I'm back and yet not back

Well, I've got to say that the Woodford Folk Festival was brilliant.  I had an absolute ball.  There's far too much to say and I'm really sick and can't be bothered, so I'll just give the highlights.

 

No of people I met:  roughly 30 strangers + 10 people through friends of friends

 

New bands discovered:  Rumberos, Martinez, Sars, Flamenco-Indo-Jazz, Waiting for Guinness, Nadya and her 101 Candles Orkestra

 

Old favourites that I saw again:  Fourplay, Elixir, Doch, Palimpsest, Monsieur Camembert, Afro Dizzi Act, Spankinhide, Jaelos Flamenco, Kafka

 

Bands I thought I'd like but didn't:  Fruit, The Beautiful Girls, Stringmansassy, Coda, Dirty Lucy

 

Bands I didn't see because of the huge crowds:  The Cat Empire, Xavier Rudd, The Waifs

 

I spent most of my time with The Fairy - it was nice for the first couple of days, but I think by the end we were both getting on each others nerves.  She was certainly getting on mine anyway.  She was missing her boy (who was still in Sydney) and boy didn't I hear about it!  I also get a little annoyed by her habit of heading off to chat to people without thinking that maybe I'd like to meet them... I always introduce her to anyone I chat to and bring her over to my friends.  I think it's the mix-taper part of my personality coming through again - I think my friends are all great and want them to all meet each other.  But I think The Fairy likes to keep her different groups of friends seperate - like she's afraid we'll find out too much about her by chatting to each other or something.

 

Anyway, by the end of the week, I was actually preferring to be at gigs on my own than in her company, and that's never a good thing.  I was also a little ticked off that I was left on my own at midnight on New Years Eve - it's the first time in my life that I've been on my own for the countdown, and if I'd known that she and the boy wouldn't be at Fourplay by the countdown, I could have joined the Law Student and her mates down at the Amphitheatre for the countdown and then come back up to see Fourplay after that.  It's only a minor thing, but kind of indicative of the week.

 

I had a ball camping with the Law Student and her friends - we had some dramas early on, but they were sorted out as we all relaxed into the festival.

 

I had missed all of the news of the tsunami up at Woodford.  I knew that it had happened, and I knew that a huge number of people had been affected, but without access to news (other than rumour), I didn't know how many countries it had hit or which ones.  So I was pretty shocked by the coverage on Sunday night when I got home to my folks' place.

 

I have to say though, that I'm very proud of my fellow Aussies at the moment - a county of about 20 million have given 100 million in donations to assist the victims of the tsunami.  And that's not including any of the assistance given by the federal and state governments.  My family have chipped in to give nearly $1,000 between us.  I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside over that.

 

And that's my New Years resolution - to give more to charity.  There were others, but I'm not sure I should share.

 

Listening to:  a 2004 mix CD a mate sent me