Explosive Periods
Dear Em, Long time listener first time caller / question asker so hoping you can help me find the laughter in this situation as I need to laugh about it as I am done with the crying and embarrassment/humiliation stage. A few months ago I went to Sydney for a long weekend to catch up with friends. Treated myself to fancy hotel (part of the Accor Hotel Group) and enjoyed the mini break. Cause being a female is never easy especially when one is in the throes of perimenopause, my period decided it needed a mini break as well and decided to join me. As you know what it is like to get an explosive period at the best of times this happened to me on my last night while asleep and I ended up soiling the bed linen as a result. Yep you read that right….fun mini break indeed. Anyway got myself cleaned up and in the morning checked out of the hotel and caught a flight home. Maybe I was at fault for not mentioning something to the hotel upon check up but I thought it is just soiled bed linen and not the first person to soil linen and won’t be the last as we all know the body fluids that are left behind in hotel rooms. Later on that day I received an email from the hotel advising me that “I left the room in an unwell condition” (direct quote from the email) all due to my period and also decided to include photos of soiled linen as proof. Yep I got photos as reminder which I definitely didn’t need. Anyway this unwell condition cost me an additional $507 ($7 was the credit card surcharge fee) since the room was “unavailable for sale” that night even though the blood never made its way onto the mattress. I could understand if I had a party and trashed the room and broke furniture but we are talking about soiled linen. I did what anyone would do and contacted the hotel immediately but they can’t respond to my emails, phone calls and messages I send via their website. I don’t have Facebook so I can’t blow up on social media about it. After talking to some friends they said raise a dispute with my bank and that has been going on for the last few months and this week the hotel doubled down and sent the same photos they sent me to the bank and the dispute was rejected. So my question is how to I stop feeling humiliated and embarrassed over the soiled linen and the photos that have now been shared to multiple parties. Hope you can help me find the laughter and thank you for what you do with this podcast and the community you have grown. Anonymous
Copyright for a VOCAL RUN!?!
In last weeks sealed section, you mentioned something about all Elphaba's around the world not being 'allowed' to copy Cynthia's vocal run at the end of Defying Gravity. Firstly... WHAT?! As a (very) amateur musical theatre performer myself I don't know how one would help themselves from a specific vocal run in the moment. Secondly... can you please explain phenomenon further as I do not have the time for deep dive myself into 1. WHY they would do such a thing (surely copying is flattery??) and 2. how they police this? Cheers! Katie
4 corners episode on ticketing - live nation...
Hello, there's an episode on live nation/ticketmaster hitting tonight (14 oct 2024) on abc Four Corners - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-14/live-nation-hidden-fees-in-tickets-four-corners/104357146 You've got a lifetime of experience already, and much of what you've expressed before is also mentioned by others in this story. What are your thoughts on how the Aus music/entertainment/arts industry can take better control of this kind of thing? I know this behaviour of touring/ticketing/promotion companies isn't new, I'm just wondering if there's a point where Australian artists can push back? Or are we perhaps now at the point where these conglomerates are fighting the next wave of arts - influencers, podcasters, entertainers - that don't need or want these companies in order to be successful? Are they now due to decline after decades of quietly monopolising in the name of 'simplicity and best practice' thanks to youtube, insta, tiktok, spotify?
Camilla Cabello’s Cinderella
Hi Em, Michael & Ben, I NEED to hear your thoughts on the 2021 Cinderella starring Camilla Cabello and Idina Menzel. I just watched it on the weekend with my 10 and 7 year olds and LOVED it! It’s a modern and feminist adaptation of the story told in a musical format, weaving pop songs into the storytelling. Think of it as a bit of an &Juliet retelling of Cinderella. It’s camp, ridiculous and fun. Props to Ramesh Raganathan, James Acaster and James Corden for their (clearly) improvised scenes as the mice turned footmen. I just know that your review of this film would make me laugh and smile as much as you two watching it will make you both laugh and smile. Thanks! Sarah