Dangerously close liaisons

Posted on April 25, 2012 by John

On Saturday noon we head off to the Wharf Theatre to see the Sydney Theatre Company’s matinee production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

“Unaware of the impending revolution that breathlessly waits to devour the French aristocracy in all its decadence, the Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont plot an elaborate game of revenge, seduction, humiliation and cruelty” it says in the blurb.

Hugo Weaving and Pamela Rabe “play the charismatic duo who manipulate with the precision and discipline of master puppeteers, deriving a pleasure from their spite that can only be surpassed by the pleasure of watching the deliciously wicked pair in action.”

I end up sitting in the front row at the side, on the same level as the actors and a couple of metres from the action. Terrific play, very funny, very cruel. My proximity to the events demands a degree of self control when a very fetching young lady has some of her clothes ripped off by the Vicomte de Valmont (Hugo) and writhes around semi-naked almost within touching distance.

We had been warned. “Please note, this production contains theatrical haze, loud gun shots, and partial nudity.”

Very enjoyable afternoon in the theatre, a great production and good acting.

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Free at last, free at last!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by John

This wage slave has made a succesful bid for freedom. Hurrah! I had been working at the City of Sydney on a three-month contract editing content for a complete new website – a huge task. The work was interesting – I was placing text and pictures using a content management system called Squiz. I managed six weeks before I decided that the setup was not working out for me. The good thing about being semi-retired is that if you don’t like what’s happening at work, you can just quit!

I guess I might be tempted back into the workforce at some time in the future, but not too soon. I intended to get out on the golf course but it has been raining for the past few days. So it has been time to get into the workshop. My tasks are to fix up problems with my existing model planes (see below) and work on my long-term project, a quarter scale Spitfire.

Jan’s away in England staying with her Mum so I’m having to feed myself and three hungry cats. Jan and Mum have visited Bob and Julie and Steve and Ginny and report their wonderful hospitality is making up for the cold English weather.

Patient bulletin: Jan reports that her arm is good. Ripley is improving slowly. He still has a limp, but not so pronounced, and he seems more active and generally more healthy. He’s still on prednisolone pills and will be for another couple of weeks.

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Two-stroke touch-up

Posted on April 18, 2012 by John

My engine has been naughty. That is the 50cc two-stroke engine in my model plane – an 88-inch (2.23 metres) wingspan  Extra 300. It stopped in the air on Sunday – only the second time it has done this in 240 flights. The front bearing was loose, so I took the engine out of the plane and pulled it apart. The piston ring was gummed up, so I cleaned it all and reassembled it with a new bearing and special Loctite to fix it into its housing.

20120418-164559.jpgThis sort of work takes me back to my younger years pulling apart motorbike engines, car engines and racing kart engines. This little engine is easy to work on and the bits are cheap, so that’s good!

I can’t test it yet cos the weather is atrocious. Torrential rain most of today and lots of flooded roads across the whole of Sydney.  A good time to be in the workshop.

 

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Update on the patients

Posted on April 2, 2012 by John

Patient Number 1, Jan, went to see her broken arm doctor today at the hospital and he’s pleased with her progress. Now she’s allowed to lift one kilogram with her left arm (instead of the previous instruction of nothing heavier than a cup of tea!) and (hurrah!) she can drive again.

She’s still complaining that the arm is a bit lumpy but the bio-oil seems to be helping diminish the scar (although Dr Frankenstein would be quite happy with the result, I’m sure). She’s off to England to see her mum this week, so at least she’ll be able to drive while she’s there.

Patient Number 2, the limping cat Ripley, has had several visits to the vet, blood tests and examinations (hundreds of $$, of course). He refused to limp at all at the vet surgery the first time and pretended he was perfectly healthy. I managed to get some video this time and showed her on  the iPhone how bad he was. The possible diagnosis is an auto-immune disease giving him arthritis. The treatment is cortisone (prednisolone) tablets and antibiotics to see how he goes.

Let’s hope that does the trick.

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A night at the Opera

Posted on March 21, 2012 by John

Our friend Pam Christie rang up and suggested a night at the Opera – Turandot, and arranged some tickets for Monday 19th. We got good seats (ie bloody expensive ones) fairly near the front but on the side a bit. We met up at the Opera Bar on the waterfront under the Opera House (I came straight from work) and had a couple of their famed tasting plates to share (thanks for the recommendation, Viv!) Great food, good company.

The opera was terrific. The singers were great, the huge chorus added a powerful blast of sound, and the costumes and staging was wonderful. Jan realised we’ve actually seen this production before – it’s 22 years old! I think they refurbished the costumes a bit.

The critics also liked it. “Director Graeme Murphy’s bold choreography and designer Kristian Fredrikson’s larger-than-life sets and costumes balance Puccini’s gorgeous swathes of orchestral and choral colour to produce a spectacular night in the theatre.”

Nessun dorma was stirring, of course. A lovely night – being at the Opera House is always a special experience for me. Plus, Pam and Steve gave us a lift back home.

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