fringe: grimm tales

Children's and Household Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, more commonly known as Grimms' Fairy Tales, was first published just before Christmas in 1812.

And if you know anything about those original tales, you know they were barely suitable for children... eyes are plucked out, toes are cut off, and characters die... a lot of them.

So I was hoping for something a little on the dark side from Black Cat Theatre's show, Grimm Tales.

It's a small production, with only four actors playing multiple roles, plus a brief child role at the beginning of the show.

Isaac Gates, Sasha Kreig, Sara Pepe and Jess Walker all do a good job with the material, especially since this was their opening night. And each of them has moments where they really shine... Gates as the Fairy Godmother, Krieg as two different versions of Gretel, Pepe as the Witch in the Gingerbread House and Walker as the Prince.

I will say that Walker steals the show a few times though, mostly in her small but important role as the prince, but also during the first of the monologues.

The stories they tell aren't always the big ones you know from Grimms, with the exceptions of Hansel and Gretel and the tale of Ashputtle, aka Cinderella. But I think this was a wise move as it meant I got to experience stories I either didn't know at all like "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage", stories I only knew a little like "Sweet Porridge" or original versions of stories I knew pretty well, like the aforementioned Ashputtle.

The individual stories seem to vary between sticking very closely to the original telling and a somewhat more modern take or at least with the odd modern aside, which oddly enough never feels weird, and the Fairy Godmother sequence is a modern monologue rather than an original Grimm story, but it makes sense within the show.

The staging is simple, as the show is in the function room of a pub rather than in a theatre, but they've amassed an impressive range of props and set dressing that works for the various stories, even if some of it only gets a single use. But again, it makes sense within the conceit of the show, that everything is happening inside a little girl's bedroom.

While it may not have been as dark as I was hoping, it does manage some distinct black comedy at times.

yani's rating: 3 gingerbread houses out of 5

fringe: a night at the musicals

This is my second time seeing A Night At The Musicals by my favourite cabaret diva Le Gateau Chocolat and his partner in musical theatre crime Johnny Woo.

And while I don't think the overall structure of the show has changed (there might be one new number, I honestly don't remember), it's definitely found it's groove and developed into an even better experience.

This show, as Woo and Chocolat proudly proclaim, is where "musical theatre goes to die", and if that's the case, then it's a good death.

Phantom of the Opera, Little Shop of Horrors, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Chess, Cabaret, Frozen and Grease all get a thorough going over from the pair.

And they have great chemistry, especially when they're being evil to each other during the Little Shop of Horrors number. As is clear from the poster, this is not high illusion lipsync drag, this is genderbent drag with divas who can really sing.

Anyone who has read any of my previous reviews of Le Gateau Chocolat knows what I think of him and his amazing voice and it's definitely on show throughout... although one of the things I really love in this show is when he goes into his "comedy non-vocals warbling" in place of lyrics. And while The Song From Frozen still bothers me, I do adore Chocolat's version... which is, as he says, the gayest thing in the whole Fringe.

Woo's lip sync to At The End of the Day from Les Miserables is still a comedic tour de force, as is his Mein Herr from Cabaret where he molests some poor unsuspecting man from the audience.

At the end of the day if you love a good musical, if you love a good sing along, if you love a good man in a wig, if you love a good laugh, go see this show.

yani's rating: 4 quick changes out of 5

fringe: attrape moi! (catch me!)

Clearly there's something in the water up in Canada, given the number of of great circus and physical theatre acts they produce... and Atrappe Moi! (or Catch Me!) by Flip FabriQue is no exception.

In the middle of a rainstorm, a group of friends come together again after time apart and when the sun comes out, they start to play.

The friends in question are Sebastian Afonso, Bruno Gagnon, Jérémie Arsenault, Jade Dussault, Jonathan Julien and Yann LeBlanc (not all of whom are shown in the image on the right, but I couldn't find a shot of this current cast).

I swear I've seen both Bruno and Yann in something else... although I have no idea what or when.

