Book Review: Galeano’s Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone

Posted on 13 April 2013 | Leave a comment

Mirrors: Stories of Almost EveryoneMirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone by Eduardo Hughes Galeano

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire trilogy when I was in my late teens. I wore it with pride, as it seemed to represent a lot of what I wanted to be. As a young lefty, that someone had rewritten the history of the world from the view of the oppressed, had uncovered alternative narratives, and infused them with a passion for social justice, was a lovely gift. And politics aside, the amazing myth-telling from the first of trilogy, with the origins of the earth and peoples and languages, was poetic and magnificent.

Years later, I stumble upon ‘Mirrors’ in a used bookstore, and buy it, mostly through sentimentality! In a strange way, it seems a retelling of the original trilogy: it begins with origins of the world and ends somewhere in our modern day. Twenty-five years later and he is writing in a similar style about similar injustices. Because of this, I didn’t feel particularly engaged by the book, I’d dip in and out of it, enjoy the vignettes and poetry of it, but somehow in the last third, I was captured into the way he had grouped the vignettes into loose themes, how he would dance across continents before moving into another exploration.

It really is a depressing telling though, this history of the world. I think it’s encapsulated for me in his vignette entitled ‘Only Human’ that occurs just after the halfway point of the book. ‘We puny humans:’ he begins, and then lists some of our traits, ‘exterminators of everything…ones who poison the water they drink… the only ones who kill for fun… who rape’. And then his list of positive characteristics is about half as long as those that were negative: ‘also/the only ones who laugh…daydream…find beauty in rubbish’.

And I’d think that this is what a reader will end up with in general: one-third inspired by his beautiful writing and impressed with his passion for uncovering the voices and histories of the oppressed; two-thirds depressed by the terrible machinations of the world.

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Posted in Book, Books, Review

That old ‘ise’ vs. ‘ize’ chestnut

Posted on 13 April 2013 | Leave a comment

I love my new career as an editor and copywriter.

Looking at the ins and outs of language and how it changes with time and geography fascinates me.

Raised in Canada, of course we knew that there was a difference between the way we said ‘zed’ and Americans said ‘zee’. Ah yes, and ‘colour’ and ‘color’.

But I was unaware of other regional differences. After arriving in London to work, after two years in Brussels, I remember sitting down in my new managerial position, and correcting the spelling on a document written by one of my project workers.

He sat in silence while I corrected ‘organisation’ to ‘organization’ and it was only a week or two later that I discovered, to my horror, that I had been completely ignorant of the difference between ‘ise’ and ‘ize’ in the United Kingdom. ‘Why didn’t you say anything?’ I asked but he just shrugged. He’d treated me (and continued to treat me) with passive aggression, and it was just another proof of my foreign ignorance and ill suitability for the job.

Here in Australia, it was a slow process, but I finally got used to using ‘ise’ instead of ‘ize’ for everything. It’s much easier here to just decide that there are no exceptions and to stick with that construction, whether to spell a word like ‘authorise’ or ‘realise’, even though a number of z’s have snuck into writing here.

Recently, I got a job editing a report for an international agency that uses the Oxford English Dictionary as their guide on spelling.

This should be easy enough, I thought, as Oxford implies (to me at least) spelling from the United Kingdom.

But I was surprised to find out they spell nearly ALL variants with a ‘z’?

So:

  • customize
  • patronize
  • sensitize
  • finalize
  • authorize
  • mobilize
  • marginalization
  • organization
  • humanize
  • recognize
  • civilization
  • utilize

But: it’s not possible to go all the way with ‘ize’ as I found a handful of exceptions:

  • analyse
  • advertise
  • exercise
  • supervise
  • catalyse
  • disenfranchise

It kind of wanted to make my head explode! But at the same time, I find it kind of amusing. When people find out I’m an editor, they picture me with a tight bun, pulling my hair back from my face, and lecturing them on language rules. But because there are so many rules and different kinds of rules, the aim is consistency, not perfection (though perfection is nice to strive for), and I think a good editor needs to be as flexible and adaptable as they are strict.

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Posted in Editing

A client describes her reiki treatment

Posted on 23 March 2013 | Leave a comment

Natasha came for a treatment with Reiki Surry Hills in March 2013, and had a particularly powerful experience, which she’s allowed me to share with you here.

‘During reiki, it felt very powerful. I felt very relaxed and it felt like I was sleeping sometimes, because I could hear myself snoring. At times, I saw colours, like a kaleidoscope and I had lots of visions.

When you were at my feet, I could feel energy coursing through me. I had some small pains, in my left ear and at the front of my right shoulder. Afterwards, it felt as if I was made of a completely different material.

One of the things that I was hoping that reiki would address is that I’ve lost some sensation in my feet lately. I can knock my foot and it will take time to feel anything. After the session, I could feel sensation coming back to the area of my feet. The first day after the session I could occasionally feel a light pain in the certain spots on my body – one spot in the middle of the left knee, and another in the middle of right foot.

The treatment was very successful and beneficial at so many levels. I noticed that afterwards, I was more energised but also more serene and grounded since the treatment. It was very obvious because over the last two days, I have been in intensive professional training, a  situation that usually triggers my anxiety and social phobia. I have noticed that my response has been much better than usual – I was focused, relaxed, receptive and very sociable, which is, I am sure, a result of the session.

My main goal is to learn how to be at peace and balance with myself, and my intuition tells me that reiki is good way of achieving it. You’ve definitely got a follower and admirer in me.

One more thing – I was in some special state of mind after the treatment, as if I had just woken up or come out of meditation. So, I was not quite “on earth” yet. I didn’t notice the glass door at the exit from the building and hit my head against it. It was painful and awakening!’

As a note from me, sometimes reiki can bring up sensations (or small pains) that are uncomfortable during or after the session, but I believe this is something in the end healthy, as the negative sensation arises and works its way out of the body.

Thank you Natasha for letting me share your experience!

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Posted in Reiki

Welcome Maneki-Neko.

Posted on 17 March 2013 | Leave a comment

You know, I always wanted a Maneki-Neko, a Japanese fortune cat, or money cat, or lucky cat, he goes by many names. I find him endearingly tacky, and he reminds me of Japan (which I love), or even little shops in Chinatown where we Chinese have culturallly appropriated a cat with the aim of greed and economic dominance prosperity. Also, Dad had one in his office.

However, I’ve never really found one that has called out to me. When I’ve seen them in shops, they seem equally tacky and charming in their varieties and I was unable to decide between them. Yesterday, riding home on the Bourke Street Cycleway, there was a garage, yard, sidewalk sale (is that what they’re reduced to for people who have neither garages nor yards?). They were packing up, and one of the only items still out on the street was this little Maneki-Neko. Two dollars, no holler. How appropriate to get a bargain fortune cat.

photo

On the other hand, when I put the battery in, I discover that Fortune Cat’s beckoning arm (Westerns often think the cat is waving, but no, the cat is beckoning fortune) moves so quickly that it is looks much less lucky than an arm about to be wrenched out of its socket. It makes a tack-tack-tacking sound with the arm swinging back and forth and hitting its maximum trajectory. Not particularly conducive to my concentration… at work… where I make my (financial) fortune.

photophoto copy

Poor Maneki-Neko. I’ll just have to leave you hobbled and battery-less, and I’ll try to bring my salary without your extra beckoning gesture. You’re still a lovely shiny colour of gold.

