australiya i'm still here

Hi people. Long time no discuss. Hello from melbourne. Just finished our stay in sydney, which was fun (no wireless, so no blog or skype). christian and i totally won homsestays. his name was ted and not only was his granpa a big famous general (see previous blog), he also started his own consulting firm and was president of the America Club, a counselor for the Harvard club, and a generally awesome guy. The first night he asked us to pick out music for dinner ("wow so much musical theater! and jack johnson and coldplay, this guy is really hip! and cher. wait...is this the BEACHES soundtrack? ok that answers that question"). But he knew a TON about theater and sydney theater, which I know nothing about and apparently is a pretty vibrant scene (did u know Cate Blanchett and her husband are the artistic directors of Sydney Rep? She's the best) so we had a great night drinking and chattin. We found out today that his brother is the manager and producer for none other than Kylie Minogue (the 2nd top-selling female artist in the world next to madonna) so he knows her pretty well. crazy! glad that i know him.

sadly, we did embarassingly little in sydney. it's just hard b/c you want to sleep late and you have to go back and change for shows in the early evening so there isn't a ton of time. but i did manage totake a ferry to Manly Beach (it was called soemthing else originally, but they changed the name after I visited...badumcha!) and watch some of the guys take surfing lessons...only to be mobbed by a swarm of dolphins! i was sad i got there too late to take a lesson but it was really cool to see. i also wandered around downtown a bunch and saw the opera house and went to the museum of contemporary art (yeesh...not sydney's finest site). this was the highlight of the museum:

most of our shows were for private clubs, so not wildly exciting. we did sing for the US Consul General, Judith Fergin, at her amazing home. She was wierd and seemed to have trouble emoting using the muscles in her face.

now in melbourne, which (form what i hear) is a low point of tour. there is not a ton to do, so we just had a mcdonalds picnic and watched Edward Scissorhands (people...someone needs to make this a musical. i'm serious it would make major bank and be awesome. if you are interested of have a few million to underwrite this project, lemme know). I have another embarrasing confession: this is the 3rd day in a row i've had mcdonalds. We eat it an embarassing amount. It's just really comforting to know that no matter where you are there is something that you can rely on! that is also cheap, as am i. the only difference is the katsup, which is sweeter in this side of the world. Australia also has this great "tastes of the world" menu in honor of the olympics where you can get different burgers representative of each country. the "McAmerica" has eggs, bacon, ham, and cheese...essentially a heart-attack on a plate which I think is fairly appropriate. There's also the "McAfrica" featuring 2 patties and "African sauce." If you have any idea what that means, let me know.

anyway glad to have wireless now, so hopefully we can skype soon.

let me knwo what is new with you!
~Barry