Someone For Me

Out of office

2012-02-02T13:45:00.001+11:00

I'm off the air for a few days whilst my laptop and I are being 'Appled'

Ordinary Days

2012-01-28T20:00:00.000+11:00

(Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

The tiny performance space of the DTC is ideal for 'Ordinary Days', a ninety minutes long musical about four New Yorkers and their relationships. The musical has been created by Adam Gwon and is in the style of Stephen Sondheim. A pianist placed at the edge of the space provides the music and signals scene changes by placing simple objects on his piano, such as a mini Statue of Liberty and a Metropolitan Museum of the Arts shopping bag.

It is an entertaining production. The lyrics are witty and the music has that certain type of sound associated with Broadway musicals. If there is a negative I think it is that the four voices in this production are too similar. The musical sound becomes a bit repetitive after a while.

A Few Best Men

2012-01-27T09:37:00.000+11:00

Australia Day seemed like a good day to see the latest Australian comedy - also released on that day - 'A Few Best Men'.

This is the latest in the crass style of comedy that seems to be popular nowadays or at least I assume they are popular otherwise I can't account for so many of them being made.

After a whirlwind Pacific Island romance a young Englishman, accompanied by his three best friends, travel to Australia for his wedding to an Australian bride. So little do they know of each other that he isn't aware until his arrival that his bride's family is wealthy with her father a prominent parliamentarian.

The wedding, which seems to be organised with almost unseemly haste, turns into a fiasco of drugs, sheep and general misadventure. It is a load of nonsense and not very witty nonsense at that but others in the audience enjoyed what was on offer and I have to admit that I had the occasional chuckle too.

Never Did Me Any Harm

2012-01-26T21:01:00.000+11:00

(Sydney Theatre Company, Force Majeure and Sydney Festival)

This short production of only 65 minutes is an interesting affair. Seven performers act and engage in movement, a cross between mime and dance) to illustrate 'vox pops' of people discussing childhood. The theme is how 'we' were raised or how 'we' raised our children did us/them no harm. The inference is that child raising nowadays is off the tracks.

The setting is a stereotypical 1960s Australian backyard with a shed and a loose wood paling fence. Much of the dialogue is pre-recorded snippets of personal recollections with live dialogue at a minimum initially. Lengthier monologues delivered directly to the audience emerge later.

The entire piece is a collection of thoughts rather than a straight narrative.

The production has a fascinating lighting design. The program names Geoff Cobham and Chris Petridis as the Lighting and Assistant Lighting Designers respectively.

Body of work.....

2012-01-25T07:34:00.000+11:00

Maybe I should spend less time working and more time at home watching morning television....

Baby is growing up

2012-01-24T06:27:00.000+11:00

My new little bundle of joy is settling in nicely. She spent her first night out yesterday and frolicked in the rain for the first time and nearly was breath tested for the first time too as she tip-toed home at 11pm.

They grow up so quickly.

Swipe my pad

2012-01-23T06:19:00.000+11:00

In an ironic piece of timing Andrew yesterday posted a piece about laptops in which he concluded that 'older people like to have a mouse'. Well, I would certainly qualify as an older person and it is true that for a long time now I have preferred using a mouse. About six years ago I trialled a Mac Book but quickly returned to a personal computer with mouse when I found the Mac Book's swipe pad uncomfortable to use and not to my liking.

In the years since I slowly found myself drawn into the 'religion' known as Apple. First it was an iPod, then an iPhone leading last Christmas to the purchase of an iPad. None of them was an essential purchase but each seduced me in turn thus enboldening me to the subsequent purchase. Given that I seem to be in a state of heat for impulse purchases at the moment I suppose it was inevitable that I would add this to the list...

Mac Book Pro

a Mac Book Pro which I purchased yesterday morning. Consistent with my long held preference for mouse controls I also purchased a wireless mouse. The religious theme came to the fore again as the enthusiastic young man with the North American twang who attended to my purchase waxed lyrical about drawing me into the 'family' with all manner of workshop opportunities.

Those who have purchased products from the Apple store know that you are passed on to another enthusiast who helps you set up your purchase ready for initial use. My wireless mouse was one of the first items set up but as I was led through other actions it dawned on me after a while that I was mostly swiping the pad rather than clicking the mouse. My conversion, subtle and subconscious, is almost complete.

That's why it's ironic that when I returned home with my purchase and as my first act looked up Andrew's blog I found his latest post to be about laptops and the swipe pad.

Thyestes

2012-01-22T15:36:00.000+11:00

As a child I often attended Saturday afternoon matinees at the cinema featuring thrilling adventures with cliff hanger moments but never could I have imagined a tale of fratricide, incestuous rape and a father unwittingly eating the the remains of his own children which was what confronted us yesterday afternoon at the theatre. 'Thyestes' is Greek mythology and this production presented by Belvoir Street is advertised as being 'after Seneca'. It was nothing like what I imagined beforehand.

Whilst each scene is prefaced by brief surtitles explaining the mythological 1st Century BC action to follow what is then presented is a 21st Century rendition of activity that illustrates the mythology without directly recreating it.

What I've just written sounds a bit pompous but the fact is that the play staged is a very modern, at times very funny, at times highly sexualised, at times scandalous and at times shocking story which could simply be viewed as a modern shocker but is so clever as a vehicle for illustrating the mythology from twenty-two centuries earlier.

Not everyone's cup of afternoon tea but it is very well done with fine performances from its cast of three males, especially Mark Winter (above).

Warning: Nudity.

Tuscan dreams

2012-01-20T23:54:00.000+11:00

A sense of Tuscany in inner suburban Darlington

'I'm just going out for some milk'

2012-01-19T14:47:00.000+11:00

'Just browsing....'

You know how sometimes you go down to the shops for something simple, like one bottle of milk, and somehow return a while later with all manner of unintended purchases like six family size blocks of chocolate and a lifetime's quantity of Double A batteries that won't last beyond the weekend? Oh, and no bottle of milk.

Well, I had one of those expeditions last Friday. Sort of.

Having done my good deed for the week setting up Ae's new laptop and internet connection for her in the morning, I thought I would check out shredders. I need to clear up decades worth of documents, many of which should be shredded to protect my privacy, so this was to be by way of an exploratory shopping trip.

Well there was a car dealership nearby and somehow seemingly directed by an unseen hand I emerged not from the office works store but the dealership less than an hour later with a brand new car. Well, I didn't actually have the car with me, but I had signed the purchase papers and given a deposit. And I collect the new car tomorrow.

I suppose it will come in handy when eventually I do purchase a shredder and have to bring it home.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2012-01-18T15:28:00.000+11:00

Having read Stieg Larsson's trilogy and seen all three television cum cinema screen adaptions in only the last eighteen months I had last moment doubts about seeing the US cinema interpretation of 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'. Surely I would be bored by the repetition? As it turns out I wasn't.

Even with its two and a half hours length there is no way that the film can incorporate the dense sub plots of the equivalent book. The Swedish television/cinema version similarly skirted over the detail. As a consequence a lot of the texture to the story is missing.

As is to be expected the US cinema version is slicker looking than the Swedish made for television counterpart. The US film has mostly non-Swedes in the cast all speaking in English language with vague Scandinavian accents although written material that appears on screen (signage, letters, etc but curiously not television screens) are in Swedish. This is an odd arrangement that is also practised by Kenneth Branagh's British television version of the the Swedish crime series 'Wallander'.

Rooney Mara does a terrific job as Lisbeth Salander and Daniel Craig is workmanlike as the journalist Mikale Blomkvist as are the support cast. I loved the soundtrack; a mix of hi-tech and classical music.

SPOILER ALERT: Some Australian readers may be disappointed that an Australian connection in the book (and the Swedish television version) has been changed completely in this US adaptation.

The film is not quite as confronting as I was expecting from the advance publicity. A competent crime film but, like its Swedish counterpart, not a match for the book.

Hugo (3D)

2012-01-16T14:57:00.000+11:00

On one level Martin Scorsese's 'Hugo' is a children's film set in the 1930s about an orphan who lives in the clock tower of a Paris railway station in constant fear of discovery in case he be sent off to an orphanage. He becomes drawn to a toy shop on the concourse of the station which then leads to his discovery of a wondrous new world.

On another level altogether the film is a loving tribute to the moving picture, its creators and the world of cinema. This is a marvelous film visually, a sort of cinematic pop up story book. It looks splendid in 3D.

I wondered if 'Hugo' was a little long and lacking in action for children but there were many present at my session and they sat through it all without any visible or audible indications of restlessness.

Something special.

The Descendants

2012-01-15T22:10:00.000+11:00

George Clooney is a lawyer in Hawaii. When his wife is seriously injured in a sports accident he finds himself effectively a single parent without a clue as to how to deal with his two wilful young daughters. He is on a crash course to learn more about his family, and himself, than he would have imagined.

'The Descendants' is a low key drama with flashes of humour. Set in a Hawaii that is not entirely the paradise of travel brochures the film presents a family journey that probably will be familiar to many.

I enjoyed the trip.

wtf?.....

2012-01-14T16:18:00.000+11:00

I've just been reading about this man who is a competing to be the Republican Party's candidate for the US Presidential election later this year.

Rick Santorum

I had heard of him but otherwise knew nothing about the man until reading some of his views this afternoon. Frankly I'm shocked that someone with views he has expressed could seriously be considered for public office but then again speech is free, especially in the USA.

Included in what I read is a pronouncement in an interview from 2003 when Mr Santorum, then a Senator from Pennsylvania, was commenting on a case before the Supreme Court that argued that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional on the ground that adults have the right to privacy. I could understand if Mr Santorum simply stated that he did not approve of sodomy but what he is quoted as saying was

"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home then you have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes it does."

That interview inspired a suggestion that if Mr Santorum wants to invite himself into the bedrooms of gays and lesbians that (we) should include him by naming a gay sex act after him. The winner of the resultant contest can easily be found simply by Googling 'Santorum'. Delicacy prevents me from publishing the winning response directly but if you really want to see the named activity then the link is here. You were warned.

The Iron Lady

2012-01-13T18:29:00.001+11:00

Movie trailers are a skilled industry all of their own designed to you entice you into the cinema. So slick and well made are trailers nowadays that they often outshine the film they advertise. Too often movie trailers contain the best bits so that the film itself is a disappointment. Sometimes the trailer, which makes the film seem so enticing, turns out to focus on one aspect making it quite misleading of the film as a whole.

I think that the latter applies to trailers I have seen for 'The Iron Lady', the new drama about Britain's former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Those trailers show Thatcher (Meryl Streep) in full flight which at least suggests that the film's focus is Thatcher's political career. There is certainly nothing in the trailers to indicate that perhaps half the film, maybe more, is set in Thatcher's retirement with dementia set in.

James provides strong argument that the dementia scenes provide direct references and triggers to Thatcher's political hay days and his argument is persuasive yet I thought it telling that he also found the film a 'little boring'. I reckon that is because of the amount of time spent on the dementia years. Half an hour or so into the film and with there yet to be much specific focus on her pre-retirement days, I was impatient for the film to get a wriggle on.

