A further installment in my stumpiversary, with a story from ABC Everyday and ABCQueer on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C-Envnozu0X/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== I’m so glad there is interest in this story. I’ll be on ABC Melbourne and ABC Perth tomorrow also. Amputations are increasing significantly in Australia, often related to diabetes, so it’s great to get the word out. Especially love the main image is me on the rainbow crossing and wearing a Lismore t-shirt!!!
In the last two days I’ve been to see two cabaret shows in which the focus has been on new arrangements of older pop and folk songs. The one I went to see tonight, “Lemon Tart” was really sensational, while the other, “Bravo” was okay.
Bravo is Australia’s answer to “Il Divo”, the “pop-era” group put together by Simon Cowell of “American Idol” fame, with their operatic style interpretations of pop songs, including Toni Braxton’s “Unchain My Heart”. Last night was Bravo’s first public performance and it showed many ways. As they entered the stage at Star City Casino, they adopted much of the “Il Divo” style posturing, with sullen looks and puckered cheeks taking on almost as much significance as the songs themselves. In the first half of the show, their dialogue was also totally un-natural and very laboured, a point they had rectified by the second half. By the second half, they’d also ditched the Marcs suits (yes, they told us who provided their suits), and they were far more comfortable both in their singing and in their onstage patter. Unlike the first half, there were a couple of terrific moments in the second half, including a Simon & Garfunkel melody. I think they’ll be successful, but they really needed some good direction.
In tonight’s show, Genevieve Lemon also noted the importance of good direction, giving thanks to Tony Sheldon because “without him, we’d just be a band”. But what a band! I’ve been a fan of Genevieve Lemon for quite some time, having seen her perform as an actress, though never as a singer. Along with Josh Quong Tart (and his brother Brendon), Genevieve performed an eclectic collection of songs on the premise that she sang those with a male vocal and he sang those with a female vocal.
Highlights included Genevieve’s gentle interpretation of the Midnight Oil song, “Blue Sky Mining” and Josh & Brendon’s beautiful interpretation of the song “I Know Him So Well” from the musical, “Chess”. Both songs brought me, literally to tears. Terrific stuff.
Although not exactly packed to the rafters, the smaller upstairs screening room at the Chauvel Cinema was reasonably full at today’s screening of the film, “Joan Rivers – A Piece Of Work”. As with the likes of Cher, Liza Minelli and so on, the gays and the greys were out in force on a wet autumn day in Sydney.
I’ve been a fan of Joan Rivers ever since I bought that wonderful album (yes it was vinyl back then), “What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most?” back in the early 1980s. She was foul mouthed, outrageous, and hilariously funny. Twenty-five years later, when Colin and I saw her at The Enmore Theatre, she was still funny then. Still shocking.
And she is in this film too. In fact, there are a couple of moments when the whole audience screamed with laughter, as scenes from stage performances feature throughout the film. In essence, though, it’s a documentary about a year in her life, a year in which she does everything from appear in a play at The Edinburgh Festival, win Celebrity Apprentice, and ditch her manager,
Although it’s a bit of a cliche, it really is a “warts and all” kind of film. There are moments in the film where she doesn’t come off well. Moments where you think she needs to take a pill and relax. Moments where you think she needs to be more mindful of those around her. And yet, she also comes across as wonderfully giving – caring for her staff and their families – and as someone you quite admire, because she continues to be motivated to work hard, and to be ahead of the game. For a celebrity biography it’s refreshingly honest, as she admits to her frailties, concedes she’s seen as a bit of a showbiz plastic surgery freak, and worries openly about her career and the blank pages in her diary.
We both LOVED the film. I think it’s the kind of film I’d like to buy on DVD and watch again and again.
For the first time in a few years I had dinner tonight at Surry Hill’s Trinity Hotel. In a galaxy far, far, away I used to be a fairly regular patron there, especially as on a Wednesday night they had a pretty fantastic trivia competition (which my group often won). But circumstances change, and I’ve been there hardly since. I only called in tonight because it was cold and rainy, and I didn’t have the energy to head out to my other regular Wednesday pub haunt after Swedish class. I had the haloumi salad which was good, though not great. A little over-cooked on the grill, actually.
