WEIRD AL

I have always loved the novelty song, and as soon as I heard Eat It, I was in!

Weird Al Yankovic, even his name was cool. But he turned out to be much much more than a novelty act.

In the 80s I had all the Weird Al cassettes, and played them to death, amusing myself with his wit. I loved everything, the covers gone in his own way and the other songs with clever lyrics that made me laugh or smile wryly.

I particularly loved the polka songs.

I had never seen him live, really no one I knew wanted to go.

When I met Andrew, we would tell each other about gigs we had been too. So much overlapped and so much envy, on both sides. Weird Al was at the top of my 'I wish' list.

So when I saw he was finally returning to Australia, I knew we had to go.

I was super excited, but kept my expectations low. Andrew had regaled me with tales of huge stage shows, costumes and so forth.

But the concert we got was very different to that, and so much better.

We really got Weird Al in all his weirdness and nerdiness and I bloody loved it.

After a support act that was best left unspoken, a roadie popped three stools at the front of the stage.

The band came out, a drummer and keyboard player towards the back left and right, 2 guitarists on the outer stools and then the man himself!

Dressed normally, those long curls left to their own devices. He sat on a stool and started talking. He said he hoped we all got the memo about it being a parred back show with no big hits. I must admit I was a little peeved and thought huh, I got no such memo. But it didn't last long, I just had a feeling we were in for something special. And I was not wrong, nor disappointed.

He sang a lot of the album tracks and a lot of early stuff. Stuff I had quite simply forgotten, I knew pretty much 90% of what he sang. And some were really tricky and complex vocally and lyrically. He was on freakin' fire.

4 songs in he sings Bob, which is probably one of my all-time favourites of his. I was in heaven, he delivered. There was accordion playing, and the band was tight, very tight.

Al, himself, sounded great, and was spot on with some very detailed lyrics.

The crowd slurped it all up. It was a very diverse crowd, from oldies to kiddies.

The encore of a very click, You can call me Al, was clever and brilliant, and the finale of a string of his big hits and some covers showcased the superb vocals, not only of Al, but the entire band. Their harmonies were so very good and spot on.

We left the show knowing how very lucky we were, and what a special evening we had witnessed, and to see it together was the cherry on top.

Setlist

1. Lame claim to fame

2. Why does this always happen to me?

3.  Close but no cigar

4. Bob

5. One more minute

6.  Drum solo

7. I'll sue ya

8. your horrorscope for today

9. Skipper Dan

10. The night Santa went crazy

11. You don't love me anymore

12. Drum solo

13. CNR

14. Craiglist

15. Good old Days

16. Albuquerque

Encore:

17. You can call me Al

18. Amish Paradise/Smells like Nirvana/White and Nerdy/Word crimes/Yoda

Enmore Theatre, Wednesday 15 March, 2023

NEWCASTLE WRITERS FESTIVAL 2023

10 years!

I can't believe it, it only seems like yesterday that we headed to the inaugural NWF with the brilliant Miriam Margolyes doing the most wonderful opening for the festival.

She had us crying and in stitches laughing, a better presentation to the world could not be thought of.

It was also the year we got to meet Richard Fidler, as we kicked on at a pub after a session he hosted with my friend, Anita. She invited him and his manager to join us for drinks after and we had a great time, a time that led to me driving them both back to their hotel. And thus led to the moniker, Richard 'I drove him in my car once' Fidler. And yes, he is as lovely and kind and funny and sweet as you would hope he was.

Seemingly, in the blink of an eye, we were seated at the 10th Opening night of the NWF. This year the guest was the inimitable Grace Tame. The evening was at the grand dame of the city, The Civic Theatre, and we had great seats.

Friday 31 March, 2023

In her own words: an evening with Grace Tame

Civic Theatre, Festival Opening Night

As always there were speeches and people to thank for making this amazing weekend happen. As always Rosemarie Milsom was a goddess, for her simply idea and making it happen, not just once but for an entire decade. She always inspires me to push through my own roadblocks and issues and get stuff done!

She spoke at length about the economy and kudos the festival brings to the city. It is a big deal that I do not think gets enough coverage or support, but luckily she has some great sponsors helping her along. It is my weekend of the year, always!

Whilst all the lead-up speeches were great, especially the one from University Professor, John Fischetti - he described Librarians as the Keepers of Civilisation - we were really eagerly waiting for Grace.