 

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Posted in Stuff

It’s not me, it’s you: Office: Mac 2011 = Crazymaking

Posted on 15 March 2013 | Leave a comment

4 Feb 2013

As an editor, and a mac user, the main tool of my trade is Office: Mac 2011.

I wish I had a better tool.

Regularly, my documents will suddenly show me a blank dialogue box. Then the dropdown menu is blank.

Then, as I can’t save my document, I’ll have to force quit word and hope that my file will be recovered.

I thought that the problem was the my Macbook was getting old, as it’s over the ripe old age (for laptops) of 5 years. I wondered whether it was because of the large files (it usually happens with larger files) and whether it had something to do with incompatability with PC versions of Word.

I did discover one bug, which had to do with my particular setup where I plugged in my laptop to a large screen (a 50 cm ASUS MW221) and used both screens at the same time (the larger one being the main one). If I happened to move a word document from the large screen to the smaller screen that was larger than the smaller screen, then Word crashed. It required me to be mindful of this and shrink the document window down to a smaller size on the larger screen before I moved it over to the smaller screen.

But that still didn’t solve all the crashes. When I bought a MacBook Air and had the same crashes without the computer being hooked up to any other screen, I knew it wasn’t just that.

Until then, I also couldn’t figure out the right google search. But I finally did. Peter Marx on his website noted the same problem and that Microsoft Office Mac 2011 is ‘too buggy‘.

There are also similar discussions on Mac Forums which note a variety of frustrations and proposed solutions. Sad to say that I don’t think any of them work: neither reinstalling the program, nor doing a verify and repair disk, works. I’ve had this problem going on for about two years, and the only conclusion I have is that it’s crazymaking.

15 Mar 2013

After another long round of frustrating edits and crashes, I decided to do another round of searching for help. Sometimes it seems I have to wait til the net catches up with me, or whether I figure out something that I should have been able to figure out before. While an acquaintance recommended switching to another word processing program (anyone tried Scrivener?). Macheads recommend Pages.

But I edit documents that come to me in Word. It’s not realistic to try to convert them to another program to edit them, and then convert them back again to send to a client.

So, I found a new string of emails on the ‘Microsoft Office Community’. It seems like one fellow was having exactly the same problems as I’ve been having and for months. The gist of the conversation was one learned fellow explaining that it’s probably crashing because there are too many ‘track changes’. This makes sense to me. I have these problems because, as an editor, I am tracking dozens of changes and adding comments on complex documents with tables, figures, graphics and various fonts and styles.

The conclusion of this… until today was one fellow recommending basically to not track changes (which is part of my job as an editor) and the other fellow saying, ‘This is ridiculous. It’s a word processing program.’ I posted up my own lament and received a response today which is promising:

There have been several updates, including a new update this week that specifically addresses crashes with tracked changes.

Oh my god, excitement. However, I try to update my copy of Office, and get a message that my Product Key is invalid (it so isn’t). So, I’ve just spent half an hour going through online help who told me to call their helpline, and then registering all my details with the helpline who then assigned me a case # and transferred me to the technical department (huh?) who then asked me for my name and case # and told me that no one is available to help me with Office for Mac. But they’ll call me in about an hour… (when he gets back from coffee?) Stay tuned…

17 Mar 2013

Oh the moment when you realise that even though you think you are competent at I.T., you are so NOT. I was clicking on ‘upgrade’ office, which then gave me a prompt to enter in the product code, I suppose for Office 2013, or whatever they’ve come up with. Instead, I should have been clicking simply on ‘check for updates’ (upgrade vs. update, shouldn’t I know the difference as an editor?).

I discover this by finally getting through to the IT helpdesk at Microsoft, and run a little program that gives them remote control of my computer. I tell you: that was totally frightening to be in front of my screen, while the helpdesk guy controlled my cursor – and then simply did a software update, which, ahem, I could have done myself.

His name was JC, which I wanted to ask if it was short for Jesus Christ, which later would have made even more sense since in closing the conversation, he kept saying ‘God Bless You’. Seriously. I think their helpdesk must be in the USA somewhere.

So, now I’m upgraded, and the upgrade said that it fixes an issues of crashing when ‘scrolling’ when there are multiple track changes. Will this fix my long-standing problem? Who knows? Stay tuned…

13 April 2013

Wow. I did have to provide an update. It’s been a month now, and I’ve been doing a lot of editing… and no crashes. Woohoo. After two years of Office for Mac: PAIN, it seems (knock wood) that they fixed the problem.

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Posted in Advice, Consumer, Getting Things Done, Stuff

Concert Review: Rickie Lee Jones at the Factory Theatre

Posted on 12 March 2013 | Leave a comment

photo

I’ve always found it interesting how we’re drawn to what type of music. It doesn’t matter whether we’ve shared life experience with the singer, or can even understand their language to be drawn in and then either like, or even love, someone’s music. I’m not sure why I have always loved Rickie Lee Jones’s music, her completely unusual voice, and her folk tales of bar hounds and outlaw kids, but she was one of those women I worshipped in university. Funny, it’s a stereotype of gay men being drawn to women singers: Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and Kylie Minogue. But gay fans of folksingers were a little less common; I loved Jane Siberry, Ani Difranco, Nanci Griffith and Joni Mitchell just the same.

Two years ago, I saw Rickie Lee Jones in Sydney as part of the Vivid Festival, playing to a packed house at the Opera House. Our seats weren’t particularly good, I recall, but I was thrilled to hear her play her old songs. She was whackier than I imagined, a musician’s life, well lived. My partner, however ,thought she sounded a little worn out with a lack-lustre performance.

On Sunday night, my friend David posted on facebook, ‘Does anyone want to see Rickie Lee with me?” I had no idea she was in town, and I subscribe to a number of music and concert e-mail newsletter so I won’t miss my favourite artists when they pass through. I’d seen nothing of it advertised, heard not a peep.

But of course I’d go. And neither would David find anyone else interested, the majority of Australian friends knowing Ricki-Lee Coulter, a former Australian idol contestant, but not Rickie-Lee Jones.

The venue, in Marrickville, is out of the way. There is a nice enough bar a seven-minute walk away, and a pizza place across from that, but it’s pretty dead out there. I’d been to the Factory Theatre ages, and I couldn’t quite picture here there. It’s small, and not very pretty. The size of a small high school gymnasium, a big boxy long room.

We arrived early, had a drink and headed in. There was no opening act. We kept on looking at these rows of stackable chairs lined up and joined together, no more than 200 people, and the back rows empty. What happened? How does a world-famous artist end up playing in a dive like this? The lights dimmed, she came on stage with two musicians, a cellist and an electric guitarist.

