Ali and Paul's 12th Anniversary

Congratulations to Ali and Paul on reaching their 12th Anniversary. It was lovely to catch up for some quiet drinks at Henry Africas Lounge Bar on the beach front at Manly. It was also good to see Mike and Claire again who informed us of their baby on the way due in Sept. Congratulations again and Claire was happy to be getting over her morning sickness. Ali's sister Sara flew over from Perth to spend some Easter time with Ali and Paul, so it was also great to catch up once again and find out about her Gold Mining job. We met for the first time another good friend of Paul and Ali's - Danielle, had a good chat and is a very lovely woman.
Paul was telling us that he is starting up in a band called The Hicks which plays Country Blues type music - he said they were recording soon to get the sounds out to promote themselves. Good Luck and can't wait to be a groupie chick for that one.
it was a bit sad to see Ali still in her cast which she say's should be off in about a weeks time and great to here her new BigPond Sports Presenting is going well and she is enjoying all aspects of her job from writing scripts to presenting. Very talented!
If you want to watch Ali live on Saturdays go to BigPond Sports.

Trash the Dress Shoot at Sunrise

This week Darren was interviewed by the Sun Herald news paper for an article coming out soon on Trash the wedding dress. Which is rapidly becoming popular where Brides and Grooms do a post wedding shoot all dressed up again but we photograph them in outrageous locations like swimming pools and in the surf, infact anywhere you would not typically see a Bride.
Thanks to our good friends Lauren and Justin, Darren and I plus Juanita all met Lauren and Justin down at Bayview Park near our house and shot them at sunrise in Hen and Chicken Bay while the 9 to 5er's were waiting for their ferry. Yes it did cause quiet a stir but that is what we are aiming for when it appears in next weeks Sun Hearld paper.
Thanks again to Lauren and Justin being such good sports and submerging in the Parramatta River and still looking glamorous.

FilmInk Awards -State Theatre

Congratulations to Michael Lawrence for his Producing effort in his hugely successful Bra Boys Documentary and for winning last Wednesday nights 2008 MOVIE EXTRA FILMINK Awards for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL BEST DOCUMENTARY: Bra Boys. So far the Bra Boys movies has under it's belt Winner Best Documentary at X-Dance (Sundance Film Festival), Winner Best Documentary at Huntington Beach ( Surf Theatre Film Festival) plus heaps more.
Michael and Di are off to America for the Premier of Bra Boys on Sunset Blvd- the movie is booked into 60 cinemas through out Amercia.
We are very proud of all the things Michael has achieved and could not have done it without Di's help. Congratulations again Michael.

Churrasco with friends

Last night Darren and I had a ball having dinner with close friends Michael and Dianne plus Isa and Nick - celebrating Nick's birthday. How funny are these people once all together the jokes fly and we laugh all night. This all took place in Churrasco - Brazillian style BBQ in Coogee where Nick kept his green end up for more food all night. The resturant runs as a flat fee and eat as much as you would like. The idea is some thing like a Brazillian Yum Cha, with the beautiful waitresses coming to your table with large skewers and carving off chunks of beef, lamb, chicken and sausages along with bowls of vegetables and Salsa.
Isa kept us laughing with stories of her Indonesian wedding and food poisoning and her exciting times she is having working on "So You Think You CAn Dance" as a make-up artist. While Michael told us about life as a big time movie producer- stories of Sundance and Paul Fenech.
I would also like to congratulate Michael with his Bra Boys Movie and Sundance :
Bra Boys Wins At X-Dance Film Festival
Surfing - Sunday February 03 2008
E365 -- The highest grossing Australian documentary, Bra Boys, won best documentary at the 2008 X-Dance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah. First-time director, Sunny Abberton and his crew accepted the award in typical Bra Boys fashion with tons of enthusiasm and gratitude for how far they’ve come from their difficult, impoverished upbringing in Sydney suburb, Maroubra Beach.
Released on March 15, 2007, in Australia, Bra Boys became an instant smash hit breaking a 17-year-old record for the most successful Australian, non-IMAX documentary-style film. Bra Boys quickly got the attention of Brian Grazer who will produce a fact-based drama based on the documentary. Crowe will make his directorial debut with the film scheduled for late 2008 release.

Michael and Dianne are going over to USA to Sunset Blvd. LA to open the premier of the movie as it released in 60 cinemas over America. Congratulations again Michael and Di as I know how much you have both given of yourselves for this film.

Dinner was great and cannot wait for the stories from the Premier. Also special thanks to my daughters for their debut in baby-sitting Isa and Nick's little girl- everyone had a ball.

Ambassador for the Golden Slipper

Congratulations Ali Mutch for being selected to be an ambassador for the golden slipper race carnival. It is all very exciting!
We are all hoping she is making a speedy recovery after her accident as she said to me " Yeah i dislocated my ankle with a small fracture a few weeks ago doing gymnastics....or gymspastics in my case!!. Just got my cast off yesterday and now am in one of those big ugly boots and still on crutches for a few more weeks....so annoying...can't drive, can't run through the meadows, can't dance like it's 1979!!!"- you are to funny Ali. At least you have a handy Male Maid (cough,cough -Paul) to do everything for you.

Ali is currently working as BigPond Sports Presenter and appeared in the newspaper last week- very proud of you Ali!

Nationals B Finals

MLC were up early to compete in their B Finals at Nationals today. The crew met under their tent at 7.10 am call time where my daughter had to weigh in 2 hours prior to race at 9.10 am.
The girls did well finishing 3rd in their race, with the crew putting in all they had. The cox told me she pushed them so hard at the end of their race she had three out four of the crew crying for the pain she pushed them to. Daisy had medical staff attending her both in and out of the boat for her knee injury, ice was applied and hopefully she will be OK for the final race for the season being in two weeks time at the School Girls Head of River at SIRC on the 29th March 2008.

2008 Australian Rowing Championships

MLC have been practising/competing at The Australian Rowing Championships that is being held at Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC) Penrith Lakes from Monday 3rd to Sunday 9th March 08.
The Nationals consist of 89 Events, 1227 Crews, 1789 Competitors, 289 Coxswains, 297 Coaches, 596 Races, 1 Time Trial, so are extremely excited that my daughter's crew made it to the Semi-Finals. The girls raced well today finishing 6th at 7:53.27 sending them into the B Finals. Good Luck in the finals!