Briefly AWOL

[blamebrampton]

We are house hunting.

Surely there is no sentence that evokes such a combination of life-enhancing hope and soul-destroying horror?

Sadly, this means that my life outside work is filled with viewings, and the subsequent gentle chastisement of agents: 'No, I am an editor. The word "spacious" definitely has a different meaning to the one you are giving it. Let us not speak of "affordable".'

But, pollymel and sinden, Summer Hill is on our list of possible/probables, so more regular ukulele dates could be a thing!

And I watched White Nights for the first time in about 28 years. I saw a video of a recent Mikhail Baryshnikov performance and he is still grippingly brilliant, but back then he was simply astonishing.

It occurs to me that of the best male dancers of the 20th century, he is the only one we were able to see really grow old. Nijinsky died far too young and Nureyev was not strong in the last years of his life. Misha onstage as a man in late middle age changes what you think a dancer should be, and expands our definitions. I need to hunt down the name of that filmed performance: it was less than four years old and contained a table and a wonderful mature ballerina. Sounds less than thrilling, I know, but I was spellbound.

Back to the packing. Stay well, you lot! 

Comments

[sassy-cissa.livejournal.com]

Good luck house hunting. I can't imagine doing that again...well actually it's the moving house part I can't imagine after being here for nearly 30 years. I plan to do as my parents did...die here and leave the clearing out to my children. lololol

Seriously, I hope the hunt and the move go smoothly. ♥

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

We've only been here for just-shy of 14 and oh lord, THE BOOKS! I have packed three boxes, Mr B has done nothing. I fear this is the next two months …

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Buying or renting?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Renting. I have been loath to buy in Sydney because I keep telling myself that I will be moving on soon. And now prices are so ridiculous that I need another year to get a deposit of a respectable amount sorted!

[shu-shu-sleeps.livejournal.com]

House hunting? You must fill me in on the back story at some point. And totally agree about Baryshnikov - the man can rivet an audience merely by walking across a stage!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Our landlords who never do anything have decided that after 14 years they should renovate and sell or re-rent for much more. Glad we still haven't put the new bathroom basin in! HA!

And oh yes. I need to find some more video of him!

[anthraxia.livejournal.com]

Ah, Estate Agent speak. Contains space of some sort or another, ergo 'spacious'. Rupert Murdoch could afford it, ergo 'affordable'. There's also: can't swing a cat and an absolute furnace in summer, ergo 'cosy', a decorator with the colour sense of an excited dog gave every room at least two statement walls (where the statement was mostly WTF!) and/or the bathroom and kitchen were butchered by cowboy tradies within the last decade, ergo 'all modern interior'.

Fortunately Menage Brammers will not bite on 'close to several good schools', so you need not go through 'translates to school is next door, expect your cats to be terrorised, the garden full of balls, and silence to be unknown between 7am and 7pm, oh, and parents will park across your driveway with infuriating regularity'. As far as I can tell, 'good for the shops' means 'it'll be such a pain in the arse you'll spend big every time to avoid having to go back any sooner than you have to', 'easy for public transport' means either your bedroom windows rattle when the trains go past, or it's easy, there is none, and 'would suit students' means no other poor sod is desperate enough to live there.

Good luck!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Primary schools are OK, I like to collect as many balls as possible and since we don't drive and the cats are inside cats, and I should be at least up for work by 9, the other factors aren't problems.

The transport has been the most annoying thing. 'Close to shops if you have a Volvo' is no use to a walking/cycling household! And we have trains outside the front door now!

[sinden.livejournal.com]

Ack, bummer aouttheb having to hunt for a place. It's an all round pain in the bum -- but being in Summer Hill would be awesome. We can meet up in all the awesome spots. Ashfield isn't too bad either ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'm not as keen on Ashfield, but we have applied for a place in Summer Hill. There were dozens of others, though, so we may not get it. But if we do, there was plenty of rehearsal space!

[sinden.livejournal.com]

Woot! Ashfield is nice if you are on the Summer/Dulwich Hill side of Liverpool Road like we are.

[hometime.livejournal.com]

Yes, Misha is an extraordinary dancer, and has been for decades. Was it a performance at Wolf Creek which you were thinking of?
I think that in coming years Carlos Acosta is going to show an incredible maturity, if he continues to perform (he recently announced his retirement from the Royal Ballet). His version of 'les bourgeois' is only a few minutes long, and well worth a look to see both his technical skill but also his acting. I can't find it on YouTube or I'd include a link, sorry.
The female dancer who has changed as she matures, but is still extraordinary, is Sylvie Guillam. Still amazing!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Research has told me it may have been An Evening of Dance in Madrid in 2007. I will have to hunt it down as it was riveting.

Is Acosta going to keep dancing? He will be astonishing. And YES to Sylvie Guillam!

[spirillen.livejournal.com]

As someone who has been going through the selling of flat to hunt for a new home since March you have my sympathy! Are you renting or buying? If it's the latter I hope the Australian system is more transparent than in the UK, I accepted an offer for my place on the 1st April and still have no idea of if and when the sale might go through.

White Nights - goodness, I loved that film when it first came out. The cold war was so real and scary when I grew up and yet I think parts of what is happening today is even scarier.

On a much happier note - today I befriended a beautiful grey parrot at our local bus stop. That is not something you do every day. Fortunately frantic owner turned up eventually. The incident might have cost me a scarf and a button on my raincoat, however I am proud to say I was the only person the parrot wanted to engage with. I think I shall add Parrot-whisperer to my CV.

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

I so love that film and his performance in it, the song was considered a truly "revlutionary" (in the Real Sense) one back when the Iron Curtain was still restricting the freedom of so many (as you may know by now, I´m a child of GDR-refugees, so it felt very personal). Still makes me cry.