They're all amazing acrobats and performers, putting a definite sense of fun and playfulness into the show. As is often the case, the way they make a lot of the tricks look incredibly simple and effortless hides the true power and skill they have.

The set is simple, a big rectangular box with some windows, but they make full use of the entire space with the help of some additional props including big red balls, hoops, sleeping bags, folding chairs and a trampoline.

Skipping to the end for a second, I think the trampoline routine that closes the show was my absolute favourite... the way they dive from the structure down onto the trampoline and then just step back into position as though they hadn't flung themselves into space is breathtaking to watch.

Both Dussault and Afonso perform amazing aerial acts, she with a hoop and him on straps, and the other performer who lifts them and controls the ropes is visible on stage the whole time which is something a little different from other acts.

Of the two, I think I liked Afonso's act a little more, just because there was more interaction with the rest of the cast (and it had a little bit of a story thanks to the music used), and I generally have a soft spot for silks and straps acts.

Arsenault and Gagnon do an amazing routine with diabolos... and more than a few of the tricks just seem to defy both gravity and understanding.

And the sequence where LeBlanc carries Dussault around a torchlit stage is masterfully done.

It's a fun, high energy show from a group of highly skilled performers.

yani's rating: 4 photo albums out of 5

fringe: the displaced

In 2016 I saw Total Nonstop Tricks by Time in Space Circus and I said, amongst other things:

I once described a circus troupe in a previous Fringe as cookie dough... they hadn't yet become what they ultimately would be, but with a little time and love, they would definitely get there.

Using the same analogy, and in the best possible way, Total Nonstop Tricks can most accurately be described as "ingredients". They're not quite at the cookie dough stage yet, let alone cookies, but all of the required elements are there, the recipe is solid, they just haven't gotten to where they need to be.

This is definitely an act I would go and see again, if only to watch them grow and develop into the, to use my earlier analogy, cookies I think they'll eventually become. And I do think they'll be good cookies, they're just not quite there yet.

I can now say that with their new show, The Displaced, they are cookies... and they're some of the best cookies I've experienced in a while.

Okay, enough of the cookie metaphor before I make myself hungry.

The difference between this group in 2016 and 2018 is staggering. I don't know whether it's just a general maturation of the performers or if someone stepped in a gave them a knowing nudge in the right direction, but in either case I'm glad it happened.

This is a significantly more mature show, and the control that was lacking in their first outing is on display in every single movement and expression here.

They're now sitting alongside shows like Fauna, Cadence and A Simple Space in my head... and for the first time since Bromance, I found myself getting affected emotionally by a physical theatre show.

It's also the first time in a long time, if ever, that I've seen an audience so spellbound by a circus show that the gaps between applause lasted for what seemed like minutes at a time. And I can only hope that it was because, like me, everyone was spellbound by the performances and didn't want to interrupt what we were witnessing.

Mark Longo is the backbone of the show as far as I'm concerned... I don't know if he ever actually leaves the stage for more than a few moments, he was even there as we all walked in... and I think it was his performance that touched me more than any of the others. There's just something about his mannerisms and the way he inhabits the character that I connected with, particularly his fascination with all of the other characters, but especially the juggler, Josh Croall. The duet, for want of a better word, that they do with Croall's juggling rings is stunningly beautiful. And Croall just pulls off spectacular tricks as though they were nothing.

Everyone here is playing a character, or at the very least evoking the traits of one, but it's Hamish McCourty who is definitely the comedian of the group, his interactions early in the show with Longo are both funny and beautiful, but he really shines in his undressing/dressing sequence. Also, I believe he composed all of the music (beyond the couple of existing tracks they use), which is impressive enough on it's own but his interactions in and around the piano are likewise very funny.

Amanda Lee and Dylan Phillps enter as a conjoined, eight limbed creature and do an eerie but beautiful routine on the hand canes before oozing back across the floor. The physical similarities between Lee and Phillips makes for some amazing visuals as does the alien way they enter and leave. The way that the other performers throw Phillips into the air during the whole show as though he weighs no more than a feather continues to be impressive and Lee does a trapeze piece later in the show that very much put me in mind of the power and energy of Enni-maria Lymi from Fauna.

