Bridge

Tonight, 47.90%, 9/12

Enough Said

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the late James Gandolfini play lonely divorcees with high school daughters about to leave home and they meet at a party where there is a spark of attraction sufficient for them to have a tentative follow up date.

No-one is perfect in 'Enough Said', least of all the two lead characters, but all of us have imperfections and it's a matter of how we respond whether and how far a relationship is possible.

Gandolfini is gentle and likeable within a scruffy exterior so will Louis-Dreyfus overcome her preconceptions to stick with him?

This low key romantic drama is quite engaging.
★★★1/2

Cookies are bad for you

I was online researching for travel insurance. We are going on a cruise next month around New Zealand. Most times in the past I have not bothered about travel insurance gambling that nothing would go wrong requiring me to spend money of any significance but as you get older you have that realisation that....well....insurance might be...helpful.

I decided to go with my health fund provider. This involved scrolling through screen after screen providing personal information, health information (don't they already know that from my health claims?), selecting a level of insurance, agreeing to terms and conditions, attesting to the truthfulness and completeness of the information I provided and finally (crucially) my credit card details for payment.

'Wait thirty seconds and don't leave this screen' I was instructed. I did (wait) and I didn't (leave the screen). So what happened then? A message appeared asking me to ask my browser to allow cookies. My purchase couldn't proceed otherwise. And as it turns out it couldn't proceed either. That is, allowing the cookies wiped everything I had done to that point anyway and I had to go back to the beginning.

Couldn't the site have warned at the outset, 'allow cookies'? Why wait to the very last step?

Cookies are bad for you; whether you have them, or not.

White sails in the sunset?

The song is 'Red Sails in the Sunset' (Music, Hugh Williams; Lyrics, Jimmy Kennedy) but today's late Friday afternoon sports sailing on the harbour - that blogger Andrew is so fond to point out is the view from my apartment -  is white sails, not red, and no sunset is evident yet with clouds filling the rainy sky.

(Click to enlarge)

Still, it is a pretty sight; is it not?

The Wharf Revue 2013

(Sydney Theatre Company)

The Wharf Revue has been an annual event for numerous seasons but this is the first year that I have attended.

Off the top of my head I believe Jonathan Biggins and Drew Forsythe have been regular members of the Revue and with Phillip Scott the trio have created a very witty satire around Australian politicians and events, snippets of which I have seen on television in previous years. Simon Burke and Amanda Bishop round off the performers in the 2013 revue accompanied by Musical Director Andrew Worboys.

They perform a series of sketches, fifteen this year, which provide ninety minutes of biting and hilarious representations of those men and women we love to hate.

There wasn't really a weak item this year. The standouts for me included a romantic duet between 'Gina Rinehart' and 'Clive Palmer' sung to, what else than, the love theme from the movie 'Titanic' and a never before seen episode of 'Annabel Crabb's Kitchen Cabinet' featuring 'Bob Katter'. A solo by 'Julia Gillard' and a lesson for the Australian Labor Party in an adaptation of 'The Wizard of Oz' are also highlights.
★★★★

Vere (Faith)

(Sydney Theatre Company)

In 'Vere (Faith)' an academic is diagnosed with dementia and faces his future of diminished capacity.

'Vere' as a name is said to be of French origin which according to this play means 'faith'. It is an uncommon name which seems to have gone out of favour in Australia as a given name - if it ever was in favour - from the mid twentieth century. The most famous men to have borne this given name in Australia appear to have been Herbert Vere Evatt, a politician at both state and federal level who as a representative of Australia played a role in the establishment of the United Nations, and Vere Gordon Childe, an archaeologist and philologist. Both are referenced in the play.

'Vere (Faith)' is a new play by John Doyle and it is inspired by Doyle's experience caring for his father who suffered dementia and Doyle's interest in Childe's career. The play has some rough edges which no doubt will be worked on the more it is staged but even so it has relevance to contemporary issues and contains much humour laced with a degree of sadness.

