Well, after a Sarah-record of 5 gigs in 12 days, I think its only right for me to share my concert-going philosophy with the masses!
There are rules:
1) Don't push your way to the front if you aren't prepared to get knocked about. If you want to stand there and chill out, then do so at the back - be prepared to take a bruise for your music
2) Put your camera/cell phone away! There is no need to phone your friends - if they really wanted to hear the gig, they would have got their own ticket, so they obviously aren't bothered! And as for trying to commemorate the night with photos or recordings, invariably the sound quality will be sh*te, or your end up with photos of backs of heads/raised arms/a blob due to inadequate lighting, so do us all a favour and stop annoying your concert neighbours with this behaviour!
3) Dress accordingly - that means no stilletos! And if you have a coat or bag, use the daamn clockroom! Don't chuck all your stuff on the floor unless you are prepared to have it covered in beer!
4) I'm all for singing - but just because you don't know a song, or perhaps it ain't one of your favourites, don't start a loud conversation with your friends. Respect the fact other people came to hear the band, not what you think of your ex-boyfriend.
5) High pitching screaming ... JUST DON'T!

Its not stalkerish to refer to myself as Mrs Richie McCaw is it?? Ok, a bit over zealous perhaps ... but he did mention how he didn't have a girlfriend ... sigh! Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Mr McCaw & several other All Blacks at The People's press conference ... how weird that you have to be living in another country to meet local heroes! It was a really cool night - I'm sure everyone else was totally playing it cool, you know "All Blacks are just like you and me, regular people" sort of bollocks, while Kirsty and I just got totally into it and carried on like mad fans - taking loads of photos, getting signatures, and being laughed at by Andrew Hore for being from Auckland "you can't help where you're from!) It was super fun, and big thanks to Kirst for winning the competition and taking me as her guest! You rule!

Check out THIS link ... and go to the video called "People's Presser" ... and you can see us leaping up in the crowd when Richie throws out the Pineapple Lumps

How retarded am I? (Yes, that was rhetorical!) Well, I got to work this morning, and managed to fall UP the stairs ... classy. And spill my entire coffee (that I'd just bought from the coffee shop) over myself .... classy.

Being laughed at by a man in a chicken suit ... PRICELESS! (NB: I wasn't drinking again ... we just had a man in a chicken suit handing out samples of our new Knorr Chicken Tonight Stirfry Pouches). Its still MAJOR embarrassing, no matter how you look at it!

And who says London isn't a city of opportunities? I doubt very much whether my liver will thank me for this, but I am sure it will be a great day none the less!
Check out THIS to see how I'm now part of the Guinness World Book of Records

My first night class begins tonight - I am learning Italian! Yep, I've wanted to learn another language for ages, and I didn't want to be one of those people who just "say" they are going to do it ... which up until now, I've done after everytime trip to a foreign land.

However, despite the fact I spent four years at university, I've still got a case for "first day nerves". Mainly because I don't really know what I've let myself in for ....

Despite being online BEFORE tickets went on sale at 9am, I was one of the many unlucky punters who missed out on tickets to see The Killers on their UK tour. Now, if it was just a case of bad luck, then fair enough, I'd take it on the chin & admit defeat. But judging the e-bay frenzy that has ensued in the 15 minutes since, it seems I never stood a chance! Despite limiting tickets to four per person, this doesn't apparently mean you can only buy four tickets, just four tickets PER GIG. So within minutes, there were people selling upwards of 20 tickets on e-bay to the various UK Killers gigs (including the three at Brixton Academy). Its absolutely ridiculous! And the asking prices?! OBSENCE!!! £300 EACH ... for tickets that cost £25. The whole thing has put me in a bad mood!

And for a while there I forgot about the joy that was my ticket buying experience yesterday ... I got tickets to see the music god I put above all others! We meet in 2002, when he was a lanky 24yo who no one had heard of, and I was 22, only going to his promotional gig due to the lure of a free (alcohol-provided) night out. And I've been a fan ever since ... Mr Mayer, I salute you. Last gig was in 2004, so its great that even in 2006 when I'm on the other side of the world, he's still dropping in!

Saw a little gem of a movie in the weekend "Little Miss Sunshine", a quirky indie movie with the funniest dance sequence in film since "Napolean Dynamite". And featuring the great line "Everyone Pretend to be normal!" it showed families as they are ... flawed, dysfunctional & a little bit crazy. Or maybe its just my family?!

My sister and I had an absolute field day with this one .... "NACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Who?" from the delightfully silly movie "Nacho Libre". Surprisingly suitable for many occasions!

My Mum sent me one of these .... albiet they are slightly illegal to buy in the UK, but as this one came from NZ, its totally fine! Its an iPod RoadTrip - which uses radio frequency (the illegal part) to play your iPod through the car stereo, and charges the iPod through the cigarette lighter. I am so stoked .... its almost like I can "free" all the music I have "trapped" in my iPod. WICKED!

I spent this weekend in Oxford, and one of the many sights is "The Bridge of Sighs". No, not the actual Bridge of Sighs ... that's in Venice. I should know, I've seen it. This was merely some 20th Century knock-off, "inspired by" the proper tourist landmark.

