Archives for May 2005

Big thanks to mum who bought all the family tickets to see Quidam – Cirque du Soleil. It’s something I would not have done myself as the tickets were quite expensive. JJ didn’t come with us and I’m glad for a couple of reasons. One, he saw the poster hanging up and said that it was scary. Also throughout the performance there was thunder and lightening and that would have freaked him out a bit I think. I could have been completely wrong and he might have loved it but I didn’t want to have to remove him from the tent if he didn’t like it.

I saw the first Cirque du Soleil that came to Adelaide called Saltimbanco in about 2000 which I actually enjoyed more. Maybe it was because I had never seen anything like this before and that’s part of it. I remember there was more emphasis on the music and especially the vocals in Saltimbanco as the singer was dressed up and you actually saw her perform whereas in Quidam we didn’t see a singer until the end.

Quidam, even though dark in parts, was very funny in parts. The audience participation thing was hilarious with the guy who pulled out the gorgeous blonde from the audience to take her for a drive. And the other guy who got a few people out of the audience to shoot a movie. The director he chose played his part down to a tee. He had to show the shoot number with his fingers and he stuffed it up the first time. The second time he gave the director the V sign for the 2nd shot which got a laugh from the audience and a pat on the back from the director.

I also liked the four girls with the diabolo’s. They were very clever, only dropped one diabolo, and juggling and doing acrobatics with the diabolo’s in time to the music.

My one gripe about events like this is the prohibitive cost of food and drinks (I won’t even mention merchandise costs) in the venue. My sister bought a small packet of crisps and was charged $4. Thrifty me ate before I went and took my own water, even though I didn’t pay for my ticket I’d rather spend my money on other things than expensive crisps and drinks.

I heard on the radio this morning that Graham Kennedy died. I was a bit young for his heyday on television but do remember various television shows he did and he was a scream. Him and Bert Newton together on television are moments I’ll always remember and treasure.

Rest in peace Graham!

Some more information about him:

• Graham Kennedy profile – Milesago
• An interview with Graeme Blundell about Graham Kennedy – ABC tv transcript
• Review of ‘The King’, Graeme Blundell’s biography of Graham Kennedy – Shaun Micallef’s website
• Read more about Graham Kennedy in his biography ‘The King’ by Graeme Blundell

I had an excellent weekend last weekend. I didn’t have any major late nights so my days were productive also. Can fit more in this way. Still didn’t get to wash the car but that can wait.

On Sunday afternoon JJ and I went to the Wheatsheaf Hotel, one of the few left in Adelaide that DOES NOT have poker machines and that’s gotta be a good thing.

They also have bands and to top it off for us parents it’s kid-friendly which is why I took JJ. I also took him because it was a good friend’s birthday and JJ and her get along pretty well.

My good friend, R, not only celebrated her birthday that day but sang publicly with the band who she’s friends with. She covered ‘Old Fashioned Morphine’ by Jolie Holland. Great song and good interpretation. Considering she was very nervous and considering she hadn’t had a sound check and considering she’d only had one practise with the band she did a great job. Good on you R.

While she was up on stage JJ was running amok in the pub with his possy of girls. There were three girls from childcare there. The parents of two of these girls are good friends of mine and the other parents are acquaintances as I see them at the Wheatsheaf whenever I go there on a Sunday.

I tried to get JJ to stop for a second to watch R sing, but that didn’t happen. I just made him scream at me for daring to try and stop him running around with his girlfriends. Excuse me!

I do love the Sunday afternoon session and while I was standing at the bar getting a drink I reminisced about having a fairly regular Sunday afternoon sesh at the Exeter Hotel in the city. It’s quite different now. For a start I’ve got a kid and obviously if I take him to a pub I’ve got to be seen to be a responsible parent, and of course I am. When I’ve got JJ out I tend to drive so there goes the idea of lots of drinks. I’ve also got to leave early to get JJ to bed and give him some dinner.

No doubt I’ll look back on these years one day when I’m back at the pub with my mates having a drink on a Sunday afternoon and we’ll sit around talking about how nice it is that our kids are all grown up and we can go out without having to run around after them.