b r a v e c r e a t u r e s

I am starting to feel like a traveller again, what with all the back and forward to the Gold Coast late last year, the trip to Byron and now a weekender to Cairns.

I had a truly great time on this trip. Did some diving, went to the Daintree, hung out a GREAT friend and generally relaxed. Some pictures at Flickr and more to go up tomorrow.

I came back in such a stupid good mood this morning that I got funny looks from the folks at work, but given that I am REALLY recharged I got through about 100% more than I normally do in a day so everyone wins.

I have a lot of stories to tell from the weekend, but its been a long day and I am off to bed.

For those of you who know me, you are well aware that 2005 is down as Annus horribilis for me and my loved ones. Death, desertion, divorce, dismemberment, depression, illness, unemployment, car accidents, theft, bad investments, money problems and a Liberal re-election. Truely a crappo year.

Funnily enough, looking back on it, while lots went REALLY wrong I have to say that my abiding memory of the year is that lots went really right. There is only one thing that is really bleak about 2005, but its probably the most important thing to me. Losing the love of your life is, as they say, a bit of a bummer. But I have come out of it with a list of wins that I am really happy with. Tres lucky, I am.

To me it felt like the corner was turned for 2005 just before Christmas when my mother came through her cancer operation with flying colours. Today that substantial win was compounded. I will again let my mother speak for herself in this excert from her email to friends and family.

To all of you who have helped me thru this rather dreadful time in my life, my news is suddenly such that the dance of the fairies is in the seeable future for me. Thanks to all of your prayers and for whatever other reasons may apply, I have just received a phone call from the Gold Coast Hospital with wonderful news.

My operation was done in consultation with the Royal Brisbane Hospital and their cancer experts. News has just been relayed to the Gold Coast to say that while they had told me that I would require chemotherapy, I do not need it after all. My hospital will keep an eye on me, but they believe that chemo is not necessary.

To say that I am over the moon, and have improved my state of health from 25% to 50% in the past half hour is the understatement of the year.

You REALLY cant keep the old girl down. At 74, shirley is still a force of nature.

I have been up in Lismore for New Years Eve. Now Lismore is not a pulsing centre of revolutionary cultural or intellectual advancement, its a sleepy town near the northern New South Wales coast about 90 minutes drive from the Gold Coast.

So why would I, international traveler of renown and bon vivant, be going there for my New Years festivities I hear you ask. Well it was my friend Tony’s idea.

Tony grew up in the area and his mother became ill (cancer) last year (2005). She passed away about 6 months after the diagnosis, and Tony spent most of that time with her after coming home from his long planned trip to the US. He was amazingly selfless, he just went home and stayed there doing everything for her until the end. He is a REALLY good person.His siblings and he have decided to sell the family home, so he has been going up there a lot to settle things and fix up the place for sale.

When my mother got sick in December last year, it become clear that I was going to be spending a lot of time on the Gold Coast. Tony suggested that if she was doing ok, and I could spare the time, I might like to come down to the Tropical Fruits party. This is a smallish party that has become a getaway for the jaded and less frantic of Sydney, to a lesser extent, Melbourne as well as regional New South Wales andBrisbane. Mum has bounced back FANTASTICALLY from what was a pretty harrowing operation, six hours on the table with three guys up to their shoulders rummaging around in her abdomen, so I figured I could sneak away for a little fun. The options of a/ going out in Melbourne and running into the unmentionables, or b/ sitting at home, were really not that appealing.

I flew into the GC, dropped by to see Mum to make sure she was ok and then drove down to Alstonville which is a little village outside Lismore and Byron where Tony’s place was. It was quiet and pretty and absolute delight.

Tony and I napped the afternoon away and then headed off to the party around 10.30, arriving at 11.00 with plenty of time to settle in. On arrival I ran into Leonie Dickinson working the door. Leonie was my exec producer at Open Channel for “One of these things” my sad little attempt at directing a documentary. She is the person who said straight out “you are not a natural director, you will really struggle. You are however a great creative producer. Focus on that!”A little brutal, but you need to be direct with me.

Pussy footing around about what you mean is pointless. She was horrified to be reminded how blunt she had been, but we had a good laugh about it. She is living up at Byron and LOVING IT.

I like to do a lap around any new venue to make sure I don’t get myself too lost later in the night when I am feeling sparkly so Tony and I did promenade of the party compound to get our bearings and to reviewing the troops. All up it looked like a fun space. Two big dance halls side by side, a smaller funk room, a tent lounge, and outdoor cinema showing experimental work (ick) and an art show. We wandered into this last one looking for a bathroom and it appeared that someone had thrown up some pretty average “art” in there.

