Melbourne Meanderings

Curbing my Enthusiasm

2010-10-09T06:33:00.000+11:00

In Carlton this afternoon I walked into Readings Bookshop with neither intent nor interest. Walked out with a copy of Season 1 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" which seemed a perfect, ironic contrast to my melancholic mood.

MTC's Kafka's Monkey

2009-10-26T15:57:00.000+11:00

A Saturday autumn afternoon at MTC's Kafka's Monkey. But before we get in...a power failure. Power is back on after 45 minutes.

This one woman show from the Ypung Vic in London is a bravura performance by Kathryn Hunter.

She is absolutely Kafka's ape who has taken on human speech and clothing but still retains very ape-like mannerisms. A performance meant to test just where the ape/human line is. Does it work? Kinda! Not sure immediately what Kafka was trying to achieve. Therefore what you do walk away with is the memory of Kathryn's performance.

My Digital Life

2009-03-09T20:52:00.002+11:00

A new blog from the ever entertaining duo of Andy Ihnatko and Scott Bourne

No Agenda - It Seems Not!

2008-11-10T10:55:00.003+11:00

The "No Agenda" podcast labels itself as being..."A show about American politics with no agenda, by Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak.

I have been a subscriber to the podcasts of Adam Curry since the very early days of his Daily Source Code program. Since then I have lost a lot of interest in his shows as he moved from the very personal tech experience to being a corporate media player - clearly a role in which he is very successful.

I came to the joys of John C. Dvorak initially through Leo Laporte but came to enjoy the many manifestations of John (Cranky Geeks, TWIT) for their own sake.

I had heard of their No Agenda podcast and some 6 weeks or so ago thought I would add it to my subscription group.

Initially this was marginally interesting with lots of self indulgent talk of restaurants, wines etc. Self indulgence and self absorption are frequent travellers where Mr Curry is concerned.

But on show No 56 they lost me. During the recent US election, their tone became increasingly cynical with lots of populist assertions about the Obama campaign but little actual fact. Lots of insinuations about the Obama campaign being in the pocket of the media companies.

But now their cynicism has gone to the next level with often contradictory diatribes about the post election progress. They seemingly want the Obama team to include all new people (ie change) but ones who still have experience and can get the job done. Criticism is all ok but why not offer an alternative to action and/or decisions being taken. Don't just say what you don't like - say what you think should be done.

But am I expecting too much from (a) a successful, clearly bright but self absorbed DJ who is so fond of his beloved US that he lives in Europe, and (b) a good tech journo who clearly also knows something about food and wine?

Guys you have clearly strayed from the "no agenda" line.

MTC - The Hypocrite

2008-11-10T06:32:00.003+11:00

I probably see 10-12 plays per year either at the Malthouse or the MTC. The problem is I actually remember very few - even when I enjoy the performance.

So I Saturday night I saw a modernized version of Moliere's play Tartuffe - this time renamed The Hypocrite. I had forgotten how long a Moliere play can be. This one ran just under three hours with a 20 minute interval.

So a bit long but entertainingly performed by a cast headed by Kim Gyngell as Tartuffe, Garry MacDonald as the feckless Orgon and the delicious Marina Prior as his wife. The text was still the rhyming style of Moliere but with updated language. The truth is I didn't notice the rhyming until the second half having struggled with the often overwhelming urge to sleep for most of the first half- a product of too many late nights.

A rating of 3.5. Saw Iris and Richard there again.

Melbourne Theatre Company's " Doubt"

2006-04-08T23:20:00.000+10:00

This afternoon we had the unexpected pleasure of a performance of "Doubt" - the latest in the current MTC season. My partner tells me this play is the first of a trilogy dealing with the issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the United States.

Doubt takes place in the USA in 1964 and features a young parish priest and two nuns working in a school attached to the parish. The two nuns are a contrast - the older is the head of the nuns, worldly wise, having a previous married life before entering the convent - and the younger, idealistic, somewhat naive and hopeful.

The two nuns- especially the superior - become suspicious of a relationship the priest has with a young, negro alter boy. But there is doubt all round. Is there really a problem? is it all in the imagination of the older woman. There is enough to suggest not.

She challenges the priest and he tries every trick in the "male authority figure in the church" book to deflect her.

