“Don’t worry about it”, I said to Damien as we found ourselves a seat in the front row of a taping of “The Chaser”. “They don’t DO audience participation”, I reminded him.
We were both pretty relaxed about things anyway, as we had spent a fair bit of time at another function I had been invited to.
For a bunch of reasons, the taping of the show began about 90 minutes late. So by the time it actually began, we had probably had two or three glasses of wine each. Anything was going to be funny by that stage, we both concluded.
What amazed me most about the taping was how quickly it all went. “We recorded about 50 minutes”, a colleague who works on the show told us after it was finished, leading to genuine surprise on our part, as it certainly didn’t seem that long.
Famously I remember going to see a taping of Denton a few years ago. The interview and recording with Alan Bond went on, literally, for hours. By the end of the taping, I think most of us were at breaking point. “Just answer the bloody question”, I was telepathically trying to communicate with Alan Bond, as he dodged and weaved every one of Denton’s questions.
But the taping of The Chaser went remarkably quickly and remarkably smoothly. I’ll have to watch in to see if we make it to “The Big Screen” when it’s shown Wednesday night.
Not surprisingly, much of the Q&A session before and after the taping was concerned with the recent “Make A Wish” sketch, and the decision to put the program on hold for two weeks. I spied with my little eye a key decision maker in the ABC hierarchy in the audience, who I suspect is now there most weeks keeping an eye on things, though I don’t know for sure if that’s the case.
After the taping Damien and I went for a late-night drink at a nearby pub, where we chatted for hours about the things in our lives that matter the most. Overall, it was a really amazing night that traversed a range of emotions from laughter to (almost) tears. But isn’t that what life’s about?
“Oh thank you so much. That’s so kind. You’ve made my day”, said the woman at the bus stop tonight. As if by some cosmic co-incidence, the first person I’ve spoken to at length since arriving home (aside from friends, family and workmates) was my travel agent. Although I didn’t remember her name instantly, I recognised her face straight away. Actually, to be totally honest, it was her boobs I recognised. She’s got really big boobs.
I’d planned on popping in to the agency this week to say a “thankyou” and that all had gone well. Seeing her at the bus stop tonight, however, saved me the trouble. And a kind word from a customer she probably didn’t remember, though she faked it well, seemed to help take away the huge frown that was on her face.
I was on my way to see Damo for dinner. We went to a great little Japanese place not far from his home where the food was excellent. It was the first time in a few months I’ve had a meal with someone else where the ordering was done in English. After a couple of months of bonjour, and guten tag, and tack sa mycket, it was a wonderful relief to be able to order a meal and to know that I wasn’t going to stuff it up in some way.
This was my first outing since arriving back yesterday morning. Since arriving back I’ve basically slept on and off. I’ve had some conversations on the phone, though to be totally honest, I’m struggling to remember the content of most of them. Let’s just put it this way: the jetlag fairy hasn’t been kind.
I spent $200 tonight purchasing an artwork by the artist, Hu Ming. The truth be told, I didn’t know the work was by Hu Ming, as the work was part of an anonymous fundraiser by 4A Gallery in Sydney. I’m a great fan of 4A, having previously visited quite a number of their exhibitions, and having previously purchased works through their “Edition” scheme. In some ways, tonight’s purchase was a little like “Edition”. Through “Edition” you paid an annual amount of money and received three or four unseen works. Tonight’s annual fundraiser featured works by a range of artists, some of them well-known, others emerging. All of the works, without names attached, cost $200, so in some ways it was a lucky dip.