In fact there are a number of influences that stood out to me, most notably the frenetic energy of Backbone by Gravity and Other Myths... and if you're going to take inspiration from anywhere, why not take it from one of the best.

Margot Mansfield and Jordan Hart are often the bases for tricks, which you wouldn't expect given how tiny Mansfield appears next to Hart, but she more than holds her own. Hart's character is single-minded and seems the most... broken, if that makes sense... or possibly he's just the most displaced, but it culminates in an amazing sequence between him and Mansfield. Hart trying to get back on his feet at one point is also incredible to watch.

This makes it sound as though the show is a series of individual scenes, and to some degree it is, but they overlap and mesh and meld in incredibly ways, more than once going from 0 to 60 in no time flat.

And it doesn't even matter that that hoop went flying to the side when it wasn't supposed to or that performer didn't quite make their balance at the top of that giant tower of people... those things happen in live theatre, and they're part of that kind of show.

This is absolutely the kind of show I could watch, leave and then turn around and go back and see again right away. And Time in Space Circus have proven that they're a force to be reckoned with, and they're also, if I may return to my original metaphor, really good cookies.

yani's rating: 5 juggling balls out of 5

photo saturday: right angles

As with every first week of Fringe, it's been a weird week... if only because I actually left the house more than usual, which is even more than the usual usual.

Also I got to actually play DnD again this week after three weeks straight of running. I also got a character that I created, I think, back in 2003... or at least the earliest version of him would have been for roughly around that time. And it was fun. Although he almost died on Wednesday which is less fun.

Thursday's game was a bit of a mindfuck... we all went a bit off the rails, I'll be honest, and it all got a bit R18+ for a while. And then one of the characters revealed they were somebody our characters knew... it's a long and complicated story, suffice to say that I was very impressed he managed to keep the secret for the whole game, but also annoyed that he went that way. However my character was unimpressed and gave his character a mouthful, which I don't think he was expecting.

Roleplay man... it'll get you coming and going. But I kinda love it.

Going out to two additional Fringe shows this week wasn't too bad, although the Tuesday show felt very short even though we had dinner first.

Today was mostly short and sweet... well, no, it was actually really long, but a lot of it was filling in time between other things.

We did the supermarket thing, but neither of us really bought much at all, and I think we ended up with two bags between us, when usually it's at least 3.

Then we headed into town to do a little wandering... oh man there was a LOT of wandering today... 15000 steps worth of wandering according to Ma's pedometer.

We didn't have any specific location in mind so we just went from one end of the Mall to the other, I picked up some new short, short socks and I also thieved posters for a couple of shows because I like the posters and/or the shows/performers.

Then we ended up in Gluttony to grab some food to tide us over because hitting out 3pm show (amazing)... then wandered off to Burger Theory for an early dinner followed by some olie bollen and poffertjes for dessert... and then a slightly over long line up for the second show (also amazing, but in a different way).

And then we headed back to the car, and could have gone a couple of different ways, but the way we went meant that we ran right into Le Gateau Chocolat on his way to get ready for his show... which I'm seeing tomorrow night oddly enough... but it was nice to be able to stop and say hello, specially since Ma's not coming to the show tomorrow. Clearly it was meant to be.

So a very long day, all in all...

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fringe: heathers the musical - high school edition

Dear Diary,

My teen-angst bullshit now has a body count.

The movie Heathers has, at various times, been one of those high rotation movies that I've watched a lot, so I was interested to see how the musical version held up... and with actual teenagers no less.

The Creative Academy of Performing Arts has put together a decent production, although the Off-Broadway musical by Laurence O'Keefe and Kevin Murphy does take more than a few liberties with the original story, and from what I understand the "high school edition" waters down or removes the racier and more profanity laden sections.

It's also interesting watching this story right now in 2018 instead of 1988 given that, spoilers for a 30 year old movie, it involves a student bringing a gun to school and culminates in the attempted murder of the entire student body.

