elliot is great, but what is the total obsession with sex. Not that I'm against it, but it seems to be all they wannna sing about. They living in their lower chakras, man!

One down, thirteen to go.

It's done, and so am I. Still thirteen to go though (for the rest of New Zealand). The programme for the International Film Festival went to print yesterday afternoon after many hours of work by many people. My part consisted of laying out the programme (and salivating over the films). Checked out the proofs today which look great except of course for the occasional hideous ad. These morons pay heaps of money for the placement of the ad and can't bear to part with some cash to pay a designer to make a decent job of it - yes, it's DIY advertisement design. Of course, there are som gorgeous ones too. But who cares about the ads - you should see the films coming up! I've started my "must see" list - always difficult. I saw 40 last year, including a few that I took home on tape. Big one on the list for me is Catherine Breillat's Anatomy of Hell. I should see some more of her films - I've only seen Fat Girl (aka À ma soeur) and Sex is Comedy. She's so post-feminist. I love the way she cuts to the quick and fights against false morality. She depicts female sexuality in such a cutting but honest way. Not for the faint hearted, of course. And Sex is Comedy was such a piss-take of herself, portraying herself as manipulative, twisted and egocentric. I wonder if it was how she thinks others see her. I'm sure it's not how she thinks of herself. Maybe it was some of the negative aspects of herself she was drawing upon. If you are going to watch both these films, you must see Fat Girl first - Sex is Comedy shows the making of the controversial anal sex scene - almost as docudrama. We see the fighting and bitching between the stars (the lovers in the scene can't stand each other) and the director, who must make the scene work, has to cajole, flirt with, and shout at, the crew and stars, to get her way. She's such a bitch. I recommend it. I can see Breillat becoming a classic of this time.
Just found a cinema site that I want to explore more. After this I'm off to have a search around - looks like they have some good stuff going on. I only ended up there cos apparently they have a link there somewhere to my blog. Couldn't find it though. SOD found it out with some dinky web gadgetry he has mastered to find out interesting data about who looks at your sites and how they get there. It's very intriguing. He's turning into a detective. I could see him as a detective actually...