I tried to make chocolate muffins just now. I did not exactly have a recipe for it, just one that is plain but I decided to improvise, hopefully without disastrous results. =P Chocolate flavoured because I have an insane amount of cocoa powder, actually no, there was less than half a tin left. And just as I was putting the muffin paper onto the tray, I realised that I did not have enough paper. (!!!!) Why does something always happen to exasperate me when I try to bake??? The first time it was the oven, then there was the incident with overflowed chocolate brownies, then curdled milk and now this -__-”. I think this is a very big hint for me to STOP baking eh? I haven’t tried the muffins yet, I feel really full now. Probably tomorrow.

Ok, Pilobolus. I’m pretty sure some are wondering what does that word signify. Well, if you’ve googled it before, you come up with
a) Some sort of fungus that survives on cattle dung
b) a famous US dance company that has been in existence for 38 years =)

Obviously, the second one is what I am referring to. Attending the Adelaide Fringe has got me excited about attending another one. Pilobolus has amazing dancers and this is the company’s debut in Australia (and exclusive to Adelaide. Haha..). Student tickets were relatively cheap at $25 considering the fact that I bought my booties for the same price. Oh wait lemme show you my fuzzy foot friends =)

Yay!, ok I digress. Anyway, The show was held at Her Majesty’s Theater on Grote St. It is quite an old theater but still very nice. I got quite excited about the chandelier -_-”. We were seated at the balcony overlooking the stalls so we got a pretty good view of the stage. The program of the evening was split into 5 short pieces: Aquatica, Pseudopodia, Gnomen, Symbiosis, and Day Two. I was a little worried that I might not understand all these artsy dance stuff but once they started on their first piece, I was completely blown away. They were awesome. All the grace and fluidity in their motions. I know everything is choreographed but they were able to make it seem a spontaneous, spur of the moment action. Those with a subtle storyline were intriguing. They make you wonder, smile, they leave you awed. I especially love Gnomen which had this sense of regal-ness as the dancers interacted with each other. They had an air about them which sometimes serve to puzzle and at other times just make you laugh. Ok, I’m not making much sense here but I find it hard to describe the feelings that went through me when I was watching for my perch at the top. One thing that struck me (and really amazes me) is not only their ability to control themselves but also the amount of control they had over their movements. I sometimes get this fleeting feeling that the dancers were emotionally outside their bodies and that they, were watching, like us the audience, themselves moving from a distance instead of being in the whole whirling thick of things. I guess it is just the precision and grace of their movements. It just seems surreal. Everything is so precise as if someone is tweaking it as we’re watching. I feel like they were somehow controlling their bodies with invisible strings from above. Aquatica was also nice as it gave me a fairytale sort of feeling. I was a kid again playing by the seashore, while the waves sent up seaweeds to tickle my feet and every piece of flotsam was a treasure the sea gave up.

I think my $25 well spent. Its a pity they’re not touring to other cities in Australia. There are quite a few videos of their performances on Youtube. Just type in Pilobolus. They also performed at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony and that was really good. I wish I could have sneaked some pictures of the performance we were prohibited and I don’t want to take any chances with it.

Oh no… I’m now looking forward to going on another theater excursion again. The Australian Ballet is giving a performance later this year, and there is Cinderella on Ice (omg!) as well. I saw a leaflet advertising Les Miserables and I was quite interested in that until I realised that 1) it is a musical 2) I suspect that everything is going to be in French and THEN I will be worse than a duck lost in the desert. I really want to watch Cinderella on Ice but the tickets are a whooping $40 - 50 for students. =(

On another note, has anyone picked up the recent TIME magazine 100 Most influential people to read? I bought myself a copy and was flipping through it this morning. The usual big (la di da) names until one stop me dead on my tracks (literally). Anwar Ibrahim, the ex-deputy prime minister for Malaysia. Wow, he got quite a positive and glowing piece written about him in there. I am not going to dwell on what was written. I don’t fancy our ex-PM would ever make it in there. One thing I noticed about TIME is how it hates Malaysia. -_-” It has yet to say something nice about my country (there must be something!!!).

Oh anyways, my mind is starting to wonder. I have hardly spent so long a time writing a blog post nowadays. As I am writing this, most of the med students are probably drunk and falling down the rabbit hole to meet Alice in Wonderland. Weather has been positively vicious this 2 days and blowing me off course quite effortlessly. I should start panicking about exams. I have 5 papers to sit this year. FIVE!!! while my housemate has a measly 2.

[edit] I finally managed to borrow BBC’s version of Pride and Prejudice from the local library. I am so happy. I don’t think I can ever get enough of Jane Austen. Come on, someone must share my unhealthy fascination of her and her works.[/edit]