COMEDY CORNER #6 - TIM MINCHIN

Now if you don't know who Tim Minchin is, you are in for a real treat once you sample his work.

Very rarely do we see such a successful export from Australia who can entertain in the way that this bloke can.

I hear him called a Comedian, but that is such a tiny part of his skill set, this man is a Musician, and a bloody good one at that.

I'm not going to list his credits and such I mean I will supply you the links to check all that out, but he is quite topical right now for my entire audience out there.

For the Aussie and UK viewers you may have recently seen him in Jesus Christ Superstar, but he is also about to appear for the Sydney Theatre Company stages very soon in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

He will also appear at the Helpmann Awards at the Sydney Opera House on July 29.

For the US viewers you may have already enjoyed his new music score for the Broadway musical Matilda, which opened in the West End initially then Broadway. There is a rumoured musical remake of the film as well.

But for the die hard Minchin fans globally, you have probably enjoyed his live shows recently with the biggest orchestra's in your city playing similar material to that which he recorded with the Heritage Orchestra.

But do yourself a favour, if you have the opportunity, go and see this man perform - you will not be disappointed.

Minchin's music is as diverse as his credits as he flows through moving self examining moments of life to hilarious parody and the mocking of serious institutions of society.

His sound ranges from vaudeville to hard rock at times and his lyrics are as clever as the likes of Stephen Sondheim, yet funnier and a lot more vulgar.

The best song to examine Minchin's style is his infamous Pope Song, for it shows his work is like an ice burg, 1/8th above the surface 7/8ths below.

On the surface it appears to be a vulgar offensive attack on Pope John Paul II. But when you listen to the lyrics, you realise he is questioning how you measure and form your morality and beliefs and whether you are basing it on the right influences.

Have a listen, and a laugh.

POPE SONG - Audio with Lyrics

But he doesn't stop at the Pope, he likes to question how people accept very unusual and outrageous notions like miracles. In his song Thank You God, he mentions how God fixed a very treatable condition on a woman who could easily afford the minor surgery on a cataract after her congregation prayed for her. He thanks God for doing that even though God is doing nothing to stop babies dying from malaria or people starving to death in third world countries.

But then Minchin also manages to give a heart felt rendition of what Christmas means to him and the devotion he feels to his family.

White Wine In The Sun - Youtube clip


MATILDA

I am yet to see Matilda as it still has not reached the Australian Stage but after hearing some of the songs I am really looking forward to it.

Minchin has written the music and lyrics for the score and he was even nominated for Best Original Score at the Tony Awards for this work.

MATILDA on Wikipedia


Being a huge fan of Minchin's I once penned a libretto for a musical based on Minchin's works contained in the Heritage Orchestra album. In what began as a personal challenge to see if I could derive a story that used every song from the album in a relatively believable context, it became a piece that I was very proud of, and dare I say enhanced Mr Minchin's humourous lyrics with the script.

The premise was based around Politics and how a very unlikable man is thrust into the role of Prime Minister just before an election due to an enormous political scandal. He is an absolute liability and it is up to his team to try and clean him up and get him across the line. (Living in Australia, this is a pretty typical event in our political landscape)

I really enjoyed writing it but sadly and not surprisingly, I could not secure any rights to use the songs to work the musical up. I lack that kind of talent and ability to challenge that as well so it still sits on the shelf.

But I remain a true Minchin fan and I look forward to enjoying his works into the future.

YOU GREW ON ME - Youtube Clip

TIM MINCHIN'S WEBSITE

TIM MINCHIN - Wikipedia

Enjoy

J G S

GRIPE NIGHT #18 - MOVING

One of the most annoying things we need to do in life is when we have to pack up all our things and move out of a place.

Whilst it can often be exciting to be moving into a new home, we never realise just how much crap we keep in our cupboards and wardrobes until its time to count how many boxes it takes to contain it all.

It is a good opportunity to chuck all this stuff out but if you are like me and far too sentimental to not think there may be a use for that gift you got at 22 even though you still haven't used it and you are nearly 40.

I hate packing, I really do.

I hate how the gaffer tape sticks to my arm hairs and gives me an instant, artistic wax job.

I hate having to trudge up and down the stairs box after box to load up the car.

And what is your reward after moving everything out of the place? You get to clean it!

All that dust that's built up over the months of dwelling there behind furniture and under the bed and lounge.

All that scum that has stained the tiles in the bathroom and laundry you always meant to clean but never got around to.

