Fifty dollar replacements and fangirly fun
It's ridiculously late. And yet I feel the need to update since it's been a week and I have long overdue fangirly entry-worthy things to document. I must also vent how annoyed I am that I busted my iPod earphones tonight. Within barely three months I've managed to score a pesky little scratch on one side of my iPod's screen and now this! So, the screen thing's probably my fault for not purchasing one of those shockingly expensive (but necessary) protector skins for it (which I've been meaning and meaning to buy). But the earphones? I know all earphones are prone to damage 'cause they're delicate but I was certain (well, hopeful) that they'd last me a year or two, at the very least! I've had the misfortune of learning they cost around $50 to replace. Darn it. I'm so careful with my iPod too. *grumble, grumble*
I went along to see Hating Alison Ashley this evening with the most unlikely of companions - Schmo. As woefully as we seem to get along in this day and age, a select few movies (Goonies, Labyrinth, and The Dark Crystal) and books (by Robin Klein, Roald Dahl or Paul Jennings) shared in childhood form reminents of our sibling bond. ;) He was as chuffed as I was to learn the adaptation of HAA was being made - though me a little moreso with Delta cast in the title role. ;) I never considered how perfect (with her graceful disposition, looks and mannerism-wise) Delta is as Alison. I remember having a distinct picture of what the character looked, acted, and and sounded like and despite the many reviews knocking her portrayal, I think she brought the character to life remarkably well. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who pictured Alison to be rigid and unanimated so as to come off as statuesque and a little bit surreal. The fact that Erica narrates the story means the reader is lead to view the embellished, ever-angelic Alison through her eyes too. So I really loved how that translated onto the screen satirically through dream sequences. I was really impressed with how Saskia became Erica. She adopted a fourteen-year-old persona and physicality so convincingly. There was plenty of Barry Hollis and his pyromania throughout, and a highly amusing scene where Erica discusses the resident oddballs of Barringa East on her walk home from school. But I was slightly disappointed there was no mention or sign of the infamous Eastside Boys. But other memorable moments include Erica introducing Alison to the Sick Bay as the grand finale to her schoolyard tour, Miss Belmont's random belting of unruly students across the head with rolled up paper, Harley's Astral travel, and Alison's nurse costume in the play (I wonder if her softdrink-bottle breast enhancement was an intentional plug for Pepsi!). Craig McLachlan's PE teacher character was a surprisingly hilarious highlight, as were the Yurkens. I'd been hanging out for a glimpse of them during previews, but I can understand and appreciate (now) why they were kept under wraps 'cause they were brilliant. ;D The whole film, like the book really, had to be taken and enjoyed for what it was - coming of age sentimentality and light-hearted comic entertainment. And as far as Aussie films are concerned, I think this one is a real credit. It was cute, quirky, and amusing from start to finish and the whole cast were teriffic. If you like a bit of teen angst mixed with larrakin humour, make sure you see it!
Those who have already read my review on the Delta board can ignore this. I hardly expect you to read through it twice! :O I arrived home from Highpoint round 8pm after a very long day. So long, in fact, that I don’t really know where to begin! My alarm went off at 8:30am and I planned to be up, dressed, and ready to go by 9:15 (the earliest that Dad agreed to take me since my ride with Schmo fell through). I had one of those mornings where everything takes twice as long as it should and then on top of that, Dad missed the turn off and backtracking cost us another half hour. I didn’t arrive there till about 10:45. Not having shopped there before, I was rather disorientated (pardon the pun!) but found my way to centre stage on Level 1. I wondered why it seemed so deserted. I asked a security woman where and when we were to start queuing and she informed me that they were lining up in the car park. [Call me daft, but how the heck were we supposed to know that with no signs or indicators or to inform us? At least I didn’t waste too much time figuring it out, anyway.] I joined the car park queue, checking with a security dude that I was joining the end of the line. He nodded, but I don’t think he was paying attention ‘cause I started getting death stares from the people next to me. A guy said something about being there since 2am and then a woman two or three people down from him looked me sharp in the eye and went, "the end of the line’s over THERE!". I was a little taken aback by her tone. It was pretty obvious I wasn’t “pushing in” intentionally. It annoyed me more so ‘cause that’s precisely something I would NEVER do.
