Meh'ing: Stranger than Fiction

Stranger than Fiction is a well made and clever film about a man who realises that he is the hero in a novel by an author who always kills her heroes off at the end.

Will Ferrell (a favourite comic actor of mine after his work in Zoolander, Starsky & Hutch, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back and Anchorman - and dare I say Elf) plays IRS agent Harold Crick, a taxman.

He is also the main character in the most recent novel by Kay Eiffel, a novelist who for some reason reminded me of Peter Carey. (This could well be because he has a book called the Tax Inspector but I think it was also just the style of writing in general).

Kay Eiffel is played by Emma Thompson, who I think I've fancied ever since I saw her in The Tall Guy with Jeff Goldblum. (This really is a classic rom-com if you haven't seen it)

Dustin Hoffman pops up as a professor of literature, Maggie Gyllenhaal is pretty hot as an activist baker and there is some nice work with the computer graphics which show some of the inner workings of Harold Crick's mind. Musically it's great as well - I'm not that familiar with most of the bands on the soundtrack but plan to check it out at lunchtime if possible. (If you think of the soundtrack to Garden State but with less - well no - The Shins, you're probably getting close).

So why am I meh'ing about this whole thing? (I assume you understand that meh'ing means "It's ok/good but... meh")

On paper it all works really well and I like the concept, the performances all worked, the writing was snappy and it looked great - but it's just not one of those films that sticks with you.

You know you've seen something good when you go out for dinner or coffee afterwards and the conversation is all about the movie. (Even for a little while).

With this though we enjoyed it while it was on (we being me and my two exes), walked out the doors and said how much we enjoyed it (for all the reasons above) and that was it. There didn't seem to be anything more to say.

Perhaps it was because the idea didn't seem all that fresh - you certainly think of Adaptation or The Truman Show with the whole post-modern writing-about-writing thing - and I think also I was expecting it to be a little funnier.

I'm a believer that comic actors can make the best serious actors given the right script and as I mentioned, Will Ferrell has put in some inspired turns in previous films. The prisoner with a dragon fetish in Starsky and Hutch, Ron Burgundy - anchorman and jazz flautist in Anchorman and even his performance in Elf as the 6+ ft adopted elf were inspired. Here perhaps he played things a little straighter than I liked.

There's nothing really wrong with this film and perhaps it deserves a second viewing - it just seemed a little postmodern/clever/quirky-by-numbers. I think I was smiling throughout but never really lol'ed. (and there was certainly no roflmfao'ing)

3 cushions. (out of 5)

(Stranger than Fiction is currently playing at Dendy Canberra Center)

Hunting: a housemate

Looking for a housemate is infinitely better than looking for a house (unless rent is two days overdue and everybody sucks).

Since December I've been living in a great place in Turner with some really nice people - in many ways it takes me back to my better house sharing days in Melbourne in the 90s. Good vibe, nobody is overly uptight (which means that the house is perhaps a little slobby but not unhygenic), we hang out together and have a laugh.

It's also one of those houses that people are in and out of a bit - international students heading home, people moving in with their new lurrves and the latest to move on is Tim, who is heading for Europe.

Which means that for the last week or so we've had some ads up for a new housemate.

Now if you're not in the rental market at the moment, you might not be aware that it's extraordinarily tight - the vacancy rate is around 1% and so rental properties and share houses are at a bit of a premium.

Couple this with the fact that January is a busy busy time in the A.C.T with new students at ANU (in the suburb next to Turner) as well as an influx of graduates taking positions with various government departments and there's even more of a crush on than ever.

Which is why it's a bit of surprise to get emails like this one:

I'd like to see the room to rent today or tomorrow. I am a postgraduate student. My phone number is (04blahblahblah)

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not expecting grovelling or out and out sucking up in these emails but I think if you're in a position where you want people to think you would be cool to live with, you might be just a little friendlier. No "hello", no "how are you", no "cheers", no "hope to hear from you soon", not even a name (other than the one in the header of the email).

