Media update
Just popping to say hi - where has the time gone? I haven't even been seeing that much, but here's what I have been:
* Saw Pennsylvania Avenue at the Opera House starring Bernadette Robinson. I've been a casual fan of hers for a long time - she's an Australian cabaret-style singer who has a knack for accents and impersonations, which I enjoy very much. In this one-woman show she plays an assistant at the White House on the brink of retirement who looks back at the Presidents she's served under, and the celebrities she's seen passing through. The show opened with her amazing Marilyn Monroe (vocal only) impersonation, "Happy Birthday, Mr President" and went on to tell the story of her character's life, intermingled with glimpses into each Presidency, ending with Clinton. Along the way, she performed songs in the style of singers like Eartha Kitt, Bob Dylan (accurate and hilarious), Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jnr, Maria Callas (amazing), and a few more. Really enjoyable just for the sheer talent on display - she also used a variety of American accents to emulate her various supervisors and successive Presidents - but at the same time, as an Australian, I was somewhat bemused by the entire concept. I don't know whether other countries use the term "cultural cringe", but as Australians, we often automatically think other countries are somehow "better" - more interesting, more important - and this felt like another iteration of that. I do think, however, that if she were to take it to the US, it'd go down very well.
* Oooh, speaking of Australian things, I stumbled across this ultra-low-budget locally-made web series that I found hilarious, and which may appeal to some of you. Now, I'm not a big fan of superheroes, but the thought of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and Bruce Banner (yes, he knows it's the wrong franchise) sharing a house just makes me laugh in general. That's the premise of The Justice Lease. Superman does the ironing, Batman is obsessed with his tragic past (and his various movie portrayals), Aquaman is trident-happy, and nobody can stand Banner unless he's angry. And they're all apparently and inexplicably Australian. Just go with it. Oh, I remember how I found it now - Philip Quast has a cameo in the second series as Commissioner Gordon *g*
* Then I saw the remnants (their words *g*) of the Doug Anthony Allstars at the Enmore Theatre, which if I'm honest was lovely on one hand, but also an odd, bittersweet experience on the other. As many of you might know, my username is a tribute to them, and Tim, Paul and Richard were a defining influence on my late teens and early twenties. DAAS split up in the mid-90s for reasons which were not disclosed at the time, and although all three of them went on to subsequent TV and radio work, for a long time there seemed to be bad blood between Paul+Richard and Tim. As it turned out years later, Tim left the group because he'd been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and it had become simply too exhausting for him to perform at the level required for the shows. Of course, he didn't TELL anyone about this (dare I say, typical male) - he just quit.
Richard is a radio presenter now, and did not come back for the tour, so he was replaced by Flacco (Paul Livingston), who is of the same era, and appeared on the The Big Gig at the same time DAAS were achieving greater recognition. Not surprisingly, the audience was decidedly middle-aged, although there were a few younger faces here and there. So Flacco now has a seniors' card (really) and is also now actually bald, rather than wearing a bald cap, which used to be his schtick. Tim is now in a wheelchair, and while he can still harmonise and tell jokes, it's clear that he has difficulty using his hands, and his voice is slightly slurred. However, Paul is still youngish and gorgeous and has kept both his hair and his amazing singing voice. But he took care to point out that he did eat some bad salad a while back and had terrible gastro, so it's not like his life hasn't been tough.
I still love Paul's singing, and they were merciless to Tim (Paul kept encouraging the audience to laugh at his jokes, pointing and mouthing, "he's in a wheelchair"), which did have that same dark and uneasy edge to it that their comedy used to have. But in general their humour was toned down, more contemplative than it used to be. The most telling moment for me was the finale, when they sang one of their best-known songs, "I Fuck Dogs" (the Great Dane is too tall / chihuahuas are too small...) which in the old days was usually accompanied by horrified squeals and clapping. But the middle-aged audience (including me) merely listened in reverent silence, and if we hadn't all given up smoking for health reasons, we would probably have begun waving cigarette lighters. Probably the funniest moment of the night for me was when Paul reminded the audience that if they believed hard enough, and fought long enough, that they could still achieve their dreams - for example, he was finally the tallest member of the group. I'd been thinking that all night *g*
I still love what's left of them, and I'm glad I went, but it was a vivid reminder that time moves on.
