The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,400 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 40 trips to carry that many people.
What is it about Gwyneth Paltrow that sets everyone’s teeth on edge? She was perfectly lovely in Sliding Doors and I have to admit she’s been a pretty hot Pepper Potts in the Ironman movies.
I think what annoys everyone is her ridiculous sense of importance and that she feels entitled to advise us ordinary folks – you know – the masses – on how to live Gwynnies life. Having checked out her website goop.com I was amazed to discover I have apparently been living my life completely wrong… Gwyneth offers advice on what to eat, what to read, what to wear and how to decorate the house! Gwyneth offers psychological insights regarding her spirituality but, artfully placed amongst all these higher meaning of life sermons, are ads for clothing, furniture and jewellery that only someone on a particular level of wealth could afford.. Look at me she’s saying – I am earth mother but at the same time recommending cheeky little designer shorts at US$350.00 a pop that are so much fun – you could pair them with your US$3,500.00 bangles…
I think I started actively disliking her about the time when she won the Oscar for Shakespeare in Love depriving the worthier winner (in my opinion) Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth. It was embarrassment all the way for the Academy that year. Here was a frothy, light little movie with a frothy, light little actress appearing in it. That she won the Oscar was staggering. Her ridiculous ill-fitting dress and her ridiculous teary speech was cringe-worthy and I just thought to myself at the time – what a tosser…
Obviously I wasn’t alone in my assessment and over the years the media has turned on her big time. All sorts of bizarre stories have done the rounds from her ordering staff to go a round trip of three hours to get her a particular sandwich, to spraying colloidal silver (?) to keep germs at bay in her first class plane seat… Calling her children peculiar names didn’t help her cause either.
At first glance Gwyneth is an attractive woman in a rather bland way – wholesome looking and pleasant to look at. But there is this underlying haughtiness that she cannot seem to shake off that makes her every utterance an annoyance. Eyes rolled worldwide when she started issuing such gems as:
“I would rather die than allow my child to eat Cup-a-Soup”
“When I pass a flowering zucchini plant in a garden, my heart skips a beat”
“We’ve got a wood-burning pizza oven in the garden — a luxury, I know, but it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made.” (doesn’t everyone have one of these?).
“Sometimes Harvey Weinstein will let me use the Miramax jet if I’m opening a supermarket for him.”
“Beauty fades! I just turned 29, so I probably don’t have that many good years left in me.”
“When you go to Paris and your concierge sends you to some restaurant because they get a kickback, it’s like, ‘No. Where should I really be? Where is the great bar with organic wine? Where do I get a bikini wax in Paris?”
This air of superiority comes out in everything she is involved with. I read today that she describes herself as an actor, cookbook author and lifestyle guru! WTF?
I investigated this out of curiosity and found that the list of ingredients to live “her lifestyle” would cost up to $200.00 to purchase – per day! Considering all the quinoa and natural honey you have to source should preferably be only minutes old and bathed in duck tears, at the very least I imagine you would also require your own chef or minion to do the shopping …
It was a clever career move to team her with Robert Downey Jnr. in the Ironman series as he brings out a more sparkly, likeable Gwyneth. They appear to have a great rapport in the films and he seems to envelop her in a warmth she appears to lack. Plus RDJ is just so likeable that I was actually starting to not mind her because she was sharing the screen with him…
Of course now she has blown all this good will to the scheissenhausen by releasing another ridiculous statement about “consciously uncoupling” from Chris Martin of Coldplay, her husband of 10 years. This precious declaration continues on:
“blaming human beings’ lack of a protective exoskeleton and the lengthening of our lifespan since the upper Palaeolithic period to explain why relationship separations happen and why they are painful, defined ”conscious uncoupling” as a kinder, more generous approach to divorce. Rather than be angry with one another, couples should focus on learning from the negativity, bringing ”wholeness to the spirits of both people”
Obviously I’ve copied this from a press release – I mean who could actually remember all this shit?
The social media world has predictably gone into meltdown over all the psychobabble and the popularity police have again given her the big thumbs down…. Once again Gwyneth just can’t get it right. Once again she is the object of derision even during what must be a very painful time for her and her family… I just want to say to her – do yourself and us a favour and just give it a rest…
Funnily enough Chris Martin comes out of this fairly unscathed. Apart from being called a “wanker” by Bono (Bono, mind you – people in glass houses mate…!) the general consensus seems to be he was sick of her lifestyle and embarrassed by her pretentiousness.
He and the kids probably just wanted a bag of chips and a sausage in front of the telly occasionally…
My husband and I are animal nuts. We’ve got possums in our back yard. And birds. And we have eight cats.
Obviously these statements point to events unfolding with tedious inevitability… Not necessarily so but boy, we are exhausted trying to make sure nothing happens to the little families that seek shelter in our yard…
Over the last 15 years we have had a steady stream of possums of both persuasions – the darling little Ringtails and their fragile babies to the enormous Brushtails with their hefty joeys on board.
The joy these visitors bring is indescribable. Getting to see nature up close and personal is a privilege for us and having these beautiful creatures right on our window sill where they are safe and protected is a gift.
Early on it was Ringtail Possums. We installed a possum box in one of our trees and a little family happily lived there for a year until they were unceremoniously kicked out by a thuggish gang of Indian Minah birds. Many months later it became clear it had been abandoned by the birds. Sadly, on investigation, we found a dead bird had been left there to decay so we pulled the whole thing down.
In the meantime we started to accumulate our feline family and they were only allowed out into the back garden if we were with them to ensure no carnage was about to be visited upon any of the local wildlife. Water pistol trained from the start, they don’t jump on fences or climb up trees. Generally they just happily sniff around and find a sunny spot to lie in until the sun goes down. A bit of fun with some bugs or a daring moth or two keeps them entertained after dark until they grow bored and go back inside the house.
Felix, to his horror, managed to get his arms around a huge Magpie one day but, due to inexperience and fright, he let go and the Magpie flew off to our great relief. Another of our boys, Tonto, sprung up in a move worthy of The Matrix and brought down just a few feathers from a very lucky Spotted Dove.
