Sydney – Page 10 – everydaysparks

The ukuleles are in town

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Cate

So, last night I went to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at the Opera House. Oh yes I did. My friend Jane bought tickets and invited me to go along and it sounded just weird enough to be my cup of tea, so away we went. Before the show, we were at Opera Bar and noticed lots of people (ok, by ‘lots’, I clearly don’t mean thousands, let’s say at least 37) carrying little ukelele-shaped cases. At first, I was surprised that the orchestra members would be out drinking so close to showtime, then realised that these must actually just be random people carrying ukuleles. The ukulele carriers covered some pretty broad demographics – men and women, young and old, two eyes and four eyes. I know it sounds dumb, but I had never really thought of ukuleles as instruments before last night. More of a cute-looking joke present to give a niece or a friend who secretly wanted to be Slash, but lacked any musical ability.

Anyways, we got to the concert hall and it appeared that the gig was sold out, or pretty close to it. On our right was a fancy looking pair of seniors, who told us that they had brought their daughter and their grandson (with his ukulele). And their Indian parish priest from Maroubra (with his ukulele), who seemingly loves music and turns every church service into a singalong. On several occasions of audience participation, said priest thrust his ukulele high in the air, like some sort of salute to the gods. Rock on, Father. On our left was another fancy looking pair of not-quite-as-seniors from the north shore. Jan was learning the ukulele after completing some classes for beginners at an evening college and had recently enjoyed a ukulele jam session with a group in Sydney’s inner west. Even my friend Jane advised that she had taken ukulele lessons. I like to think I’m pretty down with current trends and I definitely love music, so I feel like I have missed something here. WHEN DID THE UKULELE GET SO POPULAR? AND WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?

Whatever, the concert was fun, with everything from Beethoven to Lady Gaga to a Playschool-esque singalong version of the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK. The highlights for me were the emotional rendition of Wheatus’ Teenage Dirtbag and the upbeat, jazzy take on Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights. As we left, I was happy, but still not sure what to make of this new (to me, at least) ukulele world. However, I am nothing if not easily inspired, so thought I’d get home and google ukulele instructors in my neighbourhood and start taking classes. Then I ran into a group of youngish ukulele carriers near the taxis and my immediate reaction was: WEIRDOS. And that was the end of that.

PS, if you want to visit ukulele world without paying for a ticket, you can check out the Orchestra on You Tube.

Sparky gifts, Sydney sparks

Ahoy there, me hearties

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Cate

Today the sun is out after another bout of rainy weather. It’s a beautiful day and there is a breeze that reminds you that it’s officially Autumn now (although this year in Sydney, you might have missed Summer if you blinked for too long). And on a day like today, I often look around and think…I wish [Person X, Y or Z] was here now to see this. I don’t actually know someone called Person X (or Y or Z), but hopefully you get what I mean. Whether it’s someone who lives on the other side of the world, or someone I used to work with, or an old friend or family member, or just Liam Neeson, I often wish there was some way of zapping that person right here. Kind of like Willy Wonka’s Wonkavision, when Mike Teevee gets transported in a bzillion pieces from the real world to tv world. But I wouldn’t want to do that to people I love, especially since we never actually saw how Mike Teevee ended up…And I know there’s texting, emailing, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Skype blah blah blah. But it’s not the same. Which is why I love the Travelling Heart Project. I stumbled across it last year when I found a link to it somewhere. It was started by a Sydneysider as a way to send love and happy thoughts around the world the old fashioned way – by mail. The heart that you adopt comes with cool tags for your message and the person has the option of using an extra tag to send the heart on to someone else. It’s a nice way to let someone know that you’re thinking of them – not just on their birthday or at Christmas time, but when it’s sunny. Or rainy. Or they have news. Or you see a funny looking dog. Or discover a new ice cream flavour. Or remember a silly thing that happened years ago and it makes you laugh. Or cry. I think they’re a great idea and sometimes they’re the perfect thing to send – whether the recipient is overseas, over the fence, over the other side of the table, over the moon or at the desk next to you. If you’re interested, it’s The Travelling Heart Project.

Sydney sparks

Here’s looking at you, Syd

Posted on February 24, 2012February 24, 2012 by Cate

Today is just one of those amazing days when you look around the harbour city and think, where else would you want to be? After weeks – months – of unseasonal weather (cooler, wetter and much sadder than summer should be), today is just perfect. Strong blue skies (not that wishy washy blue of nanna’s cardi, but the deep blue of – say – Jake Gyllenhall’s dreamy peepers) and warm sunshine, like Mother Nature is saying TGIF. Weather like this makes everyone happier – as I waited for a mid-afternoon ferry, a group of Korean women in their 70s started line dancing at the wharf, sort of like a bizarro elderly Asian Billy Ray Cyrus flash mob. Unfortunately, I was in shock at this unexpected sight and wasn’t quick enough to catch them with my camera (or my stick). Crazy politicians, public transport iss-ews and world beating housing costs aside, so lucky to live in such a beautiful town. Especially on a $10 postcard-pic day like today.