New Breed

Thanks to free tickets as part of a promotion to spread the word about the access improvements at the Sydney Opera House we attended the afternoon show of new dance pieces at the Playhouse. The new wheelchair location is immeasurably better than the previous arrangement. We stayed for the Q & A with the choreographers. That was interesting.

The show offered the first chance for each of the choreographers to stage a piece at the SOH in front of a live (sold out) audience. All four behaved as if Christmas had come early. I enjoyed the four dances, each quite different from the others (although all of them were fairly muscular and athletic rather than balletic). Slack was the most engaging for me (Spike too) but all four were truly impressive.
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Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence

Started and finished the book by Doris Pilkington in preparation for next week's class on the movie. The short read contains a great deal. It's infinitely preferable to what I can recall of the film.

Why so loud?

Good question. Second Beloved class.

More then mildly irritated man ...

... discovers why those who do have been raving about the television series Mad Men. I didn't drive Spike to Dooralong for father's day because the damn chain broke yesterday. Do I think there's a link ... no pun intended ... to the six weeks and work done in Revesby? Well, is the Pope a Catholic and do bears shit in the woods?

Seriously pissed off, by myself and much in need of distraction I turned to the web for diverting entertainment. After reading the UK Sunday newspapers, listening to Just A Minute and Mark Kermode's movie reviews on BBC Radio I finally caught Mad Men. I'm hooked. It's brilliant. The bravado of the writing is awe-inspiring. It's like watching a Richard Yates character step out of one of his short stories. At times it's hard to believe the world was like that but I can accept that it was ... the search for a company Jew, the silence of black characters in this white-man's world, the advertising men with their views of women (like a dog with a typewriter!!), the vulnerability of the probably gay character. I've seen four episodes now. I hope it stays away from soap opera. Brilliant television.
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Happy birthday Simon

After Rosie's concert at the Concordia Club (at which she didn't sing) and after the chain broke on the van, which meant Spike had to hold the door closed using the oily chain, and after driving up and down Leichhardt's busy streets in search of a parking spot, we spent what was left of the evening with Simon and Dilys, the family and friends helping him celebrate his birthday. S & D are off to Spain in a couple of weeks. It's the first I've seen of them for 9 months. It was, of course, slightly odd at the outset but genuinely enjoyable in the end. That's progress I suppose.

Giles Bettison at Sabbia Gallery

Spike took me to an opening at Sabbia of work by South Australian glass artist Giles Bettison. I admire the commitment that's obvious in the pieces made using a traditional technique known as murrine. The troble is that as admirable as that commitment is and as technically precise as it must be I'm afraid Mr Bettison's work left me unmoved. I couldn't imagine living with any of his work. Still, at least half of the works sported red dots so my guess is Giles doesn't care what I think. In fact, he doesn't even know I'm alive.

I had a near-miss ... although strictly speaking it was a near hit. I moved in my chair, lost balance and headed toward the floor. I stopped when Spike grabbed me then hauled me back to upright. I missed a plinth holding two of Giles's pieces by the smallest fraction imaginable. There would have been a $15,000 fall I could certainly have done without.
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Happy man

6 weeks and $2,600 later ... I got the van back today. Hip, hip, hooray!!!
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