The 1988 version has much darker and drier comedy I think, but whether was the translation to the musical or the high school adaption that robs it of some of that I'm not sure... particularly in the scenes between Veronica and her clueless parents.

Speaking of Veronica, Camryn Jordans is spectacular in the role, not only does she have an amazing voice that can really belt out the big musical numbers, but she has some serious acting skills and great comic timing. And she makes it hard to look anywhere else but in her direction.

As the JD to her Veronica, Daniel Cropley is definitely handsome enough and does have the ability to project that creepy, intense energy needed for JD, but there were a few moments where Jordans acted circles around him.

I will say that part of the issues with him were issues that affected the entire cast, and that was to do with microphone levels... when your lead is being drowned out by both the music and the ensemble cast, you have a problem. Whether that was because I was sitting in the front row or not I don't know, but it was a problem through the entire show with multiple actors.

The titular Heathers (Chandler, McNamara and Duke played by Monica Horta, Courtney Sandford and Madeline Shields respectively) manage to convey the required bitchiness, although unsurprisingly Horta as the "lead Heather" (Chandler) is the stand out. Although Sandford is pretty amazing in Heather McNamara's solo number, Lifeboat.

Props for enthusiasm and energy, if not always vocal strength, go to Tom Tassone and Raife Gehren as the football stars, Ram and Kurt.

That was another consistent issue across the board actually... with the exceptions of the leads... there were at times quite variable singing performances, which is understandable from a production that's both amateur and young, but still worth mentioning. And, as a quick note to the second and third rows of the ensemble, specifically some of the guys... I see you there, singing every 10th word... yes you, and you, and you.

The staging is simple but effective, with coloured light doing a lot of the heavy lifting on an otherwise bare but split level stage. The costumes were very good overall, even if the Heathers and Veronica were a little bit of a 2018 version of 1988, with incredibly short skirts and long socks in place of the longer skirts/shorts and coloured tights of the original (again though, that may be a musical adaptation thing since all the images of other productions have the same look). But enough of the supporting cast's wardrobe channelled the appropriate vibe that it didn't bother me.

I really just want to rewatch the movie now though.

yani's rating: 3 scrunchies out of 5

fringe: the bridge

In almost every Fringe there's at least one show where you leave and say "well that was... interesting". It's not bad necessarily, but it also doesn't blow the roof off. Maybe there was something there though.

I think The Bridge by Green Eggs and Ham (aka actor-writers Nick Rinke and Caitlin Docking) is very much one of those shows.

The premise is simple enough, the (unspecified) apocalypse has been and gone and the mostly nameless protagonists, Man and Woman (I think she gets called Alice once) are trying to make it to San Francisco where there might be people. And they entertain themselves with hand shadow puppets and stories and songs. And a decent Christopher Walken impression from Rinke.

Some of the shadow puppet stuff is actually really good... I think a lot of that is really where Rinke and Docking's writing works best, injecting a little dark humour into what is understandably really a very bleak story.

I'm just not sure that the chemistry between the two when they're outside of the puppet zone works at all... there's at least part of it that feels kind of creepy when Rinke is explaining something towards the end of the piece.

I also feel like the big emotional moment for Rinke's character is kind of thrown out there and then moved past really quickly without letting the impact of it settle. It also feels a little strange that Docking's character gets a monologue to "the audience" whereas Rinke's doesn't.

It also feels like the moment where they move the "puppet theatre" off the stage just stops the whole show dead in it's tracks, which isn't great when there's really only one scene left.

It may just be that they need some time to get comfortable with both the characters and the story or it needs to be given a little more meat on it's bones. I feel like they have an interesting, if slightly short, story here, it just needed something more.

yani's rating: 2 flashlights out of 5

fringe: flesh and bone

Let's just start with the most important thing and move on from there, shall we...

Flesh and Bone by London's Unpolished Theatre is AMAZING!

Writer, director and actor Elliot Warren has taken the rhythm and metre (and occasionally the words) of Shakespeare and transported it to an East London housing estate and the two just mesh together perfectly.

