buskers

over the easter weekend, freo had a "street arts festival". i call it a busker-fest, but perhaps buskers prefer to be called street artists and i am just painfully un-pc about it. in my opinion, if you are performing on the street and asking for money, i am allowed to call you a busker. as we didn't have plans to go away for easter, we decided to check out a few "shows".

we sat and had coffee-type beverages while we waited for the, get this, circus school of WA to set up their show. i had no idea that there were circus schools. i always assumed you just ran off and joined one if you thought you had any skill...no, i'm kidding of course! i've known about the circus school here for months because we saw another busker/street performer and she had a sign stating that she was a student there. anyhow, it took for freakin' ever for them to set up, so we decided to wander to other acts and head back after.

we managed to see a canadian busker who seemed to have the crowd enthralled. he was pretty funny and did a juggling/comedy/escape routine. it appeased my need to see comedy/juggling/escape artists for the rest of the weekend, perhaps longer. he was good and had the crowd, as well as john and i, laughing out loud. i think i miss canadian humour sometimes.

the circus school put on a lack-luster show in my opinion. something to do with pirates and juggling and dancers. they had their trapeze set up, but it was hot and we didn't want to sit through poor performers just to see a trapeze artist. 

we went back another day, this time seeking out a group that i had read about, popeyed. we headed over to the fremantle prison and sat amongst a small group of people to watch them perform. it was a "sponsor show", so it was a bit out of the way and a smaller venue, but it worked for us. these guys were great! they are acrobats/gymnasts/ridiculoulsy-fit-strong-men-who-can-do-ridiculous-things-with-their-bodies! they do the show in little red onsies (think wrestling) and then drop those to perform in not much more then speedos. they speak with a russian accent until the end of the show when they announce that the russian stuff is bull-shit, they are from sydney. we had a good laugh, though mostly, we were in awe. these guys could do the most incredible things with their bodies. john and i were nerdily enjoying the show (nyack nyack) and commenting on how they needed so much of this to do that, and so much of that to do this. they were great. i'll go see them again for sure!

one thing that i was, and continue to be amazed with, is how buskers end their show with a plea for money. that alone would put me off of it. not my lack of any type of performance skill, (though it would hinder a good show) but really, having to *essentially* beg for money after the performance, i just don't think i could do it. apparently they don't get paid, at all, to go to busker festivals. john and i have been trying to sort this out and figure they must at least get some accomodation and food provided. but then, when i saw how many people were watching some of the performers, and how much each person seems to give, assuming they do 2-3 shows per day for a 4 day festival, it could be pretty lucrative. and tax free, i assume.

overall, it was a great festival and it didn't cost us much to see a variety of interesting shows. we'll head back next year i'm sure.
xo

brisbane

this weekend i was in brisbane. my boss sent myself and a colleague there to do a course. we covered to course cost and the hotel, he covered the flight. not a bad deal. until we saw the hotel...

flying across the country for a weekend, as my jet-setting family and friends know, always sounds more glamourous then it is. we flew out of perth at 1pm on friday...wait, make that 2 because the flight was delayed. of course. we arrived in brisbane around 8pm, an hour after the original arrival time. well, turns out that the air train running from the airport to the city stops running at 8pm. so we had no idea how we'd get into town. luckily, we found a shuttle leaving in  30 mins which would stop at any hotel and hostel in the city. unfortunately for us, we were the last stop on a ridiculous tour around the city - he picked up people heading to the airport before dropping us off- and we only arrived at our hotel at 9:45pm. fun.

the adventure continued when we arrived at the hotel. we were given our key and told how to get to our room. it was little more then a hostel (for the "cheap" rooms. if you paid more you could go into the new part of the hotel). upon opening the door to our one bed, one couch/bed room, it smelled like stale cigarette smoke. as my colleague is allergic to it and asthmatic, i decided to make a fuss. so they moved us. to the basement. no, really. the basement. 

we walked downstairs to our room, passing near the parking lot and going down a sketchy hall. this room didn't smell like smoke and had 2 beds, so we stayed with it. then headed out to grab some late dinner as we had 2 big days ahead of us. luckily, i had asked the woman the front desk about how to get to the university of queensland. i figured we could walk, turns out we couldn't (thanks a lot gmaps!). "have to catch a ferry" she told us. 

our first night in the hotel proved exciting. the baby/toddler in the room next to us decided to cry at around 2am, and as we had paper thin walls, we could hear her loud and clear. also, we heard her parents having some "private time" a little earlier then this. at around 3-4am, the guys in the room next to us decided to stagger back drunk and obnoxious. smashing glass outside of our doors and being really really loud. a great way to start a weekend on course...

the ferry ride redeemed things a bit. very nice way to get to campus in my opinion, sitting on a ferry, taking in the fresh air and enjoying a nice view of the city. we got off at the uni then took about 20 mins to find the building we needed to get to (it wasn't on the map!), then settled in for the rest of the day. on the way back, we got off a few stops before our scheduled stop, and walked the rest of the way, taking in both the great weather and the great view.

that night we met up with my cousin rachelle, who just started her MBA at southern cross. she lives an hour south of the city, so it was great that she could come up. we also met up with an old colleague of ours who has recently started her masters in sports physio. so we had a good night. until we got home... to the screaming child next door who had nasty tantrums or vicious dreams keeping her - and us- up all night.

we flew back to perth after our course on sunday. we scored a ride with a nice person from the course who was heading that way anyhow. gotta love it. this flight was on time, getting us in at 11:40pm, perth time. unfortunately, john had checked the wrong flight online and thought i got in at 12:20, so my night was later then expected, but i managed. too bad i had to work at 7 am on monday... *sigh*

i'd like to go back to brisbane again soon. it's a pretty cool city with a nice downtown, good shops (so they looked from outside...) and a relaxed vibe. hopefully it'll be at a nicer hotel...

xo