I was disappointed to find that the very people who fancy themselves Delta’s biggest fans, don’t seem to have learned by her example. :/ I was further amazed by several other cases of selfishness and disrespect for others as the day wore on but I won’t go into it any further - at least not for now. By the same token, I was pleased to find that most people I queued among were lovely. I chatted happily with a mother and daughter and another guy round my age. We would all mind each other’s belongings while the other went for toilet/drink/food breaks throughout the afternoon. That was a big weight off my mind, being alone and not knowing anyone and made the four hour period for which we sat waiting on the butt-numbing concrete floor a little more bearable. ;D
Unfortunately the security would frequently interrupt our cheerful banter about previous instores, the Visualise Tour and other topics fanatics deem discussion-worthy to reiterate the harsh terms of the instore: pictures to be taken from the queue only; no cameras of any kind on stage, one CD to be signed; either MI or AH, no requesting personal autographs; due to Delta’s time restrictions and flight out of Melbourne after 7pm. I understand why these limitations are enforced - people all too frequently abuse them. But these were some pretty tight conditions nonetheless! Of course the my main objective of the day was just getting a chance to see Delta face-to-face again, but I’d be lying if I didn’t want just one quick photo aswell. I found myself envying Sydneysiders for always getting the better deal at their instores and apps. Ours always seem more rushed, restricted and disorganised. But then I spared a thought for the other poor states that don’t even have the privilege of an instore and I soon got over it. I resolved to have my album signed over AH (obviously), but decided to pop my AH sleeve inside in case she was able to sign that too and continued the waiting game till around 3pm when we were finally moved in sections into the mall and through barricades in front of the stage. MI (the album) played very loudly over and over.
We waited there for just over an hour while the Fox FM and Nova crews handed out promo freebies and got members of the crowd up to sing renditions of their favourite Delta songs. It was mainly kids who were game enough. The first girl belted out OOTB and was quite good but admitted to not knowing the lyrics in the second verse. The little boy who got up to sing IE was hilarious. He was really eager to get on stage, but once he did he got a little overwhelmed. That was short-lived though when he got stuck into the song. He had an impressive little voice on him and got more and more confident with each verse. But then he started making up lyrics (as kids do) and man, it was funny. I'm sure he said, "play your Daddy loud" at one point. I think he was eager to sing the whole song till the Nova dude tactfully cut him off.
At 3:10ish, Lowie from the Hot 30 took the stage and hyped us up for Delta’s grand entrance. I noticed Lea entered a few minutes prior and did a quick run along the front row to greet forumers and accept flowers and cards addressed to her and the Goodrems. The crowd began chanting Delta’s name and from the angle I was standing at that point, I was one of the first to notice her peer around the corner. I only wish I was close enough to get a shot of her face right there and then ‘cause it was adorable. She walked out briskly, wearing her prettiful gold sequined shrug-style cardi with a white singlet top and brown tailored pants. Waving and giggling and then greeted Lowie with a hug and kiss. She looked out across the crowd and spoke to Lowie through the woo-ing and intermittent screams of "we love you, Delta!!!" from kiddies and crazed forumers. She said she was so thrilled to be back in Melbourne because it was where her first instores were held.
After introducing her guitarist (who wasn’t Steve, but still very good nonetheless), she sat at the keyboard to perform Out Of The Blue. Her voice sounded crystal clear and just beautiful. I madly snapped photos, though I really didn’t have a great view at that point. Next she stood for a A Little Too Late and it absolutely rocked out the way purplesplinter had described of her (Sydney instore) perf. She had plenty of hand gestures and playful expressions happening. She was intent on us warming up our vocals by singing the do-do-dos for her, which we did - with great gusto! I got a shot (albeit a distant one) of her holding out the mic to us and another of her holding her hand to her ear when she told us to sing louder. She resumed her place at the keyboard for a flawless perf of Be Strong and finished with a solo version of Almost Here in Brian’s absence. She requested the boys sing Brian’s part and the girls join in with her. She ended up doing a very impressive job of singing both parts most of the way through, amid our efforts.
