Tuesday, April 25, 2006

ANZAC Day

Hi all.

No doubt much will be written, said, and sung, about today, and what it means to be an Australian. We live in the lucky country, and our lads have fought in every major battle fought across the world since our federation in 1900. WWI, Gulf War, WWII, Gulf War II, Vietnam, Bosnia/Herzegova, and others I am sure I cannot remember.... Australian soldiers have been involved in lots of conflicts. Sometimes, we do not get into direct action, but are involved in supportive roles and strategic backup for our allies.
I often think that the general public, including myself, are not fully aware of what it means to be fighting for your life in a trench, of coming face to face with somebody whose sole intent it is is to kill you. Years back, War was thought of as a "grand adventure", although the harsh reality brough this country kicking and screaming into the modern age. Once blokes came back from war with missing limbs, shrapnel wounds and other frightful injuries sustained in the name of "freedom" and "peace", it became apparent that war was no longer an adventure but both a neccessity to thwart evil, and a dirty, nasty invention of mans greed and corruption.
We celebrate the courage and bravery of the countless millions through the last century of warfare: those who, rightly or wrongly, fought for our freedom and way of life against those who threatened to usurp that. We give thanks to those that died so that we may live. It was a sacrifice that many today would no doubt be loath to make.
I gave Gallipoli a spin on DVD last night, knowing that I would not get a chance to do so today. A fitting tribute to the gallant Australian spirit that was born into the mud and death of the Gallipoli peninsula, and the farewell of our country's innocence.
I suggest that today, each of us reflect on what living in this country means to each of us. The value of life, the value of democratic freedom (which appears to be rapidly eroding in the new War on Terrrrism) and the sacrifice that so many gave for that ideal.

God bless you today, as we remember the fallen.

Lest We Forget.

Monday, April 24, 2006

The Easter Rush

Just wanted to relay the events of the last couple of weeks, given that I havent been able to spend any time at work blogging..... (I know that upsets some people, but then, occasionally, I DO have to work) I figured now would be as good a time as any. Went to rainy Melbourne for Easter, and spent the 4.5 days there with Lisas folks. Which in itself wasnt too bad. Except that we just sat about doing nothing, listening to her mother yell at her father. Its quite annoying to hear, and I know I can never say anything because it's not my place. Oh well, at least the Easter Eggs we got were nice.
Flight back to Adelaide was sheer agony. Didn't know how long it would take to get from Greensborough to Avalon Airport (Near Geelong, for those who don't know Victoria too much.) so we estimated that it waas about 1.5 to 2 hours drive. Good estimation. It only took us an hour. We left home at 4pm, to arrive for an 8 pm flight. Expecting to arrive at about 6pm, and having an hour to eat tea before check in, we arrived at 5pm. We sat about with Lisas folks for an hour, and then we let them take off home. As we sat there, the music videos screamed at us from the nice looking plasma screens above our heads. Entertaining.....sorta. The time came for us to get ready to stand up, when suddenly the Voice Of Delay came over the loudspeaker and informed us that due to inclement weather in Sydney, the incoming sydney flight was delayed by about an hour, which also meant that, for some reason, the pl;ane bound for Adelaide was now an hour late. Darn. Immediately we made out tea time arrangements. Eating half cooked chicken schnitzel rolls and feeling like a sardine in the airport terminal, grumbling from fellow passengers could be plainly heard.
About an hour later, when we finally thought we'd be getting on a plane, no plane had yet pulled up at the terminal. Sure enough, a different, yet strangely placating, Voice Of Delay came over the loudspeaker again. This time, the delay was on again. Another hour. Bugger.
A few moments later, the Voice came on again and told everyone that the second delay was cancelled, and the flight was now on time......
And then, about three minutes later, the Voice Of Delay arrived yet again and apologised for the previous announcement being incorrect. The delay was substantial. Yet another hour with nothing to do in an airport smaller than a garden shed.
To make a long story short, we boarded the plane for Adelaide approximately 9:45pm EST, took off at precisely 10pm, and arrived into Adelaide 90 minutes later, at precicely 11pm CST. So, after being at the airport for 5 hours, and travelling for a total of 6, we were both absolutely buggered. Mentally, physically, emotionally stuffed.
Next time, I'll pay the extra fifty or so dollars to get a flight to Tullamarine and not to Avalon. Jetstar can go ram itself in a deep dark hole. Who builds a major airport out in the middle of a sheep paddock anyway? Grrrr.

Hope you all had a great Easter.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Pride and Prejudice (or, how I watched a movie and it changed my outlook.)