Last week we launched our 4A A4 Members’ drive and fundraising exhibition. We’d like to welcome all our lovely new Members’ and wish to thank everyone for their generous support. With your help we have raised just under $25,000! This is a fantastic result, and a successful campaign. With a few weeks to go until the end of the exhibition on November 30 we hope to nudge that figure along, all works are now available for viewing and sale through our website here. Details of artists are revealed once works are sold. We’ve had great feedback from all kinds of people about 4A A4, and a number of Members have said that we should run it every year! Based on this feedback 4A A4 may become a regular feature in our program. In our next Members’ newsletter we will publicly launch the key components of our 2014 program. It is going to be an exciting year, with a number of great opportunities for Members and artists. We will be continuing our Beijing Residency Program as well as our Members’ Program of talks, discussions and studio visits. You will also have noticed that the support of our Members is now recognised as a level of support on our Funding and Supporters page here as we recognise the valuable contributions that 4A Members make to our program and activities. Thanks once again for your support! Team 4A Hipster Cocktail
As I walked around the exhibition tonight, there were some artists I could identify simply by their style. But for me, the thing about purchasing an art work without the names attached to them, meant everyone was probably more inclined to purchase something they really loved, as opposed to something they thought was a “good purchase” or a “wise investment”. Unfortunately a lot of the works I really loved were already purchased before I arrived. But there was still one I really liked, and after mentioning it to Kate, she said, “Well, why don’t you just get it”. At a time when I probably shouldn’t be purchasing an art work (travel plans), I thought “what the heck” and $200 on my credit card later, I’m now the owner of a work by Hu Ming, which I like very much.
Painting by Hu Ming
There was a real buzz in the room tonight, with more than half the works sold in about an hour. A fabulous evening all round… No doubt things were helped by the hipster drinks… cocktails served in jam jars!
“OMG, it’s Kerry”, I shouted out inside my heard. Instantly, I realised I shouldn’t be surprised since I knew Kerry was a regular at the Lismore Farmer’s Markets. I’ve known Kerry’s partner, Paul for almost forty years (since the start of high school), and Kerry for about a decade. Or is it longer? Because I’ve lived away for so long, and probably because I’m getting older, memories are beginning to fade.
I obviously lots of very familiar memories of childhood, having grown up in Lismore until I was eighteen. I then had a further five years where I was regularly commuting (most fortnights, if not most weekends) between Brisbane and Lismore. And then as I moved away to Bourke, Renmark, Wagga and Sydney, the visits became less regular. And my contacts with Lismore became more directly focussed on close family and friends. There was never enough time for a week-long visit to see too many people, including more distant family. There has also never really been too much of an opportunity to meet new people. So when I go for a wander around the block, there’s hardly anyone I know. Seeing a familiar face is a rarity.
But that said there’s also a real familiarity about the place. Because my family has been in the area for over 100 years, and because I come from larger families, there’s an awful lot of people I see in the street who look familiar, and it’s because we’re probably related. I had a beer in a local pub this afternoon, for example, and there was a bloke sitting nearby who I spotted. “You’ve got to be an O’Brien”, I thought to myself. Though,in response, I’m sure he was probably thinking “what are you looking at mate”?
From time to time, I’ve toyed with the idea of moving back to Lismore. Unless I had a super interesting job which allowed me to meet lots of new people, or made a concerted effort to become super social, it might be difficult to create a new adult friendship circle back here. There again, you never know. But no, no plans to move back just yet.
After a couple of days visiting San Sebastian and Bilbao, we’re on the train headed back to Madrid. In common with the trip from Barcelona to San Sebastian, the trip takes about five hours, and once again, we’re passing through the vast countryside of Spain.
At first, the landscape from Barcelona to San Sebastian was largely flat. In some respects it resembled those parts of Western NSW (around Broken Hill), across the border into South Australia. The closer we got to San Sebastian, the more mountainous it became. Slowly, as we approached San Sebastian, it began to feel less like “Northern Spain” and more like “Southern France”. The border between the two countries is only a short distance away. The train, which had reached high speeds, slowed dramatically, as we travelled through gorgeous small mountain townships until, eventually, when approaching San Sebastian, it became snail like.
