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In my garden

One day I’m going to make me a big big star. Well I already am but only a few people realise that at the moment.

A large handful of years ago (2001) I used to have a little veggie patch. It wasn’t a big producer but I still enjoyed my little patch of soil except the snails and other bugs probably liked it more than I did. They saw it as very much their own little salad bar. At around this time I was listening to The Lion Sleeps Tonight a lot. For some reason or the other I decided to change the lyrics round a bit to suit the snails who saw my garden as a salad bar.

A-wimoweh etc

In my garden
My growing garden
The snails eat my peas
In my garden
The quiet garden
The snails eat my peas

A-wimoweh etc

Near the peas
The dying peas
The snails make their way
Near the peas
The dying peas
The snails eat their feast

A-wimoweh etc

Hush my garden
Don’t fear my garden
The snails will sleep tonight
Hush my garden
Don’t die my darlings
The snails will be gone

A-wimoweh etc

I remember rushing out to Mum as I decided on better words to suit rhythmic patterns and singing to her the most recent version of “In my garden”. I was changing a few things round on my desk the other day and found the piece of paper that it was printed on and thought why not post it 🙂 Though it also means that I think that a large number of my recent posts have been musically based.

Today is Pancake Tuesday(Shrove Tuesday). Matthew and I had pancakes for lunch. mmm yummy. Sunday night I roasted a duck for tea, though this duck must’ve been a duck on a severe diet as it was pretty meatless. Luckily I made heaps of roast veggies to go with it, which were perfectly roasted in duck fat and tasted like heaven. For dessert we had a Blueberry Sourcream cake that I made from a recipe which was in a BBC Good Food magazine a couple of years ago. The cake didn’t just taste like heaven, it was heaven. I should take a photo of a slice before it is all eaten (there is only two slices left).

I am going to get my hair cut this arvo before work 🙂

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All you need is love Beatles

So last night was The Beatles tribute gig and it was a fantastic night out. There was myself, Clare and four of her convicts, followers, converts, friends.

11 bands, a full house, 2 and a half hours, one small super sweaty room, one great cause, 200+ songs in The Beatles catalouge. One rocking night. We had fun guessing which songs would be done by the various bands. It was a great format with the bands doing between one and five songs each with most doing three or four, super quick changeover between sets (always a bonus) and of course a great cause in Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders). Since there is talk of doing a similar format later this year with a different artist and charity, it will be great to see who will be the focus of the next tribute.

I don’t have photos from all the bands who played but I do from six of the eleven.

Hot Liquid Sex.
These girls were glam. The drummer had pearls on. I don’t think we need to go further.
Hot Liquid Sex

Ace
How rocking is this Beatles shirt? Last night was alllll about The Beatles shirts.
ace 1

The Blood Poets
This guy stood on my foot later in the night, I went ouch, he said sorry, it was all fine.
The Blood Poets

Kristy London and The Other Halves
Kristy was a total treat.
Kristy London and the Other Halves

Emma Dean
Again another total treat. Probably the main attraction for Clare and I last night and she didn’t disappoint.
Emma Dean

Glasshouse
These guys were big organisers of the night or came with the idea and as the second last band they had the floor bouncing as they channeled as much Beatles vibe as they could with a rip-roaring cover of A Hard Day’s Night
Glasshouse

Tyrone Noonan finished the night and was a treat pulling out the tin whistle, as was Tara Simmons who opened the night in a cello trio, 26 who also had a large string section, Asa Broomhall who shined in his one song and The Gin Club who also gave all they had to the night.

It was such a fantabulous night. Lots and lots of singing along 🙂

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Good Day Sunshine :)

Well I have some good news and than it follows with either good or bad news depending on how you look at it.

At the moment I am semi-busy applying for jobs as I find ones that a)interest me and b) I am semi-qualified for. Last Friday I sent off an application for a job. Monday I got a call back saying come in for an interview Tuesday arvo. Tuesday I hit the shops as I was shall we say lacking in the business suitable clothes department. Tuesday arvo I had the interview which went really well. Wednesday I got a call back saying I was on the shortlist and could I come in for an hour or so on Friday just to do a trial run of the job and have another chat. I went in and did the job for an hour or so, had a chat, met some more people and went home knowing that I had done my best and hopefully that was good enough for them. Friday arvo I get a call back saying I hadn’t got the job but could we keep your info on file as we are going to have a few vacancies in a couple of weeks that you may be interested in.

I didn’t get the job but I did get to the second round which is better than not passing the first round, the the beginnings of a business suitable work wear (and a pair of pretty killer shoes) and probably most of all experience in an interview and an idea of what questions they will ask in a the future.

I am still looking for that job ad which says “We are looking for Helen Palsson, are you here?” and then the job description of an job where I would utilise my degree and make a difference in the world in what ever way small or big.

Beatlemania

Tomorrow night, this is going to be a treat in The Valley and I do believe that all those of you are in the Greater Brisbane area should come along to a) hear some great bands doing some great songs and b) to support a great cause. I am going, Clare is going, Clare is dragging people along, I am trying to drag my brother and his mates along. The Beatles need I say more?

