It seems ages since the inclination and endeavour to add to this blog came together. So much new things of significance to me have happened in that time, including:
- 5 days of a wonderful family holiday at the Sunshine Coast - Grandma joined us in an adjoining unit , we all enjoyed a break from schools, uni and hospitals
- 40 laps in a big warm pool over 4 days - using this as a substitute for a few laps in a cool pool
- Fishing and watching fishing - nothing to eat but fun for the boys
- 105 holes of golf ( 87 in an 8 day period with Andy & Jeff to ensure Jeff had his fix of golf before his impending long break as he gets used to his new steel leg bone)
- Jeff’s femur replacement - a big op that kept the surgeons happy, the lump of steel should set the airport alarms off
- Ben & Tanya’s engagement party at Canungra - a big bright affair that went off well
- A wonderful weekend in Adelaide with Andy where footy was the focus and Port had an impressive win over Collingwood - lucky enough to stay in a flash hotel
- Semester 2 started at Nudgee and Uni - now starting to sink in
- Parent/ teacher interviews with Andy’s teachers to get a heads up on what has been happening and is to happen in Year 12
- “1001 Nights” with Mon (see brief review below)
- Numerous Skypes with Katie in Italy seems like she was just around the corner
- Hickling family reunion in Warwick at Uncle Terry’s 50th anniversary of being a priest- very well represented with each family there- some of us had to rush off in time to get back to see the Lions beat the Suns at the Gabba
- Andy’s first rugby match on Ross after a few years absence - a bit different from aussie rules
- Fiesta did a coil and a tyre in separate incidents - gives Andy an indication of costs of running a car
- Andy featured in Nudgee Rock Band 2 at St Rita’s Fete - first time away from Nudgee, more to come shortly
- Andy’s formal - all gents and ladies scrubbed up well
- Lots of thinking and talking about training for the Bridge to Brisbane - hoping to rely on a lot of muscle memory from a long time ago
Additionally , quite a few things remained the same, e.g.
- Queensland won another State of Origin series - on their way to ten in a row
- Aussie batsmen get out cheaply - about to break that habit in the third test
- Lions, Bombers and Port won some footy games and lost some others - maybe two out of three will play finals
- Phil Taylor keeps winning at darts- just when he was thinking of retiring
- Getting organised is much more a thought than a deed with positive thinking working its way forward.
“Ancient Tales Refreshed”
We went along to “1001 Nights” as part of our season ticket membership with Queensland Theatre Company. Without any clue about the show, we were pleasantly surprised. It was a refreshing experience, probably one of the most enjoyable theatre shows that I can remember. It seemed a pity that Bille Brown was less that two-thirds full as the deserved full house would have accentuated the atmosphere created. Maybe being a Thursday night and the first of the shows was an excuse?
Essentially “1001 Nights” is a series of short Arabian stories tied together. Some of these were familiar tales – Ali Baba, and Alladin, although with details not quite as I remember. The other tales:- Sherazade & Shahriyar; The Genie & the date stone; Sidi Nouman; The Little Hunchback”; Father of Farts; and , Envious Sisters, were of similar style but varying plots. Despite some of the stories being ridiculously fanciful, that did not stop me from sharing the mesmerised attention of the sultan in the first story who remained enchanted for the 1001 nights of the play’s duration before seeing the light.
It was incredible how the minimal props used to garnish the tales worked with the expressions and movements of actors to bring the stories to life. The five actors were joined by three musicians who used a variety of quaint instruments to produce an extraordinary resemblance of the sounds of ancient middle east as set in my mind.
Storytelling was an ancient art form that targeted the heart rather than the head of each in the audience. It is easy to see how those endowed with this gift can be just as powerful today as they would have been way back then.
It made for an enjoyable evening escape into a fantasyland where laughter, sadness, magic and wondering submerged the normality of daily life. Thanks, QTC.