From her opening notes, I was astonished that even near the back of the room, we were sitting so close to her. The sound was crystal clear, as if she were singing in one’s living room, and her voice, unchanged after so many years. And while the tour is purportedly in support of her new album (which I hear is very good), it was mostly old favourites, her on guitar mainly, though she switched to piano, significantly for Satellites, an amazing jazzy improvisational version. We Belong Together was stripped down, the percussion of the original tracks recreated by tapping and clacking on the top of the piano, or the musicians tapping their instruments. These songs were the most intimate and stripped-down versions I’d heard. Coolsville was quiet, quiet and absolutely cool. It must be love was sweet and quiet.

In the meantime, Miss Ricki Lee was low-key with an easy banter with the audience, not very talkative, but cool, of course. Instead of the feeling that she was tired of playing these songs for decades, she completely inhabited them as being able to sing them like no one else could ever do. She would smile and laugh during singing, relishing her own poetry and the joy of her delivery.

Someone’s posted up the setlist already (from setlist.fm)

  16. The Horses
So many of my favourite songs… Really, I felt I had died and gone to heaven and was brought to tears a number of times. Someone screwed up in keeping it secret that she was in Sydneytown, but for us, it felt like this amazing gift, the Dutchess of Coolsville so close and intimate, singing her crazy beautiful songs.

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Posted in Concert, Music, Review

Books I read in 2012

Posted on 3 March 2013 | Leave a comment

March already, and I never posted this up…

  • Michael Ondaatje’s The Cat’s Table (Fiction) – My god, did I love this. What a great start to the year for reading.
  • Tara Moss’s Split (Crime/Thriller)
  • David Musgrave’s Phantom Limb (Poetry)
  • Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible (Fiction)
  • Andy Kissane’s Out to Lunch (Poetry)
  • Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader (Fiction)
  • Assaracus, A Journal of Gay Poetry, Issue 6 (Poetry) – Normally I don’t list journals and magazines, but it was a good read and I was honoured to have my poems included in it.
  • Joyce Carol Oates’ I’ll Take You There (Fiction) – Always wondered what her writing was like. I enjoyed it enough, not spectacularly. The story was contained and I didn’t fall into it. But she’s a good writer.
  • Alex Miller’s Lovesong (Fiction) – One of Australia’s more prominent writers – I enjoyed this, a good story, readable, engaging. Something fairly direct about his style. It was an interesting contrast to the Oates book.
  • Armistaud Maupin’s Mary Ann in Autumn (Fiction) – A return to the Tales of the City series that I loved so much. This was a pretty good return to form as I didn’t love ‘Michael Tolliver Lives’.
  • Nicole Mones’ a cup of light (Fiction) – an interesting enough exploration of the world of Chinese porcelain. Well-told.
  • Shane Koyczan’s Our Deathbeds Will Be Thirsty (Poetry)
  • Jennifer Egan’s Emerald City (Short Fiction)
  • Bonny Cassidy’s Certain Fathoms (Poetry)
  • Benjamin Law’s Gaysia (Non-fiction)
  • Leigh Stein’s Dispatch from the Future (Poetry)
  • Karen Russell’s Swamplandia! (Fiction)
  • Kate Fagan’s First Light (Poetry)
  • Ruth Park’s Harp in the South (Fiction)
  • Toby Fitch’s Rawshock (Poetry)
  • David Adams Richards’s Mercy Among The Children (Fiction)
  • Ahn Do’s The Happiest Refuge (Memoir)

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Posted in Stuff

Restaurant Review: Momofuku Seibo Redux

Posted on 6 February 2013 | Leave a comment

Even though it hasn’t been all that long since I’ve been to Sydney’s hottest new restaurant (though Movida these days seems to be giving it a run for its money), it was entirely necessary to go again so that the fabulous Leslie could experience it. Along with Sarah and Frank, we sat down on Friday night to an amazing meal matched with various alcoholic substances.

What surprised me was how thrilling I found it, even though I’d eaten there not that long ago. Probably about one-third of the dishes were the same, and the rest were different. Some of the drink-matching was the same, but others were also different.

What I loved was the elevation of something simple and basic to be a part of a complex and modern dish. A brocolli stalk, for crying out loud. Not even the floret. Perfectly done to accompany one of the dishes. Similarly, blanched almonds, or a small grilled piece of lettuce, were small simple foods put into a very different context. Here are the lettuce and the almonds alongside a very tasty piece of lamb (with a slightly bitter eggplant paste):

IMG_1423

We were so caught up in the food that I don’t have a photo of my favourite dish of the night, another example of the elevation of the common (or even the discarded). Potatoes confit in beef fat, and then fried in chicken fat so they’re sticky and rich. It was like a whole roast dinner in one bite. These were accompanied by four crispy deep-fried chicken’s tails (or popes’ or parsons’ noses…), a part of the chicken which I think most people shy away from. As well, wafer thin slices of regular old button mushrooms, unrecognisable. All of these humble foods ramped up into an amazing, amazing dish. Here’s a photo from yelp (click on it so I don’t violate someone’s copyright…)

The other highlight for me was a modernised congee. Instead of a big thick bowl of soup, they’d somehow reduced the congee to a small disc of its creamy essence (which tastes of home and comfort and childhood, at least if you were an Asian child!). Then instead of a big hunk of fried bread (yum) torn into pieces, they’d do miniature versions, the size of quail eggs. Instead of a piece of hard-boiled or preserved egg, there was an amazing translucent disc of egg yolk. And to literally top it all off, they poured an earl grey tea sauce into it. It was salty, so I thought it might have been soy sauce, but as the menu says ‘ham’, I suspect that the ham was infused into the tea. Somehow.

IMG_1422

What else? We all liked the smoked eel/apple crispy little starter. The famous steamed bun with pork belly was as good as ever. The striped trumpeter with celery and mustard was made more amazing because the wine somehow played off against celery flavour. The thin, crispy roll of beef tongue with black garlic and zucchini also yummy and the marron with the afore-mentioned broccoli and lemon was amazing. Yum. Desserts were simple and not too sweet, a curd with blackcurrant and mint, a cucumber, raspberry and elderflower combination of foam and gelato, and then an absolutely amazing grilled pineapple with white chocolate and… oh, I don’t know. It was just so tasty we couldn’t figure it out:

IMG_1424

As with the last time I went (and I didn’t say a thing to my dining companions before they tried it), we all agreed that the radish dish, beautiful as it is, didn’t work for us. The fermented black bean sauce is harsh and earthy, the small bits of wagyu beef too small to taste, and not sure where the watermelon went. The red rice wine sake that went with it was amazing, and the sweetness did make the dish more palatable, but generally: no.

I managed to keep the surprise from my dining companions about the Petit Four being slow-cooked pork (Porky Four they deemed it, which I thought was very clever). An amazing meal, so much that I can write about the same restaurant again and not feel repetitive, great company (thanks guys), a substantial bill (!), great memories, and not quite enough food photos, even if they can be found elsewhere on the web…

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Posted in Food n' Grog

Books I’ve Read

Posted on 3 February 2013 | 1 Comment

I first kept this list on my webpage, but then figured that it would be easier to edit (and access) on my blog. So, I started this list on 7 July 2008 (my 39th birthday), and try to keep it up to date when I can, more for me than anyone else!

