Small World

It has been a rather uneventful week with Veronica being away in Canberra. However, the week became slightly more interesting yesterday afternoon when I went to pick up some camera gear from a shoot at Clovelly Beach. As I am walking around gathering gear I see a guy who looks really familiar surrounded by six women. I realize quickly that the guy is in fact Jensen Ackles. Being a tad dumbfounded, I walk up to the group, tell the girls excuse me, and say, "Hi Jensen. Matt Luttrell" and shake his hand. A look of recognition comes over his face, and Jensen says, "Dude, we need to catch up" as I continue on gathering gear.

I head outside and then when I get back in the Surf Club Jensen comes up to me and we start chatting. We mostly talk about how I live in Sydney, what he is doing out in Sydney, his show, the writer's strike, Hawaii, Vancouver (where his show is shot), and of course Dallas. It was completely bizarre seeing someone else from Richardson, Texas here in Sydney. But I guess it makes quasi sense when you factor in that I was picking up a camera from a shoot. Still, it seems proof positive that the World is in fact a rather small place at times.

Powerhouse Museum and Heath Ledger's first film

This weekend the weather forecasts warned us that it would be rainy and overcast, so as such Veronica and I made plans to enlighten ourselves by planning a trip to the Powerhouse Museum. The Powerhouse showcases design and technology, and incidentally it is one of the only museums that charge an entry fee. I will admit that I am prone to dogging out a lot of what Sydney has to offer, but I was genuinely impressed with this museum. From getting to see Angus Young’s guitar to checking out Australia’s earliest locomotives, Veronica and I had a very enjoyable time sampling ‘culture’.

That night we went and rented 5 movies from the video store. Topping the list was 2 Hands, which was Heath Ledger’s first starring role in a film. What can I say, I caved in and caught Heath fever like the rest of the world. Released in 1999, this film is set in Sydney, primarily Kings Cross (the seedy red light district) with some scenes shot at Bondi Beach. There were some cool things about the film, however that does not include the clothes. If ever there was a film that sums up the shite fashion sense that radiates through Sydney, this is the film. Per good buddy Jaime, this fashion (track suit pants and singlets – Australian for life beaters) is called bogan. Apparently bogan refers to the backwards people of Australia. Our equivalent would be white trash. Anywho, the film was directed by the same guy who did Buffalo Soldiers, a far superior film, but nonetheless, it was interesting to see late Heath’s first starring turn in Oz film.

Sunday the weather was horrible. The rain continued unabated for the entire day, so we spent it indoors. Not exactly ideal, but lucky for us we had quite a few movies to watch.

Veronica gave her notice to Coffey on Monday, so she will be starting her new job with PB at the beginning of March, pretty exciting stuff. Today is the first day it is not raining, however it is just a momentary respite as the rains will continue this afternoon and then for the next 5 days. Yeah, the thought of another rainy weekend is a bit of a bummer, but things could be worse as we could be suffering through winter right now.