APRIL/MAY/JUNE ROUND UP

Things have been busy and time has gotten away from me, so here's three months in one!!!

Work has been busy and crazy and we are still in the eye of the storm with the restructure. I did have two weeks off around Easter which was most needed.

My health is almost back on track, just a little tired still and whilst my legs are mostly healed, there are still scars and marks that I hope will fade with time, if not, I'm off to the tattooist! So now I need to work on my fitness...sigh...

April commenced with the Newcastle Writers Festival, my favourite yearly event.

I went to my first French Friday for the year, now held at Kotara Event Cinema, and it was great. En Liberte was a black comedy about a widow who finds out her hero detective husband was not the hero everyone thought he was. In fact, he put an innocent man away to cover for his own wrongdoings. She decides, for the sake of their son, to put things right. 

Mid month I had two weeks break and headed to Sydney for a little stay away and to see Iggy Pop. I spent time wandering The Rocks and Circular Quay, indulged in some lovely meals, caught up with friends, and saw Iggy at The Opera House with good friends. It was a great break and a relaxing start to my holidays.

Cathy and I caught up for an Easter brunch at Awaba House.

Amanda was home for Easter, and we had loads of family celebrations including Easter, Mum and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary, and Karen's birthday.

I also had a lovely day at Newcastle Beach and another with Jen at Morpeth.

In between I rested, read, and just chilled.

Work did some live broadcasts of the Sydney Writers Festival which was great.

I saw Ben Quilty and Julian Burnside, talking about his work (and book) with Syrian refugee children. I am such a fan of Ben's, his work, and his humanity. If every man was half the man Ben is, we wouldn't be in such a mess!

David Marr spoke about his splendid career with his book of written highlights, My Country. I could listen to Marr talk forever, that brain, that passion!!

Simon Schama spoke about his latest book on The Jews and history, again, intelligence and passion!

Meg Wolitzer was a delight, that middle aged Jewish comedian. She wrote The Wife that was turned into the movie with Glenn Close, her new book The Female Persuasion is a feminist work of fiction that sounds fabulous. She also name dropped Nora Ephron as a friend.

David Marr was back, this time interviewing Andrew Sean Greer about his Pulitzer winning book, Less. This was a grand interview and a meeting of the minds indeed. I laughed so much. I also found out Edmund White was his thesis advisor and they became good friends, oh my!!! Greer likes to find painful things and turn them into comedy, he says this is why good comedy is difficult and rare. They also spoke about names in the book, and he said he heard that Jonathan Lethem has a book of names he uses.

May's One Song Sing was at Momo Foods, and we did Lady Gaga's Shallow from A Star is Born.

I visited Maitland Art Gallery, hoped in vain for Kate Miller-Heidke at Eurovision, and was gutted by our federal election.

My love life took a positive turn out of nowhere and then turned negative out of nowhere. It was a lovely little bubble for a short period of time, but was very disheartening to exit, and set my mental health back considerably. After all I have been through this past year or so, I may have jumped back into dating too soon, and was too blind. Mind you, hindsight is a beautiful thing, and look, I'm not perfect!! It took me a little while to recover but I am a-ok. Just need to work out why I keep attracting men that take advantage...sigh. But I gotta be me and I think kind and open people will always attract that sort of person, grrr, just gotta filter better. However, I remain ever hopeful because what is the point of life otherwise!? And all experiences are good for growing, and for my writing!!

There was the French Film Festival where I saw Sink or Swim on opening night (along with the usual French Marketplace, yummo). Sink or Swim was brilliant, a comedy about a group of middle aged men who take up synchronised swimming. Dilili in Paris was a children's animated that covered the history of Paris which was really sweet. The World is Yours was a great black comedy with Isabelle Adjani and Vincent Cassel. Set against the backdrop of crime and drugs and swindling deals, a young man tries to make it good but is constantly distracted. 

Had a great meal at the Thai place at the rooftop at Kotara near the cinemas, best Thai I have ever had in fact!

I'm finally back at Film Society but only caught one film so far, lol, Everybody Knows. A Spanish drama starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, about family secrets, drama and a kidnapping.

I finally saw The Avengers, Endgame mid month with Cathy. What a roller-coaster ride that was, fun and sad and utterly enjoyable!

And after years of wanting to headed into the basement at The Grand Hotel for their Tuesday night Jazz night. I loved the set up so much, I will definitely be back.