When I went into Swedish class, it was chilly, though not raining. By the end of class, it was rainy too. So much for the brief period of summer we experienced on the weekend. None of us were really prepared for the change in the weather. As I chatted on the street after class and waited for a bus with a class-mate, it also became aware none of us was all that well-prepared for class either. It was one of those “heavy grammar” nights. Only one of us in the class is really any good at grammar – that’s Grant – while the rest of us tend to glaze over a bit. I think it’s because words and phrases like dative, imperfect, passive and so on have never been part of our educational lexicon. In fact I got the giggles half way through class when we started talking about the passive form. Yes, I know… quite childish.
Britney and Madonna duet re-enactment from Glee
On arriving home, I began to catch up on the early-evening television programs I’d missed, including The Drum and the Britney Spears-featured episode of Glee. I think Glee is a brilliant show and I’m quite a fan of Britney too. Actually not so much Britney, more her regular song-writer and producer Max Martin who, it may surprise you, is Swedish. (Martin Karl Sandberg, född 26 februari 1971, i Stockholm men har även bott i Kalmar)
Over the years he’s worked with everyone from the Backstreet Boys to Celine Dione. And as Wikipedia notes
In 2010 alone, he has written and co-written 5 top 10 singles, including “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz, “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” by Usher, “Whataya Want From Me” by Adam Lambert, as well as “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry.
Aside from Katy Perry, these songs and these artists mean nothing to me. But that’s because I’m a mid 40’s bloke from Sydney. Yes, I know my musical tastes sometimes resemble those of a 13 year old Swedish girl, but I’m not entirely that classifiable.
So the episode of Glee? Highlights were obviously “Hit Me One More Time” and the re-enactment of the Madonna duet. Beyond that, I don’t know because the end of the program was chopped off. Bloody commercial television and their late starts plays havoc with PVRs!
In the meantime I continue to sneeze with this bloody dust, pollen, whatever in the air. It got worse, today, by the way, when our annual building evacuation forced us out onto the plane tree hell that is Harris Street, Ultimo. Hopefully tonight’s rain may settle things a bit.
I’ve been thinking lately about my “latter years”. In part, it’s the passing of a dear friend who spent the last few years of his life living with dementia. In part, it’s because I’ll be fffff fffff fifty next year. Last night I’ve concluded I’d like to spend my “latter years” as Jean Hill, the bottled water campaigner in the American town of Concord, featured in the movie “Divide In Concord”.
In the film, Jean explains she reached a point in her life (in her 70s/80s), after the death of her husband, when she suddenly realised she no longer had to care for others. Everything in her life was about her, and about what her legacy would be. The film tells of a moment where her grandson told her about the amount of plastic waste now found in the world’s oceans.
“Other films have told the story of the environmental problems of plastic”, the film-maker told us in a Q&A at the US/Canadian Film Festival last night in Sydney. In contrast, Jean’s story is a more personal one: about how someone realised the connection between a bigger story and what they could do on an individual level. In a small town in Massachusetts, Jean embarked on a campaign to ban bottled water.
The small town, Concord (apparently) has an important part in the history of the independence movement in the America. On a micro-level, the documentary also notes other small town “revolutionary movements”, such as the woman who defended the rights of people to put their laundry out to dry (in defiance of body corporate laws which prohibit such things) and in the case of Jean’s campaign against bottled water. The earlier “revolutionary movements” are located in the context of the annual town meetings in Concord, where people can bring issues to the broader community for discussion and voting.
Jean brings the issue of banning bottled water to the annual debate twice, and then finally a third time, which is ultimately the film’s conclusion. Really, there are only two ways the film can end: either she wins or loses. No spoiler alerts in this review :)
Whether she won or lose, the film’s compelling because of the story. It’s classic David vs Goliath.
But it’s also a really important story about how people can make a direct connection between broader issues and personal action. A small town banning bottled water won’t make much of a difference. But when lots of small towns do the same thing, it CAN make a difference. That’s the reason why bottled water business interests, and people with a pro-business philosophical perspective in the community of Concord, became so interested in what was happening with Jean’s campaign.
