Wednesday
It was just the usual Wednesday for me. Work, and then a couple of beers at the Lewisham Hotel.
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Plot Changes
I had the pleasure of seeing two fantastic films recently, each with its own unique appeal.
The first was “Of An Age,” a movie that almost lost me during the opening sequence with its frenetic pace and my lack of sympathy for the characters.
However, I’m so glad I stuck with it because the rest of the film unfolds at a much more leisurely pace and captures the heart of a young man who’s finally accepting his sexuality. The central character, Ari, struggles with his identity in a culturally diverse environment, and the story reminded me of other great films like “Loaded” and “Head On.”
Overall, I highly recommend “Of An Age,” but be patient with the first fifteen minutes.
The second film I saw was “Allelujah,” and I was expecting a light-hearted English comedy with a star-studded cast that included Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Russell Tovey, and Jennifer Saunders.
However, the film surprised me with a plot twist that, in hindsight, should have been more apparent given that it’s based on a play by the renowned playwright Alan Bennett.
“Allelujah” explores themes of aged care and is filled with memorable performances, including Saunders in a role that’s a departure from her usual comedic roles.
Despite the audience being mostly composed of seniors, the film’s themes are universal, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates thoughtful storytelling.
Food, Politics and Acting
There was lots to talk about today, as I attended a monthly “meeting” of the First Sunday Roast Club.
For about a year now, three other friends and I have met regularly for two or three hours of great food, wine and conversation. https://thelimbshift.com/2024/11/first-sunday-roast-club
We take it in turns to choose the restaurant or pub, and today it was the Dove & Olive at Surry Hills. Though it’s a “meeting”, we keep forgetting to take “minutes”, aside from deciding on whose turn it is to make next month’s booking. Next month, it’s my turn, so if you have any Sydney roast lunch recommendations, please comment below.
Today, it was a smaller gathering, with only three attending, not four. One member is currently traveling overseas, so we sent him photos of our lunch. Another member will be joining him on his trip soon. One of us recently bought a new apartment. And I’m getting ready for my own overseas travel in a few weeks. So the “agenda” was quite a lengthy one.
We discussed many things, including the federal election held this weekend here in Australia. It’s been quite exciting as the Labor Party significantly exceeded predictions and won in a landslide.
Even the Liberal party leader, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, lost his own seat, defeated by Ali France who, like me, is an amputee. This is something I only recently learned. I knew she had a disability but wasn’t aware she was an amputee. Go Ali!
I couldn’t vote in person yesterday, because I was working at Royal North Shore Hospital.
When I say “working”, I mean I spent most of the day flat out on my back, as a “pretend patient” for twenty doctors undertaking their rehabilitation specialist exams.
The role of “a 52-year-old dairy farmer who had a lower leg amputation due to diabetes complications” was a role I felt qualified to play,
Often, student actors will play the role of patients. As a friend joked, I took “method acting” to a whole new level!!
I might not be the next Hemsworth, but I really enjoyed the experience and hope my participation contributed to their learning.
Back To Basics
Since I’ve been working from home, preparing meals has become a much more important part of my life. When I was full-time from the office, I’d mostly pick up some takeaway for lunch. But since I’ve been at home, I’m much more inclined to make something, from a simple salad (my favourite is a simple calad of tomato, cheese and cucumber) to something more complex.
I made a terrific Thai Chicken Curry last week, and in previous years I would have eaten the meal and then frozen the rest. My freezer used to be full of frozen meals. Frozen, but then hardly-ever unfrozen! And so since working from home, I’ve been more inclined to just keep eating the meals until they were finished. I think I set a personal record the other week with that curry – I had it for lunch, dinner, lunch, dinner, and then lunch the next day.
The other thing I’ve done recently is go back to basics wirth bedding.
The first time I had one they were called “continental quilts”. I don’t remember exactly when it was, thoughI suspect it wasn’t until about 1987. Photographs from my day at university, and living in Tarragindi reveal I was still using blankets. It wasn’t until I moved into the house at Taringa that I had a continental quilt, later called a doona.
As part of “growing up”, I think I thought it was time to walk away from blankets, as a thing of “childhood”, and to embrace something a little more”grown up”. And they’ve been with me for the rest of my life.
