Fandom of the Opera

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of classical music and opera.

Also, I like having large screwdrivers gouged through my tympanic membrane. That's eardrums for all you arts students.

But, a particularly pansy friend of mine demanded we go, so off we went. Now, let me tell you something that might not be obvious - Very few operas play in the operahouse. Instead, we decided to see an orchestra play. Despite the seemingly minimal desire most people would have to see such tripe, it was sold out. Standing room only.

Go on, try to watch a 2 hour long orchestra after walking around all day and not being allowed to sit. I suppose I made a challenge of it, to not sit, sleep, or leave. Good lord, I needed to do all 3 at once. But I survived the first half, only to find classy booze cost no less than 8 dollars. Fuckin A, I should atleast get free booze for sitting through (no, wait, standing through) this savagery. This would not be allowed at Abu Gharib!

Luckily, my salvation came. A pretty young usher walked up to me as I walked in for the second half, and said in robotic tone, "I believe these are your tickets, sir." I smiled, understanding without asking, and took my seat. With the pain off my ankles, the orchestra was actually kind of enjoyable, for the 4 minutes I was awake.

If you think about it, there's no reason the 4 of us should work. Two of us are scientists, sure, but one is ultrareligious while I'm kinda a fag. Then there's the really flaming straight man who puts the Queer Eye boys to shame, but is consequently homophobic as fuck and called gay people whores, pedophiles, and unworthy of marriage, among other things. And watching from a distance was a guy I just met, a friend of the other two, who spends most of his time asking us to translate what we're saying.

Oh, and photos. I simply dont put myself in photos. They never turn out looking like I want, so why cringe when I can just take pictures of places I see? But no, they have to stop every 5 minutes to pose awkwardly in front of a minor tourist attraction.

But dont think I'm not having fun. Oh, we are. I mean hell, I found a wild Wombat, held a real Sydney Funnelweb in a jar and watched it try to strike me, and got to pet a baby Flying Fox. I knew those rabies vaccines would come in handy one day!

The sites, sounds, and nature here are absolutely wonderful. Its just the people who cause me strife. However, this wont be the case for the next 2 weeks. For the rest of this week in Sydney and my week in Cairns, I'm on my own. Maybe this is how it should be.