Monthly Archives: February 2008

Reviews, Theatre

Miss Saigon

The wedding sceneFirst of all can I say that if you love this musical already – you will enjoy the production at the Burswood.  The staging is great, the helicopter scene clever, the cast can sing and their group dancing is spot on.  The orchestra wonderful.  It’s a big production and it’s done well.

If you are not the biggest of musical fans…

And don’t get me wrong – I love a good musical – have even in my time bought soundtracks.  I love for example Les Miserables, Chess and of course more recently Keating!.  I’m a big fan of the classics too and have even enjoyed Andrew Lloyd Webber productions in the past.  And sign me up for another look at Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You.

But.  I didn’t enjoy Miss Saigon.

Now I will say I was tired.  It had been a busy day at work and I was rushed to get there.  And I was sitting next to Groover – not the biggest fan of musical theatre.

But still.

I was over it by the second song.  The problem with this musical is that there are too many solos and duets.  The love affair between Chris (who calls their hero Chris?  Sorry to all the Chrises out there but wtf?) and Kim is tender and sweet but do we really need four aching love songs with loads of kissing inbetween every line?

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The other problem is that there are very few light moments in the script so it is one degrading, depressing scene after the next.  This means the big show stopper numbers like American Dream in the second act seem contrived, as if the producer says “you know what we need here?  how about a big chorus line…”

Then lets add some worthy notes and put a montage of abandoned orphans on – sure yes, worthy, their fate awful – but I’m in my seat for musical theatre people!

I said at interval to Groover – this music reminds me of Les Miserables – and no wonder.  I’ve since discovered both musicals were written by the same team.  At least Les Mis had a stirring anthem and a couple of funny songs – Master of the house for example.

What is it with prostitutes and these writers??

Anyway I sat through it – although tempted to leave at half time.

Sorry to be such a bah humbug but it just didn’t engage me.  You can’t please all of the people all of the time I guess.

Dippity, Parenting, School

Making friends

27 Comments

Key WestIt’s not easy making friends at a new school, even if you know some of the girls already.

My daughter has recently moved from a small school with just five girls to a big girls’ school with 56 girls in her year, and she’s finding it surprisingly hard to make friends.

She’s generally a confident little soul but I think all the “newness” is a bit overwhelming. Also I imagine she had the idea that the gang of 5 would stick together. That hasn’t been the case. The other girls seem to have hooked up faster than she has and she feels left out, and a little lost, maybe even betrayed.

But what can you do as a parent?

One night last week she was inconsolable. 🙁

I offered to have new friends (or old) over for a play. I suggested she listen more to new acquaintences to see if they had some things in common. I even asked her to consider chatting to her teacher – also new – who might have some ideas.
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On the train to work I met a colleague who had had a daughter go to the same school. She suggested I contact the principal of the junior school and see if she had any ideas but I hesitated.

I don’t want to necessarily rescue Dippity – I mean, this could be an important life lesson for her – but I don’t want her to be miserable at school either! (She of course wants me to rescue her)

Today she came home with the crumbs of new friendships. One girl had mentioned that she liked Avatar – Dippity LOVES Avatar, and she had fun with another girl during sport. She seemed happier and more like my darling Dippity.

So what’s your advice?

Hang back and be there for cuddles at the end of a disappointing day? Or is there something proactive I can do?

Blogging

Meeting bloggers

Have you ever met someone who’s blog you’ve read for a while. It is a most bizarre thing.

Yesterday I caught up with The Food Pornographer in the morning. I was interviewing her for the Aussie Bloggers blog – look out for it in a few weeks – and we met at a restaurant – where else? – for a chat. Tfp arrived first and she is lovely – much like her blog. I set up my microphone – fiddling with the unfamiliar equipment (it’s been a while) – while we ordered. We had a great chat and I even filmed her taking photos – you’ll have to wait for the blog but this is a snap from the video:

The Food Pornographer

Then in the afternoon, I headed down to Cottesloe Beach to meet Guera – A Roaming Aussie Mum, back in Perth for a holiday with family. Guera knows my brother through mutual friends – Perth is very small – and we sat on the grassy banks in the shade chatting about blogging and who we knew in common.

