MAN ABOUT TOWN

Due to the general malaise engendered by my Saturday morning hangover, and sleeping on a mate's couch and not actually waking up until midday, I didn't make it out to North Melbourne Town Hall in time for my 2pm show. Consequently, the first production I saw today wasn't until 7pm... Perth's PVI Collective were back in Melbourne for the second time in as many years with a production called reform ; an interactive work staged live on Swanston Street which explored issues around surveillence and social control. Following a briefing session at North Melbourne Town Hall, the audience were equipped with headphones through which was a live radio broadcast was fed, and escorted out by our guide from the 'Loyal Citizens' Underground' to the tramstop outside. Carefully walking between the lines, and not jaywalking, we crosed the road and awaited the tram - all acting as inconspicuously as possible, which is tricky when you're a group of 20 people wearing identi...

Presented by Irishman Aindrais de Staic, Around the World on 80 Quid is an autobiographical one-man show about the travails and accidental travels of a wandering fiddle player. Ingesting copious amounts of grog and drugs, casual sex and making music doesn't sound like a bad life to me, but like any precarious existence, its joys are often outweighed by such handicaps as hangovers and stints in jail, as de Staic explains over the course of an hour. Well, it should have been an hour, but last night being opening night, de Staic tried to add a few new elements and consequently the show ran half an hour overtime, to its detriment. What should have been tight and entertaining felt occasionally flacid, so that de Staic had to work twice as hard to hold the audience's attention. Overall this was an amusing comedy of misadventures presented by a charismatic and colourful performer who can and will do better as the show settles into its Melbourne season. Three stars North Melbourne Tow...

Last night was the launch of Fringe Furniture at the Melbourne Museum; marking for me, my own personal start of all things Fringe (yes I know the festival started officially on Wednesday, but shush). But tonight's the big one - the opening of the Festival Hub & Club at North Melbourne Town Hall: gala entertainment, music, drinks, friends, VIPs, shows, talent, drunken late night dancing, and art art art! Are you coming?

Ahem. Cough, cough. PLEASE GO AND HUG SOMEONE THAT YOU LOVE: especially if you've not told them how you feel about them in the last 48 hours. This community service announcement was brought to you by flu, alcohol and loneliness.

It makes me irritable, petulant and miserable. Right now I am aswim in a sea of mucus and misery. Just thought I'd share. *bleurgh*

It hasn't been officially announced yet, but while wearing my MCV hat this week, I was given advance notice that Griffin Theatre Company's acclaimed production of Holding the Man will be presented by the MTC in Melbourne next year. Cue wild cries of joy and celebration. We now return you to our regular schedule.

About the only fiction written by the prolific Charles Dickens that I've ever read, I think, is his masterful ghost story The Signalman . Now, having witnessed Miriam Margolyes' dazzling performance in Dicken's Women last night, I think I'd better read some more. Not that you need a great knowledge of Dickens to enjoy the show, or her performance. Over the course of two hours (plus interval) Margolyes presents a remarkable overview of the man's life and work: showing how the characters in his fiction were inspired by some of the key women in his life (ie his wife, the sister-in-law with whom he was in love and in whose grave he wanted to be buried), how his art rose above his seeming bastardry, and demonstrating her own, quite remarkable versatility as well as Dickens' dazzling prose. It's clear that Margolyes adores Dickens' writing, and one of the joys of this show is that it so clearly and directly communicates her passion for the man's work. Not...

I can feel it building.... I've just submitted my list of media complementary ticketing requests for the Melbourne International Arts Festival; and this Saturday I have a meeting with my fellow Melbourne Fringe Festival judges to thrash out a schedule for the multiplicity of events I have to see. Night after night of circus, dance, cabaret, comedy, visual arts, puppetry, floating silver pillows, Sigur Ros and Merce Cunningham, passionate conversations in The Famous Spiegeletent, indescribable art hybrids from around the corner and overseas... I can't wait!

While drifting idly along Smith Street approximately 15 minutes ago, I overheard a young woman say, as she looked at the front page of The Age , "It will be an outrage if Howard loses the election. Don't these people care about his economic record?" No. We don't. I don't, anyway. I care about the mandatory detention of refugees. I care about the rise in racism since Howard moved the country to the right in order to nobble One Nation and pick up Pauline Hanson's disenfranchised supporters. I care about abandoning the the idea of an Australian republic and turning our backs on reconciliation. I care about art coming a poor second to sport. I care about draconian anti-terrorism legislation that erodes our rights in order to save our way of life. I care about the impact of sedition laws on our freedom of speech. I care about accountability, honesty and transparency of government. I care about the soul of my country, which has been blackened and tarnished by Howard...

