Lucky lucky, We're so lucky

So yes. I didn't really write much about our Franz Ferdinand experience, so here is a more complete version.

G's friend told her about the shoot the night before, and even though people who were interested were properly emailed about it, we were sure enough that it was going to be disorganized that we were prepared to get all glammed up and go anyway.

Which was how G and I came to be walking down the street to look at some shops in crazy makeup and clothes. We got Johnny Bravoed (you know, gross guys wolf whistling etc) 4 times in ten blocks. ugh.

We ended up being about half an hour late to the shoot, thanks to extremely heavy traffic on Hudson street. We actually ended up getting out of our cab and walking the rest of the way because it was faster.

And yes, as we guessed, it was pretty disorganized. We just walked straight in, signed a waiver, had our photos taken, and waited.

And waited.

We had to learn a little dance for the end of the video, which didn't take too long. It looked kinda odd but when everyone did it together it looked very cool, very Franz Ferdinand. The choreographer had apparently flown in to do the shoot at 5:30 in the morning, and she didn't even choreograph the dance - the band did it themselves. Cushy job or what? :) So when we learnt the dance I assumed that soon they would shoot our part. Of course I assumed wrongly.

In mid afternoon they did a pyrotechnics shot, and without wanting to give anything away, it was very very cool, and afterwards I had the first of many encounters with the band. We were all walking back to the holding area after the shot and I passed by Nick, the guitarist, and we had a quick chat about how cool it was. Which surprised G when she turned around to see me talking to one of the band members :)

The guys were really lovely though. We thought we would barely see them, let alone say hi to them, but in between shots they came out and took some time talking to all the fans. The fact that instead of us seeking them out, they came to talk to us, was really nice. And Alex, the singer, told G and I some very exciting news. And we're going to be all mean and smug and not tell you about it.

After getting there at 2 pm, we finally shot our scene a little after midnight. We're at the end of the song, dancing in a huge group behind the band. I was right up the back unfortunately, but since they were shooting from high above us, there's a chance I'll be able to see myself. Look for the arm with the white Make Poverty History wristband :)

After we were done, we got to chat to everyone again. We got a lot of great photos, but since we're packing we can't get them on computer. I'll put them on when we get back to Melbourne.

Yesterday we *finally* saw Spamalot, after waiting in the standing room ticket line three days in a row. We got the last three tickets but one (the friend who told us about Franz Ferdinand came with us). What a hilarious musical! I laughed so hard that at times I could barely stand up. Thankfully all the characters speak with English accents otherwise I don't know what I'd do. There were obviously some changes from the movie (Monty Python and the Holy Grail), the most obvious one being the addition of music. They still had the 'brave Sir Robin' song (the one sung by Sir Robin's minstrels as he walks through the forest), and they put in Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. David Hyde Pierce (from Frasier, forget the character's name...Niles?) played Sir Robin and was magnificent in the role. I never knew he could sing and dance but he did his big musical number so well. Still not sure whether he was really playing the piano, but it looked very convincing! I'd love to see it again...pity I'm going home...BTW if you want to see it, it's sold out till next April. Your only hope is standing room tickets (which actually weren't half bad, we had a good view of the whole stage, and they were just behind the stalls) or cancellation tickets. Standing tickets are $21.25, but you have to line up quite early. We got there at about 8 yesterday, the box office opens at 10, and if it weren't for the fact that there was a matinee we would've missed out on tickets. Cancellation tickets are the same price. oh and there's premium orchestra tickets but they're $300.

And I forgot to get the coconuts! Quite disappointed.

Anyway I have to go pack. I'm really trying to procrastinate, because packing means that I'm going home. I think I'm going to find it very hard to get back into the real world. My life has been so simple this month - our biggest challenges were to decide what to do each day and figure out how to get there. Now we're re-entering reality and we have to worry about university and work and family and everything. Oh well. There are some nice things about going home. I miss my family and my dogs and my boyfriend and my friends and my bed. I think I'm going to find it very strange to hear Australian accents all around me again. I'm so used to the American accent now, I've even adopted it in certain situations (like when I want to be understood!). One thing I am not going to miss however is the humidity here and the men who Johnny Bravo you. But I'm going to miss bagels with monstrous amounts of cream cheese, public transport after midnight, and the ability to walk around late at night being perfectly safe. I'm going to miss walking to cafés late at night and seeing all the people and lights. In fact I'm going to miss the nights here. You can do so much - it's not like Melbourne where everyone goes to bed. I'm definitely going to miss the shopping here! I'm going to miss the artiness of the East Village and seeing creative people wearing individual looks (instead of packs of adolescents all wearing Supré trash). I'm going to miss being so close to everything in the East Village. Like walking 10 blocks and being in the heart of Ludlow street with all its cool bars and cafés. But I've procrastinated long enough and now I really must go pack. See y'all later!

-R

PS the title of this entry is a lyric from the Franz Ferdinand song the clip was shot for. The actual line is 'lucky lucky, you're so lucky' but I changed it. And we are. We are the luckiest people on the planet. This has been the best month of my life.