* Made time to watch Margin Call at last, which was quite gripping. I think if you're already financially inclined, it's much more enjoyable than The Big Short, but then it's really a different genre. The global financial crisis as tense thriller rather black comedy.
* Oh, and today I went out to see The First Monday in May, which is a documentary covering the 2015 Met Gala (China: Through the Looking Glass), that big fashion do put on by Vogue and Anna Wintour. I... don't really have much interest in fashion, but it seemed the best thing that happened to be on at the movies that I hadn't already seen. I think if you're into fashion you'd really enjoy it, though. This is probably blatantly obvious to most of you, but when they were going on about fashion being "art" rather than, well, clothes, that was seriously a minor revelation to me (oh, do shut up *g*). I really had never quite understood why people would design outrageous clothes that couldn't actually be worn under normal circumstances. But okay, as art it makes perfect sense. Which I think shows you how much of a non-fashionista I am. I like to look presentable, and I do like a bit of style and colour, but am relentlessly practical above all else *g*. As an art display, the clothes were, admittedly, gorgeous. I felt like I'd gone on a museum tour, except in this case the museum had come to me. And I also belatedly realised that Zoolander is a satire of the fashion world in the same way Dilbert is a satire of large corporations - that is, not at all. OMG. These people cannot be real. Must read The Devil Wears Prada now *g*
* Lastly, saw last week's The Hollow Crown (Henry VI, part II), which was surprisingly great. I'm not a big fan of the Histories, and began half-watching it while net surfing, but it ended up drawing my whole attention. I do feel they must have cut quite a bit - I was pleased that I had no problem understanding what was going on even without ever having read the play, but Clarence's abrupt second about-face bemused the hell out of me. Hi bros, like, I might have married Warwick's daughter and all, but now I'm back! What on earth happened there? Anyway, I enjoyed seeing BC, obviously, but I wasn't entirely convinced by his performance. I thought he was great in the ensemble work, but tended towards being OTT in the soliloquies... which was weirdly the opposite of how I found him in Hamlet! Huh. Queen Margaret (Sophie Okenedo), on the other hand, was cool. Looking forward to Richard III tomorrow (for me).
So, what did you all think?
* Saw Pennsylvania Avenue at the Opera House starring Bernadette Robinson. I've been a casual fan of hers for a long time - she's an Australian cabaret-style singer who has a knack for accents and impersonations, which I enjoy very much. In this one-woman show she plays an assistant at the White House on the brink of retirement who looks back at the Presidents she's served under, and the celebrities she's seen passing through. The show opened with her amazing Marilyn Monroe (vocal only) impersonation, "Happy Birthday, Mr President" and went on to tell the story of her character's life, intermingled with glimpses into each Presidency, ending with Clinton. Along the way, she performed songs in the style of singers like Eartha Kitt, Bob Dylan (accurate and hilarious), Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jnr, Maria Callas (amazing), and a few more. Really enjoyable just for the sheer talent on display - she also used a variety of American accents to emulate her various supervisors and successive Presidents - but at the same time, as an Australian, I was somewhat bemused by the entire concept. I don't know whether other countries use the term "cultural cringe", but as Australians, we often automatically think other countries are somehow "better" - more interesting, more important - and this felt like another iteration of that. I do think, however, that if she were to take it to the US, it'd go down very well.
* Oooh, speaking of Australian things, I stumbled across this ultra-low-budget locally-made web series that I found hilarious, and which may appeal to some of you. Now, I'm not a big fan of superheroes, but the thought of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and Bruce Banner (yes, he knows it's the wrong franchise) sharing a house just makes me laugh in general. That's the premise of The Justice Lease. Superman does the ironing, Batman is obsessed with his tragic past (and his various movie portrayals), Aquaman is trident-happy, and nobody can stand Banner unless he's angry. And they're all apparently and inexplicably Australian. Just go with it. Oh, I remember how I found it now - Philip Quast has a cameo in the second series as Commissioner Gordon *g*
Click to view* Then I saw the remnants (their words *g*) of the Doug Anthony Allstars at the Enmore Theatre, which if I'm honest was lovely on one hand, but also an odd, bittersweet experience on the other. As many of you might know, my username is a tribute to them, and Tim, Paul and Richard were a defining influence on my late teens and early twenties. DAAS split up in the mid-90s for reasons which were not disclosed at the time, and although all three of them went on to subsequent TV and radio work, for a long time there seemed to be bad blood between Paul+Richard and Tim. As it turned out years later, Tim left the group because he'd been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and it had become simply too exhausting for him to perform at the level required for the shows. Of course, he didn't TELL anyone about this (dare I say, typical male) - he just quit.
