Sunday Stealing: What We Don't Know

 Greetings from Auckland, where we're expecting a cyclone (hurricane) to hit in the next 12 hours. Oh what fun! I'm supposed to be going back to Australia tomorrow - but we will have to see whether the weather allows that to occur. It's a situation here that planes have to get in to get out. Fingers crossed, if not, I might be having an extra night here. Mind you, the people are lovely and the food is good. There are worse places to be stuck, and hopefully, it won't be too long. If the airline cancels you, they'have to get you back. I'm not that worried. As long as I get back safely. 

Anyway, here are this week's questions, brought to you, as always, by Sunday Stealing. 

1. Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

No. Did I try this out? No - I've done that in the past. 

2. What foreign language did you study in school? How much of it do you still remember?

I studied French at school all the way through and into first year university. Since then, I've always tried to use it. I also have been on the Duolingo app for over three years, and I can proudly say, that though I'm not fluent, my French is very good. When in France, the French let me speak, gently correct my grammatical slips and encourage me to keep speaking French - which is nearly unheard of. Being humble and saying, "Pardonnez-moi, mon Francais est terrible. Je suis desole. Je suis Australienne," gets you a very long way. They don't mind Australians. The English and the Americans not so much. Getting along with the French is all about attitude. 

3. What recipe did you most recently prepare? Where did you get the recipe and how did it turn out?

I had to take something sweet to a barbeque last weekend. It was a long weekend. The shops were closed. I looked through the pantry. Thank goodness for RecipeTinEats. Nagi is a goddess. I made her easy peanut butter cookies. A cup of peanut butter, a cup of brown sugar and an egg. Mixed the three together, roll up into balls and bake for 10 minutes. They went down a treat. 

4. What song have you listened to over and over and over again?

As I'm in New Zealand, the song of the day is a Kiwi song that I have on regular rotation. I used to live about The Thompson Twins nanny in London in the 90's. I have lots of songs on regular rotation in my head. 

5. Are there currently any pets in your household? Are you considering adding another? 

I have a lovely black cat named Lucifer (who is staying with a friend while I'm away, much to his chagrin) who is a very solitary cat and very happy to be an only child. Given the opportunity, I would have ALL the cats. But Lucifer and I kick along well - although there will be hell to pay when I get home to Australia, whenever that may be. 

6. As an adult, have you ever performed with a drama group? (Student productions don't count.)

Yes. I was part of a drama group when I lived in London. To this day, I am still an overgrown theatre kid and frustrated actor on the inside. It's good fun. Good for confidence. 

Today's song:

Of Ten Dollar Coffees and Big Wind and Rain

Greetings from Auckland, New Zealand, where they are getting ready for a cyclone to hit in the next 24 hours. Fun, eh! They're explecting 6-month's worth of rain on Sunday morning

 This is the weather map for Sunday at midday. 

Yep. Fun. 

While out at dinner tonight, I asked the fellow sitting opposite me what a Orange alert was. He just said it wasn't good. 

"And a Red Weather Alert."

"Yeah, nah. Worse."

There's an Orange Alert out on Auckland from 9 pm on Saturday night. 

My flight is booked to leave at 8.30 on Sunday evening. This might be a bit interesting. We will cross that bridge if and when it occurs. The airline has duty of are to get me home somehow. 

I've just checked the Qantas website. The warning was issued about the cyclone while I was flying over. Hmmm. 

Regardless, I will get home somehow. Hopefully the cyclone does what cyclones often do and divert. 

And this is why we have travel insurance. 

So, I'm in Auckland. 

It's humid and overcast. 

It has the feel of a larger city - lacking some of the charm of other centres in New Zealand. However, we've landed in an inner-city area with lots of older buildings and a bit more pizzaz than what I remembered from 23 years ago - when I was last here for a friend's wedding. 

Tomorrow is the day for sightseeing, before a big mason's meeting tomorrow night. 

Allegedly, on Sunday, there's another meeting at lunch time. Then I'm supposed to be off to the airport after that. 

Okay, enough whinging about the weather. 

I will now complain about airport prices. 

$10 for an almond decaf latte (large). 

Seriously.

Highway robbery. 

Anyway, as I'm not making too much sense, I'm going to sign off. I've been up since 5 am Melbourne time and bed is beckoning.

Keep your fingers crossed I get back across the ditch in a timely manner and in one piece. 

Today's song:

I am a Very Bad Mother

I have been told that I'm a bad mother. He looked me right in the eye with such disdain. I could see it. You hate me! How could you? As mothers go, you are the worst of all mothers, and nobody is worse than you. 

Yes, I took my cat over to Blarney's tonight. Nobody spouts vitriol and bile like a black cat who has been forced into his travel box and then taken to his lease favourite cat sitter's place. Cat sitters who would love to love him, but he won't let them. 

I got him in his room. I set out his stuff - litter tray, food and water, blanket, toys, they opened his cage. He hissed at me. 

