At last! Barbra’s One Voice concert will be released on DVD this month! It’s been twenty years since this amazing concert was performed in her backyard, and I’ve been teased over the past decade with video clips from that night, having to settle for just the audio CD, but I hope to watch the entire concert soon! Incidentally, this was the only time Barbra performed “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” with the seldom-heard introductory verse.

Diana Krall will be releasing her long-awaited album on International Talk Like A Pirate Day! But of course, that’s another story altogether… yes, one of my favourite jazz singer/pianists has returned to her roots and has put together a new album of standards. Now if I’ll be able to see her for a third time on her next tour…

Another new release this month which I’m looking out for is Shawn Colvin’s These Four Walls. What can I say, I have a soft spot for her music, her voice, those wonderful melodies. If they’re anything like her past releases, I’ll be sure to warm up to them very quickly.

I’m really looking to this new duets album by Tony Bennett. I heard about it several months ago when I found out Barbra Streisand would be recording a duet with Tony Bennett on the song “Smile”, which Barbra previously recorded on “The Movie Album” almost three years ago. Other duets I look forward to listening to are those with Diana Krall, and k.d. lang.

We watched Mary Poppins last night, having borrowed the DVD from a friend recently. What can I say, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Andrews”>Julie Andrews was stunning in her motion picture debut, and it brought back so many memories for me, watching it on my cousins’ Laser Disc on weekday afternoons after school, when I should have been doing my Maths or Chinese homework. I also find it wonderful to be reliving such movies as an adult, and pickig up on the little titbits that we would have overlooked as children. For example, I noticed the blue-screen effect used in cleaning up the nursery in “A Spoonful of Sugar”. The characters had a cut out effect to them. Nick also pointed out that the fox in the horse race sequence had an Irish, which made me wonder if it was done deliberately. I’m also looking forward to buying myself the 40th Anniversary Edition DVD, which is loaded with heaps of extras. If you want to find out more about Mary Poppins, check out the facts on author of the books was born in Queensland, Australia?

I just finished watching Madonna’s new documentary tonight, and I must say it’s reaffirmed why I love her so much. I’ve forgiven her for ‘American Life’, and she still blows me away like so many years ago when my cousin introduced me to ‘Like A Prayer’. If all you know about Madonna is only from the tabloids, I suggest you watch “I’m Going To Tell You A Secret”. Apart from the amazingly choreographed concert performances, it gives an insight into a Madonna that fans probably know all along about her, but nobody gets to see very much. It made me teary-eyed, very inspired, and having a very deep respect for Madonna as a woman, and for her strength.

I still find it astounding how much people’s opinions are dictated just by what they read in the media. Just the other day, a friend who is Catholic, spoke of how she was not a Madonna fan anymore just because Madonna performed a song standing against a cross on her current tour. What were the Christians outraged about? What about the gay people they ‘crucify’ on a regular basis? I find that offensive, so why aren’t they putting the Christians away? Who was my friend to judge when as a Catholic, she’s not just holding her boyfriend’s hand? I think if we practice any religion, we take on what it means to us, and mould it to ourselves. Madonna’s performance, for all we know, was an expression of what religion means to her. Some may call it a publicity stunt, but I reckon Madonna just decided to do it, oblivious to the outcomes. She’s aware of the responsibility, but she’s not going to be sorry either.

Britney who?

This is one of those albums that come from a time when, after all these years, I can sing along to every song. I played it last night on my drive to work on my midnight shift, and the drive back home. It was wonderful! The thumping drums of “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone”, the human beat box of “Road To Dead”, the reassuring human imperfections that is “Me”, and the sensually bluesy “Feelin’ Love” (‘you make me feel like the Amazon’s running between my thigghhhss…’). Ahhh… whatever happened to Paula Cole? A pity her next album “Amen” by The Paula Cole Band wasn’t as well received as “This Fire”. There is something almost sacred behind this album, and it’s one of those albums that remind you of how we’ve had to leave behind the singer/songwriter era and have been enduring the schmaltzy titty pop of today. When will the dark ages end? What will we have to show for the kids of the future? Paula Cole is releasing a greatest hits album called “Postcards From East Oceanside” in late June.

