A new development

Just as I was beginning to think our Hawaii holiday was almost completely organised, a little spanner is thrown into the mix with the announcement of a tour by the much loved Jack's Mannequin. They are playing in San Francisco the night after my sister Crystals birthday and I think there is no better way to celebrate and enjoy our holiday quite like a quick 1 night stop in San Francisco. I mean it's only a 5 hour flight from Hawaii.

I tried to buy pre-sale tickets today but since I'm not American and can't get tickets posted out I can't buy them yet. I have to wait until Sunday (Monday afternoon for me) to buy tickets from Ticketmaster (which usually means extra fees *blergh*)

I will be booking flights and locking in accommodation on Monday at the Hotel Vertigo (which is a 7 minute walk to the venue) *potentially - I may find something else between now and Monday*. 

Either way I think this was a nice way to start my weekend. I looked up flights and have adjusted our Hawaii stuff so that the 1 night fits in nicely without costing too much extra. I'm so excited that we've added this to our trip - it wouldn't feel like an American holiday without seeing them (this will be the 4th time I'll have seen Andrew McMahon in the USA). 

Did I mention they're touring because they're releasing a new album on the 4th of October? Here's the first single - it's beautiful (which is to be expected).

You can pre-order the new album from the website www.jacksmannequin.com . Tour dates can also be found on their site - I suggest VERY strongly if they are visiting a town/city near you that you should go see them. 

Cool cool,

Brooke

P.S I write about Andrew/Jack's Mannequin SO much on this blog that I feel like I should make a label for post related to him/them. 

Nervous photo taking

On Tuesday night I headed into Melbourne to a nice little venue called Billboards to photograph Kele Okereke (aka the lead singer of Bloc Party) (!!!!!). I was feeling really great and excited about it until about 2 minutes before he walked onstage - I started to get REALLY nervous. I was about to photograph KELE FROM BLOC PARTY - Bloc Party, the band who's music has been a massive part of my life for so long.

I've photographed a whole bunch of bands I love before and never made myself nervous, not like this. There is something about being in the presence of Kele that I found really daunting. I've seen him live before quite a few times so I couldn't even use the "I've never seem him before and I'm so excited/nervous". 

When he walked onstage I had to stop my hands from shaking and just get myself into that "zone". He was a really easy person to photograph live - he's expressive, impressive, beautiful and mesmerising. 

*See what I mean about BEAUTIFUL*

I'll link to the rest of the photos when the gallery becomes live on thedwarf.com.au but until then I just needed to share these couple of photos from the night. I'm pretty proud of how the gallery turned out.

**** EDIT ***** The gallery is up on thedwarf.com.au CLICK HERE to check out the other photos

After the gig as I was going to pay for my car parking I took a massive tumble down a stair (only 1) and I now have a HUGE bruise on my leg (I'll get proper pics and share soon - it's gross), 2 bruised knees and a sore ankle. I haven't fallen that badly for SO long and when it happened I was so mad/embarrassed that I wanted to crawl into a hole. 

Tomorrow night I'm off to the Kaiser Chiefs sideshow. I'm extremely excited about this. I'll be back with my report on Splendour in the Grass (didn't I mention that I went to this amazing music festival last weekend?) and the couple of other shows I've been to this week. All in all it's been a busy, fun time.

Happy, tired smiles

 - Brooke

Happy day

(don't worry my hair is still purple - this photo just doesn't show it)

Today is my birthday.

My plans for today include lunch with my Grandma, sister and niece then dinner with the rest of the family. 

I think today calls for some black eyeliner and red lips.

x x x

Brooke

A picture an hour - 16 July 2011

I've certainly become used to not blogging the past couple of weeks. It's an easy thing to get used to. I think I really needed a rest and a bit of relaxing anti-internet time. Now that's over, I decided yesterday to try my hand at a photo an hour using my iPhone and my Instagram app. I also made it a little harder on myself by only allowing myself to use the filter "Walden".

So without further ado, a typical footy day:

9.48am - First sleep in for a while.

10.52am - Nail Polish application

12.33pm - On the train to the football

MORE AFTER THE BREAK...

Fridays Ash coverage.

Has another week seriously just finished? Is it really almost July? 

I don't know how I managed to go over a week without posting. I've been staring at a half finished post about last weekend all week trying to find words and it's still sitting in my drafts unfinished. It's weird when something finishes and the words just don't seem to do it justice. 

It's been another busy week and I've found myself trying to organise dates and itineraries for my own USA holiday. I thought I had it worked out but then I realised I had a work thing that was clashing big time with the dates I had down. *FRUSTRATING* 

I've suddenly had this craving for more beach time on holidays (I think my most recent trip to Thailand is to blame) so I've been trying to include a 4 night stay in the Caribbean. Anyone have any suggestions on what island we should visit? I just want beautiful beaches, amazing resort and not too pricey. We'll be flying from Orlando or Miami FL and I'm pretty lost with where to start. The Caribbean is not a place many Australians travel to because it's soooo far away and we have beaches and beach holiday options a lot closer to home. I want to go because it's something different and something amazing. HELP :)

Tomorrow night I'm headed into the city for dinner (and beer) at a beer hall and then dancing to The Grates and then more drinking with my work mates. Right now I'm watching Kick Ass and relaxing a bit. I'll try finish that post I was talking about later - if I can find the words.

Love love

 - Brooke

P.S I ordered 2 x lavender/lilac hair dyes & 1 x more deep purple SFX hair dye so I have one more dye job with the deep purple then I'm going to attempt the lavender/lilac hair colour *eeep*