After going out for a chat with Blarney and Barney I went back in to see him again and say goodbye. This time, he was behind the bed head. He hissed at me again. 

See - worst mother in the world. 

I know this is only a short trip across the pond to Auckland, but I'm away for three full days, leaving early tomorrow morning, coming home late Sunday night. I'll happily leave him for two nights - but this feels a bit longer. (also my normal cat sitter is away). So, he's gone to Aunty Blarney's for a few days. I'll pick him up Monday night after going to the gym. I don't really care how unhappy he is for a few days - he's being fed, watered and his poop scooped - and he's being looked in on regularly (even if he hisses at his guardians). What more can he hope for? It's better than being left alone for three full days with no company. 

Still, there is nothing worse than when your most near and dear call you bad names and let you know of their absolute hatred. 

I'm sure he'll have forgotten it all when I bring him home in a few days. 

Cats. Who'd have them?

Today's song: 

Packing Again

 Where are you going now? 

I hear you. Yes. I'm getting on yet another plane on Friday morning, heading to New Zealand for the weekend.

The weekend, you cry!

Yes, I'm going to New Zealand for two days. I have a mason's meeting, in New Zealand. A delegation is going over. We get there Friday afternoon, there is a dinner on the Friday night, a free day on Saturday, a meeting on Saturday evening, another meeting Sunday lunchtime, then I trot off to the airport on Sunday evening to get back to Melbourne around 11 pm (if the cyclone which is threatening to bear down on the North Island doesn't cause too much havoc). Because I have to leave at stupid 'o'clock on Friday morning to catch the plane, and tomorrow night will be spent dropping off Lucifer at Blarney's place - which he will not like, but it's better than having him home alone for three days. 

Documenting what I'm packing makes me feel a lot better about things. It's part of the process. 

Come with me as I pack.

1) Mason's regalia

Being a freemason means you get to wear some funny stuff. Thankfully it's light and lies flat. I'll put the little instruction book in as well. We've been instructed not to take our swords and capes. The former doesn't give a good look in airport scanners, the latter is just asking for trouble as all superheroes will attest. Haven't you watched The Incredibles? NO CAPES!

Status: Packed. 

2) Travel laptop and accouterments

I don't go anywhere without my little travel laptop, charging cables and a spare jack with USB ports - you never know what the hotel will have in the room. Thankfully, New Zealand uses the same plugs as we do. 

Status: Packed

3) Mason's Garb 

 There is a 'uniform' of sorts that needs to be packed. Think hospo. Black trousers, white shirt, black cardigan, white gloves, black sensible shoes. 

Status: Packed

4) Clothes for the weekend

I'll be wearing whatever it is I wear on the plane - with my basic white trainers. I've got some play clothes to run around Auckland in, a couple of changes of underwear, spare socks. I do no possess a rain jacket, but a brolly might go in my hand luggage - but fat lot of good that will be in a cyclone. 

Status: Packed

5) Toiletries and Makeup

Thankfully my toiletries and makeup bags are already packed . I'm only gone for two nights and three days - if I'm missing anything I'll buy it over there. 

Status: Packed.

6) Meds

Can't go without these, but with the exception of the HRT gel, these can go in the hand luggage.

Status: Ready to go. 

All I have to do now is grab a few things for my hand luggage. Things like:

• Passport (which is valid with years to run) 
• My book
• Hairbrush
• Assorted lipsticks
• Fisherman's Friends (a flyers best made - keeps your ears clear)
• Power pack
• Phone
• Travel wallet with stripped down cards. 

And yes, already organised are things like:

• ESIM for New Zealand
• Travel insurance
• Tickets
• Accommodation
• Uber app

See - all organised. 

Thanks for listening. 

Today's song: 

Movie Review: The Drama

 Movie Number 14 of 2026

The Movie: The Drama

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Runtime: One hour 45 minutes

Stars: 3

I don't really get the hype around The Drama. 

It's a lot of not particularly nice people behaving strangely. Even if it is pretty to look at and the cast is pretty good, it doesn't have that many redeeming features. Maybe it's because if my friends started acting like these people, I'd tell them where to go. 

Even stranger, this has got a very good metascore on RottenTomatoes.com, although if you look at some of the reviews, you can see that what I'm about to say about this film. 

It's a bit of a dog. A dog with fleas, despite the good ratings on the major movie websites. I don't really get it. 

The synopsis is fairly straight forward. 

At the start of the film, we meet Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) who are on the brink of getting married. They appear to be the perfect couple with the perfect life. Living in Boston, they have a lively and varied life. 

At their rehearsal dinner with their best friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie) they play a game of "What's the worst thing you've done?" The group make their confessions. Some are truly awful, others, childhood slights. When Emma provides her worst moment, the group erupts. (I'm not going to give a spoiler on this, needless to say, I think what Rachel did was worse)

From here, everything spirals. Emma and Charlie's relationship falters and a lot of rather silly things happen right up to when they get married. 

