withanee

look what the post-person delivered to me

2012-02-15T20:52:00.000+11:00

now i've just got to learn to knit more than a plain stitch... i can barely manage a purl, and my tension? pfftt... what tension. oh, the patterns in a stitch in time are so beautiful. sighh...

girlie cupcakes

2012-02-14T20:06:00.000+11:00

baking up a valentine storm. mmm...

smells like summer

2012-02-12T20:06:00.000+11:00

another freebie

2012-02-10T20:05:00.000+11:00

it was nice. it was kind of romantic, maybe a little bit beige? it did, however, spark a conversation over burgers on relationships and that stuff that supposedly makes the world go round.

no words needed

2012-02-08T08:04:00.000+11:00

i loved this... hit the spot entirely.

city construction

2012-02-04T21:04:00.000+11:00

look at that beautiful sky.

a birthday and a book

2012-01-31T20:35:00.000+11:00

and both are all about julie. happy birthday dear friend.

this year i decided to read 12 books across 12 months. i'll probably read a hell of a lot more but these 12 are special. way back in december of last year i asked twelve friends to suggest a book for me to read. the email read:

"I’d like one book title that has meant a lot to you in your life. It can be a book from your childhood (bring it on), or something that you struggled with but came to love, or completely blew your mind or anything in between. It may be something that everyone else but you absolutely loathed, but I’m game to try it on. The only stipulation is that it can’t be in a language other than English because I really don’t have time to learn a new language at the moment".

so book one of the 12by12 was the great brain by john d. fitzgerald suggested to me by julie. she remembers reading the first in the series and not being able to wait to get to the next. i bought that as well.

john's the youngest child of three boys and the middle brother tom, aka the great brain, is a carpet bagger of a boy. he can con his way into and out of anything. each chapter is a new adventure where you get to meet the inhabitants of the town of adenville in utah. it has a tom sawyer/ huckleberry finn feeling to it - set in around the same time and what adventures the brothers have. what i found interesting was that fitzgerald didn't steer away from death or a child amputee, raised issues of religion and tolerance and bigotry. it was a light read but full of heart and fun.

giant vo-vo

2012-01-29T20:29:00.000+11:00

now whilst i was never a huge fan of the regular sized biscuit iced vo-vo, i'm definitely loving the giant cake i made this afternoon. i copied what i spied on a blog i follow raspberri cupcakes. instead of the cake recipe on the site, i used a highlight cake recipe that was my nan's and my mum passed down to me. damn tasty.

film adoration

2012-01-28T17:18:00.000+11:00

i cannot gush enough about this film. not only did it look spectacular but i loved the story, the story was AWESOME. i haven't read the book, nor did i really know what the story was about besides there being a boy, a robot thingie and that's possibly about it. for a time i thought it might be animation, but no... it was just beautifully shot and told. and... and.. and the story was about an early film maker. how utterly charming. sigh...

i wish i had been alive at the beginning of film, or radio or television. there seemed to be dreamers and daredevils and people just living to make extraordinary things probable. thanks to mr selznick for writing the story, john logan the screenplay and mr scorsese for directing hugo. don't miss it.

it's time to play the music

2012-01-27T17:19:00.000+11:00

a wander through city square on the way to starbucks. how cool are the trees that have been yarn bombed? i do love my city, have i said that before?

then down the road to melb central for the muppets.i liked it but i so wanted to love it. really wanted every frame to be aboutthe love. but. yes, i know i've written a but, but there were long moments atthe beginning of the film that just didn't work for me. okay, i'll confess itmay have been the human elements of the film. i'm not used to it. muppetsto me means muppets, and it seemed a little broken in places. i loved themuppet sequences and even the cameo human scenes but just not certain about thejason segel and amy adams bits. so for me this was around a four colouredrainbow and not the full seven, but still worth a watch.

watched the film and not read the book

2012-01-24T20:01:00.000+11:00

i liked this... i wasn't sure what to expectbesides sublime acting. the story had a slow build and really didn't get muchfaster, but the suspense was so intriguing and subtle. i was drawn into theworld. very excellent indeed. gary oldman was fabulous. i had the hotsfor him since watching dracula (yes i know, but it's still a favourite) andhunted out all his films - as i said, a fabulous actor.

home again home again

2012-01-22T20:51:00.000+11:00

and there were books waiting for me. can you see the pattern here??

i'm melting... melting...

2012-01-19T21:52:00.000+11:00

for some reason we chose today to wander around the township. but it wasn't going to get any cooler so while i'm here i'd best see what i can.

this is the view of downtown alice from the top of anzac hill - we're looking directly south and the gap in the macdonnell ranges is standley chasm.

next on the agenda after a pitstop for a icy colourful drink was the telegraph station.... the station was built in 1872 as part of the overland telegraph line that would connect australia with england. a wonderful series on constructing australia was broadcast on the abc in 2007 recreating the building of the wire from adelaide through to darwin.

afternoon delight in alice springs

2012-01-16T21:48:00.000+11:00

mum

mum's sisters, heather and christine

yah to being with my mum and family. it's been way too long. flew in this morning for a week of hanging out in celebration of my uncle's 60th later on in the week (i bought him the original stubby shorts that he's been wearing for the last 30 years).