Eric made the point that at least he didn't ask for more information about the house and for this he gave him half a point in our out of 5 scoring system. (Giving him a grand total of .5/20). (Panel was myself and Eric, Tim - who is leaving - and Steph, Tim's gf)

Ok, so maybe he was just responding to the tone of the ad I hear you thinking. (Oh yes, I can do that). Well, in the interests of fairness, here are both of the ads. Yes, they are a little brief perhaps but surely not to that extent.

Suburb TURNER
Rent $150.00 per week
Bond $600.00
Ensuite? No
Furnished? No
Heating? Yes
Car Accommodation? Yes
Air Conditioning? No
Built In Wardrobe? Yes
Smoking? No
Available from: 14 Feb 2007
Contact Name Colin
Contact Phone
Contact Email myname@myemailaddress.com
Additional Information Modest room in a large house with study area, to share with 2m & 1f. Looking for someone easygoing and relatively mature (creative would be a bonus). Close to ANU and Civic, quiet street

Modest sized room available in a large house in a quiet street in Turner. Close to Civic, ANU and O'Connor.

We are 2m & 1f and are looking for someone easygoing and reasonably mature. (Creative is a bonus)

We have a study area (of sorts), ADSL2 and a smallish backyard.

Both of these are based on a bit of a template that the respective websites have so there are limitations to how much you can say and I guess we probably should have mentioned unfurnished in one of the ads (this is a big thing with international students) but overall, surely there's enough, right?

Anyway, as I mentioned, to sort through the contacts we've had, we sat down last night over a drink or two and read through the emails, rating them out of 5. (We briefly changed this to a tick/question-mark/cross rating but realised that this was too snaggy).

I'll spare you the details of everyone but might just mention a few of the more eyebrow raising lines as some vague kind of public service. :)

Hi,

I am going to do the Master of Finance at the ANU and have a few months work experience in this area, so I think I qualify for your requirements.

My initial response to this was - ewww, Finance. Tim made the point that it reads more like a job application and we should write back offering a position in our Loans dept. (.5/20)

The next one rang alarm bells as soon as we saw the email address - dsto.defence.gov.au. (Yes, I'm sure there are plenty of perfectly nice people in defence, I just haven't met any yet and the ones I have met and/or shared with have just been a little bit to - well - defensey.). Signing the email with your full work title as well just didn't seem right either. (Points were also lost for slab-text - not breaking eight lines of information up into paragraphs - though this is probably more my issue). (2/20)

Next.

I can also arrange for a friend in Canberra to inspect your place.

Ok, so it would be hard arranging a place from OS (New Zealand) but this email essentially said that the guy would like to move in on the 12th. Nothing about meeting us beforehand - although we could meet his friend and presumably make a decision on that basis. Bub - bowwwwww. (4/20)

(I really hope I'm not working up a mess of bad karma here - I'm not trying to be mean or arrogant, these are just the things that didn't work for us)

The next one is probably something that many people would like, it just didn't quite read right to us.

We are very quiet and clean and tidy and considerate and work and study a lot.

I guess if we call a spade a spade, we are generally considerate and relatively quiet but the rest, um, not so much. Emphasising clean and tidy (yeah, I know it's an expression) probably didn't help either. (10/20)

And then there was the travel agent.

I am a 21 year old Aussie female.

Aussie? Female? Ok, so she's young but after the recent nationalism furore, identifying yourself by race just feels kind of wrong. As for female, well I know that a lot of country people say this instead of girl/woman but in tandem with the other, again, bub-bowwwwww. (2.5/20)

On the other hand, these ones seemed a little more appealing.

moving to Canberra to start a job with AusAID

Ok, so this one wasn't much more personable than the others necessarily but I know a few people at AusAID and they seem like a nice bunch. Unfair perhaps but the fact is, you will bump up against the ideologies of your prospective new housemates and it's nice to live with "fellow travellers". (12.75/20)

This also worked for the next girl, who's about to start work for the ABC.

I'm a tidy non-smoking Latino music-liking coffee and interesting tea-addict, the last place I lived was Newtown in Sydney and I can give you the numbers of ex-housemates if you'd like to run a background check.

