Author: cottonward

ABBA picnic in Camperdown Park

Held an ABBA picnic to play a new ABBA trivia board game I’d put together and have a sing-a-along.picnic

I staked a perfect spot under a tree and sent out an SOS as there were picnickers everywhere in Camperdown Park, and I urgently needed more blankets to claim our turf.

A word re: Aussie ABBA fans: we’re hugely tolerant and will put up with retro discos where only hip hop is played, endure ABBA tribute bands that don’t know the words, and pay ridiculous amounts for smoked salmon on Ryvita at Scandi restaurants. But nobody messes with an ABBA picnic, and fans scurried back to their cars to bring extra blankets.

First on the scene was G, who’d just walked the length of uber-hipster King Street while wearing his Voulez-Vous badge – woe betide anyone who would dare make fun of it, and a few paid tribute by singing “A-ha!”. “It’s not just a badge, it’s a way of life,” G said, with his proudest expression.

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My favourite AA Gill quotes and columns

“It’s not my job to come round and tell you what’s wrong with your restaurant. It’s my job to sell newspapers and to entertain and perhaps inform my readers: The last person who should be reading a restaurant review is the person that it’s about — they should already know.”

“Hands up who knows what the two most important bits of kitchen equipment are? Most guess knives and ovens, pans and fridges. The answer is a chair and a radio. You’re going to spend a lot of time in this room.”

The thing that everybody says is, ‘Are the questions real?’ And they are real. The fact they’re written by me doesn’t make them unreal. I always say, ‘Yes, they are. Trust me: I’m Uncle Dysfunctional.'”

“History is always personal—never more so than for those who find theirs is written by the enemy. It strips the defeated and the displaced of their dignity. It is a posthumous insult.”

Continue reading My favourite AA Gill quotes and columns

Asylum Seekers Centre community speakers program

Am one of the community speakers. Have done one speech so far, to about 60 people.

https://asylumseekerscentre.org.au/introducing-our-community-speakers-program/

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We have a network of over 25 community speakers, who come from a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds. Our speakers are an important link between our Centre and the community. They have been specially recruited and trained with the skills and knowledge required to talk to the community about people seeking asylum and the work of the Centre.

Our presentations

Our presentations are free and suitable for a wide variety of audiences such as:
Community groups and clubs
Schools and higher education organisations
Churches and other religious groups
Professional associations and organisations
Health organisations
Multicultural groups

Continue reading Asylum Seekers Centre community speakers program

Eurovision Australia!

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What an exciting Eurovision!, with Dami winning the jury vote! And second overall. Loved the Swedish hosts’ comedy segments. L made lovely vanilla cupcakes with Swedish flags stuck in them, and Scandinavian Dreamcake (coconut topping, delish!) Everyone had made special trips to IKEA for all the Swedish food and drinks, so we had EVERYTHING!

Watching all the past Swedish hits made us wonder if anyone in Sweden has a normal 9-5.30 job? They all seem so busy making smash hits.

Played my customised Eurovision Bingo — we were a bit disappointed by the lack of backing dancers this years (replaced by special fx) as that eliminated some of the bingo spotting challenges (eg. “singer lifted by a backing dancer”). L won the bingo tiara, as she spotted most things first.

G brought Greek bikkies, but we couldn’t eat them when Greece came on, as they’d already been knocked out in the semis! TC filled in any gaps in our Eurovision knowledge.

We are still waiting for superfan S, who was in Stockholm watching the semis, to send us photos of her Eurovision pilgrimage!

Since we’ve been watching Eurovision since the 1990s, when it was first shown on SBS with Terry Wogan’s excellent commentary, we raised a glass and toasted Wogan’s demise at song no.9, which is significant, as UK host Graham Norton said this was when Wogan advised Norton that it was OK to have the first alcoholic drink. (“no drinking before song 9!”, otherwise the commentator gets sozzled too quickly.)

Mardi Gras 2016

Was a fantastic LGBTIQ Mardi Gras – marched with the Social Justice in Early Childhood float, which had major issues to promote, such as promoting diversity and equity in preschools, and general support for the Safe Schools initiative, which helps older schoolkids who have gender differences, and intersex and sexual diversity.

Then did the 11pm – 1.30am shift with Fair Play, an initiative that makes sure Mardi Gras party patrons are treated fairly when sniffer dogs and police check for drugs.

After that, it was off the the Party, with Deborah Cox’s show at 3am a major highlight, and her two songs totally raised the roof: gay anthem Absolutely Not and Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here. Conchita’s 1.30am show was brilliant too, with many of Sydney’s drag queens doing a spectacular dance number.

I was wearing a Parade Participant wristband and several tourists came up and said it was the best party they’d ever been to, and they’d traveled worldwide. Seems a lot of other major gay dance parties are held hours after a day parade, whereas ours goes from the high of the evening parade directly into the party, so everyone’s totally pumped up. (Am in the pic below, behind the word “Justice”.)

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