For the last few days I’ve been trying to rid my kitchen of a minor infestation of fruit-fly, the result of a rotting potato hidden at the back of a kitchen cupboard.
The infestation started on Friday morning with just a few flying around the kitchen, which I thought would quickly disappear. I remembered something from high school biology about how fruit-fly have short life-spans, or something like that. “Great”, I thought to myself. “Short life-spans. Go to work, come home, and they’ll be gone”, I thought to myself. Wrong.
When I arrived home on Friday night there were even more fruit-fly. The fly-swat didn’t work. My wild hand-whooshes and screams of “get out, get out you horrible things”, as I opened the kitchen window, also failed to work. But I didn’t want to go down the path of chemicals, as I’m all a bit “enviro-friendly”.
So on Friday night, I hunted around on the internet for a chemical-free solution. Shannon Lush must surely have something, I thought to myself? The collective wisdom of the internet told me apple-cider vinegar was effective. You pour some apple-cider vinegar into a jar, put some plastic wrap over the top. And then you prick the plastic so the fruit flies can get in, but can’t get out. Brilliant, I thought to myself, and so I went to the supermarket yesterday in search of some apple-cider vinegar.
As I wandered up and down the vinegar shelves I was perplexed, as I normally don’t buy apple-cider vinegar. “Shall I get the home brand or should I get the expensive one”?, I asked myself. And that’s when a little voice inside my head reminded me I wasn’t preparing a gourmet dinner, I was trying to kill fruit-flies. Sadly, it seems the fruit-flies of Surry Hills have expensive tastes in apple-cider vinegar, as they showed themselves not to be even the slightest bit interested in the bottle I bought to tempt them into my little traps. Maybe I should have gone to one of our local gourmet grocers instead of Coles?
And so this morning I went back to the supermarket with “pest control” firmly in mind. I’d given up feeling guilty about putting even more chemicals into the environment.
My conclusion – Coles brand flying inspect spray is better than Cornwell’s apple cider vinegar in dealing with a fruit fly problem in the kitchen.
My friend Colin had a framed type-written signed letter from Stephen Sondheim on the wall of his apartment. He also had one from Dame Judi Dench also, but that’s just bragging :) I don’t remember exactly what the letter said, though I’m guessing, since it was Sondheim, it was probably beautifully written, sensitive and with a twist of humour. I don’t imagine it was a form letter.
The reason I feel this way is because I began to understand a little more about his character from attending “Sondheim on Sondheim”, a musical review featuring some of the best of his works, currently playing at Sydney’s Seymour Centre. The songs are accompanied video inserts of Sondheim himself providing a narrative, talking about his works (the good, the bad, the indifferent) and his feelings about them many years later. The narration is very funny, often touching (as he spoke about being raised by Oscar Hammerstein, for example), and always witty and intelligent.
The performances in this particular production are stellar. “There wasn’t a single dud amongst them”, a friend who is a performer told me during intermission. Great voices. Great harmonies.
Though it could have been little more than a “hits and memories” musical, this particular review steers clear of that. Sadly for me, the production failed to include some his bigger hits, “Another Hundred People” and “Ladies Who Lunch” (for example), instead featuring some of his more obscure works. One song, for example, we’re told was only performed once and then dropped. There’s also a segment which takes the piss out of arguably his best known work, “Send In The Clowns”. Very funny.
If you love musical theatre, I’d highly recommend seeing it during its short run at the Seymour Centre. Colin would have loved it, I’m sure.
“Thanks for coming out tonight when you could have gone to the Bledisloe Cup” Tim Draxl declared at the opening of his show tonight, adding, “I don’t even know what the Bledisloe Cup is”. There was only one bloke in the room who looked remotely interested in the rugby, and he was there with his girlfriend, and was possibly a relative, I thought. The rest of the room was made up of middle-aged couples and lots of poofs, as you might expect. And those of us who have followed his career for quite some time.
The last time I saw Tim Draxl perform live he was twenty three years old. At the time I concluded… “I reckon Tim Draxl could become one of our best musical theatre performers… a truly rounded gifted performer… he just needs to work on the “authenticity” thing… ” Well, four years later, aged twenty-seven he seems to have taken my advice on board :) I’m sure he read my blog review…
Tonight’s performance at the Supper Club on Oxford Street was absolutely fantastic. There were quite a few moments when I got goose-bumps, and a couple of times when I was close to having a tear roll down my check. I think the authenticity tonight came from many things, including maturity, but also his choice of songs which was excellent. As well as the jazz-standards you might expect, including an exemplary version of “My Funny Valentine”, he sang more modern songs, including a great Jeff Buckley song called “Lilac Wine“.
