FIVE MINUTE REVIEW - Love and Information

Love and Information

Sydney Theatre Company
Wharf Theatre
Until August 15

I was very lucky to be invited by friends to attend a performance of this play by Caryl Churchill superbly presented by a vibrant and committed cast including Alison Whyte and Harry Greenwood.

In a series of flash moments, we receive measured doses of information about the characters and quickly process them before being transported to the next scene. The doses vary in size and depth and sometimes its worth questioning how much information we actually need. Too much information at times is overwhelming, and yet too little can leave us wanting. Sometimes we only need a few words to construct our view of the characters, sometimes we need the whole scene.

The conversations this play should provide will keep you entertained for hours long after you leave the theatre and get home.

Whilst the acting quality is as good as one expects, there was a tendency for over-acting to creep in - particularly with Zahra Newman who seemed not to be listening to her fellow actors as much as waiting to speak her next line.

But overall it is a fast-paced multi layered piece that will entertain and provoke thought.

Check out the website blurb from STC and visit the website below.

 

 

Love and Information - STC

Buggar Off Bronwyn

Goodbye Bronwyn

 

 

Let the joyous news be spread - the wicked old witch at last is dead!

Well... not quite but finally the House of Representatives has a chance to be balanced once again now that Bronwyn Bishop is no longer its Speaker.

Sadly this may be the end of it - but it shouldn't be.

I know many believe she was within the rules and that it's the rules that need changing - but the politicians need changing instead.

Barnaby Joyce believes it is silly investigating all politicians because they all do it - is he for real? That's more reason to do so!

But the point I wish to make is Bronwyn Bishop is still an elected member of parliament in a seat she has held for over twenty years.

If she has used taxpayers money incorrectly and deliberately over this entire period, why is she not stepping down as an MP?

She can still vote on legislation and continue to use and abuse public funds - its a joke.

We should not rest until Bronwyn Bishop has her hands cut off from public money.

Share this sentiment and push for real justice.

But let this be a warning to all politicians - be gone before someone drops a house on you!

Tell it like is Tuesday - Animal rights and wrongs

There has been a recent outcry from parts of the community regarding animal testing in scientific research and a serious push to have it banned on any living creature.

People found secret footage of animal testing very disturbing and confronting as it does indeed show animals experiencing pain and discomfort, plus many are killed for the sake of the testing.

I get it, that is horrendous to witness and awful to consider when these are living things.
No one wants to see monkeys being tortured or animals killed for testing, but surely the reasons why this is happening is not going unnoticed.

I refuse to believe scientists are cruel and violent people with a disregard for human or animal life. On the contrary, it takes many years of education and experience to reach this level of ability to suppress the emotional attachment in order to conduct the research required.

It is not a nice thing, but it is science and it is integral to human development and survival.

I don't want to see it and I don't want to do it, I wish it wasn't necessary - but it is.

Please read the Nature article below and learn about the reason why we do animal testing and the enormous gains that come from it.

I know many people will find it too difficult to see past the animals happiness being compromised, but without it we would not have the medicines and cures we currently have.
If it is stopped, then we have gone as far as we can in medical research.

Scientists are not monsters.

Nature Journal

Entertainment's 90s Club Update

With approximately 50 people in the Entertainment's 90s Club, we have one member only in the Centurion club - Norman Lloyd.

Norman Nathan Lloyd (born November 8, 1914) is an American actor, producer, and director with a career in entertainment spanning roughly eight decades. Lloyd has appeared in over sixty films and television shows. His prominent film roles include Fry in Saboteur, Bodalink in Limelight, Mr Nolan in Dead Poets Society and Mr Letterblair in The Age of Innocence. In the 1980s, he gained a new generation of fans for playing Dr. Daniel Auschlander, one of the starring roles on the ground-breaking medical drama St. Elsewhere.

Full Wikipedia page here - Norman Lloyd

Top 5 Entertainers in the 90s Club below

1	100	Norman Lloyd	FILM	Dead Poets Society
2	99	Olivia de Havilland	FILM	Gone With the Wind
3	98	Kirk Douglas	FILM	Spartacus
4	98	Zsa Zsa Gabor	FILM	Lovely to Look at
5	98	R.G. Armstrong	FILM	Dick Tracy

 TV Exclusively 90's Club also below

1	97	Marjorie Lord	TV	Make Rom for Danny
2	96	Al Molinaro	TV	Happy Days
3	95	Alan Young	TV	Mr Ed
4	94	Noel Neill	TV	The Adventures of Superman
5	94	Abe Vigoda	TV	Barney Miller

 Only 3 Musicians make the top 50 at the moment

97	Vera Lynn	MUSIC	We'll Meet Again
92	Kay Starr	MUSIC	You were Only Foolin
90	Roger Williams	MUSIC	Autumn Leaves

FRIDAY - FUN STUFF

Welcome to Fantasy Family Feud.

Today we have the Windsor family from Edinburgh playing for $10,000 in the Fast Money round.

First up is Elizabeth who joins me now as Philip awaits on the head phones. 

 

Elizabeth I will ask you 5 questions and you have 15 seconds to respond. You can pass and we will come back if there is time. 15 seconds on the clock, good luck.

Name something useful in the home

"Slaves"

 

Name a place where you will find a lot of primates

"

"Australia"

What food do people eat when they are low on money"

 

 

"...pass"

 

 

 

Name a person found on the notes of Australian currency

"Me!"

 

 

Name a popular Australian Prime Minister

 

And we are out of time.

Lets see how well you did

1. Slaves           0

2. Australia       5

3. Pass               0

4.  Me (QEII)   56

5. Pass               0

TOTAL           61

 

Let's wipe the board clean and get Phillip out here now.

