Today was supposed to be a beach day, but the weather did not exactly cooperate.  I woke up on the later side, and then after brunch I got on a tram towards St Kilda. beach.  Turns out it wasn't exactly the right tram (although the transportation website told me to take it), and I had to walk a bit to get to the beach.  That was kind of nice, though, because I ended up getting a tour of the neighborhood around St. Kilda, where there are some nice eateries etc. (typical beach-side stuff).  Supposedly St. Kilda is near the Jewish area of Melbourne, although I did not see anything particularly Jewish (I think I was a bit too far west).

Anyway, apparently there's a little amusement park with a roller coaster, but it wasn't running.  I sat on the beach for a bit and listened to my iPod, which was great.  It's a pretty nice beach--not huge--and there were some good people there (to look at ;-) ).  I attempted to read Angels and Demons, which I started at the beginning of last semester, but I kept feeling like I'd read it before since I've seen the movie twice, so I put it away and just napped with my headphones.  Anyway, as I said, the weather didn't cooperate and the sun started to go behind some pretty ominous clouds and it got windy.  A lot of people started leaving, and when I felt a couple rain drops I did, too.  Good thing, because it started pouring right after I got back on the tram!  I'll have to go back this weekend or next week.  I also want to try Brighton beach, which is a little farther but is famous for its colorfully painted "bathing box" shacks along the sand (google it).

A roller coaster.  Pretty self-explanatory.

It was beautiful out before it started to rain...er, pour.

Tonight my friend invited me to a film festival called Flicker Fest at a theatre down in the CBD, and since my mantra of "try everything" applies in Australia, I tagged along.  Definitely a good decision.  It was a showing of eight or so short Australian films (they seemed to be mostly by film graduate students from the uni).  They were so good.  With the exception two, all were pretty funny.  Take a look at the program.

1. Dad, you would have loved the first one, "Nullabor," a really funny Pixar-esque animation.  It was only 10 minutes, but apparently it took 4 years to make because it was done entirely with CGI.  
2. The second, "Kamambo," was inspired by a true story about West Papuan asylum seekers (father and daughter) in Australia; it was a bit sadder than the others, but had one funny moment.  
3. "Shoplifting" was about a family of shoplifters and their efforts to beat the department stores' new security measures.  Funny, but with a heavier ending.
4. "Teddy" was a hysterical flick about a jealously homicidal teddy bear who tries to murder its owner's boyfriend.
5. "The Op Shop" was about three old ladies who run an op shop (Australian term for a thrift store),  and their adventures while trying to figure out what a mysterious item is, which the audience all knows is a sex toy.  Hilarious, as they all take it home to 'ask their husbands' and come back the next day very happy from having figured it out (and tried it out).  The three old ladies each had three costumes (it takes place over three days), but because the film was not shot in sequence for scheduling reasons, there were over 30 costume changes during the single day of filming.
6. "The Stranger" is about an awkward guy who steals a suit and a bottle of wine and crashes a house party in search of people to hang out with.  The ending was strange.
7. "The Winking Boy" tells the story of a hospital patient who pretends to be paralyzed and communicates by winking.  His secret, that he can actually walk just fine (and he does so at night when the nurses are not around) is a "lifestyle choice," and he uses this unknown ability to sabotage the relationship between a male nurse and (very attractive) female nurse.  Also very funny.

I'm really glad I went to the film showing.  At first I thought the $18 price was steep for about an hour and a half of film, but it came with a free drink (classy, I know) and ended up being well worth it.

I'm making it an early night because tomorrow morning I have to be at enrollment day at 9:45.  Cheers.