The one thing I could never do was put on the cover “properly”. It was always a bit of a drama, and once the task was completed, they never really looked “tidy”. Thus, the “organisation” of my childhood gave way to an “unmade bed” look of adulthood.
I was thinking about this the other day when I saw some statistics – I don’t remember where I saw them – about the low percentage of people who make their beds every day. I’m not one of them.
Co-oincidentally, as winter returns, I’ve been thinking of going back to blankets. I’ve been thinking about the environmentalism of the doona. Even though they can appear to be very “natural”, I’ve been wondering about the likely synthetic nature of most doonas. Yes, I use that word now.
The other day I decided it was time to buy a couple of old-style blankets for my bed. I have a couple of lovely “throws” which I use. But I thought maybe a couple of old-style blankets would be something I could use in preference.
And you know what? They’re terrific. They feel warm, they feel good. All I need is for my mum to come into the room to tuck the blankets with an almost-suffocating tightness. Love it!
And in conversations, too, it’s time for back to basics!
I was thinking the other day about the adrenalin rush some people find from having an argument. I was watching a very weird discussion on Facebook about how someone I know who had seen an older man (he was described as being in his 60s) ask a young woman (she was described as being in her 20s) to pick up her newspapers on a crowded train so he could sit down.
By the account of my friend, it was a tense discussion. “Not without a facemask”, she said, to his reply, “I have one, but I don’t need one”. He put the mask on, and that was the end of it. None of the people were there went into overdrive on the Facebook post saying things like “She must have felt threatened”, “He must have been menacing”, and it was about “Women’s right to consent”.
I was a bit surprised about the backlash to the older man, because my response was “If it was me and an older man had asked me to pick up the newspapers, or more than that I would have stood up and offered him my seat. I see this quite a bit on Sydney buses and trains, where younger people will stare are their phones and “pretend” not to see older people. I’ve become the person who says to them, “Get up, there’s an older person who needs a seat, just like the signs say”…
Friday Afternoon at Coogee
So it’s Friday afternoon, you’re sitting at home in a t-shirt and shorts, and a friend texts you to say “I need a drink”. A tough week at work, apparently. So you agree to meet for a bite to eat, and can’t decide where to go. “Let’s go to the beach somewhere”, we decided, agreeing quickly on Coogee. “Of all the Eastern suburbs beaches, it’s my favourite, I declared”. “Besides the people on the 372 bus are much nicer than those on the 393 or the 395”, I added. “They stand up for old people, they don’t think their shopping bag is entitled to a paying seat of its own, and they don’t ignore you because they’re so engrossed in their mobile phone”, I said. Ten minutes later we were at Coogee and exploring the options. Quickly we settled on fish and chips at the outdoor cafe near where the buses stop. The food was good, though not great. Later, a walk along the beach, and we both concluded that “oh so necessary drink” wasn’t needed after all. Ice cream, on the other hand :)
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
One of my absolute favourite things from my overseas trip last year was my visit to the Peggy Guggenhem Museum in Venice.
As I wrote at the time
According to the audio tour, Peggy was an American heiress who came to live in Venice in her early twenties. With gazillions of dollars behind her, the audio tour explains, she needed to find a purpose in life. Aside from being married, and apparently shagging lots of other blokes which I’m sure could be a “purpose in life”. And so she began collecting contemporary artists: artists like Pollock and Kandinsky. She lived in the house where the museum now exists for over thirty years. And what a house! Located right on the waterfront, it was both spacious and had spectacular views. But aside from the views, the museum contains some of the most spectacular contemporary art of the twentieth century. I loved it.
And so when I saw a review in The Australian the other week of a new documentary film about her life story, I was very excited. A friend and I, who had also been to the museum, hit the Chauvel Cinema last night to see the film.
At the heart of the documentary was the discovery of some previously hidden recordings she had made, as part of a biography project. Over the top of these recordings was some wonderful archival footage.
“Having seen the documentary, I don’t think I really know her any better than when I visited the museum”, I told my friend as we left the cinema. “It’s like they couldn’t decide if the film was about her personal life or her art gallery”, my friend said, saying it failed to satisfy on either level. I agreed, it was interesting, though not stunningly amazing. There were no real “insights” for me which I hadn’t considered previously.
All of that said, the small cinema was close to full, and so there’s obviously a market for learning more about the life of a pretty amazing person.
I’m sure, one day, it will end up late at night on either SBS or ABC.