Our yard attracts loads of these rather silly birds who tend to congregate on the fence peering down with mildly stupid interest at the eight furry faces looking back up at them. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve had to jump up and shoo them away before the self-control shown by our cats is snapped…
We also have a family of Blackbirds who have successfully raised many chicks in and around our yard over the years. Before anyone goes out into the yard during the hatching season, we check for nests and baby birds before the boys are let loose.
A few years ago, a Ringtail possum took a fancy to our upstairs spare-room window sill. It’s a perfect spot, there is an outside canvas awning permanently pulled down so a nest can be built behind it without the fear of said nest toppling off the edge. Also the only route there is by treetop and a last shimmy down the cord that’s used to pull the blind up and down. Thus began a family dynasty. Each year a possum moves in and raises it’s young and then moves on. We have the pleasure of their company throughout the summer months.
At the same time each night they come make their way stealthily through the trees and head for their little home on our window sill. If we happen to be sitting outside enjoying a summer BBQ our eight pussy cats are generally out there with us. This is cause for much unease as the boys know the possums are there before we do and before long, one by one, eight sets of baleful eyes have cottoned on to something moving above their heads.
We’ve only ever had two incidents involving the cats and luckily both times they had a happy ending. One possum came very low once trying to take a shortcut and was clearly visible to all of us including our stunned cats. Without thinking, Harry launched himself up the nearest tree only to find himself sheepishly looking back down at us all below as the possum melted away into the foliage. Amid our shouts of “GET DOWN OUT OF THERE!” he shimmied back down the tree and, as though thoroughly embarrassed by his lack of control, sloped off back into the house.
The closest call was last year when a little joey who had been left safely in the nest decided to be fearless and try out his climbing skills while mum was away collecting food. We could see him from where we were sitting and ended up standing under the window sill in catch mode in case he fell. We started to round up the cats, who had also noticed the little daredevil, and had managed to herd nearly all of them inside when we heard a soft thump on the stones beneath the silver birch tree that serves as the possum highway. In a split second our Siamese cat Ollie tore past me into the house with something in his mouth! With both of us running after him and screaming hysterically, Ollie luckily dropped his prize and bolted. Under the coffee table lay a tiny baby Ringtail possum very much alive but completely stunned. Holding this magical little creature gently in our cupped hands we checked over every inch to make sure nothing was broken and no blood was visible. Cat saliva is deadly to possums and even a small bite can kill them.
Happily our little friend came out of his stupor and tried to nip Simon on the thumb. This was a good sign so we took him back outside under the window sill and, perched precariously on a chair, Simon managed to reach the cord of the blind and nudged him on to climb back up into his nest. The poor little thing was exhausted and it took him a huge effort but finally he made it and disappeared from our view to safety.
For the next few days we fretted and kept an eye on him and his mum to make sure he was none the worse for his adventure. Luckily the little fellow survived and grew bigger each day…
This year we have played host to an enormous Brushtail who swept in and completely remodelled the existing nest. She renovated it from a very cosy tube made of leaves with a rather fetching asparagus frond as a front door, to a large, spacious day bed. Being so much bigger than the Ringtails, she spends her day lolling about, legs akimbo looking very relaxed and pleased with herself. To our joy she also has a joey in her pouch and she allows him out on hotter days to cool off. We assume it’s a boy for some reason – he looks like a boy and he’s very active crawling all over his mother while she is trying to sleep.
At the time of writing we now have a positive motel happening on the window sill. A little Ringtail has returned and sleeps there on alternate nights. Last week, a new big male Brushtail was in residence for a few days. It’s very exciting to gently open our shutters in the spare room on a daily basis and observe the private lives of our little guests.
All of the photos here were taken by Simon and me. Here’s hoping for many more…
They used to be called “character actors” Those wonderfully interesting men and women who were in countless of your favourite films but who never became huge house-hold names.
My Mum and Dad educated me very early on as to the importance of these actors. They were the backbone of the movies we watched and although they supported the big “stars”, they often stole every scene they were in. We still love to watch old movies and pick out the faces that we know and love.
Here’s a little bit about some of my favourites… How many do you remember?
William Demarest:
William Demarest (1892-1983)
I loved William Demarest. I first saw him the The Jolson Story (1946). I know just about all of his lines and wallow in the pleasure I get from watching him. He always played the curmudgeon with a good heart and was tremendously likable in all his roles. In this film he was Steve Martin, Al Jolson’s mentor and manager who was crucial to the story and a most thoroughly likable man.
I also spotted him recently in a Shirley Temple film Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) in a small but vital role as her stepfather who, although exploiting her terribly, had a heart of gold. These memorable “character” roles that he reprised in over 140 films over a long and successful career made him a very well-known face in film even if you didn’t know his name…
Of course in later years on TV he was Uncle Charley O’Casey in My Three Sons which is probably what he is best remembered for these days…
Una O’Connor
Una O’Connor (1880-1959)
This lovely Irish actress was in over forty major films and is best remembered by me as the deaf housekeeper Janet McKenzie in Witness For the Prosecution (1957). She stole every scene she was in and is still a pleasure to watch. Another memorable role was the lady’s maid Bess in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) where she ferociously protected Olivia de Havillands’ Maid Marion throughout the movie…
Ward Bond
Ward Bond (1903-1960)
Ward Bond was one of my all-time favourites. He made over 200 movies and two dozen of those were with John Wayne. I adored him in Rio Bravo (1959) but it was his turn as Reverend Captain Clayton in The Searchers (1956) that stood out the most. He was a man’s man – big and burly and tough with a glint in his eye and he always stood out in all the films he appeared in. He also appeared memorably in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and even had a role in Gone With The Wind (1939) amongst many other big films of the golden years of film.
In his latter years of course, he starred on TV as Major Seth Adams in Wagon Train (1957-1965) until his death at only 57 in 1960…
Eve Arden
Eve Arden (1908-1990)
I thought Eve Arden was the most striking looking woman and never more so than in Stage Door (1937) with Katharine Hepburn. She wore a white cat draped around her neck for most of her scenes and effortlessly stole every one of them… Eve Arden had a fabulous drawl and was memorable in so many films including Ziegfeld Girl (1941)and even had a tiny cameo alongside Jane Powell in Singing In The Rain (1952
Eve Arden also starred in her own TV show Our Miss Brooks (1952-1956) and in her later years was very much beloved in Grease (1977) and Grease 2 (1982) as Principal McGee!
