You gotta ring those bells

01 Oct 2009 22:19 Filed in:

Australia 2009

Hello there dingers, dongers and ding-a-lings. I have been rehearsing a new show with Strange Fruit called "Ringing the Changes" and it is shaping up to be a real hit.

rtc3

Turkmen of the Caspian

18 Jun 2009 23:14 Filed in:

Turkmenistan 2009

Turkmenistan is full of surprises. All is not what it seems.

Petrograd, Leningrad, St Petersburg.

03 Jun 2009 17:15 Filed in:

Russia 2009

First time in Russia and I must say the locals are very welcoming.

It is the 306th anniversary of the City of St Petersburg and we have been hired to help with the celebrations. This is one city worth celebrating, it's beautiful.

Hamam Yum

17 Oct 2008 12:06 Filed in:

Turkey 2008

I am in the capital of Turkey, Ankara and the republic of Turkey owes its existence to the founder and first president, the revolutionary statesman, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. For this reason he is very well loved and revered by the Turkish people. This is why his image is everywhere like for instance on the currency.

Alicante

07 Oct 2008 18:03 Filed in:

Europe 2008

Well, I am back at work and what better gig to get back on the horse, or on the pole, than the 2008 Australian Grand Final at the MCG.

777

If that wasn’t grand enough, I took to the sky and performed in .......

Up, Up and Away !

04 Aug 2008 07:32 Filed in:

USA 2008

It’s not every day that you get to perform at a Balloon Festival but that’s exactly what we did in Somerville, NJ.

Windy City of Angels

20 Jul 2008 01:16 Filed in:

USA 2008

Chicago, Chicago, the windy city really is mighty pretty.

image by TravISU

Ice-cream..... anyone?

27 May 2008 11:40 Filed in:

Mexico 2008

I recently performed at the Melbourne Museum as an Italian Ice-cream vendor from the 1800's in Melbourne. His name was Carlo Bracci and I got to teach kids about life, games and ice-cream in the old days. It was great fun to have feet firmly planted on the ground and tread the boards once again. This was short lived though because soon I was to head off to Mexico, once more with Strange Fruit.

Monkey Man

21 Feb 2008 19:30 Filed in:

Malaysia 2008

Hello travelers!

Last time you saw me I was getting friendly with the locals and that continued with the rest of the tour. Went on another day trip and visited some monkeys who were very friendly.

Happy New Year!

06 Feb 2008 17:35 Filed in:

Malaysia 2008

If you don't know it, today is the first day of the Chinese New Year of the Rat. There are celebrations all over town with lion dancers and acrobats with fire crackers.

Twin peaks of KL

31 Jan 2008 21:18 Filed in:

Malaysia 2008

There are some gigs that are a pleasure to do and some that are horrific in nature and an exercise in futility. Luckily this is one of the former and to give you an idea of what that entails, here is a picture of us in the pool with the Petronis Twin Towers in the background, the second tallest buildings in the world.

Angels in London town.

25 Dec 2007 04:32 Filed in:

Europe 2007

It's Christmas time and for the first time in my life I am in the cold, the cold of London that is. We are in Covent Garden adding a bit of cheer to the chilly days and this time the theme is Angelic.

Life is a circus.

19 Nov 2007 12:22 Filed in:

Australia 2007

Last time we chatted I had just come back from China, the land of interesting uses of the English language and funny signs like this one.

Couldn't work out if it means don't tug at your heart strings, don't hold on to your heart, let your heart run free perhaps??? You tell me? Could it have something to do with the protests about China's staging of the 2008 Olympics and it's appalling human rights record?
On the other hand it could just mean, don't fly kites here

China Doll !

06 Nov 2007 12:29 Filed in:

Beijing 2007

The last time I was in Beijing was in 2000 when I was performing over the gateway of the Australian embassy to promote the 100 day countdown to the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The Chinese were going for the 2008 bid and they were successful.