When I think more than I want to think Do things I never should do I drink much more that I ought to drink Because it brings me back you
Neither Colin, nor Grant, nor I had heard this song before, but it’s definitely a beautiful song, and one I’d like to pursue further.
Michael Tyack and Tim Draxl at Supper Club
“My Funny Valentine” in particular is a favourite of mine. In talking about the song, Tim mentioned that it was by Chet Baker, and that he would love to be in a movie about Chet Baker, though Leonardo di Caprio currently owns the rights to that particular story.
In contrast to four years ago, he seems to have found his own adult voice. Personally, I prefer the more maudlin, depressive numbers, and that’s when I think you really see his soul, but he’s also very good at the more uptempo, more typical “showtune”.
The whole premise for the show was the music and people who inspired him, hence the name “Under The Influence”. Seated in the audience were his mum and a former school teacher with whom he is still close. He also mentioned a dance teacher. All of them were influential in his almost precocious interest in the performing arts. The three of us smiled in recognition at his youthful interest in Hollywood Musicals. Although his between-song-patter still goes on a little too long, and is sometimes a little self-indulgent, that will undoubtedly improve with age. Hey, he’s 27 years old! The music and the show, however, were sublime.
Grant, Graeme and I went to The Ritz at Randwick tonight to see “An Englishman In New York”, as part of Mardi Gras Film Festival.
It took about as long as a flight to get to New York to get there, as the George Michael concert was about to commence in Moore Park.cWho would have thought George Michael would be playing in a park? :)
I was very interested in seeing this film as the precursor, “The Naked Civil Servant” was such an important film for me. I’d seen both the film, and had read the book while in high school. With John Hurt playing Quentin Crisp, an out loud proud gay man when it wasn’t fashionable to be so, it was a film which has resonated with me for much of my life. I still vividly remember watching it on ABC-TV as a teenager.
This film jumps 20 years or so, and Quentin Crisp is now living in New York. And he loves the place. But it’s not without controversy, as he famously described AIDS as a “fad”, and he’s criticised by the gay community for “playing to middle class straights”.
As we discussed the film afterwards, we concluded he probably regretted these remarks, but had painted himself into such a corner that he was unable to retract (or so it seemed). It was GREAT seeing John Hurt playing the same character many years later. It was also fascinating to watch the ageing process. In the midst of so much gay culture which is youth-associated/obsessed (?), it was very interesting to watch from that perspective. As my friend Graeme described the situation, “it was great having some closure on his life”.
In the song and video, he’s walking around the centre of Stockholm and is reflecting on the history of the area, including locations where Anna Lindh (the Swedish politician who was killed) gave her last speech, and where the criminal, Clark Olofsson gave rise to the phrase “Stockholm Syndrome”. Most of all, though, it’s a love song about the city, as Peter wonders if there is anything as beautiful as Stockholm at night.
Lots of cities are beautiful at night, and Kenneth Slessor’s “Five Bells” poem is a wonderful reminder of the haunting beauty of Sydney at night. But for me, this song by Peter exquisitely captures the beauty, vitality, and complexity of Stockholm also.
But one of the things I love most about the video clip for this song is the bit where the bloke jumps – defiantly – into Lake Mälaren.
It’s an image also found in the video clip for “Stars” by Roxette.
I love both of these images very much. They’re images which signal defiance, adventure, and many other emotions.
“Jump off the cliff” is a phrase I often use to mean “take a risk”. A phrase I first came to truly understand when I went hang-gliding for the first time, and although you’re scared, if you count 1, 2, and 3, and suddenly you’ve made the jump, and soon you realise how exciting that final jump can be.
Tonight I did that in a sense, in that I went out on my first, serious proper date in many years.
It wasn’t without some fear and emotion. For a while I actually felt physically sick. And then I recovered. Though I still felt a little overwhelmed. “Why would someone want to go on a date with me?”, I thought to myself.
Anyway back to Stockholm… tonight, I’ve decided, before I die, I want to go back to Stockholm and I want to jump off the cliff into Lake Mälaren. How cool would that be?
I have been to Darwin twice. The first time was with Damien in 1998 when we visited Declan and Penny and went on a four day tour of Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks. The second time was when I was working for the ABC in April, May and June 2002. The experiences of course were vastly different.
On both occasions, however, I was there for the dry season. Although aboriginal people in the area have identified up to eight seasons in the Top End (and the Top End refers only to one part of the Northern Territory, not the whole of the NT), most people usually just refer to the “wet season”, the “dry season” and the “build up”.
While the Dry season is near perfect, with temperatures above 30 every day and not a rain cloud in site, the Wet Season is probably more of an acquired taste. During the Wet season temperatures get a bit higher but, more importantly, the humidity rises sharply. Most locals say the “build up” is the worst. From October to the end of December the heat builds up along with the humidity. Storm clouds form, but very rarely is there any rain.
