Bye, Rieke and Buddy!

At the airport. First stop Thailand, next stop Melbourne for studious 6 months at the Australian Centre, then New Zealand, the US and Mexico. They'll be back sometime next year.
Good luck, Rieke! Another Mistress of the Arts to be. YEY to you and Melbourne!!!
And Buddy, be a good girl over there! I trust you...

Posted by Ingale

Peace!

For the first time in my little uninspired life I got an autograph... Some people might not find this significant but I do. And this is my blog. Huh. So, Monday night, it was cold and dark but there was a plan. Dinner and music. It turned out to be Thai for dinner and a One-man-happy-Aussie-folk-show for the music part. I almost choked to death over my green curry, which might have been the hotness of the yummy food, my desire to talk as much as I could while eating (which is sometimes not such a good idea) OR the company... An extremely small Aussie girl was sitting across from me (no names here. Don't want to offend anyone.) . Could that have startled me enough to choke on a green pea??? Who knows. I'm not a vengeful person, so I didn't make her run after the car but offered her the passenger seat next to me.

I'm going to skip some of the really exciting bits and get to the point: Xavier Rudd, who I can only describe as the happy Australian version of Ben Harper (although i realise that it's not fair to XR to compare him to anyone at all), really rocked the Kalkscheune, even though there were not as many people as there should have been. Well, they missed out big time because this little blond Aussie guy just really knows how to wrap his serious pleads into summerlike storms of beaming sunrays, thundering waves and mind-blowing, hip-moving beats and sounds. Anyone who hasn't had the chance to see him yet and will have the opportunity, should go and see him. You won't regret it! Unless you don't want to get addicted. Well, it's too late for me! Ani is still my top girl but Xavier is somewhere up there with her. Andy and I met him as we were walking out and he was not only nice but also down to earth and surprisingly open, given that he does concerts for a living. There and then he signed first Andy's CD and then mine. I felt a bit like a groupie but he didn't seem to mind at all. He even carried an Edding with him so he could sign anything anytime. He's coming back in March. I know where I'll be when he's on stage here in Berlin... PEACE!

Now back to real life. As I've announced before: I'm now officially freed of any semblance with Al Bundy! No shoes, no shoe talk, no sales voices, no customers, none of that anymore! YEY!

My mother got sooo excited about it that her heart decided to skip a few beats again. I had to take her to hospital yesterday morning after an ordeal of convincing her to let me take her and not ignore the bad state she was in. She can be a tough cookie, my mother, but when it comes to looking after her own increasingly fragile body or letting someone else take over the looking after or expressing concern she is like a little kid who doesn't want to take a bath because she doesn't like water. Well, I spend a long time in the emergency ward waiting. It turned out they had forgotten me, so that I only found out that my mother had been admitted to hospital after four hours. She was much better when I eventually sat by her side but they still need to send some electric shockwaves through her to make her heart conform again. Hopefully she'll be out of hospital tonight. Have I mentioned that I love my mother amazingly much!

And what have we learned from all that? Avoid green peas and keep your excitement to yourself!

It's all good. At least it will be very soon. Look, Oi don't agree but Oi think it's noice. Different. Unusual...

Hey folks!

Yes, I'm still alive. Short news update: you can still call me Al (REALLY getting over the shoe thing... I wonder if it's a bad sign when I keep dreaming about shoes...), I'm still single (or again depending on what you consider non-single), my preliminary home turns out to be a bit more permanent, which is nice because then I don't have to worry about moving and I love living in that neighbourhood (close to the canal, to the vibrant life of underdog Berlin and 2 minutes away from both my sisters).

And one rather surprising news (at least to me): part of my thesis might get published next year in the New talents edition of the Journal of Australian Studies. Would mean that those horrible five months of giving birth to my intellectual and degree-giving brainmash is going to be appreciated by more than just two people (my supervisors). Scary if you think about it.

Anyways, just wanted to say hello. shucks i

Election day

hey folks!

Long time, no write. Hence there's quite a few news to report (if anyone is still checking this blog after such a long time of neglect...).

