What have I been doing with all my free time after exams? Writing blogs, lazing around, eating, and watching movies! Oh yes and checking online twice a day every day for exam results...
And I’ve discovered the three fundamental types of movies. There may be more, and if so, feel free to add and correct me...
Just a couple of hundred meters down the road from Sydney Uni along King Street is my favourite place in Newtown (though Newtown Thai II comes a VERY close second) - Kuletos the cocktail bar.
Let's get one thing straight: I do not understand installation.
Whenever I visit art exhibits, I'm afraid to eat or even use the bathroom, lest I disturb some unobtrusive piece of art.
So when I arrived at the Sydney College of the Arts Degree Show, I was armed with a healthy sense of alertness (and not without alarm).
For most students who catch the train to uni, you will get off at Redfern Station. Right opposite the train station is The Block – the “notorious” patch around Eveleigh St that boasts a strong Aboriginal community. The Block is often in the news for all the wrong reasons: the death of TJ Hickey, the Redfern Riots and the redevelopment of the area.
If you are coming to Sydney Uni – know that you are coming onto Gadigal land. You owe it to the traditional owners of this land to get your facts right about the community living in The Block. The way to do this is to see Gathering Ground, an innovative, amazing production by Redfern Community Centre and PACT Youth Theatre bringing together over 40 of The Block’s children to tell their stories.
On Thursday the 7th of September, officially the best night I've had in Sydney yet, four unassuming kids from the Blue Mountains (including one of my best friends) took out the Band Comp final held at Manning, leaving with $2500 in prize money and a legion of new fans (or "Cloud Converts" as they're becoming known). Following in the footsteps of Band Comp big names such as The Vines, Youth Group, Frenzal Rhomb and Tim Freedman (think the Whitlams), Cloud Control is making quite a name for themselves in the local indie/powerpop scene, racking up considerable airtime on FBI radio and lining up gigs like they're going out of fashion...
Cloud Control L-R: Heidi Lenffer on piano, Ulrich Lenffer on drums, Al Wright on guitar and Jeremy Kelshaw on bass.
In high school, as part of the Year-12-Fest that was the last week of Term 3, we had our farewell assembly, our graduation night, but most anticipated by all was our FLOP - a bunch of skits put on by the Year 12s poking fun at the teachers and school, giving everyone a great laugh, and showcasing our “talent”.
Uni’s answer to this are the Revues.
An invitation to attend a lecture given by the American Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice was more problematic than you would first imagine. Does the fact that I take issue with her actions and those of the administration she represents mean that I should have politely declined?
Let's not beat arond the bush here (no pun intended), there was never any chance that I was going to refuse. Does that make me a sell out? Maybe. However, It's not as if the absence of the extremely un-eminent Tim was going to be any skin off her nose. I began to see it as an opportunity to see one of the most powerful women in the world and hear what she had to say for herself and her actions. What ensued was an insight into her truth, freedom and American way.
Dr Condoleeza Rice, the first African-American female US Secretary of State, is a facinating public person and an enigma to most. I've heard her referred to as "The Most Powerful Woman in the World", "The Neo-Wicked Witch of the West" and "The Right-Wing Oprah". See what happened when she came to speak to 300 students at Sydney University's Conservatorium of Music...
This movie isn't in the top ten films for this week. It's not very good. I wrote some more things about it.