39c today and i can see all week being in the early 40s, i'm prepared to move very slowly and stick to the shade (when i'm not in the pool).

oh, the littlies in the spa are alyssa and sam. happy holidaying me.

sunday walking

2012-01-15T18:55:00.000+11:00

led me to this...

and this...

i liked this film - funny and sweet. just what i needed.

more of a want than a need

2012-01-12T21:26:00.000+11:00

but it's a book and i'm me and it's chock full of crafty goodness. pip lincolne blogs over here and she's awesome too.

has a girlie crush

2012-01-08T09:23:00.001+11:00

let me explain. i've loved neil gaiman's writing for a little while now and last month had the pleasure of seeing him and tom stoppard at the athenaeum (yah), but i've told you this.

anyway, neil led me to his wife, amanda palmer (who surprised all of us in the foyer of the athenaeum with a twinkle in her eyes and fingers on her ukulele). now this woman has been haunting me for the past couple of years. she seems to have a love affair with australia (don't blame her, awesome country i have here) and i had been seeing posters for her gigs all over the place and i never took the hint.

the universe must've taken a back hand at me to wake up... yes, it took me long enough. i am now enamoured with amanda palmer. she is witty and funny and compassionate and bloody insanely talented and i love the way she thinks. looking on, she just seems to live her life fully, completely whole-heartedly. how exciting to live a life like that. maybe that's what 2012 is all about, taking a leaf from her book?? maybe.

another eh!

2012-01-07T19:24:00.001+11:00

i'm almost wondering why i bothered. to waste my time and money. it wasn't as if i needed to escape a hot day, nor that it's the only movie out there that i want to see at the moment.

yes, i was disappointed. i enjoyed the insanity of the first one, but this one... um... not so much. can't even blame it on the direction of guy ritchie - it seemed his usual fare, but even the story was lacking. and one would expect the camaraderie (and cuteness) of the lead actors to keep me entertained but no. ho hum is all i have to say.

back to writing my own films then.

last day of christmas holidays

2012-01-02T17:11:00.002+11:00

words were written and i'm on target for my filmvic submission in a week's time. eek!

went along to melb central to watch war horse. and i have to say that for all it's prettiness it was ordinary. it pulled at the heart strings a little and the older gentleman sitting next to me sniffled and blew his nose through the credits but honestly, the story was weak. it was nearly 2 1/2 hours in length and a great way to get out of the terrible heat but did it warrant 146 minutes of screen time? another strike spielberg, sorry.

a view from an aiconditioned tram of a melbourne summer. love this city.

orange and poppy

2012-01-01T20:36:00.000+11:00

not sure about this cake. i used a new bundt tin and a new recipe so the jury is still out. i ended up putting lemon icing on the orange cake and will take it along to work for my colleagues to devour tomorrow.

it ended up being a pretty good weekend. friday and saturday nights were spent with friends, old and new and they made me realise that the rut that i've got myself into i can just as easily get myself out of.

wake up! 2012 is here.

2012-01-01T16:59:00.000+11:00

the very least i'd like to achieve this year:

daily - words

weekly - a film, dancing, baking

monthly - a garment, a book (to read, not write)

yearly - travel (domestic and international), a script, a book (this time to write)

and many other grand adventures will be had.
do something you've always wanted to this year.

two of my favourite things

2011-12-28T18:52:00.001+11:00

a free movie at cinema nova, a sympathetic film about margaret thatcher. it gave me just enough to want to find out more about the time and woman. but i fear that the film itself wasn't very much though the performance was fantastic.

my colette sewing handbook and two patterns arrived in the post at last. i'm reading it now. there will be sewing soon, promise. of course by soon i probably mean next year.

merry christmas you

2011-12-25T11:58:00.001+11:00

it snowed, well almost snowed on christmas day in melbourne. the morning was fine and bright and damn humid. i roasted a turkey and vegetables, packed them, the trifle and all the gifts into the car and took them all over to jill and mark's for a lovely afternoon. realised i took no photos of food or friends. i know, i'm crap.

but the hail, WOW!

christmas eve day

2011-12-24T16:37:00.002+11:00

okay, so the picture isn't as clear as i'd like. i was trying to take a photo of this cool hose tree and i just happened to catch myself in the act. but i love this idea, woven lengths of garden hose in the shape of christmas trees. there were a couple of different sizes in the window. next i wandered up to city square where for the past few years a tall tree with a star on the top could be found at a certain time of the year. for 2011 a village of gifts and smaller trees sprung up instead.

on the way home i had a hankering for the matrix. so i snuck into jb hifi and bought myself a copy and spent the afternoon in the glow of my tv. i did not, though the temptation was strong, succumb to snacking on the xmas lollies.

ffffrrrreeeeeddddooommmmm....

2011-12-23T08:25:00.002+11:00

but there was no dress making, only jelly setting

and terminator salvation.

all boxed up and no where to go

2011-12-23T08:25:00.000+11:00

these are now sitting on desks around the office waiting for people to arrive for the last day of work of the year.

and it continues...

2011-12-22T08:10:00.001+11:00

so i figured the last week has been a slow but steady build to what tonight had in store... bake off to end all bake offs. i even gave myself an edge by having a quick nap after work. i had been sourcing recipes from various places for a while, i had post-it-ed magazines and cookbooks, copied recipes from websites. ingredients had been bought and were waiting in the pantry and fridge, i was all set.

i even read the recipes before i began. i know, what is with that? i knew that i had to leave one mixture to firm in the fridge for an hour, another half hour. i had a few eggs (not balls) in the air this night.

i took a recipe from the sbs magazine feast, the december edition because it had all these international tidbits on the cover. i decided to try the russian spiced biscuits or pryaniki. those are the ball shaped biscuits with meringue and drizzled chocolate on top.

next to the pryaniki are peanut butter kisses. that recipe came from a long-stalked website called bakerella which usually designs amazing cake pops (which i also have a book for and will bake some up one day). anyway, you bake the peanut butter biscuit and as soon as you take them out of the oven you press a hershey kiss chocolate into the centre and the bottom melts. i had one about 30 minutes after i had done this and nearly fell over it was so delightful.

my big disappointment for the adventure were the lemon and almond cookies. these came from the december donna hay magazine (again because of the christmas cookie cover). i was so looking forward to those and i have no idea what went wrong. i will be seeking advice from a friend at work tomorrow, as she used to be a chef. check the pics out below....

they should look like this...

and it looked promising before they went in the oven...

but when they came out they were like this... eeeeeek!!!

so there's no way they're going near anyone, but they taste delicious. honestly, i need to work out what went wrong because i could live off these biscuits they are so divine. ha!

but onwards and upwards. that was the last of the oven usage. it was time for coconut ice from the frankie magazine book sweet treats.

the coles magazine christmas edition provided the recipe for christmas chocolate bark.

i had a little bit of chocolate left over so for the gluten-free i dipped some strawberries.

and that was my evening. exhausted now. must sleep again. just realised there was no time for dinner.

will the baking ever stop?