Most of the alleged art work was vagina related including some model works made of blocks of wood, crazy fur and jam. What wasn’t literally pussy on display was evocative. Lots of pictures of lily’s and orchids done in over bright water colours. Suffice to say Tony and I skipped through there fairly quickly - without putting our hands in the large, dripping holes in the walls.

After grabbing a drink, it was time to explore the dance floor. We went into one of the halls, which wasn’t too busy. I commented on this to Tony who said there was enough space for him to samba, and promptly went on to prove his point. We laughed and continued dancing for a minute or so, until we realized that people seemed to be moving away from us. Quickly! And to such an extent that the hall appeared to be emptying.

Needless to say, in between laughing our arses off Tony was “scolded” for this reckless Sambering which had clearly frightened off the crowd of faux-butch queens we were dancing near. During said humorous scolding, the hall actually completely emptied, which left us kind of worried, so we moved out one of the doors and looked in the other hall - also emptied. Clearly word of Tony’s sassy steps had spread and people were rushing from the place in horror.

We moved out onto the grassy hill side running down from the halls to a large oval outside the party grounds to find all of the party goers standing with their backs to us. “Tony” I said, “If you were hoping to get laid tonight, I think you just blew your chances”.

It was at that point that the fireworks started.It appears that it wasn’t (only) Tony’s suspect samba. There had been some kind of queer flocking behavior that led everyone (bar us) outside to see something shiny.

The fireworks were frankly amazing given where we are, and it was easy to see where a lot of the $80/head ticket price had gone. Sure it wasn’t 3,000 kg of sparklers shooting off the Harbor Bridge or in Melbourne, but it was nice none the less. And given the glorious background of stars, it was all up a pretty wonderful way to usher in the new year.

That will do it for this post. There is more to tell, particularly about the Mcbethian delights of old friends and a fab pool party. But right now I think I need a little nap.

Christmas has been very low key this year. I am on the Gold Coast with my mother who is just out of hospital and recovering from a pretty big operation. She is doing really well, but it made for a low key day and since we are both being careful with money, we put an embargo on present, which of course I broke for her. 

The following is a letter from my mother to her email correspondents, of which she has hundreds. I thought it worth reproducing here.

Somehow I have pulled my self together completely, and the conclusion I came to? That Christmas did not have to mean presents and a big turkey/seafood meal, but love. And that I have received in abundance, and I feel that I am enjoying the most wonderful Christmas ever.

Not only have I been inundated and surrounded with love, but I have gone thru a very large operation, come out the other side, and now, with just a little pain, I am on the way to a full recovery. I have spoken around the world and your care and concern has helped me to handle this little hic up in life.

To all of my friends, rellies, caring acquaintances and most of all my doctors, I give up thanks in abundance.

To all of you, enjoy the day with loved ones and count the many blessings

So here I am on the Gold Coast for a couple of weeks looking after my mother, and having something of a vacation. I have heard good things about Peter Jackson’s new film, King Kong, so after the gym tonight I took myself off to see it. Given I am a visual effects kind of guy, I figured I would enjoy it.

I have to say, I was really surprised. And pleasantly so. Its a really good film. Now don’t get me wrong, its still a film about a giant gorilla living on a island with dinosaurs who is captured and taken to New York. Its fantasy, action/adventure and its intended to be entertaining. Its not meant to be deep. Its not "The Ice Storm. What is surprising about it however, is that it is really tender.

Now, truth be told, I am a bit of a romantic at heart. I know that is shocking, but its the truth. And there are a few scenes in this movie that really moved me. The relationship between Kong and Anne Darrow is well played and artfully set up. Kong is not overly anthropomorphized, but his motivations are clear and convincing.

What that means, is that Adrian Brody actually plays second fiddle as leading man to the great ape. It also means that Jackson has done a fantastic job of telling a complex story without overuse of dialogue - and that’s no mean feat.

The execution of the film is pretty much flawless, all of the cast do great jobs and the visual effects do not swamp the story. Some of the situations the heroes get themselves into and out of are a little ridiculous at times, but in the name of fun its forgivable. Although the captians fortuitous arrival twice is stretching things a little.

Where the film really shines is in the silent moments between Ann (Naomi Watts) and Kong. The look of  love that passes between them is the sort of  thing that we all wish for, and it has been superbly captured on screen.

At just over three hours the film is a little long, but personally I didnt get restless. The characters were all set up well so we were able to relate to all of them. Given the success of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, I am starting to wonder if audiences are beginning to look for longer and deeper engagement with characters on screen. Perhaps the two hour limit isnt the rule any more.

This is an excellent film. Well worth seeing on the big screen.