May 31. Day 42. Anywhere ....

 There's not much you need to put on theatre (technically as least). At its rawest, all you need is a performer and an audience member. The theatre is the story. Sets, props, costumes and a stage can help tell the story but technically window dressing.

Which is why the Anywhere Theatre Festival is such a good idea. It takes theatre and performs it anywhere. A story set in a pub might be performed in a pub. Same deal with a church,  a private home or a shop. 

These are site specific but it might not be. It might just be an available space with room for a performer and an audience. Tonight's Anywhere Theatre Show was in a gin distillery. The Middle Room was set in a family home but there was enough of the domestic to create the illusion ... it was awesome. It was also the very last show of the festival. Safe to say the festival finished with a bang

May 30. Day 41. Curtain Call

 There's this debate going on online about whether or not it's okay to film the curtain call of a show. Personally, I think it's fine unless you are instructed not to or the content of the performance is such that it would be obviously disrespectful to whip out your phones

May 29. Day 40. Unhinged

If you live in Brisbane, you know the wicked winds come in August in time for the exhibition.

The weather gods seem to have forgotten this because today, in May, there was real fury in the gusts.

The gales were enough to blow to door off our rubbish bin shed. Fortunately no-one was standing close enough to get hurt.

In the end, I'm not precious enough to need either my rubbish or my bins to be kept under lock and key. However, having a place to secure them can be pretty useful.

I guess that's a job for a handyman because our combined DIY skills are zero. But I'll wait until the wind speed drops which will hopefully be well before August.

May 28. Day 39. Magic mushrooms

It was a bit of an Alice in Wonderland morning where it feels like I've taken magic mushrooms or crawled through a tiny door to another dimension.

Okay, I exaggerate ... but only a bit. I had a meeting with Centrelink and these never fail to totally do my head in.

Centrelink is a mystical place where normal conventions don't seem to apply and the characters around seem to have been drawn from a fantasy novel or horror story or both.

But today, finally, I think the tragic case of the suspended disability support pension may have been solved. For now. Fingers crossed.

 

May 27. Day 38. Origin story

It is theoretically possible that I am the only person in Queensland who doesn't like State of Origin football.

To be fair, I don't really like football of any code at any level but of all the competitions, the annual Queensland versus New South Wales slugfest is my least favourite.

Basically, it's the hysteria that goes with it that drives me mad. Premiers promising to fly the opposition's flag from a bridge if their team loses the three game competition.

All this talk about the state's pride being on the line and the State against State, Mate against Mate narrative. What utter nonsense. It's a football match.

So every year I find something else to do, anything else to do. Tonight I changed the bed linen.

In any event, I feel there is no escaping it. Someone, somewhere in the house will be watching and their reactions will carry to even the most conscientious objector.

We lost. I don't care. Yay me.
 

May 26. Day 37. Rain, rain go away

 

If there are weather gods (plural), today they were like squabbling siblings. One wanter torrential rain, another wanted clear skies and they kept battling it out to achieve dominance.

If it looked clear enough to embark on a walk, the rain would start again in earnest before I had time to grab the lead.

During one particularly unpleasant downpour, I simply went to bed. The dogs followed because they are good like that.

We didn't get to the beach but we did get a big walk around the block and we got home without getting wet so yay us.

A few rounds of hall ball supplemented the walk to help wear Kodak out.

Tomorrow, with luck, we will be back on the sand even if it means me wearing a raincoat

May 25. Day 36. He has his moments

A fellow dog owner, who heard me call Kodak, asked whether my boy was called Novak because "of his excellent ball skills".

No, he's Kodak because he has his moments, I said making reference to a an old commercial for the camera company.

Anyway, who would name a dog after a tennis player? The answer to that is my brother who is the proud owner of an aging Beagle called The Fed. But there's a world of difference between a good natured Swiss hero and an anti-vax Serbian. Admittedly Kodak is a Joker so it kind of fits

May 24. Day 35. Happy birthday young man.

I married a much younger man ... 53 days to be exact.

May 23. Day 34. High Roller

Many random thoughts went through my head as I sat in the audience of Xanadu tonighf

May 22. Day 33. Feeling salty

 

The annoying virus has turned me into all the seven dwarfs at once - grumpy, sleepy, sneezy, snotty, grotty, coughy and shivery . It need not have been this way if only I had followed the advice of my late grandfather ... salt water.

May 21. Day 32. Hop to it

What does the phrase "sick as a dog" actually mean?

My dogs are in rude good health and are very, very bossy.

I was feeling snotty and grotty today and while the rapid antigen test found no sign of Covid, RSV or any of the flu strains, in an abundance of caution i decided I should not be in the enclosed space of a theatre tonight. Sharing is not always caring.

But the dogs did not take my hiding under the doona as a sign that beach outings were cancelled today. There was yapping and scratching until I relented and got up. They say "jump", I say "How high".

There was a wicked wind whipping up loose sand with a very definite wind chill factor. but the dogs were showing no signs that perhaps they made a bad call. It was business as usual apart from Kodak holding on to his ball even more tightly than normal  because with wind assistance that ball could be anywhere in no time at all. While I might be a pushover, I was in no mood to chase a ball up the beach. The walk up the beach was a struggle but with the wind behind us getting back to the car was, thankfully, far easier.

May 20. Day 31. Every dog has its day

 If every dog has its day, today was the day.

After days and days in Brisbane, squeezing in short walks between torrential rain the joy was real when we hit the beach this morning (and again this afternoon).

