I love Melbourne in the winter, when the skies are grey and it's raining, and the roads are a bit slippery, and everybody is rugged up and all you want to do is drink hot chocolate and eat stodge and be in a warm room with a comfy chair, a wood fire and a soggy cat.
Unfortunately, I don't have the open fire, but I do have the comfy couch and the soggy pussycat. It's miserable outside, the rain starting just as I was coming out of the hairdressers, and by the time I made it to town to collect my mail, it was raining the light, but inconvenient rain Melbourne is known for. It's about ten degrees outside now. Still, a light rain falls.
Inside, the heater is on. The soggy pussycat is curled up on his throne, under his blanket, happy that I'm home. I'm catching up on the ironing. Guy Ritchie's The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is playing on the telly, giving me a chance to gawp at Henry Cavill while ensuring the bedlinen is dry, uncreased and ready for its next use.
Speaking of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, I am loving all of the bizarre stories that are coming out of World War II, now that the archives are open. Operation Mincemeat is another of this ilk, showing the stories of this heinous war and the plucky spirit of the Brits and their love of ratbaggery.
It's good television to do the ironing too.
But now, I have decisions to make.
It's cold and damp and I have a theatre to get to.
This is a Shakespeare weekend. Tonight, I'm finally catching a performance of Macbeth (An Undoing) at the Malthouse. I was supposed to go the week I caught COVID. The decision is, do I take public transport, drive or catch an Uber. Public transport in this weather is never fun, and the Malthouse is a little off the beaten track. Parking is expensive - but so is an Uber - but it is door-to-door. I have ten minutes to decide what to do.
Tomorrow, it's the Bell Shakespeare's King Lear.
Again, it's something you can only do in Melbourne.
Last night I crashed. Being on the red-eye back to Melbourne, with very little sleep, then having to drop my house sitter home, then go to work (albeit doing very little work) I conked out early. My normally reticent cat joined me on the bed, where I slept for eleven hours. But this was not before I put in a placeholder for this week's questions, which have been provided, as always, by Bev at Sunday Stealing.
1. What are your plans for August
Nothing much really - it's the middle of winter here, although I'm scheduled to spend two weeks in Darwin working, which means I get two weeks of warmth. I have two plays to see at the Melbourne Theatre Company - a sumptuous version of A Streetcar Named Desire, along with another play called English. I have an overnight trip to Sydney to see the Sydney Theatre Company's version production of Dracula, which looks incredible. Click here to see a review. Looking forward to this one. And it's my birthday later in the month. I'll be in Darwin. A favourite movie is on at the Deckchair Cinema that night, so hoping to grab a friend or two and see that on the day.
2. Your mid-year resolutions or goals
Remain sane. Keep calm. Get fit again after this bout of COVID.
3. Are you good at taking care of plants
Yes and no. I really don't like gardening, but I've managed to keep the cat's cat grass and chewy pot plant (his spider plant, non-toxic, but slightly hallucinogenic for cats - he loves it) for well over a year.
4. What makes you feel nourished
Friends. Being in water. The sea. Good times with friends. A decent book.
5. Which animals do you see most in your area
Dogs. Particularly little white fluffy dogs and adopted greyhounds. And quite a few French Bulldogs and Dachshunds. And Golden Retrievers. And every sort of poodle cross you'd even imagine. Australians love their dogs.
6. Books on your summer reading list
Here are a few.
I want to get to Paul Murray's The Bee Sting before they announce the next Booker Shortlist
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Prima Facie by Suzie Millar is next on our book group book list
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is our September book.
I also need to get my kindle back from my colleague.
7. Projects you want to tackle this summer
We're in the middle of winter. It's a project to keep warm. Australian houses are generally badly heated and insulated.
8. Do you have weddings, graduations, summer celebrations
Nope.
9. Which summer snacks are you excited to enjoy again
As it is winter here, I'm looking forward to making some pumpkin soup and savoury toast. Small, simple wonders. And yes, for those of you English, we eat pumpkin, it is not thrown to the pigs. And to the Americans, pumpkin does not come in a can here and we eat it as a savoury thing. Pumpkin soup is the best.
10. How much time do you like to take for vacations
Oh, a vacation. I had three weeks in Europe last October. As a contractor, I don't get paid if I don't work, but overseas holidays really need at least three weeks to a month. Asia is a bit different, where a week or two will suffice.
Something for the Americans reading this. In Australia, most full-time employees have 20-25 days paid holiday, not including public holidays, which are paid anyway. Yes, that is 4-5 weeks paid leave. (Plus ten days sick leave, often at the employer's discretion).
