Shooting Stars
So it's been a while - I hear your pleas for more... well not really and maybe no one is reading but this is an excellent procrastination tool.
I've done a lot since I last posted. Mostly it's been trying to figure out how to live and breathe in a place that makes you do crazy things. Since last post I have been to a burlesque show to see the Suicide Girls parade around in basically nothing and kick up the floor with really great choreography and 'sharp pointy metal things'... I think you could amount it to a tasteful and choreographed strip show... with said sharp objects, fire, alcohols and tattoos.
I've also been around town exploring the architecture of San Francisco. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how beautiful and eclectic this place is. In one street there are amazing Victorian houses all painted different colours with bay windows and fine architrave around windows and doors. Some houses have a Gothic feel while others are more modern and lightly painted with pastel blues, yellows and pinks. In another part of the city you get the modern square design that's "oh so trendy", and yet walk 15 minutes down the road and it’s something different again. That's what this place is - a mish mash of people and design coming together and creating something quite unique.
Last week I made a new friend who drove me across the Golden Gate Bridge and to a look out at North bay where we sat and took in the view. I felt like I was in one of those movies where you see the ships coming into port, hear the fog horns and watch the luminescent bridge fill up and empty with cars. It's actually not a really great bridge to drive across due to the fact there is no barrier between cars going in the opposite direction - scary as hell when your on the wrong side of the road. Then we headed out to Ocean Beach and sat under the stars with the bonfire going. Firstly the beaches pretty much have black sand and secondly THEY ARE TOO COLD! I wore a jumper, two shirts and a blanket and I was still freezing - but this is San Francisco weather for you. All in all I saw something like 6 shooting stars and had a really wicked night out.
Grocery shopping is getting easier now I have figured out where to go. Chinatown! Except inside Chinatown you actually feel like you have left America and entered into a Bejing marketplace. One side of the street is scarier than the other in that you enter on the right and there are some gross dried shrimp and what not but the left side has the fish still swimming in buckets, crazy kinds of meats hanging from the windows and water from god knows what that spills out onto the street. Beware - enter the right side of Chinatown.
University is slowly settling down and I am entering into a pattern that makes sense to me without adding and dropping classes left, right, and centre. I still don't like some parts of classes and the way they are run - but what can you do?
I got tickets for the Dresden Dolls for Friday 13th of Oct. I didn't think I would ever get to see them live again - but how perfect that they make a suprise visit on Friday the 13th!!! I think it was meant to be.
I have a meeting to scoot off to since I am Assistant Stage Manager on a show at uni... wooo!!
Luv Rob
goodbye...
Goodbye my Italian friends.... See you in Italy!
Coffee... not COFFEE!
added link
An added video to show how big the crowd was....
click here
Power to the Peaceful!
Weather: miserable and grey
Mood: really really chilled and happy
Activity of the day: Power to the Peacful concert
I just came back from an amazingly beautiful festival called Power to the Peaceful headed by Michael Franti at Golden Gate Park, which in itself is an wonderful green area of the park. There were lots and lots of markets and places to eat, with two stages and about 40,000 people milling around. The day was pretty grey and towards the end it was spitting which made it sooo cold, but other than those factors not controlled by us it was awesome! Blackalicious and Michael Franti were the main players of the day and their sets were really energised and full of meaning... peace yo!! I was right up front next the the bass and Mr Franti which was unbelievable... I think this concert gig in the name of peace made the playing so much more powerful and there was an enourmous amount of energy in the air. I'll show you some photo from today...
The crowd goes wild for.....
Michael Franti.... so make some noise!!! (I was hypnotized by the sign translator next to him)
amazing sunsets
there are some of the most beautiful sunsets here in San Francisco - let me show you what I get to see everyday... and yes I am so bragging! click on any of the images to see them at full size
my bedroom - for your viewing pleasure
Overall dark picture of my room
why you would want to see my bathroom... but here it is anyway!
my bed! wooooo - complete with tacky painting and all... bed is very comfortable tho
Down Sutter St
from the creepy firestairs outside my room
view from my room...
