It was big and black.

Yesterday, we saw a great big black spider; it crawled out of our bed, shortly after we did! Usually this would have given me the geebies, but I was so taken by how beautiful it was that I completely forgot to be frightened. Jon carefully picked it up and let it go outside. It was nice to see an insect, as not so many creepy crawlies seem to dwell in the city. Guess they're a bit smarter than humans.

While we're on the topic of big, black creatures, a crow has taken to hanging out on our balcony. I have so many dark and forboding associations with crows, so it kind of made me feel a little nervous at first and everything seemed to take on a B-grade thriller feel. I was ready for the vampires. Then I remembered I was in Chiswick where there are too many zimmer frames and babies carriages for such flights of fancy (tho would make v cool zombies). I think our friend master crow is really more interested in scavenging wee morsals of breakfasts and bbqs. Which, thanks to the growing summer warmth, are happening outside on the deck with ever-increasing frequency.

Today, we went to the garden centre to get some herbs to plant in pots on the deck. Our flatmate Megan had already started the green thing going with tomato's, sunflowers and basil, so we brought mint, sage and rocket to add to the mix. The garden cenre was a little oasis, absolutely teaming with plants of all variety and even a little pond housing the ubiquitous goldfish. Felt like right urban hippies, cycling home with our bags of dirt on our carriers and mint plants in our baskets.

damns

when my world was smaller and my mind bigger i used to have a great time imaging a cool event just about to happen or just passed... like this time a week ago i was visiting my cousins in australia...or this time tomorrow it will be christmas...jeeez that was a mind trip...

...anyway... found myself doing that yesterday (being sunday night)... thinking back to this time last week when me and lala where playing @ being bard pitts and andy joline @ cannes. why you say?

cos first of all congratulations to mark albiston (ablie the racist dragon) and lou sutherland for directing and writing some kind of short film thing that some people liked more than 3000 other entries to be 1 of 11 finalists @ cannes. yeah, so alright i guess.

so after going ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm for about that long i decided to go and after going yeahaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh for that long la decided to go. (sadly our chorus was a little off beat so we had to fly different airlines. not superb, especially with a 2 hr stop over in paris, but mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

FRIDAY
yeah and met up with some others from the sutherland/albiston entourage (mark's sister angie and buddy nathan) and helped to inject a little energy into the dazed and confused wellington lads (7 nights of caning it in cannes had taken its toll) - so they dutiful got us tickets to 'all' the 'great parties' and treated us like superstars. which is always nice. really. it is. i don't feel bad. at all.

and swimming. cos it was warm as.

SATURDAY
was the screening of the 11 finalists. was a beautiful cinematic experience. up there with seeing star wars in matamata back in '78, and the empire / jedi double feature in the paramount in '83 (anyone feel free to correct me where i am wrong). great films and cool to be sitting in the theatre with all the film makers. good times all round. had a wee celebratory sea food feast with some of the fellows from mexico cos they were nice.

mark, lou and robin (who made everything happen!)




albie didn't think the sea snails were very nice, but then he was sick as a god from impressing all the fellas the night before. very impressive.

i'm sure there was a swim in there somewhere.

SUNDAY
another great hookup was getting accreditted (means you can wave your id card and go into any movies you want (after queing for an hour, but it was free right?), so we went to see new coen bros film (some title someone else remembers). alana had the best getting in for free trick cos she had stolen someone else's id (photo looked nothing like her), so heading to security she carefully positions the id around her neck whilst strategically lowering her cleavage... text book diversion tactics... she could teach you a thing or 2.. yep.

swimming (probably)

oh yeah and then we realised that we weren't just going to mark's award ceremony but to the whole she-bang cannes closing prize award hooplah. so we were excited. and i was glad that i did bring a black tie. was all a little overwhleming, with me trying to get as much shaky footage of mark and lou doing there schmoo on the red carpet and kinda forgetting that i was there too. another time perhaps.

if only our mums could see us now.


exciting stuff huh?

the first awards read out were for the short film competition, with mark's film getting a jury prize (essentially runner up), so luckily i managed to get some more shaky cam footage of them reading out his name, and from there its a bit of a blur...

hookups followed all evening, sneaking into pre-dinner drinks, being ushered back out the red carpet into waiting transports and whisked down the beach to the dinner dinner and toe tapping to the acest tunes you haven't heard since a night out @ the fraggle rock in palmerstone (i thought the french were supposed to be good @ the house thing. oh well. the vodka was cold)