I’ve kept an informal list of books I’ve read in the last few years though I’ve missed recording a number. I sometimes get this feeling I don’t read enough – but then realise that I actually read a lot, especially on planes and in hotel rooms, with all the work travel I was doing. Now, with less travel, I’m making more of an effort to make time for reading when I’m not on a plane!

Miscellaneous books that I read and loved (before I started keeping this list)
  • Milan Kundera’s Unbearable Lightness of Being (and others)
  • Alice Munro’s Short Story collections
  • Lorrie Moore’s Birds of America
  • Edmund White’s Boy’s Own Story (and others)
  • Favourite poets (of which I’ve usually read a few of their books): Margaret Atwood (Selected Poems 2 is excellent), Mark Doty, Sharon Olds, Patrick Lane, Pablo Neruda.
  • Anne-Marie MacDonald’s Fall On Your Knees
  • Wole Soyinka’s Season of Anomy
  • Salman Rushdie’s novels (particularly Midnight’s Children, Satanic Verses)
  • Paul Monette’s Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story
  • James Merrill’s Changing Light at Sandover
Bolded means that I think your life is less complete without reading this book (or at least that I really really loved the book).

2013

  • Jonathan Franzen’s Strong Motion (Fiction) – See review on this website

2012

  • Michael Ondaatje’s The Cat’s Table (Fiction) – My god, did I love this. What a great start to the year for reading.
  • Tara Moss’s Split (Crime/Thriller)
  • David Musgrave’s Phantom Limb (Poetry)
  • Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible (Fiction)
  • Andy Kissane’s Out to Lunch (Poetry)
  • Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader (Fiction)
  • Assaracus, A Journal of Gay Poetry, Issue 6 (Poetry) – Normally I don’t list journals and magazines, but it was a good read and I was honoured to have my poems included in it.
  • Joyce Carol Oates’ I’ll Take You There (Fiction) – Always wondered what her writing was like. I enjoyed it enough, not spectacularly. The story was contained and I didn’t fall into it. But she’s a good writer.
  • Alex Miller’s Lovesong (Fiction) – One of Australia’s more prominent writers – I enjoyed this, a good story, readable, engaging. Something fairly direct about his style. It was an interesting contrast to the Oates book.
  • Armistaud Maupin’s Mary Ann in Autumn (Fiction) – A return to the Tales of the City series that I loved so much. This was a pretty good return to form as I didn’t love ‘Michael Tolliver Lives’.
  • Nicole Mones’ a cup of light (Fiction) – an interesting enough exploration of the world of Chinese porcelain. Well-told.
  • Shane Koyczan’s Our Deathbeds Will Be Thirsty (Poetry)
  • Jennifer Egan’s Emerald City (Short Fiction)
  • Bonny Cassidy’s Certain Fathoms (Poetry)
  • Benjamin Law’s Gaysia (Non-fiction)
  • Leigh Stein’s Dispatch from the Future (Poetry)
  • Karen Russell’s Swamplandia! (Fiction)
  • Kate Fagan’s First Light (Poetry)
  • Ruth Park’s Harp in the South (Fiction)
  • Toby Fitch’s Rawshock (Poetry)
  • David Adams Richards’s Mercy Among The Children (Fiction)
  • Ahn Do’s The Happiest Refuge (Memoir)

2011

  • Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems Volume 2 (Poetry) – some gems, and better in small doses, I was surprised that I wasn’t taken by the work of this celebrated poet.
  • John Rock’s Paseando: Out for a walk (Autobiography) – an interesting and engaging book by a friend – travel tales and more
  • Richard Labonte’s Beautiful Boys (Gay Erotica/Anthology) – I thought this was a good, digestable mix of stories – some more traditional erotica, others less so.
  • Michael Cunningham’s By Nightfall (Fiction) – I’ve read everything that he’s written and I’m not stopping now. Many moments of beauty, but I wasn’t as engaged as previous books.
  • Larissa Lai’s Automaton Biographies (Poetry)
  • Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet (Fiction) – This is Australia, it’s language, it’s heart and bones. They should have made me read this when I landed in Sydney.
  • Carol Shields’s The Stone Diaries (Fiction) 
  • Adam Gopnik’s Paris to the Moon (Memoir)
  • Alice Munro’s Too Much Happiness (Short Fiction)
  • Charles Merewether’s Ai Weiwei: Under Construction (Art Criticism/Review)
  • Best American Poetry 2011 (Poetry)
  • Dave Eggers’s Short Short Fiction (Fiction)
  • Tim Miller’s Shirts & Skin (Autobiography/Gay)
  • Joanne Harris’s Coastliners (Fiction)
  • Tina Fey’s Bossypants (Autobiography/Comedy)
  • Patrick Gale’s Rough Music (Fiction)
  • E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (Fiction/Children’s)
  • Jennifer Egan’s Welcome to the Goon Squad (Fiction) – my pick for the year. Great writing, great story-telling, of-the-moment, funny, touching. The whole gamut. Loved it.
  • Alan Downs’s The Velvet Rage (Psychology)
  • Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (Fiction) – As a first foray into trying to read a book on an iphone, this was a good choice – with a linear narrative. Always wondered what the fuss was about, and now I know: really beautiful use of language. Jane is a pretty fabulous character too, though I think I really understood her after seeing this year’s film version (which was great).
  • Margaret Atwood’s Year of the Flood (Fiction) – I love that Atwood did a companion novel set at the same time as Oryx and Crake but from a completely different perspective. Inventive, readable, poetic and engaging. That’s how I like ‘em.
  • Dan Disney’s and then when the (Poetry)
  • Chandler Burr’s The Emperor of Scent (Biography/Science) – Review on my blog.
  • Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road (Fiction) – Review on my blog.
  • Ian McEwan’s Company of Strangers (Fiction)
  • Anita Desai’s The Zigzag Way (Fiction)
  • Anne Tyler’s Back When We Were Grownups (Fiction) – I traded in a stack of books at Elizabeth’s used book store, and used them to buy the Burr, Chabon, McEwan, Desai and Tyler… I’d say the Burr was the most engaging! What next, what next?
  • Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s A Recipe for Bees (Fiction) – a Canadian novelist who had a hit with her first book. I found this engaging and quite lovely – and enjoyed the older narrator. I’m a bit tired of the trope of the curmudgeonly, cute and cuddly older narrator (i.e. I did love the story of Water for Elephants, but found the narrator a bit much) and found this speaker much richer and more interesting.
  • Dr. Raymond Moody’s Glimpses of Eternity (Spirituality) – a follow-on to his book about near-death experiences, this one is about shared-death experiences. I’m open to what he presents though didn’t love the way he presented it.
  • Michael Ondaatje’s The Cat’s Table (Fiction) – I finished the first half in the last days of 2011…