1. Elections. Germany decides today if Maggy Thatcher II will take over the reign of this ailing country... If there wasn't enough reason before to emigrate, then there definitely would be... We can only hope and get drunk all the while. I was going to be a good girl tonight but I think it's going to be a close thing between the German Labour and Conservative side. Too much anxiety and also fear of a conservative tidal wave that needs to be drowned. Wish us luck!!!

2. I got a job. Unfortuantely it's one of those money-earning jobs: threetimes a week I stand my feet sore in a shoe shop. Guess what I'm doing there! Yes, I'm selling shoes. Call me Al. Al Bundy. I've heard this one many times...

3. I might get a real job soon. Maybe. I don't want to build up any expectations. The only downside to that: I would have to move to Munich... It's prbably not that bad down there after all but I've got soooo many preconceptions and second-hand experiences with this city and its arrogant inhabitants that I'm not too happy to maybe live there. For two years! But if they offer me this TV-cadettship (a mixture between a job and traineeship as a journalist) I'd be absolutely sick in the brain to not do it. We'll see. Anything is better than selling shoes...

4. You probably knew it all along. And I probably knew it as well: no matter where I go I get myself into the same kind of unhealthy emotional situations that I know so well. I'm handling everything much better (got a lot of experience of course) but that doesn't mean that it's less difficult... people...

5. That's it for now. OOOH, I forgot the most important: I'm now officially a MISTRESS of the ARTS. I finished my degree with a distinction (exams + thesis), which is good but also rather average. I guess there's worse. Well, I can find solace in the fact that my supervisor is a tough cookie when it comes to grading but she gave me an excellent feedback. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the mark but after her assessment of my thesis I left her office with a big and proud smile. So, I guess it's all good.

Right kids, winter is slowly returning to the northern hemisphere. Today will probably be the last of the Indian summer days for this year. I'm going to go to the park now with Kassandra. She's a book by a very well-known and awfully brilliant German writer (Christa Wolf, if anyone is interested in checking it out). I tell you: every sentence a little piece of art.

Lots of love to everyone! shucks i

Back in summer

After a horrible 26 hour flight I finally (and with crazy big hair) arrived in a sunny and warm German city by the lovely name of Berlin. I can't tell you how much I was forced to drink when I eventually had a shower and felt human again. When I went to bed Monday morning at 7 a.m. (after a crazy big night out) my vision was blurred. that's all I know.

Anyway, I'm good and quite happy to be back at the moment. The first time in three years that I feel like I don't need to be somewhere else. Very relieving.

Well, have to run.

shucks i

Grand FINISH

"Regardless of future directions in contemporary Australian cinema, the ‘grotesque era’ of the late 20th century has left an indelible mark on the international perception of Australian identity as well as on the country’s own self-reflection."

A fabulous final sentence, I find! The credit for this one goes out to Ren. 'Grotesque era'... don't you just love the implications of an extravagant history it evokes!

I'm still buzzing. Can't stop smiling. It's OVER! Can you believe it... Well, I'm still in the process of taking it in.

Thanx to everyone for keeping in touch. Thanx to my fabulous assistants in this adventure. Thanx to life and sanity and a working computer that only let me down once. On the last day but it wasn't fatal after all. YEY!

shucksluv i

Who would have thought that...

...I'm about to finish my thesis one week early (okay, so I got an extension for two weeks but still!)
...it's not as good a feeling as expected.
...I actually look forward to seeing Berlin again after all this. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy my last couple of weeks of freedom here in Melbourne. That'd be the true reward for the misery of being in labour for five months!!! (Writing a thesis really does compare to this being-pregnant-and-giving-birth miracle - says the ignorant and inexperienced almost-graduate... hello sis!)
...I'm not particularly into the idea of being on the dole but I'm quite optimistic that something will come up eventually. Something good as well!

And now, for the amusement of the general public, my new favourite statement of my thesis (discussing the significance of the line in Priscilla “That’s just what this country needs – a cock in a frock on a rock.”):" This mocking statement points to the central theme of the film: the performativity (“frock”) of Australian (“rock”) masculinity (“cock”)."

And because it was so much fun, here is my second favourite (in relation to The Castle and grotesque humour): "Every underlying profound implication of the film is wrapped in mocking laughter like sausage rolls in pastry."

Cock on!