The film's best sequences, in my view, were those relating to the Falkland Islands war. The film's focus was entirely on the events at the time with some terrific news footage of the day thrown in to great effect. It was the most vibrant section of the film. I wish there had been more scenes of that nature.

Nevertheless, I think this is a fine film, beautifully acted and Streep is quite magnificent.

By the Quay

2012-01-12T22:30:00.000+11:00

A rare day of activity in the city for me today commencing with what I hope is the final bit of banking related to my late mother's estate and then an appointment with the solicitor to update my will. Then I called in to both Apple's and Telstra's city stores to resolve a problem I had accessing email on my new iPad. The solution proved embarrassingly simple.

It was such a beautiful day I wandered through the city taking in the sight of office workers packing indoor and outdoor eateries for lunch and recalling that for close to forty years I used to be one of their number. I ended up at Circular Quay and decided I would take in an afternoon movie there.

I had an hour to spare until the movie commenced so I took a stroll along the forecourts of the Opera House. I never tire of the sights there. Like the rest of the city, the venue was heaving with lunch and tourist activity.

Starting with the lower concourse I passed through the Opera Bar.

The outdoor dining and bar section of the Opera Bar

From the other end of the lower course and at the base of the Opera House looking to the south to the Central Business District.

Sun drenched leisure by the Opera House

The view from the Opera House back towards the city always delights me whether at daytime or night when the building lights are spectacular. The cruise ship on the right is the Rhapsody of the Seas berthed for the day at the Overseas Terminal. It's cruise season with two or three vessels in port every day.

Circular Quay and the CBD

Today, this blog...

2012-01-11T01:41:00.000+11:00

...is four years old.

By the bay

2012-01-10T16:12:00.002+11:00

We had lunch today at the Watsons Bay Hotel hosting three cousins of Lo and Ma visiting from Italy. Although Lo and Ma are even older than we are the three cousins were all aged in their late teens but they politely put up with we six old farts. The WBH serves seafood...naturally...and is often mistakenly thought to be part of the Doyles restaurants conglomerate with it's various outlets either side of the hotel.

Despite the heavy seafood emphasis the three cousins between them ordered a steak and two fishburgers. Wow, I thought Italians would be gourmands. We old farts stuck to the straight seafood; salmon, barramundi and 'famous' fish and chips. The 'famous' fish looked more than just battered, it looked ill. Apparently it tasted OK. I was happy with my grilled barramundi.

We had a lovely view from our terrace out on the bay with the towers of the Central Business District of Sydney in the distance. The weather was glorious with a temperature of about 28c. Rivercats brought full loads of passengers to the bay from the CBD at regular intervals and were equally loaded for the return journey.

I took the following photo around 2.30pm as we were leaving the hotel following lunch. You can see people queued and boarding a Rivercat berthed at the far side of the jetty. The ferry trip to the CBD takes less than 20 minutes. We did not use the Rivercat today having travelled by cars instead.

The city in the distance and queues for the Rivercat on the jetty

Put a Jaffa in it, will ya!

2012-01-09T14:01:00.002+11:00

I've been going to the movies for close to sixty years. A lot has changed about the movie-going experience in that time.

As a child, most of the sessions we attended were double features.

Two full length movies one either side of an intermission. The first feature would usually be of inferior quality (B-grade) with slightly below top draw stars.

If the session wasn't a double feature then the pre intermission offerings might include newsreels often containing news that was weeks old. There seemed to be two main news providers.

Movietone News

Movietone News seemed mostly screened by the Hoyts network of cinemas and often came in an Australian edition that featured Kookaburras emitting their call in the titles.

Pathe News

Pathe News seemed the preserve of the Metro network of cinemas and was a more refined presentation than it's Movietone counterparts seemingly reflecting it's European, as distinct from North American, source.

The pre intermission presentations often included a cartoon.

Tom and Jerry was very popular.

A comedy or two would be thrown in for good measure.

The Three Stooges would provide zany, ostensibly violent comic behaviour or there might be

Laurel and Hardy with their comically sad escapades.

By far the most boring featurettes were mini travelogues set almost invariably in the seaside villages of US states like Maine or New England which without exception included scenes of fishing trawlers with birds overhead to indicate a catch.

My parents and I laughingly called these featurettes, which one had to endure before seeing the real feature, 'fish stories' even though they generally had little, if anything, to do with fish.

As a child my neighbourhood movie house was the magnificent Metro Kings Cross. It was a beautiful art deco two level cinema, originally a live theatre venue called the Minerva, with plush red covered seats and a special glass fronted room where people with hearing difficulties could sit to view the movies. I believe the architectural style of the building is referred to as 'streamline moderne'.

The cinema had a reincarnation as a live theatre venue when Hair was first staged in Australia in 1970. The Metro has not operated as cinema or theatre for years. It still stands in Kings Cross but I think it is used as recording studio nowadays.

The Metro today is a heritage listed building

The behaviour of patrons today is very different from my childhood. When I was young it was thought a great joke to roll Jaffas down the auditorium and giggle at their sound. Of course this would result in an usher shining their torch at you and threatening your eviction from the cinema. Great fun also was had shouting insults to friends sitting elsewhere in the auditorium.

Jaffas

Mostly though, the patrons would sit in the dark in awed silence watching the miracle of the moving picture with it's accompanying sound to the very end when the curtains closed imperiously. That would trigger an immediate rush for the doors to beat the playing of the National Anthem, otherwise you had to stand there paying respects to the distant monarch whose visage we only ever saw in those newsreels, newspapers or wall photographs.

Nowadays there are no double features, no fish stories, no zany short feature comedies or weeks old news items. Just a seemingly endless stream of advertisements and trailers before the one and only feature begins.

Oh and there is no more sitting with respectful silence to the end either. At yesterday's screening of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows there was so much movement of people in and out of the auditorium during the feature that I started to keep count of how many times certain people in the packed cinema made the trek to and from their seats. At least five people went more than four times each. My companion Cs noted the same phenomenon commenting as we left after the movie that he assumed some of them must be drug dealers!

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2012-01-08T19:38:00.000+11:00

It's Sherlock Holmes versus the villainous Professor Moriarty in 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'. The bad Professor is doing something nasty in Europe in 1891 stirring up political turmoil whilst attempting to draw his nemesis Holmes into his trap.

This is a typical Guy Ritchie film. Elegance mixes with grubbiness, stop frame and slow motion scenes abound with a thumping musical score in the background. The pithy bon mots are delivered by Robert Downey Jr (Holmes, complete with bruises and abrasions) and Jude Law (a limping Dr Watson).

It's all a little drawn out and I wasn't always sure what was happening yet the film remains quite entertaining.

Performing railyards

2012-01-07T19:52:00.001+11:00

I did a reconnaissance of Carriageworks today. Our first play in Belvoir Street Theatre's 2012 season will be staged there later in the month. Carriageworks is the former Eveleigh Workshops which for about 100 years from the 1880s built and maintained locomotives and train carriages.

For many years before retirement I traveled to and from work by train passing the workshops daily and whilst I knew of it's location as viewed from a carriage I did not know precisely how to get there from 'land side', so to speak.

We were to have attended a performance from the Sydney Theatre Company's 2009 season at Carriageworks but the Company changed the venue shortly ahead of opening night. At the time we imagined that the STC's largely older and more conservative audience - compared with that of Belvoir St Theatre - forced the change.

I rather like that many features from the old workshops have been incorporated in the renovated facility.

Main entrance

Old rail tracks still in place

The external walls of the workshops remain largely in place. Trains continue to run on the adjacent tracks and a new industrial site has been constructed on the other side of the tracks. All these features can be seen in the next photograph.

Sydney train passes in front of Channel 7's new HQ, far left

The roomy and sun filled foyer

The various performance areas carry Bay and Track numbers as their names. My guess is the names reflect the bay and track numbers that formerly were located in the same positions.

Two of the Bays

Talent in abundance

Bygone lanes

2012-01-06T19:06:00.000+11:00

I think that Melbourne has made better use of it's system of back lanes than has Sydney. Many of Sydney's back lanes from it's early days have disappeared in an orgy of thoughtless modernisation so the following sight caught my eye. This is Wilson Lane in Darlington - an almost inner city suburb - near Redfern.

Wilson Lane with it's line up of multi coloured recycle and garbage bins

Tower Heist

2012-01-04T15:36:00.001+11:00

The staff of a swank apartment tower decide to take action against the millionaire resident of the penthouse when he appears to have swindled them out of their pension funds.

Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy swap rapid fire wise cracks in the far fetched plot driving 'Tower Heist'. I found Murphy in particular difficult to understand at times as he set new records for the most number of words spoken in the shortest possible time but what I did understand was often quite funny. It's been a long time since I saw a film where the audience's laughter drowned out patches of dialogue but that is what happened at times in this movie.

The basic premise of the swindle is contemporary realism and I thought hey ho, this is going to be interesting. The actions of the staff though become increasingly improbable reducing the movie to farce. Nevertheless in it's own way 'Tower Heist' is a fun ride.

Pelicans at Woody Point

2012-01-03T08:30:00.000+11:00

On Boxing Day Mt drove me down to Woody Point on Bramble Bay in Brisbane so that I could photograph pelicans and some of the local landscape for her. Mt's 60th birthday present, at her request, is a commissioned painting of pelicans and the artist she commissioned to create the work asked for photos to be provided. It's an image that will provide memories of Mt's childhood at the Brisbane seaside suburb of Redcliffe.

Staff at the local information centre feed the pelicans at 10 o'clock each morning so Mt asked me to accompany her with camera in hand to capture images to assist the artist.

The Information Centre located at the aptly named Pelican Park

I switched my camera to the 'sport' setting which captures photographs at machine gun like pace. A small group of pelicans landed near the information centre right on cue and although the feeding was over in a matter of minutes I managed to gather around 500 photos. Here are just a couple.

Feeding gets underway

Pausing for breath

'Next course, please!'

Afterwards, Mt rewarded my exertions with a couple of drinks at the nearby Belvedere Hotel.

Belvedere Hotel

Years come and go....

2012-01-02T08:05:00.000+11:00

....but ironing is for ever.

Till choice do us part

2012-01-01T10:50:00.000+11:00

'Celebrities' Katy Perry and Russell Brand are to divorce

The latest example in the growing portfolio of evidence of the natural superiority of heterosexual marriage over same sex unions.

During his marriage Mr Brand informed an interviewer....

"I can’t believe I used to have sex 20 times a week, especially now I’m married. But now I’m a bloody good gardener," Russ joked.

Sounds gay to me.

Sandgate Queenslanders

2012-01-01T06:30:00.000+11:00

As promised, photos of some of the 'Queenslanders' we passed by on our walk along the promenade at Sandgate. Darkness descended as we enjoyed our after dinner stroll.

Next door to Ja and Cs' house-sit

The 'twin' on the right was advertised for sale

This one looked 'oriental' to me

Modesty amongst the glamour

Size without adornment

Seasonal decorations

Santa on the balcony

We stopped here to purchase ice creams

Countdown to 2012

2011-12-31T21:13:00.001+11:00

Family fireworks over Sydney Harbour at 9pm.