I am grinning happily and looking at a photograph of a newly-born baby, held in his grandmother's arms, as his proudly awe-struck dad profers a birthday cake surmounted by a brightly-burning nought-shaped candle. My friends Bec and Bob, whose wedding I attended in Glasgow just over two years ago, have had a bouncing baby boy. To say I am delighted would be a mammoth (sans the shaggy coat and tusks) understatement. Casper Carey-Grieve was born at his parent's Glasgow home at 11:44pm, on Friday September 14, weighing a healthy 6 pounds 14 oz. Mother, father and baby are all doing fine. Welcome to the world, laddie!

Collingwood won through to the next round of the finals last night. A close game which saw Pete and I sitting in his car outside the Glasshouse, listening to the last five minutes and willing the siren to sound. We were catching up at Disco Attack, a monthly night run by Tim, whose first ever DJ gig was at Q+A, my old club. Last night was subdued but comfortable; gossiping with friends and drinking by the fire. At about 1:30am my friend and I strolled to a rather quiet Control, then on to Witness Protection Program; from there to a somewhat claustrophobic Pony, then home. Today I am ruing spending all my money last night but looking back, it was a happy evening. Happy is a word I am trying to use more often. This blog post, you will note, is somewhat scattered and sporadic, probably due to the loss of a few more brain cells last night. You'll also probably note that I haven't been writing much about the arts lately. I haven't been going out a great deal, and when I have, I ...

I wish this piece had been installed at Experimenta Playground - I would have loved the exhibition even more!

Amidst all the cheerfully negative press around Howard's leadership and the fate of the Liberal Party that's swirling around at the moment, one quote has stood out from it all for me, and suprisingly, it's from former Labor leader Kim Beazley. Speaking of the rows of journalists in the Canberra Press Gallery peering down at an embattled Howard in the chamber, quoth Kimbo: '"It looked," he said later, "like three rows of crows staring down at a dead sheep."' I LURVE IT! Suffer in your jocks, little Johnny.

Livelier than life British actor Miriam Margolyes discusses her life and career with Richard Watts . When asked why she is touring Australia over the next three months with a one-woman show based on the work of Charles Dickens, a writer who has been dead for over 130 years; Miriam Margolyes cuts straight to the chase. “Because he’s Dickens,” she says, in a tone that brooks no argument. “Because he is the best writer who ever lived…a journalist who was blessed with a dazzling imagination, so his writing combines his sharp observation, coupled with that enchanting, dazzling imagination that allowed him to create convoluted and amazing plots and extraordinary characters.” Would she say that Dickens’ characters, such as Fagin from Oliver Twist and Great Expectations ’ Miss Havisham were larger than life, as well as extraordinary? “I don’t know if they’re larger than life,” she ponders. “They’re livelier than life.” Margolyes, too, is livelier than life: prone to laught...

If you read this post of Born Dancin 's about frogs and haven't laughed out loud by the time you've finished it, you are either a curmudgeon, or dead in the soul. *cue sonorous echoing voice* DEAD IN THE SOUL, I say! *end sonorous echoing voice*

Last Thursday afternoon, I had the pleasure of meeting the English actress Miriam Margolyes, whom I interviewed for a piece in the forthcoming issue of MCV about her tour of the one-woman show Dicken's Women . We spoke of many things besides, not the least of which was that she provided many of the voices for the female characters in the TV series Monkey (aka Monkey Magic ) that I watched religiously in the 1980s. It was one of those interviews that became a conversation, and was quite lovely; and ended with her asking me, "Was I what you expected?" which was rather unexpected. Even more unexpected was the email I received from her today. "I wanted to thank you personally for the time you spent with me yesterday," she writes. "It was a real pleasure to be interviewed by a sensitive & intelligent person, who focussed on me & had CLEARLY done a lot of research." I've never had an interview subject contact me before to thank me for my work. I...

As a consequence of having a relatively quiet night last night, I bounced out of bed at 8:30am and set about doing things - which for me on a Sunday is highly unusual, let me tell you. It was a day of simple pleasures, but also a highly enjoyable day. I enjoyed the sunlight, the sense of vigor that comes with not being hungover in the morning, and a general sense of joie de vive . I also: Read the paper over breakfast; Tidied up, wiped down benches, etc; Put out the recycling; Sorted through a huge stack of mail and media releases, sorting the wheat from the chaff, and started planning my radio show for the next couple of weeks; And listened to about 10 promo CDs I've been sent, which barely makes a dint in the stack of CDs on the coffee table, but at least its a start. Then, just after midday, I set off to - finally - see the new Irish film Once , which I've been meaning to check out for the last couple of weeks. And oh, what an utter delight it was. In all my years of movie...

