Cold Cream: My Early Life & Other Mistakes
(by Ferdinand Mount) (2008) It will come as no surprise to the reader that the “cold cream” of the title is the Pond’s cold cream used as a cure-all by the writer’s mother when he was a child. Somewhat less commonplace is the probable reason for Mrs Mount’s adherence to the unpleasant ointment – she earned a lifetime’s supply as a result of having spruiked it before her marriage – “Lady Julia Pakenham says she owes her flawless complexion to Pond’s Cold Cream”. Lady Julia, the youngest daughter of the 5th Earl of Longford KC, married Robert Francis (“Robin”) Mount who, when at…
Continue Reading →Relax, Max
"Please redeem me, let me go..."
Mad Max Franchise (Dir. George Kennedy) These highly influential and popular films are, truth to tell, shite. Oh I know, they represent a definitive textbook for the Stunt Man; they give employment to a bunch of Aussies (yay!); in the case of the first film in the series, it justifies awakening the city of Clunes; they combine great visual beauty along with nauseating ugliness; they tell the world of the practical effect of the Greens’ energy policy, but excrement they remain. Listen! We blame no one. We’d rather watch these films than 97% of the cloacal mess showing at a cinema…
Continue Reading →Pendolino
Level 2, The Strand, Sydney, January 2016 Dawdling back from the Queen Victoria Building in George Street, we passed the rococo wonderland of The Strand. Whilst loitering about the cigar and paraphernalia stores, we noticed a small sandwich board promising lunch. What we got was a beautiful dark interior, formal settings with a relaxed atmosphere, a good wine selection including import specials at reasonable prices….…and the best pasta dishes in town. Simple, elegant, unpretentious and service both assiduous and unobtrusive. We returned in August 2017 and it has maintained its standards.
Continue Reading →King Lear
"Who is it that can tell me who I am?"
(by William Shakespeare, 1606) (Dir. Neil Armfield) (Sydney Theatre Company, January 2, 2016) We offer a link to our favourite theatrical review site, Stage Noise, for the searching and wise verdict of this production (as at November 2015) by Diana Simmonds: Stage Noise review of King Lear We have little with which to disagree and little to add, except for this: Lear, in essence, might not bear proper staging. The individuals must be larger than life, and have real gravitas, so in contemporary terms, you require superstars for 7 of the roles. You need to treat the few jokes not as comedy, not even black comedy, but counter-comedy. The…
Continue Reading →Chiswick at the Gallery
Visit most decent art galleries across the world and as you empty out of the rooms, especially those of a special exhibition, you’ll find a gift shop, a cloak room, and a bad crowded café. Go to the top floor and you might find a decent restaurant, and in Sydney, most likely, a view. So it proved when we went to “The Greats” at NSW Art Gallery. Canny punters book, so we had to make do with a communal table but this was no problem – The Varnished Culture‘s table talk is invariably PC when in public and everyone, especially nearby, seemed…
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