Pimp Daddy and the Summerside
Wherein our narrator puts on his bling
bling.
Oh my god what a weekend. Finally the weather
has started to turn summery. Saturday it was maybe 85, just a touch humid, with
a sky as clear and blue as those summer skies that decorate Seattle. You
couldn't keep from being outside - you were drawn to it. Even though I had
nothing particular planned during the daytime - just lots of errand running and
shopping for "Chrissie" (as the Australians call Christmas), I took a swim
during the heat of the day. Cool water, bright sun, blue sky. There are very
few things in the world that could make me
happier.
Life is sweet. That's really
all of it. Work is going well, I have a nice circle of friends, a busy social
and professional schedule, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Now it should
be understood that as we approach the Summer Solstice - which is about 7 days
away now - I have a tendency to get more and more manic, become unable to sleep,
etc. So far that hasn't happened, but I suspect I'll have to keep myself
thoroughly well yoga-ed and exhausted from swimming and starved of carbohydrates
to keep that fully in check. We'll see. This is a bit of a test on the
carbohydrate mood theory, and I'll be interested to know the
results.
Friday evening was the AFTRS
Christmas party, which, on the whole, was far better than most of the
work-related Christmas parties I've been to through the years. The theme was
"Vegas in the 70s" and Studio 1 was converted into a casino/nightclub, with tiny
dining tables and a stage. As it happens, there are many frustrated musicians
at AFTRS, who get their opportunity to perform before an appreciative audience
at this once-a-year event. In fact, the band performed a two-hour set (!) of
rock-n-roll (Peter Mylin, dressed as a very Vegas Elvis, opened with "Viva Las
Vegas"), punk, some crooning (surprisingly, from a fellow who did a reasonable
Tony Bennett), and so forth. There was quite a bit of dancing as well. All
quite a bit of fun.
Every Christmas
party is meant to have at least one horrific act which becomes the touchstone
memory for everyone who attends the party. This year, that honor belonged to a
tart who came on the arm of a fellow who was a former occasional gaffer on AFTRS
productions. We saw her early in the evening, because she was obviously
flirting with the men at the party, and her right breast was nearly falling out
of her very low-cut spangly gold dress. Very attractive. Then - when I was
out in the parking lot, doing lord-knows-what with Nemo, Ben and Nicola - she
mounted the stage, and dropped her top, displaying her breasts. Three times.
But that wasn't enough folks; she also hiked up her dress above her waist.
Three times. And she wasn't wearing any
underwear.
Actually I'm really glad I
didn't see this, because now I won't have to wipe that vision of Tazzie out of
my head. (A brief explanation for my American friends: Tasmania is shaped very
much like a woman's pubic triangle, so Melbourne slang for cunnulingus is "going
to Tazzie".) By the time we came back into the studio, the room was abuzz about
it. So now everyone has something to talk
about.
I came dressed as "Pimp Daddy",
with white hat, pimp cane, polyester white leopard shirt, white pants, and
Nicola dressed as my "Ho". I'll do my best to get some photos of how we looked
- because goodness knows we were an attractive duo. I really needed more
jewelry than I was wearing - not nearly enough of the bling bling, unfortunately
- but it still looked outstanding.
And
now my last formal week of work at AFTRS, at least in the sense that my
appearances in the office will become a lot more unpredictable after this. I
know I'll be in next Monday (I have a lunch meeting), but other than that, I
think I'm going to try to become a bit of a beach bum. We'll see. The beaches
may be crowded with obnoxious Poms, so I might choose to avoid the whole affair
and stick it out down the street at the pool. But it will be nice to work on a
tan, and have time to do some exploring of
Sydney.
Went to see Master and
Commmander: The Far Side of the World with Bernard and Heather last night, which
I quite enjoyed, though it was very unusual for a Hollywood movie: neither
plot-driven nor character study, but something in-between the two. A sea tale.
On the walk home (it turns out that Fox Studios is only about a 15 minute walk
from their place) Heather told me there's an apartment for rent in their
building, the Hart. At AUD $310 a week, it falls right into the middle range
of what I wanted to pay for rent, and they do live in a very nice, brand-new
building. So today I'll reschedule my plane tickets, and give the rental agents
a call about this place. We'll see if they're willing to wait until the 1st of
February to rent the unit. To me!
Whee!
Epping
approaches.
***
Went
to see two units, actually, in The Hart. The first, on the 5th floor, was a
true stunner, hardwood floors and balcony, at AUD $360 a week. Not all that
much really, but I don't yet know how much I'll be earning at AFTRS. The AUD
$310 unit, which is the one I was interested in, is a little apartment down on
the second floor. Not cramped, but certainly not big. Not at all. But there
was something about it. It's got a metal-framed frosted glass door separating
the living room area from the bedroom - which is maybe just big enough for a
queen-sized bed - and a full closet. Won't be needing a dresser or armoire
there. Not tons of storage space, but a sufficient amount for my own needs.
And with some interesting colored lighting, it would be very interesting indeed.
(Should buy some fairy lights in a post-christmas sale. Hmm.)
In any case, I don't feel comfortable
spending $360/week on an apartment unless I'm going to know that I'm making
enough at AFTRS to afford it. And given the rumors about how much AFTRS pays
its lecturers/teachers, I'm not holding out that much hope for a lucrative
offer. Still, it should be possible to develop a budget once I have some idea
of how much I'll be making, and perhaps I will upgrade to the $360 unit. We'll
see. (Perhaps I can get them down to $350. Whoohoo!) In any case I stated my
interest and I'll be expecting to hear from the agent tomorrow...
Posted: Mon - December
15, 2003 at 08:28 AM