2011-12-21T08:44:00.001+11:00

a shared lunch at work tomorrow so i made up a zucchini slice, yes i do know how to make something savoury. amazing but true.

and flourless chocolate cake, for the gluten-free members of the crowd.

not a birthday cake

2011-12-20T10:14:00.001+11:00

it just came out of the oven and it's suppose to be eaten whilst warm.... but as i'm taking it into work tomorrow it wouldn't look right with a chuck taken out of it. it looks oddly pock-marked but i'm sure it'll be tasty. the recipe for the ruby's coffee cake came out of the frankie magazine's afternoon tea book. i've made a few recipes from that now - all delicious.

happy birthday to magical and marvellous melis. miss you girl.

more baking

2011-12-19T20:39:00.000+11:00

coconut and jam cookies for a tuesday work day.

an easy day

2011-12-18T17:38:00.002+11:00

just hanging out and watching old favourites. i still love this film.

literary guests in melbourne town

2011-12-16T21:11:00.000+11:00

tom stoppard and neil gaiman at the athenaeum, first time at the theatre and i was in the front row. oh yeah. felt like bit of a fan girl but it was so very interesting to listen to these two wild haired men. tom left the stage before i felt comfortable enough to take a photo. whereas with neil i felt right at home snapping away. strange but true.

after tom we were all sent out of the theatre to stand like sardines in the foyer and were delightfully surprised by an impromptu song from the top of the bar by amanda palmer and her ukulele. it was fabulous and i am looking forward to seeing her again in january.

i didn't blink all the way home on the tram, just in case this weeping angel singled me out and transported me to another time and place. she looked amazing.

what's playing in your supermarket this season?

2011-12-15T15:22:00.000+11:00

source: xkcd.com

awesome site. have visited it many, many times.

step 1

2011-12-14T20:37:00.000+11:00

so this is the fabric and pattern i'm planning on using to make myself a christmas dress. yes, i realise that christmas day is only 11 sleeps away but if i try really hard i think it's possible.

in fact, tonight is step one: cut out pattern for the yellow dress whilst watching star trek. i know, high voltage excitement.

xmas baking... and a new old tin

2011-12-11T19:52:00.000+11:00

giant green things

2011-12-10T19:51:00.000+11:00

i love christmas. oversized things EVERYWHERE.

re-opening of reader's feast....

2011-12-08T10:46:00.001+11:00

i trammed into the city this evening for a big event. reader's feast has opened it's doors again in the beautiful georges building on collins street, just in time for christmas. what joy! and how amazing and gratifying it was to see how packed the new store was. the couple of hours was for the "privileged readers", which means those who have a card and buy lots of books. maybe that's me, maybe not. there wasn't much room to move about so i'll be getting back there in the days to come. happy that bookstores are still opening in the real world and selling real books. yah!

a sunday with other writers

2011-12-04T20:43:00.001+11:00

i spent most of this day sitting down, talking to other writers about film funding and opportunities to write and actually get paid doing it. okay, maybe that part was a really short conversation, but it was a fantastic initiative run by the australian writers guild. filmvic just announced a program for new writers, so this day was giving us all a run down on what was actually required as well as other tidbits. definitely worth the numb bum.

also managed to go shopping during the lunch break - perhaps it is a good thing i don't work in the city?? got myself a small fake pear tree that i've decorated for this year's christmas tree. note the kewpie doll angel on the top?? used to be one stick she was sitting on, now it's an entire tree.

it was a good day.

more reasons to love this city

2011-12-03T18:03:00.000+11:00

a wander through the city of christmas. the arcades are filled with decorations, fed square is like a christmas tree plot. i haven't got pictures of city square yet, but that's looking awesome and there are giant tin soldiers guarding the town hall. my favourite of all buildings is a maze of melbourne designers selling funky wares, and two great stores next to one another are on the second floor. if you take the elevator, make sure that you get the one with all the postcards and a driver, old fashioned heaven. well, for me it is. anyway, the two stores, l'uccello and harold & maude are simply fantastic with both owners are cheerful and fabulous.

the gingerbread city is a display by the city of melbourne and can be found in the town hall. you can't eat the mcg but there are little delights to purchase while you're there.

kitty on fire

2011-12-01T18:02:00.000+11:00

(photo source: theatrenotes.blogspot.com)

meow meow at the malthouse with a strange twist to the little matchgirl story. i do like meow, her amazing voice and her cabaret antics. our seats were the absolute best, though it could have been scary experience being in the front row. at one point i was holding a torch on meow when the lights went out, and jill got dragged up on stage for a bit of idolising. a fun evening.

suburban cinema experience

2011-11-27T18:11:00.001+11:00

it was strange and it smelled funky. the cinema i mean. the film? well it had it's moments but not enough of them to keep me fully engaged. or was it the fact i was sitting behind 4 teenagers? watching their behaviour was amusing. though i wonder how or why they were interested in each other when the girls couldn't sit still - either out of the cinema entirely or on their phone and boys didn't seem to be talking to anyone but each other. so maybe it wasn't the girls interested in the boys or vice versa, but just me putting my slant on the situation?

