Two Worlds, Two Cats

Who can make the most fug face?







Aussie cat
















Chinese cat that resides in America

Semi-hiatus

Taking a little blog pause for my "spring break" trip back home to the mothership for my friend Ashley's wedding in Mexico. Currently sitting in my childhood room with my beast of a cat and it is good. Here is a little photo montage to celebrate some of the nice things about America.






Beer in the grocery store.























Tacky American Patriotism.
















The crazies that live here.

















The ability to make junk food even more junkier.


















Parties with my dad. (Ok that is not my dad, I found it online, but it looks JUST like him)















(Real dad, see the resemblance?)















Latin American fast food.












Not so great: coming home to find out even the Rays have sold out

Lack of Patty's

No one here gives a shit about St. Patrick's day.

WOMADelaide

For my birthday, my boyfriend (there, Allie!!!!) got us tickets to the World of Music and Dance Festival. The fest took place a full month after my bday but it was well worth the wait.

We saw a French jazz artist, a one-man-band from Aus, a soul group from Egypt, Ana Moura who is a famous Portuguese Fado singer, Fefe who is a French hip-hop/soul act, a large Cuban ensemble, and many more. It was cool to be take in music that I know I otherwise would not expose myself to. And the crowd watching was lots of fun as hippies tend to put on a good side show!

Drive through the HIlls

On Sunday morning we thought we would get breakfast in the hills. One hour and one huge ass rocking horse later we were starving and car sick but the view sure was beautiful.







I choose to believe that that alpaca is sleeping.

Adelaide Cup Day

Well Monday was a public holiday in only a few of Australia's states, including mine. Ours was because of the Adelaide Cup Horse Races which proves that horses are good for something.

Just when I was starting to come around and give them another chance, I stumbled upon this a$hole over the long weekend on a drive through the hills:

A much-larger-than-necessary-fug-novelty-tourist-trap which is also called the "Big Rocking Horse."

Part of a wooden toy factory and a wildlife park, the Big Rocking Horse in the Adelaide Hills stands at over 18 metres tall and weighs more that 25 tonnes. Designed by David McIntosh, it took eight months to build at a cost of over $100,000.

What a waste.

Now this is a part of a much larger Australia-wide phenomenon known as the "Big Things." According to the old Wikir snapper:

"The Big Things of Australia are a loosely related set of large structures or sculptures. There are estimated to be over 150 such objects around the country, the first being the Big Scotsman in Medindie, Adelaide, which was built in 1963.

Most Big Things began as tourist traps found along major roads between destinations.

The big things have become something of a cult phenomenon, and are sometimes used as an excuse for a road trip, where many or all Big Things are visited and used as a backdrop to a group photograph. Many of the big things are considered works of folk art and are being heritage-listed."


Aside from seeing the horse monstrosity, you can also travel around in search of the "Big Ant," the "Big Beer Can," the "Big Potato" (which is particularly ugly), "The Big Boxing Crocodile," "The Sausage King," the "Big Captain Cook" and much much more. See the full list of silliness here.

And I thought Texas had a penchant for all things big.

Number 1 Animal Killer of Humans

If you had to guess, which Aussie Animal would you suspect kills the most humans every year?












Spiders?


















SNAKES?!





















Sharks?!!?!?















Crocs!!??



























Sting Rays???









If you guessed any of the above, you are wrong. It is the horse. Horses are bastards. They smell, eat tons of food and then take huge craps, throw people around like rag dolls, make annoying noises, paralyze people, screw you over at the track and stomp on skulls like I do bubble wrap. When will people stop messing with these beasts and treating them any differently than cows or yaks?







Psycho Killer

Fringe-Worthy

The Fringe Festival happens every Feb/March in Adelaide for three weeks. It is a combination of 1200 performances total of different genres: caberet, circus, comedy, dance, events, film, music, puppetry, theater, visual arts and more. There are even quirky events like "free bogan bingo" and the kick-off parade featuring the mascots featured on the right.

From what I've seen, events range from free-about $45 for a ticket. There is the "Garden of Unearthly Delights" that pops up in a park adjacent to the city that is free entry. Here there are sideshow acts, full bars, caberet shows, carny food, lots of quirky decor and more. Its a cool way to provide a free base point for people to meet for a drink before shows. I've put up some photos taken in the garden - be on the lookout for the bearded lady (who I didn't realize was painted!) who served my drink.

Due to the Big Pond Film Festival being on at the same time, I only went to three Fringe Festival events other than drinks at the Garden. The first one I saw was an hour long poem called "Smiler" that was presented by a famous Brit called Richard Fry. It was a story about his friend with a brain injury and it had you laughing one minute and holding back tears the next.

The second show I saw was called "Adolf" and it was a speech given by the fuhrer at the end of his reign. The show had a twist at the end that had you take a good hard look at racism and yourself. The last show that I saw was Arj Barker's standup performance that I raved about two posts ago.

There are Fringe Festivals all over the world - go check one out near you!

FRIGID New York
March, 2008
www.frigidfest.com

Fraser Valley Fringe Theatre Festival
May 10 - 13, 2007
www.ragmag.net/fringe

Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival
May 17 - 28, 2007
www.orlandofringe.org

Festival St. Ambroise Fringe de Montreal
June 7 - 17, 2007
www.montrealfringe.ca

Ottawa Fringe Festival
June 14 - 24, 2007
www.ottawafringe.com

Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival
July 4 - 15, 2007
www.fringetoronto.com

Regina Fringe Festival
July 10 - 15, 2007
www.reginafringe.com

Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival
July 18 - 29, 2007
www.winnipegfringe.com

London Fringe Theatre Festival
July 27 - August 6, 2007
www.londonfringe.ca

Athabasca Country Fringe Festival
July 27 - 29, 2007
www.athabascafringe.ab.ca

Saskatoon Fringe Theatre Festival
August 2 - 12, 2007
www.saskatoonfringe.org

Grand Little Fringe
August 3 - 5, 2007
atanasichuk@pwsd76.ab.ca

Hamilton Fringe Festival
August 10 - 19, 2007
www.hamiltonfringe.ca

Calgary Fringe Festival
August 10 - 19, 2007
www.calgaryfringe.ca

Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival
August 16 - 26, 2007
www.fringetheatreadventures.ca

Boulder International Fringe Festival
August 16 - 27, 2007
www.boulderfringe.com

Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival
August 23 - September 2, 2007
www.victoriafringe.com

Indianapolis Fringe Festival
August 24 - September 2, 2007
www.indyfringe.org

Atlantic Fringe Festival
August 30 - September 9, 2007

www.atlanticfringe.ca

San Francisco Fringe Festival
September 5 - 16, 2007
www.sffringe.org

Vancouver Fringe Festival
September 6 - 16, 2007
www.vancouverfringe.com

FRINGE and FRINGE FESTIVAL are registered trademarks of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals


Other International Fringe Festivals

EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL
www.edfringe.com

admin@edfringe.com

PRAGUE FRINGE FESTIVAL

FRINGE FESTIVAL PRAHA

www.praguefringe.com

info@praguefringe.com

DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL

www.fringefest.com

ADELAIDE FRINGE FESTIVAL
www.adelaidefringe.com.au
buzz@adelaidefringe.com.au

WELLINGTON FRINGE FESTIVAL
www.fringe.org.nz

welcome@fringe.org.nz

MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL

WIMBLEDON

Wimbledon’s Fringe Arts Festival

www.wombledon.org.uk

anthony@wombledon.org.uk