Leslie Howard at QPAC

It was really very exciting. My partner and I won two tickets to see Leslie Howard play at QPAC on Friday night. He was performing as part of the Queensland Music Festival, so it was great to be able to see him in concert. Apart from the fact that we actually won something (!!!), I love the piano and piano music.



This is Leslie Howard, playing Liszt (not the selection from the QPAC performance, though).


We only just made it. I was working in Melbourne all week and only landed back in Brisbane at 6:15pm. The concert started at 8, so I rushed home, got changed and we went straight back out. We got to the Concert Hall at QPAC just as they announced that the doors would be closing in two minutes. So we went straight in, sat down, and the concert started.

Howard started with Beethoven, followed by Liszt. I hadn't heard either of these selections before, which made for a nice change. (I'm not a huge consumer of classical music, so this wasn't really a surprise given the amount of music that Beethoven and Liszt wrote.) The Six Variations in F Major, opus 34 by Beethoven didn't really catch my imagination, but that's probably because I was still trying to calm down after racing to get there in time. The Liszt selection (Annees de pelerinage - Troiseme anne, S163) made more of an impression. Starting slowly, over the course of the seven pieces it did build into something that caught my imagination.

After the interval he played Borodins Petite Suite, followed by Sonata No.1 by Glazunov. Again, these were two pieces I'd never heard before. The Glazunov I thought was very good and a great piece to finish with.

One thing that did surprise me was that most of this music was relatively quiet and simple, in minor keys. It did have a rather downbeat feeling to it in that respect. So much of Beethoven and Liszt in particular are fast paced and quite extravagant in a lot of ways and these pieces were obviously some of their simpler and sparser works. The whole performance had a low key feeling to it as a result, at least for me.

Having said that, his playing was superb. He performed for two hours completely from memory (a trick I wish I could do!) and without missing a beat. It was overall a brilliant performance and I'm very glad we went.

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Missing home in Melbourne

I'm in Melbourne this week. Normally I'd be really happy about that - I love Melbourne and think it's a great city to be in. But this time it's a bit different. It's the first time I've had to come down here for work while leaving my partner at home in Brisbane. That puts a whole new spin on the joy of travel.




This is a business trip, too. I've been assigned to an exciting new project and have to spend at least this week in the Melbourne office. Fortunately, after this first week or so I'll be able to do most of my work from Brisbane. That suits me perfectly.

While I'm down here though I'm going to catch up with one of my best friends. We'll be going out tomorrow night for dinner. There's a vegetarian restaurant somewhere in Fitzroy that he wants to try, so that ought to be interesting.

In the meantime, I'm stuck in my hotel room. Melbourne is having a winter heat wave at the moment, so it's not actually as cold as it could be, but it's still not all that warm either. Why can't they schedule these trips in summer!!???

Anyway, that's about it - I'm looking forward to getting home on Friday night, just in time to see the Leslie Howard concert at QPAC.

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Laughing out loud: French and Saunders!

We made it into South Bank on Sunday night to see the French and Saunders show at the Brisbane Convention Center. What a great show!

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The evening started with dinner at Kapsalis in the South Bank parklands. The food was good, and they were more than generous with the portions. None of us went hungry, that's for sure. Just a tip - don't order the Seafood Platter for Two unless you plan on having at least two people to eat it. It was huge. I mean it - huge. My friend barely made a dent in it by himself. Anyway... I had the mezethes platter, and even that was more than enough for one person.

We wandered over to the Convention Center after dinner. There were crowds of people going in the same direction, as you'd expect for such a famous pair of comedians. But this led to the one disappointment of the night - I'll get it out of the way first, because the show was excellent.

The seating was horrible! We paid for A reserve seating, which was the mid-priced seating. The expensive seats had all sold out before we booked, so we went for what we thought would be the next best thing. But we were wrong. The cheap seats were actually the best seats in the house, so sometimes you don't get what you pay for. We were in row K, right at the back of the A reserve section. The problem was that the floor is level in the Convention Center so we couldn't really see the stage at all. We were below the stage level so had to look up to see Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, but because the floor was level we couldn't see over the people sitting in front of us. It was very poor planning on the part of the center. After a few minutes, we got up and complained to an usher. He then showed us to some free seats up in the side sections that are raised and on a slope. Even though these seats were not sold because they supposedly had an obstructed view they were much better than the seats we actually paid for. We weren't alone, too. Throughout the show people were constantly moving from the floor seats to the raised seating around the side of the venue. I would say there were a lot of unhappy people that night.

Still, once we'd moved, the show was fantastic. I love both Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Absolutely Fabulous is an amazing TV show, and I still get the dvds out to watch it now and then. The Vicar of Dibley is just as good, although I've never gone so far as to buy it. They are both very talented comedians.

They did a lot of live performance, but broke it up with some pre-recorded videos. Here's one of them from YouTube. Take a look - it's hilarious. A very funny spoof of Mamma Mia, the movie.

