An evening with Barry Humphries

Last night I was invited as a guest to see, hear and meet Barry Humphries, creator and alter ego of Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. It was a very good opportunity to listen first hand to an otherwise relatively unassuming man, who thrilled the audience with his recollections and with his interpretation of his characters and shared insights into his life. He appeared almost a little awkward as he walked to the speaking podium, as though he didn't know what he would say exactly, but what a great talent he is that in that moment he plugged into his audience and had us quiet with a stroll down the lanes of our collective memories, and had us laughing right out loud with the musings of his life.



He was launching his book in the wonderfully Art decco style theatre in Cremorne, the Hayden Orpheum which still has the old wurlitzer organ that retreats into the floor.


What a wonderful experience to watch and to sit in the ambience of this beautiful theatre. The historic Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace is a six cinema complex located in Cremorne on Sydney's lower North Shore. The Orpheum opened in October, 1935 with seating for 1,700 people on two levels and offered a standard of comfort which was second-to-none, a tradition which continues to this day.

Mr Humphries or should I say "Captain Humphries" (- a title he mused that he would like to have earned one day after a stint in the Army during his National Service many years previous), indicated that he had not actually done an honest days work in his life! Though I think we all agreed that he certainly has worked incredibly hard. He shared how he sort of "fell" into Edna somewhat as a satire of the provincial people, whom he loves, and as a sketch it became so very popular and allowed him or her to comment on everything and certainly has become a vehicle that has propelled both Moonee Ponds and him to international stardom. Barry is certainly very creative and could by his own reckoning could have become anything he wanted so to be.

Whether it be from giving Michelle Obama some beauty tips or Barbara Bush some clothing advice this wonderful man has certainly taken some characters and created a persona that has reached to every part of the world. This man who had as his first job smashing 78rpm records for EMI and now is known all over the world.


I am very grateful to have heard this man share his life and humorous insights, and very honoured to have met him also. I have an autographed copy of his latest book Handling Edna and look forward to a humorous read and commend the book and watching the man if ever an opportunity arises for you.

(The picture of the orpheum from the street is from their website as is the art decco title. The book front cover image is copyrighted by Hachette Australia and is used here to promote the purchase of and subsequent read of the book only.) Enjoy!

Reminiscing

I have just come home from photographing a wedding of a wonderful couple and throughout the day, the brides Dad looked familiar and then, at the church I noticed a person who was my High School Biology teacher. Later I came to know that the brides parents were teachers in different disciplines at my High School as well, whom I knew then and was reminded of. True it can be said, what a small world.

My former biology teacher was aghast that I remembered specific things she taught me in like Geo-tropism, How to make perfumes, and a few other things.

Most of all I remembered her kindness toward me, I thought she liked me, not in some weird way, but I was often a misunderstood youth. I was very good at being the class clown, a bit like a performing seal I guess, and some people very clearly wrote me off, and as I shared albeit very briefly with her my recollections, I was very thankful I had the chance to meet her again. This lady is truly a special person to me, she gave me a chance.

I think she is pleased at the things that I have done, places and people I have met, and I am grateful for her. Aren't teachers truly special people! The influence you can make and leave on a child can be priceless.

I am tired, but very grateful for her. Thanks Helen, you have given me a wonderful opportunity to say thank you, and I mean every word.

I am drifting off a bit as I write this, it is after 1am, but wanted to express my appreciation to Helen, and the wonderful Bride and Groom and their parents for a wonderful pleasant stroll down memory lane..

I will put up a picture soon.

Just desserts

I am so committed to doing a great job every time I pick up my camera I take it very seriously, and am passionate about creating happy, lifelong memories for people.

All of my clients can claim that I treated them respectfully and always gave them their images in a timely manner.

I have never had anyone express dissatisfaction about the quality of my work, sure I have had my share of people saying that a particular angle wasn't as flattering, or that the background was not as nice as they thought originally, or little things like that. However, there have always been ways that i could make it right and please them. A satisfied, and happy customer brings as a natural consequence, more customers! No rocket science there.

I often hear of stories where people have had bad experiences with a photographer, or videographer and where people have waited in one case 18 months to get their photos. ALl of my clients have had the pictures within days to a maximum time of 4 weeks. Sure albums and enlargements and reprints can take considerably longer than that, but all Brides and Grooms i have photographed have their full size 6x4 proofs in albums from between 1-4 weeks and I have not had a single unhappy customer.

