{"id":2227,"date":"2016-09-07T09:17:31","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T09:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/?p=2227"},"modified":"2016-09-08T21:59:19","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T21:59:19","slug":"thats-entertainment-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fatbeetle.com\/blog\/?p=2227","title":{"rendered":"That’s Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Click on any image to see a larger version.<\/h6>\n
Click here to see this month’s’ gallery, lots of kookaburras in it<\/a><\/h6>\n
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Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight<\/em>
\n Two lovers missing the tranquillity of solitude<\/em>
\n Getting a cab and travelling on buses<\/em>
\n Reading the graffiti about slashed seat affairs<\/em><\/h5>\n
I said,\u00a0that’s entertainment, that’s entertainment<\/em><\/h5>\n

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Heh, so the last month or so has been a heady whirlwind of seeing stuff. So I\u2019ll get that out of the way first. My usual batch of cock-ups will be at the end, you can skip the next bits if you like.<\/p>\n

\n

Resident Alien<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ok, this was odd, and for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

The main one being that if, like me, your only knowledge of Quentin Crisp<\/a> was the famous TV play \u201cThe Naked Civil Servant\u201d<\/em>,<\/a> which was brilliantly acted by John Hurt,<\/a> then like me, this portrayal of Quentin Crisp would come as a bit of\u00a0a shock. It\u2019s a one man play, performed by Paul Capsis.<\/a><\/p>\n

It shows Crisp at the end of his life, living in a grubby flat which hasn\u2019t been cleaned for four years, eking out a living by dining with strangers. Still as witty and as sharp as ever, his contempt for \u201ccelebs\u201d<\/em> is given full vent. He watches Oprah on a portable television and comments that \u201cthe famous don’t need talent\u201d<\/em>. He also has some choice words about Princess Di too, obviously not a fan of her. One interesting revelation is that Crisp was diagnosed as a transsexual, but declined the opp.<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

The other thing that made it odd was it was performed \u201cin the round\u201d<\/em> in a tiny local theatre,<\/a> so Capsis\/Crisp actually was in the audience mingling, which was quite unnerving. Combine that with the dirty set, and the dark and dank lighting, and it was something of a weird one.<\/p>\n

Enjoyed it though, would recommend.<\/p>\n

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Choir of Trinity College Cambridge<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I took the mother in law to see these, as she\u2019d never been to a classical \/ early music gig before. Not too shabby a choir, but a very young group.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Like an idiot, I only went and set myself up for a well deserved slagging off, by letting Kingman <\/a>know that I had; “found the bass voices not strong enough, as they didn’t have\u00a0 the girth of body to hold the deeper resonant notes. Good pitch though”.<\/em> He told me what he thought of that comment in no uncertain terms.<\/p>\n

The set list wasn\u2019t too bad:<\/p>\n

P\u00c4RT<\/strong> Bogor\u00f3ditse Dj\u00e9vo
\nBYRD<\/strong> O Lord, Make Thy Servant
\nTALLIS<\/strong> Salvator mundi
\nPURCELL<\/strong> Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences
\nSTUCKY<\/strong> O sacrum convivium
\nE\u0160ENVALDS<\/strong> The Heavens\u2019 Flock
\nRAUTAVAARA<\/strong> Evening Hymn, Ekteniya
\nPARK<\/strong> The Wings Of The Wind
\nELGAR<\/strong> Give Unto The Lord
\nTWIST<\/strong> Hymn of Ancient Lands (World Premiere)
\nCommissioned for Musica Viva by Mary and Paul Pollard
\nMARTIN<\/strong> Mass for Unaccompanied Double Choir
\nHOWELLS<\/strong> Te Deum (Collegium Regale)<\/h5>\n

But not enough early music, my sort of stuff ended at the Purcell piece, a bit too much contemporary stuff for me.<\/p>\n

On the way out, we were held up by some old dear, who reached the exits to the car park, blocking in several hundred music fans. She obviously wasn\u2019t prepared to drive on while there was still a car in motion in the same county as her. She even was given a call out by someone who spotted she was stuck, but refused to move.<\/p>\n

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Peter Garrett and the Alter Egos.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWho?\u201d<\/strong><\/em> I hear you ask. Peter Garrett<\/a> was not only the front man for the Aussie rock band Midnight Oil, <\/a>but he was also at one time the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts <\/a>in the Aussie government.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

The joke at the time was; \u201cWhat was Peter Garrett\u2019s biggest sell out gig?\u201d<\/em> I\u2019m sure you can work the answer out yourself.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll come back to him in a minute.<\/p>\n

We decided to make a night out of it, so food and a few beers before the gig? Why not indeed.<\/p>\n

Canberra on a Sunday night? Don’t bother! We headed into the seething metropolis of Canberra’s Civic district in the mistaken belief that we were heading into the centre of a capital city.<\/p>\n

We ended up at \u201cOutback Jack\u2019s\u201d<\/a> Pah! Honest to gawd! The only reason we choose Outback Jack’s to dine was there was not another option. This was the only bar like place we could find! In a capital city? Sunday night, and all the bars are shut?!?!? Seriously, this is not good. The lowliest village in England would have a boozer open on a Sunday night.<\/p>\n

I nearly jacked it all in when I was told there was\u00a0only bottled beer, no draught beer, on offer. But needs must when the devil drives.<\/p>\n

There was a giant plastic inverted crocodile on the ceiling, the seats were fake crocodile skin, they had a “1 kilo challenge,”<\/strong> <\/em>league table <\/a>up on the wall, so we knew we were not in for a night of fine dining. The menu was large, mainly burgers steaks etc.<\/p>\n

I had a barramundi burger, (with extra pineapple and jalapenos,) Lee-Anne had the lamb burger. They both came with weird curly “sort of chips but not quite.”<\/em> The food was distinctly average, not bad, but nothing to write home about. Service was prompt and friendly, none of the servers looked old enough to drink. The kitchen was open to view, which is at least reassuring, but did leave me wondering if the cooks got danger money for breathing in so much smoke.<\/p>\n

But the place was rammed, every table was full. Every single one of them. Surely this must give bar owners in Canberra pause for thought? If Outback Jack’s can get a full house on a Sunday, (one suspects only due to lack of other choices, not for the meals,) then it must be worth opening up a proper bar?<\/p>\n

Anyway, not too bad grub, in a hideously decorated theme eatery, with no fucking draft beers. 3\/10<\/p>\n

The gig itself? Not bad, but bloody odd, (again.) We had good seats near the front. The support act, who turned out to be part of Garrett\u2019s band, was a young woman called Abbe May<\/a> who played and sang the blues, accompanying herself on guitar. Not bad, even though I\u2019m no big fan of blues any more.<\/p>\n

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