2010

  • Jee Leong Koh’s Equal to the Earth (Poetry)
  • Eli Jaxon-Bear’s The Enneagram of Liberation (Spirituality)
  • John Miller’s A Sharp Intake of Breath (Fiction)
  • Dr Arthur Agaston’s South Beach Diet (Diet/Health)
  • Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Jet-Setting Call Girl (Chick-Lit) – The adventures of Nancy Chan. Should I admit that I was looking to see if Borders carried my own book (er… no) and found instead another author named Quan? I’ve read all of her books (three so far) and found them very enjoyable. Taking the Sex-and-the-City genre and making the protagonist a sexy, Asian-American call girl living in the Big Apple – how could I resist?
  • Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap (Fiction) – I’m elevating this to a recommendation. I’m not in love with the actual writing but Tsiolkas’ characters are wonderfully-drawn, the story contemporary and the momentum of the prose unstoppable – and it’s a great portrait of modern Australia.
  • Tom Cardamone’s The Lost Library, Gay Fiction Rediscovered (Essays/Gay History)
  • Eve Escher-Hogan’s Way of the Winding Path: A Map for the Labyrinth of Life (Spirituality)
  • Gabrielle Roth’s Sweat Your Prayers (Spirituality)
  • Blaine Marchand’s The Craving of Knives (Poetry)
  • On The Line: the Creation of the Chorus Line (Non-Fiction)
  • John Barton’s Hymn (Poetry)
  • J.A.G. Roberts’ China to Chinatown: Chinese Food in the West (Non-Fiction)
  • Paul Kane’s Work Life (Poetry) – Holy Cow, I liked this book of poems. Am going to search out more of his work now.
  • Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Fiction) – The writing in this book is so energetic, I read it in a few days, very impressed. Wonder what the experience is for readers who have no Spanish language background at all as he drops Spanish words and slang into the text regularly.
  • Kevin Killian’s Argento Series (Poetry)
  • Jerome Parisse’s The Wings of Leo Spencer (Young Adult) – A friend published his first novel, a story about angels and families. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a “young adult” book but it was engaging.
  • Roberta Lowing’s Notorious (Fiction) – A friend gave me a pre-publication copy of this to read, by someone I know who organised a poetry reading series. It’s an ambitious thriller, or sorts, that moves between Italy and Poland and Morocco.
  • Kate Story’s Blasted (Fiction) – I went to college (and university) with Kate and was excited to order her first novel – it’s engaging and surprising with some really lovely writing.
  • Chris Adrian’s A Better Angel (Short Fiction) – Loved a story by this guy in the New Yorker. This is a beautiful collection.
  • Steig Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played With Fire, Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest (Thrillers) – Completely addictive and enjoyable..
  • Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom (Fiction) – As with the Corrections, I loved it. It’s my 2010 must-read recommendation.
  • David Caleb Acevedo’s Bestiario en nomenclatura binomial (Poetry in Spanish)
  • Sara Gruen’s Ape House (Fiction) – What a disappointment. Water for Elephants really grabbed me, but this had poor writing and, one-dimensional characters. The pain of it increased because of my expectations for it. 
  • Jeannette Winterston’s Lighthousekeeping (Fiction)
  • Ken Wilber’s the Integral Vision (Philosophy) – I think this guy is a really interesting thinker and this made me think about a lot of things…
  • Andrew O Hagan’s The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of his friend Marilyn Monroe – completely surprising. From the cover and title and marketing, I just wasn’t sure, but my pal Chris said it was good, and by the first page, I could see what a beautiful writer Hagan is. I really liked it.
  • Kimberley Mann’s Awake During Anaesthetic (Poetry Chapbook)
  • Bonny Cassidy’s Said to be Standing (Poetry Chapbook) – Vagabond Press produces these absolutely beautiful chapbooks called “Rare Objects” and they’re publishing usually emerging poets. Great stuff, good to read Bonny’s work as I’ve heard her read before.
  • Stuart Cooke’s Corrosions (Poetry Chapbook) – Ditto above, and *great* to read Stuart’s work as I haven’t really heard him read before. Interesting range of poems here.
  • Benjamin Law’s the Family Law (Humour/Family) – Very enjoyable, great voice, great writing from a young, gay Asian writer from Brisbane
  • Graeme Aitken’s The Indignities (Fiction) – A fun, gay romp through Sydney, circa 2004.

2009

  • Anne Enright’s The Gathering (Fiction) – Booker winner, and she went to my international college, many moons ago. I can see why people had trouble with it – as I see it hasn’t gotten universally great reviews. There’s something unsentimental and hard about it, but it’s also an amazing book.
  • Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Fiction) – Now this is the type of book that readers like – engaging, original, accessible. Both gritty and sweet. I can see why it was a best-seller, and enjoyed it myself.
  • Reading Six Feet Under – TV to Die For (Cultural Studies) – not for everyone, academic analyses of different themes in the TV show, but it allowed me, with pleasure, to revisit the best TV show ever.
  • Alice Sebold’s The Almost Moon (Fiction) – it didn’t grab me, or was this just because The Lovely Bones was so unforgettably good.
  • Dorothy Porter’s The Bee Hut (Poetry) – a beautiful short collection, published posthumously and including some of the last poems of this very original voice.
  • Norman Doidge’s The Brain That Changes Itself (Science) – thought about this for weeks, talked about it with friends for weeks. Still affecting the way I view the world.
  • Lorrie Moore’s Collected Stories (Short Fiction)
  • Tara Moss’ Fetish (Crime/Thriller)
  • Robert Bly’s translation of Rumi, The Kabir Book (Poetry).
  • Haruki Murukami’s Dance Dance Dance (Fiction) – Wow, does this man have an interesting mind. Really enjoyed it.
  • Henry James’ The Aspern Papers (Fiction) - since I was passing through Venice, I took a friend’s recommendation to read this slim book set in Venice. Now I can say I’ve read some Henry James…
  • Tim Winton’s Breath (Fiction) - A lot packed into this short novel.
  • Second Person Queer (Essays) – Finally read this anthology that I was included in. A few great pieces, not sure whether the idea works as a whole book.
  • James Robert Baker’s Adrenalin (Fiction) – Phew. A wild ride, read on the high recommendations of friends who are huge fans of his. A piece of gay history.
  • David Ebershoff’s the 19th wife (Fiction) - Interesting topic. Didn’t like it as much as the Danish Girl.
  • Tim Winton’s Dirt Music (Fiction) – God I loved this book. Great introduction for me to a premier Australian writer.
  • Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon (Crime) – read for a literary salon which I eventually couldn’t make it too. Darn. Could see it was the model for much of what followed – but didn’t love it.
  • Dorothy Porter’s Monkey’s Mask (Poetry/Crime) – also (re)read this for the salon. Amazing book. Quick read!
  • Michael Ondaatje’s In The Skin of The Lion (Fiction) – I read this aloud to my partner – an interesting experiment. When are they going to make a movie of this?
  • Kate Atkinson’s When Will There Be Good News? (Crime Fiction) – A nice surprise, as I loved her first novel, to see she’s turned to crime… and with a great story and characters. sweartogod.
  • Anne Enright’s Yesterday’s Weather (Short Fiction) – Enjoyed them. Now curious to read her Booker Prize winning novel.
  • Edmund White’s Hotel de Dream (Fiction)
  • Tom Cho’s Look Who’s Morphing (Short Fiction)
  • Ken Wilber’s Grace and Grit (Philosophy/Biography) – I’m loving this book as I read it and it’s changing the way I think about spirituality, enlightenment, disease and the new age movement.
  • Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics (Culture/Non-Fiction). A great read. Fun and insightful and challenging.
  • Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women (Fiction). I’m a huge fan of Alice Munro – and it was interesting to read one of her early books.
  • Best American Poetry 2008 (Poetry) – My pal John introduced me to this series years ago. I really like this year’s collection. Some stunning work.
  • Salman Rushdie’s The Enchantress of Florence (Fiction) – completely adored this.
  • Best Gay Poetry 2008 (Poetry) – some amazing work in here
  • The Kite Runner (Fiction) - Good story but I didn’t love the writing itself. Maybe I expected too much because of the hype.