Richard is a radio presenter now, and did not come back for the tour, so he was replaced by Flacco (Paul Livingston), who is of the same era, and appeared on the The Big Gig at the same time DAAS were achieving greater recognition. Not surprisingly, the audience was decidedly middle-aged, although there were a few younger faces here and there. So Flacco now has a seniors' card (really) and is also now actually bald, rather than wearing a bald cap, which used to be his schtick. Tim is now in a wheelchair, and while he can still harmonise and tell jokes, it's clear that he has difficulty using his hands, and his voice is slightly slurred. However, Paul is still youngish and gorgeous and has kept both his hair and his amazing singing voice. But he took care to point out that he did eat some bad salad a while back and had terrible gastro, so it's not like his life hasn't been tough.
I still love Paul's singing, and they were merciless to Tim (Paul kept encouraging the audience to laugh at his jokes, pointing and mouthing, "he's in a wheelchair"), which did have that same dark and uneasy edge to it that their comedy used to have. But in general their humour was toned down, more contemplative than it used to be. The most telling moment for me was the finale, when they sang one of their best-known songs, "I Fuck Dogs" (the Great Dane is too tall / chihuahuas are too small...) which in the old days was usually accompanied by horrified squeals and clapping. But the middle-aged audience (including me) merely listened in reverent silence, and if we hadn't all given up smoking for health reasons, we would probably have begun waving cigarette lighters. Probably the funniest moment of the night for me was when Paul reminded the audience that if they believed hard enough, and fought long enough, that they could still achieve their dreams - for example, he was finally the tallest member of the group. I'd been thinking that all night *g*
I still love what's left of them, and I'm glad I went, but it was a vivid reminder that time moves on.
* Made time to watch Margin Call at last, which was quite gripping. I think if you're already financially inclined, it's much more enjoyable than The Big Short, but then it's really a different genre. The global financial crisis as tense thriller rather black comedy.
* Oh, and today I went out to see The First Monday in May, which is a documentary covering the 2015 Met Gala (China: Through the Looking Glass), that big fashion do put on by Vogue and Anna Wintour. I... don't really have much interest in fashion, but it seemed the best thing that happened to be on at the movies that I hadn't already seen. I think if you're into fashion you'd really enjoy it, though. This is probably blatantly obvious to most of you, but when they were going on about fashion being "art" rather than, well, clothes, that was seriously a minor revelation to me (oh, do shut up *g*). I really had never quite understood why people would design outrageous clothes that couldn't actually be worn under normal circumstances. But okay, as art it makes perfect sense. Which I think shows you how much of a non-fashionista I am. I like to look presentable, and I do like a bit of style and colour, but am relentlessly practical above all else *g*. As an art display, the clothes were, admittedly, gorgeous. I felt like I'd gone on a museum tour, except in this case the museum had come to me. And I also belatedly realised that Zoolander is a satire of the fashion world in the same way Dilbert is a satire of large corporations - that is, not at all. OMG. These people cannot be real. Must read The Devil Wears Prada now *g*
* Lastly, saw last week's The Hollow Crown (Henry VI, part II), which was surprisingly great. I'm not a big fan of the Histories, and began half-watching it while net surfing, but it ended up drawing my whole attention. I do feel they must have cut quite a bit - I was pleased that I had no problem understanding what was going on even without ever having read the play, but Clarence's abrupt second about-face bemused the hell out of me. Hi bros, like, I might have married Warwick's daughter and all, but now I'm back! What on earth happened there? Anyway, I enjoyed seeing BC, obviously, but I wasn't entirely convinced by his performance. I thought he was great in the ensemble work, but tended towards being OTT in the soliloquies... which was weirdly the opposite of how I found him in Hamlet! Huh. Queen Margaret (Sophie Okenedo), on the other hand, was cool. Looking forward to Richard III tomorrow (for me).
So, what did you all think?