Episode two of the podcast, Once Upon a Time at Bennington College, is titled Bret Ellis, Valley Boy, and it focuses on the city of Los Angeles in the 1980s, and how it provided the setting for Bret Easton Ellis’s first novel, Less Than Zero. Continue reading
‘…what Café du Dôme was to the Lost Generation, the dining hall at Bennington College was to the lost generation revisited, otherwise known as Generation X. … And while, of course, southwestern Vermont wasn’t Paris, somehow, in the early-to-mid eighties, it was just as sly, louche, low-down, and darkly perdu… Seated around the table, berets swapped for Wayfarers and ready to gorge on the conversation if not the food (cocaine, the Pernod of its era, is a notorious appetite suppressant), were Bret Easton Ellis, future writer of American Psycho and co-leader of the literary Brat Pack, Jonathan Lethem, future writer of Fortress of Solitude and MacArthur genius, and Donna Tartt, future writer of The Secret History and Pulitzer Prize winner. All three were in Bennington’s class of 1986. … All three were, at various times, infatuated and disappointed with one another. Their friendships stimulated and fueled by rivalry, as much as affection. And all three would mythologize Bennington in their fiction…’
01. A fabulous night at the Westwood | Kawakubo exhibition at the NGV. The breadth of the work over many decades was astounding. The detail in all of the pieces, but particularly Kawakub’s was incredible (and my daughter who is planning on studying textiles next year was in heaven). Continue reading
01. You couldn’t pay most Melburnians to swim in the Yarra/Birrarung… but I went to the Birrarung Riverfest Swimming in Stormwater event and had a little dip. Continue reading
01. Lime Cordiale and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was brilliant. My favourites were played – Addicted to the Sunshine and Waking Up Easy, and they also played a yet-to-be-released track which was written for their dad (who died very recently). Not sure of the title but the chorus went “…in this house, you’re a household name…”. Obviously it made me cry. Special mention for conductor Vanessa Scammell – mesmerising. Continue reading
01. I never say no to a festival 🙂 The Now or Never program was announced this week – loads of free events (I’m especially looking forward to Matria, Einder and Burdi Burdi) and a bunch of others that I’m excited for (Crisis Actor; this talk about algorithms and music, and this one about eternal life; and this sound-bath). Continue reading
01. I reckon you’d know loads more Alison Moyet songs than you realise… My fave is Only You (but she played them all, except Invisible). Continue reading
01. Our final Melbourne Food & Wine event – a Keralan ‘banana leaf feast’ on the banks of the Birrarung (Yarra) in Warburton. It was spectacular – tables winding along the river, live music, and tasty dishes (my favourite was the thoran – cabbage stir-fried with mustard seeds, coconut and curry leaves). Continue reading
01. Had the great pleasure of attending the launch of Andrea Goldsmith’s new novel, The Buried Life, at the Abbotsford Convent this week. The book contains lots of references to music so, as Andrea explained, the evening was more of a performance than an author convo. Continue reading
It’s hard to pick out the happiest of happy things but this is my list of 2024 highlights (excluding books and holidays). Continue reading