The second course was some lovely Sydney Rock oysters, au naturelle of course, sprinkled liberally with lemon juice.
Sydney Icons – Opera House
This icon doesn’t need any introduction, but I must say that I do like to photograph it. It’s interesting from all sorts of angles.
Spring Dinner Party – Part 1
J and F are good cooks, so the food at their place is always special. This weekend I was invited for a Spring dinner, which turned out to be a lovely multi-course affair. To begin with, they served the very seasonal zucchini and pesto soup, with sourdough.
Still Fighting It
Ben Folds’s latest project is a compilation of acapella version of his songs done by university groups across the States. This is a lovely song in itself, but this is a great live rendition acapella style that’s lovely understated.
Sydney Icons – The Harbour Bridge
It’s funny the things you take for granted as a Sydneysider. Especially icons like the Harbour and the Bridge that I don’t give too much of a thought on a normal day.
But occasionally, I do see the beauty in its structure – the amount of work that went into it when it was created almost 80 years ago. I like how the bridge looks different from different angles and times of the day. Driving across it isn’t too fascinating, but walking across it is fun indeed.
Tess of the D’urbervilles – Part 4
So we come to the final post, and the earliest version of Tess, made by Roman Polanski back in 1979. It’s actually a beautiful version with Tess played by a 17 year old Natasha Kinski, and Angel played ironically, by a very young Peter Firth. Natasha is really astonishing, considering that it’s one of her first roles, she’s acting in a second language with a difficult accent. I think she’s my favourite Tess. And Peter, well it was just interesting to see him as a very young man.
I do like the classic style of this film, with its gorgeous music and cinematography, but I think the ending’s a bit rushed here.
Tess’s attempted confession:
The final moments:
So there you go. Given I’ve actually only seen this version in full, I’m going to track down the 1998 version because it looks fantastic.
Careless Whisper – Part 2
Back in the land of strange duets. So a couple of months ago I posted a duet of Careless Whisper with Aussie Kate Miller-Heidke and Paul Dempsey. Well, this is a hilarious tongue and cheek version with Ben Folds, and Rufus Wainwright!
Winter Cooking – Final!
Well, winter’s over, so this is the last dish of the season! I tried baking a mocha friand. It was originally a coffee one but I replaced instant coffee with cocoa powder. After baking it’s dosed with an espresso/sweetened condensed milk concoction, which makes the finished product nice and moist. It could actually do with a touch more sugar, but other than that I was pleased with the result.
Tess of the D’urbervilles – Part 3
The second adaptation was made back in 1998. From these two clips, I think they took a more realistic approach in terms of both style and acting, which I think works. Tess seems a lot more tougher here, and Angel’s definitely better played by this actor.
Here’s the proposal scene in the dairy:
And this is really great, when Angel returns and finds Tess, well, taken:
The Luckiest
I saw Ben Folds performing solo last night – a wonderful, energetic performance. I’ll post a solo or song or two from him, but now I’d like to recall the performance I saw 3 years ago when he played with orchestras all around the country. This has to be one of the most loveliest songs he’s written, and it sounds fantastic in an orchestral arrangement.
Static and Silence 