“The last time I was here must have been ten years ago, and nothing’s changed: the scenery’s the same, and so is the music…”, I said to my friend, as we entered Sydney’s Arq nightclub, late tonight to the sounds of Kylie Minogue.
“The last time I was here was two weeks ago…” she replied. An answer which would surprise a lot of people, given my friend (like me) is in her fifties and is fairly straight-laced. However, she works with young people, and over the last few months has been supporting a young man she works with, who has been participating in the “From Drags To Riches” drag queen contest. I felt a bit of a connection with him, as he grew up in a small country town where I had once lived. I can only begin to imagine his journey as a gender-fluid young person.
From Drags To Riches
Tonight was the Grand Final, with $2000 in prize money for the winning contestant. It was down to the final five, and each had to perform both a ballad and up-tempo number. In some ways, we both became drag queen judges in our own right, whispering phrases to each other such as “that one’s too dramatic” , or “that one missed her queue” etc.
From Drags To Riches
The young guy we were supporting performed well, was popular with the audience, and was most definitely “our favourite”. And, he won!!!!!
PS: Please forgive my use/misuse of the personal pronouns, but I believe the young person I’ve been talking about identifies as male, though has been somewhat gender-fluid over the years. I apologise if I’ve messed the pronouns up.
For almost twenty years I’ve walked to and from work at the ABC and have passed the abandoned railway tunnel that once was the Ultimo Goods Line.
From time to time I’d peak inside. But until today, I’d never been truly inside tunnel. There’s an art installation currently onsite which I thought would be interesting, though was not all that exciting, to be honest.
It was interesting to walk through the abandoned tunnel, though.
Sydneysiders will get a rare chance to enter a little-known tunnel in the centre of the city over the next 10 days. Inventive New York-based Australian artist Ian Burns has been quietly working some magic in the disused tunnel, which could eventually be part of The Goods Line public space project in Ultimo. Known for his curious and playful kinetic sculptures, Burns has spent the past 11 weeks as UTS Gallery’s artist-in-residence creating a charismatic new body of work Extended Stage developed especially for the tunnel and its mid-1800s sandstone bridge.
Since arriving home from China I’ve barely left the house. First, there was the jet-lag, and then a general malaise. I’ve been to the supermarket and that’s about it. I’ve watched a bit of television, including tonight’s program about the final episode of “The Bill”.
I used to love “The Bill”, and it had been a regular part of my Saturday (and Tuesday) night routine for many years. As I enjoyed it so much, I’d often organise my social life around being home to watch the show. But then about five or six years ago I just stopped watching. Partly because my life change, and partly because the show changed.
A lot of people have commented this was about the time it became more like a soap opera and less like a police drama. I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable with that argument, as I think the show often had a “soapie” element about it (I loved some of the “drama” associated with characters like Kathy and Gabriel). But then I read tonight a very perceptive observation from Andew…
For me, maybe it lost its sense of humour. Reg was like the comedian sidekick. He went. They used to take the piss out of Tony. That stopped. Gina has some very witty and bitchy lines. She left. I can’t think of one instance of any humour in The Bill of late.
He’s so right. It was the lovely humour of the characters like June, Polly, Reg, Smithy and Mickey that made them so absolutely human, and therefore so absolutely believable.
It was lovely watching tonight’s show, and in particular to see June and Tony make a return to the set. I have a soft spot for them both as I met them a couple of years ago. They were in Australia for publicity, and part of my job involved meeting them and looking after them ahead of an event for fans at the ABC. I remember June (Trudy) having a desperate last cigarette before heading into our non-smoking building :) It was also very touching to see Jack Meadows (the actor who played him) tearing up in rehearsals as he delivered a euology about his police station, when it was clear his feelings were also for the workplace he has called home for over 20 years. I got a little teary myself. Fond memories of a show that, for a number of years, formed an important weekly (and twice weekly) ritual for me.
The closest I’ve ever come to visiting China was spending a few days in Hong Kong, back in 2008, documented here and here. It was at the end of my big trip to Europe, and I thought a few days at the end might be a good way to end the trip and to “acclimatise” before heading back to Australia. At the time I noted…
As with London, there are people EVERYWHERE. But unlike London, I haven’t felt crowded in today. I guess with a population of 7 million on a small (and previously limited) amount of space, they’ve learned how to get people around. The train system is great (and easy to use), and there are pedestrian walkways everywhere which mean you can cover large distances quickly (and often in air conditioning) without having to cross the roads.
