Category Archives: Reviews

Angels are the new vampires

I’m in Dunsborough with most of my family and some friends and as usual it’s the normal round of sleeping, drinking, eating and reading. 

Oh and playing cards.

My daughter has worked out that I’m a soft touch as long as she intends to buy a book so today we went down to the town to check out the bookstores.

What are you looking for?  I ask sweetly.  Something with vampires?
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Duh, mum, no.  She scoffs.

Angels are the new vampires.

Right.

So now I’m reading the book she was reading on the way down which is indeed about angels (Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick) because I reckon in two years time we’ll be going to Angel movies.

So what is Theatresports anyway?

Jen asks me to get back to basics following my Life Lessons from Theatresports post so here goes…

Theatresports was created by a guy called Keith Johnstone.

First of all Theatresports is a vehicle for improvised theatre.

A mechanic.

Ah but what is improvised theatre?

Acting without a script would be the first thing that comes to mind.

Theatresports then gives you a framework for a show… and games to set up the improvisation.

For example – you could do a game called “n-words” – this is one of my favourites.

In this game each person is given a certain number and they can only say that number of words at one time.

It can be hilarious.

If you can remember that you only have a certain number of words to say!

Another fave is when two cast members speak in gibberish and the other two “translate” what they are saying.

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I guess I love it because I can’t sing but this gives me licence to.

Having said that, I never got to play it in the three nights I was on.

Sigh.

Another favourite is Half Life.

In this game you improvise a scene, then replay it in half the time, half the time again, and so on until you replay it in about 3 seconds.

It is a lot of fun.

You play in teams, but the competition is really for the audience.

Does that make any sense at all?

Suffice to say that it is a bit like stepping off a cliff – you have no idea what the night will throw at you – you just have to step off and go for it.

It is very liberating.

And isn’t that what we do in life anyway?

** I don’t think I’ve done that great a job – help anyone?

Life Lessons from Theatresports

Unfortunately my photo collection from Theatresports is somewhat thin, so you’ll have to make do with this image stolen from Facebook (hope that’s okay Jo):

Over the past few months Groover and I have been going to Theatresports classes and performances.

I’ve always loved the idea of Theatresports.

It seems so clever and so fast.

And yet so lazy!

You don’t need to learn any lines!

I love that.

So this is what I’ve learned…

1.  It is okay to fail happily

Failing means that you have tried your hardest.

If you never fail, you have stayed safe.

Being safe means you have never taken any risks.

Without risk, you will never move forward, you will not grow.

Failing happily means that you celebrate growing and changing.

The chance to succeed.

2. Pause

Pause in order to listen.

Count to three before you respond to give yourself thinking time, rather than thinking about your next speech/comment while the other is thinking.

Listening is the greatest gift we can give another person.

We… I… don’t listen enough.

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And when I do pause, I discover a lot more is being said than I realised.

And I wonder what I missed.

So… pause.

3. ….

(I’m pausing)

4. You are only there to make other people look good

And isn’t that true of life?

Yes, obviously it is YOUR life, but by supporting others around you, your life is enhanced.

For without their strength, you will end up holding the world up by yourself.

That’s exhausting and not so satisfying.

5. Keep it simple

In Theatresports the trick is to keep it simple and obvious.

Your audience has a set of expectations and they love it if you stay within that circle of expectations.

It’s why some of the best comedians are those who talk about everyday life – somehow the most obvious observations are hilarious when repeated back at you.

And don’t you think life is the same?

Avoid trying to be too clever.

People want to hear what you’re REALLY thinking, an honest response not some quick one liner.

Sure the gag is cute now and again, but it soon becomes wearing.

You can’t have a real relationship if you don’t have honest communication.

Conclusion

I thought I was learning about theatre, I was learning about life.

(I’ll be signing up for more life lessons later this year… find out when on Facebook.)

Love over gold

I was searching for a CD tonight.

And this is what my poor eyes saw.

Nothing.

I really hate the fact I need my glasses to find a frigging CD.

You see I knew I had Love Over Gold by Dire Straits.

It was one of the first albums I ever bought.

Yes on vinyl.

I think Complete Madness was the first and then Love Over Gold and that’s because a young man was obsessed by Dire Straits and he took me to the concert (at the Entertainment Centre… remember that?).

He was really into guitar playing and would play me guitar and Dire Straits and I thought he was sweet, although I wasn’t really into him.

I liked the music.

It felt rather cool at the time I thought.

