Is this really the best they could come up with for a new tourism campaign. Something about the invitation to “go walkabout” makes me really uneasy. You know I loved Strictly Ballroom and it remains one of my favourite Australian films. I also enjoyed the fluff and sparkle of Moulin Rouge, but every time I […]

Inspired by Catriona’s post at Circulating Library on the problem with clowns, I looked up this clip from early Sesame Street. The story goes that when I was about 2 or 3 my mother was alerted to screaming from the living room and found me greatly disturbed by this freakish segment of a clown removing […]

It always takes some time to adjust to no teaching. Without it, the working week somehow loses it recognised structure. Tuesday just doesn’t feel like Tuesday anymore without class at 12. It could be any day of the week. It does mean that I can turn my attention to other things (like for instance the […]

For the past few months my father has been painting the inside of my house, one room at a time every weekend. What started as dirty beige walls with musk pink trim around all the doors and windows has now been transformed into white on white, the particular shade “Fair Bianca”. (Check your dulux colour […]

For the past few months my father has been painting the inside of my house, one room at a time every weekend. What started as dirty beige walls with musk pink trim around all the doors and windows has now been transformed into white on white, the particular shade “Fair Bianca”. (Check your dulux colour […]

This is the last of the nasturtiums. They’ve gone rather ratty and stringy and I left them in as long as I could so the next lot of seeds would drop. But as of half an hour ago they have been ruthlessly ripped out and thrown into the bin. I dug all the seeds in […]

This is the last of the nasturtiums. They’ve gone rather ratty and stringy and I left them in as long as I could so the next lot of seeds would drop. But as of half an hour ago they have been ruthlessly ripped out and thrown into the bin. I dug all the seeds in […]

Saturday: The Man who knew too much Part of ABC2’s ongoing season of Hitchcock films The Man who knew too much screened Saturday evening. I like James Stewart in most things and he always plays the everyman to perfection. This was no exception, apart from the fact that the plot seemed a little messy. Doris […]

Saturday: The Man who knew too much Part of ABC2’s ongoing season of Hitchcock films The Man who knew too much screened Saturday evening. I like James Stewart in most things and he always plays the everyman to perfection. This was no exception, apart from the fact that the plot seemed a little messy. Doris […]

I couldn’t resist this book as I passed the second hand shop this morning. Looks like a corker of a “sparkling new comedy from Thames TV” (1980). The write-up on the back tells us: He’s a highly-qualified, lightning witted, ultra-bright freelance layabout. His girlfriend Fran wants him to settle down to the pursuit of fame […]