#so much old melbourne history in this

[theyoungeragrippina]

🫶🏻 15 gentlebeard/blackbonnet fic recs

(17 if you squint)

hey legends, in this bittersweet period where a lot of a us are feeling gutted but simultaneously, rebelliously hopeful, i've emerged from my reading den to showcase to you all some of the brilliant talent we have in this fandom! these fics are some of the best of the best, and i hope you love them just as much as i do! <3

they are all complete, do not feature any ongoing steddyhands/edizzy/stizzy, and are above 20k words.

peruse part 1, part 2, and part 3 at your leisure if you want to compare our tastes/devour more fine literature, or check out my masterlist as an ao3 collection.

adrift between the dreaming seas by @dandy-pirate-time

49k, mature, locked

stede lives a cursed life on a moving island, until the monotony of his days is suddenly interrupted by the fearsome kraken.

this was such a fascinating & incredible idea! i love how it manipulates aspects of the original story and transforms them into parts of the cursed island <3 sweet & unique & magical. i want to hug poor stede.

Five Birthdays and a Funeral by @bizarrelittlemew

58k, explicit

"When Ed and Stede's friend groups merge, they meet at a birthday party, and Stede's life is turned upside-down. As they collide again and again, he not only has to figure out what Ed means to him, but what he means to himself."

stede gets to be oblivious and a bit of a silly goose as a treat. also: treasure hunts, lucius is the best, ed has a cat whom i would die for, such a sweet & heartfelt fic. you will be so unbelievably fond of this version of every character.

The Ghost of Frigate Point Lighthouse by @piratecaptainscaptainpirates

53k, explicit

"When history professor Stede Bonnet goes to investigate rumors of a ghost haunting the local lighthouse, he's thrust into a mystery centered around the ghost of one of the most famous pirates of all time."

was SO eager to read this and it did not disappoint!! it has everything - fun, magic, mystery, tired TA lucius, and a lil bit of seduction. good enough that i am worried the author may actually just be a sea witch recollecting events he personally witnessed.

Haunted by @thepirateroo

60k, explicit

"The Kraken is a famous spiritualist, working the music halls of 1920s London to help families communicate with their dead. But Stede Bonnet knows that underneath the fame and illustrious title, Edward Teach works as a ghost hunter, debunking the spirits he makes his living off."

this is, genuinely, in the top 5 fanfics i have read for any fandom EVER. i wouldn't bat an eyelid if i read this exact work as a published novel in a bookstore. the mystery is so good and had me guessing and re-theorising constantly, the characterisation is brilliant, and the emotions are perfect. i cried, i laughed, i felt sick with worry for the characters, and i couldn't stop reading until i was done.

haunt me, then by @hyruling

28k, explicit

"He releases the ropes slowly, barely registering the burn as they slip through his fingers. Then, fallible as Orpheus, turns to meet his ghost."

post s1 fixit fics ily. everyone needs some therapy. really VERY well written and a joy to read.

Homeward Bound by mari_who

51k, explicit

"In the long-ago year 2000, bouncy blonde boy-band member Stede Bonnet is 17-year-old Edward Teach's gay awakening. Decades later, Ed hears a voice he could never forget."

i said 'ohhh no poor ed/stede' so many times while reading this. a lovely exploration of emotion and human connection, and finding yourself when everyone else has always defined who you are on your behalf.

I just need some air by @cuddlytogas

26k, teen

"Stede Bonnet's been having panic attacks for almost as long as he can remember, suffocated by pressure and expectation... When [he] finally takes his life back — divorces Mary, moves to Melbourne, starts his own event management business — things get better, but he's still no good at parties. He still needs some air, even at the very events he's brought to fruition. Meanwhile, Edward Teach, renowned chef and owner of Blackbeard's Catering, is wondering why the newest bigwig in events still hasn't hired him."

zoomed through this faster than lightning mcqueen. such a lovely writing of stede, ed and the whole crew - it feels like there's depth in every character, even background ocs.

also fantastic australia rep (i was jumpscared by mention of the cotton on group) AND i've been to the bar the final scene takes place at!!!! most exciting reading experience of my life.

i'll be your treasure by @monksofthescrew

48k, mature

"Wasn't the Dread Pirate Blackbeard rumored to have a hoard hidden somewhere near Essex? It's a metal detecting AU. They're detectorists. They fall in love."

i LOVE this fic so much it is just,,,, so sweet. stede does self-discovery and is seduced. ed is a bit of a goose and i'm obsessed with him. doug and mary are lovely. alma is so cool and i love her.

+ the sequel! drift o'er the rolling hills, swim through the briny sea (made me cry. btw. doug keeps being the best.)