moneyball

2011-11-26T18:10:00.000+11:00

it passed a couple of hours, but if you don't see it, you'll live.

i procrastinate, therefore i am

2011-11-19T08:29:00.000+11:00

basically a teen soap opera with bad dialogue (that's most soap operas, i realise). and it wasn't a surprise by any means, as the books aren't that well written. just barely enjoyable airport pap, but it was a way to pass the time.

citizen cowan

2011-11-17T08:30:00.000+11:00

jamie became an australian citizen today, along with 60 odd others at the richmond town hall. there was singing and gum leaves and the waving of paper flags. a fun evening shared with friends.

words and pictures

2011-11-13T17:43:00.001+11:00

all it's been about is writing this week - i'm a little bit behind in my count but i'll get there. so when i got a procrastination invite to a movie, i jumped... well maybe not jumped possibly sauntered casually. which is really what saunters means so why i used an extra word when just one would do, it's an old habit.

drive @ the kino

celebrations & commiserations

2011-11-06T12:59:00.000+11:00

happy birthday little sister. woohoo!!! ains turned 32 today.

the evening brought the final melbourne show of ROCK OF AGES at the comedy theatre before it headed off to brisbane. it was an awesome night of hair rock - oh the eighties, how i miss thee sometimes.

back to the future x 3

2011-11-05T09:50:00.001+11:00

all three, one sitting at the astor.... wooot! raising funds for Parkinson's Victoria. good cause, great films. i was very happy indeed.

the first of November means NANOWRIMO

2011-11-01T10:42:00.000+11:00

don't knock or call because i won't answer all november long. 50,000 word in 30 days. i don't know if i can do it but i'll give it a good try. (and then yoda's sage words echo through my head "do or do not, there is no try").

this morning's count for the commonwealth experiment was 2,010. that's my chapter one before re-writes.

*****
again i had to abandon marija, but she had the pleasure of her brother's company and a quick wander around CERES before catching up with me again.

had to drop her at the airport mid arvo, but it was soooo good to chat face to face. i miss that way too much. we've been friends since 1996, so a while now and it's the best kind of friendship to have - except for the damn distance.

day 3 of the marija invasion

2011-10-30T10:28:00.000+11:00

since marija wasn't suppose to be here and because i'm on a deadline, i had to abandon her to write for the morning. i'm in prep for the month of november and i'm already a little scared i won't make the 50, 000 words. eek.

anyway, we met afterwards for a film, again at the nova. and what a film. i LOVE midnight in paris and suspect i will see it again, and soon.

i think perhaps my favourite woody allen film. purple rose of cairo would come a close second though.

day two of the visit

2011-10-29T10:33:00.000+11:00

breakfast on degraves and dessert from little cupcakes before wandering the lanes of the cbd.

pasta for dinner in carlton with jamie, while marija juggled risotto and booking a flight to perth on virgin. damn qantas.

then onto the nova and ghostbusters on big screen awesomeness and choc bombs. mmm....

friday and marija turns up on my doorstep

2011-10-28T07:54:00.001+11:00

as you might guess there was a hell of a lot of talking. in fact the talking was only outdone by the amount of rain that fell from the sky in the evening.

caught up with a few friends at mao's in fitzroy so that marija could meet my not imaginary melbourne friends. after a great meal we braved the rain for the newish cocktail bar the LuWow. it's owned by the same people who brought perth the hula bula bar and deville's. tiki and fabulous.

nope, there are no pictures. i'm crap.

taking over the streets of melbourne

2011-10-23T19:32:00.000+11:00

eh!

2011-10-22T20:01:00.000+11:00

give me back the passion and humour of the early 90s three musketeer film, with charlie, kiefer, oliver and chris. that at least felt like an adventure with spirit. this seemed more interested in the grandiose effects rather than the story. which is sad since alexander dumas seemed to like his characters enough to put them in a great story. but this film wasn't concerned with anything but the 3d effects (p.s. i didn't even see it in 3d because i'm sick of wearing the stupid glasses and it rarely adds anything to the cinema experience anyway, so there).

this writer's journey

2011-10-21T07:59:00.000+11:00

a day playing hookey of sorts. well, from work. but not from writing. worked on the script for a couple of hours at starbucks before heading across the road to the wheeler centre for a day's seminar with christopher vogler.

he wrote the writer's journey a number of years ago and most recently, memo from the story department with david mckenna. both are about what makes up a story, using joseph campbell and jungian principles. it was an interesting day and the one thing i did take away from it was not to give up. so i'll try not too.

serial lovin'

2011-10-20T16:04:00.003+11:00

the reason i like box sets, or being introduced to a series of books after the last book/ episode is written is because i have anticipation problems. i don't like to wait. i don't see this as me being particularly impatient, i'm just eager for the story. all of it, at once. really, it's almost as if i'm two people. one of me needs to immerse for days and weeks on end in the story and the other me is hoping they'll find a way of downloading everything instantly into my being.

this uk series, the fades, is a great ride. just a little bit scary, fantastical, funny and just all-round super. and i hate waiting. hate it. and a really good thing about this show? i don't know what's coming next. well, maybe i have an inkling because at the end of each episode there's a couple of teasers, but you know what i mean. i know there has to be a confrontation, and that there's a high probability that the good guys will win but the rest... well, what fun. oh, i'm up to episode 5 ... crap, i just checked the bible IMDB and there's only one episode left in the series... eek! will it all be wrapped up or will there be another series? stay tuned.

a little bit violated

2011-10-20T11:20:00.002+11:00

or lost. i'm not sure which yet.

there were 6 missed messages on my phone when i got out of the shower this morning. a message from a friend in mauritius, checking in to make sure i hadn't been mugged in the UK and i didn't need money. i know, an exciting way to enter the day.