What’s happened since the film was made, after the decision was taken in 2012? According to the film-maker at last night’s Q&A, a further couple of votes have been taken, and the community, once evenly divided on the issue, has “moved on” and voted decisively in one way. No spoiler alerts.
It’s a lovely film. I really love Jean Hill’s passion, even if she was possibly sometimes her own worst enemy in the debate. “I really stuffed that up”, she says (or words to that effect) after a radio interview in which she lost her cool. I think the occasional bout of losing your temper is quite okay, especially if/when I make it to my 80s I have as much passion as Jean demonstrates.
My electricity bill tells me I probably used my heater far too much this year. Though we enjoy fairly mild winters in Sydney, there’s usually two or three weeks where it gets quite chilly, and there’s fairly regular rain. I’m trying to do my bit for the environment by reducing my carbon imprint by wearing warmer clothes rather than sitting around the house in summer clothing and relying on the heater. This year, the electricity bill is a fair deal higher than last year, largely reflecting the fact I’ve been working from home since March, and my heater use.
The view from my apartment window in August.The view from my apartment window only a few minutes ago.
Here in Surry Hils, the local economy remains depressed due to the pandemic. I think there’s also the factor of a changing economy, as we transition (outside of the pandemic) from regular shops to online purchases and centralisation.
It’s been a cold and wet weekend in Sydney. For the first time in a couple of weeks I’m wearing a pullover. A perfect weekend for indoor activities.
Catching up with friends yesterday at a nearby pub.
I’ve also caught up for lunch with some former and current colleagues.
One of the really great things of the last week has been catching up with workmates for the AWEI (Australian Workplace Equality Index) Awards for LGBTQI inclusion. We hadn’t seen each other for several months, and so it was great to catch-up, and to get dressed up. And have a drink or three afterwards.
And I’ve been to the movies a couple of times in the last week or so.
“Aren’t you worried about catching COVID-19?”, a number of people have asked, when I’ve mentined going to the cinema. “No, I’m often the only person in the room”, I’ve explained.
Though many people like going to the movies in the evenings, I’m more of a fan of screenings in the morning. Over the last year, as I’ve taken Wednesdays as rec leave, I’ve often gone to screenings at about 10am. Even on the weekends, it’s my preferred time.
Maybe it’s a throw back to Saturday mornings “at the pictures” at the Start Court Arcade in Lismore. At the risk of sounding like someone who is much older, I remember when you could go to a Saturday screening for as little as 20c (later 50c, and even later $1.20).
More likely, I really like the concentration headspace you have in the mornings, whereas in the afternoons or in the evenings, I can sometimes nod off. In the mornings, my brain (at least) is more engaged.
And that was certainly the case last Saturday when I went to see “I Am Greta”, the story of Greta Thunberg, the young woman from Sweden famous for her climate strikes. Amongst friends and family, I’ve been surpised to discover she’s been a polarising figure. Even though I have friends and family who are climate skeptics, it’s not only those who are “Greta Skeptics”.
“I know I shouldn’t say this, but she shits me”, a friend who feels passionately in favour of doing more about climate change told me. “There’s so many other young people doing their bit”, she told me when we caught up in the last couple of weeks. “In the film she acknowledges that”, I told her, adding there’s a moment when Greta reflects that she’s probably invited to speak “so people can be seen to be doing the right thing” (or words to that effect).
The film is a really interesting one. It starts with her first climate strike outside the Swedish parliament, and ends with her speech to the United Nations. The early footage of her in Sweden is fascinating to watch. Along the way, you see her experiences of going from that small-scale experience to achieving a much greater global impact.
Despite this global recognition, you also see that she’s a teenage girl who loves her dogs, and who is influenced by her family. You never get the sense she’s a mouthpiece for her parents. In fact, there are many moments where you see her parents seeking to moderate her, as other parents might. “Greta, you have to eat”, her father says to her at one point. By the way, he’s a rather famous Swedish actor, and her mother is a famous Swedish opera singer (who also represented Sweden at Eurovison). In the film, however, they’re just mum and dad.
The other film I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks was “Corpus Christi”. It’s a Polish film based on the true story of a young man with criminal convictions who wants to become a Catholic priest. Though his background would prevent him from doing that, circumstances allow it to occur. In a small community, he becomes an important figure allowing the community to begin the process of healing, following the tragic death of a number of people in a car crash.