The mother of the young boy seems to accept that it might be happening but is more concerned that her son should graduate and get to a good high school and college. In some wonderful tension filed scenes, older nun confronts the priest and calls his bluff. After seemingly backing down, he phones his bishop. For what? To confess? To consult with a knowing superior?

But he is transferred to another parish and effectively given a promotion - one that puts him in direct control of children.

This play rings with the sad tale that has played out in real life in the Catholic Church in the US where abusing priests were protected and moved around. Later the real horror of the cover up was to cause great pain to the Church in the US and to the victims of these men.

I look forward to the next play in the trilogy but I think I know where it is headed.

Technorati Tags: Australia, Melbourne

Ray's Tempest at the MTC

2006-02-26T08:49:00.000+11:00

The Melbourne Theatre Company have a real hit on their hands in the form, of Ray's Tempest. With William McInnes as Ray, this is the best contemporary, Australian play for some time. Supported by a rich and everpresent cast of six other actors, this is a warm and engaging, if quirky play.

McInnes is simply wonderful as Ray. This guy must be l loved by both men and women - good looking, easy going, real, identifiable, relaxed. He is Ray - weak, strong, warm funny, troubled.

You must see it.

MTC's "Dumb Show"

2005-12-29T23:08:00.000+11:00

The opening play in the Melbourne Theatre Company's 2006 season is the "Dumb Show" that I am sorry to say doesn't rise much above its title.

A cast of Aaron Blabey, Anita Hegh and Richard Piper - 3 good and appealing actors - work very hard to make this piece work. But I found myself being irritated by a lack of pace (or content or purpose) very early on. English accents don't help either. Overheard lots of comments at the interval that suggested others were having the same problem. Things got marginally better in the second half - as they so often seem to - but in the end the play seem to be a commentary on the nihilism of "modern" tabloid journalism.

Technorati Tags: Melbourne

HAVE YOURSELF A PODSAFE CHRISTMAS: First carol of its kind brings together 32 singers from around the world to benefit UNICEF

2005-12-09T22:05:00.000+11:00

I strongly encourage all of you who appreciate the value of podcasting, podsafe music, and Christmas to go and buy a copy of the wonderful collaborative Christmas song involving some 32 podsafe musicians from 9 different countries around the globe.
Go pay your $0.99US, buy the song and support UNICEF at Podsafe for Peace

Technorati Tags: Music

Malthouse Theatre's Love - Is not about.......

2005-11-20T20:46:00.000+11:00

The latest production in the current season for the Malthouse Theatre is LOVE by Patricia Cornelius.

Run in the Tower Theatre at the Malthouse, this play almost had the distinction of having more actors than audience - and there only three actors. But the 15 or so people who attended the show I saw must have felt as I did - these three young actors deserved more.

Love is not a soft, gentle piece about romantic love. Lesbian relationships, drugs, prostitution, abuse, lies are what we have here as we are exposed to the hard reality of life for some young people. This play has a lot in common with the underlying thread of the play (End of the Rainbow) being run down the road at the MTC about Judy Garland. Some people are used, mistreated and abused by others with such obvious self interest dressed up as "love".

While the abuse of Judy is wrapped and made bearable by the music, the characters of Love have no such softeners.

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Currently playing on our iTunes : Mahangoma from the album "Malagasy" by Jaojoby Rating: 4 Play Count: 1

Technorati Tags: Malthouse_Theatre, Melbourne, puppy

What is important?

2005-11-05T22:49:00.000+11:00

This has been a very strange week. A week ago last Thursday, a friend died leaving me with the role of executor. For the week he was in hospital up to his death, I had for the first time to focus on what having medical power of attorney actually meant. I hardly had time to think about his progress towards death - a death that he had longed for to end his pain and reunite him with his wife and parents.

I watched a life slip so easily away. And began to reflect on what was important at the end.

I have no answers - just questions.

MTC's Cheech

2005-08-06T23:22:00.000+10:00

What a surprise!. When going to MTC plays can be such a mixed experience, finding a play like Cheech is a real joy. Turns out this is a Canadian play from Montreal - hence the French rap music with American accents. As the blurb from the company says:

The Chrysler convention is in town and Ron runs an escort service, so could there be a better day for making an easy buck? All he's got to do is show the Chrysler guys a portfolio of his girls and just wait for the calls. But everything goes wrong, everything gets way out of order, and there's only one guy to blame: Cheech!

