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.

Crocodile Rock

20 Apr 2009 11:38 Filed in:

Australia 2009

Michael and I decided to holiday in the top end and see what the Northern Territory has to offer. You can't visit Darwin and not notice crocodiles. Over the course of the week we were there, the daily news headlines read, "Man eaten by crocodile", "Hunt for Croc", "Two large Crocs killed", "Darwin to cull Crocs within a 50 km radius of town", "Croc hunters wanted", "You thought the crocs were big, look at the fish (giant Barramundi caught)". There was also this interesting one too, "My dog ate my G-String", which was the talk of the town that day.

AS YOU DO

07 Feb 2009 00:20 Filed in:

Australia 2009

Tonight is the last night of our show AS YOU DO.

It really has been fun and thank you to those people that made it to the show. It was great to see you there and we certainly had a lot of fun with Seymour and Stanley making another appearance on the Melbourne stage.

as_you_do

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.

Gaudi, Gaudi and more Gaudi.

12 Oct 2008 18:52 Filed in:

Europe 2008

I love the work of Antoni Gaudi and it goes hand in hand that I love Barcelona.

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.

Geysers to Glaciers

23 Mar 2008 12:22 Filed in:

New Zealand 2008

Time for a holiday and what better place than New Zealand.
Michael and I went on a camper-van trip that crossed both the North and South islands in 10 days.

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?

Another Souvlaki?

27 Apr 2007 23:07 Filed in:

Greece 2007

What is it with Greek men wearing dresses?

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.

Sawadee Crap.

21 Apr 2007 02:05 Filed in:

Thailand 2007

Hello from Thailand.

Time for a holiday and why not Thailand and while we are at it, why not drop in on the relatives on the way. Michael's brother Simon and beloved sister in law Toi live in Bangkok and we all got together for a tour of their home country.

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

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.

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.

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!

Enough games, back to the real world.

16 Dec 2006 02:15 Filed in:

Qatar 2006

Well I have come to the end of my Qatar experience and what an experience it was.

Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi!

07 Dec 2006 02:17 Filed in:

Qatar 2006

With the opening ceremony out of the way it is time to take in some of the delights of the 15th Asian Games. I thought I would go and check out some sporting events on my days off but first I needed to dress the part. I am getting used to the Arabic lifestyle over here, because I have no real choice, and also as they say, when in Rome.....so I have got myself a head dress and had a bit of a play.

This is the cowboy look that is quite popular around these parts.

What you didn't see

02 Dec 2006 02:18 Filed in:

Qatar 2006

Hello everyone,

I thought I would send some pictures of what you didn't see in the show due to high winds that prevented many of the flown objects from flying. It was a shame because the pearl diving sequence was a highlight in the beginning of the show but you cant help the weather. We were all poised in our boats behind the stadium waiting to go till the last minute but it was cancelled. I did get to fly on my rocket though and it was sooooo scary because the wind was blowing us around so much but I loved every second of it.

Hope you are all well. In the closing ceremony I will be rolling on jars and being one of Ali Babas thieves sword fighting with Sinbad the sailors, sailors.

All the best,

Georgie

Xxxooo

Let the games begin!!!

30 Nov 2006 02:19 Filed in:

Qatar 2006

Hello all. Last time I wrote we were still waiting to get into the stadium. We have been working hard on putting the show together and it is going to be an amazing spectacle. It is the first time in history that the Asian games have been held in an Arab country and they are pulling out all stops to make a huge impact.

Over 20,000 costumes have been made so you can imagine the number of people working on this project. IT'S HUGE! It is the biggest show in the world. It has all been paid for by the Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani who runs the country. A rumor has it that the total cost of staging the games will be recovered from one week of oil trading. I don't know if that is true but it would be amazing if it was.

Life on the gulf.

12 Nov 2006 02:20 Filed in:

Qatar 2006

Hi again folks ! Well things are being held up at the Asian Games with delays in getting things ready and stress about things not being finished in time. Unfortunately for us, this means that the stadium is still not at the stage where we can rehearse in it.

As a result we have had lots of time on our hands and this week we were given two days off in a row so we took advantage of that and went on yet another desert trip and this time, stayed over night.

The Desert with the inland sea.

01 Nov 2006 02:20 Filed in:

Qatar 2006

Hello lovely people. Well I am in the full swing of rehearsals now and it is a lot of fun.

Hello from Qatar (Ka-tar) !!

21 Oct 2006 02:22 Filed in:

Qatar 2006

Well, as you may know, I am here to perform in the opening and closing ceremony of the Asian games. The State of Qatar is in a real state indeed. Well I guess I can only speak for Doha as that's where I am.

Flying into the city, as I looked down, all I saw was dessert, dirt, sand and sea.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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