and i might add...

there are so many mediocre things in life.... love should not be one of them.

something to ponder

it is not that life is too short.
it is just that we wait so long to live it.

a day off

to daydream and write and create.


met nat at crown for an evening screening of harry potter and the half blood prince. there was a banana choc top for dinner and everything. ;)

aliens, people, **, oh my

catching up on what peter jackson has been doing. district 9... well he produced it at least. directed by neil blomkamp. still mulling it over to be honest. it was almost mockumentary in style, and i'm not certain if i was entertained, disturbed or bored. i was in the mood for some sci fi, but it was far from typical. i think that was my issue with it. hmmm... i'll get back to you.

in bed watching laptop

started watching the UK version of life on mars last night. truly, i think i'm in lust with sam. cute, clever, just a little vulnerable, with an accent. hmm.. yes, i may only now be catching up with what the entire world already knows but i don't care. i still have 4 episodes of series 1 to watch and then all of series 2. and then... ashes to ashes.

john simm's was pretty cute as the master in doctor who too. ;)

another seat in another cinema

walked into the city for my first movie after the film festival binge. what a disappointment.

the ugly truth could not even be saved by gerard butler. sad, but true.

let there be cake...

and there was cake. (the cupcakes weren't as blurry as the photo). ;)


cathie's leaving at brunswick so we all baked for the occasion. a fun night was had by one and all.

how odd is this?

writing with dave at a new cafe and the table next to us was decoupaged with an el greco painting, the burial of count orgaz. this painting is the second one the kids travel to in my tv series. oooohhhh.....

bit of writing and bit of baking today.

refreshed and renewed

another passport to the collection. where shall it take me?

multicultural melbourne

pastries and conversation at brunettis (italian) with louise before walking into the city for drinks at rue bebellon (french bar). eduardo became an australian citizen today. then the group moved to a greek restaurant on lonsdale.

ah, i LOVE this city.

always....

zzzz.....

before 9.30pm. i know, a minor miracle.

at a crumbling white edifice in st kilda

rockwiz give me that feeling, rockwiz rocking and reeling, baby... so don't stop doin' it, don't stop doin' it... (apologies to abba).

jamie, nat, ray, alex, chris, jill, mark and me. sitting in the gershwin room at the espy answering music questions, singing along with the rest of the crowd. super night with super friends. according to them, the only 7 i have. :P





the two episodes we watched taped are suppose to go to air sometime in november, will have to remember to keep an eye out. not much chance we'll be seen as we were on a table in the middle of the room. mucho grande fun was had by one and all.

thanks to jamie for the photos (not enough light for my camera - or enough patience on my behalf)

now what??

melbourne international film festival is over. i don't have a movie tonight, or tomorrow night, or the night after. but of course there's the underground film festival starting up soon, the writer's festival, fringe and the arts festival. there are bands to see, trivia to win, friends to dine with, scripts to write.

but now to catch up on some sleep. ;)

37, 38, 39

film 37: bran nue dae. an australian feature at greater union. what a fun film, bright colours and songs. oh, it's a oz musical with a who's who of characters. geoffrey rush plays a fabulous german priest. bit of a road film where you get to see the beautiful west coast of australia. bring on the red.


film 38: letter to anna. a doco at acmi. disturbing but i don't know i learned anything new about the situation. it didn't exactly move me either (maybe i'm just too worn out with all the movies?) everyone has heard the story of anna politkovskaya, the russian journalists who reported the atrocities of putin's policies in the chechen war, killed in her apartment block in 2006. interesting but didn't call me to arms. was this what i expected? hoped for? don't know.


film 39: the private lives of pippa lee. a feature at greater union. what a disappointing way to end the festival. it was a daytime movie. i kid you not. i could've slept through this and not missed anything. oh well...

31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

film 31: murch: walter murch on editing. a doco at acmi with dave. i came out with dream theories, and noticing how i blink. and more films to add to my ever-growing list.


film 32: krabat. a feature at greater union. based on a german children's book, it felt like one of the fantasy books i fall into time after time. a tale of magic, love and battle between good and evil.

one of the players was an actor from inglourious basterds (the one you think, or hope possibly isn't a baddie). never seen him before, now twice in a week.


film 33: shadow play: the making of anton corbijn. an australian doco at acmi. a photographer who has snapped the likes of david bowie, u2, nirvana and directed the story of joy division's ian curtis in control. a sort of making of this film, wrapped in corbijn's story.


there was this moment, well about 20 minutes, where i had the cinema to myself. i love that. empty seats except for mine. what bliss.


film 34: salt. an australian documentary at acmi. (my bum was in the same spot for three movies). this is FABULOUS. and will hopefully be on the abc at some stage. watch it. the photographer murray fredericks cycles out to the middle of lake eyre in south australia where there is only salt and the horizon. simply beautiful.


film 35: the whispering of the trees. a doco at acmi. the people of the pine nut are a community that live in the south of chile. for generations they have lived off the fruit of the araucaria tree. the story is about a family, full of love for each other and their way of life. in one scene maria elena, the grandmother, is making bread but doesn't have enough coal in their own fire so walks over to their neighbours for a chat and to bake bread. the secret says ricardo is "love and patience and communicating with each other". :)


film 36: post-punk mixtape 5. odds and sods of student films and music clips from the late 70s, early 80s. there were only two i liked, witchenkpof (i think) and the birthday party footage that was lost and now found.

