…”You are, you are a furry thing, and everything is you…”

1. Australian native.

2. Born in the USA.

3. British badarse.

…Modern musical comedy gold

1. Two Nobodies in New York from [Title of Show]
If you’re not into musical theatre because you think it’s cheesy and old-fashioned, this show may well reframe things for you.  Modern musical comedy is sharp, smart, edgy and self-deprecating – and treats its heritage with a good-natured pisstake.  Let Hunter and Jeff be your guide…

2. Great Big Stuff from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
This clip from the Tony Awards features John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz – two of the show’s three main characters.  Unfortunately, the swears are censored, which means you lose a few jokes (“…a life of taste and class, with culture and sophistication… pouring out my ASS!”).  But you get the idea -
it’s a cool show.  And yes, based on the film of the same name (but in a good way, I promise).  PS: apparently there was a production of it in Melbourne this year – I wish I’d known!

3. As We Stumble Along from The Drowsy Chaperone
Need a stirring anthem?  Not really?  Well, you’re getting one anyway and,
by jove, it’s sure to lift your spirits.  Melbourne Theatre Company is doing 
this show next year, starring Geoffrey Rush, which is pretty exciting news! 
Created in Canada, this show is a kind of play-within-a-play parodying seriously old-school Broadway.  This song starts off mildly amusing, but just you wait…

…In pictures

1. Melbourne has everything.

2. The Ninja Turtles are alive and well in Paddington, NSW…

3. The GFC took the cake at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Two nights ago I thought I’d lost a brand new pair of fishnet stockings just off stage behind a curtain.

It was opening night and, though I wouldn’t use the word panicked, you could say I was a bit jittery.  I periodically went behind the curtain – in between doing hair and make-up – to see if I could find them.  It seemed that the more I went out of my way to find them, the more elusive they were.

(It’s funny how inanimate objects take on a personality when they don’t do what you want them to.  Suddenly your computer is a “slow b@$tard”, and your leaky pen is a “messy b@$tard”, though your missing stockings on opening night are probably more like ”fvckers”.)

But then someone switched on a light and they were right there - sitting on the floor by my backpack.  I must’ve looked at, rummaged through, and stood on them at least 10 times.

Last year, all I wanted was inspiration.  I’d trawl the web (on my lunch break *cough*) looking for stirring words of wisdom on creativity, on making a decent contribution to the world, on why doing your thing is worthwhile.

I searched around in the dark and, well, I couldn’t find the fvcker.  In my kind of desperate, disgruntled search, I probably walked right past it and trampled on it dozens of times.

So I played Nintendo Wii, watched every last episode of Will & Grace, and got really, really good at making pizza (really, you should try it sometime).

And somewhere along the way, the lights came on.

TV shows and singing played a significant part in this.  This is going to sound way too earnest for this blog, but I don’t think I’ve known a purer joy than these things.

Now there seems to be an abundance of inspiration.  The last few days alone have brought me a new clarity. The following two things in particular have kind of rocked my world for the better:

The first: these essays on singing from some opera singer guy.  I’m not sure who he is, but he really can string a sentence – singing without technique, the Tao of singing and the uncertainty principle are all wordy but fascinating.

Saving best for last, though, this talk on creativity from writer Elizabeth Gilbert is, in a word, amazing.  It’s also almost 20 minutes long, but I implore you to listen to it right to the end – you’ll be glad you did.

Ole indeed  :)

From Swivel.com:

“Ouch! Disability Magazine, part of the BBC, asked readers to vote for the disability-related words that they find the most offensive. They also asked voters to indicate whether they were disabled, or not-disabled.

This graph shows the results for the most offensive words in both groups.”

Finally – proof that the most easily-offended people are the ones who shouldn’t actually be complaining.