some time last night my facebook account was hacked and my email address which makes up my login changed to something else. so i lost access to my own account. that was one thing but the other was that i had a few friends across the world who had had conversations with "me" through the night. FB instant chats where i related i had been mugged at gunpoint, pistol whipped and all my cash and credit cards taken. and the embassy was of no help and could they wire me money, the amounts differed per person. other friends were emailed and brought into the drama.

which meant i had to work out how to fix this. first off i couldn't access my account, so i tried to work out how to contact facebook admin OH MY GOODNESS... how crap is that? there is really no rhyme or reason to how it might work. honestly, for a social network they really haven't got the support services down at all. i ended up having to lock down my account so now i'm absent from facebook until it gets sorted out. which means i'm waiting.

i don't know how long i'll be waiting but it will be interesting to see how i procrastinate in the days to come.

p.s. i did email out a few friends to let them know that i hadn't been mugged and if i did need money i'd just give them a call. ha! but what i did find is that i got to speak to people i hadn't contacted in a while. so to the hackers i say thank you for that at least.

stuff on a sunday

2011-10-16T07:53:00.003+11:00

i have a new spare room. okay, i don't mean i've built an extension to my little flat but that i've finally bought a bed for guests. i made my way over to ikea mid-morning to beat the rush of families and young couples (shudder!) and somehow managed to squash a single mattress and frame into my beloved mirage. i am continually impressed how much the green machine can take. she's no TARDIS but i think perhaps the next best thing.

so after putting it all together and prettyfying the room it was off to the nova for a free screening of a new australian film, burning man.

a little too fragmented for me to get emotionally attached to the characters, but my companion seem to get the intentions. a beautiful story, gorgeous cinematography and well acted by a cast sprinkled with who's who of australian actors. i enjoyed the journey but wasn't completely captured for some reason.

the aftermath of aftermath

2011-10-13T07:51:00.005+11:00

(picture sourced from malthouse website)

WOW!

i'm going to recount the malthouse overview because it explains it perfectly:

"In 2008, acclaimed writer/director team Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen travelled to Jordan to interview 35 refugees, a broad cross-section of people who fled the chaos that gripped Iraq in the wake of the US-led invasion. Their words form the very fabric of Aftermath - a visceral theatre production that weaves these real interview transcripts into a shocking tapestry of war and loss.

Aftermath recounts six real-life stories of Iraqis from varied social and religious backgrounds - all are displaced civilians who lost homes, family members and history to catastrophe. Together the stories paint a picture of a delicately balanced coexistence sent swirling into dangerous chaos.

Critics across the globe have been floored by the human face the play puts on the thousands of innocent, but anonymous, victims of an ugly war. New York Theatre Workshop has captured, with impact and immediacy, the period of Saddam's regime and fall, the US-led invasion and occupation, and the rise of vengeful sectarian militias.

Stopping short of judgement and condemnation, Aftermath putsa passionate, authentic and deeply personal face on the staggering toll exacted on an innocent people".

i won these tickets through my subscription to aussie theatre, so many thanks for introducing me to this unbelievably amazing performance. i laughed, i got angry, my heart was broken and mended again.

who killed violet vario?

2011-10-11T12:36:00.005+11:00

(photo sourced from the malthouse website)

half real, created by the border project, written by duncan graham and directed by sam haren.

a malthouse adventure. this was a great show that started as you walked into the upstairs theatre (reminded me of hayman's upstairs theatre all those years ago) and you were handed a little controller. a slab of plastic with a small flashing red light. a compact stage with few props and then when the show started the scenery was projected onto the flats. awesome.

so it was a whodunnit. and the audience, by the aid of the controllers determined where the action would go. remember the choose your own adventure books, sort of like that but majority ruled here. for example, a question is asked, do you want to find out more about the blood, the valium in the wine glass or the cracked window? it wasn't intrusive to the story telling at all. pretty fantastic. except for the fact that we/ they got it wrong. we never got to find out who killed violet vario.

not as crazy as expected

2011-10-09T14:59:00.005+11:00

i enjoyed the film but i think because of the trailers i had seen i had expected something a little more madcap and funny. it was actually quite sensitive in places.

what caught me a couple of times were current cultural references. once when ryan gosling's character asked steve carrell if he thought he was steve jobs... timing probably wasn't quite right. watching it before the death of the apple co-founder might have been better. and then there was the 13 year old, desperately in love with his 17 year old babysitter and talking about the age difference between demi and ashton.

seduced... check

2011-10-06T08:14:00.007+11:00

(photos sourced from the melb arts festival website)

the manganiyar seduction at the arts centre. very spectacular... started small with just one man opening the curtains of his booth and strumming his sitar (i think it was a sitar), to the overwhelming passion of all instruments and all voices. a fabulous event.

film @ acmi

2011-10-05T15:40:00.004+11:00

eeek and arrgghhh

2011-10-04T10:09:00.003+11:00

i don't know if it was worth the emotional anguish of sitting in my car for an hour and a half to get through the city from brunswick to south melbourne at peak hour, but there i was. spenser street from 5.30 til 6.30, mostly reading, occasionally driving. how do people do this every, single, day?? lucky i had taken a book along.

about ten minutes late for a writers guild get-together, tim ferguson spoke on comedy writing. he has a book, i might just have to purchase it. surprise, surprise.

no one understands me

2011-09-30T20:37:00.003+10:00

teen diary readings at the wheeler centre. virginia gay hosted the event with diary excerpts read by nick coyle, marieke hardy and justin heazlewood. a fun hour of angst and laughter, taken from the 13th and 18th years of their lives.

i'll have to go back and revisit my diaries at some stage. started journal writing because of english class in 1983, but my real diaries didn't begin until my last year in highschool, '87. many years ago.

shlurp!

