Hey blog. So it's been awhile. I know I said I'd visit you more, but some stuff went down, and I'd rather not dwell on it. We still cool? Why am I trying to seek forgiveness from my own blog? I guess I have some blogging guilt is all. I might as well explain.
What started my initial hiatus, from what was a fairly well updated account of my trip to Australia, was being more sick than I can remember. After a few days of arriving in Melbourne I was hit with one helluva nasty lung infection. It was bad. I have never really had a headache my entire life, and suddenly, I was hit with pounding one that wouldn't let up until I finally took some Advil. What wonderful temporary relief! The next few days, if I wasn't on Advil, my head was so messed up that even standing up meant several painful spikes in my from the pressure, walking up stairs was the worst.
Finally went to the doc, who gave me some double strength anti-biotics the size of those mega multivitamins. Took those for ten days, and felt better, physically.
What was left in the wake of sickness was a serious case of the Blues (not to be confused with the AFL team, the Carlton Blues, who are currently having a great season).
I think after such a successful run in Adelaide, not performing for several weeks and being horribly sick was too steep of a drop too quickly. For those that know me (which would be all the four people who are most likely reading this) I am normally Mr. Optimism. If I was a Transformer they would come me "Optotron". If someone wanted to challenge my positivity they would have to step into the "Optogon". You get the point. But the month of April was a tough one for me. I was feeling very low. Which is strange because if I was a cold blooded giant lizard living on earth hundreds of millions of years ago, I would have been identified as an "Optosaurus Rex" (okay. okay...I'm done).
I met some wonderful people, saw some world class shows, and in the end tried some things on stage that created a whole different direction for my comedy, that doesn't require me to say a single word on stage. I also took a lot of great photos of pigeons.
So in the end, as it always will be, out of the crucible of loneliness and depression, came some wonderfully creative accomplishments.
I just hope it doesn't always have to be that way.
Enough of the whinging, onto some good stuff.
I arrived in Sydney and was able to perform at a bunch of great venues, which will no doubt lead to greater shows and opportunities next year. Only saw a very small bit of the city, but fell in love with the two adjoining neighborhoods of Newtown and the Glebe.
After a week in Sydney, I went to Tasmania, which is a beautiful place, and had two very different shows, one in a small country vineyard restaurant, where the audience ranged from 30 to 80, and then in a bar called the Lower House. The highlight, aside from a dozen Tasmanian Oysters for $13 that I ate right on the pier, would have to be going to MONA (Museum of Old and Modern Art). Which is essentially 1/3 of the private art collection of one man. David Walsh. I haven't looked up on him much, as getting different stories about him from different people, made him all the more interesting. The short story on this guy (all of it unconfirmed mind you) is that he is a self taught math whiz and made all of his money gambling.
I'm not much of a Museum guy to start with, but going through this place made me excited about what is possible from art. There's installations, paintings, videos, sculptures, and some pieces that blur the lines of categorical description. All housed deep in a 'Bond Villanesque' underground lair, dug out of sandstone. As you walk through the different rooms, you have an iPod with headphones that syncs to your location and gives you information about the art, interviews with the artist and more information that you simply cannot process in one day. For some photos of MONA and some of my favorite pieces, you can check out the album on my facebook page. The place just opened this year, but I am certain it won't be long until it is very well known worldwide like the Guggenheim or MOMA. It is most certainly of that level, if not beyond. Oh yeah...and it's free.
Another benefit of MONA, was some friendly staff member who I invited to my show. They ended up contacting a friend of theirs up in Cairns, and that friend's place is where I am currently writing this blog.
In fact for my entire trip, since February 10th, I have been relying almost primarily on the kindness of strangers and newly made friends for lodging. This has obviously made the trip possible financially, but more importantly it has introduced me to some wonderful people all over this country whom I never would have met otherwise. I will be writing another entry soon focusing solely on the kind and hospitable people who have opened their doors, offering their couches and spare rooms to this hairy six-foot stranger.
Now that I have come back to you blog, I don't want to let you go. There's so much more to cover, but I think I've done enough for tonight. I need to get some sleep so can get up early and drive along 'Captain Cook' Highway to visit 'Mossman Gorge'. If you think this sounds like Pirates of the Caribbean, you're right, and it looks like it here too. Photos of which I will show you in the next entry. Until then, here's some photos of pigeons that made me happy, even when I was feeling down.
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