11. Where are your favorite picnic locations
Either the beach or at a park. As long as there are tables, I'm fine.
12. Something that would be out of character for you
Take your pick of these:
Listening to Country and Western music
Viewing a horror movie
Wearing a bikini
Reading Russian Literature (boring)
Being on time on weekends
Being enthused about seeing a mainstream musical
Voting Conservative
13. Which summer movies are you excited to see
I'm hoping to see the Deadpool & Wolverine movie in the next week or so while I'm still here in Melbourne.
And I'm a big Beetlejuice fan, so I'm looking forward to the next installment
14. Your favorite free / cost effective ways to have fun
Going for a walk or reading a book.
15. Who do you trust most to house & pet sit
I'm very lucky with cat and house sitters. My friends' eighteen-year-old, calm, responsible twins have been coming to stay while I've been doing the hard yards in Darwin. They like staying over as they get the television to themselves - a bit of space away from the family. The cat is also becoming friendlier to them. Blarney and Barney look after him for short stints too.
One night in Batchelor (also referred to as Wolf Creek)
One night in Katherine.
Lots of swimming. The waterholes at Mataranka and Bitter Springs were incredible. The pool at our hotel is BLOODY COLD, but very refreshing after work. The pool in in a gully, surrounded on three sides by large buildings. Still, it is July and I get to go into a pool for a swim.
There's been more alcohol than I normally drink. When I dropped my Darwin bag back to the office, where it resides in one of the manager's offices, he asked if the gin was in there again. All the gin got drunk over the two weeks. I've had drinking mates this trip. It's been nice.
I've also worked out that COVID is a pain in the arse. I came up here pretty much recovered from COVID. I felt fine. The nose had stopped running. I felt fine. The RAT test was clear.
But COVID has a long tale end. Walking anything about over a slow stroll was catching on the top of my chest. I ended up buying a Ventolin inhaler to help with the breathing as I was getting a bit wheezy at times. The fact that you're in and out of air conditioning all day, every day doesn't help either.
That, and the tiredness.
Last night I was out with friends, but I was flagging early. I came home. I put a movie on the telly and curled up on the couch. Next thing I knew, it was 2 a.m. - Hence no blog last night.
Tonight, I was spoiled. A colleague offered me their leftovers. They used to be a chef. Prawn Caesar salad. It was INCREDIBLE. I owe them one bigtime.
But now I'm going home - for two weeks - before I have to come back here for user acceptance testing, and my birthday.
I'm nearly packed. It's just a matter of unplugging the Fire Stick, having a shower, taking my recycling down to the fourth floor and putting on warmer clothes, shoes with socks, gathering up the last of the detritus, charge up my watch and phone and meet a couple of colleagues and heading over to the airport at 11.30.
I'm just out of my book group. This is not as hard as you think, as we hold our book group online. Instead of an 8 pm start, here in Darwin, it's a 7.30 kick off. It also means that I had to get my swim in early and forage for dinner from the leftovers in my fridge and have a gin and tonic ready. Easy.
The book was Sarah Winman's Still Life. This was one of my favourite books read last year and it was a pleasure to read it again. The novel tells of the unlikely friendship between a soldier, Ulysses Temper, and a septuagenarian art critic, Evelyn Skinner, who meet in World War II and who have a huge impact on each other. Life goes on, Ulysses moves to Florence, taking in tow his old friends from the pub in which he used to live in London's East End, as well as the eight-year-old daughter of his ex-wife.
The book takes in the period from 1944 to 1979, with a small foray back to Florence at the turn of the 20th century. It's historically pretty accurate.
It's also ostensibly a queer book. Sarah Winman is gay, and there are a number of gay, lesbian and queer characters throughout the book, which, for the late 50s was almost unheard of. Still Life is a book of quirky characters that speaks of love, friendship, family and the ties that bind us.
Oh, and there is a parrot named Claude. Loved Claude.
One of the questions we were asked is, if we were to cast a movie or mini-series of this book, who would you cast.
For me, it was a bit easy.
For the slightly conflicted good guy, Ulysses, that has to go to James Norton. He does a good conflicted good guy with a bit of a past.
For 'The Kid', I reckon Millie Bobbie Brown would be good. She's do a great arty waif, that Alice turns out to be. She could use her native accent.
In the roles of Cress and Col, two guys from the East End pub who are integral to Ulysses and his life in Florence, we're looking for an older actor with a bit of life who can then be aged. I'm thinking Daniel Craig or Hugh Grant. Hugh Grant does a great Cockney accent, and Daniel Craig has the range. I see him more as the faithful Cress. Cress has a sense of humour.
