saw Starstruck (11 August 2017 i.e. five years ago)

So I went to see Starstruck with my mother and one of my umpteen sisters, the oldest one, at ACMI. 1982 was actually not a very good year for me (what years I wonder would I typify as very good years?) but it was at least the year Starstruck came out. I am not sure what I made of it at the time but all evidence points to me actually having seen it (apart from anything else I loved the Swingers and the Swingers are all over it). The screening was attended by Gillian Armstrong and David Elphick who participated in a Q&A at the end of the film which now, 16 hours later in my memory is just woman after woman saying ‘I saw Starstruck when I was 12, and it made me decide I would dedicate my life to the arts’ etc, etc. A number of things stood out for me re: Starstruck, probably on 4^th or 5^th viewing. One is that everyone remembers Jo Kennedy being ‘topless’ on the tightrope as a stunt to get noticed by the media, except of course she just has a ‘topless’ top on. Fine. But who remembers that she is, in fact, topless about ten minutes into the film? Extraordinary. And also the amount of tobacco and pot smoking (partix the putatively 14-year-old Angus) is remarkable really.

Best bits = the music actually, which I gather has been remastered (they said ‘remixed’ but I doubt that, tbh) and some of the random dialogue/jokes, none of which I can presently remember. Another thing that really impressed me was the randomness of the setting. Yeah, the main characters all live in a pub under the harbor bridge – of course they do – and that’s a hoot (did Strictly Ballroom harness this notion a few years later or am I projecting) and (as Gillian Armstrong mentioned herself) the bridge appears again and again as an image in the film – on the walls of the pub, for instance. But there are no sweeping helicopter establishing shots or any shit like that, which is fabulous. Ditto the Opera house, which is a key location, but once again no dazzling panoramas. It’s just not that kind of film. Or rather, it is the kind of film it is, all too rare, and brilliant because of it.

In a manner of speaking the film came out of Go-Set (Steven Maclean the scriptwriter, and David Elphick, and Molly Meldrum who had impact on the movie and for that matter is partially the inspiration for a character, all worked there). I remember Pip Proud was very upset about the way that David Elphick responded to him when he tried to (or did?) meet the Small Faces and the Who in I guess 68. I am about ready to forgive him for that though.

In the hours after, I had the weird experience of talking to someone who knew someone who met Jo Kennedy, got along with her and then found out she had been the main character in Starstruck and thereafter could not even talk to her she was so, ok it’s obvious, starstruck. Then shortly after that someone who briefly knew Ross Donovan (Angus). What a world.

one hour's work took a day

I shit you not. Although I got a lot of other things done too, including reading an excruciating Enid Blyton book (look, I had my reasons) and correcting a lot of pages of another book, and doing my emails etc on the train when the train condescended to go through places where there was coverage. But all good y'know?

So I had to look at the Borough of Swan Hill's minutes for 1939+ to see what they were saying at the time about the Frank Heath plan for Swan Hill which was launched (such as it was) in the early 1940s. TLDR, I mean, cut to the chase, long story short, whatever: there seems to be almost no interest or concern at borough council level regarding the Heath plan, which was pretty swish, but there you go. They don't talk about it, except once, which suggests to me that it's being funded from another source, though I don't know what that source might be. So anyway rather than settle an issue, a bigger question has been raised. However, there was a lot of other interesting things in those minutes, so I'm not sad. The minute book was, in any case, held at the Bendigo branch of the Public Record Office's reading room. 

It did only take an hour though. Then I had time to kill till the train (more than I realised, or rather, maybe less than I realised, well that's confusing what I mean is... I looked on the PTV app to see when the train coming back was, and what I didn't realise was the app wasn't telling me when the train left the station but rather when I would have to wait at a nearby bus stop (I was, like, three or four blocks away - 15 minutes' walk max) to get a bus to the train station. So I walked to the train station and had another 40 minutes to kill. For all I know, I could have got an earlier train. Anyway... doesn't matter. 

I went to a couple of op shops but nothing jumped out at me, which is perhaps for the best all things considered. I had a good coffee and a weird sandwich, and I bought an oven mitt that seems to have been made out of those rubbery sucker things we used to throw at windows and watch them crawl down. Also I bought a copy of Mojo, a magazine that really has nothing going for it anymore, but it had an article on Magazine and I guess I just wanted to see what they'd say, because I like Magazine. 

Been awake since 4am though (for no reason I can glean) so I guess I'm a bit fuckin' shagged now. Will stay up for Mad as Hell but that's IT. 

homicide - the golden thread

This episode of Homicide, 'The Golden Thread', (S5 E26) was first shown on 23 July 1968. 

I'm tired of Homicide stories about women/girls getting murdered. But this is a show from over fifty years ago so not much point in complaining I suppose. You have to look at it as something that happened in the distant past, and only get annoyed about the more recent stuff. A few interesting bits:

This is an artist called Sharp (played by Paul Karo, who got a lot of roles in Homicide over the years) reviewing a line-up. The police line-ups are held in the Homicide offices and the witnesses are face to face with the accused. It's all a bit primitive. 

