Nerd Fest

The SupaNova. The closest thing Australia has to Comicon in the States.
This weekend, the Gold Coast held its first Supa Nova, this was also my first Supa Nova. My brother has been going for years and loves it. He loves it so much that it is now to the point where he dresses up for it and for some reason I agreed to dress up as the character he wanted me to. But who am I kidding, sounding like I hated it and that I was forced to do it. I loved it. I don't think I would have had the same experience if I hadn't of dressed up. It was brilliant. I dressed up as one of the characters from the computer game Team Fortress called Pyro. To be honest, I don't play computer games and didn't really know the character at all. My Nerd speciality is more things like, Dr Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Serenity, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and that sort of thing. My brother just had the costume and really wanted someone to wear it so I stepped up and agreed. He had even gone so far as to make the (not a working model) flame thrower that the character has.

When I got there, there wasn't even time to feel silly because almost everyone is dressed up and you almost feel like the odd one out if you don't dress up. Everyone kept stopping us and taking photos and every other person kept yelling out "Spy check!". I didn't have a clue what that meant. I was so confused. I had to get my brother to give me a run down so that I could stop giving these 'yelling out people' weird, confused looks. He told me that in the game, Pyro is only able to set fire to enemies and not team mates, so if there is a spy dressed up as a blue when he is a red or vise versa, then he can catch on fire and that is what the spy check thing meant. That helped a lot. I even got to be filmed for someone's video blog. I felt so special.
Some of the costumes are amazing and you can just tell that so much work has gone into them. The attention to detail and the length that some people go to is just astounding. i couldn't believe it. And there are also little kids whose parents have dressed them up like little Chewies or little Bobba Fetts or the like and its just so cute! The whole place is so crowded though. There are so many people and so much to look at that you can occaisionally feel a little like a sardine in a sardine can but it's all worth it.

This year that had quite a good line up of guests. They had Richard Horvitz the voice of Zim from Invader Zim and Daggett from Angry Beavers. He was hilarious. He kept slipping in and out of the voices and then started singing musicals like Wicked (my favourite) in the characters' voices. Hilarious. If you don't believe me then watch this.



And they also had the actress from my favourite show Firefly, Summer Glau who plays River (they also had Morena Baccarin who plays Inara from Firefly but she didn't talk the day I was there). Summer was great. She seems like such a lovely person and has a real respect from her fans (one lady even bought her Tim Tams...). I even got to ask her a question (I was freaking out quite a bit and my hands were shaking a little) "What was it like working with two of the greatest men ever, Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion?"
They really are great, I mean have you seen the new Avengers movie?

Factual Story Telling: Bending it Like Beckham

ANZAC

Last year my older sister and I travelled Europe and we ended up in Istanbul, Turkey. Since we were there we decided that we had to go to Gallipoli because if you think about it, how many times does one find themself in Turkey? We decided to go on a day trip because our time in Turkey was short. We got up at 5am and boarded the bus that would take us to the renowned landing place of our country’s heroes. It was a 5 hour trip and the air conditioning was freezing. After a quick stop for some lunch we met our tour guide (a Turkish man who is one of the best historians when it comes to Gallipoli) and continued to Anzac Cove and the memorial sites.

It is such a beautiful, peaceful and respectful place. I didn’t expect it to, but it really got to me emotionally. There is a quote from the President of Turkey in 1934, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who also fought in Gallipoli, that has been put on a memorial for all to see.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

It’s very beautiful. Looking at all the graves that line the coast is really quite hard. Reading all the quotes and what relatives have chosen to put on their loved one’s grave is again really hard. One of the graves just reads “Thank You” That’s it. Tears were welling up in my eyes at that point and I could barely bring myself to read anymore. What a beautiful thing to say and so simple. This is now what Anzac Day means for me, just the chance to look back, reflect and say thank you. Thank you for all that you did.

Each year on Anzac Day, I would always be a part of the march, representing my school and would always be playing in the band for the school Anzac Day Ceremony but it never really got to me emotionally. That all changed this year. My family and I walked to our local parade where we dropped my sister off so that she could walk with her school. I clapped as all the veterans, war widows and school children walked by as you do. Then we walked up to where the ceremony was being held. It was being held at the Buderim Mountain Primary School under the massive pine trees that they have there. It was overcast and there was a cold wind blowing through. The chairs were set out for all the special guests, the public crowded around in whatever space they could, the small stage was elevated set with the microphone and the community band was positioned next to the stage. The speeches began and then it was time to sing Abide with me. As I was singing, my eyes brimmed up with tears. I took a moment to steady myself and continued watching. When the wreaths were being laid and the war widows went up to lay their wreaths, I again could not contain my emotion and had tears threatening to surge down my face. Then a boy from one of the local schools read a poem about an old digger who sits on a bench and a boy approaches him and asks what the medals are for and whether he has them because he is a hero. To this the digger replies that he is not a hero but all those that lost their lives are. He then gives the boy the medals and tells him to treasure them and not to forget the heroes that died in the war. At this I could barely see through the tears and the fact that Last Post and the Reverie didn’t leave me in a good state. Never has Anzac Day affected me this much. This year for some reason it finally hit home and I could not keep the tears from flowing. I don’t know if was because I have been to Gallipoli and have seen where these men (and women) fought and heard about the conditions they were living in just to fight for their country and the freedom of their country or not but this year was beautiful and really emotional. Maybe I finally understand what Anzac Day is all about.