2008

  • Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Fiction)
  • Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants (Fiction)
  • Sean Horlor’s Made Beautiful By Use (Poetry)
  • Lorna Crozier’s Whetstone (Poetry) Stunning.
  • Sharon Olds’ Blood, Tin, Straw (Poetry)
  • Miranda July’s No One Belongs Here More Than You (Short Fiction)
  • Alex Boyd’s Making Bones Walk (Poetry)
  • Fiona Tinwei Lam’s Intimate Distances (Poetry)
  • Anne-Marie MacDonald’s Fall On Your Knees (Fiction) – Reread it to see if I still liked it as much. I did.
  • Margaret Atwood’s Moral Disorder (Short Fiction)
  • Jes Battis’ Night Child (Fantasy)
  • Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (Fiction)
  • Elizabeth Bishop’s Eat Pray Love (Memoir)
  • Alain de Botton’s Essays on Love (Fiction)
  • Sarah McDonald’s Holy Cow (Memoir)
  • Keirsey’s Please Understand Me II (Personality Test)
  • Nam Le’s The Boat (Short Fiction)
  • Brian Rigg’s A False Paradise (Poetry)
  • Augusten Buroughs’ A Wolf at the Table (Memoir)
  • Sarah McDonald’s Holy Cow (Memoir/Travel)
  • Candace Bushell’s Sex and the City (Fiction/Journalism)
  • Martin Harrison’s Wild Bees (Poetry)
  • Alan Weiss’ Getting Started in Consulting (Business)
  • John Gould’s Kilter (Short Short Fiction)
  • A.M.Homes’ Things You Should Know (Short Fiction)
  • Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire (History/Fiction)
  • Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist (Fiction)
  • Raimond Gaita’s Romulus, My Father (Biography) - Loved this book as a portrayal of immigrant Australia. Great characters, great storytelling.
  • David Marr’s The Henson Case (Non-Fiction) – A clear, lucid account of the Bill Henson controversy
  • Kevin Hart’s Flame Tree: Selected Poems (Poetry)
  • Colin Carberry’s Ceasefire in Purgatory (Poetry)
  • Michael Ondaatje’s Divisadero (Fiction) – Great finish to the year. What a beautiful book.


2007

  • Alain De Botton’s The Art of Travel (Philosophy)
  • Henri von Doussa’s The Park Bench (Fiction)
  • Jonathan Lethem’s Men and Cartoons (Short Fiction)
  • David Mitchell’s Ghostwritten (Fiction)
  • Linda Gregg’s Flesh and Things (Poetry)
  • Billy Collin’s Sailing Alone Around The Room: New and Selected Poems
  • Best American Poetry 2006
  • Jerry and Esther Hicks’ Ask and It Is Given (New Age/Philosophy)
  • Rattawut Lapcharoensap’s Sightseeing (Short Fiction)
  • Steven King’s On Writing (Non-Fiction)
  • Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (Fiction)
  • Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. Ladies’ Detective Agency (Fiction)
  • Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Fiction)
  • Jean-Dominique Bauby’s The Diving-Bell & The Butterfly (Memoir)
  • Anonymous’s The Bride Stripped Bare (Fiction)
  • Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Law Vegas (Nonfiction/Journalism)
  • David Allen’s How to Get Things Done (Career/Self-Help)
  • Gangaji’s Diamond in Your Pocket (Spirituality)
  • Seminal: The Anthology of Canada’s Gay Male Poets (Poetry)
  • Patrick Lane’s What the Stones Remember (Memoir)
  • Eckhardt Tolle’s A New Earth (Philosophy)
  • Ben Elton’s High Society (Fiction)
  • Suzanne Chick’s Searching for Charmiane (Biography)
  • Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Married Call Girl (Fiction)
  • Alice Munro’s The View From Castle Rock (Memoir)
  • Margaret Atwood’s Moral Disorder (Short Fiction/Memoir)
  • Alice Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife (Fiction)
  • Pablo Neruda’s Isla Negra (Poetry)
  • Milan Kundera’s Farewell Waltz (Fiction)
  • Salman Rushdie’s Grimus (Fiction)

2006

  • Mark Doty’s The Source (Poetry)
  • Mark Doty’s School of the Arts (Poetry)
  • Ken Wilber’s No Borders (Philosophy)
  • Stephen Greco’s The Sperm Engine (Erotica/Memoir)
  • Alice Munro’s Runaway (Short Fiction)
  • Sean Condon’s My ‘Dam Life (memoir/humour)
  • Daniel Gawthrop’s The Rice Queen Diaries (memoir)
  • Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi (Fiction)
  • Joanne Harris’ Chocolat (Fiction)
  • Edmund White’s My Lives (Autobiography)
  • Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (Fiction)
  • Michael V. Smith’s What You Can’t Have (Poetry)
  • George Ilsley’s ManBug (Fiction)
  • Edmund White’s My Lives (Autobiography)
  • Eckhardt Tolle’s The Power Of Now (Philosophy)
  • Shauna Singh Baldwin’s What the Body Remembers (Fiction)
  • Shalini Akhil’s The Bollywood Beauty (Fiction)
  • John Murray’s A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies (Short Fiction)
  • Lorna Crozier’s What the Living Won’t Let Go (Poetry)