High noon at El Rancho

19 Oct 2007 10:30 Filed in:

Mexico 2007

We are in Mexico yet again and it has been a fun ride.

The Mexicans are a friendly bunch of people. Kathryn managed to get a new boyfriend in no time. He was very sweet but sadly came to a fatal blow but I will tell you about that later.

Dogs and Angels.

25 Sep 2007 15:01 Filed in:

Australia 2007

Hi all,

I have enjoyed spending a bit of time at home with the dogs to the point that I am starting to feel like one of the pack. Speaking of dogs, (the K9 variety), I got to perform at the National Greyhound Championships at Sandown Park Race Course this month.

Foggy days and Sunny beaches.

08 Aug 2007 22:57 Filed in:

Australia 2007

Hello all,

Well as you will no doubt know the Harry Potter 7 book, (the last of the series), was launched and as I said in the last blog, I performed at the Melbourne Launch. It was a foggy morning with my cars temperature gauge reading only one degree when I got in it at 5:00am in the morning to make my way to Federation Square and dress up as a wizard on a stick.

In the background you can see the Flinders Street Train Station and not much else through the thick fog. It was a shock to the system having only just arrived back from an American summer two days prior to the gig but it all went well and was a lot of fun.

GO WIF DA FRO.

19 Jul 2007 13:57 Filed in:

USA 2007

During this tour of North America, I got to die on stage 72 times. That might be a horror story for some actors but for me it was pure joy and that is exactly how I would describe Denver, Colorado. Wish I could have spent more time there but I had to go die on stage somewhere else.

image by Hopeless Romantik

Reno 911.

04 Jul 2007 06:31 Filed in:

USA 2007

Hello punters,

This tour is taking us to some interesting places and we are getting to see a lot of the country. This time around we get to Hanover at Dartmouth College and then over to Reno Nevada.

Pitts to bliss in Ann Arbor.

26 Jun 2007 09:13 Filed in:

USA 2007

Hello again,

Well I have to say Pittsburgh was a bit of a surprise. The press was great, check out this TV interview I did, and the audiences, relatively small compared to the cities size but they were very receptive and responsive. Here is the clincher, someone tell me, please, who the hell is running that festival? I've had more excited welcomes at a funeral.

We were never introduced to, or approached by, the festival director at any time and on arrival made to feel most unwelcome when is was suggested that we stay in a flea pitt (no jokes) motel 30 mins drive out of town, with no transport provided. Needless to say, we did not stay there and although there were many obstacles presented to us by the festival, we did manage to do our job professionally. How amazing is this site!

by Craig E. Biertempfel

The Greenback.

13 Jun 2007 13:53 Filed in:

USA 2007

Hi gang,

That's right, I am in the land of the Greenback doing a 6 week tour of the states which will encompass Columbia MD, Pittsburgh, Midland, Ann Arbor, Hanover, Reno, Denver and New York City. I've been coming to America quite a bit of late, every consecutive year since 2002 in fact and prior to that in 2000 and 1989.

Must admit, it is fun to be back again. I mean where else in the world are you going to find chips, pretzels, chocolate, condoms, cigarettes, shaving cream, shampoo, hand lotion, cakes and cough lollies all supplied in the one vending machine?

George's trip so far.

04 Jul 2006 02:27 Filed in:

Europe 2006

If you ever wondered what it would be like to be part of a touring theatre company, hopefully, this will give you an idea.

We begin the 48 hour journey to get to the other side of the world which will encompass flying, train travel, taxis and on route by foot. All check in at Tullamarine airport heading for the final destination of Poznan in Poland.

Malaysian airlines and first stop Kuala Lumpur on a pleasant flight and the stewards handed us 2 bottles of wine as we left. Think we were the B.O.B's (Best On Board) of the flight. That is the first 8hrs &10min done . Got on the next flight heading Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam with KLM travel time 12hrs & 25mins... boy was that fun with no personal TV screen or leg room to speak of. Then Amsterdam to Berlin which should have been 1hr & 20min but the plane was cancelled due to staffing issues so we had to stay at the airport for 8 hrs so that we could get on the next flight to Berlin.

