💎MY FAVOURITE THINGS💎 || The Pure and the Damned

I’ve been under the thumb of a pretty wicked head cold, brought about by a trip to the South Highlands with a couple of fun-loving compadres (an outdoor bath in the dead of night the most obvious culprit). As I’ve done my best to dive back into my work, I’ve been constantly distracted by my inbox, news alerts calling attention to a stream of injustices heralding from the land of the free. While the whole situation makes my blood boil, I’ve been doing my best to listen and reflect on these tragic events. As Barack Obama penned this week, so much can be learned from this painful time, opportunities to change and heal the wounds of history. The former POTUS has helped me to look over my own backyard and the injustices perpetrated to the indigenous peoples of Australia. While I’ve ignored this history for too long, brutally ashamed at the historical accountings I’ve happened upon over the years, I’m turning to face the music.

Elon Musk

It’s a strange feeling to recognize and celebrate SpaceX’s successful transit to the International Space Station in the wake of such catastrophic upheavals around the continental United States. All the same I was moved to wonder seeing a private company, founded by an immigrant, begin a new chapter in space exploration. While Musk has been figuratively crucified for his personal antics (condemning the pandemic lockdown and returning to work against California guidelines) and choice of baby names (the magnate lays most of the blame on his partner) he is nonetheless an indomitable spirit shifting the culture right under our noses. Not only do his companies inspire, from their bold innovative approach down to their ecological focus, but he seems to be the only billionaire trying to reduce our carbon footprint. Ashlee Vance’s accounting of the South African native is not only educational but empowering reading.

The Limits of Power

On the drive up to Newcastle this week I tuned in a new episode of Broken Record, a music-focused podcast by Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell. In place of their regular programming, Gladwell shares an Audible chapter from his celebrated 2013 book David and Goliath, a section devoted to the history of modern insurgency. Listening to Gladwell shed light on the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland in the seventies was eye-opening and surprisingly prescient in light of recent event. For while the clash between the Protestants and Catholics fails to touch on race, it nonetheless paints a solemn picture of injustice. When we treat our fellow man — in particular the most vulnerable among us — with brutal disdain and prejudice we sow the seeds of our own downfall. This recent string of public atrocities, from Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor to name but a few, are tell-tale signs that the system is beyond repair.

Bad Education

I streamed this new release on Foxtel Go last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The Sundance hit, based on the true accounting of a rather juicy scandal in a New Jersey school district in the early noughties, is a fun-loving ride. Hugh Jackman soars as superintendent of a well-to-do district, a handsome middle-aged educator who has some very dirty linen in his hamper (Alison Janney is exceptionally mesmeric too!). Expertly helmed by newcomer Cory Finley in his follow-up feature, this dark comedy does a magnificent job of exploring the masks we wear in public (and especially those worn by wolves in sheep’s clothing). I’ve always enjoyed these kinds of flicks, like Barry Levinson’s The Wizard of Lies, especially when the fall-out leaves a community in tatters.

On Purpose

After being introduced to the illustrious imagination of Jay Shetty a couple weeks back, I tucked into On Purpose, his celebrated podcast series. Scrolling through his star-studded episodes, I settled on this conversation with Deepak Chopra and was duly impressed. I’ve never given much time to the Indian-American doctor and thinker but was blown away with so many of the ideas expressed in their hour long chat. Chopra speaks to the power of positivity and the importance of self-care. A medical practitioner at the forefront of research and development, Chopra divulges that only a small minority of life-threatening illnesses stem from the genetic level. The remainder (ninety-five percent!!) come down to lifestyle and diet. So put down that slice of pizza and hunt down the nearest elliptical machine!

True History of the Kelly Gang

While I don’t normally go in for postmodern historical pics, Justin Kurzel’s punk-rock examination of Ned Kelly and his road to infamy deserves a look-in. Kurzel does more than rewrite the nitty-gritty of history. He thumbs his nose at the litany of Kelly biopics that have preceded him and inadvertently brings some uncomfortable truths to the surface. Shedding light on the complexities and the injustices of the whole system, he takes aim at our Colonial forebears and argues that Kelly (and our criminal descendants) never stood a chance of having his side of the story heard. History, as Kurzel kindly reminds us, has always been written by the buggers with the biggest coffers.