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Hell in D

This little youtube video rings so true to me. I really enjoy listening to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. In year 12, I talked the music teacher into letting us play it for Band. We played it very delightfully. As a flute player it is quite a nice piece to play. However, in year 12 I was all Bassoon and to put it mildly the Bassoon part for Canon in D is well pretty darn boring. The Bassoon plays the Cello part. Now sit back and watch the video below.

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Die Happy

Last night was a blast and I can now Die Happy (incidentally a pretty cool German band I saw at the Pumpwerk in Wilhelmshaven. In terms of live music venues, the Pumpwerk stands out as one of the best for me. Just the right size. Just the right atmosphere. Just the right everything. I would love it if the Pumpwerk were in Brisbane). Back to the topic at hand which was Sam and Helen’s semi-big night out.

The highlight of my night was of course when Women in Docs pulled Sally Dastey up on stage near the end to do Tin Roof. It went off. In case you haven’t realised Tin Roof is pretty high up in that handful of songs that make up my all time favourites. It sits up there with Marrakesh Express by Crosby, Stills & Nash (who are playing in Brisbane in 3 weeks but the tickets are waaaay to pricey for me), Ice Cream by Sarah McLachlan, Safari by The Breeders, The Waitress by The Waifs, You Sound Like Louis Burdett by The Whitlams, The 59th Street Bridge Song by Simon and Garfunkel, Lady Madonna by The Beatles, Adelaide by Old 97’s, You or Your Memory by The Mountain Goats and a handful of other songs. Classic songs. Of course going to a concert and hearing one of your all time favourite songs is just top shelf stuff.

Last night with Sam was fantastic. So was the night before with Andrea. Though how could it not have been fantastic? Great music and good friends always equals fun times.

After the show was over we made our way down to Eagle St where Sam works to see Cory and to munch down some wedges and fold cutlery bundles for the next days trade. I have to say at the start of the night I didn’t think I would spend part of it wiping cutlery dry and giving it to Sam so she could wrap it up in a serviette. A couple of hours out on the town, dancing, drinking, chatting, walking and generally having a good time. Then we made our way home and that takes me to where we are now.

If you are going to be in Melbourne, Nowra or Canberra between March 14 and 23, I reckon you should check out the Gig Guide on the Women in Docs website and get a few friends or family and plan an easy night out with good music and lots of laughs 🙂

fireworks

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new creations

Well I have actually done a little scrapbooking recently. In that time when Mum is on the computer or I have just spent too much time doing nothing on the ‘net.

My life at the moment is geared around one objective and that is do get a job, a real job. Not that working at a grocery store isn’t a real job. It just isn’t the real job I want for me.

Matthew likes to bait me by repeatedly asking “Do you have job yet?” and other questions/comments in that idea. I don’t have a job yet. Not all of us can be like my brother who was given a pretty cushy job in Silicon Valley before he had graduated. Though he of course didn’t do an arts degree like me did but a much more revered degree, an engineering degree. I know the jobs I want. I know that I don’t have the experience for a fair few of them. It’s just a matter of getting that experience, that foot in the door.

School went back this week and that means that I now have to start paying board. 20% of what ever I bring home for the week goes into Mum’s hand until I find my own place. Which is the first thing on the list when I find a job.

Back though to the where this post was going in the start. Scrapbooking. I have about 10 pages scanned and on the computer which means I should be able to post a couple every couple of days or so 🙂

1)
element

6 of the things that very much defined Helen at this stage in life.

A familiar photo some of you. This would be how I look part of the time when “in the bush”/”in the great outdoors”. All purpose shorts made from colorful fabric which serve as PJ shorts in summer at home. Thermals (stripy of course) to either keep warm or to form a mozzie suit.

The hat I am wearing in the photo was actually retired just before the canoe trip the other week as it was getting a wee bit small. In my ten years as a Brownie/Guide/Ranger Guide I had two Guide hats. One is the one I got as young Brownie and way too small for my head now and now has all my various camp name tags and crafts pinned onto it. The second one is the one in this photo. I now have a hat though which used to belong to Grandmum, so go having hats that have a memory 🙂

2)
Victoria Tower

I don’t know about you but how I explore a new town is to just start walking and hopping on and off public transport on a whim. I did this in San Fran, London, Jever, Wilhelmshaven, Hohenkirchen. Just exploring. Seeing what you see and exploring what you find. I am lucky to have inherited a pretty darn fine sense of direction from Mum. I can sit down at the end of a day exploring a town and draw my route on a map and even now years later I can still draw where I have gone on maps by memory.

When I arrived in London of the morning of the 20th, I did what I have done in the past. I checked my baggage into a storage locker, picked up a travel pass and started walking down streets, roads and lanes, hopping on buses or the Underground if I passed a station and just generally wandering the streets of London town.

Sam and I are going out tonight. First up we are going to see Women in Docs and Sally Dastey (whom I also went to see last night with Andrea) and then well who knows where we will end up. 🙂