It was nice to have a little more detail here - personalising the experience a little more. The Newtown thing worked for the ex-Melbournians (Newtown being as close as we can see to Little Melbourne in Sin City) and while we weren't sure if the background check thing was tongue in cheek or not, it appealed on either level. (15/20)

I'm really into a relaxed, friendly house that's clean (but not over the top), good for studying and relaxing. I play piano when I can, am into music, cooking (would love to have a little herb garden) and going to theatre (and the pub)

Again, it's the extra detail here that makes the person more interesting. While we don't expect massively personalised emails in this process, putting some detail about yourself in your form-letter goes a long way. The fact that this girl is also studying French (Eric is French and I have a smattering and would like to learn more) also helps in this instance. (16/20)

Similar story here -

Anyway, a little about me:

- I'm 32 years old.
- Work in the web field but an not a geek (not in the classic sense anyway)
- Big on photography, music and movies
- Am a writer, when I can get myself motivated
- Struggle to do something about my fitness from time to time

It's personal, addresses the whole "creative is a bonus" part (my personal preference and not an overriding factor but something nice) and we have shared interests. It also included a link to his website, which is really impressive. (17/20)

Ok, so now we get into interviews and seeing who is still looking and so forth.

I'll keep you posted. :)

Keating!: The Musical 2

Ok, just a couple more things - if you've seen the show and would like the soundtrack, you can find it here.

Also, how could I forget a musical number featuring both Anthony Green and Kerry O'Brien? (This was pretty close to my favourite number - a scat tune about the 93 election coverage)

And one more thing, which is a little more poignant. This is one of my favourite Keating speeches - given on the evening of the 1993 election victory, known simply as the "True Believers" speech.

Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Well, this is the sweetest victory of all. This is a victory for the true believers: the people who, in difficult times, have kept the faith.

And to the Australian people, through hard times, it makes their act of faith all that much greater.

It’ll be a long time before an opposition party tries to divide this country again. It’ll be a long time before somebody tries to put one group of Australians over here and another group over there. The public, the public of Australia, are too decent, too concientious and they’re too interested in their country to wear those sorts of things.

This, I think, has very much been a victory of Australian values, because it was Australian values on the line and the Liberal party wanted to change Australia from the country it’s become: a cooperative, decent, nice place to live where people have regard for one another.

Keating! : The Musical

I'm not normally one for the musical - every time you get to an interesting part of the story some fool or fools jump up and make a big song and dance of everything (sorry) - but Keating! the musical might just have changed my mind.

Billed as

the country soul opera we had to have

Keating! celebrates the political life of the last good Prime Minister we had, Mr Paul J Keating, from his rise to Prime Minister to the 1996 election against John Howard.

You could probably see this show without knowing anything about Australian politics in the 90s and still enjoy the songs and performances but I'm guessing you'd miss the jokes in every other line (it is cram packed with intelligent gags).

Musically (backed by five very talented musicians) the show wanders through a spread of musical genres - country, soul, a tango, the mambo, rock, cabaret and even a hiphop battle between Keating and John Hewson in the 93 election. (If I ruled this country, all elections would now have to be decided in this manner).

The performances were uniformly strong and you got the sense that everyone on stage was having a lot of fun, something which is always pretty infectious. The musical agility of all the performers - but particularly Mike McLeish as Keating - as they quickly switched between styles over and over was particularly impressive. Tony Serio also puts in a highly impressive (scary and depressing) performance as John Howard and the writer/creator of the show Casey Bennetto is truly frightening as the Frankenfurteresque Alexander Downer, singing about what a freak he is.

There is (as far as I can recall) no dialogue at all in this show - everything is told through song. Though I didn't realise it at the time, one of the songs even features a relatively word for word rendition of Paul Keating's renowned (in left circles) Redfern speech about the unjust treatment of Indigenous Australians over the last 200 years.

I won't give away the ending (the show finishes with the 96 election) but I will say that you are left with a nice case of the warm gooeys.

I was lucky enough to chat briefly with Casey Bennetto after the show (very nice bloke) and he told me about the show's opening performance in Sydney, where the man himself, Mr PJ Keating was in the audience and mamboed his way onto the stage to appear in the encore number. The crowd of luminaries that hung around after that show
were all most reluctant to leave at closing time, enjoying the warm glow of a world where a decent, caring and forward looking man was still running the country.

