It Does Get Better

This is a great project devised by a group of fabulous women who called themselves, "The L Project". They're raising awareness and funds for the fight against LGBT abuse and bullying, which has led to so many tragic suicides by children as young as thirteen years old. I can't begin to imagine what it feels like to be bullied for one's sexuality. I was bullied a lot as a child, and occasionally called a lesbian by some twats in my classes. I'm not a lesbian, nor am I bisexual or transgendered, but I firmly believe that nobody should have to endure bullying. RIP, all the lovely souls whose lives have been lost in this way.

February BellaBox Review

Hullo, hullo,

I saw on another blog that a girl had reviewed her BellaBox and I thought that was a nifty idea. What is BellaBox, you may well ask? Bleeding genius, I'll tell ye. I pay $15 per month for a bunch of nice gals in Melbourne to send me a delicious little box full of cosmetic/haircare/skincare samples every month. The samples are generally really useful sizes, too, so that you can use each product a few times and really get a feel for it. I have become a total convert over some products that BellaBox has sent me. Orofluido Beauty Elixir for Hair is one of those products. Holy WOW. Incredible. My hair feels so soft! Also, Lancome Visionnaire serum! Can't believe I spent $115 on a product that still requires me to moisturise after using it, but I love it! And Erborian BB Creme au Ginseng, an amazing beauty cream that is a moisturiser, sunscreen and foundation all-in-one. The idea is that your skin feels as soft as a baby's skin after using it, and that's completely true. Ah, I love you, BellaBox.

The February BellaBox (for me - everybody's is different according to the profile you've uploaded to their website) contained:

"Sasy n Savy Citrus Hand Cream"
I thoroughly disapprove of the lack of punctuation and poor spelling in the title of this product. Just because I like hand creams doesn't mean I'm not a fan of proper English! The sample I received was not Citrus, either. It was Rose - but it's wonderful! A silky, smooth handcream, with a truly delicious floral scent. Yummy. I'm a floral girl, through and through. Recommended!

"B by Bloom Collecta Eyeshadow Duo"
Ugh, more atrocious spelling. I've never been much of a Bloom fan. I like the packaging and the design, but the products have never really charmed me. This eyeshadow duo arrived completely smashed to smithereens. The packaging was intact, but. The colour was like a dark silver. Pretty cool, but not something I'd wear very often unless I was performing in an opera. I know some confident redheads can get away with bold silver eyes and hugely dark eyeliner, but I prefer delicate lines and lots of neutral colours. Maybe I'm boring. Anyway, I can't really try the eyeshadow without using it like a Napoleon Perdis shimmery dust with a brush. Maybe I will. Not too fussed. Oh gawd, this review isn't going so well, is it? (PS. I don't mind about the fact that the eyeshadow arrived smashed! My housemate's arrived and hers was fine. Hers was also a better colour, but oh well.)

"Mememe Seventh Heaven Facebase"
This is a primer. Very smooth and creamy formula. LOVED the gorgeous scent of the product. Works fine as a makeup base. Recommended!

"Sparoma Shimmer Wrap with Jasmine"
This is a fantastic product, though almost identical to a product that I got from Avon five or six years ago. You smear it on your skin and your skin becomes glittery and gorgeous. And the SMELL! It was like wearing a flower bed. Beautiful. Recommended!

"Star and Rose Confetti Soap Roses"
An odd little product. It's like a fabric rose that one would wear pinned to one's lapel, only smaller, pointier, and apparently made of soap. I think you're supposed to use it in the bath, but we don't have a bath. Sigh. Smells good. I'm sure it's a good product. Recommended anyway!

"Chocolate Hearts from The Chocolate Box"
Nice little chocolate hearts. Pleasantly smooth chocolate, but never really understood why everybody raves on about The Chocolate Box. Nice enough, but not earth-shattering. Better than Hershey's. On par with Cadbury's... maybe.

And thus endeth my first BellaBox review. I have to say that November has been my favourite BellaBox month so far. Those Orofluido and Visionnaire samples rocked my world.

New pic for sing-songy things

Jimmy Walsh Photography

Jimmy was so sweet and easy to get on with.

Superstar! <3 March 1, 2011

Viva La Vida (Coldplay)

Merry Christmas, James!

#KaraokeSecretSanta

#KSS2011

Mir ist die Ehre ("Der Rosenkavalier" - Strauss)

Duet with Ellen Malone, mezzo-soprano

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

I want magic! ("A Streetcar Named Desire" - Andre Previn)

I WANT MAGIC!

Real! Who wants real?

I know I don't want it. I want magic!

Magic! Yes! That's what I want!

That's what I try to give to people.

I do misrepresent things.

I don't tell the truth.

But I tell what ought to be the truth.

What it ought to be.

Yes, magic. Magic's what I try to give to people.

