On Being Fabulous Two nights ago I attended Madison Moore’s performative presentation at the National Art Gallery, Melbourne. Madison began his lecture dressed casually in gym gear but while talking about his influences growing up and how it felt to be marginalised, he slowly began a transformation. Madison began by cutting and … [Read more…]
Devilish Desires I’ve just reread Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and it has dazzled me yet again. My favourite line is, ‘The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.’ The characters throw themselves around dramatically and they rarely ever sit quietly. They fling themselves … [Read more…]
We all dress for Bill I never met the New York Times photographer William J. Cunningham but he was definitely one of my most favourite people. Wearing his trademark blue French workman’s jacket, Bill Cunningham peddled around New York on his bicycle, taking photographs of street fashion for his On the Street column. Bill’s … [Read more…]
Fishy Tales Your average goldfish has been known to live up to 40 years or older – if they’re lucky. Unfortunately domestic tanks are not conducive to longevity in goldfish. And then of course there’s all manner of predators both domestic and feral. It was reported recently that a British woman, Tanya, had … [Read more…]
There’s Something About Henry King Henry the Eighth has been receiving bad press for centuries and Shakespeare, along with later writers and playwrights, got in on the act. Henry’s life fascinated everybody. He married six wives and distinguished himself by divorcing/annulling two wives and cruelly executing another two. His first wife died … [Read more…]
I Want That Cake ‘Let there be no shame on me tonight!’ Prince Wenzel von Metternich, 1832. The narrator of my novel, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, was named in honour of a very famous cake. Sasha Torte is a world-class Tasmanian pastry chef and she establishes her magnificent cake emporium in … [Read more…]
Screaming Quietly The place is very well and quiet and the children only scream in a low voice. Lord Byron 1813 The poet Lord George Byron was a rake and a hellraiser who also happened to enjoy his own company and the solace of silence. Apparently he wrote much … [Read more…]
More champagne please When I was a child, my mother used to play vintage movie songs and the lyrics to Gigi were: The night they invented champagne It’s plain as it can be They thought of you and me The night they invented champagne They absolutely knew That all we’d want to do is … [Read more…]
We Are Amused What is it that strikes a spark of humor from a man? It is the effort to throw off, to fight back the burden of grief that is laid on each one of us. … [Read more…]
Mirka Mora 1928-2018 ‘Every time you show your work, you really show your soul.’ Mirka I never met Mirka Mora, but she became one of my most favourite people. I only know Mirka through her paintings and her wonderful autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous; My Life. Whenever I stop to look at Mirka’s murals – they … [Read more…]
Home Sweet Home One of the questions I’ve often been asked is – how autobiographical is The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte? Given that Sasha Torte is sabotaged by abusive and neglectful parenting, escalating depression and a later addiction to opium, laudanum, champagne, piratical men and hard liquor, the question becomes loaded and … [Read more…]
If you’ve ever been stung by a bee you probably got the impression that bees are quite hardy creatures. I accidentally trod on an unsuspecting bee, in bare feet, when I was a kid and his sting was excruciatingly painful. The adults in charge couldn’t seem to decide how best to handle the situation. … [Read more…]
Eloise and I go way back. At about seven I discovered six-year-old Eloise. She was parent-free, running amuck in the Plaza New York and Paris, with her nanny, a pug and a turtle. I didn’t find it strange that Eloise exercised with champagne bottles, as my sister and I had hidden a bottle … [Read more…]
It’s great. Having an autumn lie-in. As the host. Haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) Today is the last day of our autumn and tomorrow winter comes to town. It’s been a superb autumn; because it’s been so dry, the leaf colours have been exceptional. There’s been whole carpets of gold and red leaves … [Read more…]
I often sneak back to the old neighbourhood to meet friends. It’s become increasingly gentrified; old houses have been tizzied up and sold for exceedingly high prices. Subsequently many of the artists, writers, junkies, musicians, booze hounds, photographers, dressmakers, poets and reprobates, I once knew have moved on. Some wisely moved up the coast … [Read more…]
I was born in London but raised in Australia by English parents. The second house we lived in was referred to by my mother’s friends as ‘ Little England ’ , while some local kids rudely called it ‘ The Addam’s Family House ’. I thought the insult gave our place cachet, as … [Read more…]
‘Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.’ Dr Sigmund Freud 1856 -1939. In my novel The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, Sasha is introduced to the famous Austrian neurologist Dr Sigmund Freud, at The Sperl Café in Vienna. Sasha Torte – world famous Tasmanian pastry chef – is … [Read more…]
When I was a child I couldn’t understand why a large part of the world lacked essential food and clean water – and were frequently starving – while the rest of the world were either dieting like fiends or noshing on exotic food stuffs in fancy expensive restaurants. Not much has changed. I find … [Read more…]
I no longer own a television. I only ever used my TV to watch DVD movies and most of the time I preferred watching movies at the cinema. I love the occasion of going out to the cinema with friends and being part of an audience. I sold my television some time back when … [Read more…]
CLEOPATRA Cleopatra V11 – born around 69 BC – was an object of fascination and gossip even in her own time. She was a child goddess who was married off to her brother and became Egypt’s queen at eighteen. After many poisonings, killings, plot twists and turns, Cleopatra went on to control most of the … [Read more…]
There is a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo perched on the American throne. Nobody – not even the CIA or the FBI – is entirely sure how he got there, but nonetheless there he roosts. Meantime it seems that the entire world has become fixated on the Commander in Chief’s goddamn hair and trying to work out … [Read more…]
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was a gambler all his life, despite having numerous other careers including that of: a soldier, a spy, a preacher, a professional writer, a violinist, a silk manufacturer, a lottery director and an alchemist. Frequently he was so broke that he had to gamble and he was very good at it. … [Read more…]
I made a discovery the other day – new born babies don’t enjoy going to the movies. I’d dropped by my local cinema to catch Kenneth Branagh’s, Murder on the Orient Express and didn’t realize that I was attending a ‘Babes in Arms’ movie session. It finally dawned on me – when I stumbled … [Read more…]
When Vincent van Gogh committed suicide in July 1890, aged 37, he’d only been painting for about a decade. He was immensely productive, despite suffering acute nervous attacks and paralysing depression. Vincent willingly spent money on art materials but he ate poorly and had lost most of his teeth by the time he was … [Read more…]
I went to a girl’s high school in Melbourne and was lucky to have a wonderful literature teacher in my final year. She was an intellectual who really knew how to lever Shakespeare off the page and into our devilish imaginations. I well remember the night the whole Literature class went into the city to … [Read more…]