Guera at Cottesloe

What was interesting for me (apart from the conversations) was the weirdness of knowing so much about someone (through reading their blog) and yet meeting them for the first time. Guera commented “I was nervous. It’s like going on a blind date!” And it was a bit like that – it must be even weirder if you are meeting a new partner discovered over the net.
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It crept in all the time – tfp was commenting about how she hasn’t updated her WordPress because she’s scared of breaking something “like you did” (well that wasn’t really the upgrade – that was me being a dill and mucking around in the database which you don’t have to do to upgrade). Guera asked my daughter how she was fitting in at her new school – because she’d read that on my blog. You just can’t help but throw in these little asides.

And did I find them to be as they blogged? Well yes. I think that’s why I enjoy their blogs so much – because they are genuine.

Am now nervously waiting to hear their verdicts of me!

btw the next Perth meet-up is on 20th February at the Brass Monkey in Northbridge at 7pm.

In other bloggy news – guess what? I won the Revolution theme contest! W00t. It’s a little more complicated to configure it all to my satisfaction but watch this space. Demo.

Books, PIAF

Review: Horrendo’s Curse

1 Comment

horrendo's curseThis little book by Anna Fienberg is charming. Aimed at 6-10 year olds I guess it has illustrations by the same guy that drew for the Tashi books – Kim Gamble.

The book is set in a village which is raided each year by pirates. They take boys aged 12 who endure two years of misery as slaves to the pirates. To help them survive the village school teaches them how to cuss and curse, how to fight, how to raise perilous pets.

The hero of our story – Horrendo – though is cursed with a Charming spell which leaves him unable to fight or swear or cuss.

If someone stole his lunch, Horrendo would say. “Oh dear, how hungry yuo must be! Why don’t you take my chocolate cake as well?” Or if a person happened to race by and kick him in the shins, he would call after them, “So sorry, aren’t I always in the way? Hope you didn’t hurt your foot on my shin!”
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I love the concept and I’m sure kids would too – in fact I’m hoping one of mine will read it too to give us their expert opinion.

*Anna Fienberg and Kim Gamble are featured in the PIAF Writer’s Festival on Saturday afternoon.

A little game
Another review

Books

Review: People of the Book

4 Comments

geraldine brooksMaybe because I’d recently visited the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, I was totally ready for this book set around a rare Jewish book – the Sarajevo Haggadah.

The novel travels space and time. We travel the world as Hanna Heath uncovers the secrets of this ancient text and uncovers some unexplored areas of her own heart.

I love Geraldine Brooks’s other works – March and Year of Wonders – but what charmed me so much with this one was her Australian heroine. She is SO Australian!

Here’s a passage describing how to get hold of cow gut (don’t ask) to prove my point:

Ever since they moved the abattoir out of Homebush and started to spruce the place up for the 2000 Olympics, you have to drive, basically, to woop woop, and then when you finally get there, there’s so much security in place because of the animal libbers you can barely get in the gate

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I just love it. And I love the story. It’s a love story – boy v girl – girl v career – man v God – girl v parent… okay love/hate. A pleasure to read. Easy to read in fact (took me about 6 hours – around 400 pp) but you still feel you learned something.

More reviews

And Geraldine Brooks is coming to Perth.

Travel, Work

Knowledge and Wisdom

Groover surprised me with this gem today as we flew back from Karratha – he’d heard it on a podcast:

Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad.

Nice.

The Burrup

So Karratha? I hear you ask. Of course! Where else would your lover take you for Valentine’s Day but a fairly ordinary motel in one of the fastest growing towns in the north west. It was hot. You forgot for a while as you listened to the hum and rattle of the massive air conditioning unit while drifting off to sleep…
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But the moment you stepped out the door – bam – it hits you like a furnace.

We were both there for work and given Groover’s previous descriptions I anticipated the worst, but you know, I kinda liked it. I love the outback dirt, the spinifex, the red hot rocks of the Burrup.