The Kraken's Sacrifice by @trinityofone

22k, explicit

"Every year, a person is chosen—supposedly at random—to be sacrificed to the Kraken, to quell the sea's worst storms and to stop the taking of ships... Stede discovers that there is much more to the creature than he was led to believe—and that they have a deeper connection than he could have ever dreamed."

i LOVED this okay. it was funny and sweet and gave an interesting spin to the ed-is-the-kraken genre. get both of these boys some self-esteem asap. also comes with art by @avatoh!!!!!

lovers in a dangerous time by @veeagainsttheday

52k, explicit

pacific rim au - "Edward Teach becomes a jaeger pilot, first with Izzy Hands and later with Stede Bonnet. It’s not easy trying to save the world and falling in love with your drift partner…"

made me feel every emotion under the sun, including foaming at the mouth jealous that i don't have a drift partner. absolutely, masterfully written. i've popped this link first since its the fic that focuses on stede & ed, but it was written as a prequel for:

+ catagory five: a shatterdome romance by @owlinaminor (27k, mature), which focuses predominantly on jim & oluwande, and which i also massively recommend reading (first). it's told through lucius' words and made up of journalistic notes and transcriptions, and its really terribly clever. i knew nothing about pacific rim before this, and now i'm really very invested. if i wrote something this fantastic (& creative & wildly unique) i would never shut up about it.

More of the Gravy Basket than of the Grave by @veeagainsttheday

36k, explicit

"Ed and Stede’s ‘unorthodox friendship’ ended four months ago when Stede left Ed without a word after Ed asked him to run away to a parallel universe with him. They’re thrown back together when they’re summoned to perform a supernatural exorcism at the Hillside Hotel during a blizzard."

this has got to be one of the coolest and most creative fics i have ever had the pleasure of reading. genuinely kept me guessing and so so intrigued, PLUS the most sweet stede & ed dynamic!!!

Nothing Missing in My Life by @semisweetshadow

63k, explicit, locked

"Hollywood action star Ed Teach is bored with his celebrity life. Everything changes when he meets Stede, a sweet extra working on the set of his latest film shoot. Stede doesn't know who Ed really is and treats him like a real person and Ed can't help wanting to keep him."

ed plays an action hero called jeff the accountant, and if that's not immediately the greatest synopsis ever idk how else to win you over. hilarious, clever, & so heartfelt. i gasped and said 'oh no' with a hand over my heart nearly as many times as i laughed out loud.

not pickles by smallestchurch

84k, explicit

"Ed's minding his business when the new neighbor's kid comes around holding a human puppet. It's creepy as hell, but as soon as the kid's father rounds the corner, Ed doesn't mind."

i actually feel a bit ill when i think about this fic because i love it so overwhelmingly. there's family, and healing, and good food and friends, and ed teach and louis bonnet become the dynamic duo they always had the potential to be.

Our Fangs Mean Death by @flawedamythyst

87k, teen, locked

"Master Vampire Blackbeard's afterlife is enlivened by the arrival of a new coven in town, lead by the self-styled Gentleman Vampire. Now here's a Master who doesn't mind shaking things up by wearing clothes 300 years out of date, buying a massive gothic mansion for a lair, and leading the most eclectic coven Blackbeard has ever seen."

ridiculously fun. this is the vampire novel/fic i didn't know i needed and i loved every silly second. stede really gets to fulfil his dad-ness. i'm furious i can't join the gentleman vampires coven irl, will just need to embrace the gothic vampire aesthetic in my own life.

Wayfaring by @justkeeptrekkin

35k, explicit

"The downside to being stuck on a desert island is that Stede's not awfully good at adapting. The upside is that he and Ed can finally have some peace and quiet– that is, if Ed ever wakes up from the gunshot wound in his stomach."

the sweetest desert island fic, feat. the cutest piglet in the world, a little bit of pining, a helpful skeleton named dusty, and some of the best & most accurately written stede and ed content ever (imo).

[whenmemorydies]

Another Storer/Calo musical deep cut:

Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam and the focus of so much of my adolescent thirst whose voice is featured all over The Bear’s soundtrack -

See: Vedder’s rapid-fire, gutteral one-two-three-four-five against one […] torture from you to me of PJ’s "Animal" over the end credits of 1x01 System or propelling the energy in Richie and Syd’s last ditch effort to save Friends and Family in 2x10 The Bear. See: Eddie (and Neil Finn) wailing And though we try to forget it, you will make me call your name, as I shout it to the blue, summer sky in "Throw Your Arms Around Me" over shots of Carmy making Syd's lamb ragu for Cl@ire while Syd undresses at home (this fucking show lmao) (also shout out to Melbourne/Naarm rock group Hunters & Collectors whose song Vedder and Finn covered). See: Eddie's yearning as he croons I've been planning out all that I'd say to you in PJ's "Come Back", as Carmy and Syd have metaphorical sex under a perfectly level table (shout out to @sydcarmyfan for that brilliant meta). See also: Vedder covering The English Beat's "Save It For Later" and singing, Save it for later, don't run away and let me down, you let me down in 3x02 Next while we see a litany of working class and racialised hospitality and food service workers gearing up for another work day in Chicago, just as Carmy is about to commence fucking over his working class and racialised crew at The Bear for the remainder of season 3 (this fucking show, gah) -

that Eddie Vedder, who is more commonly associated with Seattle and the grunge movement that was birthed there, was actually born in Evanston, Illinois: the same suburb of Chicago that its implied the Berzattos lived in (I say implied because its never explicitly stated on the show but we know that 2x06 Fishes was shot in Evanston). I always get a little chill up my spine when I come across connections like this on the show.