My first impression of San Sebastian was one of slight disappointment. Though there were some lovely older buildings, and in the distance, a statue of Jesus overlooked the city, there were too many tourists for my liking. And yes, I’m aware of the irony of being a tourist and not liking tourists. Though initially I said it was like the Gold Coast (which Sue chastised me about), it’s most definitely a tourist town with lots of up-market shops.
San Sebastien
On Sunday morning, we caught the bus to nearby Bilbao, where we met a lovely man who Sue knew from the University of NSW. He’s from a nearby town (forty-five minutes by car from Bilbao), who had spent six months studying in Sydney, and was now back in his home town, studying, and hoping to start a new job. He was an excellent tour guide and guest for our six hour visit to the city. It was also fun to hear his reflections on living in Australia including the initial struggles he had with “university mealtimes” being closer to 6.00pm, compared with the much later times he was more familiar with in Spain.
Bilbao is home to the world famous Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry. As we walked around the museum, the audio tour explained the building was designed to be “as interesting as the artworks themselves”. Outside there were two major works by Jeff Koons – “Puppy” and “Tulips” – which were wonderful, and which attracted a lot of attention. Inside, there were some terrific works by De Kooning and Basquiat, as well as a rather timesome exhibit of folk-art. Yawn. Had we more time to wander around, I’m sure there would have been more to see.
Bilbao, Spain
Wandering around the city, we took in various historical sights, had an awesome lunch at a place which translate as “Mammas”, and had some gelato at a local place, known for experimentation eg: squid-in and cod flavoured. An awesome day. I really liked Bilbao. It had a “university town” feel about the place.
As I was starting to feel the effects of non-stop travelling, I slept for most of the bus trip back to San Sebastian. Last night, while Sue wandered into the old part of San Sebastian for dinner, I stayed in my room, napped, read a few things, and just “relaxed”. My feet were also a little sore, as we’re generally clocking up fifteen to twenty-thousand steps daily.
One of the other disconcerting things about visiting Spain at the time of the year is waking early and discovering it’s still dark. Sunrise is about eight in the morning.
San Sebastien, Spain
And so after waking and having breakfast, this morning, we put our bags in lockers at the bus station, and caught the hop-on-hop-off bus, taking us eventually to Mount Urgull. At the top of a fairly steep “mini mountain” (I needed to take a rest halfway up), there’s a statue of Jesus (yes, another one), overlooking the city. There isn’t however, a church in sight. At the top of the mountain, Jesus overlooks spectacular views of the city, surrounded by eighteenth century cannons.
Tomorrow, we’ll spend the day travelling to and from Toledo. For me, that’s the end of this wonderful trip. I’m catching a plane tomorrow night, with an overnight stay in Delhi, before arriving back in Sydney later in the week.
As I was catching a bus down Elizabeth Street today, I cast my eyes towards Hyde Park and instantly recognised the Norwegian flag. I actually got off the bus one stop early, pressing the buzzer as if I was some kind of mad man. “Let me off”, I thought to myself, though I didn’t shout it out loud, such was my desire to find out as quickly as possible what was going on.
With less than two months until I’m actually in Norway, I’ve become quite attuned to all things Nordic. I heard the Swedish lilt in the accent of a waitress in a cafe where I bought a coffee this morning. I heard two women speaking Swedish on the bus the other week, and found myself able to basically understand their conversation. It wasn’t that interesting, by the way.
So what was happening in the park? Well it was Norwegian Constitution Day. WTF?
is the National Day of Norway and is an official national holiday each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as syttende mai (meaning May Seventeenth), Nasjonaldagen (The National Day) or Grunnlovsdagen (The Constitution Day), although the latter is less frequent.
A crowd of about 200 had gathered. By the time I arrived, most of the activities were over, except for the egg and spoon races which, to be honest, I had never really associated with Norway. In stark contrast to St Patrick’s Day or Australia Day, no one seemed drunk. In walking over and listening in to some of the conversations, and taking a photograph, I can’t help but wonder if they thought I was some kind of Scando-freak. Of course, they could be right.
