Gribbly's day out

"Jeffrey Smart 1921-2013: Recondita Armonia - Strange Harmonies Of Contrast" @ USyd Art Gallery

If you enjoy Smart's slightly unreal urban scenes, in which the industrial is rendered postcard pretty, then you'll enjoy this. Don't worry, there's only a small overlap with USyd's JS exhibition of a couple of years ago. Among the supplemental documents are examples of correspondence between the late painter and the curator of this retrospective, writer David Malouf.


"Blackfish" @ Dendy Newtown

Killer whales are intelligent, they suffer terribly in captivity, and marine parks tend to be run by unscrupulous corporations who exploit animal and employee alike - these things are not surprising. What is surprising - nay, profoundly shocking - is the extent to which all three are true. The following preview only hints at the looooong list of revelations in this documentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHMpcXvIyLw

Dinner @ Wet Paint, Bronte

Started with a Singapore Sling (their take: Tanqueray gin; Cherry Marnier, Cointreau and Benedictine liqueurs; Grenadine syrup; pineapple juice; pineapple wedge garnish), which a number of my friends have drunk at its Raffles Hotel birthplace, but which I'd never had anywhere. A foamy, fruity, alcoholically potent delight.

My entree was peppered pork skewers, which were accompanied by dainty sweet potato fries, tahini and white beans, and some sort of sprouts drizzled with dressing. There was no wrong combination/proportion of ingredients when eating this dish and the pork was outstanding - perfectly cooked and a treat to the last bite.

For the main course, I selected the restaurant's signature Louisiana stuffed chicken. Also perfectly cooked, this consisted of a large breast piece filled with cornbread, cashews and just enough sun-dried tomato to add an extra dimension without overpowering the chicken-corn flavour. From memory, the vegies were green beans, corn on the cob, carrot and beetroot. My one tiny complaint was the copious amounts of rich lemon butter sauce.

Went for a liquid dessert in the form of a chilli chocolate margarita (Mozart Chocolate Liqueur, creme de cacao [brand?], espresso and chilli-infused Jose Cuervo tequila). Disappointingly like a bland iced coffee with a shot or two in it, this needed more chocolate sweetness or chilli zing. That said, the after-taste was oddly agreeable.

Verdict: First-rate Aussie-Creole food and first-rate service, too.

"Golden Jubilee" @ Adina Apartment Hotel, Railway Square

This was the DWCA's nine-hour "Doctor Who" 50th anniversary par-tay. I lasted until mid-arvo. The highlight was the presence of Viktors Ritelis, who worked on '60s stories "The Crusade" and "The Daleks' Master Plan", and kept directing for the next 40-odd years. His discussion of how TV was crafted then vs. now was most enlightening. The best thing we watched, better even than the smoking Dalek cigar ad, was the Beeb-televised Brian Cox lecture "The Science Of 'Doctor Who'". Imagine the winsome, infectiously passionate prof giving a TED Talk on scientific principles...interspersed with clips of him hanging out with Eleven in the TARDIS.

The legend of Neil

Buy the December issue of "Australian Penthouse" for the articles. Specifically, buy it for my interview with author Neil Gaiman. Getting to chat to one of my literary heroes (for 45 min.) was definitely an item crossed off the bucket list. The only minor hitch was that, given my reluctance to cut any of his words, the initial draft was more than twice the required length. But with a little help from "A/P" I got that sorted, and I reckon the printed piece captures something of Neil's voice as well as doing justice to the writerly insights he shared.

"Daisy Pulls It Off" @ Genesian Theatre

Expected a parody of "jolly hockey sticks" boarding-school romps and that's what I got. While "D/P/I/O" was neither hilarious nor original (even within the limitations of a genre spoof), it was nonetheless impossible not to warm to the enthusiasm of so many talented gals - one of whom I recognised from the Genesian production of "The Young Idea" and another from a uni tutorial. Special mention to the climactic ball game and rescue, which I thought were particularly well staged.