Sandgate

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000+11:00

On Boxing Day we spent the late afternoon and evening at Sandgate where Ja and Cs are house sitting for friends. The house is an old 'Queenslander' and we enjoyed an impromptu dinner of fish, chips and salad on the front lawn looking over the view of the bay. The tide was well out as you can see by clicking on the photos.

Looking east

Looking south-east

Looking north-east

As sunset approached dozens of walkers and joggers and dog walkers took advantage of the cooling breeze as they traversed the waterfront promenade.

On the promenade

We joined them for a leisurely stroll of our own as darkness set in. I'll post photos I took of some of the neighbouring 'Queenslanders' separately.

Fast food

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000+11:00

Do you want stripes with that?

Husbands

2011-12-29T09:01:00.000+11:00

Husbands is a web based mini 'mini-series'. The first series of eleven episodes (to date) lasts less than thirty five minutes in total. I think it is funny and clever and like all good comedy it contains within it's over the top surface a core of serious references.

The link takes you to all eleven episodes.

Following the crowd....

2011-12-29T08:25:00.000+11:00

My new iPad

Yes, like so many others this Christmas I am now the owner of an iPad. Another novelty du jour to quickly tire of...or not.

Getting with the spirit

2011-12-28T06:46:00.000+11:00

A Qantas Boeing 767 at Sydney Airport

Australia's airline Qantas, which uses the slogan 'the Spirit of Australia', has been in the wars a bit lately both industrially and in performance.

I travelled with Qantas to and from Brisbane over Christmas. Both flights were uneventful but actually getting onto the return flight yesterday had a touch of the Keystone Cops about it.

My flight was due to depart at 11.25am Brisbane time with the boarding listed for 11.05am at Gate 25. Typically I arrive at airports well before when I need to and yesterday morning was no exception. I was checked in and waiting in the club lounge by 9.30am. I listened to podcasts on my iPod oblivious to any announcements but kept my eye on the departure screens which continued to show my flight boarding at 11.05am.

At 11.00am, and without any change to the boarding time on the departure screens in the lounge, I decided I would proceed to Gate 25. I could see our aeroplane parked there and apparently being loaded with baggage etc for the flight but I was surprised to see that the departure display at the gate was showing boarding to commence at 11.35am. I found myself a seat near the gate but out of sight of the departure display. At 11.35am I moved back to the gate in anticipation of boarding only to find the display had changed to 12.15pm boarding.

I went for a walk, bought myself a drink and returned to Gate 25 around 11.50am taking a seat, this time in sight of the departure display. Boarding was still listed for 12.15pm. About ten minutes later I noticed the display had gone blank. The lounge was still full of passengers, the aeroplane appeared to have been loaded and I assumed it wouldn't be long before we were called for the flight.

At about 12.20pm came an announcement that there was a change for our flight which now would depart from Gate 17. A couple of hundred passengers moved en masse to the new gate about a ten minutes' walk away. At Gate 17 our flight was displayed to be boarding at 12.35pm. We all took a seat at the new gate. My ears were glued to my iPod again.

Around 12.30pm I noticed that most of my fellow passengers had suddenly formed a queue at the airline service desk. Most had boarding passes in hand but I hadn't heard the announcement so wasn't sure exactly what had happened. I also noticed that not all the passengers had joined the queue so I waited a while keeping an eye on what was going on. I started to get the uneasy feeling that boarding passes were being replaced and that I should be in that queue too but still noticed that not everyone had joined the queue. Moments later my feeling was confirmed when I heard what I imagine was a second announcement that passengers for my flight were required to be issued with new boarding passes.

Joining the queue I saw that the passengers ahead of me, once in receipt of their new passes, were returning to the seats at Gate 17. Meanwhile and with me still to receive a new pass the clock had passed 12.35pm but still no boarding had commenced.

At last it was my turn at the service desk. I received my new pass and then was informed that the plane parked at Gate 17 was of a different type from that we were originally to travel so all business class passengers had been transferred to another flight altogether. I would have to make my way to Gate 24 for 1.05pm boarding. My bag would be transferred to that flight, the service attendant assured me confidently.

Another ten minutes' walk back through the terminal and I was at Gate 24 where there seemed to be few passengers waiting for the flight. I was a little concerned but soon after 1.05pm the flight was called and I finally departed Brisbane two hours and ten minutes later than originally scheduled.

We landed at Sydney at 4.00pm Sydney time; an on time arrival for that flight but two hours later than I had been booked. My bag was on the flight. I don't know the reason why we didn't travel by the original flight but I assume that 'technical fault' figures in the mix somewhere.

Best intentions....

2011-12-27T17:39:00.000+11:00

....and actual achievement are not always the same thing; not with me anyway.

My best intentions were to post daily whilst I was in Brisbane over Christmas but my actual achievement in the five days I spent there was one brief message of seasonal goodwill.

The fact is that I enjoyed a mix of leisure and activity with my Brisbane friends to the extent that setting aside time to sit by the computer to compose half way comprehensible messages slipped far from the forefront of my mind. Maybe next year?

Anyway I'm back home in Sydney now and will endeavour to click my brain into gear for the resumption of postings. Come to think of it getting onto the flight home today is worth a small post so that will appear tomorrow.

Enjoy the season and all that jazz

2011-12-25T00:15:00.000+11:00

Whether or not you are celebrating something at this time of year I send you and those who are dear to you my best wishes.

Happy days.

Brizvegas

2011-12-23T11:21:00.000+11:00

A quick message to record that I am in the Qantas club lounge at Sydney Airport waiting for my flight to Brisbane for a holiday weekend stay.

Boy do my fellow passengers pile up the 'free' food on offer in the lounge. I'll hold off until the flight and settle for the lunch to be served then.....maybe......maybe not.

The Adelaide Reds soccer team is also in the lounge presumably waiting for a flight to Adelaide following their match here last night against Sydney FC. How nice it is to have fit young men around. And they look very sexy, as well as seasonal, in their red polo shirts. Apart from several overweight officials who manage to look daggy in the same clothing.

Unless something dramatic and unexpected happens my next posting will be from the Vegas of the north.

Gross und Klein (Big and Small)

2011-12-22T16:48:00.000+11:00

(Sydney Theatre Company)

A German play with an English language text comprising ten scenes that presents contemporary scenes with vague allusions to Alice in Wonderland.

The principal character linking all the scenes is Lotte (Cate Blanchett) a woman who is possibly experiencing a nervous breakdown, who is hearing voices and who is engaged on a journey of sorts in which she encounters all manner of exotic urban characters.

Blanchett absolutely dominates Gross und Klein not simply because her character is on stage for almost every second of the play but for her extraordinary performance with it's massive range physically, emotionally and vocally.

Simple staging and lighting combine to produce a surprisingly effective stage image. The thirteen 'supporting' performers all contribute strongly in their cameos and multiple roles but it is Blanchett's night.

A memorable performance.

Sugar, schweppes, whatever....

2011-12-19T08:08:00.000+11:00

I've been reflecting on my post from last Thursday about the politician swearing on live television. Readers under the age of 40 would probably find the issue fairly tame and might wonder why anyone would even raise the issue.

We hear swearing on television and in movies all the time now. Four letter words abound in movies and we scarcely notice them. A current reality series on Australian television features plenty of swearing from the three sons featured, one of whom - aged 14 - has several times shouted out 'fuck' in his parents' hearing.

It wasn't always that way. There was a time when swearing, of the four letter word variety, was taboo on television and in English language movies. Indeed that was still the case when I had reached adulthood and was into my twenties.

I can recall the first time I saw an English language movie that contained a four letter word. So remarkable was this development that I still remember the cinema where I saw it and even where I was seated. That's how shocking and memorable was that the moment.

It was 1972 and I was aged 23. I was at Sydney's Mayfair Theatre, which later closed in 1980. I was seated on the left hand side of the Dress Circle.

Mayfair Theatre in the 1960s when it screened 'Cleopatra'

What was the film that contained that first swear word I heard on screen? Surprisingly it was a musical. A very good musical indeed.

Yes, it was 'Cabaret' and to make the moment even more shocking that first four letter utterance was delivered by a woman. Midway through the film Liza Minnelli, in her character as Sally Bowles, has just suffered another ruinous relationship. She flops back on her bed and exclaims 'shit!'. Just the one word. Tame nowadays but in those days shocking enough for there to be dead quiet in the cinema afterwards. Sitting in that darkened auditorium I felt my face redden and burn with embarrassment for several minutes. Of course I was familiar with the word in all male environments but never till that time in mixed company, never in open company and never uttered by a female.

I know my upbringing was somewhat sheltered but I believe my stunned reaction was pretty common then. How times have changed.

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol

2011-12-18T17:52:00.000+11:00

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to track down a file containing Russia's nuclear missile launch details. Of course that doesn't sound too simple and you just know complications will set in anyway but who better to handle them than intrepid Tom Cruise and his lady du jour. Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol is slick and full of high tech supported derring-do.

It's a load of nonsense really but all done very effectively. The scenes atop and outside Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower in Dubai, are surprisingly effective and suspenseful and I have to concede the set ups are really imaginative at times.

Cruise may have lost whatever was left of his fresh youthful look and his face is really starting to show his age but there is no questioning his energy which never flags.

I lost most of my understanding of what was going on at about the 90 minute mark with another hour still to go but the ride was entertaining despite that.

Bill Cunningham New York

2011-12-17T07:42:00.001+11:00

Bill Cunningham New York is a documentary tribute to a photographer who was previously unknown to me. Cunningham, aged in his eighties, cycles everywhere in New York photographing people on the streets, at their parties and at play. He focuses on what they are wearing and he has an envied skill for identifying not so much what is the fashion of the day but what is the fashion of the days to come. None other than the legendarily fearsome Anna Wintour - on whom The Devil Wears Prada was based - lavishes praise on Cunningham during the documentary.

It seems that everyone in New York knows who Cunningham is and nearly everyone in New York is happy to be the subject of his candid snaps. He leads a remarkably modest life and the documentary highlights a number of the distinctively individual people who are among his favourite photographic subjects including a very stylised Dandy and a former UN Diplomat whose wardrobe isn't just loud, it bellows.

Cunningham is a very private man. Whilst everyone in New York knows Bill no one in New York knows much about Bill.

A fascinating documentary.

I'm ready for my blue screen Mr De Mille

2011-12-16T05:56:00.000+11:00

Blue screen

It took a team of workers about four days last week to construct the massive scaffolding that now covers the thirteen stories of the south western corner of my building. This is preparatory work for the replacement of external brickwork. You can see a small piece of orange plastic in the upper right. That is one of the locations from where bricks either fell loose or were removed some weeks back in other preparatory activity.

A full week passed by from the completion of the scaffold construction with no work evident (to me) of brick replacement in the subsequent days. Then today I returned home to find this blue screen erected on the outside of the scaffold.

This view of it is from my dining room, six floors up from the ground level, looking through my new but now very dusty dining room window. You can see the outside world through the window dust and blue screen. Standing outside the building, however, the blue screen appears far denser and not transparent.

