I've got things to ponder of late, so I haven't been pondering too much over Lisa Wilkinson's - defection, guess you'd call it - to Channel 10 over a supposed pay dispute because she was paid less than her 'Today' co-host Karl Stefanovic. I understand her new role at 'The Project' will have her paid more than her MALE co-host Waleed Aly, who has been there for a significantly longer period of time than she will have been. So go figure. I cannot. Anything more than the most basic of maths hurts my brain, so I'm not even going to try and see the logic in this one; other than to suggest that paying a talking head is not so much about that person's gender as their marketability. I don't really care that much what she's paid. She lost me when she appeared on 'Q & A' and responded to another panellist who had advanced an opinion on an issue affecting a minority with words to the effect: 'As a middle aged, white heterosexual male you don't get a say'. These words might have been directed to Attorney General George Brandis, but I cannot recall. What I do recall is being immensely irritated at the tone of her delivery: it was uber-condescension tinged with a liberal smattering of smug, and a thick coating of supercilious. It was in my mind pretty offensive, truth be told. So this man cannot have an opinion, but a white heterosexual female who appears to be pretty privileged CAN? Not cool.
Tonight's episode of 'Countdown' focused on the year 1980. Not too bad a year. It had it's own significance musically. On a personal front, 1980 is the only year I have ever had what could be described as short hair. I discovered I hate having short hair. It's not me. I don't care if a woman over forty should not have long hair, this one is going to as long as she can lift her arms to comb it. And who decrees a woman over forty should not have long hair? I believe it's the hair dressing industry who rely upon regular visits from those with short hairstyles that are high maintenance. Long hair is not high maintenance at all. I am an adult who pays taxes. I will wear my hair how I like.
On a more poignant note, to me 1980 is the last year I had my complete childhood family unit. Early in 1981 my oldest brother died, and after that everything somehow seemed DIFFERENT. Anybody who has every experienced a similar upheaval and trauma when in their early teen years will be able to identify with what I just wrote.
But on a more cheery note, it was fun to watch the 'Countdown' episode. It featured the B-52s miming to their hit 'Rock Lobster' like Marcel Marceau on steroids. The set was all geometric patterns bright primary colours. The female members of the band were weighed down under bouffant wigs that laughed at the Newton's notion of gravity. My 13yo old walked in, and looked at his parents who were entranced and enthralled by their trip down memory lane. He said, 'Mum, can I have some eye-bleach?' Astonished and puzzled, I asked him to clarify. He pointed to the spectacle on the screen and said, 'I really want to unsee that.'
I watched The Flowers in their pre-Icehouse days performing 'We Can Get Together', and was reminded of a concert I attended at Selinas, Coogee in 1986 when Icehouse were the top of the bill, supported by Boom Crash Opera, The Venetians, and some other band nobody's every heard of again. I recall sipping beer from a plastic cup, and my cheap boots pinching my toes, and the heat, and the sweaty bodies of those around me.
The Ramones were featured, performing their hit 'Rock and Roll High School'. Um, is it just me, or is this song a bit banal?
The Vapors were also a featured act, with their - to my knowledge only - hit 'Turning Japanese'. This was not a paean to our neighbours in the Land of the Rising Sun. Some of you don't know what the term 'turning Japanese' means. I would suggest googling. I could tell you, but if you google you might find some pictures. It's kind of a visual gag.
Livvy performed the titular track to the movie 'Xanadu', which was probably one of the most woeful movies of the early Eighties, running neck-and-neck with 'Can't Stop The Music'. 'Xanadu's' only saving grace is the ELO influenced soundtrack. I wonder would Coleridge have bothered picking up his pen to give us 'Kubla Khan' had he known the mythical place of Xanadu would end up being associated with a seriously crap movie wherein Gene Kelly zoomed around on roller skates. And if you want some real yucks, 'Can't Stop The Music' stars Bruce Jenner when he was still riding on the coat tails of the gold medal he won as a decathlete at the Montreal Olympics. I wonder did he decide to partake in this shite movie because his country boycotted the following Olympic Games (Moscow)?
In closing, can I just suggest you click on the links on my home page that lead to the first chapters of my novels? If I get more book sales, I can send my oldest son for some professional driving lessons. I've been taking him myself at a local industrial estate, but professional lessons will be the way to go. His gear changes are about as smooth as a pineapple skin.
No comments:
Post a Comment