I know of one instance when a couple went with a photographer they didn't particularly like, meaning they thought he was arrogant, and they said they liked my pictures more, but because he was double the price they believed they would get greater images. After meeting that couple at another wedding, they approached me with their wedding horror stories and said they should have gotten me. I feigned sympathy and understanding. It amazes me. I saw this story below and thought I would share it. On my wedding blog I have dozens of weddings with around 80-120 pictures in each one where you can see clear, happy images and I often wonder, whether people actually ever got referrals, spoke to previous clients or checked out the work before engaging the people for their special memories.

Then, how people who claim they are professional could ever give work that was less than their best, is beyond me. I take very seriously the thought and reality that I never know who will be looking at their pictures, and I may never get the chance to explain why an image is that way if it is poor. I ONLY EVER give and display my best. This photographer gave his customer 400 images of which they were happy with 22, and my customers for a full wedding can claim between 600-1000 depending on size of party, how many hours involved, variety of locations they want etc, and I endeavour to ensure that EVERY one of the 600-1000 images is the best.

Judging from the clients who have to choose albums from me who often say, "there are too many good one's to choose from" I am doing well. But am ALWAYS challenging myself and my offerings to be better and of a much higher standard.

Why choose a photographer who is ordinary, would you trust your images to just anyone? Choose me, choose quality and be pleased. I will be reviewing my wedding pricing soon having kept it at that same level for more than two years, so avoid disappointment and book now!


The story is below.
Couple sues over disastrous wedding photos

A newlywed couple has successfully sued their wedding photographer after paying a nearly $3000 for a disastrous photo and video package of their ceremony.

The collection of photos taken by Gareth Bowers, of Fresh Images, showed people with their heads chopped off, random close-ups of vehicles and inattentive wedding guests, UK media report.

A video of Marc and Sylvia Day's church ceremony in West Yorkshire, England, included one particularly shaky scene where the operator drops the camera and is heard swearing.

Of the 400 photos taken on the day the newlyweds were happy with only 22.

Thank You cards made by Mr Bowers for wedding guests also failed to hit the mark after the couple's names were both spelt wrong.

Mrs Day said the day lurched from one disaster to the next.

"The videographer missed us turning up at the reception so he filmed the driver opening the car door with nobody inside it," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

"Bowers also missed the cutting of the cake and you can see how angry I'm getting on the wedding video — I even do a psycho slashing knife action, which I can't believe they left in."

The judge hearing the case agreed Bowers' service was "woefully inadequate".

He was ordered to reimburse the couple for $1000 of the fees paid, plus pay an extra $900 in damages, $340 in court fees and another $2000 compensation.

Hong Fu North Eastern Chinese Restaurant

I cannot count the amount of Chinese food platters and restaurants I have frequented throughout my 44 years, and whilst there are favorites I have, I have discovered a new restaurant that is a Northern Chinese cuisine and after being hesitant about it's simplistic presence, we sat down and were wondering about our choice when there was only one waitress.

The most glaring difference for me was, that we were the only non-chinese patrons, and I thought that had to mean something. So we ordered what I normally do. I am a lover of sweet and sour pork, and they did not have it per se, but what they did have blew me away. It was delightful. Like nothing I have experienced before. It was lightly fried pork in a batter of sorts, that was not doughy, yet crisp, lathered in a ginger sauce that had enriched flavours of lemon grass and chives with a softly sweet syrup. I absolutely loved it. The rice was simple, in fact it all was, the tables were not lavish, nor was the environment, but the food and the earnest nature of our waitress was delightful. I will visit here again.

I give it a 4 star rating. Missing out on only one star for ambience and simplicity, but VERY good nonetheless.

I will include the details in case you are interested in a visit. These are direct from the Parramatta local restaurant guide. The times are not totally correct though, dinner is from 5:30pm-11:00pm. They do not speak a lot of english either, but the food was great. Well the dishes that we chose were anyway.

Hong Fu North East Chinese Restaurant
26 George St,
Parramatta, NSW 2150
Phone:(02) 9891 1225

Don't be fooled by the cosy interior of the Parramatta based 'Hun Fu North East Chinese' restaurant. Serving up a delectable range of North East Chinese cuisine for prices you won't even find in Shanghai, let the chefs at 'Hong Fu' take care of dinner for you tonight.

Soft dumplings, traditional suan cai (pickled cabbage with pork) and congee (rice soup) are all on the menu. Vegetarian selections are also available.

Yum, stop by soon.

Hours
Mon: 11:30 AM-10:00 PM
Tue: 11:30 AM-10:00 PM
Wed: 11:30 AM-10:00 PM
Thu: 11:30 AM-10:00 PM
Fri: 11:30 AM-10:00 PM
Sat: 11:30 AM-10:00 PM
Sun: 11:30 AM-10:00 PM

Denzel's School Sports Carnival

Well on Friday I was invited to go to Denzel's School and watch him participate in their little School sports carnival. Denzel goes to a special needs school with people who have a raft of disabilities.