This was an interesting scene in 'the rubbity' (as Sharp calls the pub) where he was getting friendly with  a 17-year old girl called Becky (Linda Burd) who's drinking in there alone. Bert bundles Becky off and Mack finds this drawing amongst Sharp's sketchbooks: 

Someone went to town on this picture and it's really awful, although I like the spiderweb detail on the bike wheels and the horrendous mad faces behind her. Anyway, I'm tired of Homicides about murdered children/women, although perhaps when someone says that they are tired of Homicide itself. Perhaps I should try doing something else for a while. 

(Of course I say that and instantly the next one comes on and it's got Ken Shorter in it - who did a lot of this kind of thing, I gather, before Stone, though he was only in two Homicides). 

Here's Linda Burd on p. 6 of the Australian Jewish News for 1 July 1960. 

She's in the AJN again on 12 December 1969 p. 12 where they say she left school at around 16 and was quickly asked to audition for Homicide and Division 4 (she did two episodes each) and then she played Concetta in Bellbird in late 1969 after which, nothing. She is listed in IMDB as being a wardrobe supervisor on a 2021 film called 616 Wilford Lane (after 52 years of no activity) but you know what? I doubt it's the same person. My guess is she either got married (so had a different name than 'Burd', which probably caused her a bit of grief in any case), quit acting, or both. If she's still with us she's 72 now. 

Update 24/8 Here she is again in S5E44, 'The Joy Ride'. Here she plays Ina Lehmann, the daughter of a service station owner. Her role is fairly passive but at least she doesn't get killed - her boyfriend (of sorts), seen here, does. The most interesting thing about this episode IMO is that everyone calls her Ina to rhyme with meaner, but the boyfriend - an upstanding, ordinary bloke - calls her Ina to rhyme with diner. 

It didn't even strike me until I saw this screenshot but I now appreciate that the Passiona (?) poster on the wall is arbitrarily cut at the sides, making it meaningless. 

it's still kind of night time, well, early morning really

Went to sleep so early last night it an early wake up was almost inevitable. It's just me and Nancy in the sitting room waiting for the day to begin. 

I actually like the night time, so I don't know why this stupid song by Russell Morris got in my head, called 'I Don't Like the Night'. When I was 15 I did my work experience at Richmond Recorders, which you'd think would somehow be formative but it didn't feel formative at all. It felt dull and annoying. There was nothing to do and Russell Morris and the Rubes were recording 'demos for Japan', like, really. One of the songs they were doing was called 'I Don't Like the Night'. This was ultimately released on an album they put out that year, but it wasn't the Richmond Recorders version. Intriguing. Anyway I don't even know why I'm telling you this.

Russell Morris and the Rubes only existed in I guess 1980-81 and I suppose they were an attempt to update Russell Morris from late 60s-early 70s balladeer (which as far as I'm concerned is what he was best at) to a hot act for the 80s. Morris was 32 and, so, not in the least bit old. It still seemed like a bit of a stretch. I recall the guys in the control room saying of Russell while he was laying down his vocal things like, 'geez mate fuckin' give up you has been'. About ten years later I saw him in the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar taking much less of a role than Farnesy, but you know, still battling away and then he went on to have some actual hit albums of new material in the last ten or so years. 

These are my early morning thoughts, I bet yours are more interesting. 

lionel long in homicide, and phoenix

https://m.facebook.com/ThirroulHistoryInPhotos/ 

So I know you mainly tune into my show to hear about where I'm up to in Homicide and I apologise that other important work has got in the way. A few episodes ago (S5 E21) Les Dayman's character Bill Hudson suddenly got all sad and reflective (no mention of the fiancee Tink though, his back story i.e. she has completely disappeared) and when he had to shoot a madman out for revenge, he went on leave. In S5 E22 Lionel Long joins the cast as Bert Costello and in S5 E24 most recent episode seen, there is a very offhand discussion about Bill going back to forensic or something like that.

Lionel Long is not Italian or of Italian heritage, but he can do a decent couple of sentences in Italian, despite constantly insisting he was born in, I can't remember, Gundagai or somewhere. Anyway, I'll miss Bill but so far so great. New opening credits too which are very exciting. 

Long was a singer as well as an actor. Here he is post-Homicide using his Homicide fame to get a gig at the Ainslie Rex Hotel Cabaret. 

Canberra Times 2 May 1970 p. 16

Meanwhile, 

as per Richard's recommendation I'm watching Phoenix which is actually pretty freakin' amazing (there's Paul Sonkkila above, love to know his story). Obviously in one sense or another made in the light of Homicide and similar but 25 years later and by the ABC. A lot of very believable stuff here. Unlike Homicide a lot of glances and asides, no-one's out and out saying what they think for rapid exposition, but then, this is a long series story not 50 minute episodes. Well I don't like being distracted from Homicide which is a distraction in itself, but it's fascinating. 

...and like most of the best shows it has Peter Cummins in it. Can't wait till he shows up in Homicide (S7 E36 apparently). 

august 1952 flook

I'd like to draw some connection between the Australian-ness of the author and the Australian references in the 20/8 and 21/8 strips but nah. Also note that in the 22/8 episode, the word 'information' has been inserted into the last panel, presumably for the North American audience. I wonder what it replaced. 'Intelligence'? 

How come Flook and Rufus are allowed to compete as two members of a team, when the other countries only have one team member each? 

rabbit rabbit