It’s Saturday night and I’m watching “The Comedy Channel”. They’ve just had a terrific stand up special featuring Ellen de Generes and now it’s “The Man Show” which is an all-time classic. “The Bill” will be on shortly. But just when you thought my life was just sitting at home watching television and updating my blog, there is some good news: I’m going out to a party later on tonight.
That said, the last week has been incredibly busy, mostly with work. We’ve had some guest presenters at work (that always takes a bit of extra effort), we’re in a time of transition and, of course, we had to be especially careful in our coverage of the terrorist attacks in London.
However, there has been some socialising.
I went along to the Blogger Meetup on Tuesday night, but by the time I arrived everyone had already gone home.
And then on Thursday night, Damien and I went out for a drink at a few pubs around Central Sydney (which was heaps of fun), although it was somewhat interrupted by work phone calls due to the terrorist attacks. Curiously enough, at one pub where we were drinking, where there was demonstrated interest in having the television sound turned up, management instructed the bar staff to keep the sound down and to keep the music on.
And then today, Yvette came over late this morning and then I went to her place, along with a few others, to watch the world premiere of the short film, “Coonamble Rodeo 2005” which you can view on this page (see right hand navigation bar). We’ve resolved that our next big weekend away will be to the Wagga Wagga Picnic Races during the October Long Weekend.
In good news, the family survived the Lismore floods safe and sound, although there was a chance they might be forced to evacuate. There’s some great photographs on the ABC North Coast website. And my niece, Michelle appeared briefly on the Richard Glover drive show talking about the dilemma of staying or evacuating with a young baby.
Sorry that I haven’t had much interesting to write about of late. Work is really dominating my life. But I suspect the “work/life balance” will be resolved shortly.
I really wanted to see Elvis Costello with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. I’ve long admired his work, as he combines a wonderful whimsical lyric and vocal style, with exceptional melodies. Throughout his career, I’ve been impressed with the obvious highlights, including “Olivers Army” (which actually used the piano line from Dancing Queen”), the soulful country of “Good Year For The Roses”, “Every Day I Write The Book” (with its early Charles and Diana in divorce mode video), through to his more recent collaborations with Burt Bacharach and Sophie van Otter. I really like Elvis Costello.
But to be totally and brutally honest I was disappointed with last night’s performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra because I didn’t really think he was all that engaged with either the work or with the audience. The phrase, perhaps unfairly, that both Damien and I used was “going through the motions”.
Early in the piece, Costello appeared on stage to explain the first half of the evening would be a piece he composed for a French (or was it Italian?) dance intepretation of a Shakespearean work. The work began, and it was pretty interesting musically and I was genuinely excited. Although Costello had explained the different musical motifs and how they related to the work, after a while it all began to sound like a movie soundtrack, like an ipod on shuffle, not really coming to any real conclusion. The audience was non-plussed, clapping politely at the end. I noticed a prominent Australian and his wife, both great consumers of the arts, politely leave at the end of intermission, reflecting what I thought was a non-plussed mood in the theatre.
In the second half Costello emerged to sing many of his favourite songs with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. With one or two exceptions where he sang familiar works, he stuck to the lesser known works, thereby disappointing a large section of the audience. Yeh, he did Veronica and yeh, he did an interesting version of Oliver’s Army, but that was about it. The rest of the works were unfamiliar, often obscure, songs he had written for other people, often sung by Costello in an uninterested, dead pan manner. He only really “came to life” when he started singing the works with Bacharach – and my god, he SANG – or in songs like “She”. The last three or four songs were really good, really dramatic and heartfelt, which made both Damo and I wonder why he hadn’t been like that earlier in the night.
He probably did too many encores (I think it was four) when the crowd wasn’t really demanding it. I also think the limited standing ovation (only a small percentage of the eahtre) was probably more in recognition of previous works than last night’s performance. Bit sad, really.
In stark contrast to last week when I went to the Unisex Amateur Strip Night, tonight I went to a rather erudite discussion at Glebe Books about the forthcoming Federal Election, followed by tapas at a nearby Spanish restaurant. The occasion was a discussion between former ABC journalist and now political aspirant, Maxine McKew and Sydney Morning Herald journalist, Peter Hartcher. I admire them both for the consistently even hand approach they have demonstrated in their professional careers. The discussion was organised, though, in the days before McKew nailed her political colours to the flagpole. As such, what was probably going to be fairly independent and dispassionate discussion between two commentators on the state of Australian politics, took on a more overtly political hue.
I can’t decide, however, if the crowd was overwhelmingly an ALP-supporting audience, or if they were a crowd of ABC-TV viewers who just love Maxine McKew. The audience consensus was the former, but I suspect a fair degree of the latter, as McKew was welcomed with rapturous applause, and there was a fair bit of rubber-necking occuring, as the audience angled for a “real life view” (off-screen) of Maxine.
Bipolar Nation by Peter Hartcher
So although Peter was supposed to be the centre of attention, much of the attention (for the first half at least) was focussed on Maxine. Perhaps it was just as well, then, that she had to leave early to attend her first ALP branch meeting, as attention became focussed back on Peter Hartcher’s book, which has a very interesting central thesis.
At the heart of Hartcher’s book is a multi-faceted argument which explains why he believes Kevin Rudd and Labor (despite the current opinion polls) will still find it difficult to win this year’s Federal Election. Hartcher observed tonight that, historically speaking, Labor’s popularity has usually peaked, and John Howard’s popularity has usually bottomed, six to eight months out from the election. Hartcher also observed that, at the Federal level at least, Australians have preferred Liberal/National Federal Govenrments.
Hartcher explains this preference for State Labor Governments and Coalition Federal Governments in terms of “mummy” and “daddy” politics. That (and this is a generalisation) at the state level, we want governments who will care for us in the areas of health and education (for example), while at the national level, we want governments who will look after us, and sometime be tough, when it comes to national security and the economy. In the first instance, McKew responded to this conceit as one which waas “incredibly paternalistic”, but then offered the argument that Howard was the old-fashioned daddy who had failed to keep up with the times, while Rudd was new, younger father who was in touch with his children and was open to the ideas of the new world.
A recurrent theme for McKew, and perhaps indicative of the way in which Labor will position itself at the Federal Election, was the idea that Kevin Rudd offered solutions to an uncertain future, and that staying with John Howard was a “risk” because “he didn’t”. In common with Hartcher’s theme that Australians only choose Labor Federal Governments in difficult times (the 1940’s when we were at war and the 1980s when interest rates were at 22% and the resources boom had all but collapsed), McKew argued the challenges of climate change, mean the time is right for another federal Labor Government.
Despite the opinion polls which suggest a Federal Labor victory this year, with Kevin Rudd clearly the preferred Prime Minister, both McKew and Hartcher observed the rubbery-ness of the figures. Both noted that on the key issues of national security and economic management, the opinion polls show Howard remains the preferred choice.
Hartcher argued that unless Labor can convince the electorate they can be trusted on these key issues, they won’t be able to unseat the Coalition. McKew agreed, though, she noted the difference between Howard and Rudd on these issues was narrowing. To support his argument, Hartcher quoted a Rudd analogy that Labor was like one of those multi-layered Babooshka dolls. Rudd’s analogy was that Labor would only be “trusted” federally if the electorate was convinced of their credentials on the outer-layers of the national security and the economy, that the electorate won’t look inside unless they are happy with the outer layers. Hartcher explained that when he recently asked Rudd about where climate-change fitted within this, Rudd said “somewhere between the two”.
Oh yeah, and fellow Sydney blogger, Glen Fuller from Event Machinics works there. Hi Glen…
“All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!”
About this time last week Grant, Graeme and I were watching the Eurovision Song Contest. In the midst of all the frivolity, I got one of “those” phone calls. It was a phone call telling me that Gloria was close to death, and wasn’t expected to survive the night.
Gloria had been in a nursing home for about three or four years, living with a combination of Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease. The phrase “full of life” was a phrase that you would use, without resorting to cliche, to describe Gloria. These conditions, however, had combined in an incredibly cruel manner. She was only 64 years old. I knew the phone call would eventually come to say her life was over, but it still hasn’t been easy.
I went to work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and came every night and sobbed. Late on Thursday night, I got a phone call from Sharon to tell me Gloria had died about thirty minutes earlier.
The last few days have been difficult. I’ve come to realise sleeping is my main coping mechanism for grief. I think I’ve slept maybe two-thirds of every day since.vI wandered out today for a while, as Colin had invited me over for lunch which was a welcome relief. Through it all I’ve felt incredibly supported by family and friends. I feel very lucky in that regard.
Today and tonight I’ve pretty much finished writing the eulogy which I’m to deliver on Wednesday. Trying to make sure you do justice to someone’s life is so incredibly hard. In the end all you can do is be honest and pray that what you say gives comfort to those left behind.
It wasn’t a remarkable day by any stretch of the imagination. It was enjoyable, though not remarkable.
As usual for a Wednesday, I caught up with friends at our favourite local pub.
And as usual (as per lately) the expensive bed sale was underway in the area where we normally like to sit.
So we found ourselves sitting closer to the kitchen, and closer to the vending machine.
I can’t remember if it was John or Vanessa who noted them first, but we all had a good laugh when someone noticed the new addition to the vending machine.
In the midst of the chips, the M&Ms, and nuts etc, were condoms. Quite well priced, actually at $2.50, the same price as a packet of chips.
Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great they sell condoms. But I do wonder about the placement of them in a vending machine that otherwise sells convenience foods.
And do you think it’s intentional they’ve placed the condoms quite near to the nuts and the snakes?
Or is that just my childish schoolboy sense of humour coming out?
The last time I caught a train to Parramatta I caused a controversy on Facebook. “Why are you doing that?” “What’s going on?” was the shocked and surprised response of many people who may have mistakenly confused me for an inner-city urbanite. It’s partly true, but I have spent two-thirds of my life living in regional Australia, including about 5 years in remote areas. Anyway, I digress.
Tonight we travelled to Parramatta Riverside Theatre to see a very “urban” play, “Angels In America”.
As I’ve spent most of my life living in rural Australia, I didn’t actually see the play when it was first staged in Australia. And I didn’t go to this particular production when it played in Newtown.
But I had seen the mini-series with Meryl Streep et al, which I enjoyed immensely.
Program from Angels in America production at Parramatta Riverside Theatre
In all, “Angels In America” amounts to about 6 hours of theatre, staged in two parts. Tonight we saw part one.
“How did it work as a night of theatre?”, I asked my friend Sam, who had neither seen the play nor the mini-series. He was unsure, as I think he thought a lot was left up in the air, and you really need to see both nights to make a complete judgement.
I, on the other hand, knew what comes next. And for me what happens next is far more interesting. I haven’t checked to see when “part two” runs, though I’m hoping it will be soon.
I really enjoyed tonight’s production. I mean, I like the play because it’s wordy and challenging, but also very entertaining with a great heart, and some fantastic one liners.
For me, the standout performances came from Akos Armont (as Louis), Abi Austin (as his wife, Harper), and Elaine Hudson (who played a variety of roles). They were all totally convincing, and seemed to understand their roles well. As much as I like Tyran Park, I couldn’t help but compare his version of Joe with that of Patrick Wilson who was in the mini-series. For me, Patrick Wilson completely nailed the role of a young Mormon man struggling with his sexuality.
As we glanced through the program, we noticed we were setting next to the set designer which was fortunate, because we both thought the set and design were excellent.
“It didn’t seem like three hours”, we observed to each other on the way home on the train.
In fact, the whole day flew for me. I’m extremely busy at work at the moment, working on a project which is pretty rewarding. When you’re enjoying what you do, time flies, doesn’t it?
A colleague messaged me yesterday saying “I just watched Caroline Wilson’s speech. I saw you in the crowd”. He was referring to the Andrew Olle Media Lecture, which I’ve written about previously. In reply I asked him if they’d crossed to me with a glass of wine in hand, as once occurred.
Andrew Olle Media Lecture
I learned my lesson well from that fateful television screening about a decade ago. After crossing to me in the audience (on my third consecutive sip) friends messaged me saying “you look like you had a good night”!!! “Always look interested, and never drink during the telecast” I’ve warned colleagues, ever since.
Aside from yesterday’s visit to the Parbury Ruins, it’s been a reasonably quiet weekend. I’ve spent much of it in bed. There’s the heat – yes – but I’ve also been suffering with a bit of hay-fever. Though I love the trees in my street (they provide shelter in the summer, and let the sun through in the winter), they cause me some problems during spring and autumn when they’re either gaining or shedding leaves.
One of the interesting things I managed to note, however, was the large amount of construction still underway in the city.
Bridge Street ConstructionCircular Quay Construction
Combined with the light rail construction, it seems like Sydney is one big development site right now. “How’s it going?”, a friend asked me the other day. “Though I know it will be good in the end, I’m completely over it”, I told him.
The other week, a colleague visiting from Sweden asked me when I would be back in Stockholm. “When they finish Slussen”, I told him, reflecting on what seems to be Stockholm’s longest running infrastructure project which, apparently, won’t be finished until 2025!!