Having already had one drunken crying jag this week, where I angsted over my substance abuse issues and chronic singularity (sorry Mike - thanks for listening though!) I wasn't planning to spend this Saturday night mired in a swamp of self-analysis and misery. Nor have I - well not exactly - but I haven't exactly had fun, either. The night opened with me I watching Collingwood beat Sydney in the first round of the AFL finals; all well and good (hot Pies!) after which I headed down to Abbotsford gay bar, The Laird, with a mate for a couple of drinks. It's no surprise that I didn't really relax there: long-term friends would know that I've never really been entirely comfortable in gay bars, which I don't think is attributable to any hangover from the internalised homophobia I used to battle - not these days, at least. I think it's more because I've spent so much of my life - the formative stages of my adult life, particularly in my 20s - socialising in st...

Yesterday was the launch of The Age Melbourne Fringe Festival 2007 at RMIT's Storey Hall, a suitably baroque venue for an event that featured fabulously caustic poetry, half-naked acrobatics, a drag king and a farcical sideshow act (as well as the obligatory speeches from various dignitaries and sponsors). Given that I'm the Chair of Fringe, I was one of the speakers. It was kinda fun. Hell, I even got quoted in The Age today! The real reason for this post, though, is to tell you to pick up a copy of the festival program, or check it out online, then book tickets and go! See a couple of shows, see heaps of them: it's the largest festival ever, and this year is celebrating its 25th year. Fringealicious!

I mentioned a few posts back that I went to a great new queer night last Thursday. It's called Fabrik, and runs once a month in the CBD. Check out their Myspazz page for details. Here's a couple of pix to show you what you missed! Hmm, why do I look as though my head is about to fall off? Tim looks just fine, though. The joy of genderfuck. Have you seen my shoe? Mmmm, furry. Emo? Dyke punks rule, ok?

Feeling a bit disoriented at the moment. Work's shitting me so much that I came home and started drafting a letter of resignation, but then I slept on it, and have decided not to quit just yet. It's not just work though. I feel a little flat, listless, unsure of what to do next and where to go. Ah, ennui. This too shall pass.

"I am tired tonight. My eyes are out of focus, my body droops under the weight of the day, but as I leave you Queer lads let me leave you singing. I had to write of a sad time as a witness - not to cloud your smiles - please read the cares of the world that I have locked in these pages; and after, put this book aside and love. May you of a better future, love without a care and remember we loved too. As the shadows closed in, the stars came out. I am in love." Derek Jarman (1942-1994), At Your Own Risk (pub. 1992) Why have I added this quote? Because I've signed up to Facebook*, and needed a couple of favourite quotes for my profile, that's why. * God help me.

That's what I was just doing - well, bouncing around my loungeroom grinning delightedly - within a minute of putting the new The Polyphonic Spree album, The Fragile Army , in my CD player. The opening track, 'Section 21 [Together We're Heavy]' brought a gap-toothed grin to my face and had me literally dancing/bouncing/pogoing around my cluttered loungeroom, swept up by a sudden outpouring of euphoria and delight. "It's like running away with the wind in our faces, like flying, And you and I are open wide." A self-described 'choral symphonic rock group' from Texas, the 20-plus strong band are best known for performing in flowing robes (which they've swaped for black uniforms on this new release), and performing songs which some consider twee and articifically happy; but which hit me all the impact of love at first sight, to which I respond with a gasp of joy and tears of happiness welling up in my eyes (and yes, I am foolishly romantic and a fo...

I survived chairing two panels at the Melbourne Writers' Festival; the first a pleasure, the second a chore. I survived wading through the books of the writers apearing on those panels, and late nights researching and taking notes so that I would be prepared for the occasion. I survived reading Mandy Sayer's latest book - something of a chore - but loved listening to Mia Dyson's new album, in preperation for Friday's Faine show. I survived another night of research on Thursday, and an impromptu 11:30pm visit to a new queer club, where I was revived by great tunes and an electric atmosphere. And I survived my first appearance on The Conversation Hour with Jon Faine on 774 ABC radio - despite a fit of nerves that saw my hand shaking when I raised a glass of water to my lips. Faine is an intimidating presence - quick witted and very sharp - but once I warmed up I quite enjoyed myself, although I was never exactly relaxed: perhaps because I was unsettled by being on the ot...