And who really washes the walls and windows on a regular basis? Honestly?

Well I don't think I have met anyone who likes packing up a place and I am certainly one of those people.

But what about removalists? Those expensive slow moving shysters with all those catches in the contract to nickel and dime you even though you were given a quote for much less!

Well that part of it is not an issue for me anymore because I am lucky enough to have an old classmate in the business who is awesome to hire.

They only charged me $100 an hour for the two gents and they are not just hard working but they are very friendly and pleasant on the job. No back to base or extras of any kind at all! I even had a tricky entrance too, being on a main road, and they found a way around that very bravely.

Best of all, they are Bulldog supporters :-)

But this is not an ad for them haha you can check them out for yourselves if you like.

HAPPY DAYS REMOVALS INFORMATION

I will certainly be giving them a call when its time for me to move out of my apartment, which might be soon as my apartment is now being leased as you can see below.

My Apartment

But I still hate moving, but you do what you can to make it easier.

J G S

SYDNEY INSIGHTS #18 - Mrs Macquarie's Chair

Many visitors to Sydney find themselves right here to take the best possible views of Sydney Harbour and its two greatest landmarks.

It is called Mrs Macquarie's Chair and funnily enough, it is located at the end of Mrs Macquarie's Road on a peninsula called Mrs Macquairie's Point.

Some have called it Lady Macquarie's Chair, but this is incorrect so make sure to speak up if you hear it referred to as such.

But is it really a chair?

It is actually a sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench and was hand carved by convicts in 1810 for the wife of the Governor of New South Wales.

Elizabeth Macquarie was married to Major-General Lachlan Macquarie the Governor of NSW from 1810-1821. The story goes that Mrs Mac used to sit on this sandstone rocky bench and watch for the ships to come sailing in to the harbour from Great Britain. It was her favourite spot on the property and she often enjoyed the panoramic views of the harbour and held exclusive VIP parties every New Years Eve to watch the million dollar fireworks display.

... oh hang on, that's Clover Moore... but back to the chair...

Should you ever wish to visit and take a seat for yourself it is always open to the public 24/7 and is between Garden Island and Bennelong Point. It faces North-East towards Fort Denison and the Pacific Ocean.

It's an extremely popular site these days for all visitors as they can get a photo of the Sydney Opera House with the Harbour Bridge framing it nicely behind it.

This location provides the best angle for it, little did they know back then.

Many brides and grooms also rush to this spot after their ceremony to get some pretty amazing wedding day pictures.



It's a must see location for any visitor and resident of Sydney.

J G S

NRL REVIEW ROUND 17

Manly were the big winners of Round 17 after muscling out a big victory against the Eels in their usual roughing it up style. Parramatta certainly did hit back, sadly that was not on the scoreboard and the Sea Eagles won 50-10 in a Monday night fizzer.

But the unbalanced games began on Friday night when Melbourne Storm blitzed the struggling Broncos 32-0 and the Sharks played a more interesting encounter against the Tigers also that night finally running out winners 36-22 after leading 24-0 early in the game.

It didn't get that much interesting on Saturday either as two out of three games were also lop-sided beginning with the Roosters who smashed the disappointing Dragons 36-0. This was followed by the Panthers surprising the top 8 Titans 40-18 and pushing their way into the Top 8 themselves. Canberra continued their Home Ground dominance and remain unbeaten at Canberra after beating the Cowboys 26-18.

Sunday brought personal disappointment for me as the Bulldogs were very disappointing at Mackay playing against the Knights. Whilst it was nothing like the 44-8 smashing we copped at Newcastle, the Bulldogs just couldn't gain control of the game even though they did have the lead just into the second half 12-8 but the knights came home far too keen and far too strong and won 18-12.

Many questions go unanswered after the game including 'Will the Bulldogs make the finals?' After what we have seen so far the answer must be - NO. They lack far too much discipline and eagerness and to be honest they lack guidance on the field, particularly in attack but they constantly sit back and wait for the teams to come to them. The Knights were up in the Bulldogs face every time and we were sitting back and waiting to see what they would do. That's not how you win games.

But what happened to Trent Hodkinson? That's what I want to know. The man went into the game with  a near perfect Goal Kicking record. He'd kick them from anywhere on the field, ugly yes, but accurate. Yet in Mackay, he missed them all. 0/3. It proved to be the difference in the scoreline as well. Is that why the Bulldogs have been winning? Trent's goal kicking?