The Bear is such a love letter: to the food services industry, to film, to romance itself and almost certainly, to Chicago.

Author's note:

Enjoy this video of Eddie Vedder continuing to be a man after my own heart, talking about visiting his grandmother's old home in Evanston - a home he describes as the Sun that the rest of his family orbited around - which made me tear up because that's exactly how us grandkids felt about our Ammamma's apartment in Canada. Eddie talks about his grandmother having 6 kids and wishing he had bought the apartment to keep it like a time capsule, only to meet the current residents and changing his mind because it was a place full of "love and power and good vibes" that they took and also raised their 6 kids in. And all of this before launching into "Throw Your Arms Around Me" *sigh*

Its no secret that I love The Bear, but what I might love even more than the show itself are all the tangents, winding paths and deep cuts that it takes me to and which pull at my own memories and history. This art is so cathartic for so many reasons. And I doubt I'm the only one on here feeling that way.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Monday

SpaceTime 20241014 Series 27 Episode 124

Galaxies are much bigger than thought

A new study has concluded that galaxies are actually far larger than they appear. The key to their true size lies in the gas surrounding them which extends far further into intergalactic space than previously thought.

Live microbes discovered in two billion year old rocks

Sciences have discovered pockets of microbes living within a sealed fracture in 2-billion-year-old rock.  The rock was excavated from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, an area known for its rich ore deposits.

Vulcan launch turns near failure into success

The United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket has grabbed victory out of the jaws of defeat -- overcoming a faulty strap on solid rocket booster to successfully place its payload into orbit.

The Science Report

The 2024 Nobel prizes for science have been awarded in Stockholm.

Skeptics guide to who likes magic

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

[allthingslinguistic]

All Things Linguistic - 2022 Highlights

2022 was a year of opening up again and laying foundations for future projects. I spent the final 3 months of it on an extended trip to Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, which is a delightful reason to have a delay in writing this year in review post. 

Interesting new projects this year included my first piece in The Atlantic, why we have so much confusion on writing the short form of "usual" and 103 languages reading project: inspired by a paper by Evan Kidd and Rowena Garcia. 

Continuations of existing projects: 

Return of LingComm Grants

A survey for those using Because Internet for teaching

10 year Blogiversary of All Things Linguistic: highlights from the past year and highlights from the past decade

6 years of Lingthusiasm

Conferences/Talks

LSA 2022 and judging Five Minute Linguist

I was on panels about swearing in SFF and the Steerswoman books at a local literary speculative fiction con, Scintillation

I was on panels at WorldCon (ChiCon 8) in Chicago: Ask A Scientist, That's Not How That Works!, and Using SFF for Science Communication

I was a contestant for the second time in Webster's War of the Words, a virtual game show fundraiser for the Noah Webster House.

I attended the Australian Linguistics Society annual meeting in Melbourne and the New Zealand Linguistics Society annual meeting in Dunedin, where I gave a talk co-authored with Lauren Gawne called Using lingcomm to design meaningful stories about linguistics

Lingthusiasm

In our sixth year of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics which I make with Lauren Gawne and our production team, we did a redesign of how the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols are layed out in a chart, in order to correspond more closely with the principle that the location of a symbol is a key to how it's articulated. This involved much digging into the history of IPA layouts and back-and-forths with our artist, Lucy Maddox, and we were very pleased to make our aesthetic IPA design available on a special one-time edition of lens cloths for patrons as well as our general range of posters, tote bags, notebooks, and other all-time merch. 

We also did our first Lingthusiasm audience survey and Spotify for some reason gave us end-of-year stats only in French, which I guess is on brand, but we were pleased to see notebooks, and Lingthusiasm is one of Spotify's top 50 Science podcastsF/href.li/?https:/www.redbubble.com%2Fi%2Fmouse-pad%2FAesthetic-IPA-Chart-Square-by-Lingthusiasm%2F129215087.G1FH6&t=OTkxYjYxYjNmMzA1M2VhNGViOGIxZWIxOGI0NDRjYjE2YTIzYTE2NCw2YTgzNDQyZTM3MzY0YjRkNjc3NGJkNzhhYzJhMzk3ZjA2Y2NkYzIz&ts=1684794278">other all-time merch!

Main episodes from this year

Making speech visible with spectrograms

Knowledge is power, copulas are fun.

Word order, we love 

What it means for a language to be official

Tea and skyscrapers - When words get borrowed across languages

What we can, must, and should say about modals

Language in the brain - Interview with Ev Fedorenko

Various vocal fold vibes

What If Linguistics

The linguistic map is not the linguistic territory

Who questions the questions?