But to be honest, I didn’t really like Hong Kong all that much. I suspect part of this was because I was a little tired and just wanted to get home. Part of it was also, possibly, that I had very little money left and was skimping and saving wherever I could. There again, my sister lived in Hong Kong for a while back in the late 1960s. In fact, two of her children were born there. And she didn’t like it much either. I think she found it all too busy. That said, I LOVED Kowloon. I thought it was interesting, amazing, totally fascinating. The rest of Hong Kong was, to me, like any other modern city: too many shopping centres and too much air-conditioning for my liking. And there was the constant stream of people trying to sell me things, as I also noted…
As I walked around I was also constantly approached by men. In fact, I’ve never been approached by so many men in such a short period of time. “No I don’t want a suit. And I don’t want a watch. And I don’t want to have sex with you”. These are the phrases that have been going through my head over the last few hours since arriving earlier today in Hong Kong. Honestly, I’ve lost count of the number of men (all of them Indian looking) who have come up to me today offering all sorts of things. Don’t they know I’m an Australian at the end of a 10 week European holiday, barely able to afford breakfast, let alone buy a suit?
I’m hoping other parts of China aren’t like Hong Kong, because tonight I’ve booked a flight to Beijing in October, and I am so VERY excited.
Catherine Croll and her Great Adventure
First, my friend Kate lives there, and has been working there on and off over the last few years. As well as being great to see her, it will be wonderful to have someone to help and guide me, as she leads an interesting life as an arts worker there. Second, I’ve never really travelled extensively in Asia. Asia has always been a “stop over” for me on trips to Europe. And although I live and work in a part of Sydney with a very large Asian population, and know quite a few people with an Asian background, I’m quite excited at the prospect of going to a part of the world where I won’t immediately understand the culture. It will be quite a contrast to my trips to Sweden over the last few years, I guess.
Over the next few months I’ll attempt to learn a tourist version of Mandarin and will start to scope out some side trips (outside Beijing) to undertake while I’m there.
“How many members of ABBAMAIL does it take to organise a group photograph?” Quite a few it would seem. But when you have a room full of people who work in graphic design and the media, and throw in a few with “control issues”, everyone seemed to have a view about staging the “official” group photograph. While at first the graphic design people set about trying to organise something that would be well staged, well-lit and look good, it was eventually the “control freaks” who took over and got it all happening.
For just a brief moment, my mind went back to school photographs, the annual ordeal usually held in the middle of winter where the greatest concern for girls was whether or not they’d crossed their legs properly. For the boys, it was whether or not they’d be tall enough to avoid the embarrassment of sitting cross-legged in the front row holding the “school board”. All through primary school I’d been fairly short, and was usually one of the kids in the front row. And then suddenly in high school I found myself one of the tallest, and thus in the back-row. As I cast my eye around the room, I realised the passage of time meant I was probably one of the boys in the front-row once again. Avoiding the embarrassment, I took control by finding myself a spot in the back-row perched on top of a bar stool.
As the the only other group photograph that sprung to mind were those photographs taken of groups of rugby players where, inevitably, one of them had surreptitiously exposed his penis, I thought briefly of doing the same for this group photograph. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.
It was one of those “surreal” moments in an otherwise “surreal” day. Although I hate the word because of its common mis-use, surreal was often used yesterday to describe the tenth anniversary celebration of the ABBAMAIL mailing list, a fan community I’ve been a member of since the very beginning. Having a party, singing “happy birthday”, cutting a cake and making some presentations to Graeme and Grant was great way to formally recognise the impact ABBAMAIL has had on our lives. And with this sense of occasion, came some reflection that we’d shared something which blurred the lines between common interest and friendship.
And through ABBAMAIL I’ve made some friends: good friends who I see all the time, talk to and see most weeks, as well as people I see from time to time who lead entirely different lives. And there’s also people from overseas who I have met, and people from overseas who I’d like to meet because they’re either so fabulously interesting or just plain cute. Although I’ve been an ABBA fan since 1975, was a member of the Australian ABBA Fan Club during this early period, and had my own ABBA radio show as a teenager, it probably wasn’t until I came to Sydney in the mid-nineties that I began to have social experiences involving other ABBA fans.
