The Virgo Effect

I'm not a Virgo, but I am a Virgo. 

Eh?

I hang out with too many astrologers. I'm a Leo/Virgo - nicely cuspy born in the later part of August. 

But if you look at my chart (yeah, I know, gobbledygook to most) you'll see that I have five planets in Virgo. From Right to left, there's Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Pluto and Uranus, all in a row, bunched up like best mates on a beach blanket - unhappily opposing Saturn and trined with Neptune. 

I've got enough Virgo in my chart to make me a decent Virgo.

And what are Virgos? Pains in the arse who like making lists. Yep. 

They also make me a bit of a perfectionist at times. 

This isn't good - it's sometimes useful. 

Today I've been making training videos. An eye for detail, a lot of refining with AI, A lot of moving things around a video editor.

It's exhausting. It's exacting. 

My new best friend is Ryan (Multilingual-Australia), the voice I use to do the video voiceovers. He's on the app and takes direction well - in other words he one of the better voice-to-text voices. All you have to do is type in your commentary and he says it for you. Magic. 

Not really. It's a part of the job. I'm doing some pretty basic stuff - but it looks cool, and it's a skill I'm developing - even if the Virgo in me is berating me for not being perfect. 

Pity I can't show you - mind you, short training videos about banking applications aren't that interesting. 

Today's song: 

Knackered

 There's a reason I'm reading a Jilly Cooper book at the moment. I need the sheer fun, banality and fun that Jilly Cooper can provide. I don't need tough stuff. 

I also need to get away from my computer. I've been sitting in front of one all day. I've been playing with SCORM files. 

I hate SCORM files. 

I have opinions about SCORM files (Doesn't everybody?)

I got out of work late because of the SCORM files.

And because of this, I'd rather stay away from to computer. 

We've just had book group. The book, Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore, was excellent. 

But I can't do computers any more today. 

Night night. 

SCORM files. Blah. 

Today's song: 

Movie Review: A Private Life

 Movie Number 20 of 2026

The Movie: A Private Life (Vie Privee)

The Cinema: Hoyts, Victoria Gardens

Runtime: One hour 47 minutes

Mostly in French with English Subtitles

Stars: 3.75

Jodie Foster is enigmatic. She's also a polyglot, speaking French like it's her mother tongue. I saw an interview with her on breakfast television the other day, advertising this film. It's the first time she's done a whole film in French (however, she's often found doing the dubbing for her English speaking films.) Curious, I wanted to have a look. the film also has Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Amalric and Irene Jacob, I was in. 

Besides, any chance to use my French is never a bad thing. 

According to IMDB.com, the plot goes something like this.

"The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered."

This is not the world's best film - it's a bit slow, it's a bit strange and it's a bit convoluted. I went with Jay and she said she was bored. 

Me, on the other hand - I'm a bit more forgiving. 

A perfect film - no. A French film, with an ambling plot? Yes. 

Of course, I was won over by the opening credits of the film where the bass like of Psycho Killer plays. We learn soon that Lillian (Jodie Foster) is a psychiatrist and a pain in the arse. A reluctant mother and grandmother. A tetchy therapist, she tapes her sessions on mini-discs. When one of her clients turns up dead, allegedly by suicide, she's certain that she wouldn't have done that and goes on a journey to work out just what is happening. 

She's thrown out of the shiva by her client's husband (Mathieu Amalric), enlists the assistance of her ex-husband (Daniel Auteuil) and appears to become a little unhinged in the process. 

This isn't a perfect thriller, but it had enough to keep me going. Seeing Paris in Autumn is never a bad thing. Foster's French is incredible. There are some very funny moments in the film. The client who's trying to give up smoking is a gift that keeps on giving over the film. I liked the relationship she had going with her ex. Foster and Auteuil had a wonderful comfortable chemistry. 

I left happy. I know that the film doesn't show what a real psychiatrist does (One of Jay's complaints) and it didn't seem to make sense in places. Regardless, I'm pleased to have seen this - if anything, to air out my French and get some language into my ears. 