I looked at each of them and could not help but admire the amount of love, care and attention that goes into looking after the many differences and exacting personalities that each person has. I marvel at these teachers who CHOOSE this for a vocation. The tantrums, the toilets, the near misses, the joy, the laughter and the sorrows, they have my deepest respect.

These few pictures are just designed to show a few of my boy participating in a race. The thing I love about this school, and others like them, is that irrespective of whatever disability the children have, they are accepted for who they are. There are no labels, just people. In this environment, in Gods eyes they, as are the rest of us, are all equal. It was such fun.

Denzel fell down in a race and raised his legs in the air and just laughed. He had a ball.

Gifts from a friend in IDAHO!

Tammy, a dear blogger friend of mine and her family sent me some yummy things from the US of A. There are two things that are not in the picture that were also sent. One of them was a Huckleberry lotion / moisturiser from Simply Idaho, and let me tell you it is the best moisturiser smell I have ever whiffed. I LOVE the fragrance, Marcelina has grabbed that but I have sneaked a dab or two. Really nice stuff. The second thing was a small container / packet of cheesy fish shaped biscuits. Denzel saw the packaging and just took it, no need to ask, GONE!

The rest will be consumed in a few moments or two. Love it all, and the postcards and bookmark are great too. It is a special gift from friends on the other side of the world. THANK YOU so very much. How the plum butter arrived unscathed is amazing. YUMMY.

I also photographed a wedding on Saturday for some people and the Grooms family flew here from Idaho Falls and he has a wireless network towers and stuff business in 581 Douglas Avenue and I asked them if they knew you! Their name family name is EARL.

Take care and many, many thanks from your friends in the land downunder!!!

If You Really Pay Attention

A dear friend sent me this a little while ago and it certainly resonates with me. I appreciated reading it and the sentiment behind it. Hope you do also.

When I was a little bitty kiddy, about five, my Dad began a process … anytime somebody came and said something to us, my dad would say, "You remember what he said, honey girl?” I would tell my father what the person said until I got so good at it that I could repeat verbatim even long presentations of what the person had said.

And he did this all the time.

Finally, one day there was this old gentleman, Richard Thompson. I still remember his name, he lived across the street. And every time my Dad started to mow the lawn, there came Mr. Thompson. And so I would stand out there.

Dad says, “You might come and listen to this man, honey girl. He’s pretty interesting.” And so I listened to him, and then my dad would say, “What did you hear him say?” And I would tell him.

Well, eventually I was repeating all the stories he liked to share with my dad verbatim. I knew them all by heart.

And my Dad says, “You’re getting pretty good at that. But did you hear his heart?" And I thought, what? So I went around for days with my ear to people's chest trying to hear their hearts.

Finally my Dad created another learning situation for me by asking my mother to read an article from the newspaper. He says “Well, I guess if you want to understand that article, you have to read between the lines."

I thought, "Oh, read between the lines. Hear between the words."

So the next time I listened to Mr. Thompson’s stories, I tried to listen between the words. My Dad said, “I know you know his story, but did you hear his heart?” And I said, "Yes. He is very lonely and comes and shares his memories with you again and again because he’s asking you to keep him company in his memories."

It just came out of me. In other words, my heart echoed his heart.

And when you can listen at that level, then you can hear not only the people. If you really pay attention, you can hear what the Universe is saying.

--Paula Underwood, clan mother of the Turtle clan, Iroquois nation

Rugby League Grand Final is here...today

I am a closet football fan, I have not really had much time over the last couple of years to pay much attention or to watch the games. It has certainly had its fair share of bad press with the antics of some of the players under an increasing public scrutiny, but I felt it would be more than appropriate to have a small article on the blog to acknowledge the growing fever pitch for the Rugby League team in the suburb I live in. The fans are so happy and the spirit of the place is just happy and fun. The streets, the restaurants, the parks, the malls all have signs and balloons to celebrate their team who have not won a premiership for 20 years.

They are playing in the Grand Final with The Melbourne Storm who have been in the last three Grand Finals and are a seasoned team. They are the favourites whilst Parramatta Eels (so named because Parramatta in aboriginal means - place where the eels lie) are the underdogs, but in Australia, we mostly love the underdogs. There is a lot of people who are so ardent in belief that Parra will win, and I hope they do. No-one is oblivious to the Storms form and performance. Last week they won the game 40-0 against the last team. They are good. But lets hope the Eels can weather the storm. Parramatta Stadium their home ground is literally 5 minutes walk from my house, and they are opening the gates today for die hard fans to watch the game on giant sized screens, as the game is being played in ANZ stadium around 20 mins away. The team, win, lose or draw will return back to the stadium tonight with their fans at around 10pm. I dont think I will be there, but I hope they win.