The stage is bare, the five actors are dressed much as you would expect in singlets, tracksuits and the like, and some of the language definitely leans towards profanity.

But the way language, foul or otherwise, is used is what makes this show so incredible.

Warren displays incredible skill in combining the spirit of Shakespeare with that tough as nails, rough as guts reputation of East London, but at the same time managing to make the characters humorous, relatable and sympathetic.

And the show goes from hilarious to moving to thought provoking and back again at the flick of a switch and had me welling up towards the end.

I don't want to say too much about the plot of the show itself as it is definitely something that needs to be experienced, but it's arranged in a number of separated but connected scenes, sometimes soliloquies, sometimes groups, but with that Shakespearean conceit of allowing a character to speak directly to and only to the audience at any moment.

Alongside Warren on stage as Terrence are his co-director Olivia Brady as Kel, and co-stars Alessandro Babalola as Jamal, Michael Jinks as Reiss and Nick T Frost as Granddad, who are all equally brilliant, although Jinks, Babalola and Warren were the ones that really stole my heart in the second half of the show (especially Jinks during his scenes as Reiss).

And because it was our day for audience participation I did have a somewhat intense moment with Babalola's Jamal where he took my hand (and I think I threw him off for a split second when I patted his hand and told him it would be okay) and then I got moved out of my seat during another scene and Warren's Terrence hugged me as I moved back (which I wasn't expecting at all).

Suffice to say that this is theatre done right, and definitely a show to go and see.

yani's rating: 5 footballs out of 5

fringe: kaput

We first saw Tom Flanagan's Kaput back in 2012 and the show has only gotten better in the last six years.

If I'm remembering correctly, almost all of the show is the same, structure wise, it just feels more "lived in" if that makes sense.

And I absolutely laughed until I was crying.

Although, full disclosure, part of that was because Ma ended up being a major part of the finale of the show, which just made it all the funnier. Part of the show involves him "wooing" a woman from the audience, and in this particular instance he chose my 70 year old mother, and she played along brilliantly. In fact a number of people came up afterwards to tell her how good she was.

I also had Flanagan throw a box of popcorn in my face, as part of the aforementioned wooing... it was definitely our day for audience participation.

At it's heart, the show is pure slapstick, with it's roots in silent comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Norman Wisdom, Michael Crawford or Rowan Atkinson plus a little of the British pantomime tradition and some Looney Tunes cartoons thrown in for good measure as Flanagan tries, and fails in increasingly destructive and insane ways, to show a movie to the audience.

As with this type of humour, part of it comes from the fact that at times you know exactly what is about to happen but Flanagan's hapless and bumbling character is seemingly clueless to everything going on around him. Until he's not and the panic sets in.

With this type of show the comedy and seemingly "out of control" nature of it often belie the skills of the performer, and while the character is often losing control, Flanagan maintains it beautifully, especially with the ladder tricks.

What I love also about Flanagan is that he's clearly having just as much fun as the audience, and there were some brilliant moments where he either breaks "character" because someone in the audience does something he wasn't expecting or something odd happens with the sound effects (I'm not sure if some of those were a "supposed to happen like that" or a "happy accident" to be honest... in either case it was hilarious).

Plus it doesn't hurt that he's incredibly charming (even when pelting me with popcorn) and, let's be honest, very pleasant to look at.

It's also a show that kids love, if the amount of squealing and laughter was any indication.

yani's rating: 5 flat caps out of 5

photo saturday: birds and boats

Remember last week when I sang my own praises... yeah, I was a Very Bad DM this week...

But first... it's Fringe time! Yay! And that'll have it's own posts, and I'll possibly dig in a little more later, but the word of the day was Audience Participation.

Rolling back to things earlier in the week.

Firstly I completely and totally forgot that last Tuesday was Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday until about 11pm... so no pancakes for me this week. I will however probably just make pancakes randomly one day next week because I'm an adult and can totally just have pancakes for lunch or dinner any day I like... provided I remember to buy lemon juice first, which I did not do today.