2011-09-27T13:26:00.002+10:00

nope, it's not a giant vacuum cleaner hickey. i went for remedial massage and had a little "cupping" done as well. it sounds wrong but it's not, though the physical result can last up to 2 weeks, so i guess that's not all that good. damn, that means the bikini wearing season will have to wait just that little longer. bah!

a day out of life

2011-09-23T20:38:00.029+10:00

another day off to write, research and dream. and with this day i had an opportunity to tour through the beautiful victorian parliament house. i had trammed by it so many times, scheming up ways to use it in stories and today only gave me more grist for the mill. it was a glorious day to be free.

the start of the fringe festival and charmody's the carnival took me over the other side of the river to red bennies. burlesque and circus and oddities. very much of it's time, which is now. ha!

classic DW

2011-09-18T17:31:00.005+10:00

a screening of the newly released to dvd episode of doctor who, day of the daleks, at the jam factory. it was amazing to see doctor who on the big screen, i found that i laughed at a few places that seemed a bit over the top but that's doctor who and what i still love about the show, classic and contemporary.

just a day

2011-09-17T08:43:00.016+10:00

that started oddly. i turned up at my usual place and my usual place wasn't there. the building hadn't disappeared but my starbucks had. lost the lease and has to relocate. which means i had to relocate as well, to another starbucks up the road. don't know if it's going to be "the one" but a change is as good, so they say.

the evening brought the gangsters ball at the forum. not a lot of dancing but a whole lot of floor shows and the wonderful b# big band were in attendance.

(photos courtesy of ms melB)

prettifying the neighbourhood

2011-09-16T14:21:00.006+10:00

something that gets me smiling on the drive to work each day this week.

happy birthday brad

2011-09-14T18:44:00.010+10:00

turned 40 today. so a big happy birthday to my brother who still lives in the red dirt of kalgoorlie-boulder. well, he lives in a house with his two boys that is probably surrounded by red dirt, so that counts.

the evening found me at new venue with alex. tickets to the art vs science gig were won so had to be used.

the band was joined by patience hodgson (she of the grates, who i did not recognise but i love the grates), tim derricourt from dappled cities gave us some fabulous dance moves and kate miller-heidke - that woman has an amazing voice and a fluffy dress.

wasn't a long set on a wednesday night, a little surreal but fun.

rotunda in the west

2011-09-12T08:43:00.004+10:00

there is a number of events organised by rotunda in the west. the initiative is part of victoria university's professional writing and editing team. this evening i went along to listen to the key speaker john marsden. being early i took part in a couple of the writing exercises and settled in to some music before the author took the stage. this event coincided with the opening of the brimbank literary festival, so a whole swag of people had come along.

the below car/ desk is sitting inside the building. there were a number of interesting sculptures to be seen in the environmentally sustainable complex of harvester college.

something borrowed something blue

2011-09-11T08:16:00.023+10:00

a trip into country with jenn. off to the bendigo art gallery for the white wedding dress exhibition. a couple of years ago i came up for the golden age of couture exhibition. i love that this gallery manages to snaffle shows that don't make it to melbourne. not that i need a reason for a road trip, but if there ever was one... you got it, this would be it. and also, country bakeries are always the best.

i purloined a couple of pics from the web as you are not allowed to take photos in the museum - they are dresses from the exhibition, in case you were wondering.

jenn's folks got married in this cathedral a number of years ago. it's quite beautiful.

then a wander through the quaint town of maldon on the trip back to the city.

alan on alan

2011-09-10T21:33:00.003+10:00

which may sound a little kinky, but it was alan brough talking to alan ball at the capitol theatre as part of the "in conversation with's" that the wheeler centre runs. alan ball is the writer of american beauty, he created six feet under and developed the true blood tv series from the books by charlaine harris. a fun hour or so spent surrounded by people who appreciate well told stories.

saw this!

2011-09-09T21:38:00.000+10:00

felt like something was missing.

look right through me

2011-09-08T17:45:00.003+10:00

a KAGE production @ the malthouse theatre. a wordless exploration of humanity through dance that was inspired by michael leunig. uplifting and bewildering at the same time. i loved the staging and the music.

(and i had chocolate cake for my dinner).

mmmm...

2011-09-07T17:43:00.003+10:00

cake

getting serious

2011-09-06T10:40:00.002+10:00

australian writers guild has a new member. me. went along to the monthly event tonight - talking about short film. not something i've written and not sure i ever will but it was an interesting evening listening to film makers, a film festival organiser, producers, writers... and got to chat with others. looking forward to next gathering.

an all-kinds of stuff day

2011-08-31T14:08:00.009+10:00

a morning session with the school kids for the series our australian girl. it's so cool listening to the kid's questions.

then over to the ngv for the vienna: art & design exhibition. as much as i enjoyed the pieces i expected it to be larger than it actually was. hmm....do not read anything into that statement. some absolutely stunning designs and i'm always impressed by the graphics from the period. get along and see it if you can.

i also wandered through the margaret and david exhibition at acmi - but it wasn't much of anything.

i'm seeing this knitting art everywhere at the moment and it's brilliant. on the drive to work there's stop signs and other road signs wrapped in wool and it makes me smile every time.

another festival another hall

2011-08-30T12:04:00.003+10:00

poets, comics, novelists and musos @ the toff for edinburgh unbound.

theatre downstairs

2011-08-25T11:25:00.004+10:00

cafe scheherazade at fortyfivedownstairs. a great venue for wonderful storytelling. this is a story of memory, with rambunctious characters and mood-enhancing music. the play was first staged earlier this year and was scripted by therese radic, based on the novel by arnold zable.

i went to the real cafe scheherazade on acland street in st kilda before it closed a number of year ago. i ate cake and read a book and watched lives go by.

another sunny day

2011-08-22T10:02:00.003+10:00

winter wonderland

2011-08-20T11:55:00.007+10:00

a morning of reading my script from top to tail - there is great need for changes but thankfully there is good stuff there.

then some lazing in the sunny afternoon before meeting jill, mark and jamie at the winter festival. mulled wine, argentinian meat and ice skating. i was so excited even for a piddly 45 minutes on the ice. i so need to hunt down a roller skating rink in the nearish future.

friday fun

2011-08-19T15:29:00.006+10:00

the first three pics are the wonderstuff - the reason for attending the palace gig. the other support band was the clouds, who has/d a great following but i've never heard of this australian band. anyway, these were supporting jesus jones, the last pic. i know one of their songs and it wasn't a favourite, but the evening was a great one.

started off at madame brussels for drinks, before heading for a japanese feast then onto tunes. a grand night all round.

