How's your day been?

6pm, weeknight and my mobile phone rings. No caller ID. I don't like answering calls from 'No caller ID' but several close friends conceal their numbers so I answer the ring.

'Is that Victor?' the caller asks.

Me: 'Yes'.

Him: 'My name is Ben and I'm calling for Opera Australia'.

(I now wish I hadn't answered the call.)

Ben: 'How's your day been?'

Me: 'Is that what you called to ask me?'

Ben: (Laughs) 'That's how we begin our calls.'

(What makes Cold Callers ringing to extract your money think that idle chit chat with total strangers is a winning start?)

Ben: 'We want to thank you for your patronage and your generous donations for young singers....'

Me: (Interrupting to push forward to the inevitable real reason for the call.) 'Are you ringing to sell me tickets?'

Ben: 'No. We have a number of funding initiatives and it is nearing the end of the financial year...'

Me: (Interrupting again.) 'Whoa, whoa (speaking over the top of him) I don't respond to telephone calls for donations. Please take me off your call list.'

Ben: Yes, will do... (Don't hear the rest as I hang up.)

Until the call, my day had been good.

Deadpool 2

The wisecracking Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is back for another wink and nudge comic hero movie spoof adventure. This involves a seemingly endless chase and attack sequence with an horrendous body count.

The dialogue is made up of countless one liners. The intent seems to be that miss one or fail to find it amusing then the next one might be more to your liking.

Perhaps the best aspect of 'Deadpool 2' is its soundtrack made up of past and recent hits. The original film was novel but with this sequel the novelty is quickly wearing thin.

✮✮

Teenagers

Teenagers are a strange beast. A group of six teenage girls having paid, I presume, to attend a cinema spent the entire movie taking selfies of themselves.

Not only did they take selfies during the movie but they used flash photography to do so.

I suppose they grow out of it.

No Such Thing As A Fish

We booked to see 'No Such Thing As A Fish' many months ago purely on the description that this is the title of a popular British podcast featuring four researchers behind the British television series 'QI'.

The performance was in two parts. The first half has each of the researchers providing a humorous presentation about their work and interests. The second half was a live recording of a podcast for future broadcast.

Many interesting and wacky facts. A little uneven but an interesting and mostly humorous experience.

✮✮✮

Sign of the times

An awful day at the hospital today. Many patients about and insufficient staff to attend to them. Some of the staff who I saw present in the morning had mysteriously disappeared in the afternoon.

It was only when I signed off for the day that I learnt from my supervisor that several dozens of staff received 'their envelopes'.

I didn't understand at first. The hospital's organisation is being restructured (economising) and some positions will disappear along with their occupants. A pity. A dearly loved and respected institution in our city being torn apart in the name of making a profit.

Snags? or a snag?

I suppose the writing was on the wall when A invited a court yard full of people for lunch to celebrate her new barbecue only to have most of them regretfully decline as she had unwittingly chosen Mothers Day for the occasion.

We few invitees without any maternal commitments who accepted the invitation arrived with our barbecue related contributions to find that, without telling us, A had decided to have a non barbecue, sit down lunch instead.

On this surprise, at least, A had gambled successfully. The weather turned dramatically after our arrival...

...and poured with rain whilst we remained dry, eating A's hastily re-jigged kitchen cooked lunch menu.

Life of the Party

After dropping off her daughter for her final semester of University, Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) is shocked when her husband tells her he is seeking a divorce. Single again, Deanna decides to resume her pre-family interrupted University studies and finds herself socialising with her own daughter's classmates.

What could have been an amusing generation clash tale is mostly unfunny, at times irritating and occasionally unpleasant. The few moments of genuine humour become lost opportunities as 'Life of the Party' races on to the next unfunny situation.

Misses the mark.

✮✮

Well, that was nice whilst it lasted

Sydney's extended summery Autumn weather - which seemed as though it was never going to end - did end quite abruptly today. Not with snow of course, Sydney just doesn't have snow, but with a sudden dip to much colder temperatures. And yet not really cold either. By some standards elsewhere it was cool rather than cold.

Will we ever see summer again!

Quick on the trigger

Darren Criss

A small item in the newspaper on Tuesday alerted C and I that Darren Criss known for 'Glee' and other performances would be appearing in Sydney for one concert only next week and that tickets would go on sale at Noon today.

I arrived home from my weekly exercise session at 12.15pm and immediately went online to purchase tickets to find that the concert is sold out.

Sydney's Gays were certainly quick on the trigger today.

Faux pas

E has invited me to join her and friends for drinks to celebrate her forthcoming birthday. 'Is it a milestone birthday?' I enquired. 'Yes, it has an 0 at the end' E replied. 'Oh, so you will finally reach 40', I responded.