Getting into the American culture!
Hello my friends!
It's been a few days since I last updated - so apologies for that... It's been wild but then it's been like this since I arrived. The days are blurring into each other but I know I have done and seen some pretty cool things recently. The most random was that I got my labret pierced - another piercing to add to the collection. The guy who did it was really nice and made me feel quite relaxed about the whole process. I really like the result and it looks symmetrical so I am happy. For those still wondering what a labret is... its the spot under your lip about half a centimetre down.
I have a room in the hostel now sharing with a Brazilian girl called Raphella. I was in another room before with an Italian girl also named Raphella but due to some communication problems and bookings I have had to move. Both rooms are nice and comfortable if not a little tiny for two people. They are painted a blue sea sponge and are now named the marine or fish bowl rooms because of the ornate fish drawings around the ceiling. It's cute and tacky all at the same time.
San Francisco State University is good if not a little fustrating at the best of times trying to get into classes. The system is so ridiculous trying to sign up for classes... you can sign online for some and not others, when a class if full you need to smooze the lecturer (and it helps to have a cute Australian accent) or beg and plead. At the best of times all the information is available but most of the time you have to look around various internet sites and gather all the info you need for classes, books, and other bits and pieces to get a full picture of a unit. I know realize how easy the QUT system is and how much I took it for granted. So far I am taking a mishmash of classes. There is Asian Plays and studies where my crazy Japanese lecturer talkes about his family and other non related things for half a class, Theatre Imagination which is far too easy for my own good, Stage Management which I haven't quite figured out yet and a random class called Homophobia and Coming Out but then I am not enrolled in that just yet - but by tomorrow I should have a better idea. I'm not sure what they would teach us but I am gathering it's more a queer history class. I would also like to take up a Tae Kwon Do class but they are three mornings a week starting at 8.00am and I live an hour travel from the uni so that might not fly so well. Other than that most of my lecturers are great, classes aren't too hard and the campus is beautiful - but we've covered that subject.
Last night was a goodbye dinner and drinks for Mary, a worker at the hostel but I wasn't really in the mood to party slash I was just out of sorts for some reason. So I went upstairs to my room to uncover the chaos that is American television. On one channel was a show about dwarfs called 'Little People, Big World', an entertaining but slightly obscure show... then came the show about a family of 18 living in Arkansas. That was perhaps the most entertaining and Kris came up for a righteous badgering of the family which included a series of children who all started with the letter 'J', and 8 children sharing a bedroom and a pantry that outdoes any IGA. Another than those two shows there are a number of infomercials, news programs, chinese and spanish soap operas, bad 80's movies and a whole lot of nothing on. American television is generally as pretty bad as the newspapers are and don't get me started on newspapers.
I'm off to see Micheal Franti show at the Golden Gate Park for Power for the Peacful Festival
http://www.powertothepeaceful.org/info.html as well as Suicide Girls (a burlesque show style concert), Ani Difranco and That One Guy. There are an amazing collection of artists playing, acting, drawing and having fun in San Francisco which means there is ALWAYS something to do. As well as individual concerts there are so many festivals and events like the 'Cholocate Festival', the 'Leather and Bondage Festival', 'Chinese Autumn Festival', Halloween coming up and a bunch of other things... no shortage of creative arts and crazy things going on. I am loving this aspect of San Francisco and would really like to get involved in something which I can be proud of.
My list of things to do:
- Go to Earthdance Festival September 15-17
- Explore more of Chinatown and head down to the Autumn festival they have
- Bike over the Golden Gate Bridge
- Camp at Yosemite for a weekend
- Head to the farmer's markets
- Visit Alcatraz
- Have a vegetarian night at the hostel... yummy
The list goes on and soon I also have to figure out what to wear to the halloween party in the Castro district... It's massive and everyone is already thinking what to wear and putting in so much effort - there will be some great photos taken that night.
For now I am signing off and thanking you for getting down to the end of this post
Luv RobyN