Elisha Cooke Jnr.
Elisha Cook Jnr. (1903-1995)
I first saw Elisha Cook Jnr. in The Maltese Falcon (1941) which was his most famous role. His character, the pathetic Wilmer, was a key player in the film and was typical of the roles Elisha Cooke Jnr. would go on to play for the rest of his life. He was superb in The Big Sleep (1946) as the doomed Harry Jones and very memorable in Shane as an aggressive ex soldier.
He always played villains and weaklings and had such an expressive face he was noticed in just about everything he acted in… Apparently he was a passionate fisherman in real life and lived in the High Sierra, only coming down to Hollywood to do a movie, then would disappear back up to his cabin until the next summons…
Spring Byington
Spring Byington (1886-1971)
Spring Byington was the ultimate mother figure in nearly every film she made starting with the best mother of all – Marmee March in Little Women (1933). This set the tone for all future performances – a quiet, gentle motherly figure that added a warmth to every movie she appeared in. She was also the mother in You Can’t Take it With You (1938) and went on to play in dozens of films and TV over her long career.
In her later years she appeared as Daisy Cooper, the loving housekeeper in the TV show Laramie (1961-1973) and had small roles in Denis the Menace, the Flying Nun and I Dream of Jeannie in the 1960’s…
Henry Silva
Henry Silva (1928- )
Henry Silva was typecast all his acting life as a heavy or villain because of his intense looks. I found him thrilling to watch and loved him in the original Ocean’s 11 (1960) as one of the casino robbers. He was also a successful gangster in the title role of Johnny Cool (1963).
My all time favourite role though was as the cold-blooded murderer Durrell in The Secret Invasion (1964). The camera lingering on his face when he realised he had accidentally smothered a crying child he was holding while hiding from a German patrol was so moving and powerful – I never forgot that scene…
He has popped up over the years in various movies in cameos and on TV. Still going strong at 85!
Thelma Ritter
Thelma Ritter (1902-1969)
Thelma Ritter was Birdie in All About Eve (1950) and that role defined her for many years as the sarcastic housekeeper, nurse, best friend or aunt for most of her movie career. She was memorable as Clancy in With A Song In My Heart (1952) and as James Stewart’s’ nurse Stella in Rear Window (1954).
She also appeared in films as diverse a Pillow Talk (1959) and The Misfits (1961). I loved her smart aleck persona and always enjoyed watching her on TV in her later career…
Jerome Cowan
Jerome Cowan (1987-1972)
I loved this actor. Jerome Cowan was in over a hundred quality movies in his career but the most famous one was The Maltese Falcon (1941). He played the doomed Miles Archer, business partner of Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade, in the best private eye film ever made. He also starred as the unfortunate district attorney trying to prosecute Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
Jerome Cowan always seemed to played lawyers, detectives and business managers and was often seen to great effect wearing a dinner suit. He was very suave in films like Shall We Dance (1937) with Fred Astaire and Mr. Skeffington (1944) with Bette Davis. Later on in his career he was successful in television in shows like Daniel Boon, The Munsters and The Real McCoys in the 1960’s…
Mary Astor
Mary Astor (1906-1987)
Mary Astor had a long and illustrious career as a supporting player before she became the standard mother figure in many of her later movies. Early on she was the classic femme fatale Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and the selfish concert pianist Sandra Kovak in The Great Lie (1941) with Bette Davis… Her career declined after a scandal in her life and she went on to play parts she detested but lucky for us survive to be enjoyed today…
I love her performance as Anna Smith, the loving, patient mother in Meet me in St Louis (1944). She was so elegant and a joy to watch. She also played the other ultimate mother, Marmee March in the June Allyson version of Little Women (1949) and was wonderful in the role that had previously been owned by Spring Byington…
Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton (1886-1970)
Edward Everett Horton appeared in many of the Fred and Ginger movies in the 30’s. He was always the same character – nervous, pompous and flustered. He was also the “sissy” which was code for a gay man in those days of early film. His films included the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers masterpieces The Gay Divorcee (1934, Top hat (1935) and Shall We Dance (1937)
He appeared in dozens of movies over his long career and I loved to watch him. He was the master of the “double take” and his timing was perfect. His last roles included the befuddled Hekawi medicine man Roaring Chicken in F Troop (1965) and Chief Screaming Chicken in Batman (1966)…
Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm (1917-2012)
Celeste Holm was an elegant addition to so many films over her long career. My absolute favourite is her role as the tranquil natured and very patient Karen in All About Eve (1950). She held her own with the feisty Bette Davis and was one of the few that could draw your eyes away from Bette on film…
She also played opposite Frank Sinatra in High Society (1956) as photographer Liz Imbrie in another role in which she portrayed a sensible, down to earth character. Celeste continued acting until her death at the age of 95 and her most memorable recent role was Mrs. Holden in Three Men and a Baby (1987). She could also be seen on television in show such as Love Boat, Cheers and Magnum P.I…
Mike Mazurki
Mike Mazurki (1907-1990)
At 6 foot 5 inches tall ex professional wrestler Mike Mazurki was cast as the heavy his entire career. His well-known face graced many films the most famous of which was Murder, My Sweet (1944).
He is best known though for his television work in the 60’s which included Daniel Boone, Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Bonanza, Gunsmoke and Perry Mason. He played the lovable goon or hapless gangster in most of those shows.
From 1966-67 he starred as Clon in a TV show about cavemen called It’s About Time which I loved as a child!
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes (1910-1995)
I loved watching Mary Wickes. Her deadpan delivery and long gangly body made her perfect as the comic character in dozens of films over a very long and distinguished career.