You are probably spitting your coffee over the screen at this point but I did think it was cool.

I liked Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and Madness.

I was 16.

Anyway Love Over Gold was one of the first CDs I bought too.
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I started buying CDs long before I had a CD player.

I could see the writing was on the wall.

And when our CD collection was stolen in 1994 I felt sure I would have insisted on buying Love Over Gold again.

Dire Straits and in particular this album was a favourite.

For goodness sakes it had only 5 tracks and one of them was more than 14 minutes long.

And one of them was Industrial Disease.

I knew all the words. 

Classic.

The other Mark Knopfler CD I really liked was the soundtrack to The Princess Bride – my favourite movie.

So why was I so keen to find it?

Well today I heard a track and I could have sworn it was a Dire Straits tune from this album with new words.

Can’t remember the words or even the artist as I was so indignant that they should steal Mark’s work!

So I thought I’d better listen again to his fantastic guitar playing and remind myself.

Of course as I can’t compare them it is a moot exercise but I am enjoying the journey back down memory lane.

I’m 16 again (and saving myself for university).

Vote for my brother… please

My brother’s painting “The Investigator” has been entered on the UK Saatchi website.

If by an extremely long shot he is this week’s favourite it gets hung in the Saachi gallery in London.

If not, just getting him in the favourites means more people are likely to see his work.

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Vote here!

(What’s the point of having a blog if you can’t support your near and dear? Go Mike!)

And this is his website – where you’ll get details of his upcoming exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney.

A perfect Sunday lunch

Lunch

How good is this diet I’m on?

In the last two weeks I’ve lost about four kilos, I’ve not given up wine and I get to have lunches like this.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese wheels – easy and delicious – with a light salad.

There was a light breeze as I sat outside on my reclining camper chair eating my salad and thinking that the world was a pretty good place to be in.

Speaking of salads… here’s a little rant.

Why do restaurants – in particular perhaps those that aren’t so great – overdo salads?

The one on this plate has some rocket leaves, one chopped spring onion, some sliced cucumber and yellow capsicum.

Simple and delicious.

A salad I had the other day at a restaurant had so many competing flavours I felt sick by the end of it.

It’s unnecessary.

I’m writing this listening to my new iTunes purchase – Elbow‘s The Seldom Seen Kid.

Strange name for a band don’t you think?
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Stranger if they’d decided to call themselves after the inside of the elbow… you know… that little crease on your arm that has no name.

I guess then that little crease would have a name.

You know, maybe I should give up on the wine.

Speaking of which…

I’ve just volunteered to host four kids going to my daughter’s school’s drama weekend.

Are you okay with Halal cooking I’m asked.

LOL – I don’t even know what that is.

Something to do with the meat is slaughtered no?

So I say yes, whatever and then my daughter tells me she’s not even doing the weekend because I didn’t fill out some form.

How very irritating.

I put my headphones in, turn Elbow up loud and go to a better place.

UPDATE: And then discover that iTunes didn’t download the album properly and I’m missing two tracks including the one I actually bought the album for. I don’t know, you do the right thing and throw money at the problem and you end up wishing you’d got your teenage son to steal it for you. (Note… that was a joke. As if I’d admit to being THAT bad a parent on a public blog)

David Sedaris

I went to An Evening with David Sedaris to see and hear David Sedaris.

I’m never sure what to expect at author evenings… do they read… what do they read… how do they incorporate questions…

In this case, David read a few short stories, and included some new material, threw in a few choice diary entries and answered questions.

I was sitting on my own and by that of course I mean I didn’t sit next to anyone I knew – clearly I wasn’t on my own.

His Majesty’s was full and I was in the last row of the Dress Circle which was irritating because my colleague – a big Sedaris fan only got his ticket that night and ended up with a much better seat.

I am never booking through BOCS again.

You agree with me right?  That’s annoying.

But maybe they sensed his deep passion for the work, I don’t know.

I knew “the work” through This American Life – a podcast I adore.

His short stories occasionally feature and they are always pithy and amusing.

He looks just as he sounds.

Short of stature.

Balding.

Older than me.

My favourite martian ish.

He wore a white shirt, dark trousers and brown shoes (at least I think they were brown… I was a long way back), and stood behind a heavy wooden podium.

Can someone have a short voice?

We-ll it’s kind of Woody Allen ish.

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He described doing book signings and how he likes to ask people random questions so that they can have a conversation rather than the “rehearsed in the line” stilted comments and adoration, for lets face it, you are hardly likely to wait in a queue for a book to be signed if you didn’t really like the work… or the author.