This is a very fast paced play that used a device of seeing the events that lead to the conclusion mostly going backwards. The 4 men and 2 women characters have stories that weave together in a wonderfully engaging way. Young Australian cast showing real talent lead by Aaron Blabey as the manic Ron struggling to run his callgirl business while trying badly to work through the workbook exercises designed to address his depression. And Cheech - we never see him but hear just references to this competitor of Ron.

Very entertaining.. and loud.

A Very Personal Page 8

2005-07-31T19:29:00.000+10:00

The final play in the current winter season for the Malthouse Theatre is Page 8 written (with Louis Nowra) and performed by David Page.

In what the Age describes as "another knockout one person play at the Malthouse", Page takes us on a very personal journey through his life - as a child in an aboriginal family in Brisbane, as a successful adolescent pop star, as a concretor and as a dancer.

Why Page 8? Simple - David was the eighth child in a family of 12 children.

This is a very easy story to like. There is real talent here from an artist who is a lover of the strength of a family and the values that bind and one who doesn't take himself too seriously.

But I have to confess I found myself asking whether this very real exposure of the person telling a real story was "good theatre" or just a bit too self indulgent.

In the end it is just a good story , well told by a very talented man. Perhaps it is me who is taking himself too seriously?
Technorati: Melbourne, Malthouse, theatre

What is happening to The Age?

2005-07-28T12:58:00.000+10:00

Since the arrival of Andrew Jaspan as Editor of The Age, the paper has undergone a series of changes that make me wonder just where Mr Jaspan thinks he is taking the paper.

Now I admit that grumpy old men of my age dislike anything that upsets their world view.

I liked the Age that had a different supplement each day of the week. It gave me comfort, appealed to my biases and confirmed my view of things.

Jaspan decided that had to go.

But being the accommodating person I am, I grew to like the Metro supplement that replaced the daily themed supplements. My family likes to read the Age and each of them have particular favourite sections. The separate sections of the paper allowed for it to be broken up for parallel reading. But Mr Jaspan didn't like that either.

So now the separate Metro has been absorbed into the main part of the paper. How can someone do the Sudoko now without tearing out a page? Does Jaspan understand how people read and share the paper? Seemingly not.

Jaspan wake up. The things that differentiate a newspaper are not the wire service news items at the front. They are the things that reflect the community it serves.

Straying for Good Coffee

2005-07-27T21:41:00.000+10:00

In the 22 years I have been in Melbourne, like many inner suburban inhabitants I have developed a taste for a "good coffee". Over that time there have been a small number of coffee shops that qualified as regulars. But the clear favourite over all those years has been Pellegrinis at the top end of Bourke Street. Why? I was introduced soon after I arrived and was at first intimidated by the gruff, almost unfriendly service from those on the other side of the counter.

But you went for the coffee. And over time those gruff characters behind the counter became familiar. Eventually after something like 10 years, Cisto (one the the co-owners) actually called me by my first name. Surely I had arrived.

And while the coffee makers changed over time - and some were terrible - you could usually rely on a consistently "good coffee". Some were fantastic. But you came to learn that these people had lives beyond Pellegrinis - and sometimes those lives had very rough periods. Sometimes they left altogether to regain that order and balance.

Currently Pellegrinis is going through what would have to be called a crisis. During the week the good coffee makers are just not there any more. The coffee is most often so-so and sometimes worthy of missing altogether. So we have strayed in pursuit of the "good lunch time coffee".

For now the regular haunt at lunch time has become the European in Spring Street that not only serves good coffee and reasonable meals, but it also has the allure of wine as well.

Monday Night " Oyster Farmer" at the Nova

2005-07-25T22:53:00.000+10:00

With no expectations and some reluctance, I chose to go and see a movie at the Nova on "Cheap Monday" when admission is half price.

The movie is "The Oyster Farmer" set on the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney. It tells the story of young twenty-something Jack Flange (Alex O’Lachlan), a pensive man who moves from Sydney to work in a small oyster farming community on the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney. He moves there to be close to his sister, who is in a local hospital recovering from a serious car accident.