I first saw her in Now Voyager (1942) as the nurse who memorably took on Bette Davis’ awful mother. She also appeared in the Doris Day films On Moonlight Bay (1951) and By The Light of The Silvery Moon (1953). Mary was in White Christmas (1954) and always played a variation of the same no-nonsense character. On TV she was often on I Love Lucy in the 50’s and 60’s. She made appearances in M.A.S.H and Murder, She Wrote…
Amongst her last roles were the very funny Sister Mary Lazarus in Sister Act (1992) and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) which endeared her to a whole new generation of fans…
S. Z. (Cuddles) Sakall
S. Z. Sakall (1883-1955)
S.Z. (Cuddles) Sakall was a lovely actor who throughout his career became typecast as the standard lovable European uncle or the confused shopkeeper or bar tender with an eye for the ladies…
His most famous role was as Carl the barman in Casablanca (1942) with Humphrey Bogart. He then went to have a long career basically playing the same befuddled character as he did in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and The Dolly Sisters (1945)
Cuddles was also in a lovely Judy Garland/Van Johnston movie called In The Good Old Summertime (1949) which was a musical remake of The Shop Around The Corner (1940).
Gladys Cooper
Gladys Cooper (188-1971)
Who can forget Gladys Cooper as Bette Davis’ manipulative mother Mrs. Henry Vale in Now Voyager (1942). She was pure evil and stood out in a fabulous film as the great character actress she truly was…
She also played nice outgoing people as well – Beatrice Lacy in Rebecca (1940) and the delightfully dotty Mrs Higgins in My Fair Lady (1964) where she was Henry Higgins mother…
She was back to menacing in The Secret Garden (1949) as Mrs Medlock. I still try to catch any film that has Gladys Cooper in it – you’re never quite sure which one you will get – the good or the bad…
Franklin Pangborn
Franklin Pangborn (1889-1958)
Franklin Pangborn specialised in playing the prissy, fussy, officious figure in hundreds of films. He was so enjoyable to watch and usually played the desk clerk in the hotel in movies starring everyone from W.C. Fields to Fred Astaire to Bette Davis… He was also considered a gay icon in his day and occasionally could be seen swapping what was considered some fairly risqué banter at the time… Some of his memorable roles were in Flying Down To Trio (1933), Shop Around The Corner (1938) and Now Voyager (1942). I always enjoy a movie all the more if Mr. Pangborn is in it!
There are so many more people I could add to this list but where do I stop!
I hope you enjoyed my reminiscences about my favourite character actors – their flickering images bring them back to life so we can enjoy them over and over again for generations to come…
Over the years I have seen loads of bands both local and international. This is a list, in no particular order, of some of those artists… it’s as much for my benefit – sometimes I can’t remember who we’ve seen live over the years….
When I look back I’m not really surprised at the diversity – I love all types of music – I guess you can see that for yourselves!
The venues range from the Dallas Brooks Hall to the Rod Laver Arena….
From Festival Hall to the Iceland Skating Rink!
From Southside 6 Hotel to The Palais in St. Kilda….
From the Glasshouse to the National Theatre…
From the Melbourne Zoo Twilights to The Thornbury Theatre
The newer venues that have sprung up include The Fling Saucer Club at Caulfield RSL. The Memo Music Hal at St. Kilda RSL. The Caravan Club at Oakleigh RSL and the Satelitte at the Wheelers Hill Hotel…
And so on…
Many venues were wonderful – some not so wonderful… At any rate I don’t think there were many concerts I didn’t enjoy….
And I’ve got so many more to see!
Even as a small child music has affected me very deeply. I can close my eyes and be taken back to a particular time in my life just by hearing a snippet of a song from the year…
Hank Williams really was the voice of the 50’s in our family. I think I was probably rocked to sleep by Hank’s voice as a baby. The Grand-daddy of them all – simply the best country singer and writer of his time. I always get goose-bumps when I hear “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. I also seem to know every word of every song he ever sang – it must be embedded in my psyche…
I think my earliest memories were from the early 60’s – if I hear “Telstar” by The Tornados I am transported back to a particular house we lived in when we emigrated from Scotland. It was above a shop and I had my 6th birthday there…
Another one from that time was Andy Williams “Can’t Get Used To Losing You” and Ned Miller’s “From A Jack To A King” The radio must have been on all day as I can’t seem to recall there not being music playing all the time.
I was exposed at a very young age to Country and Western Music which both my parents adored. “Five Feet High and Rising” by Johnny Cash is an early memory. Johnny Cash was the biggest star at that time and we had recordings of him and June Carter singing with the Carter Family. I still remember them to this day and have loads of Johnny on my iPOD!
Of course in 1964 The Beatles exploded on to the scene…! I still have every single Beatles song ever recorded – they changed the world for me. I learnt to harmonise by singing along with all their songs and in particular singing Paul McCartney’s part… The Beatles harmonies are spectacular – to this day I can’t help but automatically sing the thirds harmony when a song comes on…
The Beatles – the best
“I Saw Here Standing There” and “I Should Have Known Better” are the two tracks that conjure up visions of the ’60’s for me in the most powerful way… I can close my eyes and remember vividly the sights and smells of the time…
Then came The Monkees… Rushing home from school every night to watch their show on television. “Daydream Believer” and “Last Train To Clarksville” are the songs that trigger that time in my life..
The Monkees
We went psychedelic! The Youngbloods “Get Together” and “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. They represent the late ’60’s for me and the turmoil in the world at that time… Then came Woodstock in 1969 – I saw it as a young teenager at the movies and have never forgotten the thrill of all the best artists of the era performing at the one place… I can still listen to Joe Cocker singing “With A Little Help From My Friends” and get a shiver down my spine…
And let’s not forget Jimi Hendrix – the man who changed rock guitar singlehandedly – he is still voted one of the best guitarists in the world 43 years after his death…
Woodstock – a new era…
Thinking about the 70’s… So many songs stand out for me in that decade. At High School listening to “Day After Day” by Badfinger and “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison. “Band of Gold” by Freda Payne and “Without You” by Harry Nilsson.
Then of course there was The Moody Blues – my whole life from the mid 70’s onward included a background track of Moody Blues songs… Those early albums are still wonderful and I still hark back to my hippy days in Queensland when I hear “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Lovely To See You”
The Moody Blues
Pink Floyd also got a run in there with “The Dark Side Of The Moon” – the entire album of course, and “Wish You Were Here” – these albums were on full rotation any time of the day or night and they still resonate as strongly today… The lilting acoustic guitar on the track “Wish You Were Here” is still one of my favourite progressions…
Which one’s Pink?
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album also takes me magically back to a time spent in Mackay when I was 21 years old – the song “Dreams” is the one that always does it for me…
Thunder only happens when it’s raining…..