Anyway I went to get a drink before the show and I was behind this girl who was holding a hotel bottle of shampoo.

She was telling her boyfriend that David gave it to her after she told him her story.

I guess being bald, the shampoo was rather redundant and she did have long hair… but after hearing David’s comments about book signings I’m guessing it was payment for the story she told him.

A story that he liked.

A story that he might write down in his diary and read out at another evening somewhere around the world.

A great story.

What did you tell him, I nearly asked, but then the bartender asked for their order and the moment slipped away.

Now THAT’s irritating.

Good show though.

I enjoyed watching him writing notes on his work as he read… I imagined ticks where the audience laughed…

If you’ve seen it – I’d love to know what you think of the single celled organism story – because of all of them I think that will be the one that stays with me.

The story is about single celled organisms who are ignored by all the other cancer cells and germs and they think it is to do with their name so they try unique cells and all sorts of other permutations but nothing works.

And a cancer cell sees them arguing over their name and says that noone will talk to them if they don’t speak the language, but the single celled organisms don’t understand what he’s saying and so don’t pay any attention.

It seemed a rather conservative stance.

But as another colleague who was there (very smart person) said she thought it was an observation rather than a moral tale…

Which of course made me think of petri dishes and conclude that it was very clever indeed.

On the way home I plugged in my ipod and listened to This American Life where David Sedaris wasn’t featured.

Lunch at Mosmans

The girls:

thegirls

The grandmas:

grandmas

The daughters:

daughters

The daddy:

daddydaughter2

And me:
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moi

We met for lunch at Mosmans to discuss Christmas.

A serious subject indeed.

Who would cook what?

What time? Actually I’m not sure we discussed that apart from a general understanding of “evening”.

What are we doing about presents?

And the answers?

Well we’re doing roast vegies and a non-Christmas-pudding desert… and after that I concentrated on my delicious wild mushroom risotto and scallops.

Open house at Artsource

ron
Meet Belongum!

He kindly invited me to the opening of Artsource Open House and I was delighted to meet a fellow blogger.

We’ve been crossing paths this past year as both our jobs involve some travel to regional WA, I believe one time we might have even been in the same airport at the same time, so it was nice to finally meet face to face.

If you haven’t read Belongum’s Weblog – go on over and have a browse.

I dare you!

So I got a personalised tour of Artsource and met some amazing artists and saw some incredible work.

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Her work is LARGE!

Beautiful portraits painted in sepia tones, they take your breath away when you walk in her studio door.

But don’t let me blather on, you can see for yourself:

And if you want to see Rachel’s work in person or meet some of the other artists – the Open House is this Sunday.

More about the artists at Artsource.

Discomfort books

marjorie
Jennifer Byrne from the First Tuesday Book Club on ABC1 says her comfort book is Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk.

She read it when she was a teenager and it resonated.

It’s the story of a Jewish teenager  in the 1930s, living in New York with dreams of becoming an actress – she falls in love with this glamourous songwriter – look I could go on but perhaps Wikipedia has a more fulsome description…

…are you back with me?

SPOILER ALERT

Anyway many readers – in particular young teenage girls are completely disillusioned by the ending.

This is because Marjorie doesn’t fulful her dreams of becoming an actress, preferring to follow her dreams to marry this charming writer – who is a wastrel and a bit of a bastard if you ask me.

He skives off to Paris and she follows him, eventually finds him and when he asks her to marry him… turns him down.

She then goes back to New York and marries someone else, has four kids, goes prematurely grey and lives happily ever after.

Jennifer says she found this book very empowering as a teenager.
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Here is this young girl with big dreams living in New York, a working girl.  A girl forgoing the hunt for a husband in order to be a broadway success.

Maybe you have to be a teenager to see that.

I read a completely different story.

I read about a young girl, very beautiful but with not that much acting talent in a co-dependent relationship with a cad and who is more concerned about marrying said cad than her acting career.

Eventually she becomes worldly wise, realises the acting thang just ain’t never going to happen and realises that Noel is a complete loser as well.

Maybe it’s because I’m a grey-haired (though dyed a fetching brunette) mama from the burbs reading this and not a young 17 girl full of dreams.

Or maybe as a 17 year old you can’t see the old and cynical tone of Herman Wouk’s world?

For me, this book is about acceptance.  Acceptance of your limitations and those of others.

Have you read it?

What do you think?