If that's a sin,

If that is such a sin, then let me be... damned for it!

Don't turn on that light!

It'll all look so ugly in that light.

Why not see by candlelight... or moonlight, or by starlight?

They are bright enough to see by.

Sometimes too bright.

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

The Black Swan ("The Medium" - Menotti)

THE BLACK SWAN

The sun has fallen and it lies in blood.

The moon is weaving bandages of gold.

O black swan, where, oh, where is my lover gone?

Torn and tattered is my bridal gown,

And my lamp is lost, and my lamp is lost.

With silver needles and with silver thread,

The stars stitch a shroud for the dying sun.

O black swan, where, oh, where has my lover gone?

I had given him a kiss of fire,

And a golden ring, and a golden ring.

Don't you hear your lover moan?

Eyes of glass and feet of stone,

Shells for teeth and weeds for tongue,

Deep, deep, down in the river's bed,

He's looking for the ring.

Eyes wide open, never asleep,

He's looking for the ring, looking for the ring.

The spools unravel and the needles break,

The sun is buried and the stars weep.

O black wave, O black wave, take me away with you.

I will share with you my golden hair,

And my bridal crown, and my bridal crown.

Oh, take me down with you

Take me down to my wand'ring lover

With my child unborn, with my child unborn.

Duet with Bronwyn Douglass, mezzo-soprano

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monica's Waltz ("The Medium" - Menotti)

MONICA'S WALTZ

Bravo! And after the theatre, supper and dance. Music! Umpapa, umpapa,

Up in the sky, someone is playing a trombone and a guitar.

Red is your tie, and in your velvetine coat, you hide a star.

Monica, Monica, dance the waltz; Monica, Monica, dance the waltz.

Follow me, moon and sun; keep time with me; one, two, three, one.

If you're not shy, pin up my hair with your star, and buckle my shoe.

And when you fly, please hold on tight to my waist; I'm flying with you. Oh,

Monica, Monica, dance the waltz; Monica, Monica, dance the waltz.

Follow me, moon and sun,

Follow me, follow, follow me, follow me, follow, follow me.

What is the matter, Toby? What is it you want to tell me?

Kneel down before me, and now, tell me...

Monica, Monica, can't you see, that my heart is bleeding, bleeding for you?

I loved you, Monica, all my life, with all my breath, with all my blood.

You haunt the mirror of my sleep; you are my night.

You are my light, and the jailer of my day.

How dare you, scoundrel, talk to me like that! Don't you know who I am?

I'm the Queen of Aroundel! I shall have you put in chains!

You are my princess, you are my queen, and I'm only Toby, one of your slaves,

And still I love you and always loved you with all my breath, with all my blood.

I love your laughter; I love your hair; I love your deep and nocturnal eyes.

I love your soft hands, so white and winged; I love the slender branch of your throat.

Toby, don't speak to me like that! You make my head swim.

Monica, Monica, fold me in your satin gown.

Monica, Monica, give me your mouth;

Monica, Monica, fall in my arms.

Why, Toby! You're not crying, are you?

Toby, I want you to know that you have the most beautiful voice in the world!

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

The Trees on the Mountain ("Susannah" - Carlisle Floyd)

The trees on the mountains

are cold and bare.

The summer jes' vanished,

an' left them there

Like a false-hearted lover,

jes' like my own

Who made me love him,

then left me alone.

The coals on the hearth

have turned gray and sere.

The blue flame jes' vanished

an' left them there,

Like a false-hearted lover,

jes' like my own

Who made me love him,

then left me alone.

Come back, o summer,

come back, blue flame.

My heart wants warmin',

my baby a name.

Come back, o lover,

if jes' fer a day.

Turn bleak December

once more into May.

The road up ahead lies lonely an' far.

There's darkness around me

an' not even a star

To show me the way,

or lighten my heart.

Come back, my lover,

I fain would start.

The pore baby fox lies all cold in his lair.

His mama jes' vanished

an' left him there,

Like a false-hearted lover,

jes' like my own,

Who made me love him,

then left me alone.

Come back, o summer,

come back, blue flame!

My heart wants warmin',

my baby a name.

Come back, o lover,

if jes' fer a day.

Turn bleak December

once more into May.

Come back! Come back! Come back!

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Ain't It A Pretty Night ("Susannah" - Carlisle Floyd)

Ain't it a pretty night!

The sky's so dark and velvet-like

and it's all lit up with stars.

It's like a great big mirror

reflectin' fireflies over a pond.

Look at all them stars, Little Bat.

The longer y' look, the more y' see.

The sky seems so heavy with stars

that it might fall right down out of heaven

and cover us all up in one big blanket of velvet

all stitched with diamon's.

Ain't it a pretty night.

Just think, those stars can all peep down

an' see way beyond where we can:

They can see way beyond them mountains

to Nashville and Asheville an' Knoxville.