We were cyclone watching and tonight it is still heading straight for Port Hedland. Maybe Sunday.

All we can do – like a pregnant woman – is wait.

And hope for the best.

Current Affairs

The Apology

ABC News - members of the stolen generation listen to Rudd's apologyDriving to the airport today I asked the taxi driver to turn on the radio so I could hear Kevin Rudd apologise to the Stolen Generations.

I was completely moved to tears. It felt to me like a new dawn, a new beginning and I felt privileged to be alive and through listening, witness to this moment.

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I don’t know if that’s a true story – but it sounds true – heart breakingly true – and that’s why today is so important for us all.

PIAF

Meow Meow

If you’re in Perth and can get tickets for Meow Meow… do:

International singing sensation, sequinned sex bomb and masterful comedienne Meow Meow has prowled, preened and stunned from Paris to Berlin and Vegas to New York.

Blazing her way through a beguiling blend of 30s Shanghai show tunes, 60s French pop and Brechtian drama, Meow’s razor-sharp shows lurch between mischief and melancholia.

With her distinctive brand of kamikaze cabaret, this classical dancer and opera singer dazed and amazed audiences at David Bowie’s Highline Festival. Get ready Perth – Meow is poised to pounce.

Special guest pianist Iain Grandage

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The show started with Meow entering from the back of the theatre, dischevelled glamour, carrying several bags – immediately engaging hapless members of the audience to help her out “just take it to the stage darling…” as she explained that she really didn’t feel up to a performance tonight after a tragic break up “I know I know”…

It was a fabulous show. Funny. “Where am I? What city?” Terrifying (don’t sit on the aisles if you’re shy). “Just hold me and love me.” Musical – the girl can sing and is ably accompanied by festival favourite Iain Grandage.

A festival highlight for me.

Blogging, Design

Theme Dream

The common cormorant (or shag)
Lays eggs inside a paper bag,
You follow the idea, no doubt?
It’s to keep the lightning out.But what these unobservant birds
Have never thought of, is that herds
Of wandering bears might come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

— Christopher Isherwood

The observant among you will have noticed I’ve changed my theme recently. It is perhaps the easiest theme I’ve ever changed over to – requiring no repairs or tweaking… although I did make the posts column a bit wider to accommodate my photos and the header to make the Cellobella more prominant. All in all it is virtually the same as downloaded.

Needless to say I’m pretty impressed with Brian Gardner’s themes (although I would like a photo in the banner so working on that).
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So when I learned that Success Space have a contest going to win won of his premium themes I was very interested. (thanks Sueblimey)

Here’s what it looks like:

the revolution theme

Nice huh?

So… good luck to me!

(okay and to you should you choose to enter…)

Books

Book Review: Going Gray

book Anne Kreamer‘s exploration of one woman’s discoveries about life when you go grey has touched a nerve with me. Sure she is ten years older than me but I have been throwing money at my badger stripe for years now – and sometimes I just wish I could shave my hair off and start again – grey but without the hassle of dying my hair – of hating my hair for 4 weeks out of every six. I simply can’t be bothered getting it dyed any more than that.

But I’m that one of those strange women who would really not rather waste hours in a hair salon getting “pampered” – Oh it is SO boring! Totally not worth the two minutes of head massage after the shampoo.

Anyway back to the book. Some interesting observations.

Until I stopped colouring my hair, I’d never dared to calculate what it wsa costing me… Every three weeks for twenty four years added up to a total expenditure, not adjusted for inflation of US$65,000. Staggering.

Anne also discovered that she got more hits on a dating site with grey hair rather than her dyed brown hair – counter intuitive huh?

Perhaps her most useful observation is that if you change your hair colour – you need to look at your total look. Your make-up choices, your wardrobe.
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So did she convince me?

Well kind of.

But Groover says he’ll leave me if I go grey. He’s just not ready. Oh and when I say grey – it is more likely to be white.

Do you dye your hair? When might you stop?


The War Over Going Gray. An article by Anne Kreamer