This is a stylish, fast-paced and occasionally misguided thriller. There was enough for me to enjoy on a wet Sunday afternoon. You can't ask for more that.

Today's song:

Theatre Review: Art

The Play: Art by Yasmina Reza

The Theatre: The Comedy Theatre

Until 17 May in Melbourne - at Her Majesty's Theatre Adelaide 20-24 May

Stars: 4

Cheap tickets make me happy, especially when you can secure yourself a good seat in the front row of the Dress Circle for half the full ticket price. Seeing they were trying to fill the theatre for Art's last few days (especially as I looked at the ticket prices, then thought the better of it) I was glad to be able to go along at a more reasonable price.

I remember seeing Art in London in the 90s. Yasmina Reza, a French playwright, was all the rage at the time and it had a long run at the Wyndham Theatre. I'm pretty sure I saw it with Robert Bathurst as Serge, Nigel Havers as Marc and Roger Allam as Yvan. I do remember the premise of the play. I remember enjoying it. I could tell you it was a three hander about three blokes who react to one of them playing an exorbitant amount for what's basically a white canvas. And all hell prevails. 

Nearly 30 years on, this revival is sound - but has it aged well?  Part of me thinks not. 

Art is a very funny place on the surface. Three men who have been friends for years. A doctor, and engineer and the one who's still finding themselves, drifting from career to career. As much as they like each other, they also get up eachother's noses. Marc (Richard Roxburgh) can be an egotistical wanker who's sarcasm gets the better of him. Serge (Damon Herriman), the doctor who bought the painting, wanting to show his cultural chops. Then there's Yvan (Toby Schmitz) the boy-man who's about to get married and has been drifting for years. 

The play is still funny. It's witty and cutting and laugh out loud hilarious in places. 

However, I felt some of the scenes were a bit overacted - especially by Roxburgh and Schmitz - the physical aspects of their performance weren't needed. 

The other thing that had me questioning the play was looking at male friendships. Maybe we're hearing about the male loneliness epidemic too much, but do men still have these almost co-dependent relationships with each other? Can men really be this vapid? Or and U just reacting to the acting. 

In all, this was a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon, but I do have some questions about the play and how it's being performed in the 2020s. What would this look like if the characters were Marg, Sergia and Ivana? How would it play out differently?

Art has another week to play in Adelaide. I don't begrudge getting the ticket for a cheaper price. I'm not sure how I'd feel if I paid full whack for it. Regardless, it was a good use of 90 minutes, even if it raised more questions than answers. 

Today's song: 

Sunday Stealing Makes You Choose

 Okay. it's Saturday and I have a lot to do. I'm off to a play in a bit, there's a book to complete for book group on Tuesday (Charlotte Conaghy's Wild Dark Shore - it's very good.)

I'll get the questions out of the way. Questions, have been supplied, as always, but Sunday Stealing. 

Which one?

1. Pepsi or Coke?

Oh, definitely Coke. If you want me to be really specific, Coke Zero (or Sugar Free Coke) and not Diet Coke. Even better, if you can find it, Caffeine-Free Coke Zero - but it's hard to find. 

Pepsi tastes like lolly water, but it's there for when you really, really, really need a pickup and there's nothing else about. It still puzzles me that some places only sell Pepsi.

2. Cappuccino or coffee?

You don't ask Australians this question as we have a thriving and most excellent coffee culture here which is nuanced, bordering on obsessive and most excellent. Cappucino? Phah - Italians drink that for breakfast. Coffee in the American sense is just another reason not to go to America - and a big part of why Starbucks is universally ignored by the Australian coffee drinking masses - there are so many other places with far superior coffee

Please give me a flat white, if there is no decaf or milk alternative. My normal coffee order is an Almond Decaf Latte (also known as a Melbourne Wanker)

I loved this clip from Anyone But You - where the Glen Powell character was just given a shot of our finest - made from the machine in the kitchen, like most Australians do in the morning. Yes, most of us have our own coffee makers at home. I have one and an Italian stove top pot. We really do take our coffee seriously. 