Go the Eels!



Well, it is another year that Parramatta have to wait to win the premiership. 23 years since they last won and who knows when they will win the premiership again. The cinderella ending was not to be on this years run for Parramatta. Good to get there in the Grand final anyway. Congratulations to have gotten that far boys. There's always next year!!! They did themselves proud.

What a wonderful world

I have refrained from commenting much about the recent spate of storms, earthquakes and tsunami's that have occurred recently around the world. The news has revealed stories of pain, anguish, loss and heartbreak, my heart has been full. I think at times I am so very fortunate. Stories of friends and people we know who have suffered the loss of all their possessions in the Philippines, and the people with whom we associate who have friends and loved ones in Samoa who have had a tsunami rip through their little part of the world with devastating consequences, and then in Padang, Indonesia to learn that they have had two quakes in the last 30 hours with a death toll ever on the increase. It has a sense of being too big to do anything about all the devastation, but I have friends who have mobilised and gotten together food hampers in the Philippines and with a team of volunteers have been doing much to help. A team of people in Australia, because Samoa is a very small island nation close to Australia, are mobilising, along with the government to send aid, tents, blankets, food and water on behalf of the people here. Red Cross are taking donations and it is big.

One thing that I particularly admire about people generally when a calamity or event happens that causes so much pain and devastation, is the way people so quickly proceed to help. It seems that these are the times when we see the absolute best in people.

Some have argued in recent days, "Why does God allow this to happen?" my inner thoughts are "why not?". Yes this thought will be controversial and I certainly mean no offense by saying it, but when you analyse even briefly the perspicacity of the human spirit, the desire to reach out and help, it seems that in these pointed and difficult times, human traits and a connectedness come lovingly to the surface, which in a world that is constantly pitting people against each other is so very refreshing and needed.

I have been in the Philippines in the middle of a bad typhoon that killed several hundred people in the visayan region some years ago, and i will not forget the feeling I had to join with people I had never known previously and offer assistance and genuine care to people who had become dispossessed of their houses, contents, families and loved ones. It is and was then, a feeling you can scarce describe. One gets a glimpse, perhaps ideologically, of what the world could be like if we all really cared about our neighbour, really looked out for one another and really showed each other that we cared. We would I suspect then see an end to hunger, an end to war, an end to rage of most applications and a world that we see only in the face of hardship and extreme be the norm. I would love to live in a world like this.

I love the indomitable spirit of the human condition, the will to survive and the desire to rebuild, bigger, better. We are, and can become, truly exceptional people when we put our minds and hearts to it.

This month, of October, in Australia we celebrate research into, and fundraising for, Breast Cancer research, and to see people yesterday mobilise and really dig deep to help this effort was also amazing. There are so many charities who need funding, there are so many good causes that are crying to be noticed it can seem somewhat overwhelming, but I have chosen 5 charities which I assist with my time, money and talents. The Down Syndrome association, Autistic and Special needs children, The Sydney Childrens's hospital, The CMRI, Breast Cancer awareness. I list these not to say hey look at me, but more to share my honour in being associated with organisations that do much to make life better for other people. It helps make me feel that my efforts are part of a much bigger circle of care.

With it's Joys, stresses and strains, I am grateful for life, grateful for my experiences, for friends, for family, for joys and for heartaches, perhaps seen at times through rose coloured glasses, I do think this is "A Wonderful World". I am so happy I have had the chance to be here. I have no plans to go anywhere yet, but suffice it to say I have been again faced with my own mortality of sorts in the past week or two and it has hit me like a freight train, but there are people worse off than I. It has made me re-think what is most important, to me.


ONE LITTLE CANDLE
(George Mysels / J. Maloy Roach)

It's better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark
Better far that you light just one little candle
All you need's a tiny spark

If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free
The wonderful dawn on the new day we'll see
And if everyone lit just one little candle
What a bright world this would be

(Let's all light one little candle
Why stumble on in the dark)

When the day is dark and dreary
And your way is hard to find
Don't let your heart be weary
Just keep this thought in mind

(It is better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark
Better far to light just one little candle
All you need's a tiny spark)

If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free
The wonderful dawn of the new day we'll see
And if everyone lit just one little candle
What a bright world this would be

What a bright world this would be