I wonder what it's like out there,

out there beyond them mountains

where the folks talk nice,

an' the folks dress nice

like y' see in the mail-order catalogs.

I aim to leave this valley someday

an' find out fer myself:

To see all the tall buildin's

and all the street lights

an' to be one o' them folks myself.

I wonder if I'd get lonesome fer the valley though,

fer the sound of crickets an' the smell of pine straw,

fer soft little rabbits an' bloomin' things

an' the mountains turnin' gold in the fall.

But I could always come back

if I got homesick fer the valley.

So I'll leave it someday an' see fer myself.

Someday I'll leave an' then I'll come back

when I've seen what's beyond them mountains.

Ain't it a pretty night.

The sky's so heavy with stars tonight

that it could fall right down out of heaven

an' cover us up, and cover us up,

in one big blanket of velvet and diamon's.

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night (Ned Rorem)

Youth, large, lusty, loving--youth full of grace, force, fascination,

Do you know that Old Age may come after you with equal grace,

force, fascination?

Day full-blown and splendid-day of the immense sun, action,

ambition, laughter,

The Night follows close with millions of suns, and sleep and

restoring darkness.

(Walt Whitman)

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Alleluia (Ned Rorem)

Alleluia!

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Now sleeps the crimson petal (Ned Rorem)

Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;

Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;

Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:

The firefly wakens: waken thou with me.

Now droops the milk-white peacock like a ghost,

And like a ghost she glimmers on to me.

Now lies the Earth all Danaë to the stars,

And all thy heart lies open unto me.

Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves

A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me.

Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,

And slips into the bosom of the lake:

So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip

Into my bosom and be lost in me.

(Lord Alfred Tennyson)

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

The Serpent (Ned Rorem)

There was a Serpent who had to sing.

There was. There was.

He simply gave up Serpenting.

Because. Because.

He didn't like his Kind of Life;

He couldn't find a proper Wife;

He was a Serpent with a soul;

He got no Pleasure down his Hole.

And so, of course, he had to Sing,

And Sing he did, like Anything!

The Birds, they were, they were Astounded;

And various Measures Propounded

To stop the Serpent's Awful Racket:

They bought a Drum. He wouldn't

Whack it.

They sent, —you always send, —to Cuba

And got a Most Commodious Tuba;

They got a Horn, they got a Flute,

But Nothing would suit.

He said, "Look, Birds, all this is futile:

I do not like to Bang or Tootle."

And then he cut loose with a Horrible Note

That practically split the Top of his Throat.

"You see," he said, with a Serpent's Leer,

"I'm Serious about my Singing Career!"

And the Woods Resounded with many a Shriek

As the Birds flew off to the end of Next Week.

(Theodore Roethke)

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Oh, quante volte (Bellini)

ECCOMI IN LIETA VESTA ... OH! QUANTE VOLTE

Eccomi in lieta vesta... eccomi adorna...

Come vittima all'ara. Oh! almen potessi

Qual vittima cader dell'ara al piede!

O nuzïali tede,

Abborrite così, così fatali,

Siate, ah! siate per me faci ferali.

Ardo... una vampa, un foco

Tutta mi strugge.

Un refrigerio ai venti io chiedo invano.

Ove se'tu, Romeo?

In qual terra t'aggiri?

Dove, dove invïarti i miei sospiri?

Oh! quante volte,

Oh! quante ti chiedo

Al ciel piangendo

Con quale ardor t'attendo,

E inganno il mio desir!

Raggio del tuo sembiante

Parmi il brillar del giorno:

L'aura che spira intorno

Mi sembra un tuo respir.

Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

"Oh! quante volte" is a lyric coloratura aria from the first act of the Italian opera "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" by Vincenzo Bellini, and is performed by the character Giulietta: the daughter of Capellio, and lover of Romeo. The scene is set on Giulietta's balcony in the palace of Capulet, Verona, Italy, in the fifteenth century; Giulietta is longing for Romeo to come and see her; she wishes to see his silhouette in the light of the day, and hear his sigh, which reminds her of the breeze. The opera is based on an opera by Nicola Vaccai, Giulietta e Romeo, which was based on the play by English playwright, William Shakespeare.

Pamela Andrews is a Tasmanian-born lyric soprano and a recent Master's graduate of the Australian National University. Pamela is currently studying with soprano Louise Page (Canberra), having previously studied under Jane Edwards and Marilyn Smith (Hobart). Read more about Pamela at http://www.sopranopamela.com

Alan Hicks is a graduate of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music (DSCM piano and flute) and the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (Diploma in Professional Performance with distinction). Alan is currently Head of Voice at the Australian National University. Read

more about pianist Alan Hicks at

http://music.anu.edu.au/academic-staff/Alan-Hicks