Love and fury at the linguistics of emotions

Bonus Episodes

We interview each other! Seasons, word games, Unicode, and more

Emoji, Mongolian, and Multiocular O ꙮ - Dispatches from the Unicode Conference

Behind the scenes on how linguists come up with research topics

Approaching word games like a linguist - Interview with Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer of Spectacular Vernacular

What makes a swear word feel sweary? A &⩐#⦫&

There’s like, so much to like about “like”

Language inside an MRI machine - Interview with Saima Malik-Moraleda

Using a rabbit to get kids chatting for science

Behind the scenes on making an aesthetic IPA chart - Interview with Lucy Maddox

Linguistics and science communication - Interview with Liz McCullough

103 ways for kids to learn languages

Speakest Thou Ye Olde English?

Selected Tweets

Linguistics Fun

aunt and niece languages

Swedish chef captions

IPA wordle

wordle vs kiki

creative use of emoji and space

resume glottal stop

dialects in a trenchcoat

which of these starter Pokemon is bouba and which is kiki

(for no author would use, because of the known rendolence of onions, onions)

acoustic bike

An extremely charming study by Bill Labov featuring a rabbit named Vincent

Rabbit Meme

Cheering on linguistics effects (Stroup and Kiki/Bouba) in a vote on the cutest scientific effect name

Old English Hrickroll

The word you get assigned with your linguistics degree

Sanskrit two-dimensional alphabet

Cognate Objects

Linguist Meetup in Linguaglossa?

baɪ ði eɪdʒ ʌv θɚti

j- prefixing

"But clerk, I am Bill Labov" (pagliacci meme)

Usual winner

Because Internet Tumblr vernacular

Linguist "Human" Costume

Cursed kiki/bouba

dot ellipsis vs comma ellipsis

intersection of signed languages and synesthesia?

Antipodean linguistic milestone

Selected Blog Posts:

Linguistic Jobs

Online Linguistics Teacher

Impact Lead

Customer Success Manager

Hawaiian and Tahitian language Instructor, Translator & Radio Host

Language Engineer

Data Manager & Digital Archivist

Linguistics fun

xkcd: neoteny recapitulated phylogeny

Eeyore Linguistic Facts

Lingthusiasm HQ: Frown Thing!

xkcd is making a vowel hypertrapezoid

Title: Ships and Ice Picks: An Ethnographic Excavation of alt.goncharov

Missed out on previous years? Here are the summary posts from 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. If you’d like to get a much shorter monthly highlights newsletter via email, with all sorts of interesting internet linguistics news, you can sign up for that at gretchenmcc.substack.com.

[stupidgamcs]

[     jacob elordi ,  cis man ,  he/him.   ]     ⸻     have you seen declan harcourt? yes, the twenty-four year old / senior that’s usually wandering around campus? they’re currently focused on history, so we’re sure they’ve been super busy with studying. according to rumors, they were michael’s former friend and he knew they are redacted. does it make sense considering they’re known for being charismatic trait as well as cynical trait? either way, the phantom is threatening to bring scary things to light, but let’s hope whatever they’re hiding stays in the dark.

001. stats

full   name.   declan gregory harcourt (hayes)

age.   twenty-four

date   of   birth.   november 2nd, 1999

place   of   birth.   los angeles, california

hometown: melbourne, australia

gender.   cis - man

pronouns.   he / him

sexual   orientation.   bisexual

major.   history

extracurriculars.   volleyball team, model un, debate club and the phoenix news editor

002. information

trigger warnings: abandonment, pregnancy mention

declan was born to a single mother who had moved to los angeles from australia in pursuit of stardom. he knew little about his biological father, as his mother always refused to discuss him, dismissing him as a nobody who didn't deserve them.

upon declan's birth, his mother realized she had to put her dreams on hold and grow up faster than she had imagined. despite the challenges, she never complained about the cards she’d been dealt. life in los angeles was expensive, and even with two jobs, she couldn't afford the rent. so, she decided to return to her hometown in australia.

eventually, his mom got a better job as a secretary, and when he was eleven years old, she married a dentist. his little sister arrived when he was twelve, and life improved significantly—though he had never really complained about his previous life.

declan did well academically and excelled in sports, particularly swimming and volleyball. he also starred in most of the school plays and was considered quite popular among his peers. after all, artistic talent ran in the family.

at fifteen, his life took a drastic turn when his biological father appeared one day after school. when the man intercepted him and bluntly declared he was his father, declan didn't believe him. later that day, his mother called him to the living room, and there he was again.

the story was a familiar one: a young, naive girl with dreams of becoming an actress meets a man who promises to make her a star. she falls in love, but he's only looking for an affair. she gets pregnant, and he's suddenly out of the picture because he's married. so, why was he here now?

the answer was simple and archaic: he wanted a son. he had been married and had two daughters, which apparently wasn't good enough for him because he wouldn't "leave the family's company in the hands of women."

declan disliked the man at first sight, and listening to him speak made him even more unlikable. he refused to acknowledge him as his father, thinking that would be the end of it.

he was wrong. his father was quite wealthy, coming from a family of politicians who had invested in the film industry, creating one of the biggest film studios in the world. the harcourt family was filthy rich.

it was no surprise when his father fought for custody. with the help of a lot of money, he won. declan was forced to leave australia and move back to los angeles, where his father believed he "belonged."

declan grew up resenting his father, longing for summers when he could visit his real family. under his father's guardianship, he was groomed to become the son his father desired. his last name was changed from hayes to harcourt, and he was transformed into someone who fit high society.

despite his resistance, declan found it hard not to be captivated by the lifestyle of the rich, especially when parts of it infuriated his father. by eighteen, he was well-known in the los angeles party scene, much to his father's dismay. the next year and a half was a blur of excesses he couldn't even begin to describe.

it all came to an end when he turned twenty and got into serious trouble. his father managed to get him out of it, but only with the promise that declan would behave. he enrolled him in university, chose a major for him, and since then, declan has been reluctantly following his father's orders.