Getting involved in organised “fandom” and having the ABBAMAIL connection has allowed me some wonderful experiences and memories. In particular, the many ABBA conventions that have been held, the many informal gatherings, often associated with overseas fans visiting Australia, as well as regular events like Wednesday night drinks and Eurovision Parties. Most memorable too, was the common experience of going to the “Mamma Mia” opening nights in Sydney and Melbourne, including meeting Bjorn at the “Show Party” held after the opening night in Melbourne.
Speaking of Melbourne, my friend Sue is up for the weekend, and she came along yesterday. Along with Wesley, a teenage son of ABBA-fan Norma, Sue was the only other non-ABBA fan in the room, and was thus the official photographer. As I wandered around chatting, I kept looking over to make sure she was okay, and most of the time she seemed to be enjoying the conversations she was having. I’m still not entirely unconvinced she doesn’t really think we’re a bunch of fruit loops, but at the end of the day, she told me “there’s some absolutely lovely, fascinating people” in the group, and I’m inclined to agree.
“I grew up across the road, and I used to come here with my brother-inlaw Jack on a Saturday morning”, I told the blokes standing outside “Two Mates Brewing”.
At the time Jack was working for Hensley Brothers, a local engineering firm which did a lot of work for the railways.
I don’t remember exactly what he did, but it was messy. And I remember the pink liquid he used to wash his hands with to remove the grease. Though I didn’t get so dirty mself, I vividly remember wanting to wash my hands with the pink liquid, also. It was the same colour of pink detergent they used in schools, along with sawdust, whenever someone vomited.
Though the railway line is still there, the tracks are mostly overgrown, as the trains don’t come through Lismore anymore.
But the shed is, albeit slightly changed.
“We used a lot of the outside timber on the inside, and the front was full of asbestos”, the two blokes told me. When I mentioned the asbestos to Jack (he’s now in his 80s) he was emphatic in his belief “there was no asbestos”.
Either way, the shed will soon take on a new life as a boutique brewery under the name “Two Mates Brewing. “We’ve still got a few things to work through with council, but we hope we can open in a few weeks time”, one of them told me.
Strictly speaking the new brewery is in Engine Street, on the other side of the railway track. But since the removal of the BGF (Banana Grower’s Federation) sheds (below), it’s really much of a muchness.
The house where I was born is no longer there, having been replaced many years ago by a “weigh station”.In 1970, to make way for the weigh-bridge in Kyogle Street, our house at 21 Kyogle Street was relocated to 195 Casino Street, South Lismore.
Video guide to where I grew up.One thing for sure : there seem to be a lot more pot-holes on the road (and generally throughout Lismore) than I remember when growing up here.
I think I developed a slight crush tonight on the American politician, Jim McGreevey, who featured prominently on a documentary on SBS television about American politics and homosexuality.
He was the Governor of New Jersey who resigned after admitting to an extra-marital relationship with a man, thus ending both his political career, as well as his marriage. He’s quite charismatic, and physically, he’s of that clean cut, slightly nerdy look that I quite like.
The focus for the documentary – called “Outrage” – was on “closeted” American politicians.
The main narrative concerned the outing of a number of mostly conservative American politicians whose voting record was at odds with their personal lives. That is, they voted against a whole range of pro-gay legislation, and often spoke openly against gay issues, but in their personal lives were either married to a woman, or remained single, but who still engaged in same-sex sexuality activity.
It wasn’t entirely judgemental, though. There was a degree of sympathy for these men who, for a range of reasons, chose to live lives which may not have been at the essence of their core as an individual. They were of a different time. They had religious beliefs. There again, you have the simple life choices that we all make. There were many reasons offered to explain why they were the way they are, so it wasn’t entirely polemical.
I thought it was a really great documentary. I was amazed by the honesty and the way the documentary featured people who spoke openly about their relationships – including some sexual detail – with politicians. I doubt Australian defamation laws would have coped all that well with a documentary like this one.
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2 Comments
Thank you so much!!! This means a lot to me and I am so happy to be on the stage creating not only performances but art!!
P.s. The photos are amazing!! Thank you again
Lots of love Bailey Legal ❤️
Thank you so much!!! This means a lot to me and I am so happy to be on the stage creating not only performances but art!!
P.s. The photos are amazing!! Thank you again
Lots of love Bailey Legal ❤️
No worries, congratulations! Best wishes from another former resident from out west!