It's not rocket science to say that the Bulldogs season comes down to this Sunday's game against the Storm. Due to the loss against the Knights it is now a MUST WIN to have any hope of the finals this year. But do we fancy our chances? Not confidently.

So far this season every team that beat us once, has beaten us again when we faced them twice. With one exception, Manly. That game was 30-all at Full Time and a penalty goal to Hodkinson won the game for the Bulldogs.

Which brings me back to the last question, were the Bulldogs only winning because of Hodkinsons kicking?

Last year when the Bulldogs won the Minor Premiership we beat every team at least once. That is, no team beat us twice.

The only other game left was between Rabbits and Warriors who finally had their unbeaten run ended by the Rabbits 30-13. Not a bad showing when the Bunnies have all but won the competition this year.
I can't see any other team coming close to them yet I'm certain they will face the Roosters in the Grand Final.

So that's Round 17, check out the major changes to the ladder below.

30 RABBITS
26 ROOSTERS
25 STORM
21 SEA EAGLES
20 SHARKS
18 KNIGHTS (+77)
18 PANTHERS (+58)
18 TITANS (-5)
18 Bulldogs (-29)
18 Raiders (-58)
16 Warriors
14 Cowboys
14 Broncos
14 Tigers
12 Dragons
10 Eels

* ALL TEAMS IN BOLD WILL GET 2 POINTS IN ROUND 18 FOR A BYE

WAAPA YEARBOOK #5

During my experience at Waapa, every year there was a big production staged that would take two performing slots to get onto it's feet. It was referred to as the Mid Year Musical.

Whilst other productions were usually smaller in scale, the Mid Year was designed to create a similar experience to the types of commercial musicals that make the big stages of the world.

Naturally this meant there would be a principal cast and an ensemble cast so both the 3rd years and 2nd years would combine to create the full cast.

The remaining 1st years, like me and my classmates, were assigned backstage jobs for the production which could be in wardrobe, staging, audio and lighting and so on.

I was placed into the backstage crew and it was still quite nerve wracking back there as a lot of the scenery and props had to be manually positioned on the stage in a very short time and that included striking what was on there in the first place. It was well drilled and well orchestrated and all happened in a systematic way.

The set itself was centred around a big block construction that had panels placed on it to for the Office scenes and the House scenes.

This was also stripped back for the raunchy Hernando's Hideaway number.

When creating the office scene the stage crew had to run up those stairs with desks and typewriters and the like as performers scuttled down to get out of the way.


But it was great to be a part of the production in some way during its run and to be given responsibilities that were completely different and virtually unknown to me prior to that experience. It was also a good way to get to work alongside the other students, not only the other performers, but across the staging people and the musicians as well.

I recall during a rehearsal, a backdrop was being lowered, and a female lead who was in discussion as she was leaving the stage walked under it. There were calls shouted out as some technical folks could see the impending disaster but it was not quick enough and the set landed right on her head. It clearly hurt her but not in a very serious way but everyone was extremely concerned. She handled the whole thing very well and did not get angry at anyone except herself and I found that pretty impressive. She continued with the rehearsal as normal but I'm sure she was in some sort of pain throughout.

I think the Mid Year was the type of show I like the most when it comes to theatre, the whole dance spectacular and the comedy and the glamour so I was looking forward to my own experiences in the next two Mid Years to come. But I really enjoyed the experience backstage and got a really good feel for that theatre and how everything all works behind the scenes.



But in all honesty, I was still the spectator at heart and I was as star struck then, backstage at Waapa, as I was in any seat of any theatre watching this thing called a Musical.

I waited to laugh at the same gags every night and found delight every time, and also listening to the audience and waiting for their similar reactions every night to the action on the stage.

I loved watching the routines and the flurry of colour from the sides as much as I usually did from the front.
I loved it all, and I was drawn to the charismatic leads like any of the Hollywood matinee idols from the great classics.

As much as I felt like I was a part of it, I still felt that I was a bit of an impostor because of that, but that was all part of the process of being there I guess.


It has been a joy to be able to go to the big theatres today and still enjoy the talents of these people.

So that was my first experience of the Mid Year and of course the moment it ended there was a big party followed by a 4 week break and so flights were booked to head back home.

Half the year was already over.

J G S

GARDEN PALACE BOOK UPDATE #17

So another whirl wind week with very little progress to report.

I have made it a priority to complete Chapter Six this week but I can report that by passing the half way point of Chapter 6 last week we are indeed half way through the rewrite!

