This will hurt me...

THE ARISTOCRATS!!!

Things are looking up at the Theatre Royal. Campbell Street, Hobart. November 2010. Lists and numbers, numbers and lists. Off the top of my head, here is a four by four [4 X 4]: Four Movies I Could Watch Again and Again: The Thin Red Line Flying High (US title: Airplane ) The Outlaw Josey Wales Finding Nemo Four Authors I Enjoy: Ernest Hemingway Heinrich Böll Pat Barker Andrey Kurkov Four Places I Have Travelled To: London Berlin Prague Stanley Four of My Favourite Foods: Pizza Gulyás Hot chips Cheese!

Graffiti under the fire escape of the Theatre Royal. Campbell Street, Hobart. November 2010. Kaddish for a Child Not Born by Imre Kertész is one of a series of four novels which examine the life of a man who survives the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. I wrote about the first, Fatelessness , a few weeks back . If Fatelessness offered a relatively conventional narrative approach, Kaddish for an Unborn Child , written fifteen years later, is anything but. It is a difficult novel of repetition and ambiguity, the narrator acknowledging all his uncertainty, and constantly reminding the reader of the difficulty of exact expression. In many respects, it’s an artist’s attempt at public self-flagellation. Broadly, the novel is a meditation on the narrator's failed marriage, and in particular, his refusal to have children. Identity is fixed firmly to the present perspective, with the narrator constantly reminiscing yet always acknowledging what was to happen: history is fixed, e...

Stairs to the stars. Fire escape from the Theatre Royal, Hobart. November 2010. This one is a (slightly different) look at the Theatre Royal, right at the heart of Hobart. It is a versatile location, staging all kinds of events including ballet, opera, drama and musicals. When the theatre opened in 1837, it was located among the pubs, brothels, gambling dens, factories and tiny workers’ cottages of Wapping. As such, it is the oldest continually operating theatre in Australia. This nearly wasn’t the case though! No less a figure than Sir Laurence Olivier himself spoke passionately to Tasmanians, urging them to resist the urge to demolish it an start again in the 1940s, telling us to "never let it go"! Obviously, someone was listening. Countless lesbians [ahem] thespians have trod the boards of the Royal. Indeed, reading through a simple list is like gazing up at the sky in the dead of night! Laurence Olivier! Noël Coward! Vivien Leigh! Lillian Gish! Peter Ustinov! Hell, we’...

There's nothing that Henry enjoyed doing more than climbing to the top of the play equipment, and belt out a version of Detroit Rock City .

In another time and another place, Ezra would have made a more than adequate Black and White Minstrel , as evidenced here by a fulsome finale to "Mammy". As it is, he's holding out hope for a role as one of Gladys Knight's Pips.

Yesterday I expressed my fear that Henry and Ezra may drift into the hideous world of amateur theatre , primarily because they both are supremely talented singers, dancers and - most of all - drama queens. Now, I am hoping that their lust for the STAGE is just a STAGE, and that they'll settle down to non-theatrically based activities in the near future. Until then, we are left with scenes like this...

Looking skyward on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Franklin Wharf. That's the sharp edge of the Marine Board Building, a tree and a street sign. I like the colours on this one, very 'cool', very 'early morning'. The locals hate this building, but it is interesting enough to feature on this blog a few times already . Anyway, enough of buildings pack with bureaucrats, we have a Theme Thursday topic to tackle! [Cue meandering post.] I might not have mentioned it already on this blog, but I have two sons . Both of my children are charismatic, engaging fellows with a flair for the dramatic. They share a gift for music; they are blessed with a natural rhythm that permits them both tremendous dancing skills; they have seemingly innate abilities in the field of manipulation persuasion; an enormous egotism confidence; immense physical stamina and strength; yet sensitive, compassionate natures. This curse These gifts that both share have led me to ponder the likelihood...