 

Philip, I will ask you 5 questions and you have 20 seconds to respond. You can pass and we will come back if there is time. 20 seconds on the clock, good luck.

Name something useful in the home

"Slaves "

Try again
 

"Female Slaves"

Name a place where you will find lots of primates

"Australia"

Try again

"Texas"

What food do people eat when they are low on money?

 

" Pass  " 

Name a person found on the notes of Australian currency

"Rolf Harris"

Name a popular Australian Prime Minister
 

"Harold Bishop"

What food do people eat when they are low on money?

"Small pheasants"

 

Okay let's see how well you did and whether you have reached 200 points to win the $10,000.
 

1. Female Slaves       3 - the top answer was shoe horn

2. Texas                     0 - the top answer was Canberra

3. Smaller Pheasants  0 - the top answer was McDonalds

4. Rolf Harris             22 - that was the top answer

5. Harold Bishop         0 - the top answer was Harold Holt

Total                            79

 

Sorry Windsor family we didn't reach the 200 point marks but you get to take home the board game version of the show.

 

Until next week, keep smiling and bye for now.

 

Thursday Things - Sydney Trains

                                                               SYDNEY TRAINS

Every working day I, like thousands of other Sydney siders travel aboard the Sydney Trains network.
 My train crosses over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and I have to admit that I have stopped looking out the window when I cross like I used to. But how well do we know the history of Sydney Trains and how it all operates? Most of us don't have the time, so I am going to devote a few Thursdays to examining the network - its past- its present and its future.

Sydney Trains is statutory authority, owned and operated by the New South Wales Government for all passenger rail services in the metropolitan Sydney area. The network is a hybrid metro-suburban railway with a central underground core that serves 182 stations over 815km of track and operates 20 hours a day operation with train frequencies of every three minutes or better in the underground core, 5-10 minutes at most major stations all day, 15 minutes at most minor stations all day. (on a good day) On weekends, service is less frequent with headways of upwards of a half hour on outer stations. (when there is no track work) Sydney Trains operates seven suburban lines, plus a late night NightRide bus network across metropolitan Sydney.

On 1 July 2013 a restructure of RailCorp resulted in all suburban services in the Sydney Metropolitan area bounded by Berowra, Emu Plains, Macarthur and Waterfall transferring from CityRail to Sydney Trains. The Sydney Trains logo, nicknamed The Hop, replaced the L7 logo introduced  in the 1970s and the Waratah logo introduced in 2009. At this time, Howard Collins OBE the former Chief Operating Officer from London Underground was appointed as Chief Executive of Sydney Trains.
We will look at Cityrail's history next time.

The main hub of the Sydney Trains system is Central station, where most lines start and end. Trains coming from the T2 Airport Line and T3 Bankstown Line, after travelling anti-clockwise on the City Circle, sometimes terminate upon arrival at Central and proceed to the Macdonaldtown Turnback. However, most trains continue on and become respective outward bound T2 Inner West and South Line trains. The reverse applies for trains coming from the Inner West and South Lines, which, if not terminating, become outward bound trains on the T2 Airport and T3 Bankstown Lines respectively. In the same manner, most trains on the T1 Western Line and T1 Northern Line become the T1 North Shore and Northern Line once they reach Central. Services on T4 Illawarra line convert to a T4 Eastern Suburbs Line service.

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more information about Sydney Trains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Palace - Book update

Garden Palace

 

For the last five years I have been writing my first novel as a side project /hobby.

It began whilst working at a major Sydney icon where I was an usher and a tour guide and between shifts or during boring performances, my mind would wander and imagine setting a story within the walls of the building.

My first attempt at making this idea into a real book was met with many challenges and many threats as I was still an employee of the place that I had set the story in and like my main character, I seemed to attract a fair bit of controversy for my actions and inability to keep my views hidden. The main concern of the organisation however was the use of what they considered to be trademarks such as the shape of their building in the artwork and even the name of it had a trademark. Facing legal action if I kept the book on the market, I decided to pull it from amazon.com and do a complete rewrite of the story to relocate it to a building that won't sue - thus, the Garden Palace was born.

I decided to leave the job as well as I wasn't a cat and 9 lives had I not.

Well we have all moved on since and after two years of research and totally rewriting the damn thing, I have just recently completed the final edits - which is a personal triumph given all the other non-related struggles along the way.

So what has changed apart from the setting?

* Period - original book's building opened in 1973, Garden Palace opens in 1979
* Building status - original book's building is still operational - Garden Palace is fictitious (phew!)
* New Chapter - Prologue split into three parts - The original Garden Palace, The NEW Garden Palace, and The re-opening of the new Garden Palace.
* New artworks - Nana Sakata has created 15 brand new designs that will be incorporated into the book including title pages for each of the 13 chapters, a book title page, and a brand new cover. (the picture on this blog is chapter 11)
* New characters and development - whilst the main characters are unchanged and the general synopsis is the same, I have created new characters and used the rewrite to develop the existing characters further.

Whilst the Garden Palace in my book is a fictitious building, it is based on a real Garden Palace that was built in 19th Century Sydney neighbouring the Royal Botanical Gardens, which sadly no longer exists. I will share with you some research on the original building over the coming weeks.

I am not expecting to have great monetary success with this book and it would be a dream for it to be good enough to be picked up by a publisher, but at the very least I will be able to submit it very soon for publication and purchase as an eBook on amazon.com - hopefully over time it can find an audience to warrant the creation of the next two books that I have mapped out for the series.

The book series titled is Garden Palace and book one has it own title 'Devil in Disguise' It's a very easy read and is just over 200 pages long.

Stay tuned for more details coming soon.