When the performance ended, she disappeared out the back for a quick break and then reappeared to begin signing. The first to go on stage were those I’d received death stares from earlier. After a final warning of, "no cameras - don’t even think about smuggling them on stage", this lot had a lovely group photo snapped without a quibble from security. Surely they wouldn’t break the rules for one group and then enforce them for everyone else. But then for each person then onwards, it seemed they did just that. I don’t recall seeing a photo snapped again for at least ten minutes. Also, I noticed people bring several items up for signing; single sleeves + albums, and even posters or signs. That all gave me hope that maybe they weren’t being so tight after all. Two hours later, and as our group edged closer, it became apparent that they were taking people’s bags and cameras, once again. I snapped as many close shots as I could, knowing that I wouldn’t get them on stage and my batteries conked out, as if on cue so I put my camera away, handed my bad to security and approached the stage and Delta. A member was ready to swoop you CD away and place it on the table like a checkout. About five different copies of MI and AH when Delta turned to me and she got confused about which one was mine because of it. She greeted me with the hugest grin and I quickly sputtered how wonderful it was to meet her again. She said it was wonderful to meet me again too and leant in to hug me. :D Then I told her she was looking beautiful today and she said the same of me simultaneously! :P I handed her the earrings in a little gift box, told them they were for her and I hoped she liked them. She didn’t open the box. I think she was distracted by the pop up butterfly card I’d attached. But the expression on her face was very "awwww" as she thanked me for it. I pointed her in the direction of my CD (among the others) and familiarised her with my name and spelling - she was about to write a C, but altered it seamlessly. She got the rest right without me needing to go through the therine/thrine bit. I didn’t bother sneaking AH out in the end. The security dude was eyeing me closely and I didn’t want to put Delta in an awkward position. As she handed MI back to me, she focused on my hands. She held onto them and told me they were gorgeous and that she loved my nail polish. :D That was a hugely warm’n’fuzzy compliment coming from her ‘cause I always admire her hands and nails. They’re the prettiest! <3 I couldn’t think of a better note to finish on than that. But I still had enough time left to pull out the FanForum flyer purplesplinter and I created and briefly ran through what it was about. [Eves approached me with the idea of creating this to inform Delta about our FF board in the hope that she may check it out at some point]. Delta nodded and looked interested. I’m not sure if she made the connection with Eves’ copy but I made a point of saying my friend in Sydney had advertised it too. [Now that our board's soon to be customised and clocked up10,000+ posts, we'd be so chuffed if she were to see it]. She thanked me once again and I left without remembering to mentioning the tour or album. I wanted her to know how much I adore The Analyst and hanging out for the love perf …and that I’ll see her fourth row, at the first show. But, ah well. Hopefully I’ll get to tell her that if she pops up at the VIP pre-show function. I phoned Dad to see if he could pick me up and he agreed to making another hour’s trip there and back to bring me home. While I waited, I watched her sign for the final (what turned out to be second last) hour. She was still sprightly as ever; singing along to her songs and smiling. I noticed that pretty much every person in the forty or so minutes after me managed to get photos. The security woman had obviously caved in and Delta, being Delta, willingly obliged. Half my luck. My heart sank at the thought of missing out again. I wish they weren’t so inconsistent with photos. It’s particularly hard for people who are there on their own and would have appreciated the opportunity to have security take their pic too. The inconsistency was plain wrong.
I am even more indignant that I would have the most fun at an instore with my Delta friends on FF. I was all geared up to go it alone to the concert in July. But I think I underestimated how hard it woould be, standing around alone; watching her come on stage, perform and noticing all those cute (sometimes spazzy) things that make her adore her so; seeing other groups of friends and family members share in their fangirliness. Not being able to share your excitement or amusement with anyone other than the brief exchanges made with your newly made queue buddies is really quite depressing. That’s not to say I didn’t love every minute of Delta’s performance. It was a taste of what’s to come in July and for that I am so excited. As I did on FF, I must apologise for the (week) late recount. And for all my woe-be-me wallowing-in-self pity moments. It’s so unlike me, I know. But I can tell you it made the pleasant moments of the day all the sweeter. I must have spent no longer than a minute and a half with her onstage, but every second was absolutely thrilling. Just like last time. Being in her presence really is just that. Her smile, and her words bring sunshine into my day every day anyway. But being on the receiving end of them on a personal level is really something else. I would have waited all day and all night to see her because I know she puts in that kind of dedication + more for us. I heard she was signing till 8pm and may have missed her flight because of it. She never ceases to amaze me, that's for sure. ;)
I'm pretty sure I saw rockstarbella in a long black singlet top, brown belt, jeans and back thongs, lining up with her her friend Alistair. As I said on FF, I do apologise for not approaching you to say hi, Bel! I wanted to. But everytime I passed you in the lines it didn't seem right to disturb your conversation. I hope you guys had a fun day! :)
The following are the best of my bunch of pics, along with a shot of the earrings I gave her along with my signed MI album. Click the thumbnails for bigger versions:
Mum figured that since I missed out on another photo with Delta, a fangirly photo with the album was in order. It's incredibly lame but it captures the spirit of the day. I was too squee-ey to even worry about how dorky I may happen to look right there. Cloud 9 is a lovely place. ;P
To say I have a load of commenting to get stuck into would be an understatement. I don't think I'm lucid enough to start that now. But expect some rather old and possibly outdated responses from me over the weekend. :)