I bought this the day it was released in Australia. I must say I was really looking forward to new material by the Dixie Chicks, and playing it on my drive home from work, I wasn’t disappointed! I was also keeping an ear out for “Not Ready To Make Nice”, the first single off the album. Given the whole affair about the Dixie Chicks commenting that they were ashamed that George Bush was also from Texas, it’s amazing what they’ve turned out after all that’s happened. There is a sadness to the song, although the lyrics hint at anger. The lines that hit me were “And how in the world can the words that I said, Send somebody so over the edge, That they’d write me a letter, Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing, Or my life will be over”. I’ve really enjoyed the album, but I couldn’t help but think: where’s the Wide Open Spaces, Goodbye Earl, or White Trash Wedding on this album? Some might say they have grown, but I was really looking forward to a thigh-slapping Dixie Chicks album. I guess I just have to put it through more listens.

BEEF IN CHILLI SAUCE

8 dried red chillies, cored, deseeded and chopped
2 small onions, chopped
5cm (2 in) piece of fresh root ginger, chopped
700g (1 1/2 lb) lean beef, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon each ground coriander and cumin
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup (catsup)
2 teaspoons each turmeric and paprika
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2.5 cm (1 in) stick cinnamon
seeds from 3 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 star anise
sugar and salt
1 onion, sliced into thick rings

Put chillies in a small blender. Add 4 tablespoons hot water and leave until slightly softened. Add half of small onions and half of ginger to blender and mix to a paste. Put beef in a large bowl. Add spice paste from blender, coriander, cumin tomato ketchup (catsup), turmeric and paprika. Stir together. Cover and leave for at least 1 hour to marinate.

In a wok, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add remaining onion and ginger, and the garlic. Fry, stirring, for 3 minutes until lightly browned. Stir in next three ingredients for 1 minute. Add meat and marinade and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add 350 ml (12 fl oz or 1 1/2 cups) water, and sugar and salt to taste. Cover pan. Simmer very gently for 1 1/4 hours or until beef is tender. Stir occasionally. Add onion rings and cook for 3-5 minutes or until soft.

I’ve done it. I watched Brokeback Mountain. After all that I’ve read about it online until its release in Australia, it seemed fitting I watched it as part of a fundraiser for Perth’s Gay & Lesbian Community Services. I’m surprised I never made a mention of it in my blog all this time, although I was very excited about watching it.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it as we were leaving the cinema. I loved it, but it was hard to put into words why I felt that way… and what was I feeling anyway? We brought up many points about the movie over dinner, and yet, we wondered at times if it was overhyped cinema. After all, there have been mainstream queer films such as Boys Don’t Cry and Far From Heaven.

It was when I was left to my own thoughts when I turned in for the night that I realised what a powerful movie it was. This is a movie that stays with you, and not just in one way, but even with issues that you refuse to deal with, whatever they may be. Apart from the obvious love story, there is the hurt that is caused to other people who want to love you. I felt most for Ennis’ wife Alma, who never spoke a word about it until long after their divorce.

I’m not familiar with Ang Lee’s work, but I must say the breathtaking scenery is one to be applauded, and his execution of the tenderness between Jack and Ennis was handled very well. In fact, every character felt real, and it was almost as if you knew each of their stories by their faces.

The movie bears repeated watching for the many facets to its story, but to go through the heartache over again makes me hesitant. Shame on society that such issues still occur in our time. You might say that we live in relatively liberal times now, but what of those who still go through the same heartache that Jack and Ennis went through? They’re just as important as our relationships, and there should be no reason why they have to go through anything like this.

It’s difficult to articulate why this is a movie you have to watch, if this is the only movie you visit the cinema for (I know I did it). I’ll say again misty-eyed that it was a wonderful movie.