Answers

After having so many sessions of physiotherapy and doing so much research as to what could be causing my knee pains, it looks like I might finally have an answer.

A couple of weeks ago my physiotherapist had a suspicion that it could be caused by the iliotibial band causing friction and misalignment of the knee cap – it’s too strong so it draws the knee cap to the outside of my leg. A short deep tissue massage later and it seemed that this could be what is causing the pain. So after some more mobilisation massage on the kneecap and deep tissue massage on the ITB, I had the kneecap taped towards to pull it over to the inner side of my leg, in an attempt to help my leg to heal itself.

I’ve now had it taped twice, with a massage each time, and it seems to be helping – while the tape is on, my knee isn’t aching as much, and after it comes off, I feel much more mobile. I’m having it taped again next week and learning how to tape it myself so that I can do it myself while I’m away in NZ – which is crucial if walking is to be my main for of transport!

The strange thing about this is that the pain in my knee is based around the back and inside the leg, whereas my physiotherapist has said that the pain with this injury is usually on the front of the knee – hence her not suspecting this being the cause. Since I’ve had the massage and tape, it seems to bring the pain to the front of the knee as well, but thankfully not as bad as the usual ache. Also, with some new exercises to strengthen the VMO muscle to help bring the knee cap into the correct place again, this could be the solution to the endless ache I experience!

Time flies..

..When you’re procrastinating.

The last few weeks I’ve spent thinking about things I need to buy for going to NZ, debating whether to take a backpack or suitcase, which padlocks to buy.. the list goes on. Unfortunately, on Monday someone at work wanted to confirm that I was off from next Friday. It scared the bejebus out of me to find out that she was right; this holiday has snuck up on me too quickly.

So, the past couple of nights I have started looking at my plans. I have most of the things I need booked, I have lists of what I’d like to see/do while I’m there and have decided to take a suitcase due to my neck being a bit temperamental recently (and the problem of not owning a backpack).

I managed to get to Ted’s camera shop today and bought a new camera strap that’s softer on my neck, a small camera bag to fit in my daypack and a small light tripod which I can carry around while I’m there. The tripod was a big debate for me. I don’t shoot very much night stuff, but I knew if I didn’t take one I’d regret it. However, I didn’t want to take my bigger, heavier one because it would be a pain to carry around if I didn’t use it. Now that I have something new, I’m determined to use it while I’m there!

I’m really quite excited about this trip – it’s my first holiday on my own which means I can do what I want when I want. I’m doing it on the cheap in a couple of hostels, which gives me a social aspect if I need it, but I think I’ll value the independence and ability to explore on my own – especially the Impressionists’ exhibition at Te Papa which I found out about yesterday! I’ve always had a weakness for Monet, and to find out there is going to be a huge collection there is thrilling.

Media

I’ve never been a huge fan of the media, particularly tabloids. When I started to read the news as I grew up in England, I was scared by the fact that newspapers such as The Sun and The News Of The World actually had regular readers – I’d always had faith that people were a bit smarter than that.

In recent weeks, the amount of news articles devoted to the bushfires (on The Age website) has been ridiculous. I’m not opposed to hearing about it, but the news has simply been saturated with both straight and human interest articles – with a huge focus on the latter. Thankfully I have the choice of not clicking, and in a lot of cases I haven’t. Human interest stories just become too much – we’re all aware that there have been huge tragedies, and there are fascinating studies of human nature and will, but I don’t have time or interest for it. I stick to the straight stories and get on with it.

Most recently however, the media has given me more cause for concern. The two main websites I read for news are the BBC and The Age – for international and local news respectively. Unfortunately, over the last few days, both websites have had two of the least interesting current stories on their front pages – coverage of the Oscars and Jade Goody’s death.

First up, the Oscars. I’m not wholly up to date with celebrities, movies, actors, directors etc. and this could be the reason why this doesn’t interest me. Or, it could be that everyone knew Heath Ledger would get a posthumous Oscar for The Dark Knight and therefore it should not be a major headline. I know that I’m trying to watch more movies this year (and I’m doing quite well), but the Oscars is such a superficial ceremony, with too much celebrity- and otherwise politics. It simply doesn’t interest me, and I would much rather be reading real news.