She is much smaller and fragile looking than you would imagine, yet has this impressive steely manner. Her stories were peppered with humour, sometimes dark, which was incredibly endearing and helped her, I think, be able to tell some of her less-amusing stories. She had us laughing and sobbing. At times, I was worried, I felt a little voyeuristic listening to her stories being told given she is still quite a fragile person and she was close to tears herself on numerous occasions. Yet, she explained she wouldn't have it any other way, telling her story in her own way was and is incredibly important to her and her survival, and connecting to others is also something she very much loves and needs. Maddison Connaughton from The Saturday Paper was her interviewer and didn't need to do too much, just keep her moving forward. Some would say she was redunant, but I feel she was incredibly important, as an anchor for Grace and I think others may have pushed and pulled her to tell certain elements in a particular way. Maddison did not, she was respectful and a calming influence. It was a lovely evening.

Saturday 1 April, 2023

World Traveller: Richard Fidler in Conversation

Richard was in conversation with Paul Bevan. Richard is a great raconteur, he can talk about anything. This is exemplified in Conversations, his hit radio interview show on the ABC. He talked about his new book, The Book of Roads and Kingdoms, is about the time when Baghdad was the centre of the Persian and Arabic worlds. It is full of otherworldly tales, tales of conquering cities and expanding empires. He has done his research and I cannot wait to read it. 

Afterwards I took my newly bought copy of the book, and was third in line to get it signed. He was lovely and engaging, and remembered our night, 10 years ago, fondly. It was a perfect exchange.

Sunday 2 April, 2023

The day started early, with a lovely brunch on Darby, at Wil and Sons. It was a beautiful day in Newcastle, as you can see.

The Beatles and beyond: Paul McCartney and his creative practice

Phillip McIntyre has written a fascinating book about McCartney and where his creativity comes from. He was in conversation with Scott Bevan. This was fascinating, a Beatles fan, Phillip lectures at the University on creativity. He has based his studies on song writing and the music industry, and has written a book specifically about the creativity of Paul McCartney. His theories on his creativity, which he believes is sparked from many different ways, is the genesis for his genius. He told some great stories to back up these ideas. With so much written on McCartney and The Beatles, this was a fresh and interesting take on the man.

The Life of Iris

Fiona Kelly McGregor has based her latest historical novel on Iris Webber and was in conversation with Nancy Cushing. Iris was brought up on the wrong side of the tracks in the early 30s in Sydney and soon became ensconced in the underworld and underbelly of Sydney as a gunslinging petty criminal. She was in and out of jail, and also quite possibly a lesbian. Fiona researched the era to fill in the holes of the story with tight information on the era. A fascinating insight into the era and Iris through a fictional background.

Women and words: Pip Williams in conversation

Pip William's Dictionary of Lost Words was a huge deal in Australian publishing. She was in conversation with Ailsa Piper about it and her new book, The Bookbinder of Jericho. Both are based on true events, but she has taken characters and fleshed them and their story out with fiction, writing very easy to access fiction. I enjoyed Dictionary of Lost Words, but felt it fell very short of what it could have been having read The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester. This was the real non-fiction telling of the same story and far more interesting and a much superior read. She does take the female view in both stories which in reality was minimal, but nice to read about. Her research was insightful and the stories she told about the new book had me curious to give it a go.

I didn't get to many sessions this year as you can see. I have had a very intense start to the year juggling a lot of work, teaching 2 nights a week on top of my FT job means I missed trivia evening, which was a bit sad. And I had to work Saturday and had pre-booked RocKwiz Saturday night and was tired. But I picked some quality events and liked the new location of the University building on Hunter Street. Not quite the same feel as City Hall, but easy to find and get around which is great. Nice views of the city too.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY REVIEWS

What I've Been Reading

The Book that no one Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade

This is a children's book by the very dry and hilarious Richard Ayoade (IT Crowd, Travel Man) The main character is the author who is indeed a book. And so the book tells you what it is like to be a book. Early on when the book gets upset about it's pages being turned back to mark where they are up to, I knew I would enjoy it! Very clever, very silly and amusing.  