E reacted to this with what sounded like a hearty, genuine laugh. It was only an instant later I realised the risk of my comment. The fact is that I have no idea how old E is. No matter how you interpret my comment it casts doubt on what age I might imagine E to be and more sensitively what age I might think she looks to be.

I meant well - how many of us use that defence - and my intention was to be humorous. As someone rapidly approaching 70 myself, 40 seemed like a nice young age to hang my humour on but I may have miscalculated badly.

Breath

'Breath' is an adaptation of the Tim Winton book of the same name. A coming of age story of two boys, in particular 'Pikelet' (Samson Coulter) and to a lesser extent 'Loonie' (Ben Spence). The boys live in a small coastal township in Western Australia and are taken under the wing of an itinerant drifter who teaches them about surfing.

As the lights went up after the session C turned to me and asked 'what do you think?' 'Lots of water' was my reply. There are plentiful scenes of surfing and surf and when not surfing 'Pikelet' is sometimes seen fishing. A rather slow moving film with not a lot of plot or exposition. According to C, who had the advantage of having read it, the book contains more description and detail which the film either alludes to obliquely or doesn't include at all.

I did enjoy the ocean images, although some might find them tedious, and the film is saved by excellent performances from Coulter and Spence, both first time actors.

✮✮✮

Loveless

Set in 2012 somewhere near Moscow, 12 years old Alyosha (Matvey Novikov) overhears his parents arguing over their impending divorce. Their conversation makes it clear that he is not loved and for various reasons neither parent wants to have custody of the child. So absorbed in their own concerns are the self centred parents that neither notices when Alyosha goes missing. The second half of 'Loveless' focuses on the actions taken to locate Alyosha.

It is not only the parents who have a loveless relationship, they seem surrounded by people unable to express love. The film comprises long, lingering scenes and long pauses suggesting that in the search for the boy a revealing moment is about to occur. Are these red herrings or genuine tips?

An unusual self reflection of middle class life in modern Russia.

✮✮✮

Blind MKR

(Seven Network Australia)

The amateur cooking competition My Kitchen Rules has been a ratings winner for the Seven Network for years. The series has been a masterclass in manipulation; both of the contestants and in editing thus ensuring clear 'goodies' and 'baddies' for audiences to align with or against.

Currently at the semi final stage of the 2018 series, the teams that have reached this point are being judged in so called 'blind tastings' suggesting a guaranteed impartiality of outcome. Six judges, mostly chefs, are the adjudicators.

Frankly speaking the judges would have to be much more than vision impaired to be truely in doubt as to who has cooked which dishes.

For a start, two of the judges, the regular hosts of the competition, actually watch the competitors preparing and cooking their meals. A third judge is an occasional participant host through the preliminary rounds and so is also familiar with the competitors by that stage.

In the first semi final two Italian brothers competed against two Vietnamese mothers. The three course meals the judges assessed were an Italian menu and a Vietnamese menu. Can you guess which team prepared which menu?

I thought so.

First impressions

I had my first appointment with Doctor D today. First impressions are favourable and I think I have chosen well. He looks as nice and welcoming as his Bio and photograph on the Practice's website suggest. He was thorough and non judgemental in obtaining my details and history and he expressed his interest to retain me as his patient.

As Bogie once said (in character), this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Still Point Turning

(Sydney Theatre Company)

'Still Point Turning: The Catherine McGregor Story' relates this story of the Australian Trans Woman who reached the heights as a Political Staffer, Cricket commentator and as an Officer in the Australian Army, marrying and fathering two children before transitioning after years of gender dysphoria.

The play is based on hours of interviews with Cate and depicts the extraordinary highs and lows of her life.

Beautifully staged and performed.

✮✮✮✮

Last Flag Flying

Three Vietnam veterans accompany the body of the deceased Iraq War veteran son of one of them across the United States ahead of the funeral service.

'Last Flag Flying' echoes a similar set up in 1973's 'The Last Detail' but with less effect. The acting generally is fine but the plot points are a little too coincidental and the tempo a little too slow.

✮✮½

The Flick

Sam is a cleaner at 'The Flick', an old style single screen movie theatre located somewhere in Massachusetts and when the play opens he is training new starter Avery in the cleaning procedures. It is a repetitive, sometimes unpleasant, task; a fact made clear in scene after scene. It is a job with limited prospects other than an unlikely promotion to projectionist, a position which Robyn achieved over the longer serving Sam.

The dead end nature of their working lives is relieved slightly by their shared love of cinema and a secret low level defrauding of the box office revenue.

At almost three hours this is a lengthy play, punctuated repeatedly by the longest of pauses turning the play into an endurance test. Nonetheless it is surprisingly humorous and despite its length maintained my interest throughout. Would the play be just as effective, even more so, if it were half the length? I don't see why not.