002. personality

declan is fully immersed in the present moment, savoring all that life has to offer.

he is frequently preoccupied with quick gratification and often fails to plan ahead.

this can be very frustrating to others as it seems he doesn’t take anything seriously, though he does, but only when it’s time to.

declan relies a lot on luck and takes life as it is without complaints.

he is an extremely social person, gaining most of his energy from being around people he cherishes.

declan loves talking about everything and nothing, especially passionate about films, music, and books.

he enjoys the spotlight and is the kind of person who would try to revive a dying party.

normally a very chill person, he rarely gets upset but is extremely sensitive.

when he believes someone is questioning or criticizing him, he has a hard time viewing such criticism as constructive and often reacts with rage and bitterness.

aside from that, he is pretty conflict-averse and will try everything to avoid uncomfortable situations.

deep down he also carries a lot of rage and resentment towards his father.

003. headcanons

his middle name is a tribute to his mom's favorite actor: gregory peck.

speaks broken italian and this is because while his mother was at work he was babysat by their italian neighbor whom he used to call nonna.

for his seventh birthday, his mother gave him a guitar. he's very good at it but now rarely plays it.

loves movies and music from the 50's, 60's and 70's.

he has a terrible relationship with his biological father's family except with his grandfather, whom he loves and the only person who he trusts in that family.

majoring in history but he couldn't even tell you what year the declaration of independence was signed

he's minoring in film studies. the only thing he's disobeying his father as he thinks he's studying finance.

his father got him an accent coach so he would lose the australian accent, although when he gets too excited or upset it will come out.

favorite movie: double indemnity. when it comes to music he listens from sinatra to the rolling stones. although his favorite band is oasis.

[palukoo]

💖🧐⏳if you'd like!!

thank you so much for the ask :) i always end up making my answers so long so its under a cut

💖 What made you start writing?

so this one is basically impossible for me to answer. the first story i remember writing/trying to write was when i was 6 years old, and i think it was just bc i had ideas i thought were cool! the first fanfic i remember writing was when i was in like 5th grade and i remember i would do some writing and then my friends basically being like oh would you write this and i would handwrite fic during class or lunch or recess or whatever and give it to them, and at that point i was also constantly writing parts of original works, and then it just all spiraled! so at this point it's literally like. why wouldn't i write, what would that be like?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

oh my god yes. it's awful. i mean, okay, it really really depends on the fic but there tends to be at least one detail i get really hung up on and spend hours researching, which honestly more often than not doesn't end up in the final product? i mean, long time followers, embarrassingly, may remember the agent carter roller derby au which i did research on the history of roller derby to try to make it actually reflect the state of the sport, in some way, in the 1940s. its extremely inconsistent though, even internally. like, for the cats that walk alone, i read the whole play of the women and the short story i named it after and read a little about reno divorces but i did not in fact even rewatch the film before posting it (i did watch it after posting and go oh so i got the timeline a little off but the title works out so much better than i originally intended??) probably the most gratuitous example is the amy fic, because i literally would have well over twenty tabs open in like congress.gov to try to incorporate bills/legislative debate that would actually be somewhat accurate for the early 2000s, and i also did a ton of research on like electoral maps and various theories and whatnot. more of that actually probably shows up in the second, currently unfinished and unpublished part which isn't exactly abandoned but its been a hot minute, because since that's post canon it involves a lot more of me making shit up and often drawing inspiration from actual real bills from corresponding or close to corresponding legislative sessions and modified numbers from elections. which was always :/ bc like. neither early 2000s politics nor tww ideas of politics are really things i agree with but i was like really committed to a degree of real world and canon accuracy. more recent examples for things that are unfinished and unpublished would be like doing research on the climates and demographics of various parishes and towns in louisiana, trying to find a map of railroads in 1940s arizona, reading about the state of maternal medicine specifically with regards to childbirth in the 1940s, and trying to find real postcards sold in melbourne, australia in the 1940s. the first i'm probably never gonna actually really write the fic associated with it and the last three i basically ended up getting vaguer in the writing to avoid specifics. typing this out is fascinating bc damn i've done some specific research abt the 1940s...

