and now for something completely australian
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8/9/2019 and now for something completely australian...
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From: David Jarman [[email protected]]
Sent: 04 March 2002 06:46
Subject: and now for something completely australian...
...and few things are as important to australian culture as her majesty queenelizabeth I - or II if you're not in scotland or australia. she was here brieflybefore sampling the delights of the vineyards in the back yard. a fewthousand school children missed valuable teaching time for a glimpse of her yellow couture, but i expect the teachers enjoyed it too. her governor general(g-g to his close personal friends in the press) was here too, busy notresigning despite recent scandals. oh yeah, bill clinton was around as well.
the fringe exploded into adelaide's popular consciousness a week or so back.a huge night parade wound its way through the streets, while heaving crowdsedged past each other at tectonic pace. the focus shifted to the university
lawns where upto 100,000 people let their hair down for concert/party/rave.the final dj - endorphin - had a blue-painted dancer prowling around the stagewearing an outsized mask of the prime minister; the pm was the subject of some 'criticism'. now, not every festival kicks off like this... i'm not sure thecitizens of every city would appreciate it.
the 'adelaide festival' started a week later, and featured queen victoriaresplendant in red, yellow, black and white banners. she's normally a trafficisland, but currently holds court at the centre of a stage for free eveningconcerts, with the audience comfortable on the temporary turf. (what adifference it makes when you can rely on nice weather for such things!) theopening brought together disparate aboriginal groups, alongside south africanzulus and maoris.
of the fringe shows i've seen, '3 dark tales' has been the most enthralling.'acrobat' had high energy and unexpected humour, while 'antonio forcione'made his guitar sing. 'strange fruit' was captivating: 7 dancers atop 20 footpoles, swaying around, and at times enclosed within paper spheres akin tohanging lamp shades. toes continue to be tapped at the spiegeltent.
living in a house again, i've reacquainted myself with home comforts. I'm
getting used to machine washing my clothes in cold water - it's the washingpart that's new, not the cold water you realise. while prime time saturdaynight tv is... 'the bill', all those warm london accents. there's also plenty of scottish countyside through 'monarch of the glen' and 'five million miles of sky'(or whatever it's called).
haven't made it to the footie, cricket or beach, but it's early days.
many thanks for you news from around the planet,love, david.x