Call me a woman. Call me emotionally in tune with life. Call me anything but a real man. I am no longer pure of heart and mind. Why? Why do I say these things? They go against the grain of men across the globe. Manly men. (No, not men in tights, Emma!) Real hairy, burpy, farty, watching-sport-every-waking-moment MEN. Why am I no longer worthy of the title of a real man, if indeed I ever was worthy in the first place?

I watched the movie version of Pride and Prejudice - and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The bane of my movie/TV watching life has been the pressure to indulge in some kind of womanly pursuit of the ultimate of ultimates, the Everest of Chick Flicks-Made-From-A-Novel..... Pride & Prejudice. Our American Friend (TM) Christy, who loves this kind of stuff, never quite managed to get me to watch the television version made by the BBC, because it went against my manly sensibilities.

Lisa picked up a DVD copy of P&P at the video store, and I internally spontaneously combusted. I had grabbed a copy of Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire, a substantially less girly film with at least dragons and other cool stuff. Our trade off is that if I get to watch a boysy movie, she gets to watch a girly movie. Most would consider this a fair trade. Trouble is, I forgot that P&P was coming out. Had I realised, I would have obfuscated the fact, and tried to watch something we already had in the collection.
We got home, and I managed to convince Lisa that we would watch Happy Pot Smoker first. Thank goodness!

Harry Potter ended up being a great little flick. Then, it was too late in the evening to watch the second film. Great!
Off to bed I went, and got up and went to work the following morning. I got home, and Lisa was watching the special features of P&P (having obviously just finished watching it). I noticed that Judi Dench was in the film, and sudden'y my interest was piqued. I love Dame Judi, and if she was in this film then maybe I should have a quick look at it.

Against my better judgement, and with Harry Potters theme still running through my head, i embarked upon a journey that has subsequently changed my life.

P&P was a sumptuous, extravagent film about women with nothing better to do than plan weddings. And Kiera Knightly. The things we saw in Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of The Caribbean, and even Domino (to a lesser degree) are exemplified in true movie star form in this film. Knightly has a certain luminous quality, a wide eyes innocence that, simply put, makes her extremely easy on the eye. Kind of like Marylin Monroe, or even a younger Ava Gardener. She retains a certain "freshness" that comes across every time I see her on screen.

And the film itself: great. The acting performances across the board are excellent, with the exception of some of the younger female cast (who do little more than act as window dressing, and perhaps should have received a little more fleshing out) and of particular note is Brenda Blethyn, who plays Mrs Bennett. She first came to international prominence in the wonderful film Calendar Girls, and has since then been seen in a number of high profile British Productions, and here she really hits her stride. Utterly captivating. And on the other side of the coin, we have the great Judi Dench. A certified British National Treasure, Dench is pure vindictiveness in this, and a more astonishing cameo performance one will be hard pressed to find. For her exceptionally limited screen time, she makes the most of it.

Cinematically, the film is languidly paced, and beautiful to look at. Production design, location filming and set design are all perfect. The shot of Knightly on the bridge, at the end of the film, looking at camera and then spotting Mr Darcy off to her left, is simply magical for its radiance.

Yes, I am now gushing. I should stop. But I cannot. This is a great film, and by Chick Flick standards, outclasses Ever After in the pantheon of highly romantic movies. I hope and pray that all women and their men get to watch this.

I cannot recommend this beautiful film highly enough. Watch it: immediately. Those living in the shadow of the BBC series will soon forget it.

Enjoy.

**Post script***

Sob, sob, my poor and battered manliness. It was great while it lasted. But by inviting disdain amongst my male peers, by enjoying an unabashed chick flick of such high quality, I hereby request that I am no longer known as a real man, but instead as a Half-A-Man.
Thankyou.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Overseas

Hi All,

Well, its a strange feeling, but I was working on Thrash Bus II the other day and came to a sudden realisation: a substantial number of people involved in the production of the film are now overseas. Box, Newman and gail, Angela, are all overseas, and Kiah is so far interstate she may as well be overseas. If I wanted to conduct interviews for a "making of" for the DVD, I might have a hard time of it. Oh well. Its also interesting that a large number of people I know are living overseas: Annabel among the most famous, but also Christy and Nails. Its a lot of people.

On a less serious note, I was asked to be Jimmys best man last week. Thats a pretty big honour, and it's great he asked me when he did because it now gives me about 18 months beofre they get married to plan a bucks night. Hmmm. I have a few ideas, but none that involve anything except naked women and honey.

Kidding.

Well, only a short blog today. Might try and come up with more tomorrow. Will soon see I guess......
Okay, so I may have to tone it down a bit. But I am sure we can come up with something.