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

okay this depends so fucking much. i mean like, in 2020 when i was starting the amy fic, i wrote so fast. like its long as hell so it took me a long time but i would write like 5k in a day some days and i wrote that whole thing at a velocity that i had never done before and never have since. some things i also agonize over more than others i guess? my kiradax body swap au was a wip that i rewrote multiple times over the course of multiple years, but the final version probably didn't actually take that long? idk. the cats that walk alone is the most recent thing i have published and i made the file for it in mid june and published it in early september, but i think i had it mostly done sitting in my docs for a while. my current high focus wip is one i've been working on since november, but its also multi-chapter and shaping up to be longer than anticipated... i'm gonna say the answer varies but tends towards several months, but at a very uneven pace within that. ultimately, i also have the adhd thing of like, if i don't finish a project within a certain amount of time/at a certain level of hyperfixation, it usually will die, and that timing tends to max out within a year, give or take a few months.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

What exactly is a field archivist? I thought you worked with books.

It's not exactly a defined term. You see it crop up in publications and job descriptions but it's not, as far as I know, a defined term the way digital archivist would be.

For me, field work in archives has involved putting on a hard hat and getting underground because I was the only person who could read the map when a local cemetery was restored.

It's been tripping in an old cemetery and inhaling so much graveyard dirt I gave myself a new chronic lung disorder. 10/10 don't recommend it.

It's involved going out into the world and giving advice on how people may preserve their materials.

It's meant putting on waders and some pretty intense respiratory protection gear and dropping into a flooded old government office and pulling out what was dry and could be salvaged.

It's also been about outreach, going out to schools and organizations to teach about local history and archaeology.

It meant being the person who helped record an archaeological dig and it's landscape guy by tracking down images of what the lay out of the 18th century town would have looked like and helping to place the trench's content within a larger local landscape.

Another time it was tracking down the earliest meteorological records we had so a dendrochronologist could cross match tree rings with weather. I have no idea how that works but I found him his data and brought it over to him got an whooop and a kiss on the cheek and a hug and got damn near knocked into an open trench he was so happy I found his data.

Another time and tbh this is one of the proudest moments of my career thus far, is when an Australian academic from down in Melbourne emailed my institution about Gallipoli maps. There was a series of maps produced in the 1920s as the grave situations began to settle and one of the primary illustrators was a gentleman who would later emigrate to Canada from the UK and leave his papers. They weren't held by where I worked but when I redirected him the archive where they were didn't know what the heck this poor guy was talking about so my boss let me take myself over there and pulled them out and identified the right ones. Including the original OG version of the map he needed. He hand wrote and sent me a thank you card last month. And I got field pay for it lol.

So yeah, field archivist's work can look like a lot of things! I will say most jobs don't involve this much of it. I just happened to be present when the post pandemic openings happened and everyone was catching up on two or three years worth of work.

[aussie-wbb]

Lauren Jackson is back.

The most decorated Australian basketballer in history, at age 42, is adding another chapter to her incomparable story, defying the odds to return to the court with the Southside Flyers in the WNBL.

In a massive boost for the sport that will reverberate all over the world, Jackson has not only recovered from the mental and physical trauma of dual-major surgeries but says she is fitter and stronger than when she returned to the international arena to help guide the Opals to a bronze medal at last year’s FIBA World Cup in Sydney.

“Yep, I’m back,” Jackson, echoing another ‘GOAT’ of the sport, Michael Jordan, told Code Sports.

“I don’t think anyone thought I would come back — but I still thought I could play again.

“The rehab went really, really well, I was back on court a couple of months ago and it just got to a point where, physically, I don’t think I’ve felt better than this, at least in the last five or six years.

“I didn’t want to be left wondering how I would feel in 10 years time if I looked back and I didn’t play this season, knowing that I was fit and able.

“I know it’s my last shot. One more year.”

Following last year’s World Cup glory, Jackson joined Southside and quietly played through the pain of a Lisfranc fracture in her left foot.

In February, she ruptured her right Achilles tendon, a minute into the Flyers’ clash with Sydney Flames in front of a record WNBL crowd.

The 7681 at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena were silenced as the three-time WNBA MVP fought back tears as she hobbled to the Southside, souring what was to be one of the biggest celebrations of the WNBL ever.

Many thought it was over but the four-time Olympic medallist, even then, refused to close the door — she still felt fit and didn’t want to end as she did in 2016 when knee issues forced her into premature retirement.

“It’s really hard to close the door after everything that I’ve been through,” she said.

“It was so traumatic, just going through the break and then the Achilles, I was in so much pain, but I thought ‘look I’m going to get fit, I’m going to stay fit’, my mind was in a place where it didn’t matter if I played or not.

“Everyone was asking me ‘are you going to do it?’

“Even my best friends and my family will tell you I really didn’t know for sure until only recently.”

TURNING POINT IN AN ‘UNBELIEVABLE RECOVERY’

Jackson’s initial goal when she went under the knife was to recover enough — and in time — for a farewell tour with her hometown club Albury-Wodonga, which plays on a court named for her in NBL1 East, next year.

But, as rehab progressed, so did the once remote prospect of a WNBL return. A turning point on the court, coupled with a recovery that left her surgeon floored, helped solidify Jackson’s decision.

“The injuries were pretty nasty and I didn’t think I would get to a point where I’d be ready to play before the WNBL season,” Jackson said.

“Had surgery in February, started my rehab pretty intensely in April and was running by early May.

