100 Days: You Don't Make Me Feel Like I'm A Woman Anymore....

Today's little joy was seeing a ticket to the opera going cheap on Facebook. My friend, Alice, had one going and being at a bit of a loose end, I thought why not. All I had on for the day was reading Ulysses and doing a heap of housework and paperwork.

I'm not an opera buff, but I can appreciate it. The music, the sets, the orchestra - it all appeals to the aesthete in me. From what I could see, it was a decent performance of Don Quixote, sung in French. Thankfully my French is alright, and opera is pretty transparent, so this didn't prove an issue, but these were cheap seats at the back of the stalls, I could only see the last two words of the surtitles. It didn't matter - the music was wonderful.

After the performance, Alice and I decided to go find a cup of tea - English Breakfast for her, Lemongrass and Ginger for me. The cafe was through the gallery which had an exhibition of Australian music posters.

I spotted this one amongst the classics:



1989. I was there. What used to be the Tivoli down Rundle Street. It was a warm night. I'd befriended a group of engineers who were staying at the college over Summer, and they asked me along.

This is up there with the best concerts I've ever been to. Jammed into the mosh pit. Writhing in sweat. Mark Seymour, bedecked in a red shirt, wailing out the lyrics. Cigarette smoke mixed in with the stage lighting. The floor was soaked in the dregs of hundreds of beers, making stomping and dancing hard.

I remember walking out, nearly deaf, hoarse from screaming. It was well after midnight and we walked back slowly to the college, never really registering that this would be a night that would never be forgotten.

They still stay true. They don't fade.

Once the nostalgia trip was over we put the world to rights over a cup of tea. We've been doing that for a very long time. Alice and I who sat pondering our impending birthday's. Alice is a week older than me. We used to live down the road from each other in London - but never met until she moved to Australia fourteen years ago.

And seeing both of us are going to be out of the country for our respective birthdays - she's off to France - and I'll be in Bali. We discussed having a joint party when we're both back. How our friends will get on, I don't know. But it's a start. It's just at the idea stage.

The only bad thing about this is that when she and I get together, we end up having shenanigans.

I'm not sure I this will be a good thing or but it could be a good night.

Today's song - And Australian Standard.