European tour part 2.

11 Jul 2006 02:26 Filed in:

Europe 2006

Well I finally got my luggage back after 3 days. Luckily we had 3 rest days planned in Madrid so this worked out perfectly. I ended up buying some new undies and a couple of nice shirts and then got back all my stuff.

Really enjoyed the night life in Madrid and just enough time before heading off to Almagro in the land of La Mancha in Spain's centre. We stopped at a roadside café so we had to take the obligatory photo with the cutout figures, as you do.

European tour part 3.

03 Aug 2006 02:25 Filed in:

Europe 2006

Well after some crazy driving through Poland and a quick stop in Berlin we finally got to Pletenenburg, Germany. We stayed at a very quaint hotel on a horse ranch in the mountains. It was run by a lovely couple and they were very proud of the diverse guests they have stay with them and asked everyone to sign a guest book. Looking through the old guest books, I see that "Divine" has stayed there along with many a 80's faded forgotten one hit wonder groups and other German folk music legends, non of which I have heard of. Here is the view from the bedroom window.

European tour - the final chapter.

08 Aug 2006 02:24 Filed in:

Europe 2006

Trafalgar Square was a huge success. The sky's eventually cleared and we got to perform both shows to a large crowd. It was pretty amazing performing under Nelson's Column.

Mexico.

13 Sep 2006 02:24 Filed in:

Mexico 2006

Here I am in Mexico. Loving the people, so friendly, and the colours of the buildings are so beautiful. Seen lots of old men in cowboy boots and hats with guitars on their backs and plenty of kids and adults riding in the back of pick up trucks.

This is a picture of a place called Guanajuato, which is a town of Leon, where we are performing.

Honkers.

25 Sep 2006 02:23 Filed in:

Hong Kong 2006

Hello from Hong Kong! We were brought here to perform for Cathay Pacific's 60th Birthday party. Hong Kong is a really busy place. There are heaps of office buildings and at night time they do this really cool thing. There is a lighting show that happens all over the city. The lights are all computer controlled and synchronised and it looks spectacular.

India, get it in dia!!

13 Jan 2007 02:13 Filed in:

India 2007

Hello all you beautiful people. I am in Mumbai, India now and having a ball in this crazy place. The flights over from Australia were really good because I slept on the plane to Singapore and then had 3 seats to sleep on from Singapore to Mumbai. That means NO jet lag and plenty of energy for some sight seeing.

The bus trip to the Hotel Ambassador was interesting. Drivers here love their horns and get close enough to each other that you could reach over and pinch someone on the cheek!

Elephanta Island.

18 Jan 2007 02:13 Filed in:

India 2007

Things here at the Mumbai Festival have started off with a bang! Here I am being the media whore in The Sunday Times with Kyle during a rehearsal.

The belly of Delhi.

24 Jan 2007 02:11 Filed in:

India 2007

Hi again and here we are in Delhi. It was really smoggy when we arrived. The pollution levels here are intense. To give you an idea here is a before and after shot taken a few days later from my hotel room.

Synchro Swing.

29 Mar 2007 02:09 Filed in:

Australia 2007

It's not every day that you get the offer to make a fool of yourself in public so when I was asked if I would be part of a female synchronized swimming routine, I jumped at the chance and said YES!

green_fairy

Greece is the word.

25 Apr 2007 02:01 Filed in:

Greece 2007

Tikanis from Athens.

When in Greece do as the Romans did and go to the Acropolis. It is an incredible archaeological site and currently under restoration to try and bring it back to it's former glory as a temple to honor the goddess Athena.

Another Souvlaki?

27 Apr 2007 23:07 Filed in:

Greece 2007

What is it with Greek men wearing dresses?

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