Mamma Mia!

You would have to have been living under a rock this week not to know that Mamma Mia! is the movie version of the stage presentation that is set around the Abba song list.

What plot there is, exists simply to link the songs and for those songs where it works well to give added meaning to their pop lyrics.

The movie, a little slow at the beginning when the focus is on the younger cast members, really lifts once the veterans Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski get involved.

Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard are solid foils for the women. I thought Firth does best and it is probably no coincidence that he seems to be having the most fun. I watched Firth closely during the end credits song montage and he really gets into the swing of the campness of it all.

When I first knew that Streep was in the movie I thought her an odd choice but she does really well only faltering in the dramatic moment of The Winner Takes It All when her singing voice is not powerful enough for the strongest notes. A pity, because that moment in the Sydney stage show was stunning.

The stage show, as I saw it in Sydney, was a lot of fun and had the audience toe tapping to the familiar melodies. The movie is much the same and has that glorious summery feel and look of the Greek islands as background throughout.

Mamma Mia! does not contain the wit of Stephen Sondheim or Cole Porter but it is a lot of fun for Abba lovers.

Health advice for the older man

I think I will follow this advice.

It reminds me that a while ago my doctor prescribed masturbation once day, "twice a day if possible" he added, as a guard against prostate cancer.

Swifter, higher, stronger

I'm looking forward to two weeks of watching elite athletes at play in Beijing.

A throwback to the ancient Games would be interesting!

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Reflections of the sun

(Click pic for best effect.)

The rising sun reflecting on CBD buildings this morning.

Two rushed photos taken through my lounge room window, so unfortunately reflections of curtains, dust etc also visible.

Cold trail

It was cold again yesterday. I took this photograph of an aeroplane headed south over Sydney and leaving a long vapour trail in the cold air.

Can I treat you sir?

As a volunteer in Admissions I see documentation including the procedure for which a patient is being admitted. Mostly, this is provided in medical jargon which is meaningless to me.

One of today's admissions, a male, was being admitted for 'advance sling'. I wondered what this might be and looked the term up in an online medical dictionary but the term was not recognised.

Whatever the patient was admitted for I doubt he received the treatment that first came to mind, as represented below.

Coldplay? Hot player!

At my advanced age I'm not knowledgeable about popular bands but I have heard of Coldplay. I'm not familiar with their music but can recognise band member Chris Martin, mainly through his marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow. I think he is quite attractive.

This morning I read an article about the band and saw this photograph of another band member, Guy Berryman.


He looks hot.

13.3c

I know that 13.3c is not a cold temperature in many parts of the world but for mild Sydney that amounts to a cold day when it is the maximum.

That's what we had yesterday, the coldest Sydney day in more than a year.

And right on cue too. The records show that Sydney's coldest day each year occurs on average between 8 and 10 July.

Roll on spring and summer.

They got away...

I've been living at my current apartment building for eighteen years. In the first few years my lock up garage was broken into three times (from memory) but nothing was taken nor was my car damaged.

For some years afterwards there was no attempt to break into my property (to my knowledge) although I am aware there were burglaries elsewhere in the complex.

Then last week the bolt to my garage was damaged, apparently in a break in attempt. Again nothing was stolen nor was anything else damaged.

On the weekend, the second of two other apartments on my floor was burgled. A television, a computer and some clothing were taken. The burglary occurred sometime between 10.30pm Saturday (when I was sitting down to watch the Wimbledon Women's Final) and 4pm Sunday. Although I was home for a lot of that period, I heard and saw nothing of this.

The apartment wasn't broken into. The burglar evidently had keys to access the apartment or it had been inadvertently left unlocked. Anyway, a spare set of keys to the building were also stolen from the apartment so the security locks into the building had to be changed and all thirty-six apartments given new keys.

Modern life!

Honey, honey...yum, yum...

No sooner did I complete the post below and I found the above picture of Colin Firth and Dominic Cooper in Sydney at blog Beauty and the Bum.