The film has been well received and given praise for its quality of story and character development. Some go so far as to put it in the league of Lantana. These are real people struggling (there is no apparent wealth) to make a living with hard and hot work on a humid river.

It is an easy film to watch but it does not have Lantana's depth and you do not walk away tingling. A great cast including Kerry Armstrong who looks as good as ever and Jack Thompson in a role as the leader of a small band of Vietnam vets living on the river and managing their oyster farm.

Highly recommended.

2005-07-19T23:06:00.000+10:00

Worldcon 2005 UK - Hugo Nominee Links: "

The list of nominees for the Hugo Award in Science Fiction Writing makes for a great list to add to my " To be Read " list:

Best Novel (424 nominating ballots)

The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks (Orbit)
Iron Council by China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross (Ace)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
River of Gods by Ian McDonald (Simon & Schuster)

Is Small Theatre Going to Work?

2005-07-19T20:08:00.000+10:00

The latest production in the current Winter season of the Malthouse Theatre is The Black Swan of Trespass . The play is being performed in the new theatre (The Tower) within the Malthouse complex that seems to respresent some sort of throwback to the La Mama style of theatre. ie small, uncomfortable, and ernest.

Unlike other productions within this current season - all of which are one actor shows - this production has four actors playing on a very small stage in front of an audience of perhaps 100.

The play which revisits the topic of the Ern Malley Affair has been well reviewed in the Age - perhaps even a little too well. Amusingly the created Ern Malley and his fictional sister Ethel are given lives that go beyond the limitations imposed by their creators. But it is a limited joke and the suggestion by the Age reviewer that this is an insightful comment on Australian culture seems to be stretching it just a tad.

Not the best of the season - that remains Alias Grace.

Recognizing Frustration

2005-07-09T09:13:00.000+10:00

Robyn Williams is what is often casually described as an icon of the Australian national radio broadcaster - the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He has hosted the Science program on the ABC's Radio National for some 30 years. An erudite man who clearly loves his subject and feels the pain of the difficulties of Australian science.

In addition to the Science Show, Williams conducts a weekly short interview program entitled In Conversation. In the most recent of these programs, he interviews the current Chair of the CSIRO, Catherine Livingstone. Livingstone is another example of a group of Australian "managerialists" who are essentially accountants who view the world and all its complexities through the narrow eyes of accounting, business and the market.

Their language is dominated by the jargon of modern managerialism:

The central doctrine of managerialism is that the differences between such organisations as, for example, a university and a motor-vehicle company, are less important than the similarities, and that the performance of all organisations can be optimised by the application of generic management skills and theory. It follows that the crucial element of institutional reform is the removal of obstacles to ‘the right to manage’.

The rise of managerialism has gone hand in hand with that of the radical program of market-oriented reforms variously referred to as Thatcherism, economic rationalism and neoliberalism. (Despite very different histories, all these terms are now generally used in a pejorative sense). Managerialism may appear inconsistent with traditional free-market thinking in which the ideal form of organisation is that of competitive markets supplied by small firms, in which the manager is also the owner. However, managerialism is entirely consistent with the dominant strand in the neoliberal approach to public policy, which takes the corporation, rather than the small owner-managed firm, as the model for all forms of economic and social organisation.

So here is Robyn Williams attempting to ask this woman about what is currently happening within the CSIRO where the language, behaviour and effects of managerialism is now having its destructive effect.

But Robyn's frustration about the application of this psuedo-science of managerialism to the CSIRO and its proud history of the achievements and application of Australian science was all too obvious. This was not one of his better performances.

People like Livingstone answer questions about managerialism by referring to its necessity. Her responses, like so many of her contemporaries, suggest that there can only be one way foward - and guess what that is.

We need effective leadership in all Australian organisations. The mistake being made is that leadership can only come through the mantra of the market. We need leaders to emerge from somewhere else other than the Macquarie Bank.

Melbourne
CSIRO
ABC
science
MelbourneMeanderings

ABC Podcasts to expand - Fantastic!

