We’ve only got about a week left in our Fitzroy pad before we have to hit the bricks (leave). I’ll probably say goodbye to Melbourne with a firm yet brisk handshake in an effort to hide my true emotions. Inevitably though our gaze will hold for a split second longer than it should, shallow breath will quicken as we plunge into a desperate embrace – recklessly sweeping a marble kitchen work surface clear of utensils before rolling around entwined on an emotional and physical plane in an unspeakable act of dark farewell. 

Melbourne is nice!!!

Before that sad and erotically charged day arrives, I thought it would be instructive to compile a roundup of events and activities that heretofore I have been unable to cover due to legal and moral constraints:-

Monday Night Magic at Dantes (Last Monday of every month – $10)

“I love magic. I hate magic.”
David (Dave) Nolan – November 2009

Ever since I was a male-child I have enjoyed watching and performing magic. I devour (not literally) books on its history, theory and practice. This equals love.

Unfortunately, many magicians make me feel queasy as some seem to believe that balloon animals, sponge rabbits and weak puns are acceptable. This leaves me at home to Mr Hatred.

I was rather excited then to discover www.mymagic.com.au, a collective of cool magicians (sure, it can happen?) who regularly perform around Melbourne. 

Susie and I caught a show one Monday evening at Dantes on Gertrude Street. The first act was a chap by the name of Kamal. He had the look of a young Errol Flynn and the demeanor of a slightly older Errol Flynn. His performance was professional, polished and a credit to close up. Well done Kamal.

We reconvened after the interval for the second magician of the evening. The bouncing, bubbly, perma-smiley fellow that skipped on stage had his arm up a comedy dog. It took me 0.26 seconds to work out that this in fact made him a cocking ventriloquist. It took me another 0.03 seconds to calculate the coordinates of the nearest exit. The only thing that kept me in my seat was my generous nature and the fear that I may be spotted and pulled on stage to have a conversation with his right hand.

It may sound as if I am being disparaging towards ventriloquists but that is because I loathe them. At one point he asked a volunteer to move so he would be “standing over the trapdoor.” This was met with a gale of riotous laughter from the crowd and the beginnings of a stomach ulcer from your narrator.

Magician arrested for inciting hate crimes against ventriloquists

More recently we saw another show from the same magic collective at Dirty Secrets on Smith Street. This performance was all magic (twelve acts performing five minutes each) and was thoroughly entertaining. They have an end of year spectacular coming up at the Atheneum Theatre in December which I would highly recommend if you’re in the area.

have been years since i last wrote an entry mann.. shall talk abit abt the dvds i rented recently and the book i’m reading now.. and decided to add tags to my entries from now on.. yupz..

first up.. its none other than “suspect X” the jap film in theatres a few months ago.. i give it a 8.5 rating! the ending is worth the 4 or 5 bucks i paid le.. a pretty sad and beautiful movie i feel.. and the plot is sth no one can think of mann.. i mean as audience la.. haha.. suddenly remind me of  “伤城” its like you alr know whose the killer but the story is moves you.. definitely a good catch!

next.. “my magic” by our local director eric khoo! its worth an 8 from me.. cos i think its a pretty good story with nice local flavour.. i think it kind of showed how being a magician/illusionist is not really respected as a job.. and the simple touching story abt father and son is sth i think alot of people can relate too.. its like back to my entries abt fathers and how they find difficulties espressing their love yet always willing to make sacrifices for their familes.. yup.. another worthy catch!

last dvd i’m gonna intro is ” no country for old men” i will give it an 8.5 too! altho M xiaojie didnt like it too much and found the ending abit abrupt.. its definitely not a typical story.. set in the outback of texas.. the lingo used sometimes is not really comprehensible.. like funny english words.. haha.. anw.. watching the ending and M xiaojie’s response remind me of an articile i read some time ago.. tat local audience dont like ‘bad endings’. to put it simply.. they cant accept that the bad guy wins.they only like nice harmonious endings.. so i think you guys can guess wad kind of ending the movie has alr.. anw.. it left a rather deep impression of me.. maybe cos i read too much into it.. but.. i cant help but wonder why is the movie called “no country for old men” when there is no obvious reference to old people.. i feel that it is a critic of the young american society.. the audacious and ridiculous crimes they do with guns and how no one can actually feel safe.. tho the law is apparent there to protect the people.. but.. how can a sheriff do his job when the people can own bigger guns than their little pistols? i also kind of like the black irony abt how the psycho in the movie didnt get wad he wants in the end..  come to think of it.. it can be really realistic.. after killing so many people and getting injured and stuff does not mean you can have wad you want either.. isn’t that kind of similar to life.. haha.. oops.. mind my melancholy..

last but not least.. the little thick book on my hand now.. none other than “sophie’s world a brief history on philosophy” yup.. you got it right.. its philosophy.. and god knows since when i am interested in it.. maybe cos math and philosophy can be really similar if you look at it from a certain angle.. so this book is a god send.. since our poor NTU does not have philosophy- yet. its rare that a book inspires me and i can actually keep reading it.. the last one was possibly ” the time traveller’s wife” i failed to read “the great gatsby” as the language is too much for me..

anw.. i think everyone shld learnt abit abt philosophy.. yes.. EVERYONE.. the book provides the reader with such broad and deep ideas that no one can escape.. yet.. in today’s society.. no one really bothers.. but the fact is that philosophers have contributed alot of ideas and thoughts abt the world even before the era of science.. more importantly.. its written in the book that most philosophers feel that EVERYONE have the reasoning skills to understand the thinking behind philosophy.. shall show a little paragraph of the book below..

” In short, we can only have inexact conceptions of things we perceive with our senses.But we can have true knowledge of things we understand with our reason.The sum of angles in a triangle will remain 180 to the end of time.And similarly the ‘idea’ horse will walk on four legs even if all the horses in the sensory world break a leg”

Watched My Magic last friday. It was seriously a fantastic movie, I never cried so much in my life – Eric Khoo really knows how to touch his audience with his outpour of emotions of life and death in the film. The theatre was almost less than half filled with only like less than 20 people or so which was quite saddening. I guess only a few Sgs know how to appreciate local films.

Här har ni listan & spelordern över de lyckliga filmer som skall tävla nere i Cannes.

Totalt fick juryn in 1,792st bidrag från hela 96st olika länder.

Juryn i år består av:
Sean Penn, Amerikansk skådespelare, regissör & manusförfattare
Jeanne Balibar, Fransk skådespelare
Alexandra Maria Lara, Tysk skådespelare
Natalie Portman, Amerikansk/Israelisk skådespelare
Marjane Satrapi, Manusförfattare & regissör från Iran
Rachid Bouchareb, Fransk regissör
Sergio Castellitto, Italiensk skådespelare, regissör & manusförfattare
Alfonso Cuaron, Regissör från Mexico
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailänsk regissör


Officiella Film listan “Cannes Film Festival 2008″