Confessions of a Seduction Addict

I devoured my good friend Anna Harrison’s compelling write up on the ineffable powers of the femme fatale in last week’s Russh newsletter and soon found myself hunting down Elizabeth Gilbert’s confessional op-ed in the New York Times. Harrison speaks with great gusto for the American writer and her tales of seduction and I couldn’t agree more. There is something so refreshing about Gilbert’s frankness and her willingness to hold her own feet to the fire. In fact I can’t remember the last time I explored the mind of an acclaimed female writer in such lucid detail. Gilbert’s accounts reminded me of certain entries from Sex Diaries, a weekly installment from The Cut that publishes a week in the life of an anonymous city-dweller (mostly women) and their sexcapades. The exploration and publication of female desire, in all its shades of gray, is such a potent sign of progressive change (imho).

Ransom

It took me months of procrastination to bite the bullet and purchase this film on Blu-Ray after failing to hunt down a streaming link. The Ron Howard production was well worth the wait and delivers a terse thriller complete with the right amount of nineties cheese. It should come as no surprise that I’m a die-hard Mel Gibson stan and have a particular affinity for any of his titles from the eighties and nineties. Films like The Year of Living Dangerously, Mrs. Soffel, Tequila Sunrise and Bird on a Wire. Gibson’s star power is on full display in this nail-biter as the millionaire airline magnate goes out on a limb in recovering his kidnapped son.

The Great

I had some sincere reservations going into this new zeitgeist hit, a series dedicated to (re)examining Catherine the Great’s earliest years. Created by Australian writer Tony McNamara, it offers a revisionist look at the 18th-Century Russian Empress and her path to glory. Three episodes in, I’m unashamed to admit that I’ve been taken with its postmodern charm and curious cast of characters. Nicholas Hoult does an incredible job of channeling the inner world of Gen Z as this spoiled Emperor, reprising a variation of his role in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite. Yet it is Elle Fanning who takes the cake, dispelling the vanity and avarice of his court in favour of ‘real change’. It’s sad to think that these kinds of show might be the only way for young people to ‘eat their greens’ and learn about their place in history. All the same McNamara has left me smirking.

What We Do In The Shadows

Taika Waititi’s ascension to the top of the crop has been one of the most exciting turns in the last few years. The New Zealand native has such a sincere humanist slant to his voice, mixed with a childlike disposition towards joyful irreverence and wonder. This curious combination is found within this 2014 film following the trials and tribulations of a household of vampires who have been living under the same roof for close to a century. While the narrative stretches into some inane territories, I found its cast of characters full of charm and wit. I was surprised to learn that Waititi shared writing and directing credit with Jermaine Clement and earned his wings working with Clement and Bret Mackenzie on Flight of The Concords back in the noughties. While I can’t say I’m all that jazzed to watch a bunch of Yankees reprise the roles for teevee, I’m nonetheless ecstatic that this little dark comedy has found favour with the big whigs

In The Absence Thereof

A word of warning. Thom Yorke’s latest playlist for Sonos is not for everyone. For while there are some beautiful tracks interlaced into this playlist, the overall tone and sensibility is rather sombre take on our current moment. While Yorke’s wide-ranging selection is guaranteed to leave many Radiohead fans aggrieved, I for one am duly impressed with the musical titan. From his earliest days in art school, Yorke was drawn to the eccentric, his tastes skewing on the dark side of creativity. It’s nice to know that his monumental fame and acclaim hasn’t poisoned his noggin.

Breonna Taylor

I was devastated to read about yet another miscarriage of justice by way of Nick Kroll, who shares a birthday with the former first responder. It’s so hard to continue reading about these disgusting events. Police raiding her home in the middle of the night under tenuous circumstances before taking her life in a barrage of gunfire. How an emergency worker with aspirations to help her community, putting her life on the line in the age of corona, can die at the hand of police brutality is enough to abandon hope altogether. Taylor, murdered in March by those intended to uphold the peace, would have celebrated her twenty-seventh birthday this week.

Naturally

I came across J.J. Cale’s incredible debut while warming myself by a fire in the Southern Highlands last weekend. Renting a cottage with a pair of friends, we celebrated the end of lockdown Down Under with far too much good food and wine. While I’d never tuned into this 1973 LP before, it proved the perfect accompaniment to the frosty climes and left me hungry for more. The Oklahoma native, credited with originating the Tulsa sound — a curious combination of swamp rock, rockabilly and country — moved to LA as a young lad to find fame. Returning home a few years later, disillusioned after failing to strike gold, his hopes soon renewed after discovering Eric Clapton had covered his first and only single After Midnight. Returning to the studio with some friends, Cale would coax this debut stunner into the world, an easy going record ripe with that Mason-Dixie-line charm.

MY FAVOURITE THINGS |The Pure and the Damned

“I think it is very possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”