And May ended with the James Drinkwater exhibition opening at Newcastle Art Gallery. What a fabulous exhibition it was and an exciting opening.

During April/May I watched the final season of Game of Thrones. What a wild ride that was, easily the best television/visuals I have ever seen. Each episode upped itself and had me on the edge of my seat, I was more than impressed.. Unfortunately the final episode was a bit of a downturn but still in all, it was a superb ending to one of the best shows I have ever watched. There still feels like something is missing in my life, lol.

June commenced with Bookclub and a wonderful lunch at the Criterion Pub at Carrington with my gals, we had a fabulous lunch, chatter and catch up.

After a better look at the James Drinkwater exhibition (so many people on opening night) I attended a brilliant Edith Piaf show as part of the Speigeltent season. We all really enjoyed the show and raved over the singer who spoke about Edith's life and pottered the show with songs. Her voice was magnificent and you felt as if you had met Edith herself. Dinner at Benjamas Thai was a good way to end a great night.

Caught up with Mary for a great tapas dinner at Warners Bay Tavern.

Spent time with family and the animals which is always perfect.

Linda and I saw Nancy and Beth at Lizottes, had a great meal and the show was so very good, funny and bawdy, tender and stunning. These girls are so very good, I left feeling lifted and great.

There was an impromptu One Song Sing for Make Music Day. We sang Sia's Chandelier on a chilly late afternoon in Wheeler place and we made the papers, radio and tele!!! Then we headed to Wombat to to celebrate Alice's birthday. Was a great afternoon/evening.

I caught the film, Rocketman, which I enjoyed despite the structure of the film and the mistakes within. The music was everything of course, and the acting and the costumes.

We went to our local for Mum's birthday.

I gave one of my Social Media for Seniors talks at Morisset Library and attended a conference on the GLAM sector for work.

Also had a day off mid week and sat and whale watched at Bar Beach and caught up with Jayne for lunch at the Mary Ellen.

The month ended with a big concert featuring all the classes/groups from Sum of the Parts, who run my choir. Our choir lacked in numbers that day, but we made up for it in heart and soul and sounded great! What a lovely afternoon with this gorgeous community I am so lucky to be part of.

I also did the usual markets and soccer.

And here are my reviews for April and May and June.

So you know, while work and my love life feel like a right-off at the moment, the rest of my life (albeit a small part of it) is great. I am so very lucky to have a close, supportive, and beautiful family. And I have such a great, close knit, stunning group of friends, that is expanding with my musical community, I feel so very blessed (and I hate the overuse of that word) to have such love and support in my life. Without you all, I would not be in a great way. You lift me and love me and I am humbled and offer you my everything in return.

Here are the usual pics...

JUNE REVIEWS

What I've Been Reading
The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glover -  I read this last year and enjoyed it, but not as much as his previous work. Listening to Richard read was far more enjoyable. His humour is dry and whilst I got it on the page, hearing him nuance his own words was a better experience.

Curveballs: how to keep it together when life tries to tear you a new one by Emma Markezic -  Emma was a journalist and comedian who got breast cancer. It knocked her around and was awful but she handled it well. Which made her investigate why some people handle things better than others. Sort of a low brow version of Leigh Sales’ Any Ordindary Day, this investigates how people navigate bad shit. Using tips of how she handled her situation throughout this is a cross between a memoir and a self help book with a lot of humour thrown in. I enjoyed it, and of course related to a lot of it, but it wasn’t the best thing I have read on the subject.

My Reading Mojo has been off this month...sigh...

What I've Been Watching

Aquaman- this was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. There is not much to say, it is an action man film, Jason Mamoa was great and funny.

Instant Family - this was ok, I am not a huge fan of Mark Wahlberg, and it was about a couple who become foster parents. There were some laughs within, but ultimately it was very ordinary.

Colette - what can I say, how many of my favourite books, or greats of literature that Keira Knightley can ruin. I am so not a fan of hers. However, Colette wasn't too bad. She was still mildly annoying, but the film itself was great. I do love a period drama that works well. 

The Upside -  the US remake of The Intouchables. About  an African American (Kevin Hart) who swindles his way in to look after a very rich quadriplegic (Bryan Cranston). The French original was a black comedy with a whole lot of heart. This tried but was not. The sickly American ending irritated me too!  It was watchable I guess, but if you have seen the original, don’t even bother, I wish I hadn’t!