2005

  • Jonathan Franzen’s The Twenty-Seventh City (Novel)
  • Gerald Stern’s Last Blue (Poetry)
  • Alain De Botton’s Status Anxiety (Non-Fiction)
  • Michel Houellebecq’s Lanzerote (Fiction)
  • Noel Rowe’s Next to Nothing (Poetry)
  • Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line Of Beauty (Novel)
  • Dorothy Porter’s The Monkey’s Mask (Poetry)
  • Lynne Truss’ Eats, Shoots and Leaves (Non-Fiction)
  • Gerald Stern’s This Time (Poetry)
  • Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink (Non-Fiction)
  • Jill Jones’ Screen Jets Heaven (Poetry)
  • Marshall Moore’s Black Shapes in a Darkened Room (Short Fiction)
  • Sandra Alland’s A Shape of a Tongue (Poetry)
  • Victoria Finlay’s Colour: Travels through the Paintbox (Non-Fiction)
  • Michael Cunningham’s Land’s End (Non-Fiction)
  • Gerald Stern’s Lucky Life (Poetry)
  • Steve Kluger’s Almost Like Being in Love (Novel)
  • Tony Hoagland’s Donkey Gospel (Poetry)
  • Greg Wharton’s Johny Was and Other Tall Tales (Erotica)
  • Kevin Bentley’s Let’s Shut Out the World (Memoir)
  • Randall Mann’s Complaint in the Garden (Poetry)
  • Jameson Currier’s Desire, Lust, Passion, Sex (Short Fiction/Erotica)
  • Ann Hood’s An Orthinologist’s Guide to Life (Short Fiction)
  • Kevin Bentley’s Wild Animals I Have Known (Memoir)

2004

  • Best Gay Erotica 2004 (Erotica)
  • Mark Doty’s Still Life with Oranges and Lemons (Non-Fiction)
  • Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda (Novel)
  • Gerald Stern’s American Sonnets (Poetry)
  • Peter Minter’s Empty Texas (Poetry)
  • The Complete Guide to Spirits and Liqueurs (Non-Fiction)
  • Best Gay Asian Erotica (Erotica)
  • David Sedaris’ Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (Humour)
  • Ian Phillips and Greg Whartons’ Law of Desire (Erotica/Anthology)
  • Meanjin’s Australasian Issue (Review/Anthology)
  • Gerry Turcotte’s Winterlude (Poetry)
  • Philip Hammiel’s In the Year of our Lord’s Slaughter (Poetry)
  • Marshall Moore’s Ideal for Living (Novel)
  • Wayson Choy’s All That Matters (Novel)
  • Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex (Novel)
  • George Ilsley’s Random Acts of Hatred (Short Fiction)
  • Anne-Marie MacDonald’s The Way the Crow Flies (Novel)

Around 2003

  • Best Gay Erotica 2003 (Erotica)
  • Tracey Quan’s Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl (Novel)
  • Jim Gladwell’s The Tipping Point (Non-Fiction)
  • Joel Tan’s Monster (Poetry)
  • Sharon Olds’ The Unswept Room (Poetry)
  • Laurie Moore’s Self-Help (Short Fiction)
  • Luke Davies’ Running with Light
  • Carol Shield’s Unless (Novel)
  • Kevin Bentley’s Boyfriends from Hell (Anthology)
  • David Sedaris’ Naked (Humour)
  • Kate Fagan’s The Long Moment (Poetry)
  • Michael Farrell’s Ode Ode (Poetry)

Around 2002

  • Michael Cunningham’s Home at the End of the World (Novel)
  • David Eberschoff’s Rose City (Short Fiction)
  • Michael Chabon’s Adventures of Cavalier and Clay (Novel)
  • Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost (Novel)
  • Martin Foreman’s Butterfly’s Wing (Novel)
  • Noel Alumnit’s Letters to Montgomery Clift (Novel)
  • Michael Smith’s Cumberland (Novel)
  • Michael Cunningham’s Flesh and Blood (Novel)
  • Louis Bernieres’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (Novel)
  • Jonathan Franzen’s the Corrections (Novel)
  • Imogen Edward Jones’ My Canape Hell (Novel)
  • Scott Heim’s Mysterious Skin (Novel)
  • Colm Toibin’s The Story of the Night (Novel)
  • Eva Sebold’s The Lovely Bones (Novel)
  • Ursula Leguin’s The Other Wind (Novel)
  • Seamus Heaney’ The Open Ground (Poetry – Collected)

Around 2001

  • Dave Egger’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Novel/Autobiography)
  • Jhumpa Lamphiri’s Interpreter of Maladies (Short Fiction)
  • Michael Cunningham’s The Hours (Novel)
  • Neal Drinnan’s Glove Puppet (Novel)
  • J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace (Novel)
  • Nicholas Jose’s The Red Thread (Novel)
  • Blaine Marchand’s Bodily Presence (Poetry)
  • Billeh Nickerson’s Asthmatic Glassblower (Poetry)
  • Mitch Cullin’s From The Place in the Valley Deep in the Forest (Short Fiction)
  • Steve Kluger’s Last Days of Summer (Novel)
  • Neal Drinnan’s Pussy’s Bow (Novel)
  • Elizabeth Knox’s Vintner’s Luck (Novel)
  • Edmund White’s Farewell Symphony (Novel)
  • Francisco Ibanez’s Flesh Wounds and Purple Flowers (Novel)
  • Bruno Bouchet’s The Girls (Novel)
  • Dennis Altman’s Global Sex (Non-Fiction)
  • Micha Ramaker’s Art of Pleasure (Non-Fiction)
  • Marshall Moore’s the Concrete Sky (Novel)

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Posted in Book Review, Books, Poetry

Musical Theatre, Cabaret, Dance and Plays – Shows I’ve Seen

Posted on 1 February 2013 | Leave a comment

While I’m at it with concerts, why not list a few shows I’ve seen too – big shows and little shows, but memorable for some reason or other.

2013

  • Torch Song Trilogy, Gaiety/Darlinghurst Theatre.
  • Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Sydney Theatre Company
  • Justin Vivian Bond, Carriageworks
  • Driving Miss Daisy, Theatre Royal – yes, Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones were great, but the script (which one a Pulitzer apparently!) seemed sketchy and dated.
  • This Heaven, Belvoir
  • Carmen, Opera Australia  – my god, what a beautiful setting and spectacular show.
  • Dance Better At Parties, Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 2 Theatre
  • War Horse – Lyric Theatre. I did think this was theatrical magic…
  • Anh Do – The Happiest Refugee Live! The State Theatre – as much as anything, I think he’s an interesting cultural figure in Australia today, to come from a poor refugee background and make a career in comedy out of it, at an anti-refugee time in Australia, is important. And he’s funny.
  • They’re Playing My Song! Theatre Royal. God this musical is out of date.