Secondly, Jade Goody. Where to start? I did watch the series of Big Brother that she was in – it was the only series that I watched the majority of. I found her fascinatingly stupid – was it an act or should be genuinely impressed she got as far in life as she did? Post-BB however, the media culture took hold of her and propelled her into low-grade stardom with books and TV shows and such (I’ll be honest, I don’t know what she did after BB). Having lived outside of the UK since she had cancer, I missed a fair bit of the story until it was discovered that she’s terminal and her two kids will now be brought up by her ex-con new husband. Sure, sad. But every time I load up a news website, it’s saying something new: ‘Jade Goody plans to marry’; ‘Jade Goody dresses for wedding’; ‘Goody walks down aisle’, ‘BB star and ex-con married’. I don’t feel the need to know all of this, and I’m sure the rest of world doesn’t need to either. But of course, she’s doing it for her kids, right? Making media money to keep the kids and her husband flushed with cash. What a great idea. Show them the true value of life and material possessions, right?

Maybe I missed something growing up, but I just don’t know why people need to know every little detail about the latest ‘celebrity’. I’m as nosy as the next person, but why celebrities? And why ‘news’ written in such tasteless styles? I’d much rather read a well-written biography in years to come rather than the trash that’s around these days. And, for the most part, do.

Living for the moment

For most of my life I’ve lived on organisation and planning, but as I expand my circle of friends and social options, this is changing. For example, the weekend was looking quiet and relaxing until Saturday mid-morning it was decided my friend and I would go to the footy at the Telstra Dome (yes I’m going to keep calling it that).

I only managed to get to one game last season, and it still holds novelty for me after all those years in England, so I was very much excited, no matter how little it mattered and how small a crowd was there. Even better – we managed to sit just two rows back from the oval, another novelty for me.

Granted my team (Adelaide Crows) lost, but it was still good to feel the atmosphere (even with the small crowd) and see the game being played for real (the players just don’t try when they have their exhibition game in London!)

Now that I’ve tasted it again, I’m keen to see more this season, and I’ve learnt that last-minute plans aren’t necessarily bad or scary!

Rumble in Brighton

Wednesday evenings usually hold little excitement for me, but when my housemate called me (yes, we do live together and call each other) and said there might be a spare ticket to see the Stray Cats, I have to admit, I was excited!

I expressed interest but heard nothing until mid-morning Thursday (which was, coincidentally, the day of the show). My other housemate confirmed that we both had tickets and I was free to look forward to it!

I remember missing their show in London at Brixton Academy a few years ago – because of exams or age or both, so having another opportunity to see them was great. I hadn’t bought tickets when they went on sale because I was unsure whether I’d be in Adelaide or New Zealand or elsewhere globetrotting, and had regretted it when the date was approaching and I was just sitting in Melbourne!

The show itself was even better for me as The Living End were supporting. Having already decided I wouldn’t be seeing them on their tour this year as the cost was too high, I could quite easily justify more to see both the Stray Cats and The Living End. So being able to see the boys at least once this year was good, and I still get a hint of the giddiness from when I first saw them, despite having gone off their music for the most part (their newer albums at least). It was good to see them well-received by the crowd too, although a little scary as there appeared to be a boy on springs in the crowd (he just could not stop jumping.) The set list was different to usual, but not in a particularly good way, and although they were definitely enjoying it, I was only mildly impressed, perhaps because tension was rising for the main act.

Just enough to get a breath of fresh air, a drink, a sit down and some merch – we moved back in just as the cheers went up for the three boys we were there to see. We managed to grab a seat right at the back, but of course all the people seated in front of us wanted to stand. A precarious balance on the back of the seat worked out well for the majority of the show which meant my legs haven’t been aching since.

The show was simply amazing. Everybody there was ecstatic, dancing and singing and in great spirits. Sure, everybody was wearing the same style of shirt and had the same hairstyle, but when they launched into it, none of that mattered. The setlist wasn’t too much of a surprise, with all the classics and most of their bigger songs in the mix, and all songs were executed with a mass of energy and enthusiasm.

