R&R

Work has been a bit of a pressure cooker lately -- in fact, the last 5 weeks have been uncomfortably intense.

So this weekend has been good for letting off a bit of steam.

Saw Polly Jean Harvey at the Opera House on Friday night. Unfortunately I only caught the tail end of the support act (long time Nick Cave collaborator Mick Harvey -- no relation to PJ). While I didn't love PJ's set list (I don't really dig the new album White Chalk) I thought the performance was quite good (mostly solo, with the odd cameo from Mick), and the venue was special. The highlights for me were Angeline (I have always loved this song, and it's always even more incredible performed live) and To Bring You My Love (which has really grown on me over the years).

Afterwards (11.30pm), I caught up with Nigel for his birthday to do a bit of singing of my own at Karaoke World. It's not something I normally indulge in when stone cold sober, but it turned out to be a good steam blowing activity.

Last night I went to the Waratahs game with Adam. We were sitting up high (I haven't done that for a while) just behind the corporate boxes at the 50m line, but it turned out to be a really good vantage point for observing the whole field while still being close enough to see who's who. The Tahs' kicking game was terrible and there were a lot of turnovers by both sides, but you always expect a bit of rust this early, and I think NSW would be happy holding the Hurricanes to 3 points. I thought the performance of the guys coming off the bench for the Tahs was particularly good - lots of speed and skills injected into the side as both teams began to tire. Final note: the change in music at the stadium and the new mascot "Tah Man" was on the yellow side of piss weak.

Afterwards, I headed to Tony's farewell (he is moving to Coffs Harbour). It would have been tempting to leave the Tahs jersey on with the number of Kiwis present, but I decided to stick with the party's theme (Tropicana) with a suitably floral shirt. Was nice to catch up with a few people and sink a few beers. Didn't get home til 3.30am.

Anyway, just goes to show the best thing for recovering from hard work is hard play.