 I have a lot of respect for those serving whether I agree with the war they are fighting or not. When I went back and joined my family I was again in tears to the point where I hid under my hoodie until I had composed myself enough to attempt to look respectable (and all this emotion when I was just talking about how I have a lack of emotional response to many things). It was very emotional service for me and I think that it’s the best service I have been to yet.

Tri - whywouldyoueverwanttodothisbychoice - athlons

Triathlons are really tiring. Why does one put themselves in that type of physical pain out of choice? And why would you do that type of exercise for enjoyment? At what point do you say to yourself, doing three types of really long and really tiring exercises is what I want to do with my life? Why would that be your choice of sport out of all the sports the world has to offer? And why would you want your kid doing that?
These are all the questions that I asked myself when I turned up to the Gold Coast Triathlon (very) early on Sunday morning. My friend was really interested in doing a triathlon and somehow convinced me it was an awesome idea and for some unknown reason I had agreed to do the swim leg as part of a team competition. I got really excited and started going to the pool every now and then, training up as you do (although my training didn't start until about a week before the actual event). Then it came to Sunday morning and gettting up at 5.30am. I looked outside and it was still dark and sitting on the bed in the hotel room all I could think of was, "How did I get into this situation?" I got up, put on my togs and packed my towel and goggles. I was set, although I had forgotten to bring sporty clothing. All I had was denim shorts, and my campers for shoes. I didn't even remember to bring my runners.
So walking down to the event was pretty hilarious. All I could think of was that I completely did not fit in and that I stuck out like a sore thumb "People must be looking at me and they can tell that I don't fit in here. They can tell that beneath this hoodie I am not as fit as they as. Its like how animals can smell fear. These people can smell that I don't do triathalons. They can tell that I don't take it seriously, them in their professional looking gear, with their million dollar bikes and shoes and all their muscles."
Really I was just being a drama queen. No one cared. They weren't interested in me, why would they be?
There were quite a few people that hadn't done them before and a few people that were in it just to complete it. So with my cap and my goggles, I got into that water and swam my heart out. Only to find out that I had swam in the wrong race and my race wasn't for another hour. Also this race was only 300m no the 700m I actually had to do. No wonder it had seemed so easy and so fast. No wonder I was leaving people behind. It was only the enticers race which was half of what my friend and I were doing. We looked at each other and we knew we were thinking the exact same thing. Why hadn't we entered into the enticers race? Well I had had a nice little warm up regardless.
So an hour later, with a different coloured cap, I entered the water again, this time for real. My arms hurt, my lungs were buring a little from sucking in the air, my legs had a mind of their own, whether they were kicking or not I can't even remember, but swim I did. And not only did I make it but I didn't come last. I had actually taken over a few people after I had found my rhythm and settled into a good steady (for me) pace. Not only that, I had taken over a few people from the races before mine (the races left every few minutes so it maybe wasn't that much a big deal but still). So I was out of the water and running toward where my friend was standing with the bike. I got there and had to take the time band thing off (its a thing they give you to record the time you complete the triathlon in) to give it to my friend. My hands were shaking but I managed to put it around her ankle and velcro it on properly. Then off she went. She did both the bike leg (20km) and the running leg (5km). I don't knokw how she did it after only doing training for it twice but we completed it. It was actually quite a good feeling completing it. (I think next time -if there is ever a next time- I would like to try to do all three but definitely at an enticer level.)

And we didn't come last so that is a win for me. On the way home we treated ourselves to a bit of S-Club 7 in the car. A well deserved treat.

Roar Final

 The Roar final the other night was great. The game might not have been to the higest quality (it especailly wasn't the Roar's best game this season) but it was still a good game to witness. Also the amount of people that turned up to see a soccer game in Australia is awesome to see. There were something like 50 334, if I rememeber correctly. I bet that there wouldn't even have been half that a few years ago. But why are there only this many people at the final? Don't people know that the more support the teams get, essentially meaning the more people that turn up to their games, the better the entire competition will get? I know many people say that the A-League is absolute rubbish and there is no point in watching it or going to their games but I believe there is. The only way that it will get better is through funding and as the government will not help much with that, then it is up to fans and attendance. Once their is enough attendance and support then maybe the government will put more money into the sport (which would be really nice cause then they might be able to get a proper women's league going). We have no Premier League here so how are we going to get to see live games? Soccer is the best sport so we have to support it in our own country. 

I do have a few bones to pick though. Firstly, most of our players are imported. Don't get me wrong, its awesome, it helps with different playing techniques and experiences but I thought this was supposed to be an Australian competition. Instead of beefing up the teams with players fresh off the plane, focus on developing players in your own country, its cheaper and  it leads to better skills and knowledge of the game. Secondly,we have no songs. That is one of the best parts of going to games overseas, all the teams have songs that are iconic to that team. They are distinguishable and all the fans know them. We lack that. Our songs are unoriginal and not everyone knows them. Also we don't have an iconic song that is just for Brisbane Roar. There is one thing where the crowd spells out Brisbane but it is far too slow to the point where I didn't realise what they were spelling. There is just a serious lack in the song department. 