For the last encore (there were two), Setzer introduced Chris Cheney of The Living End as a special guest and no one was all that surprised – Cheney’s been a huge fan since he was a kid starting out with music. After seeing him on stage with his own band though, there was a huge difference to when he came out to play with his idols – he looked like a little kid! He had a huge smile on his face as he played a solo with his idol before sharing Slim Jim and Setzer’s mikes for ‘I Fought The Law’. It was certainly a good moment to see and certainly something that won’t be forgotten for most people who there. I could help but joke that Scott Owen and Andy Strachan were sitting side of stage pouting at the fact that they weren’t allowed to play with them! It was also funny to note that Cheney kept the guitar strategically placed over his crotch as he left the stage…

The best bit of the night though was realising that the main act was on stage by 9.30pm and would finish before 12am. In fact, I was standing outside about to go home by just after 11pm – fantastic for a weeknight because I could still get a decent night’s sleep! I’m not sure if that’s just how the Forum works or it was the Stray Cats decision, but either way, it certainly worked in my favour.

With fires continuing around the state, most fire areas have now been set-up as crime scenes. It sickens me that people think they can do that – knowing how dry it is and how quickly they can spread to nearby homes. People really do amaze me, and not in a good way.

The other thing that I’ve noticed is that although people are pulling together and donating what they can, there is a lot of judgement. It seems to me that unless you’re not doing everything – donating money, blood, goods and time – you’re not doing enough. For a lot of us, there is only so much that can be done, and we can’t cater to everyone’s wishes. I’ve already had a case where a person asked me to donate to xyz charity, but I’ve already done something else, and they look down on me for not supporting ‘their thing’. Surely it’s time to grow up and realise that so long as we’re all doing something for it, that’s all that really matters here.

Secondly, as with the Asian Boxing Day tsunami, everybody wants to know somebody involved. Unfortunately, many people have family that live out in affected areas, everyone has been affected somehow. The subject of the fire comes up and everyone starts saying, ‘Oh yes it’s terribly sad, but MY brother’s friend managed to save part of their house,’ or something similar. Surely it should be irrelevant of whether you know anyone involved that you try to help – and not by doing everything. It sickens me in a way that people are proud that someone they know died/lost their home/had their livestock burn etc. It gives them a direct link to the cause and they feel as though they can talk about it with more authority.

Just stop, take a breath, and see what you can do to help. We don’t need anymore violence now.

Now that that’s off my chest, I can whine about the terrible smoke that’s descended on most of this area of the world. Yesterday it hit Melbourne’s CBD with a haze which brought burning eyes, dry throats and an oddly charming smell to all. The odd part was that the haze continued into the night and rendered the moon an eerie orange/red colour – it was like something from a horror movie. I’m sure that it’ll be the same tonight as the smoke seems worse this morning – noticeable even just down my backyard. If it’s this bad this far away from the sites, I cannot imagine how it must be closer.

Euthanasia

Ok so one of these entries came sooner that I had expected.

The case of Italian Eluana Englaro has been on news world-wide as Italy struggles for and against the reasons for euthanasia.

As she had been in a coma for over 15 years, her father has struggled to persuade clinicians and parliament that his daughter should be allowed to die as per her wishes while alive. The prime minister had ruled over the courts that she should be allowed to die, but the president ruled otherwise. However, before this case could be debated and ruled on further, her feeding tube was removed and she died within three days.

Although this is an abnormally short time according to many critics of euthanasia, the subject of dying with dignity is different.

I support euthanasia, in certain cases, to allow for people to live and die with dignity, as their wishes dictate. I believe that it is reasonable for somebody to request when alive that they are left to die, or have do-not-resuscitate orders in medical notes so that they do not potentially cause excess heartache and suffering to loved ones, a financial burden on those who cannot afford ‘good’ care and a strong likelihood of legal difficulties if a loved one decides to act on their wishes independently.

The last point raises the case of a British man who was arrested upon return from Switzerland after travelling with his terminally-ill partner to a clinic where patients are allowed to die with their dignity in tact. Thankfully no charges have been pressed and followed through on, but not only has he lost his partner, he also has to face this on return.

I understand that legalisation of assisted suicide could lead to some exploitation, but there could be further legislation brought in to minimise it – something similar to a donor card or living will.

Overall I believe Eluana Englaro’s death was morally right, and if people have made the choice, they should be allowed to die rather than live in a persistent vegetative state or coma. Personally, I would want the same should I be in an irreversible coma or in a state where I had no quality of life.

