Gideon Houdini and Lady Banana-Hammock

Before Christmas last year I took a leap and did something I've always wanted to do: I bought a bunny.

His name was Sir Gideon Houdini, and he was a devilishly charismatic little fellow who spent most of his time snuggled into my chest, falling asleep in my shirt, or wandering around the house balanced on my shoulders like I was the Linguini to his Remy.

I get very attached to pets- I have only had four in my life- Three dogs and Gids. I will admit, I basically treated him like another puppy, and in most respects he acted like one.

I will cut a heartbreaking story (that will have me in tears) short by saying that, even though he survived the 45+ degree heat through the summer, the cold change proved to be too much for him and a month ago I found him passed away in his little cage. 

I buried him in the garden with lots of little flowers and about a million of my tears along with him. The night before he'd been acting especially cute and I have countless videos of him trying to make a burrow in my t-shirt.

My heart broke a lot, and it's taken me a while to get over losing him, but I've missed the unconditional love that comes from a pet, and spent the last few weeks scouring Gumtree for people selling their pets. One person was selling a beautiful Chocolate Mini Lop, and we agreed to meet at Dandenong station, over an hour from where I live... And they never turned up. I waited for another hour and haven't heard from the evil heathens since.

I hit the jackpot this week though- a beautiful cashmere mini lop was advertised out at Epping- I was a bit tentative about travelling to get her since I'd had such a bad previous experience, but the owner offered to drop her off, and when I got home from uni the next day they were waiting out the front to hand over my new baby. 

It was a bit standoffish at first, understandably. I gave her time to get used to me by giving her free reign of the hall and sitting there with her, letting her come up and explore. I also read online that they like humming, and I know Gideon loved being able to feel my heartbeat and my voice, so I lay on the floor and hummed 'Misty Mountains Cold' from the Hobbit for about an hour. 

I've only had her for two days so far, but this morning we had adventures in the front yard together as she ran around lolloping and eating as many dandelions as she could stomach.

We're definitely bonding, and her personality is emerging more each day- especially with her binky-ing around the lounge room (look up rabbit binky-ing videos, it'll make your day).

I suppose this post was to tell the story of the wonderful Gideon and introduce Lady Luna Consuela-Bananahammock, the prettiest little lady ever and the new addition to our family. 

(If you have me on any social media, you best get used to an influx of constant bunny photos)

Insert Folk Music Pun Here.

Last night one of my friends came down from Brisbane so we decided to have a night on the town. I found out two acts who I know from previous folk festivals were performing at the Toff in Town, and so I demanded we go and watch them.

My bossiness was validated two songs into Aluka's first set, as I peeked at my friend and found her gaping, mesmerised. My housemate managed to miss all of Aluka's set so she is being dragged along to their album launch on the 3rd of May.

Aluka are a purely a capella act, with three lovely ladies arranging original songs with harmonies and beautiful clashing notes building up into a product that had the entire audience utterly mesmerised, trying to follow who was making which noise until eventually giving up and letting the swell of beautiful noise fall over you.

I first met Aluka in September '12, when they hosted a singing tutorial at Roses Gap Folk Music Camp, and fell in love with their unique sound- I'd heard a capella before but never done in quite this way. They held two workshops a day with roughly sixty people at each, the first used to write fairly basic lyrics and then arrange them with beats and noises reminiscent to the camp and the beautiful Grampians surrounding. The result of the weekend was two original songs performed as a collaboration between dozens of people.

I am very glad to have been able to nab their new album 'Spaces', and the cleverness of recording each song in such unique acoustic spots gives each song acoustics and dynamics I've never previously heard recorded- Cave has been permanently stuck in my head since Wednesday, and I haven't stopped humming it once. It's foot stampingly amazing.

My housemate thankfully arrived in time for the beginning of Lucy Wise and the B'Gollies- I own Lucy's first EP, 'Something Pocket Sized', and it has had a fierce workout on my cd player and itunes alike. This event served as the launch for her second album, funded via Pozible by almost 150 people, and I couldn't wait to hear the new songs she'd concocted for this new masterpiece. There's something magical about a live performance of an album, each song having it's story shared and giving the audience and insight and understanding you wish came as standard with all music. Not all music would have such beautiful stories behind it though.

There were songs dedicated to friends present and past, sailing across the ocean, and a woman's dedication to farming organically while raising her children. One personal favourite, currently being played on repeat in my house, is Google Earth, showing a different, whimsical side to a technology that has changed the familiarity people have with the world around them.

To go flying over gardens of Sicily, following the river to the sea, where bouquets of umbrellas have settled in the sun, and the sea grass is shady on the reef. 

Lucy has grown as an artist of her own merit since I first saw her perform at Turramurra around five years ago, and I'm constantly envious of her skill on multiple instruments and her control over lyrics and music, and I'm looking forward to seeing how she and the B'Gollies evolve in the future.

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 Aluka's new album 'Space' and Lucy Wise and the B'Gollies new album 'When We Wander Far From Home' are available on their respective websites

Aluka || Lucy Wise and the B'Gollies