Well acted but bring a cushion.

✮✮✮

Carry on Doctor

I was a patient of Doctor H for more than twenty years. I selected him from his advertisement in a gay newspaper as I preferred to have a doctor who would not be judgemental about my sexuality. Younger readers (if there are any) may not realise that homosexuality was illegal when I was younger and not something you could readily reveal to your Doctor thus exposing your health management to misdiagnosis or similar through absence of essential and possibly relevant information.

Anyway, I was quite satisfied with Doctor H as my GP but a couple years ago he decided to make a major change in his life departing his practice and moving overseas, apparently indefinitely. Doctor C took over Doctor H's practice. Doctor C seemed a good replacement but I learned that he was managing three separate practices across Sydney and would only be available at my location on Fridays. I wasn't happy with this limited opportunity for face to face consultations and so, after thinking about it for all those months, I decided to seek another practice nearby.

Just two blocks away is a trendy looking practice and it has about a dozen GPs to choose from. 'Which one do you want to see?' the receptionist asked when I enquired about signing up with them. I didn't know; I hadn't researched that part. I referred to the GP biographies on their website and identified three preferences with the mix of health interests and specialities to suit my needs. Of the three I dismissed Doctor M as an option. Oh yes, he is the most handsome of the group - good looks always makes me feel better, no matter how ill I might feel - but I recognised him as a celebrity television doctor and...well... they have other celebrity related issues on their mind. Despite the eye candy possibilities I reduced the choice to two. Doctor B and Doctor D. The former offered limited days of consultancy whilst the latter offers the widest availability. So Doctor D it will be.

First appointment made for next week.

Lest We Forget

Anzac Day

The Children

(Sydney Theatre Company)

Rose (Sarah Peirse) surprises Hazel (Pamela Rabe) arriving unannounced at her isolated home. Hazel is home alone waiting for her husband Robin (William Zappa) to return from feeding their cows.

As 'The Children' unfolds - with a surprising amount of humour - we learn that the house is close to an exclusion area around a damaged nuclear facility closed off following an earthquake and tsunami. Rose, Hazel and Robyn share a past both personally and professionally and while their meeting might focus thoughts on memories the real issue is who is responsible for the effects of that past on the future. Is it them; or their children?

✮✮✮½

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

At the end of World War 2 author Julia Ashton (Lily James) travels to the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel to learn about 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'. She uncovers a tale of civil resistance against the wartime occupying German forces and a tragic secret romance.

Quirky Britishness yet again but a cut above others of this genre.

✮✮✮½

Truth or Dare

A group of college students from California spend their Spring break partying in Mexico where they get drawn into a deadly game of 'Truth or Dare'.

It is not only the characters who find themselves trapped in this B-Grade thriller predicament. The writers seem unable to extricate themselves from the dilemma too.

✮✮½

Inconvenient timing

The battery in my car key is approaching the end of it's life; methinks. Why doesn't this ever happen at the time my car is due for servicing? Very inconvenient.

Blogger; oh Blogger

Oh Blogger you are driving me mad. This morning I had to sign out of then into my Google account in order to make a comment on Andrew's blog and then immediately had to log into my Google account again to get into my own Blog.

Too many 'this device is not recognised' messages for my liking and anyway; what does that mean? I know what the words mean but why is this happening? I haven't purchased any new devices for a couple of years so why, all of a sudden, is Blogger treating me as a stranger?

I’m decayed

I’m very diligent about attending the dentist for a check up every 6 months or so. I don’t want my teeth to fall into such disrepair that I would need dentures. In recent years, despite my dangerously sweet tooth, I have maintained good dental hygiene and not needed any new fillings. Unfortunately the last check up brought an end to that. The X-ray revealed ‘some decay’ in a tooth. Worse still the decay was awkwardly located in a tooth which itself was in an awkward position.

The work was done yesterday. Forty minutes in the chair, two needles and what felt like a tunnel load of equipment clogging my mouth. Apparently the decay reached below the gum line Dr U informed me in a menacing tone.

Ready Player One

'Ready Player One', a Steven Spielberg film, is one longish big screen computer game. Set in a grim looking virtual world the young hero (Tye Sheridan) sets out to find three keys that will lead him to a prized target. This is the puzzle set by the Virtual Game's deceased creator (a creatively youthful and nerdy Mark Rylance far removed from his usual Shakespearean roles).

Ben Mendelsohn, making a name for himself as a film villain, takes on the arch enemy role.

Virtual heaven for technology geeks.

✮✮✮

Going Down

Sydney Theatre Company

Natalie Yang is a published writer. Still in her twenties, her autobiographical account heavy with steamy details of her sex life, has sold copies in the big city but isn't to the taste of the readers in rural Australia who prefer the work of her rival Lu Lu Jayadi.

