Current mood:	artistic
Current music:	Astor's Birthday Party - Daniel Licht

Spiegeltent...
Sim may not be able to graduate from his teaching course, because, even though all his assignments and feedback from teachers during his teaching round was positive, the final mark he was given was 'Fail.' He is appealing the decision with the university, but has now accepted a job managing the art department in some private school so is not too concerned with whether the appeal succeeds or not. I just commented on his school ID tag, and said he looked like a nerd in the picture.

'No,' he corrected me. 'I look bookish. Like Bilawal Bhutto.'

I then relayed the tale of trying to convince the SCUM ID photographer that my Groucho glasses were prescription, which elicited an unexpected response.

'What are the glasses like?'

'You know,' I tried to explain. 'Like Groucho Marx. With the moustach and nose attatched.'

'Oh,' he said, looking away and finally realising what I meant. 'I would prefer Karl Marx glasses. He was a Commie.'

It didn't strike me until just now what an unusual comment it was. In barely related news, my campaign to see Community Television Awards refered to as 'Commies' (in line with the 'Emmies,' 'Logies,' and even the 'Razzies,') has so far been unsuccessful. Nathan, one of GCTV's segment producers, who on Tuesday left for bigger and brighter things with WIN TV, promised to do all he could for the cause though.

The week before Halloween, Sim and I went into the city to catch a movie playing as a part of the Hunter S. Thompson film festival at ACMI, Where The Buffalo Roam. The film wasn't my first choice of the festival's offerings, and also recieved almost universally negative reviews upon its original release, some time in the 1980s, I think. Sim, however, was adament that this was the picture he wanted to see. We arrived to discover that the film was actually playing an hour later than we had expected, so went to find a bar to fill in the time.

I suggested the Spiegeltent, since I hadn't been to any shows there yet, and like to make the most of it in the few months it is in town. Simon, I was surprised to learn, had never been, and was disappointed by the cost of the house wine and lack of spirits other than premium. I, on the other hand, took further note of the fact that the signage all referred to "The Spiegeltent: Promising Rare Acts of Curiosity and Fantastical Skill!" instead of the usual "Famous Spiegeltent." I'd mentioned it to a couple of people in the few weeks prior, but no one else seemed as mildly concerned as I was.

It was in the following week's Beat, I think, that I found a brief mention in the arts section about the same issue. Apparently, the article explained, this is not, in fact, the same Spiegeltent that usually comes to Melbourne - the Famous Spiegeltent - hence, the change in signage conventions. The usual Spiegeltent is being put to use at some festival in another country or state, while a 'new' Spiegeltent that has been purchased by an organisation called "Spiegeltent International" has been brought for the Melbourne Arts Festival and the months following. With the not-so-secret attatchment that I feel to the Famous Spiegeltent, I felt somehow ripped off at this... deception is too strong of a word, but the text inside the cover of the season programme offers only the following ambiguous information:

"But what's a good tradition if you can't change it a bit? So, we've done just that. We've thrown it up in the air, given it a make-over, a new suit, a tweak, a re-invention... just a little one!"

I'm not so sure, but the programme does go on to describe a 'Noble Criminals' theme night as a part of the Late Night Club which coincides roughtly with my birthday. Although I was feeling fairly opposed to celebrating my birthday, that does sound appealling.