“It was so painful, and I was pulling up sore but, in June, I turned a corner.

“I’ve tested it massively, the last two months, running with a weighted vest every day and just putting as much load through the Achilles to make sure my body’s ready to do it again.

“When I went back and saw my surgeon a couple of weeks ago, he said ‘I honestly never thought I would see you the way you’ve recovered, it has just blown me away. As a 42-year-old, this is unbelievable’.

“It’s been a bit of a journey, for sure.”

A basketball journey, for Jackson and the nation, still to reach its final destination.

FAMILY FIRST

The key to it all, was Southside’s support in helping Jackson relocate to Melbourne to have her two beloved boys Harry, 6, and Lenny, 4, by her side.

“It was hard last year because they weren’t with me and we were coming back and forth from Albury. I can tell you right now there were times I was so sad, I missed them desperately and it would have been too hard to do it again,” Jackson said.

“The club has been so supportive and we’re in the process of moving to Melbourne at the moment, I’ve been down with the team and running some camps.

“I love that my children get to be around a female basketball team, they’re going to get so much out of it and being in a team environment is so important for them, especially at their age.”

Harry’s a chip off the old block, possessing a similar attitude to mum and a heavy interest in the sport that made her an icon.

“Harry’s really into it, I’ve got him in a team down in Melbourne over summer, which is fun,” she said.

“He’s probably still a little bit too young but he loves it, watches NBA all the time, loves the WNBA as well, loves the women’s game, loves everything about the sport.”

A Jackson in the NBL, Boomers or NBA is a distant dream, right now, but a young Lauren Jackson dared to dream, so why can’t we?

[taisvns]

“ I am eternally, devastatingly romantic, and I thought people would see it because ‘romantic’ doesn’t mean ‘sugary.’ It’s dark and tormented.”

taesun choe : tai . 28.09.1996, she / her. born in melbourne, australia. libra, enfp. musician, songwriter and actress. ( penned by peppy )

application ⋆ aesthetics ⋆ soundtrack ⋆ relationships

biography.

ONE. born in south korea, but raised in melbourne, australia, a land she calls home to this day. an only child, her mother is a well-known actress and model, and her father, an aspiring screenwriter who never fulfilled his dreams, and later became a bookstore owner. their relationship was the talk of the media from the start, and as a result, tai has been surrounded by cameras from an early age.

TWO. since childhood, rubbing shoulders with famous people, it was logical that tai wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps, due to her good relationships it was easy to get jobs for her daughter, it was fun, exciting, her earliest memories are of being on a set, small roles for all type of series, modeling gigs for clothing catalogs and a handful of tv commercials, nothing very significant or substantial actually, just a little girl dreaming about stars and ballerinas.

 THREE. she discovers her true passion latter on, showing a natural talent for music. at twelve years old, she enters a talent show where she comes in second and everything cascades from there, signing a contract with the label and with her mother, who doubled as an agent, controlling, and taking care of every aspect of her life, at age nineteen she became a recognizable face for the australian public, soon enough there is one hit single and others coming up. and of course, tai enjoyed her profession, with an undying love for music and playing pretend.

FOUR. but everything that goes up has to come down, cruel comments began to appear sooner rather than later, 'tai is only someone daughter', 'talentless singer’, ‘industry plant’, endless variations, the seemed popular opinion, and there's only so much flak you can take before you start to believe it too, and the 'maybe they're right' appearing on her mind,  little by little her presentations stopped having the enthusiasm, the accustomed radiance, in her mind it is useless to try so hard if they are going to hate you anyways.

FIVE. it all culminates in a fateful live performance on a morning show, the release of a new single, and an altercation produced by a anxiety attack, too public to be swept under the rug, and nothing was the same from then on. there isn't much left to do, her reputation already being tarnished, and the only way other than to retrieve with what's left and the goals that weren't met.

SIX. giving her music career a second chance doesn't happen until years later, in fact, she moves to california to study for a degree in history, the glitz and the glamours, the feeling of being loved by a crowd, are just so alluring, and whats the worst that can happen? it turns out, tai finds out almost right away, the worst thing that can happen it succeeding, trapped by your own ambitions, by your own dreams.

psychology.

the kind of person who can't fake a smile, but smiles often, easy-going attitude, FRIENDLY, although bad for small talk, constantly commits the sin of being to QUIET, sullen even, she likes to think of herself as a proper tortured artist. DISCIPLINED like few , she puts her tasks at the center of her life, there is a certain obsession with being virtuous, which leads her to be SELF-CRITICAL with her own mistakes. she enjoys cotidianity and a simple life, with deep-rooted customs, it is difficult for her to leave her comfort zone, which makes her a bit LONELY, but she is absurdly LOYAL, willing to take risks for those they consider valuable people in her life.

artistically.

music claims: mitski, luna li & willow.

actress claims: ( don't have a specific list yet, but she only does supporting roles in horror and drama )

wanteds.

long term crush. she literally develops crushes on anyone who is nice to her for two seconds, what happens with this specific person is that, surely, they became friends, and tai never lost her crush on them, and she doesn't confess anything either because she is terrified that the other person doesn't feel the same. can be reciprocated or unrequited, it's about the craving, actually.

ex almost something. the kind of relationship they could have even gotten married in, but nothing ever really happened, I guess things ended just because of the long term crush mentioned above. tai just can't get over it and that's how the relationship is ruined, it's really about the angst.

dearest frenemie. they just can't stand each other, but there's something there, it's not that they really hate each other, it's just their worldviews are too different, but you got to work on a project together, and you're the only other person in the whole cast with the one I can talk about, if you are insufferable the others are so much worse.

stranger like me. they are both a bit averse to public life and prefer to just live their lives minding their own business, I imagine they can spend hours talking to each other over coffee, bonus points if they can geek about music, literature, history or art in general.

this being said, i really open to plotting almost anything! .