“This is one of the best films I’ve seen in the last couple of years”, I said to my friend as we left the movie. She agreed heartily. The combination of the story, the acting, the emotion and the humour made it it highly enjoyable. “I wanted to go to the bathroom half way through”, I joked, “but I just couldn’t leave the cinema”. There’s one moment of extreme violence where we both had to look away, but aside from that, we both loved this film. I’d highly recommend it.
I’d arranged with Tony to meet up at Allsang pa Skansen, the regular summertime television program in Sweden focussed on community singing. Along with some Swedish “favourites” there’s usually a pop star or two with a show or concert to promote. This week it was Benny Andersson’s Orchestra and the cast of Mamma Mia. Benny, of course, is an absolute bloody legend and needs no explanation, while the English-language production of Mamma Mia opens in Stockholm in a couple of weeks time.
The weather today was shitty. Really shitty. So I figured I had two choices. Either find somewhere indoors, maybe back at the hostel, or head off to Skansen to try to find a good seat. I’d been told people arrive as early as 7.00am. I think that’s crazy myself, but some people do it. I figured since I had nothing to lose, I’d do my best to find a good seat.
I was also warned about the “crazy old Swedish ladies” who scream and shout if you get a better seat than them. I didn’t see any of those, though I did see quite a lot of people who I thought looked a little bit “dueling banjos” if you get my meaning.
Wearing my yellow berka, as I began to call it, I grabbed a seat behind a group of four (two men and two women) and a little old lady with no apparent signs of craziness. For a couple of hours I sat there with only my eyes peering through a slit watching the complete lack of action. It wasn’t too long, however, before I realised the people in front of me were actually ABBA fans. And not normal ones, like myself, but crazy ABBA fans.
A bit like some born again Christians, crazy ABBA fans get this weird glazed look in their eyes. From time to time this group kept looking back at me, suspiciously, trying to figure out who I was. “Did I have more autographs than them?” “Did I know Frida personally”? That kinda stuff. One of them said to me at one point, accusingly, “You came late. You weren’t here at nine o’clock this morning”. Weird stuff, eh?
The attraction, of course, was Benny Andersson from ABBA. Tonight’s program was all about Benny and ABBA.
I watched the soundcheck and the rehearsal. Hearing Helen Sjoholm sing “Du Ar Min Man” for the first time live was absolutely amazing. She has a really strong voice and sings with a great sense of drama. The second or third time was still good, but by the fourth I was getting a bit sick of it, to be honest. As she walked around in her raincoat, you could see she was quite cool, and had a bit of a sense of humour as she joked with a few people.
Benny also seemed quite nice during rehearsal. Politely stepping back to let people through. Chatting with everyone. Greeting the cast of Mamma Mia with a hug. He wore his raincoat, did what everyone else did, and there were no signs of any prima donna behaviour.
That said, you could just see how much in awe everyone was of him. Just mention the word Benny and the whole audience errupted into applause.
A young couple sat next to me for a while. At first I thought it was just she who was the ABBA fan, but clearly they both were. They were very grateful, by the way, that I had offered them to share my seat when so many others hadn’t. I suspect the fans in front may not have been so kind. Within minutes of sitting down, the young couple too, were singing along to some of the more obscure recordings of Benny Andersson’s Orchestra.
Rehearsal for Allsang pa Skansen
Helen Sjoholm and Benny Andersson in rehearsal at Allsang pa Skansen.
I was really surprised at how many people were there, and how many young people in particular. There were probably more people there this week in the rain than last week when it was sunny.
During the show itself, I moved away from the formal seating, as I was so incredibly cold and wet. Four hours in the Swedish rain was too much for a boy from Sydney.
So how did I feel about the experience of seeing Benny perform live? I find it a little hard to articulate actually. I enjoyed the performances. I also feel a sense of “completion” in some ways, that I’ve seen him in a live performance. Would I go to a BAO concert? Yes, though I wouldn’t fly to the other side of the world, especially.
And with a couple of ABBA songs sung in Swedish, it was a very interesting place to spend my final full day in Stockholm. It was a very “Swedish” moment being at Allsang tonight.
