Matthew Mitcham

“Do you think he’s actually written the book himself?”, a colleague asked me the other day when I told her I’d been reading the Matthew Mitcham autobiography, “Twists & Turns”. “Oh yeah, absolutely”, I said. In some ways, reading the story of Matthew Mitcham was like reading a fairly lengthy blogpost. As well as the […]

Tim Draxl sings Chet Baker

As soon as I saw it advertised, I booked tickets straight away. It was an evening at one of my favourite cabaret bars in Sydney – Bar Me – featuring one of my favourite cabaret singers – Tim Draxl – doing the works of one of my favourite jazz musicians – Chet Baker – so […]

Sat On My Lap

As Kate and I walked around the streets of Chippendale, we noticed posters featuring artwork by Luke Temby. I noticed another one tonight as I came home from dinner at Emad’s on Cleveland Street. The art group I belong to has bought a couple of works by Temby, and he has created this crazy kind […]

What will Tim Draxl do next?

About half way through tonight’s show by Tim Draxl at The Civic I found my mind wandering. “What’s he going to do next?”, I thought to myself, adding “He’s done music, cabaret, films. Where’s his headspace at?”. Minutes later he articulated my very thoughts. “A lot of people have wondered what am I going to […]

Science, Fires and Merri-May

“Have you seen Merri-May perform before?”, I was asked by the woman sitting near me at tonight’s show. “Yes”, I told her… “Many times. I think I could be a groupie”. I have only a fairly vague memory of the first time I met Merri-May Gill, though I suspect it’s probably about 10 years ago. […]

Tim Draxl

“Thanks for coming out tonight when you could have gone to the Bledisloe Cup” Tim Draxl declared at the opening of his show tonight, adding, “I don’t even know what the Bledisloe Cup is”. There was only one bloke in the room who looked remotely interested in the rugby, and he was there with his […]

Retrogras

I’ve just arrived home from a terrific night out with my friend Colin. The night started off at the Roslyn Oxley 9 Gallery in Paddington where there’s a new exhibition by Callum Morton. The art collectors group of which I’m a member has a piece by him, and so I was keen to see what […]

Cumming at the Opera House

Every time I go to the Opera House I take a photograph of either the Opera House or the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Deep down, I know it’s provincial and parochial to photograph some so-called “world icons”, somehow holding on to a notion that Sydney is a “global city” whereas the other state capitals are “colonial […]

Mardi Gras Diary

I had a look through the Mardi Gras website tonight, in an effort to find which events I would like to attend over the next month or so. I’m no longer into the party scene, but I am interested in some of the community events. Here’s what I’ve found I would like to attend. Saturday […]