Thankfully after this week I potentially get to stop being a DM for at least parts of the next few weeks. I have promised to run something for a group next week, but otherwise I think I need to play for a while.

And not least of all because I ran the same game for two different groups and nearly killed a group of three players because I was running it too hard (in fact I did kill one character, a second one "killed himself" with a bad roll... again partly my fault for running it too hard... but I retconed that one) and then I ran it again with seven players and only afterwards did I realise I ran it way too easy.

I was also really surprised that a couple of the players reacted to what I thought was a really shitty and pointless "twist" in the story way more strongly than I expected them to. Shows what I know I guess.

I really need to play again though... and I have a new character I really want to debut (well, technically he's a character who has been banging around in my head for years and years now, but hasn't seen the light of day yet). My problem right now is two-fold... either playing adventures that I've already run or played and, more importantly, now that I've DM'd quite a bit, finding a DM I can actually put up with for any length of time. There are a few people I haven't had run for me as yet, but I have a relatively short amount of fuck to give when it comes to DMs of questionable quality...

As with every social activity I ever done, the problem is always Other People. But what are you gunna do.

So, yeah, three DnD games as usual this week, the Epic was today, but we had Fringe stuff and while I probably COULD have done both, I kinda didn't want to.

Friday I went into the city to have lunch with Owlgirl after her USA trip.... and lovely girl that she is, she brought me some swag back from Walt Disney World. It was good to see her though, even without the presents.

Today... as tends to happen once Fringe time rolls around... was a long day. A good day overall, but long.

We started with the usual shopping thing...  and is it just me or do everyone else usually end up just buying mostly the same stuff with no actual plan on what meal items to turn it into... no, just me then? Awesome.

Anyway, after shopping we had many hours to kill and nothing particular to do with them. So we went down the road to Big W and Target and wandered aimlessly.

I say aimlessly but I found a book that's been on my "to buy" list for a little while, Call Me By Your Name, mostly because the internet is currently losing it's shit over the movie adaptation that's just come out... is about to come out... one of those. And it was cheap, so double bonus.

Then I was killing time in Target while Ma was looking at clothes and happened to find a $6 clear phone case that actually had some protection on the corners and wasn't just a "style case" like all the others... and as much as I LOVE my Lego phone case, all the Lego logos rubbed off it years ago and a large number of the studs have actually been worn through completely... so it's seen better days.

It does feel weird having a smooth back to the phone though... I'm use to the studs and the general texture and, I'll be honest, knowing instantly which way up the phone is lying in my pocket. But this new clear one isn't bad, and I actually get to look at my phone for a change.

After that we headed back here, grabbed some food from the Village and killed a little time here before we headed into town for a bit of a wander and then the first Fringe show of the year.

Little did we know that Ma was going to take on a starring role... but more on that later.

In fact, in both the shows we saw today both Ma and I were picked for some kind of performer/audience interaction. Yes, it's because we like to sit in the very front row, but it was unexpected in both situations.

Between shows we grabbed some food on Rundle Street then headed off to Holden Street Theatre for the second show.

I will say that we haven't had as good a first night of Fringing for... a while.

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photo saturday: beach forms

I nearly didn't bother with a post today...

But we'll get back to that.

This week was just hot... hot and blah and m'eh. And it also turned out to be a week in which I had to leave the house more than I usually would. So in addition to the three DnD games I also had Haircut Day and a chiro appointment.

Plus I think I was possibly having a mood this week... not sure if it was just a generalised mood or if it was the weather, or what (okay, I kind of know part of it, but let's not go there right now, it was definitely a mixture of things).

Of the three DnD games I ran this week, only one happened like I planned it... the other two none of the people I ran for the previous week bothered to show up, including three quarters of the Thursday group. Which is fine, it just means that if they come back next week, they're playing the third part of the trilogy without the middle part.