Then came Supertramp, Boston, Electric Light Orchestra, Doobie Brothers – big powerful soaring ballads – every time I hear “Mr. Blue Sky” by ELO I am intantly transported back to the late 70’s when I met my future husband. This was on high rotation in his car on an 8-track cartridge player… Cool!
Ah – the 80’s – time of massive shoulder pads and big hair – and that was on the women!
New Romantic bands emerged like Flock of Seagulls, Spandau Ballet, Ultravox and Duran Duran. But for me the best new sound was The Cure – “A Forest” and “Boys Don’t Cry” Also “Lovecats” and “Charlotte Sometimes”
Robert Smith from The Cure
Oh – and of course there was Dire Straights – “Walking In The Wild West End” and Wang Chung – “Dance Hall Days” – the list goes on… I only have to hear a handful of these songs and I’m back in Echo Beach – Far away in time….
Mark Knopfler from Dire Straights
Simply Red’s “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” was the constant background song for our 1989 trip to Europe – every juke box seemed to be playing it… That and “Bamboleo” by the Gipsy Kings – this was our soundtrack around Europe…
Hmmm – now it starts to get a bit trickier – the musical saturation that came from the radio on all day was subtly altered… I can’t put my finger on when it happened but I woke up one morning to find I didn’t know a lot of the songs being played and I didn’t particularly like what I was hearing…
There were exceptions of course – Prince, U2, Crowded House, Coldplay – there were fantastic albums usually with a hot single – “Rasberry Beret” from Prince, “Yellow” from Coldpay etc…
David Gray struck in the mid 90’s with White Ladder – I still get a kick out of remembering the first day I heard “Babylon” on the radio in the car…
“I’ve been talking drunken gibberish”…
The 90’s were also the sound of Whitney Houston – who can forget “I Will Always Love You”. The band Travis were another standout for me – “Why Does It Always Rain On Me” .
Radiohead’s “Creep” and Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s “Scar Tissue” – these were interesting bands and a refreshing change from the dross we were now subjected to on commercial radio… The one for me though that shouts 1990’s is “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve
The Verve
So that’s as far as I can go for now – I think I’ll leave it there – there’s so much more music to talk about of course but that feeling of hurtling back though time and space to a particular year seems to have levelled off these days… May be in the next few years I’ll have some more lightning bolts to add… In fact I’m sure I will…
The days of the “album” are really over now unless you are a fanatic. It’s so easy to download tracks individually though iTunes or the many peer-to-peer sites. Years ago you actually went to a shop that just sold records and tapes and bought a physical piece of vinyl. It was a gamble as you weren’t quite sure what you were in for. Usually you were buying the album on the strength of the hit track released for radio. Bands generally recorded one or two fantastic songs and filled the rest up with dross. This was always a disappointment and until the CD came along, the cause of many damaged vinyl records as you were always trying to put the needle on the correct track you wanted to listen to and usually missing the spot…
It sounds so archaic when I read this back to myself – it makes me realise how quickly we have gone from vinyl to digital…
When I was young we had a Radiogram which took pride of place in the lounge-room. This exotic piece of furniture was de rigueur in the 60’s & 70’s and I think every household probably had one. There was a turntable which played old 78 records as well as 331/3 – Long Play records and 45’s which were singles. There was also a radio and the speakers ran along the front. It was the equivalent of the old valve radio in the 1930’s.
We used to sit together on a Saturday night and listen to music – taking it in turns to flip the record over. When you had a radiogram though, you could stack up about 6 records and they would automatically drop down when the previous record had come to an end. How sophisticated! Never mind that the dropping of one record on top of another with usually a fine coating of dust on it meant that all your records eventually became scratched. That wasn’t even considered by most people. This was technology at it’s finest in our eyes…
Mum and Dad had a big collection of records ranging from Country to Western with a bit of jazz (Mum) and a bit of opera (surprisingly Dad) thrown in for good measure. We also had inherited a heap of old 78’s which were made of bakelite and could be broken over a knee if found to be scratched or warped. Only people of a certain age will remember the wavy sounds of a warped record…
My contribution was a collection of all the Beatles singles of which I variously begged, cajoled or sulked my way into getting over the years. Singles were a drag as you were up and down every three minutes turning them over or putting on a new one. Hence the handy feature of stacking them up on top of each other as mentioned previously…
When I was 13 years old I was given a portable record player for Christmas so I could play music in my bedroom. Joy of joys – I could walk from room to room and have music whenever and wherever I wanted it! Just by plugging it into the wall! This was seriously groovy and I received my first ever long play album along with the record player. “My Kinda Country” (see earlier note regarding my parents taste in music). This was a compilation which contained, amongst other tunes to thrill a 13-year-old girls heart, “Please Release Me” by Engelbert Humperdinck and “Pub With No Beer” by Slim Dusty! Still it was my album and I could play it incessantly to my heart’s content anywhere and everywhere I chose to go…
This also led to a serious interest in collecting new vinyl. I remember vividly my first album which I bought with saved up pocket-money. Bizarrely it was “Tommy” by The Who. I don’t know why I bought it except I loved it at first listen. I was 13 years old and fairly obsessed with The Monkees but “Tommy” cast a spell over me at that time and created a life long love of Pete, Roger, Keith and John.
These were also the days of shutting yourself and your best friend in your bedroom and, using hair brushes for microphones in front of the mirror, trying to dance and sing at the same time. We rocked! Among the many songs we mastered “Fire” by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown was a memorable favourite. The other quaint trend was to lug a whole pile of your records to a friend’s house and listen to them on their record players. We even had little boxes with plastic sleeves to store all our singles….
Years went by and the family upgraded the radiogram to a stereogram! This meant stereo speakers at the sides and we stopped buying singles and only bought albums. There was always music playing in our house and apart from the usual Country albums on high rotation, my brother and I contributed artists such as James Taylor, Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot and America (me) and Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Suzi Quatro and Slade (him). That old stereogram went for years it seems – I don’t really recall anything else until much later on.
