Another night, another cultural event. The NZ ballet was in town this week so I picked up a ticket on my way home from work last night. Handy having Ticketek on the route between work & home! It was 3 short contemporary dance performances ... no tu-tus or nut crackers in sight. (Here comes the NY Times Theatre Critic again...) It was really cool - high energy and well, not what you expect of a ballet. The first part was set to a fast-paced celtic beat, the second was a slower spiritual ritual or something that went way over my head, and the third was a "tribute" (perhaps not the right word) to Las Vegas showgirls, complete in flashy costumes, high heels and Las Vegas lights. Very fun and changed my stereotypical opinion of ballets. Although the audience was very much a stereotypical ballet audience... grannies, mothers & daughters and the posh middle-aged, with a few out of place individuals splattered throughout (me).

It's a gorgeous day here in the city - about 21 degrees in the sun, about 6 in the shade. The sun is so nice and warm but the air is really cool, leaving cool breezes and chilly nights. (Tight squeeth, cool breeth). Should be a beautiful weekend on Waiheeeeeeeke - I'm just checking out all the things to do - kayaking, vineyard tours, walking paths - for a small island (about 25km from tip to tip but about 120km of coastline) there's quite a bit to do. There's also a fishing competition on, but, as some have experienced, me & the fish try to keep our distance.

I apologize for the constant presence of inside jokes and one liners that most don't understand. Quite frankly, if I explained them all, you'd realize just how horrible of a person I am. No need for that. Absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, not the head grow wiser.

Mamma Mia that was a fun night! The show was fantastic - fun and lively and extremely well done. It incorporates all ABBA music (I think a few of the slower songs were originals, but die-hard ABBA-addicts may correct me) so it was really entertaining. The funniest parts were when the would use the lines from the song in the dialogue to lead into the music. I know right now it's hard to tell the difference between me & the theatre critic for the New York Times with all these technical terms, so just rest assured that I really enjoyed it. At the end the cast came back up to do 3 more songs (with full choreographed dancing) and had the whole audience up dancing with them! (Up in their seats - we didn't get to rush the stage or have a mosh pit or anything).

Outshining the show however, was the theatre! It was at the Civic Theatre (I posted a pic of outside and will upload more of inside soon) which was built in the 1920's with an oriental theme for the outer lobby and roman for the theatre itself. The lobbies are all done with buddhas and elephants and monkeys, etc. on the walls and ceilings and chandeliers, everywhere. It's incredible. Then the inside of the theatre (which seats 3000) looks and feels like an outdoor Roman theatre will the large columns and stone art. The ceiling in it is made to look like the sky with stars twinkling and clouds floating - I was happy just in the room, nevermind the show! It was all redone in 1999 (costing a mere $45m) to restore it to its original state, and has only reopened within the last year or so. It took 33 weeks to build in the early 1920's and 4 years to restore in the 2000's. That's progress for you!

And you think you're the only ones breaking records! February rainfall has been up to 5 times the average amount in parts of NZ this year, about 3x the annual average in Auckland. So there was reason for a little complaining. Keep you fingers crossed for March & April.

Lots of excitement this week... tonight's Mamma Mia, tomorrow Pam's sister Rebecca arrives and this weekend Sherilyn & I are heading to Waiheke (I like to say it Wai-heeeeee-ke) Island for the weekend! It's not Cuba, but it should be nice.

We were able to snag preview tickets for Mamma Mia (which officially opens tomorrow) and hopefully have decent seats - I'll let you know! I'm really excited for it as it's been a loooong time since I've seen a production like this... like Chad & I in Ottawa seeing Rent long time. I really love the city for this aspect in all that's happening around us. Meatloaf is here next weekend and playing with the Philharmonia. Sherilyn's dying to go but I'm not sold on the idea yet (mucho moolah required)... AND John Mayer is coming in April. Don't know if I'll make it to that one, but chances are I'll put it on my to do list!

Pam's older sister Rebecca arrives tomorrow. I plan to stay at least another week, possibly 2, which may have us living like Chinese in a freight crate, but it should be fun to have another newbie - lessened our rent this week to almost reasonable levels.

Next door to our apartment is the Auckland Chinese Presbyterian Church. I laugh every time I walk by as I think of all the bursaries & scholarships offered in highschool to "the second born child of the Miscouche Fire Chief from 1987-1993 who also sings in the church choir, plays rugby, has suffered personal tragedy and can prove financial need". And the awards were only ever for like $50. You had to have 8 people justify that you meant the ridiculous amount of criteria that were usually mutually exclusive of each other anyway. It was an exhausting procedure that I obviously have not yet gotten over. How the 2 relate, I don't know, but like I said, everyday I chuckle at the thought.

And as for Waiheeeeeke, it's a small island about a 30min ferry ride from here (well the ferry actually leaves from the docks, not the BNZ Tower, but anyway) and it's just a city getaway. There's a small permanent population and many cityfolk have a "bach" (beach house) there. There's beaches and watersports and there's even a nude beach, but I think we'll sit that one out!

I was thanked during an Oscar acceptance speech! I don't consider myself to be part of the "people of New Zealand" just yet. No, I'm the "people who helped make it happen" category. I helped that golden boy get into Pete's hands... I filed some of the financing paperwork for the film. Sure did. I didn't want to brag before, don't need the paparazzi, but just thought I could share that with you all.

Did everyone enjoy the show? We watched it in the park! There was a mobile cinema set up with a jumbo screen in the Aotea park (I still don't know how to say that) that is about 3 min from our apt. We headed there shortly after 8 (once we watched the NZ Idol reveal show - I'm hooked and I'm not ashamed) with our sleeping bags in tow and set up camp for the night. There was only a small crowd of maybe 100 or so people but most were really into the show and all the NZ wins. Some a little too much so and unfortunately situated themselves right behind us, but thems the breaks. One guy was there videotaping the whole thing because his mom won an Oscar!!! It was the screen adaptation one that was accepted by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh (his wife) and this guy's mom! So that was even more exciting!

My claims to fame are growing... How I deal, I don't know!

Another weekend, another absence from the blogging. Whoops. It was a rainy, windy weekend here as Auckland was catching the tailend of a storm off the Tasman sea (to the west, between NZ and Aus) and a cyclone to the east - or the other way around, either way it was just not nice. But yes, I do appreciate the fact it was not snow and am in no way complaining!

The weather kept us all pretty homebound as it started at 4:55 Friday evening (I could watch it grow darker and darker until, as I shut down my computer, it started to downpour) and ended last evening. Saturday morning Pam, Sherilyn & I were out early as we had make-over appointments! The large department store, Smith & Coughy (pronounced Co-ee), has a million make-up counters, some of which offer free make-overs, during which they teach you new techniques for choosing and applying the war paint. We had ours done by Bobbi Brown (not Whitney's husband) and it was wonderful. Whoever said you don't need make-up to be beautiful is a BIG FAT LIAR! For the Oprah fans out there (no, I'm not counting myself among you) Bobbi Brown is the make-up she always features and gives away. Have you ever seen Oprah without her face? 'Nuff said. We took before & after shots which I will upload in the next few days to prove this.

The rest of Saturday was spent puttering around town, buying new make-up (turns out the last time I purchased most of mine I was a resident of Ireland) and getting a haircut (not a picture worth showing the results of. The hairdresser didn't understand what I meant when I described it as "boxy" and masculine"). $52 later and I look like I'm reviving Beatle-mania.