I also got told again that I'm a good DM, by a total rando on my table... but one of what I think of as "the high level DMs/players" was also on my table and complimented me on the fact that I can bring a table to order when necessary. So that felt pretty good. And I know that sounds like I'm blowing my own proverbial horn, but half the time I don't feel like I've got a good grip on the modules until I've run them at least once, and there are usually some random bit of rules minutia (or not even minutia to be honest) that I blank on, and there's at least three times in every adventure that I literally just make something up on the fly, whether that's the difficulty for something the players want to do, or just finding a way to stop everybody from getting too stupid and off the rails (it happens) without being an ass about it.

The double-edged sword is that I really, really want to play... I have so many characters who haven't even seen the light of day yet... but I really enjoying running games and I'm getting fussier about who I want to run games for me. Did I say this last week... I feel like I said this last week.

Okay, now that I've devolved into repeating myself...

Haircut Day was... well, it was Haircut Day... and Toner Day, since we only colour my hair every other time. It was pretty much the usual thing, although both the junior members of the household are now in school or preschool, so it was perhaps a little quieter than it has been.

And let's totally skim over the fact that I very nearly merged my car into the side of another car on the drive there... it never actually happened and it was only very nearly almost a close call.

Friday I would have spent entirely in the air-conditioned splendour of my apartment had it not been for the need to go and see my chiro (and I totally considered putting the appointment off until Monday)... and of course, much like Thursday's DnD game, it meant I had to go out during the hottest part of the afternoon, so much fun there *sarcastic face*.

Ma also called me yesterday to say she wasn't coming down today because her shoulder was playing up... not words I really wanted to hear... certainly not words I want to hear the week before Fringe. She spoke with her doctor again later in the day and it seems everything is not coming apart at the seams (she may just have some inflammation), and she's feeling better today, but seriously...

So today was real simple...

I went to the supermarket. I shopped. I came home. I unpacked. And I essentially did fuck all for the rest of the day.

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photo saturday: port and starboard

Remember how I mentioned/complained that it was hot last weekend... well, this week started off incredibly humid but there were actually points where I put on a hoodie. Granted I was wearing shorts at the time, but still... a hoodie.

I DMed all my games this week... there's a new epic coming up, and like last time, I wanted to ensure that people had actually played adventures in that location, so last week, this week and next week I'm running a trilogy of modules... which essentially means I ran the same thing three times this week, and will run Part 2 next week and finish it up the week before the epic.

And I managed to have NPCs flirt with players at each of my tables... because why the fuck not.

I also managed to find that thing I said last week might not actually exist... turns out it exists at Officeworks... white board tape. As in tape that is made of white board material. So there was some crafting that happened this week...

Oh, and weirdly I got a text from The Nut House on Wednesday morning... asking if I'd be interested in a job. A relatively junior, seemingly temporary job. I turned it down. Could I have done with the money, fuck yes, and whereas last time I was a whole world of "yes, give me that sweet, sweet job", this time every part of me was "nope, nope, nope, nope". It was sweet of them to think of me, and it would have been super easy to just slide on back, but it absolutely wasn't something I wanted.

Those may be words I regret later, but... yeah.

Otherwise, the week wasn't much of anything.

Today I totally forgot that Ma had a haircut booked... and I got up early and tidied the apartment up, so at least that was a thing. But then I went shopping on my own.

Which was fine.

When I got back I had time to put everything away and watch some stuff on YouTube before Ma arrived.

Neither of us really had any grand plans... Ma wanted to take a trip to Kmart, I wanted to look at something in Officeworks... so we did that. But it turned out that while the storage device I wanted would fix A4 paper, it wouldn't fit A4 paper inside the display folders I use for me DnD stuff... so that was annoying. Fortunately I figured that out BEFORE we left the store, not afterwards.

Then, because we weren't that far away, we decided to go and wander around IKEA, because why not. It did mean that I could grab some relatively cheap magazine files (you know, the ones with the diagonal) to stash everything in for now.

That was really about it though... we did have some (as always mostly disappointing but cheap) food there though, then called it a day.

But I don't really mind the slow weekends... especially since it's two weeks until Fringe starts...

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