The other things I have to pick are for the entire soccer world and not specific to Australia or the Roar, the diving. I mean seriously, this is ridiculous. Diving at every tackle and lying there clutching your leg only to get up and continue playing has given soccer players and the game a reputation of being weak. This is not a weak sport so stop taking the dive people and just play the game. Berisha took a dive in the injury time and it resulted in a penalty which gave us the win. It was pretty controversial especially when the big screens in the stadium kept replaying all the camera angles of the tackle. You could clearly see that Berisha didn't get touched by the Perth defender when he goes crashing to the ground. I bet the Perth fans were/are not happy about that.

But then there are also the situations were the player goes down and stays down and causes the game to be stopped when they could clearly keep playing without all the fuss. For example Shane Smeltz went down and had a blood nose. They didn't continue the game for like 5 minutes. I know you can add this to injury time and it doesn't really matter, but its your nose, not your legs. Like my friend said at the time "I hurt my nose, I can't use my legs." Its ridiculous. Man up. (it may have been more serious than just a sore nose but really, either get off the field or keep playing.)

Then not only that but the Australian Football Federation handed the Joe Marston Medal for the A-League grand final's best player to Thomas Broitch from Roar when it was supposed to go to Perth Glory captain Jacob Burns. Oh that is embarrassing. Well I bet that made Perth fans even more upset.

Oh and the man sitting behind me. Wow did you not shut up the entire game. I was surprised that you didn't lose your voice. The amount of swear words that were coming out of your mouth was ridiculous and also repetitive. I felt like you needed a thesaurus so that you could have more variety. Also your comments were a little, how should I term this... ludicrous! "To win, you have to get the ball!" Oh really? You need the ball to win? The game makes so much more sense now, I am glad that you told (yelled really loudly into my ear from behind) me.

In the end its all part of the game. These things are annoying but its still a beautiful game. I know we have technology now where we could indeed have video referees and check the replays multiple times before a decision is made like they now do in rubgy and tennis but I think that would ruin it. Its so traditional in this way and if there weren't all the controversies, like the ending of this game (or even Maradona's Hand of God goal in the World Cup) then it wouldn't be half as exciting.

Kony follow up...

I don't know about anyone else but I certainly didn't see many, if any, posters, stickers or murals in relation to the Make Kony Famous Campaign by the group Invisible Children. When I was down on the Gold Cost I saw two posters, one on a street sign and the other, I think, was on a lamp post. That was the extent that Kony reached out in that part of town as far as I can tell. I don't know about other places or about other parts of the world but as far as I can tell, it flopped. People failed to take action from the internet to the streets.
I read this article from the Guardian (Kony 2012 Cover the Night fails to move from internet to the streets) where few people were found supporting the cause and there was even a silence over facebook and twitter about the subject. People seemed to avoid it altogether.
So the unity that this video was trying to coordinate on a global scale has largely flopped, severely damaging the credibility of the campaign. The video may have failed to attract the size of reaction that it was hoping for but they still got some sort of reaction.
They told their audience to never give up but after this underwhelming reaction, what will they do now?

Bombshells

http://www.queenslandtheatre.com.au/what-is-on/mainstage/bomb-shells/

The newest show on the list of productions by the Queensland Theatre Company, Bombshells written by Joanna Murray-Smith, is a view into the thoughts, feelings and lives of a variety of modern day women. It explores the life of a mother (Meryl) and the hectic goings on of a life with young children, the heart break and saddness of an enthusiastic succulent (cactus) grower whose husband has left her (Tiggy), the worries of a young, confident and talented girl (Mary) performing in her school talent show, the wedding day of a woman (Theresa) who takes a look at her life and realises that marriage isn't really what she wants, the life and adventures of a widow (Winsome) who meets with her widows' club almost everyday of the week and reads to the blind and the sad, lonely life of a performer (Zoe). Each story has unique, quirky moments that shed light on a variety of modern day women. And its hilarious.
Christen O'Leary did a brillinat job of portraying each character. Its amazing how much just the slightest change of clothes or of accent can change a person completely. There was never a time during the performance that I said to myslef that this is just the same person being all these different women. To me she completely changed each character. Her northern english accent may not have been the best accent I have ever heard but it also wasn't the worst, not by a long shot. Being all those women certainly must have been exhausting but the performance was great.
I have seen Caroline O'Connor on youtube do this play and her set was insanely detailed and elaborate. Director Wesley Enoch went for a minimalist approach and it really worked. Its such a small stage and it was utilised really well. A small amount of props and and simple costumes meant that you could use your imagination to fill in the rest which really worked for this play.
And the people in the audience were certainly entertained, especially the woman seated in front of us who sounded like a seal when she laughed. It all added to the atmosphere of the performance. Now my brother wasn't a real fan of this play. It is very woman orientated (obviously) but there were many men in the audience and many of those men loved it so I would still recommend it for the male population.