Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day!
Well, yesterday anyway. It’s weird having a holiday in the middle of the week. It’s like it’s thrown off my whole circadian rhythms or something.

Anyhoo, I had a lovely day. I spent the morning baking cookies and making Rice Krispie treats. Then I caught the train with JP over to RoseRed’s house for a lovely knitters’ party. We had scones with jam and cream, sandwiches, meat pies, cakes, cookies, and everything lovely. I noticed a pavlova sitting beneath a dome and wondered to myself why the fruit seemed to be clumped together instead of evenly distributed. Imagine my surprise when I realised it was Sydney Harbour, complete with a banana bridge and a strawberry Opera House!

After much merriment, knitting, and champagne, I headed back to the city with Kylie. After a quick stop to pick up the Snook, we caught a bus to the city and met Kunaal at the Opera House. It was time to see Amanda F**king Palmer!

The show was AMAZING. Kylie and I spent some time marvelling at the set (one half of which was “bogan”; one half was “art fag”). Amanda opened the show herself by acknowledging the Gadigal people, the Aboriginal people of this area. Then The Jane Austen Argument kicked everything off with a couple songs. They were okay; a bit too “Melbourne arty” for my taste. Then came Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, who we LOVED. Hilarious and brilliant, and great musicians too. And finally, with much fanfare, out came Amanda Palmer! She swooped around the stage; she climbed down into the audience; she slithered across people in the stalls. We were entranced. She sang a hilarious song about how evil Vegemite is. She drank VB on stage and we commiserated on how shit it is. She threw flowers. She played the piano; she played the ukelele; she played the keyboard. She played for hours. At one point, she brought out her husband Neil Gaiman who read a few pieces for us, including one he’d written that day on Australian megafauna. He also surprised her with a poem about all the reasons he loved her. (WE WERE ALL SQUEEING LIKE CRAZY.) The Black Sea Gentlemen came out at various points to accompany her, and they amused us by dressing up in increasingly crazy costumes. The show ended with a raucous encore of “Map of Tasmania” with sexy go-go dancers and a female beatboxer and all kinds of fun. It was amazing. Three-and-a-half hours! Great way to end the day.