That's very exciting and a huge effort.

But there is so much further to go and I really need to start giving Nana Sakata some inspiration to get her awesome sketches beginning to come to life.

In the current chapter titled The Chief Of Security, we see a very sudden change in this role at the Garden Palace which was held for quite a while by a very likable lady.

The decision was made by the Executive of the portfolio but what remains unclear is the actual  reasoning for it.

Officially, a breach of the code of conduct is cited, but on the surface it seems to be quite a trumped-up charge.

Nonetheless a replacement is urgently required to act in the role and one of the newest recruits in Security is chosen, Terrence Knight, which causes great disdain amongst the other men in Security.

Our hero, Max, is certain he had seen this man attend a preview at the Palace alongside the Executive doing the hiring and he senses something about it just doesn't smell right.

It's just another mystery contained within the walls of the Garden Palace.

But does Knight have the best interests of the building at heart or is this his way of being just one more step closer to achieving his ultimate plan?

One thing is for certain, there is more than meets the eye in this place.

J G S

J G S HABITAT #5

Well another week has come and gone and I must say it has been eventful to say the least.

I have been having a lot of problems with my Wifi this week and many blogs are delayed and I am trying to catch up as quick as I can.

Last weekend was a bit of a fizzer with the rain continuing to get us down in Sydney.

On Saturday I didn't really do much more than tidy up around the house before heading out to watch the Rugby at a local pub. I was very glad to see the Wallabies take it to a decider against the Lions and met some interesting people in the process.

Sunday was not all that much different as the rain was still annoying but was beginning to clear, I was just making preparations by shopping and getting organised for the week ahead.

Monday was much nicer weather suddenly and I made my usual pilgrimage to Newtown Fitness First to watch the football that night whilst ploughing through on the cross trainer.

On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to be able to catch up with a friend for dinner and was given a little gift of some different tea's to try. Will leave that till the weekend though.

Wednesday brought what was probably the biggest highlight of the week. I went back to the Opera House for their annual staff Trivia Night. I had been a participant for the past 4 or 5 years and whilst it was great to assemble a table of friends for the fun of it, we never really gave it much of a shake. One year we did finish a random 10th which won us half a dozen bottles of wine which we all got together to share at a later date.

This year my friends still on staff, Nana and Ali, organised the team and I was an invited external guest. I hadn't been back to the building since January and it was nice to walk through the back areas again. We  catered our table well with a good mix of sweet and savoury and all drinks were $5 so I had a coupe of beers during the course of the evening, which was about 4 hours in duration.

There were 28 tables this year and the game was 3 rounds of questions plus a photo sheet where you had to guess who the people were and after the first Round our table was in 1st place with only 2 incorrect answers. We were delighted naturally and whilst happy with our answers, still surprised at the outcome. But after Round Two, despite feeling equally happy with our answers we had fallen back into 2nd Place but still very happy with that.

At the end of Round Three we were not feeling very confident, we had gotten a lot of answers wrong but were confident we got 5 out of 6 points for the last question which was about Daniel Craig. They also collected the Photo sheets and we were pretty confident we had about 23/26 for that. But the third round was our poorest result of the evening.

I was still pretty confident we would be in the top 5 but you only get prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. We were still in there though when he read out 4th and when it wasn't our name, we knew we were now Top 3 and we'd won a prize! So we were very excited.

When he read out 3rd place and it wasn't us, we knew we had either held our 2nd position or we had actually won the whole kit and caboodle. Then he read out 2nd place, and it wasn't us. We had won! My first ever trivia night victory and it was amazing. The 8 of us got to share a prize that was a voucher at the Opera Bar worth $750. Very happy with that and I think most of us intend to get back together and enjoy the prize with a good expensive meal and a few drinks. Very happy effort.

Thursday was pretty much a downer after that and I was pretty exhausted and tired after the weeks events and crashed out watching Wimbledon at home. I have been still battling this bloody cold for 2 weeks and whilst its slowly improving it still has been preventing me from having my full strength and so I still haven't gotten back to doing weights. Next week should be fine.

Finally on Friday I had a friend in town for the night and so we caught up for dinner in a cool Japanese place near Pitt Street Mall then had drinks afterwards in the bar of the Boulevard Hotel on William Street. It's on the 25th Floor and had really cool views of the district.

So all in all a pretty cool week with a highlight or two to make it interesting.

So good to see the sun back in Sydney and supplying us with such glorious wintry afternoons.

See you next week

J G S