Travels by Eurovision 2013
It’s a sad. sad day when the GFC leaks into song and I fear that this year’s black clad, down-beat, disappointing Eurovision is an indication of the mood. Where is the joy, Europe? Where are the crazy costumes and the onstage bread-baking and sand painting? Are things so bad that even Eurovision has woken up...
Travels by Film – Desperately Seeking Susan (New York, 1985)
Confession time: I am a child of the Madonna. The Madonna era that is. Dishevelled blonde hair, lacy bras, a thousand jangling bangles; I did it all. That is why Desperately Seeking Susan is my defining film. That is why I travelled to New York in 1993. It was a simpler time: post-Sid and Nancy,...
TRAVELS BY EUROVISION 2012
It’s my favourite time of year, when all the nations of Europe sing and dance so I can decide where to take my travels this year. This is the moment when 42 nations send their brightest talents to perform one song, which basically says: please come to our country and bring us lots of fame...
Damien Hirst: Chortling All The Way To The Bank
When Damien Hirst was organising Freeze, I was studying art history in Australia. While he painted a few boxes and stuck them on the wall (Boxes, 1988), I wrote about Michelangelo painting the Sistine Ceiling. As Hirst befriended Saatchi and got free rein to suspend a shark in a tank of formaldehyde (The Physical Impossibility...
Travels by Film – Roman Holiday (Rome, 1953)
I’ve been to Rome a couple of times. Though I’ve never been there with Gregory Peck. And I’ve never been there with a wardrobe designed by that legend of film Edith Head. Or been there as a princess pretending to be a pauper. Mine is more the journey of a pauper acting like a princess....
Travels by Film – Grease (Los Angeles, 1978)
Rydell High School. Children, welcome to 1950s America by way of 1970s America by way of some expat Australians. It’s gonna be a wild ride. I have friends who can sing all the songs from Grease, that Disney-esque view of being cool in high school. (Fair play, Grease does declare its fantasy-realm from the get-go...
Travels By Film – The Sound of Music (Salzburg, 1930s)
Opening Scene: The Sound of Music (Salzburg, 1930s) They say give me the child until 7 and I will give you the adult. Well, I think I’m in real trouble. My mother was obsessed with The Sound of Music. By the time I was 7 I had seen the saccharine musical at least a dozen...