***

p.s. draft two finished and printed.

tasty cake making

2011-08-18T08:40:00.002+10:00

quiz de burgh 2011

2011-08-17T10:55:00.005+10:00

back to the scienceworks planetarium quiz(every time i say planetarium, even in my head i hear the way the south park characters said the word - just looked it up, that was back in 1998 - eek).

we planned on coming second again, and the plan worked. none of us really wanted the first prize of cheap champagne, instead we got cadbury chocolates. woohoo!

i do have only one complaint - the crap music questions... it was all songs that had na na na na na in it. and not the good na na na's. a fun evening and unhealthy food was shared.

really? for me?

2011-08-14T09:00:00.007+10:00

pretty flowers and new photo apps for my phone.

almost finished and finished

2011-08-13T09:12:00.005+10:00

so close to the end of draft two that i can taste it - and i'm not talking about the dregs of my frappucino. i'm inches away from finishing my feature. i've always had problems with endings, finishes. i draw them out, not really ever properly completing things. this year i've decided will be different. this year i will have a feature and a novel under my belt (at the very least). they are allowed to be in draft form but they have to be finished in whatever draft form they happen to be in. this makes sense to me and that's all that matters.

i got along to the state library exhibition in the early arvo to check out some photographers from my favourite time period - 30s-60s. i so want to find some prints of these wonderful photographers. check them out if you can, there are works by: maggie diaz, norman ikin, athol shmith, helmut newton, wolfgang sievers (his coloured prints were awesome, mid 60s), mark strizic, dacre stubbs and henry talbot.

the harry potter saga started for me in 2002 - when a good friend put me onto the books (thanks julie). i was behind the times and had to play catch up which was totally okay with me, i only had a four book backlog and then had to start the wait for the next three to be written. i'm not patient when it comes to stories, i want it NOW.

later in the arvo i got along to melbourne central and part 2 of harry potter and the deathly hallows. i liked it. i cried. and it is finally finished.

time to smell

2011-08-12T09:23:00.006+10:00

living in the reel world... not me.

2011-08-11T13:02:00.006+10:00

okay, so you'd think i'd have enough of watching screens - big or small, but no. i've been playing catch up the last couple of days with tv shows from around the globe, torchwood (jury is still out on the move to the US - sniff), true blood, eureka (heard the series just got cancelled), warehouse 13, spirited and just finished watched first season of falling skies. but there's a new one on the horizon, from the UK, the hour. it's set in the mid 50s, early tv news room with some sort of conspiracy to be uncovered by an investigative reporter. well, that's what i got out of the first episode. stay tuned.

also rewatching harry potter and the deathly hallows - part 1 in preparation for the second part over the weekend. yes, i'm a glutton.

34, 35, 36

2011-08-07T09:18:00.008+10:00

film 34: life in movement

a beautiful doco on the life and works of tanja liedtke - a dancer and choreographer who in 2007 had been appointed as director of the sydney dance company but before she could take up the reins was killed in a road accident. would love to see the pieces she choreographed on stage, must keep an eye out.

film 35: another earth

so not a scifi - i was promised a sci-fi, i needed one. it was interesting but slow and i could've lived had i not seen it. a second earth is found and earth 1 (that's us) realises that they are a mirror image to us. another you is out there. but we don't see evidence of this until the last frame. what does your imagination tell you comes next?

film 36: autoluminescent: rowland s. howard

another richard lowenstein (with genevieve mcguckin and mick harvey) production that covers the time of late 70s-80s in melbourne music. focussed obviously on rowland s. howard it illustrates his life and work - which is both fantastical and vivid. a little bit long but it gives the audience intriguing glimpses of the enigmatic man and his love of music.

32, 33

2011-08-06T11:48:00.005+10:00

film 32: innocent saturday

i didn't like this. the blurb in imdb says a group of friends and bandmates look to escape from the chernobyl disaster. what a load of tosh. starts of with handheld camera running after someone in the dark, though scrub, through broken buildings, you work out something is really wrong but there doesn't seem to be anyone wanting to leave anytime soon. an aborted attempt to board the train and then it's back to a saturday wedding and the same old pettiness. perhaps it was a remark about humanity sticking their head in the ground at bad tidings, but come one. bah!

film 33: on borrowed time

david bradbury's documentary on the filmmaker paul cox, who has made 25 feature films since moving to melbourne in the late 60s.

30, 31

2011-08-05T11:40:00.009+10:00

film 30: melbourne on film shorts 2

6 short films from the 50s to early 70s illustrating the importance of city planning, and showing the streets of melbourne.

film 31: beats, rhymes and life: the travels of a tribe called quest

enjoyed the doco put together by michael rapaport (a man mostly known for his acting), talking to people from the 20 years of the band. this is the sort of hiphop music i like.