2005-07-07T05:56:00.000+10:00

This extension by the ABC is just a terrific idea

Departing Friends

2005-07-02T00:17:00.000+10:00

Today some friends of our family left Australia to spend two years working and living in New Delhi, India. We hope to visit them in January 2007.

Safe journey to Amanda, Graham, Caitlin and Grace.

Influence - An MTC Production

2005-06-26T08:49:00.000+10:00

I subscribe to two theatres in Melbourne. One the Malthouse has renewed itself and these days gives a reason to go to the theatre. The other, the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC), is the oldest professional company in Melbourne - and sometimes it age shows

Going to MTC productions generally depresses me. The audience is mostly made up of people over 50 (or 70), looking well off and victims of "affluenza". Am I one of these people?

The productions are generally populist, mainstream - but to be fair - usually of high quality.

So yesterday along I went to see Influence the latest play by David Williamson - the acute observer of Australian culture. But I arrived feeling less than positive. Looking around, the audience looks the same - I feel depression deepening - and the question lingers for me as to whether Williamson has passed his "use by date".

This play - unusual for these days in that it has a cast of seven - deals with a Sydney shockjock called Ziggy Blasco who:

... likes to push buttons. Right-wing and self-righteous, the top-rating talk-back announcer gets the switchboard lighting up with his 'common sense' declarations on everything from dole bludgers to refugees. The trouble with Ziggy is that he actually believes the simplistic rubbish he spouts on air, which puts him at enormous disadvantage in the real world.

Well? Overall I think the play works. Sure there are lots of predictable, polemical arguments - brother and sister, father and daughter, father and son, husband and wife, step-mother and daughter, etc - and realistically there is no saccharine ending. The world is much more complex than the Ziggys of the world would have us believe.

But Williamson leaves us with that uncomfortable awareness that the "button pushing" by the Ziggys ( or Hitler, or Bush, or Howard) works.

And in the end - isn't that the purpose of theatre.

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, MTC, theatre

Recital

2005-06-20T08:21:00.000+10:00

The 2nd in the Malthouse Theatre's winter season - a joint production with Chamber Made Opera - is Recital featuring Helen Noonan in what is described in the publicity as an "other-worldly experience".

As an opener I have to say that the new Artistic Director Michael Cantor has resuscitated this theatre that was slowly "fading to grey" under Aubrey Mellor. Now productions hold interest and as a subscriber I look forward to seeing what he has on offer this time. Under Mellor it became all too predictable and lacking any real excitement.

Now Recital.

Channeling all those great women who have gone before her, Helen Noonan plays the Ghost of Opera, the very Diva of Divas. Serving an eternal sentence in the purgatory of her own imagination, this Diva is the quintessence of the world's greatest opera singers'; or perhaps a lost and demented soul who simply thinks she is.

Her extraordinary story is told through a combination of original soundscape, well known arias, witty text, and almost balletic Callas-thenic gesture. Distinctions between art and life, fantasy and reality, tragedy and comedy become one as the Diva possesses the stage.

Arias featured in Recital include the most loved of the classical repertoire, including Mi Chiano Mimi from LA BOHEME by Puccini, Habanera from CARMEN by Bizet and Queen of the Night aria from THE MAGIC FLUTE by Mozart.

I didn't like it a lot. This is an almost entirely sung piece and much of what is being said(sung) was lost to me. There was apparently humour in this piece but it was mostly lost on me. Quality singing, great lighting and costume - but not a work that did a lot for me.

Technorati Tags:Melbourne, theatre, Malthouse

The Joy of House Hunting

2005-06-16T23:20:00.000+10:00

What a complex set of emotions is experienced when going through the process of house hunting. Outright opposition, relunctance, tentative interest, real interest, growing concern about lack of preparation, panic, sense of entrapment and finally, a hope for failure at auction.

Buying a new house after 15 or more years is a serious business. Contemplation of the outrageous costs involved, of the need to reconfigure your whole life. Yet I am not the only member of this family. Do I just play the role of relunctant sceptic while others enjoy flights of fancy.

Perhaps it will all pass.

Boulevard Delirium

2005-06-15T20:39:00.000+10:00

On Tuesday night, we went to see the Schauspielhaus Wien production of Boulevard Delirium. Starring Paul Capsis with concept and direction by Barrie Kosky this was a....different night at the Malthouse.

