I ducked in to see Alchemy of Colour at the National Gallery of Victoria, as a kind of respite. It was a dark retreat from a Friday afternoon in the city. It was quiet, and peaceful. It was everything I needed. It was blue. Although the exhibit closes on April 3, most of the works are … Continue reading Exhibition Review: things borrowed, all of them blue
Review
Review: Of Marthas and Whistlers Mother
Yeah, I saw Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. So, spoilers ahead. I know, people loathed it. Put it this way, I enjoyed not liking it all, and I didn't hate it either. It felt like a long, slow motion languid symphony for random chess moves, before everything was in place for the action. And then Saruman … Continue reading Review: Of Marthas and Whistlers Mother
Balancing Big Themes and Small Moments
To depict big themes, the advice to writers is to focus on small items and moments. If disease is the theme, the moment in a global pandemic is how a medico might be motivated by the sight of a toy box in an eerily empty children's hospital ward. Emotional, concrete, and reasonably relatable. Conspiracy to commit writing In … Continue reading Balancing Big Themes and Small Moments
Exhibition Review: feeling the disturbance
If Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei's NGV exhibition is a little 'art anyone could do' (from cat pics to soup cans) then Lurid Beauty, an exhibition of Australian Surrealism, is art anyone can feel. Unlike Warhol and Ai Weiwei, little of it is repetitive, except for the feelings the works inspire. The works are weird, visceral, … Continue reading Exhibition Review: feeling the disturbance
Late to the Party: a review of BOTFA-EE
The extended edition of Battle of the Five Armies came out during NaNoWriMo, so I delayed watching it, so I could give it the consideration it deserved. Probably by now you will have made up your own minds and for mine, I do find myself agreeing with YouTube comments. And I'm writing this in lieu … Continue reading Late to the Party: a review of BOTFA-EE
Doctor Who: quoth the raven nevermore
...our sign of parting, bird or fiend... Once upon a Sunday dreary, I pondered an episode wearily for a blog quaint and curious. Yes, it was Face the Raven. As a single episode it had pathos, pretty nice world building details and special effects, it also had history and the start of a mystery. It … Continue reading Doctor Who: quoth the raven nevermore
Doctor Who: Adding Mire
River Song accused the Doctor of making such a legend of himself all his enemies wanted him in a box. She noted his title meant warrior in some languages, rather than learned or healer. Yet, Doctor Who (the program) does this all the time: makes legends and messes them up. The enemies become legendary in … Continue reading Doctor Who: Adding Mire
NaNo Prep Info
I am in the midst of NaNoWriMo preparations. Tis probably ridiculous that a non-novelist is about to write a novel of 50,000 words in November. I don't mind though, there's nothing quite so freeing as being ridiculous and I have a cunning plan to ease myself into this new identity. However, I am not so … Continue reading NaNo Prep Info
Fake Authenticity / Real Theatricality
Since seeing Justin Kurzel's MACBETH the other day, I've all these half-formed paragraphs and attempted poetic phrases turning in my mind in an effort to do it justice and properly sum up the experience. It was still and moody, and balletic and brutal in the depiction of war and bloodshed. There was theatrical cinematography with … Continue reading Fake Authenticity / Real Theatricality
Doctor Who: Listening Tour
'Hear' be spoilers... I like a bit of writing like this. It bats you around the head with its cleverness, it's self-referential, and even didactic. That's not a bad idea sometimes, as it means we get a lesson in time travel, and we know what's at stake, because we've dealt with The Doctor messing about … Continue reading Doctor Who: Listening Tour
Writing Bec 