So apart from the debacle with the seats (which we are complaining about!) it was a lovely night. It was great to see them live after enjoying them on TV for so long now. I can't believe they've been working together for 30 years - seems like such a long time, and they've done so many fantastic things in that time. I'd love to see them again one day, but this is their last tour together (hmmm - heard that from plenty of other artists, though, so we'll see!).

A great night - 4 stars from me.

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Eating Chives

We went out for dinner last night to Chives, a restaurant not far from where we live. My cousin and his family are in town for a week or so and we thought it would be great to catch up over dinner.

Apart from being close to home, the other attraction of Chives was the buy one meal and get one free vouchers we had. Aren't the vouchers on the back of your grocery vouchers a great idea?


We didn't make a reservation, so we were probably quite lucky to get a table. It turned out to be a smaller restaurant than I thought. Still, we did get in and got a table.

The menu describes itself as pan-Asian, although the main emphasis seems to be on Thai food. The choices include curries, stir fries, sea food to beef and lamb as well as vegetarian options, so there was a choice for everyone.

I can personally recommend the Chilli Jam Chicken Curry with coconut cream. It was absolutely delicious, and had just the right amount of spice in it for my tastes.

The only drawback as far as we were concerned was the amount of time it took for the food to be prepared. We were there for almost an hour before our main meals arrived, although that could have been because my cousin ordered the slow-cooked lamb shanks. Anything that says slow cooked in the actual menu should be a warning, shouldn't it? As a result we were all very hungry by the time the food did actually arrive, but it was worth waiting for.

I'm glad we went there last night, although it's probably not a place I would have gone if we hadn't had the free meal vouchers. Downtown Mt Gravatt isn't the most exciting spot for night life. Still, it was local and turned out to be very good. Well worth the trip.

And it was a great way to lead into what should be an exciting weekend. A good friend arrives tonight, and we're all going out to the French and Saunders show in Brisbane on Sunday night. Can't wait for that!

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I hate Brisbane traffic!

I have to say it - I hate Brisbane traffic! The whole city is either a road work site or grid lock. Driving around this town is a horrible experience.

Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. Outside of peak times it's not too bad, but try driving around the city in the morning or afternoon peak and you're in trouble.

My pet hate is the Inner City Bypass to Riverside Expressway link. It is totally random and can take either five minutes or 30 minutes to get through and there's no way of predicting in advance which it's going to be.

The road works don't help. The whole city is a road work site. From Ipswich to the Sunshine Coast, you can't drive anywhere without running up against road works. I know that this is a good thing, in the long run, but right now it just makes for a nightmare commute, every day.

The government has been running a trial over the last month with some government workers doing different hours or working from home. This has made a noticeable difference in my morning drive, but very little difference in the afternoon. I hope they continue this in the future because I do think it's a good idea and it is helping.

Still, the traffic in Brisbane shouldn't be as bad as it is. the city really isn't that big and other cities around the world don't have this many problems.

Anyway, that's my whinge for the day. Rant over :)

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Warholing

"Art is what you can get away with." So said Andy Warhol, according to one of the quotes wallpapered around GOMA on Sunday. And it's very true, too - he got away with quite a lot!


I spent Sunday at the Gallery of Modern Art here in Brisbane, looking through the Andy Warhol exhibition. Like a lot of other people, I'd heard of Andy Warhol without really knowing anything about his work. He was famous for saying that everyone in the future would be famous for 15 minutes. And that, I think, is his 15 minutes summed up right there.

I spent around three hours in the exhibition. Maybe I just didn't get it, but a lot of it, the early works in particular, didn't impress me all that much. His later works, on the other hand, I thought were much better. At least, they appealed to me a bit more. Maybe that just means I'm more in touch with the spirit of the 80's than the 60's...

And I guess that's the point, isn't it? He was a pop artist, consciously so. He was speaking very much in the language and images of the day, reacting to the events immediately around him. He captured a moment in time, sometimes memorably as with his portraits, and then time moved on. The image doesn't speak as loudly any more and will probably continue to fade as we get further away from his time and the ideas that inspired him.

Overall, it's an interesting exhibition. It's more interesting for it's historical value than it's artistic value, I think, but still I'm glad I went.

I bought a fridge magnet at the Andy Warhol Supermarket on the way out. Pop art at its best!

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Brisbane weather sucks - should have stayed in Hobart!

I came back from Hobart to spend a couple of days on the beach before heading back to work this week. And guess what it does? That's right - it rains right up until Monday morning. Not happy!!! Anyway...

This is what Kedron Brook looked like on Sunday afternoon after a very heavy storm went through. It's the first time I've seen it break its banks since moving up here. It went down again pretty quickly though, but looked impressive while it lasted.

Now if it would just rain like that over Wivenhoe Dam...

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Kondalilla Falls

On Sunday I drove up to Montville and Kondalilla Falls National Park. I was planning to do the Falls circuit with a friend, but I was very disappointed to get there and find the track was closed.


Anyway, we walked out to the top of the falls and had a look at the swimming hole there. I was surprised how close it was to the car park. I'd assumed that the walk out was longer than it actually was - it was only about a 15 minute walk out to the top of the falls. It was pretty easy going. The track is well maintained and mostly level, apart from the short descent to the creek.

