Social Life Explodes

It’s Sunday night and I’ve just watched “The Simpsons”. The last few days have seen a real explosion in my social life as I’ve gone from event to event. Bizarre really… isn’t it that with two weeks left in Perth suddenly I have lots to do. So, without further ado… here’s what I’ve been up to lately.

On Friday afternoon I went to the Government House Ballroom for the launch of the Perth International Arts Festival. Since David Mark from Sydney was in town, I invited him along for a glass of wine and a canape too while we caught up. The launch itself was interesting, as the organisers chose a catwalk for the main speakers to walk up and down which worked sometimes and didn’t others. When it was good, such as when the vocalist sang at the beginning, but when it was just a speech with clipboard, it began to take on “Anthony Robbins” motivational speech qualities. The ballroom itself, though, was just gorgeous.

Although, of course, I won’t be here for the festival, I was interested in some aspects of the program, including: Steven Berkoff Shakespeare’s Villains Steven Berkoff is considered of the world’s most acclaimed actors, writers and directors. He has electrified audiences with chilling productions such as East, Salome, and Coriolanus and as the archetype of evil in the films Octopussy, Beverly Hills Cop, Rambo and The Krays. and HG Nelson: On the Lurk (Australia) A bloke, a barbecue, a big screen and a bunch of ideas – what more could you want from arguably Australia’s finest cheese and cracker mind?

After that, Di and I headed off the Maritime Museum at Fremantle for the launch of the second series of Surfing The Menu. The publicity blurb for the series goes like this: Two hunky Aussie larrikins who just happen to be world class chefs, Ben O’Donoghue and Curtis Stone, have escaped their kitchens to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. With their surfboards and boning knives packed, they’ve hijacked a film crew to cook up a Gourmet Adventure Series that’s one part travel show and two parts cooking show. As Di is WA’s Tv publicist, I was briefly introduced to Curtis who seems like a nice bloke, though taller than I expected. Apparently the food for the launch was done by Ben Elton’s sister-in-law who lives in Perth. The combination of attending both events meant I didn’t have to worry about dinner on Friday night!

Yesterday was a gargantuan social day, starting off with lunch, which led to dinner and then to a fortieth birthday. I was invited to lunch by a lovely guy from work and his soon-to-be wife (they’ve been together 13 years) who are both terrific people: smart, good humoured, really nice people. Two other couples were invited, all of whom were also smart, good humoured nice people with interesting lives. For several hours we sat around, dissected the rights and wrongs of the world while enjoying a lovely meal in a great house. Could life get any better?

From there it was almost immediately straight off to dinner. I had dinner with Tiffany and three of her friends, Michael, Alistair and Terry who I met a couple of weeks ago at a trivia night. The result of that wonderful meeting of minds was a free dinner at Coco’s Riverside Restaurant And Bar. The food was reasonable, the service okay (I’m probably being kind), but the view was magnificent.

And then it was off to a fortieth birthday party for Russell from work. As was lunch and dinner, it was a terrific opportunity to catch up with smart, good-natured, people with whom I really bonded. We laughed, got angry, dissected the world and had a drink or seven.

I hope the next two weeks will be as much fun.

Tomorrow I’m catching up with a couple of ABBAMAILERS here in Perth, co-inciding with Christian Deligny’s visit for the Telstra Rally. I just spoke with Christian a short while ago and suggested inauspiciously named “The Lucky Shag” which is near The Belltower in the city as a good place to catch up tomorrow evening at about 6.00pm It’s has a great view and it’s central, so I thought he’d really like it. And of course, we can celebrate Frida’s Birthday!!!