The Front Runner – captivating political thriller based on the real life events surrounding Gary Hart. Hugh Jackman is great as Hart, as were the supporting actors working around him and against him .

Withnail and I- rewatched this brilliant classic again, those boys, I love them so. Grant just shines as the most unshiny character lol!!! It never dates and it always amuses.

Dawn French: 30 Million Minutes - 2 hours of stunning life stories and humour from French. It is not all laughs, she opens up her life threadbare and it is brilliant. 

Hang Ups S1 - This is a great little show. Steve Mangan is a web therapist who operates from home. The show is mostly all through screens, whether skyping his family or the web therapy itself. It is funny and silly but worth a watch.

The Good Place S3 – I love this show, it has a lot of heart plus my fave, Ted Danson. He is just brilliant in everything he does! It is a feel good comedy which normally irritates me, but this is done well without being too sugary and focuses this season on what if you got a second chance at life! It plays with these fascinating ideas about life and death, and afterworlds, and paying for what you did in life, are we good or bad people, can we be better or is it just the world we live in! Always makes me smile and think!

Mum S1 and S2 - I stumbled across this earlier in the year by accident and fell in love. It is a simple premise and sweet British comedy, without being too saccharine. It is 6 episodes over a year, with S1 commencing with the funeral of Cathy's husband and the subsequent ones, her getting on with life. Each show is in her house and features her son and his no filter bimbo girlfriend, her brother and his uptight partner, her husband's parents and his friend Michael, who may or may not be in love with her. It is funny in how life is funny, it is also poignant and clever, and actually incredibly subtle. The Fabulous Lesley Manville is Cathy, and she is perfect in her amusement and at times, despair at life. S2 continues with much of the same, although there may be a small excruciating movement between Cathy and Michael....or not... I cannot recommend this highly enough.

What I've Been Listening To

Nali and Friends by Dan Sultan  - a kids album with stories and songs about animals and the land, really good and fun.

Aviary takes by Dan Sultan – Dan is really knocking it out of the park at the moment. His new album is great, he covers his own songs (and some others including a great version of Florence and the Machine’s Dog Days Are Over) in a sort of stripped back version with either guitar or piano. As always, worth a listen.

Elton John - been listening to all the early Elton - the best Elton - on vinyl.

Van Morrison - always Van the Man!!!

Podcasts
WTF with Marc Maron -  loving this so much, Marc interviews all sorts of interesting people and what he doesn't know about pop culture isn't worth knowing!

R U Talkin' REM Re Me -  I am not sold on this podcast, it is meant to be an album by album review of all U2 and then REM albums with Adam Scott (Parks and Recs) and Scott Aukerman who call themself Adam Scott Aukerman. BUt mostly it is almost 2 hours of them riffing, which is ok, but mostly not about U2 or REM and certainly not much about the albums. When they do talk about the actual topic it is great and at times their riffing is interesting, but with so much other amazing content out there, I wish they would edit this much heavier.

Plus the usual suspects, Unspooled, Here's the Thing, Live and Vivid, Chats 10, Looks 3

MAY REVIEWS

What I've Been Reading

Boy Swallows Universe - Possibly the most amazing book I've ever read. Or at least in recent years, based on his extraordinary life, Trent Dalton has written a modern day masterpiece. Eli is a young boy with a lot of challenges. His mother is a drug dealer, he doesn't really know his father, his brother chooses to be mute, their babysitter is a notorious criminal. He wants to be a writer, he wants a better life for his family. This books is about Eli and his family and soooo much more, it is a romance, a thriller, a love letter to the 80s in Brisbane, a love letter to life and making the most of it. It has unexpected twists and turns and left me completely and utterly speechless and in tears at the beauty of what I had taken in. His writing is glorious and you can see clearly everything he describes. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, the first 100 pages or so a a little rough to get into, but hang in there, you will be rewarded so magnificently it is worth it! 

An Island Parish: a summer on Scilly by Nigel Farrell

Nigel reads his story about visiting and living in the isle of Scilly off the Cornish coast. A small village with their quaint ways removed a little from the modern world, this was a lovely and amusing story.

Funny Girl by Nick Hornby – Barbara Parker wants to be like Lucille Ball, so she moves from Blackpool to London and changes her name to Sophie Straw. She lands a job on a 60s sitcom with groundbreaking comedy writers and it becomes a hit. And Sophie is immediately famous and beloved. But then things just do not go according to plan. The book deals with the behind the scenes life of Sophie, her colleagues, and her work. I love Nick Hornby, he is one of my favourite writers, and one of the very few authors who makes me laugh. This did not. I listened to it on talking book, so it possibly was the reader. But for a book called Funny Girl and a book based on comedy writing and television, it amused at times but that was it. Even the story itself was dull in parts. I can see what he was trying to do, but feel he fell short. Maybe I need to read the actual book.

No Country Woman by Zoya Patel

Zoya is an Indian woman whose family migrated to Fiji before she was born. And then to Australia when she was young. She has always been unsure of her heritage and in her 20s decided to look back and find out about it all.

No Country Woman is memoir packed with complex thoughts on race, religion, and feminism. It is an intelligent and fascinating read about growing up looking different but not really feeling that different. Highly recommend.

In Miniature: how small things illuminate the world by Simon Garfield

Interesting little book about items that are small, like furniture in dolls houses, replica cities in miniature, mini Eiffel Tower, flea circuses, model railways etc etc.

It is a quirky and eclectic mix of stories about people who put these things together and a potted history about them.

On Identity by Stan Grant – this is a series of teeny essay style books on various subjects. Stan writes about his family and their background and their identity and the difficulties. He concentrates on the boxes you are asked to tick, and the fact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is always a separate box, and with mixed race, what does he tick? And if he ticks one does it mean he is not the other. A fascinating read that referenced a lot of foreign authors who write about similar things.

Fashion House: illustrated interiors from the icons of style by Megan Hess – Megan delights again with her delightful illustrations, this time in interior design, specifically the interior design behind some of the big names in fashion. It is always lovely to escape into her world.

What I've Been Watching

Game of Thrones – final season -  I want to do a separate full review of this season, possibly the best show I have ever watched, later. 6 episodes, and they were magnificent, the first 5 just built and built and built and had you on the edge of your seat. They were thrilling, exciting, funny, entertaining, and everything I could wish for. The final episode had a lot to live up to, but it fell a little flat compared to the 5 that went prior. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it, but it made sense and went where it was meant to go I think. I am unsure what I would change. No spoilers here though, I’ll save that for the full post. I loved that show so much, I want to watch the final season again back to back, and then I’ll do the entire show!!! And then I’ll read the books, lol!!

Veep – final season – this show!!! It is just brilliant. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is superb, that’s a given, but Tony Hale as her assistant Gary is utterly magnificent. His comic timing is perfect, he is not given enough credit for this. The first episode was full of so many fabulous on-liners, I had to keep pausing and re-watching so as not to miss anything. The entire cast is brilliant and Jonah also in the running for president is the gift that keeps on giving. The final episode was pure genius, satisfying and ultimately bittersweet. No spoilers, but one particular character arc, just killed me! Think I’d like to go back and watch this all again! 

Killing Eve S2 - S2 is great and builds beautifully towards a shocking end. With Villenelle firmly in their sights, S2 lacked the thrill of the cat and mouse chase that was S1. Also Phoebe Waller-Bridge was no longer writing for the show, and there is something lacking in S2 and I think that is what it is. Having said that, it is still easily one of the best shows on tele, firmly feminist and exquisitely presented. The two female leads are just stunning! Cannot wait for S3. 

  

Better Things S3 – This is such a great show, totally underrated. Pamela Adlon is everything in this. About a single Mum, Sam Fox, an actress, raising her 3 girls with an interesting cast of friends and family. Not a great deal actually happens, but everything happens…this is about life and it’s finer detail. It is a comedy, but also dramatic. The kids are also brilliant. Max, the eldest moves out for college, Frankie continues to be interesting and challenging (the actress that plays her is excellent) and young Duke continues to see things that others do not. This season also introduces Matthew Broderick (swoon) as Sam’s therapist.

Barry S2 – this started off a little slow but built beautifully as the season proceeds. It is so very funny, sometimes in the normal way and often in a black way. We are talking about murder here. Bill Hader is fabulous as the assassin for hire who wants to give it all up to be an actor. The supporting cast are great, but Henry Winkler shines, as Barry's acting coach who unaware is caught up in the other side of Barry.

What We Do in the Shadows – I love this show so very much, probably the funniest show on tele at the moment. Based on the film of the same name, we follow three vampires sharing a house on Staten Island, filmed similarly like a documentary with nods to the camera etc. They are all hilarious, with the brilliant Matt Berry as Laszlo a vampire who likes to shape hedges as his favourite vulvas. Also sharing the house – itself a character on the series, it is amazing – is Colin, who is an emotional vampire, that is he bores everyone to death with his inane chatter. I love this so very much, we all know a Colin! The special effects are sophisticated and also funny. Additional characters, mostly other vampires and sometimes werewolves, come and go. One particular episode see our trio up against the vampire tribunal for a crime they cannot remember if they committed or not. And the tribunal are all actors who have played vampires in other movies or tv, Tilda Swinton, Danny Trejo, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Reubens, Wesley Snipes, and other vampires from the original What We Do in the Shadows movie. I cannot begin to say how funny this is, with loads of vampire in-jokes and references to all the movies etc and other ‘vampires’ who are unable to attend the tribunal! This is so great, don’t miss it!

  

The Clinton Affair – 6 part documentary series going through the ‘scandal’ 20 years later. It interviews most of the players, Clintons excepted of course, and is fascinating to hear their takes on it now. I have conflicted feelings about the whole thing. I do think Lewinsky was hard done by and taken advantage of, but she was also an adult who knew what she was doing, but then he did too. Either way, it would be interesting to see it played out today, but then again, look at what Trump gets away with, far worse than Clinton ever did. Anyway, it was a great series, worth checking out. My favourite bits were rewatching Clinton being asked all those questions and blatantly lying, his facial and body language is so telling. It’s not really funny, but it amused!

Anh Do’s Brush With Fame – this show is so very good, every guest enlightening and magnificent. I was really enthralled by the Lindy Chamberlain one and loved the brilliant Leah Purcell one. Anh is a National Treasure, his art sublime, his heart and soul beautiful. I cannot get enough of this!

You Can’t Say That – Aunty is shining with her documentaries at the moment. This is another must-see one, a simple premise, people talking to someone off screen and answering questions off cards. The kind of questions you should ask alcoholics, Circus performers, Deaf people, disaster survivors and so forth. You learn so much from these remarkable everyday people. Everyone should watch this!

Mary Poppins Returns – what a lovely film, it brought back beautiful memories from childhood watching the original and singing the songs with my grandmother. Emily Blunt was everything as Mary Poppins. Every actor was note perfect, the design, the colour, the music, the animation. It had me in tears of joy. This is a delight for everyone, young and old. I really loved it.

Spiderman: into the Spider-verse – Oscar winning animation and it is great. In this film anyone could be Spiderman, Spiderman himself is having issues and as always there are villains to fight. Very funny and clever and well animated.

What I've Been Listening To

Patty Griffin – Self Titled -  Lovely country style folk, with exceptional guitar within.

In the end  - The Cranberries – this is their final album and a really bittersweet one. Delores’ voice never sounded better. Her voice was always that of an angel, but this album really showcases it. It was really difficult to listen to without tears in my eyes. But don’t let that put you off, this is a great album!!!!

Nigeria 70 – the definitive story of 1970’s funky lagos. Pretty cool laid back double album of funky music from the 70s era in Lagos, Nigeria. I really enjoyed this upbeat and cool record.

REM - I've been listening to a lot of REM lately, no real reason, just because I love them.

Van Morrison - Always lovely listening and good background music!

Podcasts 

wtf With Marc Maron - this is my new favourite podcast, Marc has an unique voice and is a pop culture guru, he interviews everyone frmo Paul McCartney and John Cleese to Amy and David Sedaris. He's hilarious and neurotic and fascinating. 

Unspooled - Amy and Paul continue to work their way through the Top 100 films from the American Film Institute. I really love this podcast, it makes me look at old favourites in a fresh way.

Clear and Vivid with Alan Alda - This is a great podcast about clear and concise communication, specifically in Science, but really in all forms of interest. Alda has such a dynamic mind and his guests range from the famous to the experts.

Chats 10 looks 3 - Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales continue to delight with their mis-mash of politics, books, movies, television, and pop culture.

Here's the thing -  Alec Baldwin interviews interesting people, New Yorkers, actors, musicians, politicians, activists. This was my first podcast, and it still delights!