28, 29

2011-08-03T17:01:00.005+10:00

film 28: being elmo

this was AWESOME. i love sesame street and whilst i'm not a huge fan of elmo (he's not old school enough for me) i loved this documentary about a boy who loved puppets and grew into a man who's life is muppetry. the fabulous kevin clash and his elmo. the audience were terrific, gasping when kevin was offered place on the dark crystal film then all laughing at our collective gasp. i love how these shows make us feel, sesame street, the muppet show, fraggle rock, labrynth - i blame you, jim henson. these are the types of stories i want to be part of, that kind of magic.

film 29: shut up little man! an audio misadventure

a strange tale of two housemates in the late 80s, who happen to live next door to two men who yell at each other when drunk. they are recorded for a couple of years and these tapes are sent out into the world. first through friends then through mail order. as sad as peter and raymond were in yelling at each other, going over the same old, same old - it seemed that the two guys who taped them were in the same time loop, reliving old glories over and again and not moving on, just as sad.

museum & films 26, 27

2011-08-02T09:23:00.016+10:00

a shared brunch with gail on degraves street before wandering a little more of the city.

then it was onto the tutankhamun exhibition at the melbourne museum. it really just made me want to go back and visit egypt again. it's such a beautiful country and culture and history. i will return one day.

then back to the screen for me.

***

film 26: wasted youth

wasted time? perhaps. a greek film that had two parallel stories that didn't meet until the last 3 minutes of the film. one hot summer day, two lives that seemed to be going no where.

film 27: swerve

i couldn't work out if this was a genuine thriller or it was a spoof of itself. honestly it took the conventions expected in the thriller genre just a little too far and i found myself laughing time and again at the absurdity of the cliched lines and actions. come on, we can do so much better.

24, 25

2011-08-01T08:17:00.004+10:00

film 24: how to die in oregon

one of my favourites. dignified and touching and everyone in the audience shared similar reactions. i even offered the guy next to me a tissue once the lights came up. well worth tracking this one down - allowing people the control to end their own lives once they were told there was no hope left for them medically. it really was an amazing film.

film 25: neds

scary and sad and not fun. glasgow in the early 70s and one boy's slide into gangland. non-educated delinquents. there were moments i thought he might escape the world but relentlessly he was beat down and took the easy way out, of doing just what was expected of him. as i said, sad.

20, 21, 22, 23

2011-07-31T09:38:00.007+10:00

film 20: matchmaking mayor

a strange doco on a slovak mayor who decided to take matters into his own hands and get the single people of his village together. a gathering of the said singles was organised and the outcome... well, just a little bit sad really.

film 21: page one: inside the new york times

another documentary and this time it was the inside workings of the new york times newspaper, some of the major players in the news room and by chance caught the period of wikileaks.

a break between films so i headed up to the top end of bourke to sit on the stairs of parliament and get some air and the little remaining sunshine.

film 22: detroit wild city

wasn't sure what was coming with this one, first i thought it might be about music but it was about a modern day dying city and the people living within. sad and a little disturbing.

film 23: project nim

in the early 70s, a chimp is taken from it's mother and given to a human mother who breast feeds and rears it for the first year or so of it's life as a human. nim was part of a university study trying to understand communication and linguistics, and was taught sign language. nim did not meet another chimpanzee until the project was abandoned and he returned to the research lab he initially came from before being sold to an animal testing laboratory. his story doesn't end there.

16, 17 & 18, 19

2011-07-30T16:18:00.009+10:00

film 16: africa united

i loved this flick. it's all about following your dream no matter how impossible it may seem. almost a road movie that takes four kids from rwanda, to the congo, then through the other african states to south africa for the 2010 world cup. interspersed with collage animation, i found the characters really engaging and yes, i laughed and cried.

film 17: pool party

a fun doco from queens, new york. an amazing story of the largest pool in the world, mccarren pool in williamsburg was built in the early 30s and was used until 1984. it was then derelict for the next 25 years until it's rebirth as a performance venue and then a series of summer concerts. the last 'pool party' was held in 2008 afterwhich it was announced that the venue would be refurbished as a swimming pool once more.

film 18: red dog

a really sweet film. i got a kick out of it as it was set in the 70s and shot in the pilbara, wa. i grew up in similar red dirt about that time so it was a joy to see the characters and life in a north-west mining town. of course the film is hyper reality but it was still fun. a simple story with likeable characters, and a cute dog. a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

film 19: pom wonderful presents the greatest movie ever sold

morgan spurlock did a q&a at the end of his film. an interesting doco on product placement in films and tv. he said it would make us even more aware of products on the screen but maybe because i'm in the middle of a film festival with a whole lot of independent films it didn't wasn't so evident as commercial endeavours.

there's a world out there

2011-07-30T08:25:00.020+10:00

a saturday morning wandering through melbourne city before heading off to the pictures once more. melbourne open house was on for the weekend but i could only manage to get to the myer mural hall, 6th floor of myer on bourke street.

14, 15

2011-07-29T11:35:00.010+10:00

by now i should have been nearing 20 watched films but i've been feeling ill so have been putting my health first.

film 14: the giants

this film was sadder than i expected, more tragic than the preview suggested it would be. two brothers and a friend spend the summer trying to make money to buy themselves food and pot and the indignities and humour they find along the way.

film 15: beginners

all a bit angsty but again, beautifully shot. christopher plummer's character comes out after the death of his wife when he's 75, only a few years before his death. his son played by ewan mcgregor is accepting but confused. emotionally distant all his life, so when he meets a beautiful french girl with laryngitis, it gets even more angsty. still, a nice film.

13

2011-07-27T17:08:00.004+10:00

film 13: tabloid

this was the oddest story that should've been a fairy tale but in fact was reality. the documentary was written around the media hoopla in the late seventies, when an american beauty queen called joyce mckinney falls in love with a kirk, a mormon. he moves to england (supposedly without telling her, even though they were planning to get married), so she assumes he's been kidnapped... and then it gets really weird. joyce is the prime interviewee, with a supporting cast of journalists from the period - it is such a deliciously strange story. kirk, the manacled mormon, refused to comment. boo to him.