A very different audience from the usual Malthouse crowd, this one dominated by gay men and hetrosexual, Jewish couples. This is a one man show backed by 5 very capable musicians from either Australia, Australia or Spain.

After a mildy shaky start, Capsis presents an extraordinary performance as he takes on the mannerisms, speech and singing styles of a range of departed "chanteuses" including Bessie Smith, Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Bille Holiday and Marlene Dietrich.

Very witty, wonderfully rude and entertaining. How does Capsis find the real Paul under all of that.

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Theatre

The Annual Trip to the Healesville Sanctuary

2005-06-13T19:44:00.000+10:00

Each year on the Monday of the Queens Birthday weekend, my family travels to the Healesville Sanctuary some 70 kms east of Melbourne.

We have been animal sponsors at Healesville for 10 or more years and as members of FOTZ (Friends of the Zoo) we get free admission to the sanctuary.

This is a wonderful place to spend 3-4 hours walking around the very natural bush setting with enclosures that give a maximum of space and as natural a habitat as possible. Their work on the platypus and the various exhibits for this animal are an absolute treat. As is the opportunity to touch Australian animals - wombats, dingos, etc.

A very pleasant day with a walk in the bush and its sounds and smells:

- the smell of lemon eucalyptus leaf litter
- the mimicry of a lyrebird in full song and full display.

Technorati Tags:Australia,Melbourne, mammals, zoo, FOTZ

Technorati and Melbourne Meanderings

2005-06-13T08:57:00.000+10:00

The mystery of how blogs get captured by search engines like Yahoo, Google and Technorati still escapes me. Melbourne Meanderings

alias GRACE

2005-06-12T08:31:00.000+10:00

Caroline Lee takes on that most extraordinary task for any actor - the solo performance - and over one and three quarter hours she puts on a masterful performance.

In this Malthouse Theatre adaptation of Margaret Attwood's novel, this woman uses her voice to totally capture the audience, Either in the lilting irish tones of the lead character Gracie Marks, her Canadian masters and mistresses, her jailers, or her inquisitors Lee's mastery is complete. She uses the stage space to great effect with simply props and wonderful lighting to hold your attention.

Her Gracie Marks, so simple and unsophisticated, yet so manipulative and so in charge.

Lee's performance deserved more than the half full theatre on this Queens Birthday Long Weekend.

Another great production by the revamped Malthouse.

A Weblogs.com Test

2005-06-11T21:54:00.000+10:00

Just a test post to see if it shows up in Weblogs.com

Cattle and the High Country

2005-06-10T07:38:00.000+10:00

The way this story is being reported shows (a) conservative parties concerned with the individual rights while (b) the Government taking the action seems ham-fisted and only concerned about legislative authority.

I don't know whether closing the Alpine high country National Park to grazing is a good thing or not. But if it is doing damage, claiming a heritage right to graze cattle is no justification. It just says "we have been damaging highland pasture for a long time and we have a right to continue".

Whatever the outcome, the cattlemen from the high country know how to make a point.

3 Dollars or "The Tanya Tigers of Edam"

2005-06-07T15:33:00.000+10:00

Another Monday night another movie at the Nova in Carlton.

This time the Australian film " Three Dollars" starring David Wenham and Frances O'Connor.

According to the director, "the film is about a good man being tested in all aspects of his life. Tested in his relation with his wife and daughter. Tested in his morality about his work. Tested in his financial situation, and tested even in the streets he walks on!"

True, but it takes a long time to get there. Some bits are simply unbelievable e.g. the tramp for a night scenes. Not great but another enjoyable David Wenham performance. Somewhere there is a great film just waiting for Wenham. This is not it.

And why "The Tanya Tigers of Edam"? In the film, the Frances O'Connor character (Tanya) tells her young daughter that she is doing work on the "Tamil Tigers of Elam". Later in the film - in a very tense moment - this is fed back by the child as ...

The Tanya Tigers of Edam.

2005-05-31T07:31:00.000+10:00

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

As someone who had read the Hitchhikers books, seen the BBC TV series and listened to the BBC radio version, I went to see the new Hitchhikers film with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

Excitement at a chance to see/hear the wonderfully English humour of Douglas Adams - vaguely silly but funny in a way that makes you laugh out loud. Apprehension about the American influence on this film and their need to dumb things down for middle America.

