Summer S.M.A.D.D. 2007

I spent last week working on Summer S.M.A.D.D. (Song, Music, Art, Drama & Dance) which is a performing and visual arts camp for high school kids.

I've been involved with this camp for more than 10 years and while it's a lot of work, there are always good things that come out of it.

This year was probably one of the more difficult camps I've done, mostly because I was asked to direct the art section at very short notice.

I'm generally with the singers, so it was quite a mind and skill shift and there were lots of different factors that meant it wasn't the easiest job which left me feeling incredibly stressed and inadequate for most of the time. Needless to say, I came home feeling utterly shattered.

In the end there were some interesting pieces to put into an exhibition as part of the concert on the final night. Parents and friends come along to see what their kids have been up to.

There were just over 100 kids and all of them were amazingly talented. Every item in the final concert was created during the week and came off so well that you'd think they had worked on it for months.

This video below is of an interpretive dance that was brought to life by using just about all of the disciplines on camp.



Monday afternoon a small group gathered to write lyrics. These were given to musicians on Tuesday so they could write the accompanying music. Wednesday the musos went to the recording studio where a CD was made to be given to the dancers on Thursday, so they could choreograph the dance. All of this was captured on video to create a documentary on the process. The final product blew me away.

On the other hand, this song probably didn't have as much rehearsal time put into it, but I have to say it brought me a great deal of joy (which you will more than likely hear throughout the vid) {:->



The site where we stayed is in the hinterland behind the Sunshine Coast. There is a beautiful lake and is surrounded by native trees and animals. It was so pleasant to wake up each morning and hear lorikeets and magpies singing to celebrate the begining of another day.

It was more startling than pleasant when I heard this guy one morning...

There were all sorts of fun activities throughout the week like:


Pirate Day


Visiting Nambour


Working with these cool people and...


Seeing amazing views like this on the way home

Merry Christmas!

One of these days I'll actually get around to writing something again, but for now here is a little festive film to get you in the mood for next Monday...

I must be due for a holiday

All I could think about at work today was how tired I felt. I tried to remember the last time I had a holiday and thought about when I could possibly take the next one.

Most of my actual "holidays" are spent working with high school kids on performing and visual arts camps, but there have been some really nice weekend trips away with friends that have been lovely.

Here are my top 5 faves:

1. Traviston

A last minute decision to spend a weekend away with friends turned out to be one of the most wonderful times I've ever had.

My friend Helen was living in a place called Traveston (which is on the outskirts of Gympie) on a small farm property with cows and stuff.

There were no neighbours in hearing or viewing distance so we could crank the tunes and run amok. We ate like royalty and generally had a lovely time chatting and watching movies.

The most exciting part of the trip was when the boys discovered a small cupboard without a handle. Curiosity got the better of them and after a few attempts at jiggling the door, it opened to reveal a small box. In it was a crossbow with quite a few bolts. The rest of the time was spent in the back yard shooting trees and making up newspaper headlines for if there was an accident and someone (or a cow) got shot.

It was only two days, but I was so refreshed when I came home, that I felt as though I'd been away for two weeks.

2. Caloundra

My friend's folks have a luxurious penthouse in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.

Johnny and Helen had the run of it for this past New Year's Eve and invited a heap of people to come for dinner and view the fireworks display. Great food, funky music, fabulous company and just plain old good times.

3. Toowoomba

Each Easter the Australian Gospel Music Festival is held in Toowoomba. I've been to quite a few, but 2003 was probably my favourite one of all. I was camping in the makeshift "village" that adjoined the festival with a couple of friends.

A lot of my friends' bands were playing throughout the long weekend and there were heaps of others that put on a good show. I caught up with LOTS of people from all different areas of my life and generally had a lot of fun.

4. Rainbow Beach

A couple of years ago one of my chick friends broke her engagement really close to the wedding day. We had alread booked a house by the beach for her Hen's Weekend and decided to take her away anyway.

Good food, board games, trashy chick flicks, facials, manicures, walks on the beach and all that good old fashioned girly stuff.

5. Appin

Blackstump is a music and arts festival that is held on the outskirts of Sydney each September.

A couple of years ago my friend's fire spinning troupe was invited to perform and they asked me to come along and be their fuel and safety person (I was unofficially known as the "Kero Bitch").

It's about a 14-16 hr drive from where we live to the festival site and we pretty much drove straight through the night to get there with some stops along the way (one truck stop was particularly scary, but I had to pee so bad that I didn't care).

We had a 2 days of checking out cool music and doing 2 shows a night. It was awesome, but then we had to leave really early on the Sunday because the others were students and had to be back in Queensland to go to lectures on the Monday. I was totally wrecked when I got home, but it was freakin amazing.

* sigh *

Only a few more months until my next hols...