Transit of Venus

It’s starting to really dawn on me that I won’t be in New Zealand for much longer.  Well, unless I forget to pay my car registration fines before I leave and get arrested at the airport… It could happen, can someone remind me to call them in the morning?

I remember blogging after the EP release  in May that it seemed like the end of an era.  I was reminded of this watching Friends tonight. Man I love that show, doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it I still love it hehe.  So yeah, there was the whole big EP recording era, which if you include all the stuff I recorded and scrapped it goes back as far as 2005.  Look at the “member since” date on the ToV myspace  31/08/2005.   Ages ago.  But now I feel like the end of another story is approaching.  There was the bedroom recording era, which ended with the release of our EP, and then there was the short lived  ToV as a live band era, which I think will come to a finish with this last show.

Honestly I don’t know what will happen with ToV when I’m gone.   I have toyed with the idea of course, of firing everyone before I leave and getting new members in Malaysia.  I had thought about forcibly kidnapping Tory and taking him with me.  I have considered the possibility of retiring ToV back to a recording project, maybe even a long distance online recording project.  Or just dropping it all together.  I don’t know.  At this point I guess it doesn’t really matter. What is important right now is making our last show the best ever! We’ve talked about playing through a bunch of the old stuff at the Nosferatu show after we’ve screened the movie, we’ve talked guest members, ex-members and nostalgia.  Again I don’t know exactly what will eventuate, all I know is that I’ve worked really hard on Nosferatu and it’s gonna be both awesome and a little sad.  Awesome because I think it’s some of the most interesting stuff I’ve ever written, at least for me from a musical perspective.  And sad because I am sad to be leaving Auckland.  I’ve lived here just over five years and I’ve grown to love this city more than anywhere else I’ve lived before.  And not just this city but of course the people in it, the people are the ones who make this city what it is.  I’m gonna miss all the friends (and enemies!) who have made my life so entertaining here.

Sorry I’m rambling.  It’s because I’ve temporarily banned myself from twitter/facebook . I may yet have to ban myself from this blog! (p.s. if you’re reading this on facebook and rolling your eyes, it’s an automated thing that puts it on there from my website duh!)

Back to the piano now,

<3 Kristie xxx

p.s. Because there’s still some confusion I’m confirming that Nosferatu is on Thursday November 26th

Oh that’s right, we even have a proper written-by-someone-who-doesn’t-ramble press release for it now.  Here ya go…

It’s that time of the week when usually I’d be having band practice.  But today I’m still in bed, I was up most of the night playing piano and re-reading Bram Stokers Dracula.  As you probably know if you know me at all or regularly read my blog, we’re putting on this Nosferatu show November 26th.  Screening the movie while playing live music etc.  Anyway, the movie is loosely based on Bram Stokers Dracula.  Very loosely.  The first versions with the title-frames in German had the names changed due to a bunch of copy right issues.  I understand the movie was made without permission from Stokers widow and I also have heard that the production company declared bankruptcy as soon as the movie was released to avoid handing over any money.  The version we’re using has title cards in English, and while many of the names have been changed to match Stokers book again, there are some inconsistencies.  Mina becomes Nina and London is still replaced with  German town Bremen.  The story lines of the movie and book differ quite a lot too, especially involving the endings.  Having read the book and seen the movie so many times working on the project the two have kind of merged together in my mind as “Nosferacula” haha.  In one of the songs I’m singing about London, it’s not a mistake I know the city in the movie isn’t called London, but in the book it is and makes more sense.

I’ve seen a few different versions of Nosferatu by now, one of the main differences between them is the titles-frames.  Actually I’m sure there’s a proper word for those but it escapes me at the moment.  By title-frames I mean the frames showing pieces of narrative or dialogue in between some scenes of the movie.  Anyway, it’s amazing how these can change the movie, when all the scenes are the same but some versions having different narrative and dialogue than others.  It’s bizarre.  I went with the version available in the public domain archives, not wanting to step on any toes and every DVD I’d come across for sale or hire had copyright warnings and “for home use only” etc.

I’m blabbing on a bit I know, sometimes I just like to blog when theres a lot of stuff slooshing round my brain, clears the head a bit lol.

Anyway, the movie Nosferatu and the book Dracula, much better vampires than the ones we get these days.  You wouldn’t see Nosferatu climbing trees with a girl or sparkling in the sun.  Or playing violin at some kind of rock concert. Or wearing shades, or  PVC. He is the evil undead not some kind of misunderstood eternal teenager.

Well thats probably enough blah blah blah from me right now.  I think I forgot what todays point was.  Gonna go drink 500 million billion zillion cups of coffeeeee and hit the piano again.

Related Twitter:

KristieAddison: Re-read Bram Stokers Dracula again last night. Sorry Twilight fans, it’s the best vampire book ever. Sorry Anne Rice fans, your vampires sux

KristieAddison: While Nosferatu is kinda based on Dracula, the storylines are a little different. I think I like the one where the heroine dies in the end.

KristieAddison: p.s. I’m not some kinda vampire nut, I’m just temporarily becoming a little obsessed with them working on current project. It’s research

So, it turns out I don’t blog enough.  Making a valid effort here, look at me I’m writing a blog this very minute!  But it’s gonna be a quick one as once again I’ve got a pretty full on day happening.

Things with the band:  I got back from Malaysia on Tuesday, on Wednesday (I think) Tory and I had a secret practice without the rest of those dudes, it went pretty well.  Later that evening I stole away the fabulous Plum Green to learn the song she’ll be singing, she;s sounding fantabuloustastic! Then yesterday got the projector set up at the practice rooms and had another practice with the few band members who weren’t sick and dying or working away at real jobs (Me Tory and Hayden).  A few technical issues with le DVD, I was ready to break something or someone after spending so long the night before trying to sort things out, and then having yet more issues during the practice.  But apart from the dramas it’s going pretty well.  It’s quite fun playing in the darkened room along to the movie, I can’t really see the keys of my piano and definitely not the music I’ve spent quiet hours notating haha!

I have no idea how many tickets have sold, I have no idea how many are left, I do know this will be my last NZ show so make sure you don’t miss out, and make sure after all this work I’m not playing to an empty room!

Special thanks to Stack Studios, The Rock Factory, Jester Underground, Miscreant Recordings and TAPAC without your support this project would be screwed!

Mwa! Take care, hope to see you October 30th!

<3 K xxx