What do you think the screen protects? The workers, when they do appear, from the sun? Loose items from falling to the ground below where people and cars are still active? Any other suggestions?

Minister 'effs' himself

2011-12-15T16:41:00.000+11:00

Australia's Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, dropped the coyly described 'F bomb' live on television during a lunchtime address he gave this week to the National Press Club.

Stephen Conroy

Rather apt for a communications Minister, don't you think? Well a few of the Minister's political opponents, some no doubt from his own Party quite apart from those in the Opposition, as well as the usual small legion of the 'holier than thou' set don't think so and they have got stuck into him for this lapse in good manners.

In the grand scheme of things his careless slip of the tongue is scarcely a hanging offence no matter how much the opponents might bleat. Yes, Minister Conroy should have exercised sufficient discipline not to 'F' in broad daylight on a rarely viewed program but if that proves to be his only mistake in a political career then he will have done rather well.

The Minister's bigger mistake to my mind was an apparent failure to take the heat out of the issue with an immediate and unequivocal admission of error and apology. All he had to do was say 'I was careless in my language, I didn't intend any offence and I apologise unreservedly to anyone I have offended'. All the wind would be taken from the sails of the whingers.

The former Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie was a master of the speedy admission of guilt plus apology strategy whenever he was caught out over a matter. In fact towards the end of his career these apologies were coming so regularly they were almost the only utterances we were hearing from him in the other states. So well did this strategy work for Beattie that he won a number of re-elections against predictions and was able to retire on his own terms rather than be bundled from office as was predicted would be his fate.

Getting back to Conroy, as recently as this morning the Sydney media has quoted his staff as saying the Minister did nothing wrong. The needless and rather silly fire keeps being stoked.

Most politicians never seem to learn.

A sportsman great, I do not make

2011-12-13T16:05:00.002+11:00

It is often said that one characteristic of great sportspeople is their capacity to focus on the 'moment'. They do not dwell on the setbacks of the past. It is a trait I wish I possessed.

I learnt to play bridge about twenty years ago with a number of aims, one of which was to improve my concentration; to fine tune my focus. It has worked to a degree but by no means absolutely.

Playing bridge involves an etiquette similar to golf. All competitors should be polite and genteel and take setbacks as well as triumphs with equanimity. Privately you might wish to separate your opponent's head from their shoulders and at times you might wish to perpetrate something even worse to your own partner but on the surface all should be sportingly fair, full of grace, behaviour characterised by modesty and good humour. It's a tough standard few of us achieve without exception.

In last night's game we were matched in round 2 against two men who mostly are pleasant opponents. I'd never known either of them to be difficult with us. They could afford these high standards against us as they usually play very strongly at our table and get the better of us in play. Last night, however, we took the player in the West seat down in a slam contract he thought he should have made. Indeed he could have made his contract but the fact is that he didn't. That should have been the end of it but West, annoyed by his defeat, believed that my partner, in the South seat, had mislead him when he asked her to explain my card play. West expressed that opinion petulantly at the table. This is a breach of etiquette. If West believed that he had been unfairly disadvantaged by South's response to his question it was open to him to call the Director (a sort of manager cum adjudicator of play) and request a ruling.

West made no attempt to call the Director. I'm sure that was because he knew that no breach of rules or unfair play had occurred. My partner had answered West's question correctly but the fact that the card play on that hand forced me to depart from our usual playing agreement was just one of things that arise when playing bridge.

That's where I should have left the matter. I should not have taken the bait of his aggression. West was in the wrong and I should have stayed mute. But I didn't. I responded with a sharp retort that was only marginally less a breach of etiquette than West's petulance. Having lost my cool I then started to mull over the incident. This is my weakness. Well, it is one of my weaknesses. Now I had another two and half of hours of card play to negotiate and all the while my concentration was shot. I felt myself red in the face and no doubt my blood pressure had risen and all while I had to continue playing to the best of my ability as the other East/West pairs took their turn at our table.

In those circumstance my play usually falls away and we (South and I) end up with a low score for the night and an even lower position in the field. Late in the night, in the second last round, I made two errors of judgement that contributed directly to very low scores for two hands. For the rest, though, my score sheet indicated that we weren't doing too badly despite my mind being off with the pixies. Or should that be off with the demons?

It turns out that we finished second in the North/South field with 58.80%. This is a score which wins plenty of nights and is as high as we been placed in quite a while. We were pretty happy. What about the offending (offensive) West? He and his partner finished in the lower half of the East/West field with a percentage well below what they typically achieve. Justice was done in our minds.

Yet again I will urge myself to show restraint in future. But I'm only human. A sportsman great, I do not make. I know I'll take the bait again some time.

Never mind the length, feel the quality...

2011-12-11T05:21:00.000+11:00

Who dreams up these things?.......

Sadly, I can see an Irish joke coming. Oh, and at the other end of the scale I'll save you the trouble of engorging the diagram. Get your visas for Hungary and France.

'New Year's Eve'

2011-12-10T15:36:00.001+11:00

Why oh why does Hollywood produce movies like 'New Year's Eve'? You know the type. Gather a cast of ~~stars~~ celebrities 'du jour' sufficient to fill a double-decker bus and match them up in supposedly humorous, heart warming and suspenseful vignettes. Garry Marshall did it in 'Valentine's Day' last year and tries it again here. Marshall even re-uses ~~stars~~ celebrities like Jessica Biel, Hector Elizondo and Ashton Kutcher from the earlier movie, albeit as different characters.

The formula remains the same. Create a patchwork of occasionally intersecting stories that cover the gamut from A to Z or in this case from birth through regeneration to death and leave it to the ~~stars~~ celebrities to generate sparks to ignite the audience. The only problem is that most of them do not spark either individually or in their assigned pairs.

Kutcher and Lea Michele make for as dull a coupling as you could imagine whilst the pairing of Zac Efron and a glammed-down Michelle Pfeiffer does not work at all. Robert De Niro must have smiled all the way to the bank for his scenes - all but one - filmed in a bed. They probably took no more than a day or two to complete. Sofia Vergara at least shows some signs of life whilst Jon Bon Jovi was the highlight for me but only because he fills his jeans so spectacularly well.

The film is not particularly humorous. It's 'heart-warming' moments left me feeling icky very much in the way I used to feel as a young man in the moments immediately after ejaculating over myself. The suspenseful moments are not particularly thrilling although one relationship is quite nicely concealed until the end 'reveal'.

It doesn't say much for the movie that it's best and only sustained moments of entertainment come at the closing credits which comprise bloopers and excised moments of cast playfulness. This film may well have departed Sydney screens by the time we reach it's titular event, only three weeks away.

Information for seniors

2011-12-08T07:04:00.001+11:00

'No Man's Land'

2011-12-07T15:42:00.001+11:00

(Sydney Theatre Company)

Two men share a drink and chat in a lavish library in the home of one of them. It appears they have met each other for the first time in a local pub that evening. But have they? As their conversation continues it seems they may have connected pasts. But have they? Their conversation suggests that one or both may be gay? Or are they? Maybe they are straight? Maybe they are bisexual?

The host has two younger male companions. Or are they carers? Are the younger men friendly or malevolent?

Harold Pinter's 'No Man's Land' was created as a star vehicle for the fine British actors John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson (both now deceased) so the play is packed with dense and showy dialogue. Two equivalent long serving senior actors of the Australian stage, Peter Carroll and John Gaden provide the flourishes in this production.

The STC's program notes indicate the play is about 'making stuff up and the slipperiness of memory'. That helps explain why I wasn't really sure just what I had seen as I departed the theatre. Mk was similarly perplexed. But it was an entertaining night watching two fine, experienced performers using their skills and wiles to the extract the most from the heady script. The two younger actors were pretty good too.

'But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?'*

2011-12-06T14:56:00.001+11:00

(*The balcony scene, Act 2 Scene 2, 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare)

My apartment building has resembled a construction zone for the past four months as workers undertake the massive task of replacing all the windows, frames and balcony doors. The contractor has blocked off a fair percentage of our beautiful grounds for their work area and uses a shipping container to house the new material. Each weekday morning at 7.30 they commence work in earnest and the sounds of drilling, hammering, tugging and plundering fill the air. I know the latter two are not construction terms but that is what I imagine when I hear them at work. This project will continue into the new year before it is completed.

On the weekend a second contractor joined the fun delivering extraordinary quantities of scaffolding. This lot is for the replacement of bricks that cover the 13 storeys' tall building. The bricks that cover the building are cosmetic. The bricks do not hold the building together. They are designed to provide a more attractive 'skin' than the concrete or whatever it is they conceal that actually does that job. Unfortunately those bricks, now in place for 43 years, have started to fall out. Hence the replacement project.

Yesterday, Monday, whilst I was at the hospital the brick contractor constructed his scaffolding on the rear side of the building to the level of my dining room, six storeys up. The workers were gone from the site by the time I returned home.

This morning as I dressed for the hospital I heard the usual sounds of activity at 7.30 and looked down from my front window (the lounge room) to check that the window contractor had commenced work and I observed the familiar sight of their activity.

Thinking nothing of it I continued my preparations. Sitting bare torsoed I was putting on my shoes when I suddenly realised that the sounds of work were not coming from ground level at the front of the building but from the rear as construction of the scaffold for the brick work had resumed. I had completely forgotten about the new construction and there I was semi naked in full view of the scaffold workers.

Scaffold workers seen through my dining room window

Now there were times in my younger days when the thought of hefty tradesmen at my door with me semi naked and available would have set of all manner of sexual fantasies but I am older and sadly more conservative nowadays and my reaction was embarrassment followed by a speedy relocation out of their sight.

When I returned from my day at the hospital 7 hours later the smiling workers were still constructing their tower of Babel.

The growing Tower of Babel

I will be more prepared for my balcony scene tomorrow morning.

Lunch and marriage...go together like a horse and carriage

2011-12-04T09:09:00.001+11:00

The Council's Christmas Tree in Martin Place

Arriving by train at Martin Place yesterday for lunch with Da who is visiting from Canberra for the weekend to attend the Australian Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet I snapped this photograph of Sydney Council's Christmas Tree.

Behind me and intentionally out of camera range was a modest gathering arguing to 'maintain marriage'; ie anti same sex unions. Earlier I had heard on news bulletins pro same sex union protesters drowning out the speeches of this group but all was quiet as I passed by.

I guess that the pro same sex union gatherers would have moved on by then to nearby Hyde Park for their meeting.

I met Da in Pitt Street Mall and we walked over to the Strand Arcade for lunch and a long gossip. We sat at one of the tables in the long aisle of the arcade and from my seat I could see the opening to the Mall in the distance. Whilst we ate I first heard and then glimpsed the same sex union supporters walking by the arcade on their way to Darling Harbour where only minutes earlier the Australian Labor Party had voted to include same sex unions in party policy. I could tell, both from the noise and what I could glimpse in the distance, that there were many more people participating in the pro same sex union rally.

Da and I chatted on for a long while. My lunch of sourdough toasted BLT with chicken was delicious. I can recommend it. On the other hand, Da's choice of sour dough toast and vegemite looked...well...a little dry.