3. Chocolate or vanilla?

Vanilla. Always vanilla. Vanilla over everything. White chocolate can sort of be classed as vanilla - there's normally a hint of it in there anyway. 

4. Hot tea or iced tea?

I'm very partial to a cup of tea (Australians just call it tea - mention tea, you know it comes in a mug, with water boiled from a kettle, and either a teabag or a leaves in a pot making a brew.) 

Iced tea is about, but not as prevalent over here. 

5. Dinner for two or a party?

Depends on the company. Dinner for two is lovely, but if you have an interesting crowd a dinner party can be good too. 

Today's song: 

V for Vendetta

Twenty-one years on, this film feels even more relevant. The dystopia is becoming real, more recognisable, more relatable. V for Vendetta has aged very, very well. 

Have you not seen it? With a fantastic cast. Hugo Weaving behind a mask of V, his voice doing all the work. Natalie Portman as Evie, who shaved her head for the role. I loved watching some of my favourite actors in their youth. Eddie Marsan, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea. Seeing Stephen Fry once again in his youth was lovely. 

Based on the graphic novel by Allan Moore, this film is timeless. The Wachowski's did a brilliant job with the script - and yes, it does have a bit of a Matrix feel about it. Of course it does. Dystopia with a sense of action and thriller. It's what the Wachowskis do best. 

For me, on this rewatch, what got me most was the oppression of the public - how the government tries to dampen down dissent - not that we're as bad as many other places - but our rights to protest are being ebbed away. This feels all too familiar. 

And the line of the movie? " People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

How very true. 

This film continues to stand up as one of the greats. So glad I have got reacquainted with it. 

V for Vendetta is streaming on ABC iView. Catch it before the government twigs. 

Today's Song: 

What to write about?

There are many things I could write about, but I'm not having any luck putting more than a few lines together on any of these topics. So, I'm going to give you a brain dump of these ideas, just to show you what an ADHD brain can do for you. 

1) Why do I have My Lovely Horse running through my brain?

I always loved Father Ted. (Ah, goowaaaaannn...) but that stupid fever dream song that Father Dougal was supposed to do for the Eurovision song contents. Really, this is the worst of bad earworms. Have a look. It's bad. 

2) Tia Maria

I wrote about dogs last night so I can't write about Tia Maria. I went to the gym last night. Outside, sat Tia Maria, with her Aunt Sally. I met Tia a few months ago when she was little, little. She's a Border Collie. Now, she's six months old. A too-smart ball of energy. I walked up. She greeted me like a long-lost lover, promptly gave my face a lick and sat on my feet. Aunt Sally said that I was in. Of course I'm in. It's a dog. Dogs love me. 

Enough about dogs. 

3) Yesteryear

I finished the most extraordinary book today. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is brilliant. Messed up, bonkers, furious, scathing, this book tells of Natalie, a Trad wife influencer who managers her social media account that she runs from her perfect farm, with her perfect husband and kids, spouting Christian fundamentalist claptrap and living the life of a hypocrite. Then things change. 

A five-star read, I'll review it later, but I loved every minute of it. It won't be for everybody, but what the author has done here is INCREDIBLE. 

4) I need to get the book group book read by Tuesday

It will happen. I started Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy this morning. I'm already 100 pages in. It will get read. 

5) I want a boyfriend

Don't say this very often, but I would like somebody to cook for and somebody to occasionally watch telly with. Is that too much to ask. 

6) And I've just realised

I have a touch of the black dog. Two good things - it's just the stirrings of a touch of depression - nothing major. And catching it quickly means it will be over soon. Lots of clean food, exercise and being good to myself. Admitting it is half the battle. 

That feels a little better already. It also makes sense as to why I don't want to write. 

Today's song: