University frustration aside, however, I had a very good week, despite how busy it was - or perhaps because of how busy it was; as somebody who quite enjoys the quiet and solitude of being at home, I'm not quite sure what to make of days where I'm awake for 18 hours and at home for less than 2 hours of them.
harmonybear and I went out multiple times railfanning; I think the most insane example was dragging ourselves up at 6am on Saturday to catch the XPT and Overland departing Melbourne, and in the case of the former, arriving as well. I have some rather good photos, but thanks to the sluggishness of my Internet, I'm still catching up on uploading stuff from March! I am starting to think, though, that I need to diversify my photographic subjects. I absolutely love my train and tram photos, but I do want to take pictures of more things as I love using my camera.I've also spent a fair deal of time with cool people from Interference, including two evenings of dinner followed by showings of U2 3D. Rather unfortunately for me, my vision is so fucked up that I only see it as U2 2D. There are brief moments where something seems 3D or at least 3D-ish, but we're talking no more than four seconds here and there in a 90 minute film. I didn't expect this going into the movie, so the first time around it was rather disappointing and hard to get into - while everybody else is oohing and aahing at what they're seeing, I'm thinking "well, this is just like every other movie". The second time, I knew what to expect, so I was able to enjoy it much more. Basically, part of my vision impairment means my eyes do not focus together properly, and this means I don't see the 3D effect. Instead, all the glasses do is turn the blurry image on screen into a 2D image like any ordinary movie. If you see U2 3D yourself, just close one eye and you'll see what I see.
Besides all that, I think U2 3D is better than I expected. The setlist is almost the exact opposite of anything I would want to see; it is far too much "greatest hits" and far too little on the songs that keep me interested in the band (if I were in charge of the movie's setlist, the only songs currently there that would survive are The Fly and possibly New Year's Day and Where The Streets Have No Name). Hopefully this won't be spoilerish for anyone, but what especially pisses me off is the on-screen animation during part of Love And Peace Or Else. Way to be completely fucking obvious. It goes along with the whole barrage-of-hits mentality the band seems to have with everything they do now; it's all calculated and obvious, nothing is left to the imagination. And yet, in spite of all of that sort of stuff, U2 3D proves to be immensely enjoyable. The editing is fantastic and leaves for dead all of the band's other live releases from this decade. The sound quality is simply amazing, and I would love to hear something like Under A Blood Red Sky given that presentation. The band are in peak form. Surely the fact I saw it twice, despite my quibbles, says something - and if enough Interferencers decide to do another outing, I'll tag along for a third time. What a wonderful and fun group of people.
Changing subjects but sticking to music, I've booked my Porcupine Tree jaunt. I still need to organise accommodation in Sydney; it's a shame nobody I know lives there, because I hate tracking down hotels. But as it is, I must be the envy of foreigners with weird ideas of Australia being some exciting and exotic destination, as I will be in four different Aussie cities in a matter of two days. On 26/04, I obviously start in Melbourne and go to Sydney in the early afternoon; late the next morning, I fly from Sydney to the Gold Coast, have lunch and stuff there with the family, then Mum and I will drive up to Brisbane. I'm really glad Mum's healthy enough to see the concert with me; I was afraid she wouldn't be, but the last couple of weeks seem to have been really good for her. The full schedule:
25/04: Porcupine Tree in Melbourne.
26/04: Fly to Sydney. Porcupine Tree in Sydney.
27/04: Fly to the Gold Coast. Porcupine Tree in Brisbane.
29/04: Fly home to Melbourne.
Three standing concerts in three nights. I'm going to be exhausted. But it's going to rule so much. I'm excited already.
Anyhow, that's it from me for now. Have a good one, folks.
