Let's get into this country

Woohoo! My Dad has arrived in town along with my Aunt Lorna and Uncle Alan, which is great fun. Beth is already enjoying having extra people around to spoil her, although I think sleeping in our clothes cupboard* has come as a bit of a shock. Photos soon.

The visit means we will be spending the next few weeks doing our Standard Sydney Tour – Manly Ferry, Parramatta Rivercat, Wiseman’s Ferry, West Head, Avoca Beach – together with some more novel (for me) diversions like Canberra and The Hunter Valley.

The other nightI went to a grand old cinema for a screening of 2001 in a spiffy 70mm print. I’m guessing that it’s the same print that M&I saw at the NFT a few years back, but this was a few years back. I still think it’s a front-runner for the Greatest Film Ever Made trophy, though I have yet to see either Aguirre or The Battle of Algiers on the big screen. The screening was prefaced by a Q&A with the two leads from the film. Keir Dullea was a charmer and he seemed embarrassed by the brusque egocentricity of Gary Lockwood. I suspect he was aware that, while adequate, the acting is the least of the attributes that make 2001 a masterpiece. And besides, Lockwood, if you’re so great how come you’re wearing terrible tracksuit trousers and make a living signing Star Trek DVDs at $25 a pop?

Stratmeister was the interviewer for the Q&A and I was back in his august presence last night for my course. The movie was In Cold Blood – brilliantly shot and well acted, but an over-familiar story by now and an inappropriate and intrusive Quincy Jones score.

One more thing – Camera Obscura are ace. Tarah!

*OK, it’s a walk-in wardrobe bigger than our living room in Manor Park