The Perils of Romance Some time ago I went to hear Alain de Botton – philosopher and author speaking about modern relationships and love in Melbourne’s gloomy town hall. I’m not sure our drafty town hall is conducive to love. The couple in front of us were engaging in covert hostilities. De Botton is … [Read more…]
The Queen of Crime ‘Poetry is not the most important thing in life … I’d much rather lie in a hot bath reading Agatha Christie and sucking sweets.’ Welsh poet Dylan Thomas author of Under Milk Wood (1954). It was described by Thomas as ‘prose with blood pressure’. Agatha Christie was a prolific … [Read more…]
Spring is sprung Spring is sprung, the grass is riz I wonder where the birdies is. They say the birdies on the wing, but that’s absurd. I always thought the wing was on the bird. attributed to Anonymous/Ogden Nash/ obscure 19th Century poets. This year Spring on the island has been preceded … [Read more…]
Do soulmates even exist? ‘Love activates the same brain areas as cocaine … being intensely in romantic love takes so much attention, it can be hard to keep your life going, let alone have other relationships.’ Professor Arthur Aron Many folk secretly hope that hiding in the wings is … [Read more…]
Detouring with Tim Rogers ‘When I decided to embark on writing, I got my seersucker suit dry-cleaned and bought a case of gin. And I thought, ‘OK – I’ve been given a job. But my first question is: what do I wear?’ I was a Tennessee Williams wannabe – crate of gin … [Read more…]
My old neighbourhood It’s always great sneaking back to my old neighbourhood. Fitzroy has become increasingly gentrified – old houses have been tizzied up and sold for exceedingly high prices. Subsequently most of the artists, writers, junkies, musicians, booze hounds, poets and reprobates I once knew have moved on. Some of them moved to … [Read more…]
All the world’s a stage ‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing.’ Will Shakespeare ‘Macbeth’ A connection exists between … [Read more…]
Poor Things ‘She (Bella Baxter) thinks that all aspects of life are fascinating because she is in love with being alive. I find that very inspiring. I wish I could live like that more often. Whether she is going through an incredible experience or a really difficult one, she gives an equal weight to … [Read more…]
Iris Apfel ‘I’m not pretty and I’ll never be pretty, but it doesn’t matter. I have something much better, I have style.’ Iris Apfel 1921-1924 Iris Apfel, interior designer, model and fashionista has died at the age of 102. Her life was lived magnificently. Iris and her husband Carl Apfel owned … [Read more…]
Summertime ‘Summertime, and the livin’ is easy Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high Oh, your daddy’s rich and your ma is good-lookin’ So hush little baby, don’t you cry …’ George Gershwin’s lyrics to Summertime My earliest recollection of summertime as a kid was during a long trip to … [Read more…]
The Swift Effect I remember people asking me – ‘What are you gonna write about if you ever get happy?’ Taylor Swift in an Elle magazine article 2019. The Taylor Swift juggernaut has left Melbourne and is about to be unleashed on Sydney. Swift will hold four stadium concerts in Sydney … [Read more…]
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend ‘This period showed us that it is not clear whether we will live tomorrow or not, so if you have a chance and some money saved, then spend it according to your wishes, hence the luxury boom.’ Alex Alamsyah Head of Knight Frank (Australia) retail … [Read more…]
Napoleon Bonaparte ‘I have not spent a day without loving you; I have not spent a night without clasping you in my arms; I have not drunk a cup of tea without cursing the glory and ambition which keep me from the heart of my very being. In the midst of my … [Read more…]
The Perils of Wetsuits James Bond often slipped into a black rubber wetsuit. Sean Connery as 007 is very partial to them. Preferably accessorized with a gun or a vicious underwater harpoon. My favourite Connery 007 scene is in Goldfinger, where he swims underwater to an island. He stealthily emerges at … [Read more…]
There Goes the Neighbourhood A small furtive movement attracted my eye. I dropped the hose and reared backwards. It looked like a coiled snake. From a safe distance I gaped at the reptile. Two well-nourished lizards eyeballed me. They were luxuriating in my garden bed and had no fear of me. Indeed, they were … [Read more…]
Halloween Halloween is big business and the festivities – which used to begin on Black Friday have morphed into a lengthy festival beginning well before October 31. It’s quite lucrative for those producing plastic pumpkins, synthetic spider webs and all manner of ‘spooky’ Halloween goods. It’s been estimated at least five million Australians … [Read more…]
Partying Possums ‘Nighty night, Sleep tight, Don’t let the bedbugs bite.’ Children’s rhyme from Emma Mersereau Newton’s novel Bascobel (1881). I’ve become somewhat obsessed with sleep – mainly because I’m not getting enough of it. In the past, the act of sleeping was something aggressive CEO’s and macho politicians derided in interviews. … [Read more…]
Are we amused? ‘I guess when I think about it, one of the things I like to dramatize, and what is sometimes funny, is someone coming unglued. I don’t consider myself someone who is making the argument that I support these choices. I just think it can be funny Wes Anderson … [Read more…]
ASTEROID CITY There’s comedy and tragedy in real life. And there’s a need to not play comedy overtly in comedy, unless you’re doing something that’s very superficially funny … but the key is to be well in on that joke and play it very straight … That’s what kills, right?” Adrien Brody who plays … [Read more…]
Do Ghosts Exist? I was very much of a fan of the idea that ghosts were real because that suggested there was hope … I think there is a very good reason we haven’t put ghosts on the same pile of redundant superstitions as unicorns and elves … They are the buffer … [Read more…]
Indiana Jones Rides Again A bad guy in a movie has a lot of latitude for acting. He can walk up the wall, crawl across the ceiling, go piss in the corner and everybody will say, “Fantastic!” But somebody’s going to have to catch that sucker. Somebody’s going to have to play the guy … [Read more…]
The Frida Khalo Effect Frida Kahlo – named Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón – took up painting in 1925 after a near fatal bus accident. She was only 17 when an electric streetcar, also known as a trolley, rammed the bus she was travelling in. Khalo was left with severe damage … [Read more…]
Caught in the Act The great thing about Courtney Act is that she’s not a “dumb blonde”, even if she chooses to act like it sometimes. Beneath Courtney’s wig, Jenek’s brain is working, taking an almost scholarly approach to issues of gender, sexuality, and society that would make him the talk of Britain and … [Read more…]
The Cake and I Once upon a time – before the outsourcing of dogs and children’s parties – mothers and caregivers made birthday cakes themselves. But sometimes a shop bought ice-cream cake was required. Usually for girls this involved a legless doll about the size of a Barbie doll, embedded in a sturdy … [Read more…]
The Perils of Pickup Trucks Somewhere tucked away in my family tree is a property developer. I’ll call him Geoff. He appeared for a few months and then disappeared. However for many years he continued to visit my mother, bearing huge boxes of chocolates and seasonal fresh flowers. Geoff invited me to lunch … [Read more…]