I am unfamiliar with these orange flowers
The leaves remind me of chrysanthemums
Inspiration
C’est si Bon
Inspired by blogger-ami, Luke’s preference for English songs done over for a French audience reminded me of the French song C’est si Bon was pimped for performance by one of my favourite American singers in exile in the 1950’s, Eartha Kitt.
My mind naturally wanders to fond memories of my formative years, Miss Kitt as Cat Woman in the 1960’s and me dancing in a dubious Blackpool night spot to the 1982 popular hit song Where is My Man.
I was honoured to see the 1987 London production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. I was so excited to be seeing Eartha singing I’m Still Here that I sent a red rose to the theatre, a tribute from an adoring fan. I’m sure that Eartha Kitt spent most of her 1989 concert at the Malvern Winter Gardens on a chaise longue, sadly my second and last opportunity of seeing Eartha live on stage.
I have included the lyrics from I’m Still Here below because I sing along to them, from Metrolyrics, 2013, http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-still-here-from-follies-lyrics-stephen-sondheim.html, viewed 9 December 2013
Good times and bum times, I’ve seen them all
And, my dear, I’m still here
Plush velvet sometimes
Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I’m here
I’ve stuffed the dailies in my shoes
Strummed ukuleles, sung the blues
Seen all my dreams disappear but I’m here.
I’ve slept in shanties, guest of the W.P.A., but I’m here
Danced in my scanties
Three bucks a night was the pay, but I’m here
I’ve stood on bread lines with the best
Watched while the headlines did the rest
In the depression was I depressed?
Nowhere near, I met a big financier and I’m here
I’ve been through Gandhi, Windsor and Wally’s affair, and I’m here
Amos ‘n’ Andy, Mah-jongg and platinum hair, and I’m here
I got through Abie’s, Irish Rose, Five Dionne babies, Major Bowes
Had heebie-jeebies for Beebe’s, Bathysphere
I got through Shirley Temple, and I’m here
I’ve gotten through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover
Gee, that was fun and a half
When you’ve been through Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover
Anything else is a laugh
I’ve been through Reno, I’ve been through Beverly Hills, and I’m here.
Reefers and vino, rest cures, religion and pills, and I’m here
Been called a ‘Pinko’, commie tool, got through it stinko by my pool
I should’ve gone to an acting school, that seems clear
Still someone said, “She’s sincere”, so I’m here
Black sable one day, next day it goes into hock, but I’m here
Top billing Monday, Tuesday, you’re touring in stock, but I’m here
First you’re another sloe-eyed vamp
Then someone’s mother, then you’re camp
Then you career from career to career
I’m almost through my memoirs, and I’m here
I’ve gotten through, “Hey, lady, aren’t you whoozis?
Wow, what a looker you were”
Or better yet, “Sorry, I thought you were whoozis
Whatever happened to her?”
Good times and bum times, I’ve seen ’em all
And, my dear, I’m still here
Flush velvet sometimes
Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I’m here
I’ve run the gamut, A to Z
Three cheers and dammit, C’est la vie
I got through all of last year, and I’m here
Lord knows, at least I was there, and I’m here
Look who’s here, I’m still here
Songwriter:
Stephen Sondheim
Related:
Majestic dame
Located next to Luna Park, St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, the Palaise is a monument to picture and musical theatre.
When Palais Pictures was built it was one of the largest theatres in the southern hemisphere. It opened on 11 November 1927 with Janet Gaynor in “Seventh Heaven”. Palais Pictures was one of the first suburban cinemas to screen talkies on 3 July 1929.Until the fifties, it was the place to go to the movies.
Written by Palais Theatre Management Pty Ltd, 2013, http://www.palaistheatre.net.au/history.htm/, viewed 8 December 2013
You can see pictures of the inside of the theatre at Palaise Theatre
Out of step
We arrived into Tullamarine airport on Wednesday a little behind schedule, that moment was a taste of what was to come. Over the next three days it was as if synchronicity had flown out of the window. We were totally in tune with each other but not with Melbourne. On our own time continuum we enjoyed a memorable anniversary with laughter along the way.
Today the sky cleared, we walked along St. Kilda Road to the beach.
Water
The metre of this poem is sadly affected by Chablis, Minervois and Amaro
A water rabbit,
A water tiger,
Go to lunch in rain,
To the Point Restaurant,
Albert Park, Melbourne,
By car not by train.
Sit next to a lake,
White truffle offered,
This time too sublime.
Food wine and service
Totally divine.
Overall we had
Thoroughly great time;
Followed by bubbles
In spa bath growing.
Vibrant leaves
There is something engaging about the vibrant colours of the leaves in this picture. For me they conjure images of autumnal evenings, candlelight, flames of an open fire and the smell of pine trees.
First of Summer
While growing up in ’60 s and ’70’s Summer in England was this esoteric amorphous entity, I cannot pin point when it started. Perhaps it relied on nature’s direction; March winds and April showers brought forth May flowers.
Antipodean Summers are different they start on 1 December. Over the time we have lived here some years on the dot of 1/12 the temperature has soared to a point that when you subject yourself to the elements, your body is enveloped in a cocoon of moist warmth.
Not so in 2013 with a top of 23oC it is too cool to go for a dip in the pool.
Stan is happy, his shaggy coat grows by the second. 
I hope that you enjoy the pictures I took during his walk around Lewisham and Marrickville.
Stan
Some rocks
I believe that a lighthouse’s credibility is threatened without rocks, here they are…….
Related
Lighthouse at South Head
Camp Cove to the South Head
Camp Cove
Camp Cove looking west towards the City of Sydney.
The following is credited to Robin Derricourt, ‘Camp Cove’, Dictionary of Sydney, 2008, http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/entry/camp_cove, viewed 26 November 2013
Camp Cove is important to the history of European settlement in Australia as the probable site of the first landfall in Sydney harbour. On 21 January 1788 Captain Phillip sailed from Botany Bay to explore the potential of Port Jackson. The exploration was described by Jacob Nagle in his journal. After the expedition had sailed around the north side of Port Jackson he noted:
It coming on dark, we landed on a beach on the south side and there pitched our tents for the night. This was called Camp Cove. The marines were put on their posts. The sailors were variously employed, some kindling fires and some shooting the seine for fish, others getting out utensils for cooking. By the time we got our suppers, was late in the night, and by four in the morning we had everything in the boats again.
The story of the camp, giving its origin to the name Camp Cove, sounds realistic and is taken to imply the first landfall by Europeans within Port Jackson. With arrival in the dark and departure before dawn, there would have been no opportunity to explore the hinterland. As Camp Cove had a freshwater spring behind the beach, it proved a suitable place for a night’s camp. The next day, Nagle fished while Phillip and his party went ashore at what was to be named Sydney Cove.
Reference:
Dictionary of Sydney
Gull at the opera
A seagull enjoys the morning sun next to the Sydney Opera House.