Paul Blackwell is a delight as the title character displaying much kindness, wisdom and generosity. Geoff Morell is also standout especially in the first half in his character as a Vice Chancellor with a roving eye for attractive young women.

Anyone who has been a carer for an elderly (or ageing) dementia sufferer will relate to this work. People with a literal belief in religion may prefer to steer clear of it.
★★★★

Bridge

Tonight, 59.00%, 2/14

The Counselor

Michael Fassbender is 'The Counselor' (lawyer) who finds himself a target for revenge when a drug deal goes awry.

The production design is the highlight for me with contrasting scenes of the high and low life of crime providing some stunning images.

The narrative progresses with a series of conversations interspersed with violent and occasionally bizarre activities.

Fassbender, a devious Cameron Diaz and a typically uber-cool Brad Pitt are the standout performers in a film where image mostly trumps plot.
★★★

Number, please

Hamlet

(Belvoir St Theatre)

Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in which the seemingly mad Prince of Denmark exacts revenge against his uncle and mother following the murder of his father, the King.

As usual this Belvoir Street Theatre staging is spare in setting and striking in interpretation. Characters are dropped from the production and scenes shed. A pianist sits at a grand piano in the corner providing musical accompaniment and a counter tenor wanders across stage singing baroque type ballads.

Toby Schmitz is a tormented, physical Hamlet.
★★★1/2

Hay Fever

The New Theatre is a small theatre company that for 80 years has focussed on staging left leaning political and social conscious works so its choice of Noel Coward's 'Hay Fever' for this year's season is very odd indeed.

Coward's 1920s comedies about British upper class social manners in a bygone era would seem nowadays rather old fashioned, even distasteful to some.

In 'Hay Fever' the four members of a family each invites, without the knowledge of the others, a house guest to spend the weekend. This sets up a situation of mayhem in which the guests become the innocent pawns of their mindless, self absorbed, scheming hosts.

The results are either hilarious or infuriating depending upon your point of view. The cast obviously had lots of fun and we enjoyed its silly frothiness too.
★★★

About Time

I think the charm of the Richard Curtis style of romantic comedy is wearing off on me. Yes, I enjoyed 'Notting Hill' and 'Love Actually' wasn't too bad if overstuffed with competing story lines.

And now we have 'About Time', a romantic comedy about a fumbling young man who upon turning 21 learns the family secret that the men in the family can time travel and make minor adjustments to what happened in the past.

It's all a bit twee with the usual array of eccentric, occasionally irritating, English personalities. I don't mind the notion of time travel but I spent most of the movie turning over in my mind the practical illogicalities of revisiting an incident multiple times and so lost interest in the film well before the obvious finale.
★★1/2

All My Sons

(Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

The Darlinghurst Theatre Company has moved to new premises where they have renovated an old, disused, Tabernacle and converted it into a boutique theatre, the Eternity Playhouse, with an audience capacity of about 200. The conversion is very impressive with much of the old Tabernacle retained (stained glass windows and all) and a fine auditorium, foyer and bar area created.

The opening production is Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons'. The play is set in the immediate post WW2 era when two families are torn apart by earlier personal actions. It's an excellent play beautifully rendered in this production which I highly recommend.
★★★★

A couple more by the sea

Bridge

Tonight, 49.40%, 8/13

Further scenes by the sea

Morning

More works by the sea

iBought it

Apple Store, Bondi Junction

The Apple Store was still heaving yesterday afternoon when I got to it after my shift at the hospital. It was the first day of sales of the new iPad Air and I purchased one to replace my iPad2. My preferred colour had sold out in the morning but otherwise I was able to get the model I wanted.

Same size screen as but smaller than my previous iPad and noticeably lighter I am very happy with my purchase. i watched the hour long iView replay of this week's episode the ABC's Redfern Now on it last night holding the iPad the entire time and my hands never tired.

I'm going to enjoy using it.

Other scenes by the sea