RAIN!!!

It's been very rainy for the last few days, but it's not too cold, so I can go out in it :)

Went running with Frontrunners this last Saturday and picked up my Frontrunners shirt (hehe prolly only one of the things I will actually buy here to take back... limited luggage + limited budget = limited souvenirs). And the run was nice because it rained a ton before and then right after, so I got a nice, rain-free run.

Later that day I went to the Youtube Symphony finale matinee (the grand finale was the following night). The program was visually amazing, along with the sounds and songs, of course. They projected images and art all over the inner chambers of the concert hall. During the grand finale they did the same images on the outer sails as well. Highlights for me were 4 pieces. One was conducted by a 17-year-old conductor which was very relaxing and enjoyable: Danza Del Trigo from the ballet Estancia. Another was the premier of Mothership, which featured electronic artists and improvisational pieces by four special guests... it was visually great as well. The third was a violin piece called the Ascending Bird (not to be confused with the Lark Ascending), which was written by two guys in their 30's/40's who were present and playing in the piece. The highlight of the particular piece was sand artist, Kseniya Simonova, who did live sand art accompanying the piece. If you've never seen sand art before, definitely check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo . Finally, I loved the finale, which was the final 3 dances of Stravinksy's Firebird. I got hooked on the song when it was written as a suite for Fantasia 2000, which you can check out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oSTyWYGJ6E . I found that piece to be the finest of the film... the one most like the original Fantasia.

Anyways, all of that was very fun to go to and I might go to another show mid-April which will have Nobuo Uematsu's work from the Final Fantasy series performed.

This week is pretty laid-back. I am most likely going to plan a trip for Monday through Wednesday of next week to Uluru or Canberra, but will update before it's finalized.

On a completely random note, I tried my first custard apple yesterday. If you have never had one, I suggest you do... it's a bizarre fruit that is quite delicious. The outside resembles a mix between an avocado and an artichoke. This is broken open or cut to reveal a pulpy-soft inside. The inside peels apart similar to the flakes of a fish fillet (yeah, weird) and the consistency is almost that of a soft custard). It is called different things in other areas of the world, but here is some info on them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vet2wp5j7dI

OK, that's it for now :)