Evidently Keating and Kevin Rudd are the only two federal politicians to have seen the show so far.

The current season of Keating! at the Canberra theatre is sold out but there is a return season towards the end of March - which is also selling quickly.

If you like your politics and love your music, this is a show to see.

(Big big thanks to Sylvie for the ticket)

Lol'ing: Someone's going to hell for this

Thanks Yardo

Pimping : My ride

So as you can see, I have a snazzy new sticker decorating the frame of my bicycle - it's part of the ACTU campaign promoting unionism, which in this time of ridiculous worker-hating, corporate driven IR law changes is a bit of a must.

It replaces my The Corporation sticker, which asked the question - "Is your boss a psychopath?". Great sticker and a particularly great documentary but truth be told it was getting pretty ratty and this sticker is all shiny and new.

Given the limited space available on the frame of the bike (and the need to more or less stick with the bike color scheme of basic black), sticker placement is a bit of a fine art and I guess that in some ways it works as a bit of a moving billboard of my beliefs and interests. There are a couple of community radio stickers on there - XXfm (the station I'm involved with in Canberra) and RRR (one of the two great stations in Melbourne), a TAFE works sticker from a work thing and now this baby.

Anyways, I have two more of these bumper stickers available to the first two people to ask for them. (They're shiiiiiiny :)

Lol'ing: Spiders on drugs video.

I'm not normally one to resend a lot of things that come in email but I thought this was particularly funny.

I'm sure you've seen the pictures of spider webs when the spiders have been given different drugs




Well this is the video.

Attending: Poetry Slam

Ok so strictly speaking this happened on Friday but we've had a long weekend here and it's been nice moving away from the 'puter for a bit. (But it's ok baby, I'll never leave you again :)

Uh - anyways, the ANU Writers (group? kollective? liberation front?) puts on a poetry slam at the Front Cafe in Lyneham on the last Friday of every month - a night of open mic uni student poetry as well as a mixture of local bands.

My housemate's band Snowbug was playing and there's often some fairly decent poetry thrown into the mix (you still get your quota of the other as well but pretentious, overly personal/intellectualised guff read in earnest poet voice is all part of the entertainment really) so it was all a bit of a fait accompli.

The Front Cafe is a nice space, light and open with retro stylings, comfy couches and a gallery space - they also sell drinks now. (Although, they haven't quite gotten around to organising the key ingredients in a Gin & Tonic - uh gin and tonic). It's the kind of place that Canberra needs a lot more of - preferably with a big lush beer garden out the back.

The event itself has a really friendly vibe and is often a bit of a wall to wall crush of people - being a long weekend in Summer before uni is back though this one was a little more spacious which was nice.

I have to confess that I was one of those people that I've known myself to tut-tut about in my less easy-going moments at shows - I didn't make a big effort to catch the poetry this time around as it seemed that half the people I know in Canberra decided to turn up this time around (as well as some new friends) so it was nice to get some quality catching up and chatting time in. (At least I wasn't doing this in the performance room, so it's not like it was really rude).

The Snowbug sets were (obviously) a highlight though, the band appeared as a stripped back 3 piece this time around which suited their sound (offbeat loud keyboard-edged pop-rock) and banged out a range of songs to popular acclaim. This is one of their last shows in their current form - singer Tim Gummersall is UK-bound shortly - so it will be interesting to see where they go from here. (But just quietly, there is an outside chance I'll be hopping on stage in a backing vocals capacity sometime soon - stay tuned for details).

As I said earlier, I didn't hear a lot of the poetry although I did note one girl doing a pretty impressive line in Ani Di Francoesque hiphop delivery that I wish I'd heard a little more of. (My cynical ex thought it had something to do with the fact that she was quite cute but to that I say Tish Posh. )

One of the things I liked best about the night was the sense of being in a little hub of creative energy - in addition to everything that was happening on stage there were pockets of discussion all around, people talking about ideas and projects and teaming up - it was great.

And nary an Australian flag to be seen.