Full moon

2011-12-03T06:40:00.001+11:00

It was a strange day at the hospital yesterday with all manner of off-centre people and situations. I won't go into details to protect privacy and (more personally) my position as a volunteer. Around 2.30pm as my work day was approaching it's end I turned to my paid colleague and commented 'it must be a full moon'. Knowing just what I meant, she agreed without hesitation.

And then James tweeted this. Yes, there was something in the air.

P.S. Just noticed that the link doesn't work so here is what James tweeted...

Is it a full moon, or does it just seem like one? :)

There's nothing to do...

2011-12-02T15:27:00.001+11:00

Shouldn't really winge that there's nothing to do in Sydney today.

Among other things I could attend...

Eminem's Sydney concert with 55,000 others just a couple of kilometres from my home, or

Australian Labor's National Conference with a whole lot of ~~ratbags,~~ errr idealists, another couple of kilometres away, or

The ear splitting V8 Supercars yet another few kilometres away with it's 'high-octane days of non-stop entertainment combining a hair-raising street race with two nights of sensational concerts'.

I think I'll forego all three for a night at home on the sofa in front of the television whilst the week's laundry hums away in the background.Yes, it's an exciting life!

Summer...wherefore art thou?

2011-12-01T17:38:00.001+11:00

Today is the first day of summer in Australia where we mark the change of seasons from the first day of the month. No namby-pamby waiting for mid-month solstices and equinoxes for us.

Unfortunately no-one told summer. The maximum in Sydney today was a rather cool 18c and was made to feel cooler by the wind chill factor.

Foolishly I met Kn for lunch in the city wearing shorts thinking it couldn't really feel that cold outdoors. It did. Luckily I brought a jumper which was sorely needed.

The Dark Room

2011-11-30T15:29:00.001+11:00

(Belvoir Downstairs)

A one act play set in a down market motel room in the heat of Australia's Northern Territory links various occupants of the motel over a period of time including a welfare worker, a troubled young woman, a couple of policemen, a pregnant wife and a gay transvestite.

'The Dark Room' is intense. Excellent acting but as the title implies there is no light relief in this play.

'The Ides of March'

2011-11-29T17:02:00.000+11:00

The Democratic Party's primary selection is about to be held in Ohio. The result will be crucial for the two candidates and ensure that the winner is virtually guaranteed his party's nomination as the Presidential candidate for the following national election.

George Clooney is a charismatic candidate in the neck and neck race due in significant part to the behind the scenes input by his youthful adviser Ryan Gosling.

For about the first fifty minutes of it's running time 'The Ides of March' is a nicely acted interesting political drama with glimpses of the backroom intrigue one imagines to be typical. In that time the film seems rather routine but at about that point the drama really erupts as the full scope of the concealed machinations become apparent.

The second half elevates the film above the routine. Taken as a whole this is a superb drama.

'The Debt'

2011-11-28T16:53:00.000+11:00

In 1966 three Israeli agents embark on a carefully prepared mission in Berlin to abduct and bring to Israel a doctor who for his activities in World War 2 is known as the surgeon of Birkenau. As meticulously as the agents have prepared their mission the operation does not go according to plan. Nevertheless the three agents return as heroes but thirty years later their past actions resurface with a chilling vengeance.

'The Debt' is a nicely acted suspenseful drama.

E waste and the harbour

2011-11-27T16:16:00.001+11:00

The local council conducted an E waste collection today. This is a collection for no longer wanted electronic items other than white goods. The goods handed over are recycled, into what I do not know. Like me most people were dropping off old computer equipment. I suppose the notion of E waste did not exist more than about five years ago. This year's collection was by the harbour at Lyne Park in Rose Bay.

After dropping off my old equipment I drove to a nearby vantage point to enjoy the view.

Looking west from Bayview Hill Road

Click to enlarge and see kayakers mid harbour

A seaplane taxiing at the Rose Bay base

I told you

2011-11-26T14:09:00.001+11:00

As I wrote in my previous post, I knew it. I knew that the rain would clear to reveal Sydney's beautiful blue skies and so it has.

Six hours after the previous photos here are the same views just minutes ago.

The harbour bridge and the Opera House visible again

Double Bay with the harbour and north shore visible again

It's raining, it's pouring...and it's blowing a gale

2011-11-26T08:04:00.001+11:00

Sydney is in one of it's rainy spells when you wonder whether (get it?) it will ever clear up. Four days of rain so far but the forecast is for clearer weather this afternoon.

The view from my lounge room a few minutes ago.

Looking towards the CBD....

The Harbour Bridge and Opera House completely obscured by blustery rain

Looking towards Double Bay...

The harbour and north shore obscured by blustery rain

When finally the rain clears Sydney's traditional sunny blue skies will return. I know it. I hope it.

Pizza night

2011-11-25T18:57:00.000+11:00

Following a wet and, for Spring, cool day I've settled for take away Tandoori Chicken pizza for dinner. How multicultural!

'We Need To Talk About Kevin'

2011-11-24T17:42:00.000+11:00

I haven't read the book which has been turned into the movie and therefore came to 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' without any preconceptions. The film is hard work. Very hard work, in fact. It provides no easy clues as to what is occurring, it jumps around in time, the photography occasionally is deliberately out of focus and the dialogue - often sparse - sometimes trails away or is only partially audible as whispers.

It is an eerie tale. A mother struggles to bond with her son as a baby, child and then teenager. The son seems slow to develop at first, distant and antagonistic. Yet to it's father, his GP and others the son is a bright and typical child. The film early on hints at some terrible occurrences which are only revealed towards the conclusion.

The film is highly and unusually atmospheric. The acting is exceptional. Tilda Swanton plays the mother with typical ambiguity. Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller are both superb as the troubled and troubling Kevin.

It is a disturbing story and I was relieved to learn afterwards that it is not based on true events as I had assumed. The film will not suit all tastes. Two women in the audience today only lasted ten minutes before walking out.

Schoolies week

2011-11-23T08:09:00.001+11:00

I don't know when or how the practice of Schoolies week arose but in what seems a comparatively short time the concept has evolved into a massive 'tradition'. This so called 'week' sees thousands of young school leavers gathering in key resort areas around Australia to celebrate the completion of their final examinations, the end of high school and the start of the rest of their lives. There even is an official website for the activity.

I never heard of the activity when I completed school all of 46 years ago. Even if the activity did exist then there is no way I could have participated. My parents could not have afforded the cost. I could not have afforded the cost. Most crucially, I completed school at 16 - I was a very naive 16 - and there is no way my parents would have permitted me to participate anyway.

I'm sure the vast majority of the 'schoolies' behave themselves on this week away but the headlines are dominated by the minority to behave raucously and who are portrayed as alcohol and drug driven in their behaviour. Some end up in public melees, occasionally some are badly injured following foolhardy behaviour and some, sadly, even lose their lives as have three young males this year who died driving to one of these events.

This year's event commenced last weekend. The main site for 'schoolies' seems to be Queensland's Gold Coast which relies so much on tourism and holiday makers. Most adults would avoid that location for the period. The Sunshine Coast where I spent the weekend attending a wedding is a lesser venue for 'schoolies'. There were 'schoolies' in evidence there and most were quiet and unobtrusive.

However there was a 'schoolies' group renting the house next to that in which some of my friends also visiting for the wedding stayed. My friends report that they were kept awake the first night by loud music and even louder behaviour by those 'schoolies'. The Police attended and there was a noisy clash between them and the 'schoolies'. The next morning the disturbances resumed until my friends complained. On the second night, the night of the wedding reception, I drove my friends back to their house arriving there around 12.45am to find the Police once again in attendance, rubbish and empty beer bottles scattered across the street and a few 'schoolies' sitting forlornly in the gutters. Later we heard that the house the 'schoolies' were renting had been 'trashed'.

Thankfully it is only a minority but this lack of consideration for others and for other peoples' property is disappointing.

The law, privacy, media and federation

2011-11-21T18:49:00.000+11:00

Australia is a Federation of six states and several territories. The Commonwealth of Australia, by that I mean all of us, are subject to federal law and then there is the separate law laid down by each of the states and territories which impacts on the residents of those states and territories as well as on the rest of us when we happen to be passing through.

Actually this is dangerous territory (no pun intended) for me as I have no legal training whatsoever so perhaps I should cease this legal comment here and leave the topic for experts like Marcellous.

So why have I raised it? Well I have just spent the weekend in the state of Queensland and whilst there I have viewed news bulletins on the aftermath of a terrible fire in a nursing home in my home state of New South Wales (NSW). A number of residents in that home have lost their life following the fire. A man has been charged in connection with that fire and the news reports in Queensland not only name that man but show uncensored photos and moving images of him and even interviews he conducted with the media before the Police commenced their investigation.

This evening I returned home (NSW) and the news reports here have the accused man's features pixelated. I know, or perhaps I should say I understand, the reason for this is to help ensure any legal proceedings are not contaminated especially should any parties to a trial (witnesses and jury members?) form opinions or in the case of witnesses present recollections that knowingly or subliminally are affected by these public reports.

I'm a NSW resident and so could always be summoned to appear in a jury sometime. I'm not volunteering mind you. So what protects the fairness of the proceedings if I were to called to jury duty in that matter? Perhaps potential jurors are questioned as to their foreknowledge or opinions about the matter in question? Perhaps I would be excused (or is that recused?) because I happened to view television reports in another state. I don't know. But, to restate, I'm not volunteering anyway.

What about cases that arise in the border areas between states? Residents there often have access to the same television networks from both of the adjoining states and would see the same reports uncensored from one side of the border and censored from the other side.

Of course, potentially undermining it all is the internet. Anyone with even moderate computing skills can research issues from many sources whether they be local or (for want of a better term) foreign. Come to think of it I remember now that cases have recently been aborted or jurors excused/recused(?) after it became known they researched the internet for information about an issue in which they had been sitting in judgement.

It's all a bit difficult isn't it?

Day of the wedding

2011-11-20T11:16:00.002+11:00

The day (yesterday) started with breakfast at the house rented by my friends for the weekend. I drove over from my hotel just a couple of minutes drive away. I had been invited to stay with them and in past visits had done so but this time my choice of the hotel over that accommodation reflected that my lack of concern my snoring disrupted their sleep was outweighed by their snoring disrupting my sleep.

Mid morning we strolled along the beach meeting up with other friends who are locals followed by late morning drinks at a nearby cafe with still other friends in town for the weekend. Then it was back to our respective accommodations for a brief rest before dressing for the wedding.

We assembled for the wedding at 3pm, one of three simultaneous weddings scheduled for adjoining alcoves on the beach side grassy amphitheatres. 'Our' wedding was in the middle amphitheatre with the weddings either side only metres apart but each was discretely separated from the other by full trees and bush.

Our bride was fashionably late due to a misdirected limousine. Otherwise the ceremony went off without a hitch with the majority of the one hundred or so guests standing for the entire ceremony in a semi circle around the lucky family members who scored the only 24 chairs provided. Still, the couple made for a very attractive view almost outshining the spectacular backdrop of golden sands and blue ocean. Photographs were taken of the bridal party and various groups of the guests according to an extremely well organised agenda. I don't think anybody missed out.

From there we strolled to the hotel (the same one I am using) for the reception, an easy ten minutes away passing the ceremony still underway at the amphitheatre to the south of 'ours'. I noticed that that ceremony had about 150 or more guests (all mostly standing) and was also attracting the attention of many onlookers from the resort apartments on the perimeter of the promenade. The groom was reciting his vows as we passed by and I glanced to see that he was very tall with a bald or shaved head. I took no other notice of that nor did I take any photographs of it as I walked by.

Later in the night I learnt from a guest at our reception that the bald/shaved headed groom was none other than the somewhat notorious Australian footballer Barry Hall. How I wished then that I had taken some photographs!

Barry Hall

The reception was very enjoyable with fine company, witty speeches, an enjoyable buffet of food and plentiful drink for the indulgers.

The bride, a daughter of my friends aged 25, was as beautiful as I have ever seen her. Her groom, a childhood sweetheart also aged 25, was as handsome as ever. He is a really gorgeous looking man, sadly for the gay community never a member of the rainbow family (well, as far as I know anyway). His gorgeousness is not only my opinion. There were references to it one way or another in every speech at the reception whether delivered by a male or female.

The dancing was hectic, so typical of wedding receptions. In my life I have become accustomed to seeing women dancing with women whether they be gay or straight but rarely, outside of the gay community, have I seen men dancing with men at Australian parties so I was quite surprised to see many of the mid 20s men, clearly straight, dancing together, hugging, embracing shoulder to shoulder in twos threes and much larger groups. It was quite fascinating to see this liberating behaviour among the next generation. Even more surprising, late in the evening, was the sight of these men, still in groups, dropping their pants to their ankles and dancing energetically with underpants and bare legs on full display. I held my breath in anticipation of the next step but it wasn't to be. These men are straight after all!

Nine and half hours after convening for the wedding it was over; for we senior citizens anyway. The mid 20s groups moved on to a nearby nightclub, presumably to party on until dawn, whilst we seniors made for the relief of our beds.

It had been a wonderful wedding.

Noosa

2011-11-18T15:06:00.001+11:00

I've flown into Noosa, a 75 minutes flight north from Sydney, for the weekend. The daughter of friends is being married here tomorrow.

A few photos to keep you occupied.

Testing my camera at Sydney Airport

My Jetstar plane arriving from Adelaide prior to our boarding for the flight to the Sunshine Coast. The plane in the background had just pulled back from the same gate and was bound for Adelaide.

The promised ocean view from my room

The pool viewed from my room

Yes, they can

2011-11-17T16:24:00.000+11:00

Australian parliamentarians of all political persuasions today demonstrated that they can be as sycophantic as the best of them as they eagerly pressed forward for their handshake and photo opportunity following President Obama's address to the Australian Parliament. I watched on television as the President slowly circled the Chamber patiently greeting each well wisher and turning to camera on cue to capture the moment for posterity (and no doubt providing electioneering material for said Aussie Pollies at the next Federal ballot).

No one missed out. Not the latent rebel Senator Garrett, nor Mr Grumpy Senator Bob Brown, not even out on a limb Bob Katter and especially not a flirtatious Bronwyn Bishop. They each had their moment.

I've got to hand it to the President. He appeared to ooze charm. His PR skills seem exceptional.

Moneyball

2011-11-17T15:37:00.000+11:00

It seems to me that baseball is a part of the national spirit in the USA, a summer activity ingrained from school days, a sport whose stars assume the mantle of heroes. Our equivalent in Australia would be cricket but unlike Major League Baseball in the USA, cricket at the highest levels in Australia is not club based. We have baseball too but for us it is a minor sport so the events and baseball references in Moneyball are mostly unfamiliar.

That is not to suggest that the themes in Moneyball fail to register here. They do register and very well too; in our case with football. We have our own minnow clubs, battling for funds and struggling to keep pace with the wealthy clubs whose spending power enables them to gorge on the players the poorer clubs develop and to dominate competitions. Long suffering supporters of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks (NRL) and the North Melbourne Kangaroos (AFL) would surely empathise.

In Moneyball, the General Manager of the Oakland A's baseball club, well portrayed by Brad Pitt, turns to an unknown young statistician to build a side from the inexpensive discards and has-beens of other clubs. This is based on a true story and luckily for us in Australia one that is largely unknown so that the eventual outcome remains to be discovered; an outcome that proves slightly unpredictable.

Despite the plentiful unfamiliar baseball references Moneyball proved an unexpectedly entertaining drama.

The Kitchen

2011-11-15T23:54:00.001+11:00

A film of a live performance from earlier in the year by Britain's National Theatre of Arnold Wesker's play The Kitchen which was first staged in 1957.

All of the action takes place in the large kitchen of a restaurant serving hundreds of meals a day. The time is post war Britain when rationing is still in place. The chefs, kitchen and dining room staff are a motley group from Britain, Ireland and across Europe including erstwhile enemy Germany.

The play is mainly about relationships and personal ambitions. The most impressive aspect of the performance for me was the realistic staging of a kitchen engaged in the preparation and creation of meals. Although no actual food is used during the performance, the actors' motions were utterly believable. I almost convinced myself I could smell the food they were preparing.

Kurtosh

2011-11-13T19:06:00.000+11:00

We popped in for afternoon tea at Kurtosh, a popular new Hungarian cafe at Randwick which has opened in an old store that formerly sold fish (for pets not with chips).

It is proving very popular with it's pastries and cakes. The cakes are sold by weight. They are enticingly on display in large slabs and you tell the waitress how much you want cut off for your portion.

Cs selected our portions (below) of Pear and Almond slice and Tiramasu. The slices may appear small in my photo but each slice proved more than sufficient for the two of us. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

An interesting place.

Two steps forward, one step back

2011-11-12T09:13:00.000+11:00

A few weeks back I updated my iPhone by downloading iOS5. Everything seemed fine with the upgrade apart from my usual gripe with Apple products that in absence of specific explanatory notes I have to use trial and error to determine how it all works.

Jump forward to last night and I went to check the Calendar for something I recorded there about my European holiday last May only to discover that all entries previous to the upgrade, other than recurring entries, have disappeared. Why oh why do 'they' do this to us?

If any Apple Techos are monitoring my blog (unlikely) can you please come up with a fix to restore the deleted information.

Kulcha kostz

2011-11-11T16:19:00.000+11:00

For the first time in about twenty years I have purchased a subscription package for the 2012 Opera Australia season. My tickets arrived yesterday. Boy are those tickets expensive. Eagle eyed readers will see the price on the ticket. That's not the price for the package. That is the price for each opera. And the seats are not even in the most expensive section of the theatre.

Anonymous

2011-11-10T17:03:00.000+11:00

Anonymous sets out the theory that Shakespeare was not the author of the works attributed to him and that they were secretly the work of the Earl of Oxford. Shakespeare has only a minor role in this film which is as much concerned about the intrigue and power play regarding the line of succession when the reign of Elizabeth 1 is over.

The film spans a period of forty or so years and portrays the younger Elizabeth 1 to be far removed from the Virgin Queen of my schooling, an interpretation that becomes a very important factor in the final 'reveal'. This interchange between the time periods proves somewhat confusing for several reasons. The men in Elizabeth's life all seem to be red headed and they look very similar. There is also some clever tiptoeing around names which adds to the confusion and I guess is aimed at concealing certain crucial factors until the film's climax.

The film is beautifully acted apart ironically from Shakespeare himself who is portrayed as a bit of a buffoon, a characterisation which I found jarring. I loved the look of this film and despite some of the artifice I enjoyed it immensely.

Body of work

2011-11-09T23:28:00.001+11:00

You know how those who vote for the Academy Awards (am I supposed to display a copyright symbol here?) sometimes grace a performer with an Oscar (another copyright symbol?) for their 'body of work' rather than for the actual performance nominated? You don't know it? Well, take it from me that the ubiquitous 'everyone' knows it.

This man...

...is Brett Ratner, a film director. He was selected to produce next year's Academy Awards ceremony (I know, I know) and he resigned from the gig this week after making a perceived gay slur. What was the slur? He said something to the effect that 'rehearsing is for fags'.

Looking into the matter further; ie trawling the internet late at night, I conclude that Mr Ratner has landed in trouble for his body of work as much as for that single utterance. In evidence I submit the article setting out Mr Ratner's ten offensive quotes. I think this gives us a feel for the 'style' of the man.

Stormy weather

2011-11-08T18:22:00.000+11:00

A storm passed over Sydney a short while ago bringing a rather steamy day to an end. News reports state 150 sets of traffic lights were knocked out during the storm and a train is believed to have been hit by lightning. Here are some photos I captured of the storm's approach in my part of the city.

An urban cautionary tale

2011-11-06T09:02:00.000+11:00

This is an urban cautionary tale. It involves a friend of a mine and it is a true story.

My friend lives in a quiet suburban, slightly out of the way, residential street. Some of the residences in the street have off street parking but the majority do not and as many of those residences have multiple cars attached to them there is strong demand for parking in the street. A boy's high school is located at one end of the street. Many of the older boys drive and park in my friend's street during school hours placing further pressure on the limited supply of street parking spaces.

My friend owns one car and initially had no off street parking but about ten years ago she obtained council approval and converted her small front yard into off street parking. But she rarely used the off street space preferring to park across her own driveway ostensibly reasoning that her driveway otherwise had to remain clear and was not available to anyone else. My suspicion is that she found her off street car space too tight to use.

This arrangement continued for several years without problem apart from several neighbours regularly complaining that she did not use her own off street car space, a complaint she dismissed on the grounds above.

In the meantime more and more school boys started taking up street parking during school hours, many with large SUVs. Now this didn't affect my friend except for when she had visitors who could find no nearby parking spaces. So my friend complained to the school principal about the boys' parking. She complained regularly but the situation did not change.

My friend then started a campaign to the council for a two hour parking limit to be applied to the street during weekday business hours with local residents exempted by way of specially issued permits. This, my friend reasoned, would end the practice of the school students using the street for parking. Some neighbours supported the campaign but many did not. I assume that those who were against the campaign did not want to have to pay for permission to park in their own street, an understandable point of view. I suspect some were also concerned that they had more cars requiring street parking than the number of permits that would be allocated.

The arguments, pro and con, continued for a couple of years until a few months ago the council agreed to my friend's application and a two hour time limit was placed on this quiet, out of the way, street. Residents, without any off street parking, could apply for one exemption permit.

So what happened? The street signs were installed, the residents' permits issued and the school boys had to find somewhere else to park. My friend continued to park across her own driveway.

My friend was happy. For a while. But then something she hadn't anticipated happened. Council rangers started to patrol the street. They fined my friend for parking across her driveway. This had never occurred previously in all the years she had parked this way. My friend complained to council but they quoted the relevant sub-regulation back to her. Council would fine her if she continued to park across her own driveway. My friend decided to apply for a permit and here comes the rub. Under council rules my friend is not entitled to a permit because she has off street parking available.

My friend, who still will not use her off street car space, now parks several streets away from her own home during weekdays.

As that apocryphal Chinese adage goes, be careful what you wish for because it may come true.

Carry on neighbouring

2011-11-05T06:44:00.003+11:00

A neighbour in the building across the street could be seen ironing his business shirt in the nude yesterday. I heartily approve of these overt displays of domesticity.

I Don't Know How She Does It

2011-11-04T17:01:00.001+11:00

The tagline to I Don't Know How She Does It is something to the effect that 'if it were easy, men would do it too'. It is obvious therefore that this is a comedy about a working wife and mother with a touch of gender politics thrown in for good measure.

Sarah Jessica Parker is the working wife and mother in question. She portrays a professional in the man's world of investment banking. In real life we know that SJP is a working performer, wife and mother but I suspect her real life wealth and status deliver all manner of assistance and flexibility not available to her screen character.

I see that the film has earned very little at the box office and presumably has not been well received by audiences.

I didn't mind it. Yes, it is too cute by half and packed with cliches but I had a few giggles as the film progressed. It helped that Greg Kinnear is one of my favourite eye candy actors.

In Time

2011-11-03T16:59:00.000+11:00

At some future time, humans genetically stop aging at 25 years and have one year left to live unless they can secure extra time through willing or unwilling exchange of time with other humans. Time has become the only currency which is used for any purchases from a bus ride to...well...whatever. Time millionaires can live forever and the rest have to live in a grey dog eat dog world.

This is the premise of In Time which opens with Justin Timberlake's mother literally running out of time as she dies in her son's arms, or to be precise his fingertips. Timberlake is aged 27 in the movie and his mother has turned 50 but the movie does not explain how she reached that age when she does not appear to be a wealthy woman.

Never mind, this is not a movie for logic or explanations. I kept wondering what genetic principle had lead to humans having a high tech ten digit countdown clock glowing from their arms. Even more so I wondered how genetics 'knew' which person clasping arms with another was the one who was transferring time between them.

There is a lot of running in this film as everyone tries to beat time.

I am the 75,592,651,242nd...

2011-11-02T01:02:00.004+11:00

...person to have lived since history began according to this site.

(BBC News)

Done by the din

2011-11-01T16:41:00.000+11:00

(Sydney Morning Herald)

The first Tuesday in November is a cliche for all Australians; the running of a horse race that we all know from our days in nappies 'stops the nation'. So it proved again from the evidence of my surroundings, the Admissions section of the hospital where I volunteer. Approaching the scheduled race time (3pm) Admissions was packed - with staff who had dropped tools, so to speak, to view the race from the television thoughtfully supplied to entertain patients whilst they wait to be attended. Someone with a sense of humour scheduled one patient's admission for 3pm and at 2.59pm, right on cue, that patient arrived to a sight that must have looked to him more like the grandstand at Randwick than a dignified entrance to a house of cures.

The race started six minutes late by my watch and the patient joined in the raucous audience cheering on the runners. Yes, that race had a thrilling finish but it couldn't end quickly enough for me. My little section of the hospital had twisted my arm to run a sweep which turned into five sweeps and I was well and truly over the whole thing before the starter had pushed his button. There is nothing that drains any enjoyment from this event more than actually having to do any work related to it. I had a headache, my feet were tired and there wasn't a question about sweeps that anyone could think of that I wasn't asked a dozen times or more.

Our compatriots south of the border who host this race every year sensibly take a holiday enabling them to ignore the whole thing if they wish. On our side of the border, without the benefit of a holiday, we seem compelled to celebrate every second of the day in the most manic way. And we will do so again in twelve months time.

Oh, I almost forgot. The race was won by a horse (Dunaden).

Midnight in Paris

2011-10-30T15:42:00.000+11:00

Owen Wilson, channeling a younger Woody Allen, is in Paris with his fiancee. Wilson writes for the movies but his aspiration is to produce a great novel and inspiration comes in a most unlikely form when he wanders through the Parisian streets at midnight.

Midnight in Paris is Woody Allen's biggest success in years; perhaps his biggest ever. A great deal of the charm of the movie comes from the visual feast that is the city of Paris. Day or night, sunshine or rain, it is a glorious city. In the 1920s Paris was a haven for some of the twentieth century's greatest artists, writers, composers and performers and their appearance in the movie, whether by sight or sound and fleeting as it may be, makes for some magic moments.

This is not Allen's funniest movie ever by any means but there are some delicious cameo moments. Adrien Brody steals his scene as a kooky Salvador Dali and Kathy Bates shines as a no-nonsense Gertrude Stein. I was also taken with Corey Stoll as the man's man Ernest Hemingway.

All this, Paris and the songs of Cole Porter to boot. I loved it.

The Tug Toner

2011-10-29T08:44:00.000+11:00

What I miss by not watching television at 2am. Get tugging boys!

Drive

2011-10-28T23:40:00.001+11:00

Ryan Gosling plays the unnamed driver who performs in stunt movies by day and is a get away driver for hire at night. When he is drawn to a young neighbour whose husband is in prison he finds himself trapped in a set up from which there appears no escape.

Although Drive is set in Los Angeles and has a mostly American cast the film is quite European in style, no doubt reflecting it's Danish director.

I'm very impressed with Gosling. He is a versatile actor and certainly is sticking to safe choices in his roles.

I enjoyed Drive but I had to avert my eyes a few times from some extremely violent moments in the second half.

Bloodland

2011-10-27T15:57:00.000+11:00

(Sydney Theatre Company)

Staged in association with the Bangarra Dance Theatre this play is performed mostly in the Yolngu language and in Pidgin English.

Runu is in love with Gapu but she is already promised to Billy. Her clan has become separated from his as a feud develops between these two communities in the Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory. There are multiple sources of tension including negotiations over the terms of an arrangement with a mining company, the intrusion of modern technology on the younger community members, the influence of hallucinogenic substances and divergence in attitudes between the university educated members and the traditional clan members.

Given that I have no knowledge of the Indigenous language I needed to refer to the program to elicit the information about the three way relationship but the various sources of tension were mostly evident from the staging and the rather beautiful design of the play.

A very different and at times beautiful offering from the STC which in the past has been focused on traditional Western theatre.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot

2011-10-26T15:30:00.001+11:00

(NIDA; National Institute of Dramatic Art)

As distinct from Port which was staged by the graduating (Year 3) students, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is staged by the Year 2 students. Judas is on trial in Purgatory over his involvement in the death of Jesus and a host of 'witnesses' (contemporary and otherwise) are called to provide testimony.

I was a bit ambivalent about seeing this play assuming that something rather dour and ponderous would be offered but was pleasantly surprised to experience an entertaining evening at the theatre. The play is very humorous and irreverent and yet has it's serious side. The ensemble acting is very impressive and the staging interesting.

The guest Director, Mel Shapiro, is to be congratulated on the quality of the production.

Contagion

2011-10-25T15:25:00.001+11:00

A new and mysterious infectious disease is spreading widely and an all star cast is variously suffering from or working ethically and otherwise to identify and resolve it's effects. For most of it's length Contagion is a superior disaster movie unfolding in the style of a documentary and rollicking along at breakneck speed.

So persuasive is the film that you can't help thinking that you should never touch anything or anyone ever again lest you also succumb to the disease. The film is packed with impressive sounding medical mumbo jumbo all adding to the overall feel of authenticity.

It is probably inevitable that the resolution is speedily superficial by comparison with the detailed build-up but the final scenes of explanation achieve a satisfactory completion.

'Blogging is graffiti with punctuation'

2011-10-24T06:15:00.003+11:00

A standout line from Contagion.

Whoop..whoop..whoop

2011-10-23T07:26:00.000+11:00

My apartment building is equipped with smoke and fire detectors as required by law. They make the most horrendous racket when activated. First there is a beep, quiet briefly then increasingly loud followed by a seemingly endless series of deafening 'whoops'.

Thankfully the alarms have never gone off in response to an actual fire. At least, they haven't to my knowledge. Unfortunately though they have gone off frequently as false alarms. Too often. And at inconvenient times too. On one occasion I was in the shower when the 'whoops' started. I greeted a fireman who responded to the alarm wearing nothing but a towel around my nether regions, my body dripping wet. The fireman studied me carefully from head to toe and back again before emitting a 'mmmmm', doctor-style, and then turned on his heels. Only later did it occur to me that his close scrutiny might have been anything other than professional. Oh, the missed opportunities in my life!

So deafening are the alarms that I always assumed I awoke immediately they sounded during the night. It took a rare overnight guest recently to demonstrate that isn't necessarily the case. This poor soul tried to rouse me for several minutes, even shaking me in bed without success. Apparently there were at least several minutes of 'whooping' before I responded.

The latest false alarm was this morning. When I woke to the 'whoops' my bedside clock indicated 4.35am. The fire brigade is three blocks away and even at that time on a Sunday morning it took until 4.50am for two units to arrive, check that no fire was evident and turn off the alarms. I just lay under the bed covers trying to minimise the effect of the alarms. Then at 4.55am they started again! Five minutes later they fell silent.

It costs the Body Corporate something like $600 every time the brigade responds to a false alarm.

Mind you, if the responding personnel looked anything like my sample photo above I'd be tempted to set them off myself. Only kidding!!

Port

2011-10-20T23:49:00.003+11:00

(NIDA, National Institute of Dramatic Art)

It's the time of year when NIDA's graduating class stages a series of productions to showcase their talents to the public, friends and associates and most importantly to potential employers in the industry. Cs and I are seeing a couple of those performances and tonight we attended Port.

This is a one act play focusing on a young woman named Rachel between 1988 to around 2000 during which she progresses from school student to unhappily married woman. Most, if not all of the play, is set in the town of Stockport in Cheshire, England. Hence, I assume, the play's title. Stockport is part of Greater Manchester and I presume is dominated by that city. The play contains several references to that city's footballing colossus, Manchester United.

It is a rather dull play to be quite honest, mostly talking heads and all that talk is mainly about relationships and is less than enthralling. There is almost no action and the majority of scenes are completely static. It is heavy going if you ask me. An intimate piece like this requires an intimate setting. Staged at NIDA's Parade Playhouse, the venue is not large but nonetheless proves to be too big for this work especially the way it has been designed. Incredibly, the modestly sized performance space has been made to appear gigantic with it's long scenes between two or three mostly motionless characters sometimes placed high on a balcony on the back wall. Even with Cs and I sitting in the second row, these performers appeared minute and distant. Other scenes are placed at the extreme sides of the performance space. I suppose this design was intended to compensate for the lack of movement but it just didn't work for the play.

The Director's notes refer to the work as a 'poetic play'. One definition for 'poetry' I found is' the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative or elevated thoughts'. This play does not meet that definition in my opinion.

The performers did a reasonable job. It is a pity that the work and staging let them down.

This blog is open to invited readers only

2011-10-18T18:20:00.000+11:00

I've been blogging for nearly four years now and in that period have diligently followed many dozens of other blogs that I have found interesting for a variety of reasons. In that time, a handful or so of those blogs have suddenly gone under computerised 'lock and key'; denied to me for evermore.

I can understand someone deciding to close down their blog and notify that decision in a blog post. I can even understand someone losing interest in blogging who stops blogging without notice, although this is disappointing and a bit worrying when you are not certain whether the author is OK.

What I haven't yet become used to is the blog that overnight is restricted without prior notification or explanation. This has happened in a number of blogs I frequented. I have no reason to believe that in any of those instances the restriction has been directed specifically at me and yet for some reason I feel hurt when I have been locked out.

The blog that I have followed the longest and which sparked my own decision to start blogging has just gone private. No notice. No explanation. No invitation for me to access it.

I'm probably being unduly sensitive and a bit soft for feeling slighted but why is it that some bloggers suddenly and without notice 'privatise' their blogs? Isn't the point of blogging to publish in the public domain where readers, casual or regular, will visit whether by design or accident?

Art and About

2011-10-17T23:55:00.005+11:00

The annual Spring outdoors Art and About festival is on in Sydney at the moment. I enjoy walking through Hyde Park to see the photographs enlarged and displayed on banners. This was the scene there yesterday morning before the Sunday crowds appeared.

I rather liked the following photograph but am not sure just what those in the picture are actually up to. There is an ominous sweat soaked torso lurking in the background.

The Food Festival is also underway with the night Noodle Market lighting up the weekday evenings in the park.

The night Noodle Market was blissfully asleep this sunny Sunday morning resting before swinging into action again tonight.

Red lanterns adorn the perimeter and provide a context for the cuisine available.

There were plenty of photographers in the park. Ooops, one of them stepped into my picture.

No Way To Treat A Lady

2011-10-16T08:24:00.000+11:00

(Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

No Way To Treat A Lady is stage musical version of the 1968 movie. It is not the most obvious subject matter to convert to the musical form.

A serial strangler, who leaves lipstick imprints on the foreheads of his female victims, develops a telephone relationship with the policeman who is searching for the murderer. The strangler is haunted by the memory of his deceased actress mother whilst the policeman, unmarried and hurtling towards middle age, himself has parental problems of the stereotypical New York Jewish mother type.

Staged here as a four hander with one actress playing all the murder victims, the deceased actress and the Jewish mother, the musical is surprisingly tuneful and entertaining. The two male performers do very nice turns with their characters. The fourth performer plays the policeman's girlfriend. All four sing well and seem to be having a good time on stage.

We had our own brush with a potential murder mystery at last night's preview performance when water leaking from a ceiling air conditioner onto electrical cabling laid out on the stage floor immediately in front of where Cs and I were seated lead to a loss of power and an interruption of about fifteen minutes during the second act. The auditorium was cleared and after some remedial work by theatre staff we returned for the resumption of the play in which all the remaining murders thankfully were confined to the stage.

Curry Shores

2011-10-15T09:27:00.000+11:00

I'm into a heavy period of theatre-going in the current fortnight. Having seen Loot on Tuesday I saw Jersey Boys for the second time last night, mostly as a favour to accompany Fs who is visiting from Canberra for her cousin's wedding this weekend. Not that seeing the musical again was a chore. I enjoyed seeing it the first time around last January and it was as enjoyable this time.

I have another musical play tonight (No Way To Treat A Lady), two NIDA student plays next week and the next Sydney Theatre Company subscription play the following Tuesday.

Phew! Somewhere in all that I will no doubt find time to see one or more of the six, count them, six new movies all commencing in Sydney next Thursday.

Anyway back to last night. Fs as usual did her research and came up with a new (for us) restaurant to try. She was recommended the Mamak in downtown Goulburn Street on the edge of Chinatown.

Fs' enquiries revealed that the tables could not be reserved and that it was a case of first in, best dressed at the 6pm opening so we arranged to meet there at that time. That advice, at least in respect of opening time, was clearly incorrect. I was first to arrive at 5.55pm to find the restaurant packed and a footpath queue in place for the next available tables.

I joined the queue, about eighth in line and text Fs to inform her.

Fs arrived a few minutes later and we were admitted at about 6.10pm jumping ahead of several groups of more than two persons for whom tables were not yet available.

This is not a restaurant for a leisurely, intimate meal but it suited our need for a pre-theatre meal perfectly. The place is alive with youthful customer atmosphere (and naturally noise). It has a small but interesting menu. We chose to share a Chicken Satay starter and then two curries; one lamb and the other vegetable. All three dishes were delicious and both the curries were of substantial size. The service was speedy and the prices moderate.

It clearly is a popular restaurant with a good word of mouth reputation. I noticed that the restaurant remains open to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays so would also be a good option for post-cinema/theatre meals.

What's Your Number?

2011-10-14T15:30:00.001+11:00

SPOILER ALERT: At a guess 90% of romantic comedies are about people searching for their perfect mate all the while not recognising that the person right in front of them is 'the one'. So, is 'What's Your Number?' in that 90%? Only one guess allowed.

This one is set in Boston with Anna Faris tracking down her previous lovers looking for her perfect match all because of a statistic she read about in a magazine. Faris enlists a neighbour, Chris Evans, in her search. Join the dots, readers.

The director misses no opportunity to display Evans in his naked glory for no apparent relevance to the story other than to take advantage of that actor's obvious attributes. However, whereas European filmmakers would go all the way, this Hollywood concoction, despite containing some very specific sexual references, stops short of revealing Evans' crown jewels which remain artfully concealed through all manner of artifice by towels, banisters and guitars.

Loot

2011-10-13T23:07:00.002+11:00

(Sydney Theatre Company)

Joe Orton's play 'Loot' first performed at Cambridge, England in 1965 was a failure. Re-staged about a year later the play was a hit and has been revived periodically since. A film version with Richard Attenborough and Lee Remick was released in 1972.

At the outset, the play scandalised audiences. It portrayed police corruption, a concept that was met with disbelief in those more innocent times, and hints of bisexuality. The presence of a corpse on stage shocked audiences.

Nowadays a play about two men hiding the proceeds of a bank robbery in a coffin to keep a nosy policeman at bay whilst a scheming nurse tries to defraud the grieving widower seems pretty tame.

This production is fun it it's way especially during the second act which unfolds in the style of a farce. It's all a bit dated now though and I doubt that anyone in today's audience was shocked.

'We're after the same rainbow's end...'*

2011-10-12T14:51:00.001+11:00

('Moon River' by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's')

'Breakfast at Tiffany's'; released fifty years ago this month and as wonderful as ever.

Footloose

2011-10-11T15:21:00.001+11:00

A newcomer to a small Southern USA town challenges the local law banning public dancing by minors; a law introduced three years earlier after the tragic death of five teenagers in a car accident following their attendance at a dance.

Footloose is a remake of the 1984 film of the same name. I didn't see the original film but I gather the remake is fairly faithful to it's predecessor but updated to the present day. Nevertheless it seems there are changes. I believe in the original the small town was in Utah and the newcomer was from Chicago whereas in the remake the newcomer is from Boston and the small town is in Georgia.

I don't know what significance these changes reveal if any but the notion of a town banning public dancing in this day and age seems a little ridiculous...well, in Western countries anyway.

The film is a bit too noisy for me and when the characters do engage in dancing, as distinct from violently shaking their bodies, the manic editing prevents the viewer from enjoying much of the actual dance movement. The leading male is attractive to look at in a 'pretty' way which somewhat detracts from the intended image of rebellious teen whilst his leading lady, a preacher's daughter, is a little rough around the edges.

Will appeal to some...but mostly not to me.

Who's up for a bit of hygiene?

2011-10-10T15:24:00.001+11:00

A friend told me yesterday about an Internet site for digitalised copies of Australian newspapers which sounded interesting. Given my love for the cinema I thought I would check out what movies were screening on the day that I was born in 1949.

At this point I digress to record that I have memories from my childhood of the Savoy Cinema. It was an unusual cinema screening what we nowadays would call Art House movies although I don't recall the term being in use in those days. The Savoy tended to screen French and Italian movies in their original languages with English sub-titles. I recall that the cinema had curtains with the Eiffel Tower emblazoned across them. The Tower would part in half as the curtain parted for screenings.

I investigated the Internet site and tracked down the Sydney Morning Herald for the day of my birth.

'The Three Musketeers' was screening at the St James. 'The Life of Riley' was showing at the State. The Regent was screening 'Johnny Belinda' and although it was late June the Lyric was still screening 'Easter Parade'. There were plenty of other screenings which I won't bother listing here but then there was the Savoy. What was the Savoy showing? Well, here is the advertisement in it's full wording....

SAVOY - "SECRETS OF LIFE" - NOW!

EXTRA SESSIONS FOR MEN DAILY AT 11 15 AM

NOW SHOWING A Sex Hygiene Film for segregated audiences Sessions

Daily for Women and Girls 14 and over at 2.15 pm and 6 pm Sessions Daily

for Men and Boys 14 and over at 11.15 am and 8.30 pm On Stage at all

Sessions ELLIOTT FORBES noted Hygiene Commentator from the U S A on

The Secrets of Sensible Sex. Reservations for all Sessions up to 6 days in

advance at the Theatre (BW1333)

What more can I say?

10,000 Beers

2011-10-09T17:00:00.001+11:00

(Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

A Rugby Union team from Adelaide is on it's end of season tour; spending a long weekend in Sydney. They've set themselves the target of downing 10,000 cans of beer.

The author is a Rugby Union journalist, Alex Broun, so the play certainly carries authenticity in it's writing and also in it's acting as the cast of four realistically portray and relate the footballers' experiences on and off the field. The author also seems to have an intimate knowledge of many of the city's bars and lounges.

A well acted piece.

(Warning: contains nudity)

Cats scare Magpies away

2011-10-08T08:00:00.000+11:00

This day last week I was in Melbourne. It was Grand Final day. A wet and cold day with dark clouds overhead. Two local teams, the Collingwood Magpies and the Geelong Cats were playing in the Australian Football League's championship match as it might be called elsewhere.

At 3.29pm with the match approaching half time I look out my hotel window and I can see the Melbourne Cricket Ground with it's light towers illuminating the ground. Just a couple of hundred people short of 100,000 are inside the stadium viewing the spectacle.

Not a single car, train, tram or pedestrian is visible outside the ground. Presumably those not present at the stadium are viewing the match on live television elsewhere indoors.

Fast forward to 5.19pm. After three quarters of titanic, even, struggle the Geelong Cats have started to assert their superiority and look to be headed for victory. Spectators, presumably Collingwood Magpies supporters, are beginning to stream from the ground across the rail bridge and trains are moving again.

Now it is 6.04pm and the Geelong Cats have prevailed. The match is over and the victory celebrations are underway inside the stadium. The trams are running and the crowd is dispersing, many of them across the railway line and on to Federation Square where two hours later the victorious team will be presented to it's adoring blue and white scarf bedecked fans.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

2011-10-06T23:00:00.004+11:00

Steve Carell is stunned when Julianne Moore asks for a divorce. Drowning his sorrows at a bar Carell encounters ladies man Ryan Gosling who decides to mentor him in the game of Crazy, Stupid, Love.

They are not the only ones grappling with the mysteries of relationships. The film is a jig saw of seething, heaving connections.

This is a superior romantic comedy, humorous throughout, reaching it's climax with a neat twist that came as a genuine surprise to me.