Ta Ta
On the Beach (by Ivan Aivazovsky)
May 18, 1944: This day, the deportation of the Tartars started under Stalin’s ‘liberation’ of Crimea, an historic Soviet/Russian hot-spot. Eurovision has made this an unlikely recent issue: packed off to Uzbekistan they were, along with their families, on trains designed for maximum discomfort. Forced mass movement, especially along ethnic lines, is and was a no-no for humanity, but it is surprising what people can get away with during war-time (especially an alleged ally). With Winter Coming, the US and Europe in flux, and NATO virtually conceding the eastern corridor, who knows who’ll be next?
Continue Reading →Dami wuz robbed
Eurovision Song Contest, May 14/15 2016 Dateline Stockholm: in the biggest heist since Brinks or Lufthansa, Dami Im, representing Australia for only the second time in the history of the venerable competition, was pipped for first place by a last minute ‘flurry’ of ‘televotes’ that recall the Illinois fraud of the 1960 US election, or the hanging Floridian chads of 2000. We confess an indulgent attitude to winner Ukraine’s “F.U.” to Putinland with their song, 1944, apparently a lament for Crimean Tartars deported by that great guy, Josef Stalin, but we must honour Dami, who had the best song and act…
Continue Reading →Anatomy of a Murder
(Dir. Otto Preminger) (1959) Former D.A. Paul Biegler (James Stewart) would rather go fishing than push paper around his law office, divorcing Jane from John Doe, threatening a few deadbeats – but when a juicy murder trial comes his way, he is persuaded to take it on: his drinking buddy (Arthur O’Connell) needs the action and his secretary (Eve Arden) needs the fee to pay her wages and get some new typewriter ribbon (the ‘P’ and ‘f’ are wonky – her contracts keep saying “The arty of the irst art“). But prospects of an acquittal look pretty bleak – the accused, Lt. Manion…
Continue Reading →Cloudstreet
'Ol' Man River...' (photo c/- Accent Photography)
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, May 2016 In viewing this adaptation of Tim Winton’s sprawling 1991 novel, TVC recalled Stephen Sondheim’s delineation between opera and musical theatre: with musical theatre, “people expect mediocre singing and good acting; …[while] opera house people expect mediocre acting and good singing.” In Cloudstreet, billed as an opera, with libretto by Winton and composer George Palmer, the singing went from good to fair but it was not operatic. Not at all, with all due respect. The acting was good to poor, a difficult task when (as usual in opera) the text is wholly sung. Opera fans…
Continue Reading →Australia is Tigerland
Glenelg v Central District, Gliderol Stadium, 14 May 2016 From TVC’s forthcoming pamphlet, Kicking for Goal the Jakobsen Way: “For a set shot, remember, it is easy, as long as you adhere to these simple steps and never deviate therefrom. Face the Goal – try to align your shoulders with the goal posts. Get any superstitious gestures out of the way quickly and then forget them. Don’t worry about swinging in a Lance Franklin arc; he is an exception. Walk and then trot straight at the middle of the goal, having ensured you are a comfortable distance from the man…
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