Kylie in Koln
As Kylie turned forty, she appeared on stage in Cologne, Germany. My friend Pat was there, and was interviewed in 702 ABC Sydney.
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Helpmann Awards
“My God, I hope we don’t end up over the bridge again”, I whispered in Colin’s ear as we caught the shuttle bus from the Opera House to The Argyle for the Helpmann Awards After-Show Party.
It was a reference to a Sydney Film Festival opening or closing (I can’t recall) night we attended several years ago.
On that particular occasion, our bus driver took the wrong turn on the way from the State Theatre to The Argyle and suddenly we found ourselves half way across the bridge.
There was a lot of laughter, and recognition. Who hasn’t found themselves criss-crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge by missing the right turn. It’s a bit like going to Canberra and ending up in a continuous circuit around Parliament House.
Thankfully this time the bus driver found his way correctly, and we were soon happily drinking champagne and eating canapes.
Colin and I had met at 5.30 at Opera Bar where I, in particular, enjoyed the ravioli. Gosh it tasted good. And it was just the right size for a quick bite before a night at the theatre.
“Why are you going so early?”, Colin told me a friend had asked him. “Nobody goes to the early show”, his friend had told him.
“We do”, we both agreed. Even though the awards presented are not major ones, we both agreed it was great fun to go to both “sittings” of the Helpmann Awards, which recognise live performance in Australia.
As such, there was everything from a “physical theatre” group, to straight opera, ballet, contemporary dance, and a rather loud and raucous version of “Women In Uniform” by Skyhooks, though fronted by Jimmy Barnes, and also featuring Diesel.
“It’s a bit of a theatrical fruit salad”, I commented to Colin later in the night.
To attend and to enjoy everything, you really need to have broad tastes in live performance. Luckily I do. And so for me there was some joy in everything I saw.
The only slight disappointment for me this year was that there wasn’t as much comedy as I’d remembered from previous awards. Even though hosts, Julia Zemiro and Jonathan Biggins were both absolutely terrific, I felt like I would have liked a few more laughs.
I remember with fondness The Helen Clarke Five from a couple of years ago, an inspired act featuring Biggins and Phillip Scott who based there act around the song “Take Five” by The Dave Clark Five, but who sang a really funny ditty about New Zealand.
I just love these awards, though, because they celebrate stuff which I personally find incredibly important in my life.
For me there’s nothing quite like a night in the theatre. Unless there’s something deeply troubling you, you can suspend belief for a moment. For a couple of hours you can let your mind wander and focus on just one thing. And it’s mostly always done with the best of intentions – to make people happy, to make people sad or reflective, or just to make people think. Great stuff.
Oh, and I love the champagne and canapes too!
The absolute highlight for me, though, was Liv Ulmann who presented an award. Cool. Nordic. Strong. I love women like that.
As we walked down the stairs I instructed Colin about how to greet her in Swedish – “Hej Liv, välkommen till Australien” – just in case we ran into her at the after party.
She wasn’t there. And it’s just as well, because I’ve since discovered that, despite her Swedish connections, she’s actually Norwegian by birth.
“En genant situation” avoided…
Det var en vänlig dag
One of the great things about learning Swedish is that when you walk around IKEA, some of the previously strange sounding names for furniture make sense.
Or not.
Today, for example, I noticed items with names such as “lycka” (happiness) and “vänlig” (ordinary/everyday). I bought the ordinary/everyday glasses, by the way, along with a small mirror for my shower, as well as a variety of typical Swedish food. The mirror, by the way was called Vänna which is the name of a town in Sweden.
In fact, the food was the main reason for my journey today. I was hankering after some meatballs which I thought were pretty good the last time I visited. Today, however, they were not as good: a little under-cooked, almost resembling rissoles, with the sauce seemingly watered down and “slopped” on the plate. One bright moment, though, was that I asked for, and got extra lingonberries.
In the food stakes, I bought some frozen köttbullar (meat balls), some lingon sylt (lingonberry sauce), some frozen prinsesstårta (a sponge cake with Chernobyl-like green marzipan covering), kopparberg (pear cidar), lingonsaft (lingonberry soft drink) abd two packets of billar (lollies). So the next time I have a meat ball craving, I’m going to attempt it myself instead of making the treck all the way to Rhodes. Roll on IKEA in Tempe, I say.
The evening ahead holds little excitement except for dinner, washing, and a night in front of the television. It was an ordinary day.
Guys and Dolls
To be honest, it wasn’t the greatest night I’ve spent at the theatre.
This is despite the sum of its parts. Lisa McCune was fantastic. Really fantastic. Marina Prior was amazing. Really amazing. You just had to look at Madga Szubanski and you laughed (for all the right reasons, her amazing sense of comic timing). Ian Stenlake was also really terrific.
And I probably enjoyed the night, but it wasn’t the greatest night I’ve spent in the theatre seeing the opening night of “Guys and Dolls”.
Ordinarilly when you go to an opening night there’s some kind of standing ovation. But tonight there wasn’t. And you could see on the faces of the actors a level of disappointment. You could see they also felt something wasn’t quite right.
And this is despite the fact the performances were excellent. And also the male chorus, especially doing “Luck Be A Lady” was tight, with performances that were well sung and beautifully choreographed.
It’s good, and I’d recommend it. Maybe it was opening night nerves?
The only other bit of non-work excitement from the day was organising Sunday’s screening of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish Grand Final for Eurovision at the Lewisham Hotel, 3pm, on Parramatta Road, Lewisham. Be there or be square…
Chinese New Year
We’re in the midst of Chinese New Year in Sydney. Last night, Damo and I went for a walk through the Dickson Street Markets, which are always fun. I have to say, though, there’s some real crap on offer, and I still don’t understand why “Spam” – the processed canned meat – has a stall of its own. On the positive, however, the markets are great fun, especially in the daytime with lion dancing and fire-crackers going off all around.
Damo and I also enjoyed a really wonderful meal at the House of Guangzhou. Accompanied by a bottle of Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc, we enjoyed a tasty well-presented meal of a number of favourites, including BBQ Pork, Chicken, and San Choy Bow. Of particular note were the vegetarian spring rolls which were moist and tasty, in stark contrast to those which you often find in Chinatown which are tasteless and deep-fried beyond recognition.
While visiting Tibet, Kate bought this lovely little keep-sake for me. Apparently it contains lots of lovely written things by the Dalai Lama’s monks. But since it’s so beautifully wrapped, I haven’t unwrapped it, and I’ve been keeping it in my wallet over the last few months.
With fine weather forecast, I’ll also probably pop down to the markets tomorrow ahead of Mardi Gras Fair Day.
My Preferences
“Have you been here for long?”, I asked the waiter at “The Loft” earlier tonight. “Four years for the current owner, but about thirty years overall”, he replied. I wondered to myself if maybe I’d been there before, but had completely forgotten. Or maybe it was called something else. Either way, it was a genuine and pleasant surprise to discover such a terrific place in my hometown.
I’m missing some of the culinary variety I enjoy back in Sydney. I’ve been out to eat a few times, but tonight I headed out for a bit of a look around town to see what else might be on offer.
On a few occasions lately, as I’ve walked through Lismore’s laneways, I’ve noticed “The Loft”. I hadn’t read any reviews, and I had no expectations as I popped in tonight, ostensibly for a quick glass of wine and maybe only something small to eat.
I really enjoyed both the wine and the food. The service was excellent, too, being both friendly and efficient. Seated on the ground floor of the restaurant, I also had a view of the open kitchen. They must have had a few tables of people upstairs too, as the kitchen seemed busy, though they didn’t seem overly “stressed”.
A glass of wine and the tofu was the perfect antidote I needed to my “food funk”. “We must all go here next time we’re all in Lismore”, I said to a group of friends on Messenger, most of whom live away.
In contrast, there’s a cafe in Lismore which I’ve decided I no longer wish to go to. Every time I’ve been to the cafe, I get the impression they don’t really want me to come in because I only want to grab a nice quick coffee. On the first occasion, I asked for a table, and when I told them I only wanted a coffee, they told me “You’ll have to leave if it gets busy”. I was a bit shocked, actually, as I don’t think I’ve ever had someone say that so bluntly before. As I looked around, I noticed the cafe was maybe half-full. “I’ll have a menu”, I replied “just in case I change my mind”.
The same thing with coffee has happened twice since then, including today when it was even less busy than on the first occasion.
I realised today it reminded me of the attitudinal difference between what you receive at Heathrow and Dublin Airports. At customs in Dublin they say to you “How long are you with us for?”, while at customs at Heathrow they say “When are you leaving?” A few simple words can make a big difference to your experience.
The coffee is good, so I might give them one more chance. There are a few other places serving good coffee, so if I don’t go back there, I won’t lose sleep over it.
Sounds like I’m starting to settle in, eh?