Once upon a time I used to belong to a couple of theatre groups, The Stirling Players and The Hills Youth Theatre. If you have a look through their lists of previous performances (from the late 80s to the early 90s) I would have been in some of them.
I thought I’d give it another bash and ended up with a part in the Lords & Ladies, a stage adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel from the Discworld Series. See if you can find my name in the cast list
There is a fantastic children’s book illustrator that I would like to introduce you to.
Anna Pignataro is an Australian woman, I’m not sure where she is based but I’d recommend (if you appreciate a good story and some great artwork) to head on down to your local (library, not pub) and see if you can get hold of some of these books.
§ Great Big Animal Ask (2004) with Libby Hathorn
§ Dancing Night Tonight (2003) with Ian Bone
§ The Little Red Bear (2003)
§ Loni and the Moon (2003) with Esther Takac
§ The Tobbley Twins (2003) with Phil Cummings
§ Waiting for Mum (2002) with Helen Lunn
§ Delightful Delilah (2002) with Nigel Gray
§ The Very Super Adventures of Nic and Naomi (2002) with Venero Armanno
§ Fish for Breakfast (2002) with Gael Cresp
§ The Mermaid of Bondi Beach (2001) with Gillian Rubinstein
§ Quicksilver (?) with Errol Broome
§ No Place Like Home (2001) with Colin Thompson
§ Unknown (2000) with Colin Thompson
§ Uncle Albert’s Seal (2000) with Romie Claridge
§ Whisper Wild Freedom Child (2000) with Rachel Flynn
§ The Staircase Cat (1998) with Colin Thompson
§ I’m in the Sky and I Can’t Come Back (1997) with Holly Huth
Recently I listened to Second Wind by Dick Frances. It was my first experience with an “adult” audio book; I’ve listened to a lot of children’s material.
At first, I thought that I wouldn’t enjoy it, but I was quite surprised. The story had some strong main characters, Perry and Kris, both weather reporters for the BBC. Perry was orphaned as a child and raised by his beloved, now crippled very sensible grandmother (”If you can’t fix it, think about something else”). Perry and Kris (also a pilot) take a flight into
the eye of a Caribbean hurricane.
The story had intrigue, British accents (one of the joys of audio books), meteorology and even a little romance thrown in.
Although the story wasn’t 100% gripping, I still found it interesting (perhaps the technical meteorological discussions appealed to the geek in me) and enjoyable. Listening to this book certainly made that 100 km of driving a day (to and from work) a lot easier to bare.
I’ll certainly be listening to more audio books, if not more Dick Francis.
The other night I read a book called “The Circles” by Kerry Armstrong.
It’s a beautifully presented small square shaped hardcover book about sorting through your feelings and looking after yourself.
The book is filled with lovely artwork interspersed with inspiring quotes.
The main theme to come out of the book is about placing the people you know who are somehow a part of your life (in the past or the present) within circles.
You start with a central circle and build up to the seventh, placing people in the circles according to how you relate to them, how they make you feel, how much you trust them etc.
I think it would be a great exercise to do and I am looking forward to sitting down and filling in a large piece of butchers paper.
This is a book I grabbed out of the children’s easy reading fiction collection just for fun. I have to say it was pretty silly and I only chose it for the title. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
The story is about a knight called Sir Joshua. The King commands Sir Joshua to destroy a “fearful” dragon but he finds it hard because the dragon only wants a quiet life. The ensuing story is about some of the tricks that the dragon gets up to in order to ensure that he can have a quiet life.
Three Musketeers - Greater Union City, 6:30 PM, Saturday 11 December 1993
Jurassic Park - Greater Union City, 1:30 PM, Saturday 25 September 1993
Untamed Heart - Greater Union City, 2:30 PM, Tuesday 6 July 1993
Of Mice and Men - Greater Union City, 1:30 PM, Saturday 13 March 1993
Death Becomes Her - Greater Union City, 2:30 PM Wednesday 13 January 1993