Ubirr – Kakadu National Park 1998
Throughout the dry season, community markets abound, including those at Nightcliff, Parap and Mindill. Mindill is probably the most famous with a huge variety of food stalls, hippy-style craftwork, and the sensational sunset which sees thousands of people communing with nature, as the sun sets into the ocean. They also feature terrific live music. On one occasion I watched Neil Murray perform live. On that night I also discovered why you shouldn’t sit underneath trees: termites are everywhere. Ouch!
Mindill Sunset
Darwin has quite a few “tourist attractions”, the most unusual attraction possibly being Aquascene. Every day in Darwin, on high tide, literally hundreds of fish – milkfish, mullet, catfish, and rays – arrive at Doctor’s Gully at the Northern End of the City Centre. And for over forty years, members of the public have been hand-feeding them. As the tides in Darwin are quite large, high tide is the only time of the day when the water reaches a level where the public can easily come into close contact with the fish. During low tide, the water is 500m away from the coastline, so it’s only during high tide that it’s possible to see the fish up close and personal. Fishing is banned in the area, in an effort to maintain stocks, as prescribed in the Northern Territory’s Fisheries Management Plan. The fish-feeding enterprise, run by Aquascene, is a privately run business. While the property is still primarily a private residence, it is opened up to the public each day for the feeding. Opening times are totally dictated by tidal movements and change from day to day.
Darwin has quite a few tourist attractions, the most unusual attraction possibly being Aquascene.
Darwin is set on a spectacular harbour. One of the highlights of my time there was a Sunset Harbour Cruise ($46, including Champagne and Nibblies). The decision to go on the tour was a sudden one: I was sitting in the Irish Pub, Shananigans earlier in the afternoon, wondering how I would spend my Saturday night and, browsing through the local tourist guide, happened upon a Sunset Cruise on an old Pearl Lugger. The sound of the vessell was far more romantic than the reality, but it was a great experience nonetheless.
As you might expect, given the cost and the orientation, this was not a backpacker cruise. Backpackers would have spent sunset in an Irish pub trying to pick up other backpackers, while travellers, such as myself, were more keen on the history of the area and the opportunity to see Darwin from off the coast. And that’s exactly what the cruise delivered… a wonderful sunset… a little of the history of the Port of Darwin, and the opportunity to see areas such as the Darwin Wharf and the Naval Base from a totally different perspective. I also made friends with a couple from Melbourne who had spent the last few years living in inland China, but were now back here and determined to visit as much of Australia as possible. I also learned a little about the history of pearling in the area around Darwin. Overall, excellent value and highly recommended.
Darwin is set on a spectacular harbour.
Also located on the harbour is “The Wharf” which, during the Second World War, the wharf was a popular target for Japanese bombs, but which is now an entertainment district. At the end of the Darwin Wharf, near the old cargo shed there are a number of restaurants and cafes offering mostly seafood. Perhaps the greatest attraction though is the capacity to sit right on the edge of the wharf and watch the fish swimming near the surface as people drop food in the water. I’m sure most of the fish – principally Batfash and some Barramundi – will die of heart disease for all the chips and battered fish they are fed. It was a really fantastic way to spend the evening.
Darwin’s war-time history is also evident in the historic World War 2 Oil Storage Tunnels which are open for public viewing.
Darwin’s war-time history is also evident in the historic World War 2 Oil Storage Tunnels which are open for public viewing. They’re worth a visit for both their historic and artistic values. The tunnels were dug into the cliff to protect fuel from Japanese bombing, but there, apparently, never very effective. Even today, the tunnels leak from the vast underground water supply that is found underneath Darwin. Of the six tunnels, one isn ow open to the public. Despite the best intentions, by June 1942 after 19 Japanese air raids, only one sound tank remained, with 20,529 tons of oil lost from the destroyed tanks. Located inside the tunnels are about 100 wartime photographs which portray both a humorous and more serious side of the bombing sixty years ago of Darwin. Other photographs also portray, for example, the grave of an unidentified grave of Japanese solider, the actual bombing of Darwn, and the ration books.
Darwin Oil Tunnels
As I am interested in history and remember Cyclone Tracey which devastated Darwin in 1974, I was also interested in going to the Museum & Art Gallery, where there are excellent displays of Aboriginal Art and about Cyclone Tracey. A particular highlight of the Cyclone Tracey exhibit is a dark you can enter where an audio tape, recorded by the local Catholic priest, is played. You actually get a sense of what it may have been like to have been sitting in a dark room as the wind howled outside. As you enter the room, however, there is a warning that people who remember Cyclone Tracey may find the whole thing very disturbing.
