can't keep up!

Things are happening faster than i can write about them.
And strangely now, i just want to be in them, not write about them.

Also 'im going to eventually switch to myspace, then i can upload songs, when i've recorded them. all in good time.

I have alice russell to tell you about, and a trip to rotorua and a triathlon!!!
we came 22 out of 147 teams, choice ahy. I swam James cycled I ran.
james is incredible. he pulls us from the top of the average pile to the middle of the winning pile.
We're going to nail it next year, reckon we could make top five.
and it's a world series you know. people come from all over the world to do it. amazing ahy.
i ran so hard i was nearly sick. thats the spirit.

And then theres coherent and karoke with dan and cam and dancing and laughter and meeting Pieter pan. :)

I have a poem in my chest that is rising like a tide, coming up in waves, creeping up my calves.

Will write it out when I can.

Currently sitting at work so unbelievably sleep deprived, living on happyness, water, coffee and rice being held together by a single strand of cotton and one piece of gum. When I fall over it will be into a deep dark cat purry bear furry cave of sleepy goodness.

Heres the start of the Alice Russell story. It'll probalby never get finished.

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SHOOOOOEEEE!!!!!

Sometimes a thing is as good as you hope it will be from start to finish.

The DAY tickets for Alice Russell went on sale, with my heart pounding I bought two.
I felt like the holder of the last Golden Tickets, and one to spare for a lucky friend! I was going to make someones day really good.

I have all three Alice Russell CDs on constant rotation in the car. Alice Russell and the various remixes of her songs are pretty much the soundtrack to my life. Sometimes I feel like I only listen to other music so that when I come back to Alice I will appreciate it so much more.

For me it's the music I can sing my FACE off to in the car, long, loud, big, fat, screechy, high, deep harmonious notes. Funky soul, Love, life and Munkying around.

I took my partner in dancing crime miss Amy (soon to be) Joe. Me and Aims dancing together should be a illegal it's so good. She was the perfect compadre.

I've been verrrrry good lately, but despite the fact that I've got to do the swim and run of a tri tomorrow, in true self destructive style I had a few wee wines. Sometimes it's just really fun to be tipsy ahy?

The gig was in the Opium, in the Imax building on Queen St. What a classy joint. Far too classy to be in Auckland, infact it reminded me distinctly of Vintage in Welly. Up a Rose red carpeted and curling staircase which is a timetravel machine back to the richness and finess of the 1920s meets the brown wood and block colour of the 70s meets clean lines and minimalism of the 21st century.

As you enter you pass a wall of bar on your right, behind it a wall of opaque glass, backlit, reaching to the ceiling and an inconceivable amount of piss staggeringly lined up and up and up the wall. The bar is 3 people deep. Chocolate brown wood. Chocolate brown bar stools and couches. High ceilings, thats what gives the whole place a feeling of extravagance. The crowd is older than I expected, mid thirties professionals, and older.
Not what i'd expected at all, I feel like a kid who's snuck out of bed to peek at mum and dads party.

But then faces start coming out of the crowd, me and Amy spot all the kids that we know, I realise the other half of the crowd is that group of Aucklanders that is all one degree of separation from each other, rakinos people and musicians mostly. Everyone knows everyone. In Auckland it is as simple as that.

The main area bit has a leeedle tiny stage and then a leeedle tiny semi circular dancefloor that is hemmed by booths. Booths are staggered back and up, back and up. So it is mostly for seated gigs! huh! Each booth is a semi circle of couch, covered lavishly in rich velvety red covering swirling with floral art nouveau designs. Low dark wooden tables at their centre with glass candle holders and flickering candles dotting the dimly lit room.
Visually, it is rich and old style opulence like a christmas roast spread from banquet in the 1700s.
I can't take it all in.

The toilets have couches (when really all women need is two more toilets) but nice touch. All browns. Tiles. Mirrors. Spaciousness. Clean. And then more mirrors.
We mingle, lose each other, find people, chat. The support band is the wonderful Tara and The Tornado's which is (the ones I know) Tara from Opensouls on vocals, looking as stunning and glamourous as a woman can, owning the stage, pouring on the vocals, smearing us with her big smokey fire engine of a voice, Chip from Che Fu and the Crates on base, Isaac from all over the place on trumpet, a sax, guitar, drums.. okay sorry i dont' know them all.
It's the perfect precursor to Alice. It's big funky soul jazz and it's pied piper music and do we ever dance.
I am SO proud of us.
We dance immediately, a tall guy in a colourful paisley shirt goes straight to the front of the room and dances without any modesty using all of his limbs. We fill in behind him. We all dance. I can't really tell you what people look like because i grin and gleam at the band or have my eyes closed, i'm a bloody trancer when it comes to dancing, a world of my own.
It's big it's fun it's funky and it's getting hotter and hotter.
Small interlude then the main attraction.
We scream and squeal and yell and stomp and clap. Again I'm SO proud of us, Aucklanders usually lean back fold their arms and say 'oh yeah... 'sallright'
but not us, not here, we're the jump up and down types. ahhhhh i'm with the right people.
Out she comes, the white queen of soul. petite and curvaceous, a rocket in a five foot frame, an explosion dressed like a burlesque british babe.



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we danced. danced. danced. screamed and yelled so loud for an encore that the noise was no longer sound but became vibration. I could have seen that concert three times in a row back to back.
never enough. can never get enough of that womans voice. I taped the whole thing on my fone, it's the most atrocious feedbacky screechy recording, but its so wonderful.

okay god. i'm supposed to be working. i have the most whopper to do list and am doing a training on wednesday. aieesh. four and one half hours to go. least i love this job so much i can do it sleep deprived.

one peice of gum and a single strand of cotton.

eeeeeee

like a little mouse
on a big wooden sailing boat
off to see the world