then caught up with some friend's at pub in north melbourne, dragged myself home just before 4.30. yes, i know, glutton for punishment (or play). ;)

29, 30

film 29: silent wedding. this was a romanian feature at greater union. comedy wrapped in melancholy. the story of a small village overtaken by communism in the early 50s. moments of magic, whimsy and love that fall under a long shadow.


film 20: zift. a bulgarian noir feature at the forum. beautifully photographed, which in normal speak for me means gorgeous but no cigar. i'm used to noir being sophisticated and this just didn't cut it. interesting vignettes, but they didn't bring the structure together. the others seemed to like it though, could be just me.

didn't wade through any more films, too tired. contented myself with good company and cheesecake.

27, 28

film 27: blue beard. feature at greater union. a fairytale within a story told by a little girl. a dark french treat.


film 28: all tomorrow's parties. doco at greater union. LOVED this. it made me want to jump on a plane for the next ATP in the UK (where is that lotto win?) damn ATP mt buller not playing in 2010. the music and the vibe was great. i want a weekend music festival and now.

25, 26

film 25: post-punk mixtape #3. whole lotta music clips and short films at acmi. eh! it was okay. the first couple were experimental things from the early 80s that kinda wore me out. an interesting short that was quite controversial when it first was shown and even now it pushes some buttons. um... one or two music clips, not bands i recognise and some other bits and pieces.


film 26: i need that record! the death (or possible survival) of the independent record store. a us of a doco at acmi. interesting characters and investigation of why indy record stores have been closing down over the past decade or so.

i think i'm getting tired of sitting in a cinema. (yes, you heard it here first - i'm sure it won't last long...)

last of the pages....

technically from austen's pride and prejudice (but i noted it in pride and prejudice and zombies):

"i cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. it is too long ago. i was in the middle before i knew that i had begun."

a passport renewed and 24

is it really 10 years since my last passport renewal? i can't remember where i was for that one, i'm assuming perth somewhere. but i can recall sitting in the kalgoorlie post office getting my first solo passport. a few years ago now. eek!!


film 24: it might get loud. doco at greater union. fabulous film talking with three generations of guitarists, jimmy page, the edge and jack white. loved the style of the doco, the music was fascinating. dave and i went for noodles and an impromptu "writer's club" chat afterwards.

22, 23

film 22: unmade beds. a feature at greater union. not sure if it was a chilean, spanish, french or english film. different languages colliding in london. a squat brings them altogether, looking for love, adventure, somewhere to belong (like all of us i guess). some really beautiful moments scattered among cigarette butts and hotel rooms.


film 23: burning down the house: the story of cbgb. a doco at acmi. "rage, rage against the dying of the light" not sure if they raged enough over the closing of cbgb, but after seeing this doco it seemed evident that it couldn't continue with the death of the owner hilly kristal.


the doco was quieter than i expected but gave me the impetus to explore that time in music a little more. that period across the globe was just amazing for music, so many genres, so little time. ;)

20, 21

had to skip a film because we had to arrive early for...

film 20: inglourious basterds. a feature at the forum. have to say up front i'm not a fan of quentin tarantino. and i still can't believe how i stressed over getting these tickets, but there you go, stress i did. and funnily enough, the guy that helped me through all these fun ticketing moments checked me into the event. tony, i thank you. ha! so we had to get there early, stand in line to get up stairs, to hand over our phones (and other recording devices), to get frisked, then finally getting to our seats. nearly an hour of chatting, watching recognisable faces slink in, geoffrey rush was there, vince colosimo, the mechanic from neighbours. then john saffran had a chat with tarantino - odd looking fellow, who then proceeded to wind his way to sit in the audience, right in front of me. very funny for the girls on either side of him. no pressure to perform well as an audience huh?? i have to say i was surprised how much i liked the film, and would even consider seeing it again. yes, it was funny and engaging. and clever. so i really am recommending a quentin tarantino film, who woulda thought it?

dining and wining at the chocolate buddha. fabulous name. pretty good company. ;)


film 21: we're living on dog food. doco at acmi. sort of a documentary about the making of dogs in space thrown together by richard lowenstein which ended up being more of a commentary on the scene and music around at the time. much preferred that anyway, it seems there is so much not said or known about times in music around this country. hopefully there will be an opening up and sharing of these experiences. interesting commentaries.

18, 19

film 18: coraline 3d. fabulous feature at melb central. you have to get to this, just to wear the funny glasses. well no, it's a great story, wonderful characters and fantastic vision. coraline's adventures are enthralling, go along with her. ainsley, take larissa to see this. or else.

bit of a search for food before settling on risotto in front of a tv fake fire. ;)


film 19: dogs in sppppaaaccceee (i can hear the muppets saying "pigs in space" in my head). australian feature from 1986 at acmi. i didn't see this when it first came out. i assume since i would watch anything that came to the viewway in those days, had it reared it's head i would've been in the middle of the middle seat at the cinema. a slice of life movie... wasn't sure where it was going to start with (besides a shared house in richmond). it was interesting but i got a little confused as there seemed to be a whole lot of 80s mixed in with the time they were trying to represent. still enjoyed it.

then i was allowed out in public for a couple of drinks. yah!