Even though the movie, though Kristoffer Borgli's script and direction, to view where their line may be, this didn't ring true for me at all. As the cards started to fall, so too did my belief in any of the characters thanks to their dodgy behaviour. 

What surprises me is how popular this movie is proving. When we went the largish cinema was three quarters full. Maybe it's the star power, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson having quite a lot of pulling power. 

And sure, the acting isn't bad and the film is pretty to look at, but this didn't ring true for me. It's a film of a lot of people behaving like children in many respects. 

I'd wait for this to go to streaming to see this.  

Today's song:

Movie Review: Project Hail Mary

 Movie Number 13 of 2026

The Movie: Project Hail Mary

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Runtime: Two hours 36 minutes

Stars: 4

To read the book, or not read the book? That is the question. Whether it is nobler to see a film on spec, or to slug through a tome before seeing said movie. It is a universal question. 

Blarney and I went to see the film this weekend. I've read the book (well, I listened to it as an audiobook - and it was excellent) Blarney hadn't. We both really liked the movie, however, having read Andy Weir's novel of one man saving the world from space, my views were a little more skewed. 

Don't get me wrong - this is a very good film. But you're always going to get more out of the book. 

Thankfully, the film follows the book closely and hits most of the major plot points. Not that movie goers really don't need to know that. 

For a short synopsis, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a middle-school teacher with a PhD in molecular biology finds himself in deep space, alone, wondering how the hell he got there. Over time, he regains his wits and memory and goes about discovering how he's going to save the world. You see, the sun is dimming thanks to these alien microbes which are eating the sun. Other stars in the galaxy are also diminishing. Something has to be done.  Over the two hours and 40 minutes of the film you see him discover alien life in the form of Rocky (the voice of James Ortiz) and the two work out to save both of their planets.

In the background, we're taken back to Grace's memories where the enigmatic Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller) runs the Project Hail Mary who press-gangs Grace into working on the project. 

It's a simple story, very well executed. What's essentially a monologue for a lot of the film until Rocky's arrival brilliant viewing. Grace, and Rocky, have a lot to work out, from how to communicate, to how to survive in each other's atmospheres, to conflicting scientific beliefs. Somehow, they manage it. 

This is where the book comes into its own. Through the book, you get more of an insight into how Grace and Rocky develop their communication, and the science, and the situation to hand. I remember listening to the book being on the edge of my seat wanting to know how these strange bedfellows were going to get out of their predicament. The movie glosses over a lot of this. An eight-episode series would have had the space to investigate everything in the book. 

Yet, Project Hai Mary is a very good film. The set up, the cinematography, the animatronics in the way they created Rocky, the sets - they're all excellent. For a longer film, the time goes quickly. And don't be afraid of the science - it's adequately explained (where the book delves deeper into the concepts.)

What it missed for me was the depth of Grace and Rocky's relationship, which felt a bit rushed in the end. You don't get the gravitas of Rocky's predicament, having his large crew die around him and being stuck at Tau-Ceti for years alone. Nor do you feel Grace's final response when they realise that they've messed up and there are only two solutions - go home - or save your friend. 

Also, I wasn't thrilled with the way they tried to intimate that Grace and Stratt had more than platonic feelings for each other. 

Regardless, I really recommend seeing this on the big screen. Drew Goddard and Andy Weir's script is fast paced, funny and moving. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's direction keeps this feeling very real. 

Project Hail Mary is best seen on the biggest screen you can find. It's great. (And if you haven't seen The Martian, look it up - same author, similar set up, just as good.)

But read the book. You'll get a lot more out of the experience. 

Today's Song: 

Sunday Stealing is FAB

 Happy Easter. 

It feels funny to be saying this in a secular country in a place where everything is closed on Good Friday. It's a bit bizarre. 

Anyway, I've got a busy day, so here are this week's questions, supplied, as always, by Sunday Stealing. I like these easy fallback questions. 

F. Film: What movie or tv show are you watching? 

I'm just about to go off with Blarney to see Project Hail Mary at the cinema. 

There's also talk of going to see The Drama tomorrow. I loved the book of the former. The latter just looks interesting. 

Currently, as I'm writing this, I'm watching The Ballad of Wallis Island. I think I need to give it more attention. 

I've also started watching Shrinking on Apple TV. 

A. Audio: What are you listening to?

I've been a bit remiss with music of late. I saw an artist called Irish Mythen at a local pub the other week. They were great. This song has been played at both Stockholm and Boston cathedral. 

B. Book: What are you reading?

At the moment, on paper, I'm reading the amazing Heather Rose's A Great Act of Love. She's a Tasmanian author and one of Australia's best. 

On audiobook, I gave into the hype and I'm listening to Allen Levi's Theo of Golden, which is a delight. 

I hope to have both of these finished by Friday so I've got something new to read/listen to on the way to New Zealand. 

Today's song: