But aside from hard work, I also caught up with Kate who has just returned from China. Kate came along, we had a great catchup, we had some drinks, and she took some great photographs of the night.
Speaking of China, Damo goes next week, and I’m looking for somewhere in Sydney for a nice farewell meal where they speak Mandarin, not Cantonese. Can you suggest somewhere?
And by the way, am I the only person who was never been to China :) I’m beginning to feel that way!
I think I crossed a line tonight at The Supper Club.
You know how you can go to the movies and have a cry and that’s okay?
Same goes for theatre.
But I’m not sure you’re supposed to have a cry at a cabaret night.
Tonight, while watching and listening to Lucy Durack sing a Matthew Robinson song I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
And then for just a moment, I actually thought I might burst into tears.
It was a song I first heard Lucy perform in cabaret a few years ago at Bar Me. It’s a song about unrequited love, and desperately so, as the person singing the song also lacks a lot of self-confidence. “Maybe Friday, maybe Saturday, maybe next week” or words to that effect were sung tonight with such honesty and passion by Lucy that it hit a raw nerve with me.
Another stunning moment was a song by Margi de Ferranti, probably best known for her role in Australia in Mamma Mia. A couple of years down the track, she’s singing better than ever.
The common link to all of those who performed was the song-writing of Matthew Robinson.
Originally from Rockhampton, Matthew is the full package. He writes wonderful songs, he sings beautifully, and he’s pleasing on the eye which makes him a highly marketable performer also. He was the lead in Pippin a couple of years ago.
But best of all in my view, he writes wonderful songs that often encompass both minor and major keys, thus you have moments of sadness and moments of joy combined into one.
Tonight, in particular, he sang with such incredible passion. There was one song, for example, which he described as one he wrote about an ex-boyfriend, and the realisation they had little in common, while sitting on the steps of the Opera House, where he sang with incredible passion and power.
He also writes lyrically funny songs, and his performance tonight of his song, “Boyband” was terrific.
You just know and hope Matthew is going to be a huge star.
Previously on this blog, I’ve written about my slight obsession with Swedish pop star, Ola.
I first discovered his work when he was an entrant in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish finals leading to the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2008. I thought the song, Love in Stereo was “okay”. A few months later I saw him perform live at Stockholm Pride and, again, I thought he was “okay”. He went from being “okay” to pretty fantastic when, two years later, he entered Melodifestivalen with the song “Unstoppable (The Return Of Natalie)” which was one of my favourite songs that year. It’s so incredibly catchy, and he performed it with such great enthusiasm.
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In the last twelve months I’ve also become quite a fan of his song, “All Over The World” which I think has a great tune, has fun lyrics, and is well sung.
Oh by the way, there’s a terrific tribute clip made by a Canadian which is very cute.
And then in the last few days, Ola has released via Youtube, his new song, “I’m In Love” which I think has a Gaga-esque quality, and which I’ve had on repeat-peat-peat, repeat-peat-peat-peat for the last few days. A “proper” video will follow soon.
Anyway, I just wanna say that I love the fact that, at 46, and with very broad musical tastes, there’s still time in my life for a good pop song.
I always feel a bit awkward when friends talk about what they’ve been watching on TV. “Have you seen Nashville? What did you think of the latest episode of Borgen? Have you been watching House Of Cards”. You know what I mean. THOSE kind of conversations where a group of friends talk in intimate detail about a television show, about which you have absolutely no knowledge at all.
I don’t watch a lot of television. Sure, I have Foxtel and I have Netflix, but I’m not one for discovering new programs. For me, television is like “comfort food”. It’s something you have to keep you company. Obviously when there’s news, I binge-watch all of the appropriate channels. But on a regular day to day basis, I use both services for repeats of The Simpsons, Will & Grace, Absolutely Fabulous and the like.
But occasionally I really get into a program and become a little obsessive about it. This happened recently with the Danish series, “Rita” which I absolutely loved. And for the last couple of years, I’ve really loved the Josh Thomas series, “Please Like Me”.
I’ve seen Josh perform live at the Sydney Opera House. Though I quite liked what he did, I wouldn’t say I was a fan of his stand-up, or even some of the many times I’ve seen him perform on television. But when it comes to “Please Like Me”, I’m a complete fan.
What I really like about the show is that it combines both head and heart. While there are some wonderful moments of intellectual comedy, the program also has rounded out characters who you genuinely care about. Series 1 was good; Series 2 was better. That wonderful program where he and his mother (with a mental illness) travelled together to Tasmania was remarkable for its honesty as well as its comedy.
When the latest series (Series 3) appeared as a digital download I bought it immediately. It added to the collection, as I regularly watch Series 1 and 2 over and over again. I have to say, though, it’s frustrating having to wait week by week for the series to be complete, as I’d love to watch it all together over a weekend.
The first two episodes of the latest series have been terrific, especially for the evolution of the character of Josh’s boyfriend, Arnold, in the new series. From last season where we saw him as a character purely with a mental illness, to this series, where we’re seeing him as a more rounded character has been a wonderful transformation.
So yeah, next time we meet don’t ask me about “House Of Cards”, but I’ll happily chat at length about “Please Like Me”. Oh yeah, and I have a bit of a mancrush on Josh’s best friend in the series, Tom.
“This is the best haloumi I’ve ever tasted”, my friend Michaela said to one of the co-owners of Yulli’s, one of my favourite local bars.
And she wasn’t bull-shitting. It was absolutely to-die-for. Not a squeak in sight!
We had just been to see a movie, and without too much persuasion on the part of either one of us, decided we should have a small bite to eat before heading home. And of course, we both love Yulli’s, with their combination of good vegetarian food, good wine list, and a warm and inviting atmosphere.
The movie we had been to see was called Stone Bros.
The movie’s plot concerns Charlie and Eddie (Leon Burchill and Luke Carroll) on a road trip from Perth to Kalgoorlie.
Along the way, they smoke far too much marijuana, pick up a crazy hitch-hiker, run over a kangaroo, and experience a rather mad wedding in the middle of nowhere.
In fact there’s also a lovely scene where Mark Bin Bakar (Mary G), playing the role of Aunty Carol, sings a song – slow and sensually – about how she wants to make love to….. “a blaaaaack blaaaack maaaaaan”.
David Page from Bangarra fame also plays an important role in the film as Regina, a cross-dresser holding off having the chop because he’s “not done with (his) dick yet”. The line reminded me of a scene from another movie I saw recently, Stonewall, where a similar line was used, with the follow-up, “…and neither are you”.
The film isn’t perfect. There’s a scene about a dog that goes on far too long, and without much purpose in my view. But it’s pretty good. I laughed a fair bit, enjoyed the ride, and loved the scenery, a fair amount of which I actually recognised from my time in Western Australia back in 2004.
“The film was supposed to be called To Bourke And Bourke” (or words to that effect), one of the actors said at the screening at Fox Studios. “But the money came from Western Australia, so that’s where we filmed it”, he added.
The film got a good round of applause as it ended. Although I don’t think it’s going to be block-buster, I think it has the potential to be a reasonably successful Australian film. It’s also a significant film in terms of Indigenous culture, “It’s nnnnnottttt political”, one of the actors added with a degree of almost-relief in his work.
So after watching the film and chatting with one of the actors at the pub, we headed off to Yulli’s. A perfect Wednesday.
It’s Saturday afternoon and I’ve just arrived back from an interesting walk around Central Sydney. I feel pretty good about life and pretty good about the world. And I really enjoyed my walk, so I thought I’d share a few hours of my life with you.
As it was Saturday, I started off the morning, as usual, watching “The Simpsons” and “Will & Grace” on Foxtel. In the case of both programs I never really liked them when they first appeared on television. Indeed, when “The Simpsons” were a part of “The Tracey Ullmann Show” I considered them a painful interruption. Now, however, they’re both firm favourites and I really enjoy a couple of hours on the couch watching them.
Concerned, however, that I’d spend the day on the couch, I decided to head out for some sunshine. Walking down Crown Street, I cast my eye briefly towards the Surry Hills Markets. The markets have been going for several years now, and although they’re very popular, they don’t do all that much for me. Like the annual “Surry Hills Festival”, I both love them and hate them. I love them because they display a great sense of community. I hate them because they’re actually pretty daggy.
As I walked down Oxford Street, food was high on my level of consciousness. Walking past Starbucks and countless number of “gay cafes”, I found myself having a coffee and almond tart at a really nice little patisserie. I really hate those “gay cafes”. You know the ones where tables of men sit watching the world go by, eating bad tasting and overpriced food and coffee, served by skinny young things with too much attitude.
From there I wandered further down Oxford Street, bought one of those great aloe vera soft drinks I like so much at the IGA Supermarket and then spent half an hour of so enjoying the sunshine in Hyde Park. It’s interesting to lie there in the sun and consider the close physical proximity between those who, like me, are reasonably well off and can enjoy laying on the grass and those who are very poor, homeless, and for whom laying on the grass is a reality.
I then walked over to St Mary’s Cathedral and went in for a few moments of prayer. Am I being the best person I can possibly be? Am I living the lifestyle I should? Am I behaving in my personal and work relationship the way I should?
Upon leaving St Mary’s I was reminded that it’s Hiroshima Day, so I wandered over to the rally in the park. I remember as a teenager and young adult that Hiroshima Day was always an important day on the calendar. Maybe that’s because I grew up in Lismore on the NSW North Coast where the peace movement was strong? Maybe it was because memories of the Second World War were still high in the minds of people I knew. But now, sixty years since the end of the Second World War, just a small crowd, maybe a couple of hundred, were gathered in Hyde Park. It almost seemed as if there were more people selling buttons for Friends Of The Earth or copies of Green Left Weekly than there were people listening and absorbing the messages.
I then walked up through town, finally ending up in Chinatown where I had steamed dumplings in a small cafe in the Burlington Centre.
What a great three hours of my life.
Susannah Place is a series of four terraces located at The Rocks in Sydney which were built in 1844 by an Irish family. The houses were kept in the family for many years, and were mostly rented out to working class families.
Throughout most of the period of European settlement, The Rocks began to develop a “colourful reptuation”, which continued throughout the nineteenth century, culminating in the notorious “Push Gangs” which dominated the area in the 1890s.
In 1900, the outbreak of bubonic plague, resulting in 303 diagnosed cases and 103 deaths, further enhanced the less than salubrious reputation of The Rocks. In an effort to “clean up” the area, due to the outbreak of plague, many buildings were demolished by the newly established Sydney Harbour Trust. Although the plague was given as the official reason for these demolitions, many have argued, there were other pro-development reasons as well, such as the planned construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. These houses were were not, apparently, affected by the plague of 1900 and so were not demolished. In fact, I understand they were inhabited up until the 1980s.
Further modernisation of the area continued until, in the 1970s, in protest at further demolition, and at the eviction of long-term Housing Commission residents, Green Bans were established, ensuring the preservation of many historic buildings, such as Susannah Place.
The terraces are now owned by the Historic Houses Trust of NSW which has maintained them. Inside the houses, which have been restored, but not renovated, there is period furniture, representing the style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even in In the backyard, there was an outside toilet and a copper washing basin, much like the one I remember bathing in as a child.
It’s a reflection, I guess of how things have changed: what was once slum accommodation is now a tourist attraction. On a video we watched inside one of the houses, one of the former residents quipped that when she lived there in the ealry 60s it was hard to get a credit account at a department store if “The Rocks” was your address, but by the 80s, people would almost ask you for an autograph if you told them you lived in the area!
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Well there’s pretty well anywhere in Ashfield. Their native language will be Shanghainese but they will also speak Mandarin. That might be too far out for you. Or there is the Xibei (西北) – meaning, west-north or in English, north-west) English name See-bay, next to the sex-on-premises venues in lower Pitt St, but maybe that won’t be fancy enough. Or you could try the grander noodle place upstairs in World Square (over-priced, but as a Taiwanese chain they will speak Dixie-equivalent Mandarin). Plenty of the waiters in Chinatown are in fact ex-PRC, so will also speak putonghua.
I think I can confidently assert that a majority of the world’s population has never been to China.
However I have to admit that I worked there for a couple of years in the early 1980s.
Marcellous – thanks for the suggestions.
@Victor… doesn’t the majority of the world’s population LIVE in china? Well almost. :)
I asked my classmates but they’re all of the cantonese variety I’m afraid. Why would you want to find a restaurant where they speak mandarin was the universal response! :)
I’ve never been to China (unless you count Hong Kong). I have been to Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore. So China must be next.
Tom, China certainly has a big chunk of the world’s population but there are still plenty elsewhere to outnumber them. :-)
Tom – See Bay turned out to be excellent.
M-H – lovely to see you again, hoping the removals, renovations has all gone well.
Victor – Hi Victor, I tried to comment on the straight Swedish boys kissing post, but still had problems. I’ll try from work. Nice clip by the way.
Which came first? See Bay or eBay?