For Peg, I'm seeing a Michelle Dockery. She can sing. And she can be tough. but vulnerable - and Peg needs that.
Oh, and Evelyn - we'll give that to Olivia Colman. I reckon she could do her justice. If not, Celia Imrie.I love to cast movies in my head. Get the right cast and this could be a ripper of a film or mini-series.
I have a funny feeling. I’ll be watching a lot of Netflix over the next couple of weeks.
And it’s not that I don’t wonder at the scale of the people participating. What some of these people do is amazing, however, I have the following issues with the Olympics, particularly from an Australian perspective.
Firstly, so much money gets put into getting our team to wherever they’re going, to win medals. That money could be put too much better things. Australia is always seen to be punching above its weight, but participation Getting people prepared for the Olympics that of Russia or China. Think about it.
Secondly, I don’t like that. You only see snippets of everything. It used to be that you could watch all of the swimming, or all of the dressage etc etc. Now you’re just getting into it and it changes onto something that you don’t want to watch on the telly.
Sod that.
Thirdly, get pissed off with this fixation medals. Isn’t the Olympics about participation, As an amateur, in your favourite sport? Why is obtaining medals so freaking important.
This is not to detract from other people getting enjoyment from the Olympics. I'm sure if they had channels for just diving gymnastics and dressage I'd happily watch along. I find athletics and swimming rather boring - I mean, just running around a track or doing laps really fast,
I have a friend heading to Paris to support one of our marathon runners. Good on her, I say. I believe her friend is in with a change of a medal. I understand what it is to support your friends.
But I will be watching a lot of Netflix over the next few weeks. It's unpatriotic and un-Australian, but it's how I feel.
I am just back from two days away from Darwin. My colleague EH and I drove down to Mataranka and Nitmiluk (Katherine) to bear witness to the amazing natural beauty of the place. And because of this, I am currently very, very tired - and a little bit sunburned. Oh well.
Quetions, as always, come from Bev at Sunday Stealing Sunday Stealing.
1. What would you put in a time capsule?
I really don't have any idea. I did see a video about them opening a time capsule from the 1970s which was filled with all sorts of unmentionables. I worry that if I put things in a time capsule, that would happen. (This probably only works for the Brits - the Plastic Mancunian understands.)
2. What’s something you’re really good at?
I'm pretty good at knitting, writing stroppy letters, thinking my way out of problems and ironing.
3. What part of society would you like to change?
Everything. I'd like to get rid of the rich/poor and the class divides. It's so harmful. We could also get rid of the patriarchy and right-wing politics. That too would help a lot.
4. What have you eaten in the past 24 hours?
Crap. EH and I only got back to Darwin a few hours ago, but we had a sensible hotel breakfast in Katherine, a muffin and a coffee at Nitmiluk, I had a fish burger and chips at Pine Creek, and some salad and a little bit of ice cream for dinner.
5. What is an unusual fact about you?
I'm a practicing witch. That unusual enough? I am a white witch. No cursing or doing harm.
6. Do you collect anything?
Not really, but I do like it when people bring me back small elephants from countries which have elephants.
7. Have you played sports?
I do gym a lot, and I love exercising, but I've never played team sports. Unless you count pool. I love playing pool.
8. What is your favorite blog?
The Plastic Mancunian. I have to admit, I don't read many blogs.
9. Ketchup vs. mustard?
Both. But I put tomato sauce (ketchup) on lots of things. I love all sorts of different mustards, like Dijon, seedy, Hot English, Horseradish... We don't really use American Yellow Mustard around here. I like the French style mustard used at IKEA.
10. Do you believe in ghosts or aliens?
I have a healthy belief that both ghosts and aliens exist, but they probably don't come in the way we think. The universe is too big to have this planet as the only inhabited one. And I've been around too many ghosts not to believe in them.
11. The last movie you saw in a theater.
Oh, that was Yorgos Lanthimos's Kinds of Kindness. I normally love his work, but I really didn't gel with this. It was VERY dark.
12. The silliest thing you have done this week.
Doing a 800 kilometre round trip road trip was pretty silly - but very rewarding. But now I'm really tired.
13. Have you ever done anything illegal?
Yes, but I've never been caught. Other than the odd speeding ticket, I did live in England without a visa for six years. But I paid my taxes and National Insurance.... swings and roundabouts.
14. What would you wish for right now?
World Peace. A kinder, gentler, less selfish society.
15. What shoes do you wear the most of?
As I am currently in Darwin, I'm living in Birkenstocks. In Melbourne, as it is in the middle of Winter, I live in Chelsea boots and Ugg Boots and trainers, but here, in the heat, it's sturdy sandals.
