What I've Been Reading
Yellow notebook: Diaries Volume 1, 1978-1987 by Helen Garner
This is the first in three diaries by the great Helen Garner. I am going to write more about all three at a later stage, but I loved them. I loved seeing the evolution of her writing, and the little insights into her life at the time. I loved trying to guess who all the players were, she calls them by a letter. J is Tim Winton, I got very excited at his first and quite early mention. She is also very hard on herself and her ability, to write, and in fact, anything...which I found endearing and upsetting, in equal parts.
T: the t-shirts I love by Haruki Murakami
This is the latest by Murakami, and in light memoir style. He collects t-shirts, and he has picked a handful by theme and told stories about him that reflect on his life and writing. It is as quirky as he is and as fascinating. I guess one for fans, but boy it is worthwhile.
Throat by Ellen Van Neerven
Stunning poetry from Ellen, an indigenous woman. She writes about sex, and love, and diversity, and equality. Her poems pack a punch but are also light and fun. I made a decision to read more poetry this year and this was a lovely start. If you don't read poetry, I think you will find Throat very accessible, readable and understandable.
Paris: an inspired wander through the city of lights by Alexandra Carroll
This was a lovely small coffee-table style book that I have had for ages. It was mostly photography of various areas of my beloved Paris, with little stories and information to match. Places to go and visit and eat, places to meander, historical and geographical information. It was a nice walk down memory lane.
You're History: the twelve strangest women in rock by Lesley Chow
I am not entirely sure that everyone Lesley Chow writes about in this cite book is really strange, but they are enigmatic for sure. Short chapters about each woman and why they stand out as a little different, Chaka Khan, Kate Bush, Sade, Shakespear's Sister (hence the name of the book), Neneh Cherry, Janet Jackson, Taylor Swift etc. I really enjoyed this.
The Queer Bible edited by Jack Guinness
This was mostly queer celebs writing about queer icons (to them). This is based on the website but the same author. Elton John writes about Divine, Graham Norton writes about Armistead Maupin. They write about the icon and why they are inspired by them. The entries are a mix of humour, and drama and are fascinating. Includes Bowie, George Michael, Quentin Crisp, Ru Paul, Priscilla the movie, Tim Curry, Queer Eye, Pedro Almodovar, and Susan Sontag.
Taste: my life through food by Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci is an Italian American actor, very suave and charismatic. He is also a big foodie, especially Italian food. This is a memoir of sorts of his life through a range of spectacular food spreads. From childhood to his wedding to his second wife, the food he describes is amazing. It is not just the cooking, but the searching for the right ingredient, the preparation of said ingredients and their consumption with loved ones all around. There are some tales of his personal life, and his life in film, but mostly those that link to food. Warning, this book will make you hungry, and crave a big bowl of pasta! Recipes included!
Night Blue by Angela O’Keeffe
This is the debut novel from O’Keeffe and it is stunning.
More a novella than a novel 141 pages, Night Blue is the story of Jackson
Pollock’s Blue Poles, as told by the painting itself. Whilst this may seem an
odd choice, it is executed beautifully. The story tells the tale of the painting
from its inception through to its controversial hanging at the National Gallery
of Australia. The story also divulges other things and people it sees, from its
time hanging on walls. It also covers Pollock at the time, and Whitlam’s
purchase of the masterpiece. This was a delight, with a few unexpected twists
and turns.
With the Kama Sutra under my arm: an Indian Journey by Trisha Bernard
I listened to this on talking book, and to be honest it was a bit disappointing, sure they carried around the Kama Sutra with them but that was about it. Their journey through India was a but sporadic, 2 middle aged women behaving badly, but not in a good bad way. Some of their stories were funny, some not do much. It was good enough to keep me going to the end, but ultimately not what the title would suggest.
Sweet Dreams: the story of the New Romantics by Dylan
Jones
This was a huge tome with remarkable insight into the New Romantic period of music in the 80s. It commences in the late 70s when all the players are starting out and follows them on their journey to this period and a little beyond. It talks and interviews directly these people, musicians, singers, journalists, DJs, television personalities, nightclub owners, everyone who was part of the scene. They included The Blitz Nightclub in London, Steve Strange, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Boy George, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, Malcolm McLaren, Vivienne Westwood, Wham, Ultravox, Bowie, Depeche Mode and on it goes. Loads of in-depth information, connections you never realised and a wild ride. Highly recommend.
Embracing the Unknown: life lessons from the Tibetan Book
of the Dead by Pema Chodron
This was a stunning but short talking book with Pema addressing a conference/retreat with her wisdom. Absolutely charismatic and beautiful.
Albert Namatjira by Vincent Namatjira
A children's picture book about Albert by his great-grandson, Vincent. Vincent is an artist in his own right, having won the Archibald in 2020, and also illustrating the picture book. It is the most stunning picture book you will ever read.
10 Short Lessons in Space Travel by Paul Parsons
A cute short book with lots of fun facts about traveling in space, from the first astronauts to the space shuttle and International Space Station. Lots of insight, and fascinating information.
Underground Railway by Colson Whitehead
Finally! I have been wanting to read Colson for a while, but so many books, so little time. Underground Railway was absolutely amazing, and no wonder it has won so many accolades. Cora is a young slave in Georgia, and when Caesar arrives and tells her about an Underground Railway that will help her escape slavery, she decides to join him. Their journey is not smooth, authorities are chasing them, they make mistakes, but they are determined. Colson presents a fictional story very much embedded in reality. Whilst it is heart breaking in parts, it isn't too heavy, he constructs a beautiful story that hangs on for many days after you have finished reading. Absolute masterpiece.
Tea and Honesty by Jules Sebastian
This was a talking book the came through at work and raised my curiosity. Jules is the wife of Guy Sebastian, and has a bit of a career as an influencer of sorts. She seems nice enough, but her stories felt a bit forced and twee.
What I've Been Watching
Insecure S5 plus The End doco
I love Insecure, it is a great show following the escapades of Issa, a single woman in LA. She is awkward, and funny, is dating and has a great collection of girlfriends. S5 has Issa seemingly on track, a regular boyfriend and her event business is really taking of. She is still as goofy as ever, so you know things will go wrong...or will they. If you like Girls or Sex and the City, you will like Insecure. it is edgier and I really love the LA setting. After the final episode, a doco about it's filming called The End was dropped and it was a lovely insight into the making of the show. Issa writes, acts, directs and produces.
After Life S3
The third and final series by Rick Gervais, this is easily the best thing he has done, and that is saying something. Ricky plays a man grieving his wife deeply. He doesn't understand why she is gone and he is here, and whilst that sounds terribly sad, and at times it is, it actually gives him a wonderful platform to showcase his comedic sensibilities. This show is funny, absolutely, and he has collected a range of odd characters that really add to it. But it will tug at your heat strings. I do think series 2 and 3 could have been condensed into just one series, making it a solid 2 series show, but it is still infinitely better than other stuff out there. Also stars a gorgeous Alsatian.
Curb Your Enthusiasm S11
Curb continues to shine and there are 2 ridiculous over-arcing storylines this season. The minor one is Leon breaks up with his girlfriend after purchasing them tickets for an Asian holiday, so he is on the hunt for a compatible woman with exactly the same name, so he can go on the holiday without losing money. Larry is the producer of a new series, Young Larry, and after an incident with his swimming pool ends up in an extortion racket that leads him to all sorts of trouble. Tracey Ullman stars this season as a truly awful council woman who Larry dates, absolutely hilarious. And as usual the long line of celebs playing bastardised characters of themselves or actual characters. 11 seasons and it still shines and is still one of the few shows that makes me laugh out loud!
Love Me
This was a stunning Australian mini series starring Hugo Weaving. It is about love. It follows his love life after his wife dies from a long illness. It also follows his daughter's love life, when she meets a male model on her street not long after her mother dies. And his son, who is in a relationship with someone not exactly is type. These interwoven stories are melancholy and funny. And, as always, Hugo Weaving is outstanding.
Super Bob Einstein Film
This was spectacular, much like Bob. Bob was Super Dave, an American kinda of Evil Kenieval, but things didn't always got to plan. He was often on Letterman, and many other shows. He is probably best known for playing Marty Funkhouser on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He is also the brother of Albert Brooks. The doco delves into his past and he has done so much, but somehow not as well known as other comedians. There were loads of very respected comedians talking about how much they loved him. This is a must see show!
Framed
This is a ripper of a story, when Picasso's Weeping Woman was stolen from the NGV. Now this painting is probably my favourite Picasso, I never visit Melbourne without popping in to see her. To think someone was so bold to just pluck her off the walls and take here. She was obviously returned, but anonymously, so this series follows where the investigation went wrong and what they think happened. Absolutely fascinating stuff.
The sit in: Harry Belafonte
Another great documentary (easily my favourite genre of film) about the time - one week - Harry Belafonte sat in for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. A really important moment in history which is almost lost due to tapes of the week being taped over (as they did back in the day). The year is 1968, race riots are everywhere. Harry was an entertainer and quite beloved but he was also an activist, and quite powerful in the movement. He has a line up of guest Johnny could only dream about, Martin Luther King Jnr, Bobby Kennedy, Aretha Franklin, Sidney Poitier, Lena Horne, and Paul Newman amongst others. The documentary shows soe of the footage and it was powerful, it also interviews people who watched it, celebrities and relatives of those connected to the show. This was so watchable and so wonderful, every one should check it out, a real moment in history.
Harry Potter Reunion
This was absolutely glorious, a reunion of most of the cast of the 8 Harry Potter movies, a 20th anniversary. Think about that! There was so much to love in these couple of hours (definitely not long enough either!) that I go quite overwhelmed and teary. Firstly and most importantly there were 'the kids', well beautiful adults. Those gorgeous little kids we first saw on screen have turned out to be delightful, intelligent and wonderful human beings.
The stand outs, of course, are Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Daniel never fails to astonish me in the best possible way. Things could have been grim for him, but this never seemed to be the case. he knew/knows the enormity of being Harry Potter, he has consistently embraced it after the fact, and seems a genuinely well rounded human. But not only that, a really individual, interesting, and decent human. Watch him being interviews, he never shys away from Harry, he is funny, a good sport, and just a delight. Emma is simple Hermione personified, and that is such a delight too. And they are bloody great actors.
The supporting cast - mostly a who's who of British cinema royalty - were divine. They all seemed to relish the fun of being in the movies, and depending on the part, how important their role was. They also loved all the kids, treating them as equal and helping them along the way. Truly magnificent. The bond between Gary Oldman and Daniel brought a tear to my eye, and Helena Bonham Carter (always bloody amazing) was hilarious with her love of the universe and Daniel himself.
The directors were interviewed, the sets revisited, behind the scenes stories told, the funniest involved Richard Harris and a faux Phoenix. Notably and understandably absent was JK Rowling (huge sigh), there were a couple of clips of her talking with very specific captioning to explain this was taped prior to the filming of the documentary.
I guess this is for fans and I am definitely a fan, I loved this so very much, one of the most perfect documentaries I have seen in a long time.
British Bake Off
I am not a fan of reality shows, but I do love Bake Off. I mean, what's not to love? Loads of lovely people (they are always lovely) baking cakes and cookies and tarts and bread. The divine 1-2 of Matt Lucas and my beloved Noel Fielding. And the delightful Prue Leith and the sparkly eyed Paul Hollywood. Pure escapism, and makes you think you can bake anything!
Cruella
I really enjoyed this, it was pure camp entertainment and the Emmas, Stone and Thompson, looked like they were having a ball. This is the back story of Cruella de Ville, did we need it, probably not, but it was a lot of fun. Really it was all about the costumes!
The Dry
I really enjoyed the book of this despite crime and the outback being two of my lesser interests. It was a great debut novel and packed a punch. Whilst the casting of the movie was great, the film felt perfunctory, maybe it was because I knew the story. I didn't dislike the film but it felt colour by numbers.
And Just Like That
Oh vey, what can I say. I did not hate this, but I did not love this. Although I think this is the consensus. I loved, loved, loved Sex and the City, but who didn't. Those gals, I wanted to be their friends, I related to some of their antics, and I wanted to live in their NYC. And, intellectually I knew Big was no good, but emotionally, did I love him? Absofuckinglutely!
When I heard they were rebooting, I braced myself. These things do not always end well. I heard stories, saw pics, but just decided to wait and see. No Samantha, oh dear, to me, she was the string that held everything together. Her sharp take on the world stopped the show from being hokey.
The first episode shook me to my core, I did not expect Big to die, that was pretty brutal. I get it, in terms of storytelling, but it put me offside immediately. I also thought they tried to pack too much 'wokeness' in that first episode. Now I do not have issues with being woke, but it has to be genuine, handled well, and not a tick the box kind of thing. They introduced new characters, this is also fine, but again they felt forced. We haven't seen these gals for a while, so of course they may have made new friends, they should have just had these people there in the background like maybe they had been there for a while and not force it awkwardly.
I hoped the show would settle, it did not. Maybe the last episode was the best, it felt like it had started to get into a nice groove.
So here is what I did not like:
- What they did to Miranda! She was never that stupid.
- What they did to Steve. He deserved better.
- Carrie's boss, I am sure they are a great actor, but boy, that character was not likeable
- Was Charlotte always that annoying?
- Poor Stan, I know he died, but he deserved better.
- Period stains, and uncontrollable wee, really?
- the dialogue
- the overkill
- the wokeness
- Carrie buying that bloody awful apartment
- How they incorporated Samantha, it felt like passive aggressive bullying
Here is what I did like:
- Watching Charlotte struggle to parent, it was genuinely funny
- The clothes
- Carrie, despite Big's death, she was still Carrie
- When Carrie helped her downstairs neighbour
- Carrie on the bridge in Paris
- The blinking lamp
- NYC
- The Bat Mitzvah
I suspect there will be more, will I watch it? But of course!
They are my gals!
I will end with what I genuinely and actually think went wrong. The writing team. This was meant to be reboot for these ladies in their 50s/60s and the new writing team were in their 20s/30s. Nothing wrong with that, except they have no realistic idea of being in their 50s/60s. I love love love Samantha Irby, but she is soooo not this show's demographic. This is where they got it seriously wrong, these writers just didn't have the life experience to do justice to the ageing of our girls.
What I've Been Listening To
Alan Alda and Max Brooks/Mel Brooks - Alan Alda's Clear and Vivid podcast is a fave, he focuses on Science and communication with a range of well known celebs and regular sciencey people as guests. He pulled a fabulous 1-2, with Max Brooks one week, his father, Mel the following. Max Brooks, youngest son of Mel and only son of Anne Bancroft, is an author of science fiction and fantasy and most well known for his series, World War Z (made into a movie with Brad Pitt). He had learning difficulties as a kid, and talked to Alan about overcoming them to become a famous author and being the kid of Mel and Anne. It was a sheer delight. And then Mel was something else, 2 International Treasures, Mel, 95 and Alan, 86, sharp as tacks, funnier than ever. Both just riffing off each other and Alda, obviously a fan, just loving it all.
Carnage - Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - This is a great and measured album with the usual darkness that Ellis and Cave conjure. Their partnership and friendship is one of legends, and it shows.
Release Me 2 - Barbra Streisand - this is a great album of her older stuff and she still sounds great. Babs soothes the soul for sure!
Beauty and the Beat by The GoGos - what a great and classic album. Sharp songwriting, great sound, and loads of fun. I really didn't realise how remarkable this band was until I saw a recent doco on them. Groundbreaking and of the punk era, these girls are not pop dummies but kick arse heroes. And the way this album makes you feel when you listen to it, not many albums bring pure joy like this one does.
Cry Forever by Amy Shark - I really love Amy and this is another great album. A terrific mis of pop, folk songs, Amy's sound is maturing beautifully.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga- this is a stunning album, both sound great, especially together. This is probably Tony's last hurrah, given his age and health issues. So very bittersweet. I can take or leave Gaga's pop, but when she sings properly, my god she is remarkable, that voice is a gift.
Today We're the Greatest by Middle Kids - really enjoyed their chill pop/folk sound
The First Two EPs by The Chats - total punk, very raw and very good. Love these guys, also great sense of humour, which really good punk needs.
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