Natalie's ambitions are central to 'Going Down' and her rivalry with Lu Lu is the plot focus of this one act play which has its moments. Bawdy and energetic Catherine Davies certainly gives everything but her character Natalie is a bit of a one note irritant.

✮✮½

And then there is this....

Sydney Seaplanes; joy flights and commuter flights

How the other half lives...

It's nice for some.....

Sydney Ferries

Victor Chang, named after the late Heart Surgeon, on the Circular Quay - Watsons Bay service

Rose Bay

Waiting for the ferry to arrive at Rose Bay Wharf

A night at the opera on the harbour

The stage ahead of the performance of La Boheme

Andrew kindly invited me to accompany him and his partner R to La Boheme; this year's Opera on Sydney Harbour. (It wasn't a Freebie; I paid my way.)

As with each of these Operas on the Harbour the emphasis is on spectacle rather than a traditional production of the works.

In this case the setting is updated to the 1960s culminating in 1968 following the Paris student riots. This re-setting worked reasonably well to my mind.

Apart from the primary aim to make a profit and I imagine that Opera Australia hopes these annual productions bring a new audience to Opera and apparently surveys indicate that the audiences by the harbour include significant numbers of first timers. I wonder whether they become repeat attendees and, more importantly, start to attend productions during the Opera season? In the Andrew's and R's case I believe they enjoyed the spectacle - albeit in some discomfort on the hard plastic seats - as one-off event but are not won over to becoming regular attendees.

The company taking its bows at the conclusion of La Boheme.

✮✮✮

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Sydney Theatre Company

This adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' sets the events in a contemporary Australia with the gangster/standover merchant Ui infiltrating and terrorising the Greengrocers industry.

The staging reminded me of a Guy Ritchie movie. Cameras film the production flashing the images on a huge screen across the backstage. Each scene is introduced with captions describing the location and the characters involved and the bullying style is reminiscent of Ritchie films.

Hugo Weaving is outstanding as Ui.

✮✮✮✮

Bondi Beach

The Hydro

Photos from a day trip to the nearby Blue Mountains; in particular the Hydro Majestic Hotel where as a child, more than 55 years ago I spent a number of holidays with my mother and grandmother. The hotel seems have gone through various boom and bust periods. I believe it is currently under foreign ownership.

The Death of Stalin

'The Death of Stalin' depicts what happens amongst the leadership group when the Soviet Union's supreme leader passes away in 1953.

The events are presented as a black comedy which works well in early scenes where a concert is repeated before a bewildered and disinterested audience but is less successful when the action turns to mindless murder and supposedly comical jockeying amongst pretenders to the leadership succession.

✮✮

Pacific Rim: Uprising

I should have taken more notice of the poster. For some reason I thought that 'Pacific Rim: Uprising' was about some type of natural disaster - an earthquake or Tsunami or the like - and I quite enjoy images of well known landmarks crumbling before the might of acts of God. Says something about me, I suppose.

But this film is a sequel to 'Pacific Rim' which apparently was about war between humans and sea monsters.

I don't know what the original film was like but presumably to warrant a sequel it must have done well at the Box Office. It couldn't have been worse than the sequel could it?

Set some thirty or so years later 'Pacific Rim: Uprising' is also about war between humans and some type of monsters. Plot is minimal, dialogue is incomprehensible and acting standards are low. There are occasional glimpses of Sydney, Shanghai and Mount Fuji.

I was bored within minutes of the start. The pre-teenage boys, in the majority of the audience at the session I attended, gave it weak applause at the end.

✮½

Diplomacy

In August 1944, months following the D-Day landings, Allied forces are descending upon occupied Paris. The Nazi's Military Governor is preparing to carry out Hitler's orders to destroy the city before abandoning it.

'Diplomacy' is based on these events. John Bell is the General who finds himself in a last moment battle of minds with the Swedish Consul General played by John Gaden.

A very nicely depicted lesser known moment from the the latter days of World War 2 in Europe.

✮✮✮½

Red Sparrow

A Russian ballet dancer, faced with a career ending injury, is recruited into intelligence training and is tasked to track down an informer to the Americans.

'Red Sparrow' is a slow moving thriller and mystery. Despite its length and its occasional scenes suggesting extreme violence and even though I lost track of some of the plot points I found the film quite intriguing.

✮✮✮½

Love, Simon

A seventeen year's old school student, accepting that he is gay, takes tentative steps towards coming out to his family and friends.

'Love, Simon' is packed with Hollywood style attractive characters living a privileged lifestyle which is probably far from the experiences of the majority of viewers of the film. More fantasy than realism.

✮✮✮

Santa Monica