Sadly I have to say I actually struggled to stay awake. Too many American accents, too many shortcuts, miscasting, etc.

I starting clock watching after an hour and couldn't wait to leave. My apprehension was justified.

2005-05-28T21:59:00.000+10:00

Black Medea

MALTHOUSE THEATRE - season 2005: ""

Every now and then, and then just often enough, you see a play that justifies the money you spend on season subscriptions to theatre companies. Today was one of those occasions when I had the pleasure of watching the final in the Autumn season at the Malthouse Theatre. The play, Black Medea, is beautifully performed by a small cast of 4 Aboriginal actors - all of them except the boy - known nationally in Australia for the quality of their craft.

But in addition to the acting, the thing that I really appreciated was the fabulous lighting in an extraordinarily effective stage setting.

Well done to all.

The Downfall

2005-05-27T23:15:00.000+10:00

This week I went to see the movie "The Downfall" at the Nova in Carlton at 9.00 pm on Monday night.

Starring Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in the final days of WWII in the German leaders bunker in central Berlin, this is a great movie about a truly awful event. While Ganz puts in a masterful performance, I was surprised that the film had so many sub plots. All of these stories were compelling in their helplessness, their honesty, their resignation. I can remember reading in the masterful book "Albert Speer - His Battle with Truth" by Gita Sereny that true evil was banal. While this movie was anything but banal, the thinking of Hitler, Josef Goebbels and his wife was so icy even as the world collapsed around them.

Not a movie that you leave whistling but truly worth the 156 minutes.

2005-05-26T23:40:00.000+10:00

ABC Podcasts

The trial by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in providing a great range of its non-music Radio National programs via podcast is just fantastic. The programs I love but often forgot or missed and didn't want to listen by streaming are now available anywhere anytime. Roll on the music programs when the record industry finally gets its act together.

2005-05-26T21:30:00.000+10:00

The Emerging New Melbourne Cricket Ground

Last Saturday, wanting the see the AFL game between the West Coast Eagles and Collingwood, I had my first opportunity to visit the "new" Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and sit in the new stands that have now almost encircled the Ground. We sat in the new Ponsford Stand at the western end of the Ground. Having sat in the old Ponsford, I feared that it would still seem a long way from the game when action was occurring at the other end of the ground.

The stands look great and create a wonderful bowl effect. When some 100,000 people are packed in, the atmosphere will be wonderful.

But I still prefer to watch footy at the Telstra Dome.

Outside the ground a real carbuncle is emerging in the form of the new pedestrian bridge from outside the ground to Birrarung Marr. And all for the Commonwealth Games!

Welcome to Sounds from the Indian Ocean

2005-05-25T17:43:00.000+10:00

Finally I have created my blog called "Sounds from the Indian Ocean" in which I get to explore and share my passion with the music from the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean. Podcast from SFTIO is coming.

Working Towards a Podcast

2005-05-10T13:28:00.000+10:00

As a podcast listener for some 4 months, I had been thinking hard about my own podcast. In the end I have settled on a subject that probably guarantees the hardest possible path. I want to produce a weekly program of 35-40 minutes of music from ( or influenced by) countries surrounding the Indian Ocean.

So I registered a URL for Sounds from the Indian Ocean, bought appropriate gear and then began the path of licensing. The only podcast I know of that plays "licensed" music is Karin's Themed Songs from the Netherlands.

By way of email, Karin explained how she came by her license. So I approached the relevant license bodies her in Australia for both performance and (more importantly) reproduction rights.

I can get a performance license from APRA (http://www.apra.com.au/) but reproduction licenses from PPCA (http://www.ppca.com.au) or ARIA (http://www.aria.com.au) are simply not available unless I approach individual record companies.

Which is where I am now - unless there is suddenly an industry breakthrough.

An interestingly the Government has announced a review of licensing for reproduction in Australia.