2012

  • Annie, Lyric Theatre
  • Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl, Spiegeltent, Sydney Festival
  • Babel, Sydney Theatre, Sydney Festival – Amazing Dance and Set and Performance!
  • The Paris Letter, Darlinghurst Theatre
  • This is our youth, Sydney Opera House – I somehow felt that the star power of Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin was perhaps better suited for the screen then the stage. Their performances lacked energy to me. Interesting enough play, but I’d hope for more.
  • Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
  • Porgy and Bess, NYC
  • Empire Circus at Spiegelworld, NYC
  • New York Music Theatre Festival (NYMF): The Groove Factory, Letter to Harvey Milk, Swing State, Living with Henry
  • Evita, NYC
  • Bebe Zahara Benet’s Creature, XL Nightclub, NYC
  • Fuerza Bruta, NYC
  • Into the Woods, Sondheim in the Park, NYC
  • Sleep No More, NYC
  • Peter and the Starcatcher, NYC
  • South Pacific, Sydney Opera House
  • Legally Blonde, the Musical, Sydney
  • Cirque de Soleil’s Ovo, Sydney
  • A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Melbourne

2011

  • Uncle Vanya, January 1st, Sydney Theatre Company – with a cast that included Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Jackie Weaver, Richard Roxborough, this was amazing theatre.
  • My Bicycle Loves You – Legs on the Wall (Sydney Festival, Sydney Theatre Company)
  • Wayne McGregor’s Entity – a dance performance at the Sydney Theatre Company as part of the Sydney Festival
  • Taylor Mac’s The Ziggy Stardust Meets Tiny Tim Songbook or Comparison is Violence, Sydney Opera House
  • John Bucchino & Friends in Concert, Australian Institute of Music 
  • Rafael Bonachela & Jacopo Godani’s Shared Frequencies, Sydney Dance Company
  • Orange Flower Water, Darlinghurst Theatre Company – Some interesting bits by one of the writers for Six Feet Under, but ultimately unsuccessful in bringing some innovation, some interesting breath to the theme of infidelity and family breakup. Sentimental ending completely at odds with what came before. 
  • Neighbourhood Watch, Belvoir Theatre – Robin Nevin is incredible and I thought there were interesting things about the play – and it was very crowd-pleasing… but I found the other characters not written as strongly.
  • Margaret Cho: Cho Dependent, Sydney Opera House – I think after seeing about 3 or 4 of her shows, will I still find it as funny as before, as shocking? Answer: yes. First minutes into the show, I’m shocked and can’t stop laughing for the whole show.
  • The Threepenny Opera, Sydney Theatre.
  • Tom Ballard – Singe 1989, Belvoir Theatre – Young comic, funny guy.
  • Gross und Klein (Big and Small), Sydney Theatre - starring Cate Blanchett
  • Richard III, Lyric Theatre – starring Kevin Spacey
  • No Way to Treat a Lady, Darlinghurst Theatre Company – I always love seeing things directed by my pal Stephen Colyer. When I heard it was old-fashioned, I wondered if it was the music or the style, but no: the idea of a gay man, psychologically damaged by an overbearing and unloving flim star mother, who becomes a murderer: that’s old-fashioned!
  • The Dark Room, Belvoir Theatre – I think this might have been the best Australian play that I can remember seeing lately. Great script, great acting, especially Brendan Cowell. Wow.

2010

  • Bash’d: A Gay Rap Opera, The Cultch, Vancouver
  • Robert Lepage’s The Blue Dragon, SFU Woodwards, Vancouver
  • Smoke & Mirrors at the Spiegeltent, Sydney Festival, (Jan)
  • Ballet de Rua (Brazilian Street Ballet), Sydney Opera House
  • Hamlet (Schaubühne Berlin), Sydney Theatre Company
  • Waiting for Godot, with Ian McKellan, Sydney Opera House
  • A Little Night Music (Opera Australia), Sydney Opera House
  • Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Darlinghurst Theatre), Sydney

2009 (Mostly Australia)

  • Wicked, Sydney (December)
  • Streetcar Named Desire (September), Sydney Theatre Company – with Cate Blanchett… Amazing. Sublime.
  • Avenue Q, Sydney (August) – The Australian cast made it their own, and I loved it.
  • Pilobolus Dance Theatre, Sydney (May) – Amazing and beautiful, the vocabulary of dance that I am familiar with was upended and expanded. Very erotic.
  • Lipsynch – Robert Lepage
  • The Twink and the Showgirl – Phil Scott & Vincent Hooper – Parramatta Theatre
  • Gutenberg! The Musical – Seymour Centre (2 different casts)
  • Alan Cumming: I bought a blue car – Sydney Opera House
  • Justin Bond is Close to You (Feb 2009, The Studio, Sydney Opera House)
  • Gatz, Elevator Repair Service Company, Playhouse at the Opera House, (May 09)
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Vancouver, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Dec)

2008 and before

  • Spiegeltent, at Sydney Festival
  • My Fair Lady
  • Priscilla
  • Mamma Mia
  • Titanic!
  • Into the Woods (New Theatre)
  • Angels in America Part I (New Theatre)
  • Falsettos (New Theatre)
  • Merrily we Roll Along (university production)
  • The Hatpin, Seymour Centre, Sydney
  • Sweeney Todd (two different productions at the Opera House)
  • Avenida Q (mexico city)
  • Pippin, Kookaburra, Sydney Theatre
  • Cabaret
  • Homebody/Kabul, The Belvoir (08)
  • Stringberg’s the Dance of Death with Ian McKelland (03)
  • Chess, Theatre Royal, Sydney
  • Wicked, Melbourne (08) – fantastic!
  • Little Show of Horrors (08, New Theatre)
  • Kaash – Akram Khan Company, August 2002. Great Dance Performance.
  • Laramie Project, Company B Belvoir.

Europe

  • After a time in London, I was encouraged as a gay man to get to know Sondheim. At the Edinburgh Festival, I saw an amazing version of “Into the Woods”, a mediocre “Company” and a god-awful “Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”.
  • And then in the following two years saw at least 3 productions of “Side by Side by Sondheim”, 2 of “Merrily We Roll Along” (both great), and “Assassins”. Also, a concert version of “Sweeney Todd” and the amazing “Sondheim Tonight” tribute show at the Barbican Centre, London from September 1999
  • Tony Kushner’s Slav’s (Edinburgh)
  • Rent (London production)
  • Fame
  • Miss Saigon
  • The Iceman Cometh (with Kevin Spacey)
  • Naked (with Juliette Binoche)
  • Pippin
  • Godspell (a children’s version – didn’t know until we got there…)
  • Richard II with Ralph Fiennes at the Gainsborough Film Studios, London, 1998

Canada/U.S.A.

  • My brother’s high school put on “My Fair Lady”, “Godspell”, “the Wiz” and “South Pacific” (in which he played the Chinese manservant)
  • And then when I got to high school, there was “Oklahoma” and “Godspell”.
  • I also remember a high school production in Hawaii of “West Side Story”
  • And a touring version of Annie
  • Chorus Line (Touring Cast)
  • The Good Woman of Szechuan (Peterborough)
  • Marat/Sade (I was in it!) (Peterborough)
  • Happy Days (Peterborough)
  • The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Peterborough)
  • Cabaret (Touring Cast)
  • Rent (Vancouver, Touring Cast)
  • Angels in America, parts 1 and 2, new york, summer of 1994 (In Jan 2011, I found the ticket stubs I’d saved. My tickets in the balcony cost $25 each…)
  • Thoroughly Modern Millie, Broadway
  • Avenue Q, Broadway
  • Forbidden Broadway – 20th anniversary celebration – Sept 2003, New York
  • Gypsy (with Bernadette Peters), Broadway. Sept 2003 (Sigh, I passed up Into the Woods with Vanessa Williams and saw this instead.)

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Posted in Theatre/Concert Review