When I turned 21 I was given a 3-in-1 Stereo for my birthday. This was quite a jump in status! A 3-in-1 had a stereo, a radio and a cassette tape all in one unit. I had also collected a lot of music by now. Everything from The Moody Blues to Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen to Ravi Shankar, Neil Young to Joan Armatrading. My musical tastes are quite eclectic and I love a bit of everything. The beauty of the 3-in-1 was you could play a record AND record it on a tape at the same time! How exciting was this! Then you could take your cassette tapes with you and listen to them in the car – if it had a player of course – a lot didn’t… The stereo generally sat on a stand with a space underneath to stack your albums… Boy – growing up in a technological world was brilliant…
When I was 23 I got married and my new husband was what used to be called an “audiophile” He sneered at my lowly 3-in-1 because he only ever bought COMPONENTS! That’s right – you bought each piece separately – tuner, amplifier, turntable, speakers, pre-amp etcetera – oh and you had to spend a small fortune on the head and the needle – I think ours had a moon-rock needle and dodecaphonic speakers (tip of the hat to Steve Martin there…)
The albums he brought into the marriage were pristine and he wouldn’t allow me to touch them. We were listening to bands like Boston, Supertramp, Tim Buckley, Vinegar Joe and Thin Lizzy. Aussie bands were on the rise like Men At Work, Split Enz and Mental As Anything. It was a heady time for new music. Slowly over the years we gathered a very large collection of music and I became as high-tech as my husband was and our favourite set up was our Technics system. We had this system in different configurations for many years and it was our pride and joy…
Then came the early 80’s and I was working for National Panasonic and I remember rushing home from work one day babbling hysterically about this wonderful new thing I had just seen demonstrated. You could frisbee it across the room – you could stand on it! It was little and it had no scratches or hisses, you didn’t have to turn it over – it was sexy – the Compact Disc had arrived! The first one I ever heard was “Oxygen” by Jean Michel Jarre. This was a wonderful introduction to the pristine sounds of a CD and I was entranced.
Of course by this stage we were now “early adopters” – always up for the latest technological thing going so we bought one. Now we had to start replacing all our vinyl records which wasn’t that easy. In the early days of CD only the latest albums were released and it was very hard to get older recordings. Of course over the years this improved until we were able to sell off all our old vinyl records and completely devote ourselves to CD. On CD music was just wonderful – Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, The Verve, Pink Floyd – all played loud and clear – fantastic!
We started off with a single CD unit. Then we graduated to one that rotated three. Ultimately we had one that could store five CDs and play them randomly. This was very high-tech and we loved it. We could sit on the couch with the remote control unit and choose different songs spread over five different albums – how cool was that! And we had CD players in our cars as well… Music wherever we went – it didn’t get much better…
At the same time thoughout all these years portable music had become all the norm – we started off with a portable Cassette player which took a tape. We then graduated to a portable CD player. To walk around with any of these required a bag slung over your shoulder, batteries, actual tapes or CDs depending which one you had, and big headphones. We thought we were so cool… All sitting on the train clutching our portable music machines as well as trying to juggle handbags and brief cases! You could walk around outside or be on public transport and still listen to music or the radio – this was incredibly cool!
I remember having to stay in hospital for a spell and I would have gone mad if my husband hadn’t brought in my little CD player – all the nurses though it was a terrific thing and warned me I had better lock it away in case it got stolen when I wasn’t in the room!
Then one day our niece came to visit and she had this peculiar little device with her! This was my first peep at an iPod. As she let me pop on her headphones and spin round the little wheel at the front my senses went into overdrive! What was this? I had to have one – immediately. Plus it was 40 gigabytes. Oh my goodness – my computer network at work wasn’t even 40gb! I could carry around thousands of songs!. My lovely husband bought me one the following weekend and haven’t ever looked back. We eventually ripped all of our CD’s onto iTunes over time. I still have my old white iPod and I store classical music on it.
So this brings us up to the present. Between us we now have iPhones, iPads, an iPod Classic, a Nano and a Shuffle. I use each of these for different purposes – the Shuffle has my audio-books on it so I can walk around listening to Stephen Fry reading me Harry Potter. The iPhone has podcasts so I can listen to radio shows when and where it suits me. The Nano has my favourite songs on it and the Classic plugs into my car so we have music wherever we go! We use the iPad as the remote for our Apple TV…
I have now managed to collect an enormous library of media from music to movies, TV show and books. My iTunes library has around 85,000 songs in it so I am a somewhat serious collector. We can now sit listening to any song we like from our iTunes library from David Gray to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Band of Horses to Sigur Ros, Bon Iver to Gotye. We use one of our iPads as the remote control. We have playlists and genres and favourites – we are out of control!
When I look back over the years to when I first put my little single on a turntable I can’t believe the leaps forward that have happened in my lifetime. I wonder what is ahead for us – I can’t even imagine what it will be like in the next 50 years. All I do know is that it has been a blast discovering, learning and experiencing all that technology has to offer.
🙂
How many times have you laughed so hard you thought you were going to die? Or you have doubled over in agony pleading for them to stop ’cause it hurts so much? If you have never experienced this in your life then I pity you. You obviously have never watched a stand up comic…
I love stand up comedians. I mean really good stand up comedians – observational ones that make you think about and appreciate the absurdity of life. Stand up comedy can be so very good and sometimes so very bad. I don’t know about you but I physically squirm with embarrassment when I see bad stand up. I wish they would just stop and leave the stage to stop causing themselves and the audience any further discomfort.
So I’m only going to talk about a handful of the really good ones – some we have seen live – the others on DVD or TV. This is obviously very subjective as what makes me laugh isn’t necessarily what makes the next person laugh. I’m definitely not a fan of “gross out” humour – tit and bum jokes just don’t do it for me. I have good friends and family who adore the Hangover films or anything with Adam Sandler in it – I simply find them silly and just a bit lame… It’s all subjective isn’t it?…
Here are some favourites in no particular order…
First of all thanks go to Bill for the title of this piece…
I worship at the temple of Bill Bailey – I am a Baileyist – this eccentric man has had me in stitches for many, many years. We’ve seen him twice live here in Melbourne and own every DVD he’s ever produced. I follow him on Twitter!
Why you may ask? Bill Bailey is so special. There isn’t a malicious bone in this man-child’s body. His act is joyous and ridiculous. His way of thinking astounds me and I wish I had half his intellect. Apart from being hilariously funny he is also a classically trained musician which he incorporates into his comedy like a sort of hippie Victor Borge. Check out his “Introduction To The Orchestra” DVD – you will be in awe of his musical ability… It’s wonderful uplifting stuff and I never grow tired of watching him. He is also a passionate animal lover. He also looks funny and refers to himself as a “Part Troll“. Bottom line – he is gorgeous and I love him to bits. He’s on my list of people I would love to have a drink with…
What can I say about the amazing Lee Evans. We first saw him here on TV at a Comedy Gala doing his assigned three minutes and he mimed wearing “Octopus Shoes” by walking across the stage with his feet sticking tightly to the floor as if held down by suckers. I laughed so much it hurt…
This man is such a physical comic and in many ways reminds me of Norman Wisdom – shy and nervous. Then he launches into all the things that annoy him and you just sit back and marvel at his mobile face, his silly accents and the amount of sweat he loses every night! He pounds up and down the stage like a madman and is absolutely exhausting to watch. He is also a talented singer and plays the mandolin at the end of each show and this is when he turns into normal Lee Evans not the manic one you just spent the last couple of hours with…
Lee Evans is one of the funniest men on the planet and I would love to meet him to tell him so… He made a movie called Funny Bones in 1995 which is still one of my favourite films… Genius…
This is one very funny lady with a distinctly laid back delivery that is quite unique. I could listen to her for hours. Being a psychiatric nurse for ten years in her pre-comedy life, Jo incorporates a lot of her experiences into her work as a comedian and spends a lot of time raising awareness of mental health issues. She is also a very successful author with nearly a dozen books to her name. Jo Brand is seen a lot on British TV where she is very popular and winning the British Comedy Award for Best TV Comic in 2012.
There is a definitive shortage of truly funny women so discovering Jo Brand years ago was like a breath of fresh air… She is also a joy to watch on Stephen Fry’s ” QI” which is just about the only time we see her on Australian TV. She shares very, very clever observations about life and people – again the fierce intellect shines through and dazzles me every time…
The daddy of them all for us both is The Big Yin – Billy Connolly. I have been a fan since my teens all the way from his early concerts on tape to his films and TV appearances. We always see him live when he comes out but it gets harder each year due to his incredible popularity in Australia… When we watch Billy Connolly something happens that I can’t explain – it’s like a kind of hysteria comes over us. My husband has tears running down his face and is hunched over in pain! He just tickles the right funny bones in both of us… His rambling stories are a joy and he never does exactly the same show twice… His routine about the Swiss Army and their wee knives still remains one of the funniest things I have ever seen as is his monologue about the crippled and the maimed leaving the Clyde Shipyards at the end of the working shift – pure magic man…
Billy’s appearances on Parkinson are hilarious as are his filmed concerts. Lately he has branched out into travel documentaries and these are as entertaining as they are educational. He also appears in movies as a serious actor and was nominated for a BAFTA for Mrs. Brown.
Billy’s odd take on the world endears him to everyone he seems to meet…. I would love to have a cup of tea with Mr. Connolly…
We saw Jack Dee live just last weekend here at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. We have been fans for years and first discovered him over 15 years ago. Again that magic combination of deadpan delivery and the dour persona are just so appealing to my husband and me. He is fascinating as he talks about the mundane and the ordinary but makes it so very interesting and genuinely funny. On Saturday night he talked about what a terrible week he had just had beginning with a blown light bulb in his garage. It was truly hilarious and we enjoyed every minute of it.
He has also branched out into acting and his TV show “Lead Balloon” is a big hit. We have all his live DVD’s and never tire of watching them again and again. We quote reams of his routines to each other which tends to leaves most people around us totally baffled…
The late, great George Carlin – what can I say. One of the few American comedians we really loved. I remember his early routine about “Stuff” – if you can find it on YouTube have a listen – it is gold. He also broke barriers with his routines about dirty words you couldn’t say on TV which landed him in court in the late 70’s.
Articulate, intelligent and not afraid to speak out George Carlin became the voice of truth as he got older. His stand up comedy became more social criticism on the slow decay of not only American culture but all Western society as it battles the uneducated, the fat, the lazy who inhabit our lives and shopping malls… His voice is a warning and boy we really should be listening to him… Luckily for all of us there is a lot of George Carlin material available on YouTube and on DVD…
George Carlin passed away in 2008 and I miss him terribly…
Who can go past the delicious Julian Clary. I’ve been fascinated by him since we discovered him in “Sticky Moments” on British TV in 1989. We were riveted by this exotic creature we knew would have never been allowed on staid old Australian TV at that time. It took several years for his show to be aired in OZ and then it was on really late at night so as to not offend anyone! His outrageous, over the top, stereotypical camp persona was like nothing we had ever seen before and his way of ad-libbing with an audience or one on one with a contestant was masterful. The fact that he had the face of an angel also added to his appeal. I think that women were probably his biggest fans…
Over the years he has toned down the costumes but his sarcastic style of humour remains. He’s hugely popular in Britain and actually won Celebrity Big Brother! Julian appears on heaps of talk shows and he is so beautifully spoken but still quite deadly with his wit and is seen often in the newer crop of clever quizz shows like “QI”
As if the dreamy Irish accent and the carefully tousled hair isn’t enough to make me swoon, Dylan Moran is also one of the cleverest performers I’ve seen. His monologues are almost poetic and his biting satiric humour stabs his targets like a rapier… We’ve got all his live DVD’s and never tire of listening to him.