Rooms of Their Own: where great writers write by Alex Johnson

This was a beautiful coffee table style book with lovely pieces on many different writers/authors, accompanied by illustrations of their writing rooms. It contains a little information about the writer and details of these surrounds. Writers include, Roald Dahl, Bronte Sisters, Virginia Woolf (of course), Colette, Emily Dickinson, Ray Bradbury, Hemingway, Haruki Murakami, Hilary Mantel and so on. The rooms ranged from opulent to sparse, filled with much, to sheds. It was a dreamy read.

Koori Princess by Anita Heiss    

A very sweet children's book about being your best self. I think loads of little girls will love this. It is a sweet but sassy story, about a little girl who loves to dress as a princess, but is still fierce! I think it will be very popular.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse - Charlie Mackesy   

This is another children's book and quite the popular one - for all ages, adults especially. It is a parable of sorts, about a boy and his unusual friends, in search of a home. It is mostly about friendship and love and kindness. The illustrations are lovely and whimsical, it has been made into a short film which recently won an Oscar. 

Bodies of Light - Jennifer Down        

Bodies of Light is her third book and won the 2022 MIles Franklin award amongst many other most deserving awards.

I am unsure how to even explain this book without spoilers. I came at it totally cold, with no idea what it was even about, I had just heard how remarkable it was. I listened to it in talking book over a few weeks driving to and from work, the reader was phenomenal.       

It follows the story of Maggie and her very full and often tragic life. It is a long read and at times - for some - will be triggering, but it is exceptional. I felt every intertwined with Maggie for the entirety of the read.

The story commences in what seems like the present and someone from her past connects with her on facebook. She is quite upset by this and seems to be hiding from something. But what? Throughout the story you wonder if she is a reliable or unreliable narrator of her life.

To work through this initial connection she take you through her life coming back to this period throughout the story.

And so, she tells the vague story of her childhood, you can sense the gaps, is she hiding something or just cannot remember? Her childhood is not great, there is abuse and she ends up in foster home after foster home when her father is incarcerated. And so her journey begins. 

I want to say more, but I really got more out of the book not knowing what was coming up next, anticipating the next twist and turn, which you never really could. 

But the story is magnificent, huge and winding, twisting, and full of major moments. You will hang off every word. And the writing is stunning, the descriptions and sentences make you feel as if you are living Maggie's life with her! Down is a beautiful writer, Helen Garner has written lyrical about her sentence structure which is high praise.

This is a must-read book!

What I've Been Watching

Everything Everywhere All At Once

This is easily my favourite film of the year so far. It is utterly brilliant, and whilst it certainly pulls it ideas from many films that have gone before it, the way these threads are pulled together are unique. This film made me laugh and cry, but mostly it just made me smile.

Evelyn and Waymond - played by the goddess, Michelle Yeoh and international treasure, Ke Huy Quan - are a married couple who run a failing laundromat and about to undergo an audit. Their teenage daughter, Joy - standout Stephanie Hsu - has just come out as a lesbian and Evelyn's formidable father, Gong Gong - James Hong, remarkable character actor in his 90s - had come to stay with them after many years of being estranged. They head to the IRS office to meet with Deidre - played by the utterly brilliant Jamie Lee Curtis - and that is where things start to happen. 

From here it is difficult to explain but not too complicated or confusing to watch. Basically there are multiple universes of the characters, fractured from choices they have made in their lives. But the multiverse is being threatened by a monster and Evelyn must destroy the monster to get their lives back on track. And this is where the actors really get to flex their acting chops, from action to comedy to drama, they are simply outstanding. I have already watched this film twice, not because I had to but because I wanted to, and you see so much more on multiple watchings, I will watch again. Michelle Yeoh is fucking phenomenal, as is Jamie Lee Curtis. James Hong - especially for his age - is witty and nimble. Stephanie Hsu holds her own and then some amongst these established actors. But it was Ke Huy Quan who I loved the most, he was the heart and soul of the film, and gets 2 key scenes that absolutely killed me. And that was before I realised who he was. What a great story his is. 

Thor: Love and Thunder

This was a load of fun, great cast, loads of laughs. Waikiti's humour is perfect and works well with Marvel and these characters. There's not much to say, it looks great, the cast are fantastic, great action scenes, drama, and comedy. Stay for the end, for a little cameo by someone cool.

Wednesday

This show is everything! I am a real Addams Family fan from way back, the TV show from the 60s, and then the actual comics which are far darker and closer to this new tv show than other iterations. 

I was worried I don't mind saying, but when I knew Tim Burton was on board I felt better and when I saw the dance to The Cramps I was certain it would be great.

And it was!

Perfectly cast, great narrative, stunning cinematography. Dark and gothic and Jenna Ortega was perfection as Wednesday. I loved what they did with Thing, and Fred Armison as Uncle Fester was brilliant. The newer characters all worked really well, and fitted into the plot beautifully, I eagerly await the second season!

Staged

This third season was ill-informed, it was a hodge podge thrown together clips show and bad ideas. I still love Tennant and Sheen and watching them was great, but it just seemed not to place itself as well as the other 2 seasons. Never mind, it wasn't bad, just fell flat.

The Cleaning Company

A wonderful documentary about Sandra Pankhurst, who was written about so wonderfully by Sarah Krasnostein in The Trauma Cleaner. The documentary tells Sandra's amazing back story, and follows Sandra and her crew and their cleaning company. It concentrates on their humanity and kindness, helping others in their hour of need. It is a fascinating job that only really special people could do. Things do take a twist and turn, but hang in there, this is a special story that needs to be told.

The Stuff the British Stole

Great series by Marc Fennell, following the tragic stories of stolen art by The British (they are not the only ones) and following the story of those that the pieces belong to and how they want to have them returned. There are happy stories and frustrating ones. They were are compelling watches, but the final one about an Aboriginal leader's head was the one that effected me the most. Remarkable history.

Marc Maron: from bleak to dark

I love Marc's podcast WTF, and have not seen much of his standup, I know this was his first tour after COVID and he talked it up on his show. It was great, he is truly funny and very grounded in reality, you will nod at some of his schtick. He can be a bit bleak and melancholy and I wouldn't have it any other way. This one does get a little dark when we talks about his late girlfrend, Lynn Shelton, who died during the pandemic. But he always finds humour in every situation. This is great.

A-Ha: the movie

This was quite fascinating. I would not call myself a fan, although I think Take on Me is one of the best pop songs ever written. It was an instant classic and still holds up well today. The documentary follows their history intertwined with the band, now in their 50s, embarking on a world tour. Thing is there are strained relationships between all band members. It was very interesting to be a fly on the wall to this, and to hear how great they still sound!

Call the Midwife 

Season 12 is the lead-up to Trixie's wedding. Our beloved Trixie has finally found the man of her dreams, after 12 seasons and many misfires. But will everything go according to her well oiled plans!?

I love this show so much, it is a real comfort watch. Even though babies being born are totally not my thing, lol. I love the characters, the advances in medicine it shows, the social history of that world during those times and it has drama and well placed humour. Sister Monica Joan is my favourite character and they always tease us with her demise, I swear if anything happens to her I will not be happy.

What I've Been Listening To

Palomino - First Aid Kit

They get better as they age, their are experimenting with more pop and rock than folk these days, but still sound wonderful. Palomino is a great album, love these girls.

Fossfora - Bjork  

This is magnificent, much has been written about it. It is hypnotic and sounds unlike anything Bjork has done previously. The artwork is stunning, and pressing amazing. I love Bjork so very much, this is another masterpiece.

Special - Lizzo 

Still listening to this, another singer who gets better and better. Her stuff is so upbeat and positive, it is a great hit for the soul. As always she combines, pop, classical, and hip hop and it always works! Lizzo is a phenomenal woman - Maya would love her!

1981

Andrew and I have hit 1981 for our Sunday Brunch compilation. Really starting to get into albums we flogged to death (or scratched) as children. We were so lucky to have a cool dad, who bought these albums for himself and for us to listen to. We played them a lot!

Pamela Adlon and Alan Alda podcast

Pamela and Alan go way back, her father was a writer and a great friend of Alan's and Alan helped them financially when they went through some difficulties when Pamela was little. It was lovely to hear this friendship and their banter and reverie for each other, a real gem of a podcast!

Helen Garner/Annabel Crab podcast

This was another gem, as part of Helen's 80th birthday at The Wheeler Centre. A lovely and fun conversation. Helen gets more cheeky as she gets older and is always a delight to listen to. Cannot recommend this enough, you can find it on the Chats 10 podcast list.