Monday, December 19, 2011

Familiar faces, new places & tiny spaces

It was a good weekend :)
Saturday night we went out to see some of our favourite Loony performers putting on three One Act plays in A Night of Theatre.
L-R: David Ladderman, Sophie Ewert, Tom Trevella

They might have been familiar faces but in order to see them, we had to go somewhere new. That's one thing about the earthquakes and their effects on various buildings - we've been to some interesting places in order to watch all kinds of performers and performances. This time we were headed to the Old Boys' Theatre at Christ's College, which seems to have withstood the quakes rather well.

But, not all is quite as well with the other beautiful neo-Gothic buildings of this venerable educational institution... step back a bit further and the temporary prefab classrooms come into view:
Other buildings are wrapped in scaffolding and netting, much like swaddling cloth around a newborn.
A little protection from the elements... and in some cases, it seems to be a matter of keeping up appearances and maintaining a gentlemanly facade..
Who knew buildings could be photoshopped?

And the show? Wonderful, as always! Although each was performed by a single actor, the three plays were completely different, in content and writing/performance style. If you're looking for something fabulous to see in January, I heartily recommend booking for 'Hanussen - The palace of burlesque'. The next phase of development in the 'Berlin Burlesque' series, this show promises laughs, acrobatics, music and finely toned flesh... Just read the review from the Nelson Mail :)

Another familiar face in a new place is my friend Adele and her business, Whare - currently trading out of the garage at her Beckenham home, and in part of Snowride Sports' premises in Addington. Check out her video interview with The Press.

Now onto the tiny spaces (although Adele's garage isn't very large!)...

Understandably, I seem to have developed an interest in building and living in small spaces, and sometimes I come across something that reminds me that what we're about to build would be considered palatial in some parts of the world. Check out this tiny Manhattan apartment:

But wait! There's More! Or should that be less... so much less... How about this teeny tiny apartment in King's Cube, Hong Kong?
Although the video is a parody - the ultra successful final project of a film school student - the apartment that features is only too real. This tiny, overpriced box could be yours for just HK$100 a night.

And then there's this tiny space:
This is what hubby & I will be dossing down in during Rhythm & Alps... a teensy little mini-caravan that will be our home for the duration of the music event. Bring it on! Only 8 days to go.
I think Christchurch will be rather empty over Xmas/New Year's - everyone will be trying to get away somewhere else if they possibly can, just for a break.

In other good news, our much-travelled EQC cheque arrived in the mail over the weekend. Banked it today. TYVM EQC! And I got a lovely letter from the Pro Vice Chancellor of Arts at UC, informing me that I'd made the grade*. Cheers, Ed. It wasn't easy to hold it together over the 24 months of my Honours 'year' - the last 15 months in particular have been rather interesting... dealing with upheavals and disruptions, and trying to clear the brain of earthquake-induced fog in order to conduct research and write essays. I'm glad I was a part-time student with the ability to rearrange my course load significantly this year.

*what grade? It would be gauche to brag, surely... so I'll just let Delaney Davidson sing us out with this very appropriate song...

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