Launch of Five Oranges

2005-04-14T05:51:00.000+10:00

Last night I attended the launch of the new novel "Five Oranges" by Melbourne author Graham Reilly at the Rob Roy Hotel in Fitzroy in inner Melbourne. Idiosyncratically launched by fellow Melbourne writers Arnold Zable and Barry Dickens, 'Five Oranges' is the sequel to 'Saigon Tea' where we first met the characters Frank and Eileen, Jimmy and Stella, Danny and Mai.

Written with loving attention to the minutiae of life in Glasgow, Melbourne and Saigon, Graham has created stories where you feel you know these people and their every day ( and unlikely) predicaments.

The launch speeches were entertaining; I managed to buy Barry Dickens a drink when he asked to have it put on the long exhausted 'launch tab'; Arnold Zable left before I had a chance to say how much I enjoyed his book 'Scarps of Heaven'; the following live music drowned all hope of conversation; the Rob Roy is no yuppie pub; talked ( or yelled) with Graham's dad who claimed Graham got a good number of ideas from him. We left at around 10.00 leaving Graham and a hard core group of drinking/smoking journos from the Age.

Two Brothers - A Great New Hannie Rayson Play

2005-04-09T17:50:00.000+10:00

Another Saturday afternoon play. This time Two Brothers by the Australian playwright Hannie Rayson - a Melbourne Theatre Company production at the Playhouse in the Melbourne Arts Centre. A great contemporary play about the Australian political response to refugees and the personal and political compromises made in the pursuit of power. A long play of some two and a half hours but the pace and interest is kept high in part through the innovative revolving staging A convincing performance by Gary McDonald as the thoroughly morally and ethically corrupt Minister for Home Security.

Walking back through the city with the unseasonable hot 30+ degrees, saw lots of people out enjoying this late burst of summer but oh the bloody awful ferris wheel sitting alongside Federation Square. Why?

Beautiful Days and Cooling nights

2005-04-06T07:28:00.000+10:00

Beautiful autumn days continue but with daylight saving now ended, evenings come on quickly and then bring a hint of winter to come. The evening walk around Princes Park is now completed in the dark - but the numbers of walkers and runners is still high. Bet they fall away when the real cold weather comes.

The annoying International Flower Show

2005-04-04T20:41:00.000+10:00

That time of the year when the very public Carlton Gardens is closed for two weeks for the preparation, conduct and clean up for the International Flower Show. Daily users of the gardens feel affronted but the huge grounds it attracts show just how popular it is.

Might even go myself this year.

Running into "Ghost Rider"

2005-04-04T20:21:00.000+10:00

Filming of the Hollywood film "Ghost Rider" continues in and around Melbourne, yesterday they spent a good part of Sunday filming in and around the intersection of Exhibition and Little Lonsdale.

2005-04-03T19:35:00.000+10:00

Technorati Profile

Is Bigpond Cable believable?

2005-04-03T17:37:00.000+10:00

As a subscriber to Bigpond Cable internet access I have lost all faith in them as a reasonable provider. For the first time last month I exceeded the 10G limit and my download speed was reduced to a dialup rate for the last five days of the month. So much for looking after long term customers. So I upped my plan to a higher capacity - and of course more money for them. And now after three days on the new plan and have alledgedly reached 13% of my new limit of 20G per month. Looks like I will need to cut back on Podcast downloads.

An Eagles win is always a good thing

2005-04-03T17:28:00.000+10:00

Second week in to the 2005 AFL season and the preferred team - the West Coast Eagles - have won their 2nd game but still not convincingly enough for we eternal pessimists.

"The Big Con" - a kind of review

2005-04-02T20:40:00.000+10:00

Today I saw the show "The Big Con" starring Max Gillies and Eddie Perfect at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne ( http://www.malthousetheatre.com.au/season.htm).

Before that show I was not particularly looking forward to it - Max Gillies' style of humour is well known and predictable. Would there being anything fresh? Max presented nothing new - his satirical representations of a range of mostly Australian politicians from the current Howard Government are good but expected. But Mr Eddie Perfect I did not know - and probably should - he was good with a strong singing voice. Is this his real name?

In the end, 2 hours reasonably spent but not sure either that good satire is achieved by claiming that homosexuality underlies so much of what you oppose.

But oh the audience!

Do people over 60 constitute the majority of the audience of most Melbourne theatre productions these days? If so, then theatre in Melbourne has a very limited future. It's depressing!