And then it dawned on me ... I've also seen the Tower on Petrin Hill (in Prague) which is the Eiffel Tower rip-off, and then Lions Gate Bridge (in Vancouver) which is the Golden Gate Bridge knock-off. Are there others?? I'm going to Glasgow for Easter - will I see an Opera House knock-off? Or what about the pyramids in Cardiff? It seems you can see the world, without ever going to most of these places! What a con ....

I'M DOWN WITH THAT: Things I Love About Oxford
* The slower pace - not so much Oxford itself, but its nice to be out of London, where everyone just walks that little bit slower, and its not all about hurrying through life
* The architecture - the buildings are just amazing, particularly going round the different Colleges. Hard to imagine going to University here ... slightly more impressive than Auckland, thats for sure!
* The nostalgia of "Welcome Breaks" - these are just the service stops on the motorways ... but it bought back all the memories of Europe, eating too much chocolate, diet coke and of course, Pringles!

WHAT'S WITH THAT?: Things I Loathe About Oxford
* New Zealand-bashing - I did a city tour, that included visiting most of the colleges. The tour guide made a really obnoxious NZ reference, when he spoke about how Professor Tolkein attended Oxford University, thus NZ owed its success to Oxford etc. Wanker!
* The rain - and my GOD, it rained! And rained! And then just when you thought it had stopped raining, it started right up again!
* Feeling old - Oxford is, of course, a city for students. Think Dunedin if you will. I just felt unbelievably old, even at 26, when these barely-18 year olds kept harrassing us in the pubs.

I am completely suffering from can't-be-arsed-itis ... otherwise known as Monday! There is definitely some correlation to my not having had a V, but even still. And so I present:
GREAT EXCUSES FOR MONDAY MORNINGS:
* If its all the same to you, I won't be coming in to work. The voices told me to clean all the guns today
* My stigmata are acting up
* I can't come in to work today because I'll be stalking my previous boss, who fired me for not showing up to work. OK
* Constipation has made me a walking timebomb
* I just found out that I was switched at birth. Legally, I shouldn't come into work knowing that employee records now contain false information
* The psychiatrist said it was an excellent session. He even gave me this jaw restraint so I won't bite things when I am startled
* The dog ate my car keys. We are going to hitchhike to the vet and give her eternal peace

20 February 2006 - THE WORLD STANDS UP @ Clapham Grand

The state of British comedy is pretty damn good, so the idea of a team night out with some work colleagues at a local comedy night sounded great. But it ended up being a bit more than that ... firstly, the event was being filmed to be screened on both BBC America & the Paramount comedy channel. Which is uneventful in itself, as we weren't sitting close enough to the front to actually appear on tv. Nevertheless, I had my 15 minutes of fame! One of the comedians was an Aussie, who did the obligatory "any New Zealanders in the audience?" to which it all went downhill from there! My co-workers completely stitched me up, and the embarrasment was on ... sheep jokes, in-bred jokes ... I copped them all! And best of all, it was filmed so you will be able to hear me weakly TRY to defend myself, but failing miserably! Oh how we laughed. :P It was a really fun night though .. although the sheer amount of alcohol I drank to get over the embarrasment might have helped!

19 March 2006 - RICKY GERVAIS & GUESTS @ The Dominion Theatre
And so it seems I have a comedy bullseye on my forehead ... or at least that's the only reason I can think why I managed to get picked on AGAIN at a comedy gig! This time, it definitely wasn't my fault, although I think Rachel & I made the mistake of sitting too close to the stage (note to self - while the third row from the front may SEEM like a good idea, it probably isn't!). And so when the brilliant Jimmy Carr was on stage, asking who in the audience was single, and then he pointed at us, it was another shame inducing moment! Oh how we laughed ...

Yes, we all love a bit of Hoff-mail! Particularly apt, given I adore my ipod!
And so, with special presenter the Hoff (& given the Brits are this week), here are the hot new British tracks pumping on my ipod at the moment ...

* Everyday I Love You Less & Less - The Kaiser Chiefs
* Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers
* Munich - The Editors
* Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
* When The Sun Goes Down - Arctic Monkeys

According to Earl, "Do good things and good things will happen to you. Do bad things and it will come back and bite you in the ass". So I have obviously pissed off the transport karma people, because I have been having the worst luck ... first there was the rubbish flight to Newcastle in December, where my flight got delayed two hours ... and then there was my train trip to Leeds, where upon arrival they took the wrong ticket off me and when I went to depart, I didn't have a ticket and had to buy a new one .... then there was the fact Kirsty, Julie & I missed out flight home from Manchester today ... despite having been at the airport two hours before we were due to leave (Was it all the wine we had with lunch?!) And its not even like I have the consololation of travelling to exotic destinations!!

Finally, what I've spent the past few months waiting for ... my new car! The first brand new car that I have ever had in my life ... albeit, its not technically MY car, but let's not get caught up on the details! Big thanks to Gregg for helping me pick it as I don't know my European cars at all. And hence, it was named "Gertie" b/c it is totally a "hairdressers car", as Milno would say. Worse still, its a really DIRTY hairdressers car ... (a) they only allowed me two colour choices, and in hindsight, maybe Charcoal was NOT the smartest idea; & (b) you don't honestly expect me to clean my car, parked up on the side of my street in Central London do you?!