We thought about going swimming here, but decided against it. The pool was pretty busy, and so we decided to head for the beach at Caloundra instead.

The track to the base of the falls was closed. I was pretty disappointed about this, as that was the part of the track I was actually interested in. According to the sign, the track has been closed due to geological instability, meaning that they think there could be rockfalls. And that's fair enough, but it would have been nice if there was a notice on the website. I got my information about the park from the website and the track closure wasn't mentioned anywhere...

Still, it was a nice short walk to the top of the falls, just not very spectacular. Lunch at Montville was nice, though.

And the weather at Kings Beach, in Caloundra, was great. Not to windy, or hot, and just enough surf to make it interesting. I really don't get to the beach often enough, and Sunday was a great day for it. So a couple of hours at the beach made up for the disappointment that was Kondalilla.

I really need to find some good bushwalking areas around Brisbane...

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Summer comes early?

It's been a beautiful Brisbane weekend. Unbelievable, really, considering it's still September. It got to 30 degrees yesterday, and is going the same way today.

So what do you do on such a summery weekend? That's right - you head for the beach.



And that's exactly what I did yesterday. I went and sat on the beach at Bribie Island for a few hours. Of course, I got stuck in the traditional summer-weekend traffic jam on the Bruce Highway. All the way from the Narangba to Caboolture was stop/go. Very frustrating.

Still, it was worth it, I think. The beach was great. There was a fairly gentle cool breeze blowing down the beach and that felt great on my skin. The water was still pretty cool though; it is still September after all. But that just made it all the more refreshing, and it was so nice being back in the ocean again. The last time was in Vietnam, at Mui Ne, so not that long ago really, but it just felt different here. Cleaner, for a start...

Today I didn't feel like driving all that way again. I've been out on the bike instead, for an hour or so along the bike track. Not quite as relaxing as sitting on the beach, but still good. And I needed the exercise, too. I went out before it got too hot this morning. It's warmed up a lot now, though, and I think I'll be heading off to the air-conditioned shopping centre for coffee with some friends soon. That'll be nice, too.

A great weekend - shame about work tomorrow, really...

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Spring Break!

It's the start of spring tomorrow. I can't wait for summer to come back - I'm definitely no fan of winter. Anyway, I'm heading off overseas tomorrow. I've taken a couple of weeks off work to go traveling. I've been really looking forward to the break.



In the meantime, though, here's a few spring photos taken around my place.

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Miss Saigon

It was a busy weekend. On Saturday I was climbing Mt Beerwah, then on Sunday it was off to see Miss Saigon at QPAC. It turned out to be another good day, and an excellent performance.


It's been a long time since I've been to a show like this. The last one was Stomp, about this time last year. The theatre isn't a place I spend a lot of time. I'm glad I went to see this one, though.

The story is set in Saigon, starting at the end of the Vietnam war and following the lives of Kim and Chris over the next few years. I didn't know much about the story going into the show, except that it was a love story. I didn't expect a happy ending, though.

The action starts in a Saigon bar/brothel. Chris is there, with a few other US soldiers. He's having a bit of an emotional crisis when he meets Kim, a Vietnamese girl who's fled the countryside looking for safety in the city. They fall in love, but are almost immediately separated by the fall of Saigon. This sets up all the tragedies that follow in both their lives, until we finally witness their reunion.

The desparation of the girls in Saigon is clearly shown, as well as their opinion of the US soldiers they entertain. Personally, I don't think this situation has changed much in Asia, although circumstances are not as desperate now as they were then. There are still plenty of girls working in places like that all across Asia, still getting taken advantage of by tourists and the bar owners. And they probably still despise their customers, while also looking for the one who might marry them and take them out of there. As the Engineer says repeatedly in the show, men are always the same.

One of my favourite sequences from the show was the American Dream, sung by the Engineer. It was funny, cynical, and well executed. The striptease by the animated Statue of Liberty shown on the screen above the stage drove the point home.

The show was very well done. The set changes were very smoothly done. The pace of the set changes was pretty fast, so doing it all so smoothly was very impressive. The cast were great - the singing was passionate, and high quality. And, as the Brisbane Times review pointed out, the guys looked suitably buff when they took their shirts off!

Overall it was a powerful performance. The story alone is powerful, and almost had me in tears at the end. Combine that with the excellent performances, music and sets, it becomes an experience I'll remember for a long time.

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The year that was....

It's been a great year all around. I've got out and about the great South East, had a good time with friends and family etc.

I've been to beaches, and forests.

Spent time in the city, and the bay.

I have to say, Brisbane is a great place if you like getting outside and seeing more than just the city.

Anyway, all that is just leading up to this whole new year, starting today. Yes, it's happy birthday to me - it's been a good year, and here's hoping the next one is just as good. Now I'm off for a birthday dinner to celebrate!

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Brisbane days...

It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Brisbane today. It's a bit windy, but that's fine. A great day to be out and about - this the sort of weather I moved to Queensland for! It beats the freezing winters back home, that's for sure.

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