And as if that isn’t enough he is also the wonderfully obnoxious Bernard Black of “Black Books” fame – that’s an accolade all on its own. This was ground breaking TV – a thoroughly unlikable character that everyone somehow adores…
Again it’s observational comedy at it’s very best and I would really like to meet Mr. Moran just to shut my eyes and listen to that divine voice…
This list will just get longer and longer as I think of all my favourites. Please feel free to contribute as I’m sure I’ve left out some pretty important people. Here are some others worth looking our for:
Dara O’Briain, Dave O’Neil. Ricky Gervais, Rich Hall, Alan Davies, Judith Lucy, Dave Hughes, Rob Brydon, Jimmy Carr, Eddie Izzard, Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Wil Anderson, Ardal O’Hanlon
After a fairly harrowing six months my Accounts Payable team have finally disbanded – forever. We had a small farewell lunch on the last day, I said some nice words, everybody applauded, we gave each of them a small gift and a card, we all hugged and promised to keep in touch. I promptly left work and blubbered all the way home in the car…
So that’s that. Done…
So final. So cruel. These people were part of my life for the past six years. We shared our hopes and our dreams, our sorrows and our struggles. We confided in each other and rejoiced together in our happy times. We worked very well as a team and all of them pitched in to help, even assisting other departments on our floor when striving to meet deadlines…
Peta has two young children and as always I’m astounded at how working mums do it. To work full-time and juggle school and after-care and lunches and uniforms – well it just seems overwhelming in my eyes. I look after my cats and my husband – in that order – and it’s difficult enough for me to find some time to do all the things I love to do let alone being in charge of a young family as well. Peta’s unending optimism is also something I admire. It seem to me she rarely looks back – always looking forward and on to the next new thing to try – be it glass blowing, jewellery making, writing her beloved science fantasy novel, cooking classes – the list goes on. A wicked sense of humour also came with the package that is Peta and I think this is what I am going to miss most of all. We were always on the same wave-length and could crack each other up at a glance or a comment. It’s rare to have that rapport with someone you work with every day. I’m instantly bereft of the belly laughs we had together over the years…
Jenny, Jenny, Jenny – gentle Jenny with her patient and calming personality and her gorgeous sense of humour. I will miss living my life vicariously though her – as a Macedonian she has an incredibly frenzied family and social life. A never-ending roundabout of weddings, christenings, engagements, name days, birthdays – Jenny made me dizzy with her exploits at the weekends. Just how she fitted in all these activities in just 48 hours was a magic trick in itself… I loved to hear about the latest drama, be it within her vast family, or the friends she would catch up with at one of the many dinner dances they attended. The stories were always full of intrigue and often humour and we would wait impatiently for the next instalment. Oh – and the clothes! Jenny has the biggest wardrobe I’ve ever seen. Always immaculate, her shopping trips were legendary… I’ll also miss the wonderful food. Jenny would always bring in leftovers from the feasts her family would share at Easter and birthdays. She was also our source for not only the best Cevapcici in Melbourne but Jenny’s Mum makes the best Avjar we’ve ever tasted!
Then there was Reno. Like a little dynamo he whizzed past my desk back and forth every day always at full throttle. His topics of conversation were always the same – his beloved “beautiful game” and horse racing. Luckily there were other staff members that shared his passion as the girls and myself often found ourselves lost in bewildering conversations about odds and form and racetracks in places we’d never heard of. Soccer results were announced every morning and a raging debate would be held over the merits of one team over another. His knowledge was astounding. Reno was also fiercely dedicated to his job. He rarely missed a day and no one was going to not get paid correctly on his watch. He knew everything about the Accounts Payable processes and it made my life a lot easier because of that knowledge.
It’s a sad thing redundancy. You feel cast off and forgotten. You feel resentment and bitterness. You feel sorrow. For several weeks before they left, the team had been moved into what we cynically dubbed “the exit lounge” a project room well away from the rest of the staff on the floor. Their desks were needed for some new members of staff from other businesses that were being incorporated into our department so they were bundled into this room on their own. And they just kept working – determined to see it through to the end with dignity and grace. It was business as usual to the last day and I thank them for that.
For myself, well I’ve been given a reprieve and made unredundant, if there is such a word. I’ve been offered a new role which I hope to enjoy. I’m currently in transition between the old and the new jobs and the only word to describe how I feel is lonely. I miss my AP team desperately. I miss being able to share what we did at the weekend, or read out loud a funny story in the paper and end up hooting with laughter. I miss our going out for lunch together or stealing across to Southbank for a hot chocolate from Lindt. My working day is vastly different now…
Anyway, this is just something I wanted to put down in writing. Thanks again Peta, Jenny and Reno for your dedication, hard work and support over the years. We were recognised as the best Accounts Payable Team in the group and that is something to be very proud of. I would be honoured to work with any one of you again.
We lost our beautiful young man two years ago and there is hardly a day goes by that we don’t think of him. He was a strange, sad cat who started to display behavioural problems around the age of two. We loved him so much that we just accepted him as he was. I think he had the best life he possibly could have had with us.
He was eight years old when he started to lose weight. We took him straight to the Vet where we found out he had developed tumours on his kidneys. We were devastated. It was so quick… The day he was diagnosed we made the decision to have him gently put to sleep as he had also lost his sight and was becoming more disoriented by the hour.
We were so glad to have had Tonto in our lives – he came to us from a pet shop – breaking our cardinal rule of not buying animals from pet shops, thus encouraging them – and it was obvious he was from a huge kitten farm which may or may not explain his short lifespan… I always felt he was a product of inbreeding because there were so many kittens with similar markings passing through the pet shop for the next few years – who knows…
Tonto was a magnificent big boy whose stunning markings made him the handsomest cat in the household. We used to say he had teddy bear fur – so thick and plush!
He was also what they call a non-committer. He longed to be petted and would twirl and rub around the furniture near you and but if you got too close, he would stay just out of arms reach – and then shy away as if you were going to hurt him. Occasionally he would sit on my knee and we would have a love-a-thon – this was a huge treat and I savoured every moment.
He was the brightest, sweetest kitten and full of love for both of us, but as he got older we came to recognise that he had a problem and just tried to make his life as easy as possible. He loved us in his own way which was comforting and we were just grateful to have him for as long as we did…
Poor sad Tonto, we still really miss you…
The sweetest kitten
Tonto had the most beautiful markings
Pensive Tonto…
With his best friends Felix and Toast – The Three Musketeers…
The handsomest boy in the house…
Enjoying the afternoon sun…
His favourite thing in the garden was drinking out of the bird bath!
Look at me!
Watching the world go by…
"Not all those who wander are lost" - JRR Tolkien
Just another WordPress.com site
A British Isles Cheese Odyssey
Food Innovator, Recipe Sharer. My kitchen is small but mighty.
redundancy & worklife
Smile! You’re at the best WordPress.com site ever
Travels through SE Asia and beyond.......
the joys of everyday life as I see it!
Dead Flies and Oose! 