May 19. Day 30. The Phantom of the Opera

Trigger warnings have become somewhat controversial. Those in favour say vulnerable audience members should know before they hand over their hard earned or walk into the theatre exactly what they are signing up to. Those against, including Dame Judy Dench think they spoil the surprise and "if you’re that sensitive, don’t go to the theatre, because you could be very shocked. Where is the surprise of seeing and understanding it in your own way?”

May 18. Day 29. Today, of all days

A friend of a friend was known for his catch phrase "today of all days". So often was it used that he  was generally referred to as TOAD. 

You have a picnic planned and it starts bucketing down. He'd say "today of all days".

The car breaks down when you are due to head off on a road trip "today of all days". You get the idea.

Today was a day for lying in bed, eating soup and reading a book. I did all of those things. The neighbouring property did not get the memo. 

They decided it would be an awesome day to bring in the heavy equipment and demolish the old house. There is absolutely no doubt that the house had to go ... but today ... in the bucketing down rain? I wouldn't have thought so. 

May 17. Day 28. Seen a cockatoo

Because I am old, I remember Australian comedy when it was very bloke dominated and pretty lowest common denominator. Think Kevin Bloody Wilson and Austentatious whose comedy was filled with slightly rude Australian puns. "I bet she's seen a cockatoo"

May 16. Day 27. Survival of the chic-est

I love an opening night. I love a theme party but I admit the dress code for La Boite's Eat Slay Zombie opening night was a bit of a challenge. Survivor Chic. Where do you even start?

May 15. Day 26. The original and the best

It took 20 years for them to get around to making the sequel to the Devil Wears Prada so the fact I'm a little late to the party probably doesn't count for much.

But now I've seen it I can confidently say it was fine, perfectly fine.

The truth is, finding a part 2 that goes anywhere near the original is rare. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II was superior but that was only because the first part was all set up. Toy Story 2 met or exceeded the original.

So while my hopes were high my expectations were low.

Some aspects of this version sat more comfortably with me. There was none of the fat shaming of Anne Hathaway of the first (she was a Size 6! and that was with a fat suit) and the toxic workplace bullying was also toned down.

Bloody awesome frocks still reigned as did locations to die for. This second outing was also a celebration of the importance of quality journalism and the dangers of profits before people.

But it wasn't the original, and how could it be? Still it was worth the price of the admission ticket and the choc top so I'll take that for the win.
 

May 14. Day 25. Comfort food

I am seriously sick of the rain. This is the Sunshine State for God's sake. False advertising.

May 13. Day 24. Uttering some cross words

 Something historically dreadful happened in the New York Times a couple of weeks back. The Crossword was impossible to solve because the clue to Five Across was missing.

May 12. Day 23. I love a hot dog

Who needs a hot water bottle when you can have a couple of hot dogs?

May 11. Day 22. Fly like the wind

It was unpleasantly windy this afternoon and the threat of rain was real. If it was just me, I could have skipped the walk. The dogs were having nothing of it.

May 10. Day 21. A mother of all days

 Of all the dates on the annual calendar,  Mother's Day is probably the most cynical Hallmark occasion.

May 9. Day 20. Too close for comfort

 I love the theatre ... but absolutely only from an audience point of view.

At the same time, being slightly short in stature, I don't like to be too far back because there is always some big head blocking my view. I paid to see drama not dandruff.

So tonight when there were limited options we selected front row seats. This put us right in the line of action. At one point I thought one of the books being hurled by the actors would take me out. At another, I worries a piece of falling ceiling might just hit me. I admire theatre that gets my pulse racing but not quite like that.

May 8. Day 19. Weather you like it or not

Sweet dreams are not made of cheese. 

May 7. April 18. On the Waterfront

 There are many, many, truly awesome things about living in a waterfront property.

You have a front line view to just about everything. But as we were reminded when Tropical Cyclone Alfred headed straight for the island in 2025 it also puts you with a front row seat to impending destruction. Alfred changed his mind and inflicted his wrath elsewhere.

History has also shown us other dangers of being on the waterfront. World War II gun posts remain just to the north of where we live. A further 20 kilometre walk to the north there are more. They are not in great repair but work is being done to protect what is left. With luck, that will include removing the penis painted on the top of one (I only know this because of a drone photograph which was published in last year's Bribie Island calendar).

May 6. Day 17. Dog Day Afternoon

 
We're back baby.

May 5. Day 16. Reflections of me

They say pets come to look like their owners or vice versa.

May 4. Day 15. Cruising for a Bruising

 For someone who enjoys staring at the ocean as much as I do, it is, perhaps, surprising that my idea of hell would be a cruising holiday.

Day 14. May 3. The Butterfly Effect

                                                                              It's hard not to like butterflies. Effortlessly beautiful, colourful and gentle. That they have become the symbol of chaos theory is an ultimate irony.

Occasionally when I'm feeling internal chaos I like to drop by the Bribie Island Butterfly House just to sit for a bit and let the butterflies work their magic.

There is such joy inside the enclosure. The volunteers are bursting with enthusiasm to point out all the different species and astound with facts and figures,

Children are desperate to have a butterfly land on them and only slightly terrified when it happens and everyone wants to capture the best photo.

What surprised me today was the diversity of the visitors. Families with young children are to be expected but for groups of four or five young men this seemed like an unusual afternoon adventure.

You can even buy a butterfly friendly plant on the way out. It was a lovely way to spend a sleepy Sunday.

Day 13. May 2. Home sweet home

 I feel like I can breathe again. I'm back on the island and the sea is where I need to be. Yes, city life has a lot going for it but the air and the sound of the waves brings music to my soul.