I couldn't resist poaching the pic.

Honey, honey...

Colin Firth, Meryl Streep and Dominic Cooper in Sydney today promoting Mamma Mia which opens in Australia on Thursday.

Listening to excerpts from the press conference I was surprised to hear Firth mention that he watched Abba perform live on television in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 when he 13 years old. This means he is now 47 years of age. In fact a check of the Internet Movie Database indicates he turns 48 in September. I didn't realise Firth is in his late 40s. He looks better at that age than I did in my 20s. Lucky fellow.

I saw Dominic Cooper live on stage in Sydney about a year ago when he performed in The History Boys. I thought he was sexy then and I am looking forward to seeing him in this movie.

Change ends please...

Is this the changing of the guard?

I sat down to watch the spectacle of the Wimbledon Men's Final at about 12.30am Sunday (Sydney time) with mixed emotions. Federer is such a magnificent champion and so superb to watch when in full flight so I was hoping he would make it six in a row. On the other hand, Nadal is also a wonderful player and gorgeous eye candy to boot and I knew his time had come.

When Federer was two sets down and 3-4 in the third set having just failed to convert any of a series of break points, I decided it was not to be his day and that I should switch off and get to sleep. I was sad at the thought of him losing.

I awoke as usual at 6.30am to the news that the match had ended only minutes earlier with Federer and Nadal fighting it out over five sets. I am glad I didn't watch it through. The highs and lows of the fluctuating fortunes would have been anxiety-inducing.

I'm sorry for Federer but Nadal is a deserving champion.

By the way, I don't understand how Nadal can play in those long shorts when he gets hot and sweaty. I would find the shorts irritating to wear in those conditions but then I am neither the champion, nor as cute as, Nadal is.

The Band's Visit

The Band's Visit is an Israeli film about an Egyptian band that turns up in the wrong town in Israel for the opening of a cultural centre. The film gently depicts the reactions of the bemused locals and band members to this unexpected collision of cultures and peoples.

The Band's Visit is low key and humorous. The scenes are played out in laconic style; there is nothing slapstick in the presentation.

Although the film contains Hebrew and Arabic dialogue, there is a considerable amount of English spoken with the oddity that all the dialogue (including English) is subtitled.

An unexpected delight.

Anyone for a Popemobile?

These traffic signs have appeared all around Sydney's eastern suburbs where I live as World Youth Day and the Pope's arrival draw near.

We had similar dire warnings of traffic chaos before Sydney's Olympic Games in 2000 but for once public transport arrangements worked superbly and car traffic turned out to be the easiest in memory.

Do we dare to hope for a repeat this time?

Twenty questions

I've discovered this fun game.

I beat the online game more times than it beat me but it is interesting when the online game correctly guesses what you are thinking.

Kakadu bound

I spent the afternoon with Hn and Ae finalising our booking for the trip to the Kimberley and Kakadu in late August. We've decided to take the optional extra flight to the Bungle Bungles.

Dancing man

I found this clip surprisingly endearing.

Ten Empty

Yesterday's movie was the new Australian release, Ten Empty.

A man returns to Adelaide from his new life in Sydney to attend a family christening. The man is unhappy and we soon see that he and his family members all are angry and battling demons. The film is relentlessly grim and there seems little hope for happy endings.

This was like a partly cooked dinner. We are given some clues as to the background of the characters and their relationships but much more is unexplained.

I'm always hopeful of commercial success for Australian features but there were only four of us at this session on the opening day of the season. Not an encouraging sign.

Independence Day

For any United States readers; happy 4th of July!

On my day off today I...

...went shopping for swimwear for my holidays on the Sunshine Coast (this month) and the Kimberleys and Kakadu (August/September)...


...renewed my club membership...


...went to Broadway Centre to meet Kn in his lunch break...


...had a Thai meal with Kn...


...went to the Dendy Newtown to see a movie...


...picked up a takeaway chicken meal for dinner...