Match Point

Having seen Vicky Cristina Barcelona for free at preview with a friend, I’ve been getting back into the Woody Allen movies. This was one movie which I had not seen though. I do recall seeing the start of it once upon a time, but Jonathan Rhys Meyers put me off it with his bad disguise of an Irish accent.

Having come home from work sick today (my dizziness got the better of me), I decided to take it easy and watch Match Point.

At first, it seems more superficial than most of his movies. It’s another problem-riddled love story, and the actors are fairly strong – and James Nesbit was a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, the poor accent of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the English upper class being unbelievable and a ridiculous solution to the problem of tangled love and troubled marriages all manage to pull the movie down in my books. I didn’t enjoy it as much as some of Allen’s others and it simply seemed too Hollywood for my liking. The English upper class was one of the main downers, being unbelievable and over the top for the most part.

This won’t stop me from watching Anything Else for a third time though.

Hot stuff

As it’s making headlines around the world, I’m sure it’s not news to anyone that Australia has suffered a great tragedy this past weekend. One day of 46 degrees in Melbourne, with the state dry as a bone, and bushfires have spread like, well, wild fire. Over 100 people have died, and many more are missing (thankfully my friend’s relatives have been heard from and are fine although their house is not).

Brian Naylor (newsreader) has been reported as dead along with his wife, which has been talked about throughout work today as he was so iconic. There have been stories of such heroism emerging, but with so many tragedies, it’s hard to focus on the good.

The little we can do now is to volunteer our time, blood or money to the relevant places and keep our fingers crossed for those still missing. With whole towns wiped out though, it’s going to be a long time before some people get to settle and find relief.

My deepest condolences to those who have lost someone, and my sincerest hope for those who are still unsure.

Stop!

In the name of love.

I just got back from seeing Human Nature with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Hamer Hall, and I have one word – amazing!

After mentioning it to several people at work and them thinking I was joking, I was unsure whether it would be a good night or not – but when I was shown to my seat which had a good view (in the stalls) and at the end of the row, I was very excited.

The orchestra itself had over 70 members on stage, which was spectacular. I’ve not seen a full orchestra perform before and this was beautiful – including their solo of the Bond theme, at the request of the HN boys. The subtleties were clear when seeing them live rather than listening to a classical CD – it is much more impressive for one.

The first half of the show was a few of their older songs from the first three or so albums I think (I can’t remember the setlist, but that seems right), and was beautiful. Having heard some songs on the Symphony album, it was good to compare them to a live version. They also mentioned how they chose to take a certain direction and demonstrated how they could have gone – all with brass instruments (Michael with the largest!) playing a version of the Wallace and Gromit song! I was impressed..

The rest of the first half was covers of the Beatles. A version of She’s Leaving Home and Got to Get You Into My Life, followed by a medley of a few songs. They said they’d played at Hamer Hall before with Sir George Martin and an orchestra, doing only Beatles songs; I’m sad I wasn’t there.

The second half started with an a capella version of People Get Ready before moving into solos from each of them – including Toby doing his MC from Cabaret act through the audience and dancing with a female then male member of the audience. We also found out that ‘the backdoor is always open’! He’s definitely a performer – I wish I had known he was in Cabaret, I would have seen it!

Michael and Andrew did a duet of the Everly Brothers after showing a picture of them at ages six and nine.

The second set consisted mostly of their recent songs – mainly Motown covers – which had the older members of the audience (and me) singing along loud and proud. There was also much more synchronised dancing. As cheesy as it is, it suits their music and they do it well; I like most kinds of dancing and admire it because I’m so unco-ordinated! They were also wearing matching suits by this time.

For their last song, the cover of the Supremes’ classic, they asked us all to stand up and learn the moves for the chorus. As embarassing as it was, nearly everybody was doing it and I was happy to join in, only so I wouldn’t stand out of course.

I’m so happy I finally saw them, after getting their first album ‘Telling Everybody’ in 1997, when I was only six or seven, and importing their albums when I moved to England. Despite my numerous phases of music (rap, metal, punk etc), I’ve always had a weakness for them and I doubt it’ll fade, especially now that I’ve seen how great they are live.