Apparently life on Earth is very unlikely.
i’m re-reading chunks of Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything”. In chapter 19, ”The Rise of Life’, he points out that collagen – one of many useful proteins for life – needs 1055 amino acids to be organised in exactly the right sequence.
And collagen organises itself spontaneously. There isn’t someone assembling it each time.
“The chances of a 1,055-sequence molecule like collagen spontaneously self-assembling are, frankly, nil” (p351). Bryson
First attempt to read the car Reg. over the phone:
“i’m sorry, i didn’t hear anything. Please tell me the registration number..”
second attempt
“Did you say ROFL w t f 6 8 3 ?”
another go:
“Did you say LOL w t f 6 8 3 ?”
i was sure the insanely cheerful machine at the other end of the phone line was giving me some kind of internet speak as well as the registration number. In fact i’m sure the eastlink machine with the personality disorder was laughing at me.. in LOLCATS language.
“For F sake,” i cried, “What does it take to get a live human being around here.”
“Now transferring you to an operator.”
.
$5 to drive to Frankston these days.
But all that ART along the way makes it almost worth the cash. The mini-hotel? Hilarious!
photo credit: (creative commons at flickr) Thanks: peter forret, and Vermin Inc.
Wealth of Nations – the fringe festival experience – is all over, but i managed to grab some photos and videos. Lachlan’s uploaded them to places like youtube and flickr.. and there they are.
Pete and the Tar Gang were one of my favourite performances from the season. Pete is such a bold character on stage, with his old sea shanties.
They played the following week at the Fringe Club in North Melbourne, and followed up with the Tar Pit Men’s Choir. One of the guys sang a truly amazing solo piece which got the whole crowd turning their heads (at the Fringe CLub). Talk about upstaging!
Mamushka were hilarious and jazzie. Aviva is so stunning up front, and when she pulls out that bass clarinet, you know you’re in for some rollicking.
(i saw them again last week at Open Studio.. without all the costumes. They leap from their circus jazz into a bit of rock thrash every now and then.. and back again. What a blast.. but why was nobody dancing?)
The Kurtletts of course were thoroughly gorgeous.. Kirri and Sofiya play so beautifully together.
Links:
Oh, and the photo slideshow, which has some of my photos mixed in with other people’s too.
Toni Collette you are the world’s most wonderful.
Just saw the finale of season 1, and i’m completely shredded.
Wow.
Ah this could make you smile.. the Spontaneous Tram Choir on the Lygon St Tram.
i hope we’ll see more from this bunch:
from You tube of course.
Ha ha. Thanks Logan for this video.
i’ve seen another amazing fringe show. Having a good season so far.
Candy Bowers in Who’s that Chik? (“A hip hop tale of a brown girl with big dreams”)..
Neon Toast opens in darkness.. but i won’t tell you why. Let’s just say the lighting arrives unexpectedly.
There are plenty of surprises in this delightful piece from Brunswick trio Eleanor Riley, Kerrily Aitchison and Rachael Dyson-McGregor.
A series of diverse dance pieces touching on life in a bakery, urban dating, the thrill of the chase. Such a beautiful sense of nostalgia in some of the scenes. Although there’s no time setting, it feels like the past, with jazz from the twenties and a bath before dinner. Gorgeous humour in the words and movement. Sifting flour through socks as all three women move so gracefully.
i really enjoyed this show.
Anytime Place has a strong record for astounding performance.. and Neon Toast builds on that tradition.
It was windy, raining and cold.. but the show must go on, isn’t it!
Emma Bathgate opened this extraordinary gig at the Fairfield Amphitheatre
An astonishing evening of the musical kind. A program including 2 world premiere performances.
First Chorus is part of the Melbourne fringe festival, this time featuring in
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Plus, from the Victoria hotel event in August:
The choir i’ve been singing with had our big big night.. seven original songs by the songwriters in the choir. Songs in genres including folk, pop, jazz, operatic and gothic-epic, the arrangements all worked by Virginia Bott the amaazing musical director.
i wish i could put up the video right now, but it’ll take ages to be ready. i’ve heard the bootleg recording came out well.
The first show was electric and intense.. while the second was more sedate, laidback, and somehow harder work. Probably because we were already exhausted. As Lou said, it was as though we had a whole season, from opening to closing night .. in the same evening.
The Victoria Hotel has really picked up its game, reshaping into a kitschie Melbourne style classic. Upside-down lampshades hanging from the ceiling.. which any self-respecting Melbourne bar must have.. since the Night Cat started the tradition back in ooh 1990-something.
Really great to be involved in such a dynamic and powerful performance, eh!
Lovely people.
