Living in interesting times

Being an audio person in a visual world makes life interesting at times... For example, the easiest way to share the promotional trailer for my radio documentary on the interwebs was for it to become a video. Given that my visual editing skills are zero, it is fortunate that I could commission the talents of my digital-native teenage son to do all that image splicing stuff for me :) I must say, he coped very well with his demanding client...

In some aspects, the radio doco I've just completed is like this blog... it started out with a simple purpose but along the way it became something a bit more than that. When I started writing about the process of rebuilding of my house in early February, it was supposed to be just that - the rebuilding of my house, not thousands of houses, not the entire central city or large chunks of suburbia. Instead it became a much bigger topic, a much longer storyline. It's been over six months since I started this journey and I'm nowhere near where I thought I would be. The path that, in February at least, looked so straightforward and short has turned into the mother of all marathons that none of us have trained for.

And so it was with this documentary - a simple idea that became something bigger.

With a long history in the arts & events industries here in C-city, I know what it's like to entertain this place... or I used to. But I have plenty of friends who are still active entertainers - playing gigs, putting on shows, trying to find somewhere to have (or create) a night out. That was my plan, to go and talk to some interesting characters about the year that was, and about finding & making entertainment. My friends are musos, artists, actors, venue managers - they'd have stories to tell, right?

Oh they sure did... and those stories took me somewhere I hadn't really planned on going, but I think it's a story that needs to be told. When I was chatting with Adam McGrath, he said that "these are interesting times and I'm glad that we're living in them". I couldn't agree more...

Entertaining Shakeytown features the musings of Adam McGrath, Lindon Puffin, Darryl Cribb & Robin Judkins and is intertwined with music from Delaney Davidson, Marlon Williams, Adam McGrath, Lindon Puffin and the Harbour Union.

Rinse and repeat

It's been a bit like deja-vu all over again round here lately...

In a carbon copy of July's snowstorm, we were inundated once again with massive amounts of the white stuff. Just like July it arrived on the Sunday night and carpeted the city once more in a massive white duvet (that's a doona for you Aussies). There didn't seem to be quite so many snowfolk this time around, but there were plenty of people who put in the effort, with some impressive results.

Some great snowfolk in these pictures from The Press - the Dalek is my favourite (of course!)

Brickbats & Bouquets for the CCC

It's been a busy time for the council lately - for the elected councillors and their hard-working staff. Let's just say that some things are going, and being handled, better than others.

Back in July, Vbase was ready to release the engineers' reports on the battered & broken AMI stadium. The council however, had other ideas and kept the report out of the public eye for a few more weeks. Ostensibly this was to give councillors a chance to read the reports & make decisions and, as mere plebs, we can only guess as to the accuracy of this stated position. I still can't get rid of the image of Jack Nicholson shouting "You can't handle the truth!" from my head... I hope our elected officials aren't withholding information on the basis that we the people can't handle knowing the awful truth.

Timing is everything

It doesn't take long to tear down a house that stood for over 80 years... one man in a digger can get through a lot of destruction in just one day...