Freds Pass Rural Show
Perhaps the most over-rated thing about Darwin is the Fred’s Pass Rural Show. Located about 35-40mins south of Darwin, I was assured by locals the show was a real treat. And it probably was for some, but I thought it was a bit dull. No giant pumpkins – merely a small butternut as the only entry. The winner of the Craft Competition was a number of fishing lures. As for on-stage entertainment, a 14 year old girl kept the crowd enraptured with her dance routine to a Britney Spears number. I hope I’m not sounding too harsh…. but hey… I’m a Sydney boy now!
The local gay scene is also pretty dismal with two local bars. Throb is a fairly stock standard disco. More unusual however, is the the Railcar Bar & Mississippi Queen. The bar is in an old converted tram. It’s intimate and cosy and totally full on, especially as the owner is a little high maintenance. I met some nice people though. On one memorable occasion, I met some really amazing people including one guy who had spent a year or two cotton chipping at Bourke. Another guy, Malcolm, had spent the last four years at Byron Bay. We had a few laughs about the lifestyle of the North Coast and about how if you couldn’t get a job in Byron as a “waiter” you could always do “massage”. Malcolm told me Darwin people don’t quite understand the joke!
We also compared notes about the local paper, the NT News (he said he’s a newspaper junkie), and about buying the Sydney Morning Herald, which is airfreighted to Darwin and costs $7.10 on Saturday. On the negative side, the pool table is also the worst I’ve ever played on. When I put my money into the machine and only 10 balls came out, I asked the manager for some help, he said, in a Fawlty-esque manner, “Can’t you play with just those?”. When I mentioned the unbalanced table to him, he said it must be a new thing. I challenged him and said, “It was like this three years ago”… he didn’t reply. Most Darwin people however have a nice sense of humour. How else would you explain all of the personalised number plates?
I watched a fantastic Swedish film on “World Movies” last night called, “Heartbreak Hotel”.
The film was billed as a Swedish version of “Thelma and Louise”, but I think it’s much more than that, although the central theme remains that of mature-age female friendship.
The movie starts with a full-on exchange between the two main characters, Lisa (a doctor specialising in women’s health) and Gudrun, a parking inspector.
Gudrun presents Lisa with a parking ticket when she is already running late for a wedding.
The phrase “f…. c….” is used repeatedly in the first five minutes of the film, which I guess should give you an idea of the honesty and rawness exhibited in the movie.
A scene from Swedish film, Heartbreak Hotel.
After this exchange they meet again, and form a friendship based upon their common experience of marital infidelity.
As their friendship develops, there are some very funny scenes, especially when they go out clubbing together. There’s one very drunken moment which puts the current brouhaha involving Andrew O’Keefe into some perspective. “We’ve all been there” I thought to myself as I laughed out loud watching them walk drunkenly around the streets of Stockholm late at night.
And there’s another amusing scene where they end up at lesbian night at “The Heartbreak Hotel”. “I’ve danced with girls all my life. They’re fun and smell nice”, Lisa declares, opening up the possibility of a more intimate friendship between the two.
The film also examines the complex nature of friendship as Gudrun declares to Lisa at one point she recognises she has overstepped boundaries of their friendship.
And there’s also some very tender moments when the two women confront the men in their lives about their infidelity.
“This is pathetic”, Gudrun declares, when her ex-husband, whom she has described to Lisa as “dead”, decides he wants to come back after his infidelity.
There’s a strong feminist theme throughout the film, which is matched by the music, a variety of very strong Swedish female singers including Nanne Gronvall, Shirley Clamp and Eva Dahlgren.
As I watched the film with some knowledge of the Swedish language I tried to ignore the subtitles, and for the most part I was able to follow the action, and identify large parts of dialogue purely by listening. It was quite a breakthrough, as I’m much better reading text than listening to dialogue.
I was also quite aware of some of the subtleties of the Swedish translation into English including the translated phrase where one of them describes “it was like being at a fun-fair”. The actual words used was that “it was like being at Grona Lund” which I recognised as the name of a fun-park in Stockholm.
As you know, I’m a bit of a Swedo-phile, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to discover I really loved this film. And there are some parts about the film which are “very Swedish”. But it translates pretty well too.
As I watched the film, I kept thinking “why don’t we make films like this in Australia”? Why are so many of our feature films grim and so far removed from the experiences of those watching them? This was a film about real people told with honesty and realism, but with the audience also firmly in mind. I loved it!
Like this:
LikeLoading…
Related
One Comment
Perhaps you could have tried that famous brand of fizzy soft drink that reportedly will kill off just about everything if taken in large enough quantities.
Perhaps you could have tried that famous brand of fizzy soft drink that reportedly will kill off just about everything if taken in large enough quantities.