Cat Scratch Fever

With the Fringe bearing down we have been going Cat CRAZY at Electra House building and cleaning our little cat butts off. So we'll pick up from a couple of weeks ago...late Jan.

Friday we did a lot of meat and potatoes type work, various form lodgements and a fridge recon'.

Friday night we were joined at Electra House by James, who, using Tron like special effects, made the laborious task of masking the walls quite entertaining.  Lasers!

Later on we were joined by friends, some volunteers who contacted us through facebook and an eleventh hour appearance by the Renew Adelaide team.  We all proceeded to speculate over what could and couldn't be achieved at Electra House over the weekend - thirsty work!

In the interest of not using port-a-loos that have to be pumped out every second day, Saturday morning, James exposed us to our sewerage options, one of which is pictured below.  Even the Baulderstone boys wanted to have a look.  Who would've thought a big ol' dirty sewer would create such a vibrant, community atmosphere?

Our facebook volunteers arrived, as did our friends and Cass's dad!  A total number of seven people put in a six hour day and the results were impressive, three rooms given the meth'/sandpaper treatment and at least one coat of paint each.  We also removed another two spray painted penises.  The scorecard reads Tuxedo Cat - 4.  Spray Painted Penises - 0.

In between all this hands on activity we also caught up with our lawyer mate Jon.  Not including the champagne and lobster, he works for us pro bono.  Pictured below, he is scouring either a contract or a seafood menu - we can't remember.  Thanks Jon!

Australia Day began at 8am and was spent painting the rest of the building, putting in doors, fake walls, scraping the floors clean and removing all pigeon entry points...and the odd pigeon.  (See pic below)

Among our helpers were a locksmith, a professional tree climber, a comedian, a muso, a second hand record dealer, a lollipop lady, a Telstra call centre guy, a RSPCA worker, one of our tech boys, a two and a half year old child, three legit trades people and an urban renewal specialist/consultant/visionary/cyclist/drinker.  There ya go!  A late morning, morale boosting  pop in by the Right Honorable Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood (disappointingly, not in robes) with his entourage bearing scones lifted the day and we finished around six with a bbq and drinks, certain that we had made progress.

Cat Day Afternoon

This is James, he wanted to have a go with the measuring tape today.  He has a highly desirable skill set way beyond our own and his business, Landscape Construct, will be a cornerstone of this years Tuxedo Cat.  The caravan he's in will be a bar in the outdoor area of the Cat.  The caravan is an Ambassador, from the sixties and was not designed to hold multiple fridges or slush buckets.  In fact the interior was so well preserved it hurt a bit to go ahead with the gutting of it.  Turns out that beyond its vintage beauty was modern day mould ridden plywood, so we think it will enjoy its new life.

Pictured above at Electra House is Arapahoe, one of three cast members in Steve Sheehan's new show 'A Little Horseplay'.  It was great to see a large photo of all of them in last Saturday's Advertiser as well as two other shows at the Cat also getting a mention, the theatre shows 'Isolate' and 'Slavery To Star Trek'.  As you probably know the guide is out and tickets to all Adelaide Fringe 2011 shows are on sale NOW!

And this?  Well it's a...thing.  We acquired it today and was told that by simply plugging Electra House into it you can run a whole damn festival off of it.  The three switches are for genres, in this case 'Theatre', 'Comedy' and 'Cabaret'.  We have to get another one for 'Word', 'Events' and 'Visual Arts' and then an additional single switch one for 'Puppetry.'

Cat Alive!

With Tuxedo Cat curling up at Electra House, one working bee under our collar and the holiday season out of the way, we have regrouped to complete the transformation of 131 King William Street into the desirable Fringe hangout we have been missing since the demolition of our previous site at Synagogue Place.

Today we measured the space required to make way for the electrical cabling.

With three levels to bring alive it has the potential to be tricky but Electra House, with its wide halls and massive light shafts is generous with its solutions.  The building was gutted of wiring and other vital organs such as water and toilets several years ago.  Other notable absences of lesser impact include windows, doors, ceilings and floorboards.  Oh alright - it's a shell!

For the first time in five years of operating venues, sponsors wanting to make significant contributions to Tuxedo Cat have jumped on board.  Not just "Here, have an ice bucket and a couple of umbrellas" types BUT Crumpler, Little Creatures and Dulux all, quite simply, 'get it', they are just as excited as we are about being part of our landscape.  Combine this with the immeasurable support from the Adelaide Fringe office, the new Lord Mayor, the Adelaide City Council CEO and the like-minded crowd from Renew Adelaide and we begin to feel that there is a bigger and more positive movement happening collectively that could really strengthen and expand the artistic and social possibilities of Adelaide.  Exciting, huh?

Concluding our duties at Electra House for today by touching up some spray painted penises (averaging about two per room, slightly less than the previous Cat) with some metho' and sanding, we check that the date today is in fact 12/1/11 and think bloody hell...lets get our Cat on!