It’s hard to pick out the happiest of happy things but this is my list of 2025 highlights (excluding books – more on those later – and holidays, and I had some amazing ones this year, notably Hobart, Cambodia, New Zealand, and my sinkholes tour). Continue reading
01. I’m not overstating when I say that Opera Australia’s Orpheus & Eurydice was the most incredible production I’ve seen in thirty years (the previous benchmark being Barrie Kosky’s 1995 production of Nabucco). (image) Continue reading
01. I love looking at big infrastructure projects (it’s the planner in me that lingers). Today we got to walk part way into the West Gate Tunnel, before the cars takeover in December. Continue reading
01. A crowd-pleaser for good reason! Lovely night at Opera Australia’s The Barber of Seville (and especially good to see my dear opera friend who I haven’t spent time with for months). 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
I accept that everyone is focused on next year’s reading challenges but I have some unfinished #NovNov business! Continue reading
01. Victorian Opera’s performance of Eucalyptus (based on the glorious book by Murray Bail). It was wonderful and the set was absolutely outstanding – the canvas in the foreground was used to project various scenes, from a train arriving and forest to the lake where the main character swims. In the background were layered scrims, printed with trees, and behind them you could see the orchestra. Magical. (image). Continue reading
01. A deeply relaxing Saturday afternoon at a sound bath (pic was well before the session started BTW!). I really love the tone of crystal singing bowls. Continue reading
01. Edinburgh Book Festival (beamed all the way to me in Melbourne) – Colm Tóibín, interviewed by Caoilinn Hughes. I love how much Colm laughed at Caoilinn’s questions. He was a great sport, especially when she opened with describing him as “…Costco’s hottest product – from the aisle between the shovels and the underwear… it’s either a very, very good book or a very, very bad book.” She then continued with a five-minute rundown of his stellar career, and when she got to the end, Colm dead-panned, “Thanks for that lovely introduction Caoilinn, although you left out quite a lot…”
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01. The most glorious concert of Puccini’s greatest hits. I loved every single moment (but especially the Gianni Schicchi, Tosca, and Butterfly bits). (image) Continue reading