These maps are the frog's clogs

Keep clicking "next" - there are seven.

http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/toon/TombHorrors

The greatest sci-fi movie in history

When I was about 13, I was sleeping over at my mate MG's house. We were flicking channels and stumbled on what was obviously the greatest sci-fi movie in history, overflowing as it was with spaceships, robots, lasers and aliens. Then his father came in and ordered us to go to bed. Fortunately, peeking out of the doorway of their guest room, I could still see and hear the TV at the end of the hall - I wouldn't have to miss the greatest sci-fi movie in history! Unfortunately, after five minutes, his dad changed the station and left it on some other program. I was devastated and, in subsequent decades, never managed to catch the amazing fillum again or even learn its name...until just recently, when I discovered what I believe to be its trailer.

Is it really the greatest sci-fi movie in history? You be the judge -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzfuNSpP0RA


[Edit: On reflection, I was probably only 11 or 12. MG and I woulda been growing apart by Year 8.]

"America: Painting A Nation" @ AGNSW

As pleasant as it was to while away a rainy Monday afternoon viewing paintings, this exhibition tried to cover too much ground. All of the experimentation of the 1920s-60s was never going to be adequately summarised by a dozen or so works, resulting in a final section that felt tacked on. I'd have preferred additional portraits, landscapes and slice-of-life pictures from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. These could have further illustrated the shrugging off of European influences and development of distinctively American styles. However, the cost of my ticket was repaid in full by the presence of Newell Wyeth's "Moving Camp" (1908), in which a procession of tribesfolk on horseback appears as otherworldly as the Wild Hunt. When I reached the likes of Rothko and Pollock, it was time to go back and lose myself in it again.

"All My Sons" @ Eternity Playhouse

Arthur Miller's "A/M/S" (1947) is a deserved classic about the way war inspires idealism and breeds greed, and the way it burdens survivors with denial, guilt and divided loyalties. Darlinghurst Theatre Company's version is superbly acted. Superbly. It is the best play I've seen this year. Oh, and the new E/P digs are very tasteful and put you right in the thick of things. The audience in Row A actually have their feet on the Keller Family's lawn - the equivalent of the "suicide seats" at the roller derby :-)

Unexpected tales

Big Finish is making audioplays set in the "Pathfinder" RPG universe -

http://goo.gl/lzpwtt

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" @ Theatre Royal

Great film, you say, but what's it like as a musical? Quite good, I answer. It sticks closely to the storyline of the movie and, though the occasional contemporary reference/vulgarity can be jarring, the lyrics are generally witty and the melodies catchy. As far as this production goes, John Wood is believable enough as a French cop (le heeler bleu?) if not as a master seducer, while Tony Sheldon and Matt Hetherington nail their roles as the scoundrels. But, appropriately, it's the ladies who steal the show. Amanda Lehpamer, Anne Wood and Katrina Retallick all have fantastic voices and charisma to match - don't ask me to choose between their choons! There's also a cute breaking of the fourth wall where...[spoiler warning]...multiple women are confessing to having fallen for the charms of conman Lawrence when an usherette rushes up to the footlights and joins their chorus.

Sample - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwhkynHjSgQ

Warm Feelings/Low Life/Martyr Privates @ The Square

It's hard to pigeonhole Sydney duo Warm Feelings. Their sound is sorta '90s and sorta '60s. Maybe that makes it a 1975 sound, I dunno. I just like 'em. [Disclosure: I'm friends with singer/guitarist DS.] On some songs, local outfit Low Life remind me of early Hawkwind. On others, Joy Division (the pained/shy delivery helps). Then they get a lot punkier and I realise they have their own voice - and it demands to be heard. Brisbane's Martyr Privates are an interesting case... A three-piece like Low Life, they'll play a number that has me thinking about calling it a night, then follow it with a track that could be a US college radio #1.

For $10, with a seated view of the stage and cans of New going for a fiver, this gig was ridiculous value. You shoulda been there.

"Vere" @ Sydney Opera House

Went from intellectually show-offy in an entertaining way (a la "The History Boys") to disappointingly silly when it homed in on science vs. religion, knocking down straw men for laughs. That gripe aside, Paul Blackwell's performance in the title role - as a hugely knowledgeable and wise academic losing the battle against sudden-onset dementia - was nothing short of excellent. And he did have some lovely, moving lines.