[survey--s]

562.

What are some of your favorite cities you’ve been to? Edinburgh, Florence, Melbourne, Singapore, Paris.

Would you allow your children to date prior to 16? I have no desire to have children, but I dated prior to 16 and I don’t see an issue with it in general as long as it’s age-appropriate. Did you ever go through a phase where you thought guys in bands were ‘hot?’ Of course. What’s something about adult life you were never warned of or prepared for? How expensive everything is lol. I know we’re going through a period of inflation right now which doesn’t help, but oh my GOD. I just spend £25 on cat litter and nearly £40 on a 5kg of bloody biscuits. And yes, I know pet ownership is my choice but it never used to be this expensive. It’s a good job I love them, lol. Did your parents teach you proper table manners when you were growing up? Yeah, my parents were pretty hot on table manners - we went out for meals and stuff a lot when I was younger and they wouldn’t have tolerated bad behaviour.

What was the last thing you baked? Does re-heating a chocolate fudge cake count as baking? lol. Do you live more than 5 hours away from the nearest international border? No, the border to Scotland is about...two hours from here, I think.

Does your town have a farmer’s market? No, the nearest one is probably Ulverston which is about half an hour away, but the drive is a real PITA so we practically never go. What’s the westernmost point you’ve been to? I mean, I live right on the west coast of my country - I’m about two minutes drive from the coast and I’m there everyday, lol. What was the last restaurant you made a reservation at? I honestly don’t remember - most places round here don’t require a booking. When did you last feel lonely? I don’t remember. Can you easily tell when others are masking their true emotions? With some people, sure. How often do you wash your car? Never, lol. I live rurally and drive along back roads and farm tracks on a near daily basis. It got a wash last time it went in for a service and less than 24h later you couldn’t tell. When did you last lend money to a friend? I don’t lend people money. Which app on your phone do you tend to get the most notifications from? Facebook or Reddit. Do you own a Dutch oven? If so, what was the last thing you cooked in it? We do, but I don’t remember what I last used it for. Probably stove-top pocorn. What is currently on your kitchen table? Nothing.  What is your favorite time period in history to learn about? I used to love the Tudors and Stuarts, but also modern history was interesting - like the World Wars and stuff. How old were you when you met your current best friend? I honestly find it a bit weird when adults talk about having best friends. Have you ever kissed a smoker? Yeah.

What is the minimum age to obtain a driver’s license in your state/country? Do you think this is an appropriate age? Seventeen, and yeah, I think that’s pretty appropriate really. I didn’t get mine until my late twenties though. If you won the lottery, do you think any of your family members would ask you to give them some of your money? They wouldn’t have to ask. What is the craziest thing you’ve seen happen at your workplace? When I worked in a supermarket, someone once used the dressing rooms as a toilet and shat everywhere in there - even though the actual toilets were right next door -_- Do you own any home automation gadgets like wifi thermostats or wifi bulbs? We can control the heating and the washing machine via WiFi/phone, but that’s about the extent of it. What is something you gave up on after many failed attempts? I’m sure there’s plenty. How old were you when you started to seriously think about what career path you wanted to pursue? Uh, I honestly never thought about it. I fell into all my jobs by accident and even setting up my own business was done on impulse. Have you ever disliked a book so much that you didn’t finish it? Yeah, there’s no point forcing yourself to finish a book that you don’t like.

Would you rather read a book, or listen to the audiobook? Read. I’ve never got the appeal of audiobooks, they’re so slow. Do you think tomorrow will be a better day than today? Nah, I have to work tomorrow lol.

[17goiingunder]

AUSTRALIAN TENNIS LEGEND DAVID TALBOT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT.

13 JUNE, 1995 — A tearful David Talbot announced his retirement from professional tennis yesterday, following a broken wrist at last year’s US Open final that saw him withdraw and hand the title to longtime rival Tomas Dvorak. Following the injury, Talbot admitted to having multiple surgeries, but yesterday declared he was “finished.”

“I broke my wrist in three places. I had so many surgeries, so much physical therapy, but I just can’t play like I used to. It’s a very hard truth to come to terms with, but I have to say that I’m finished. There’s no point in returning to the tour if I can’t play at my very best. I’ve played tennis all my life, and this is the hardest goodbye I’ve had to say.” The 28-year-old tennis star stated in a press conference in his native Melbourne.

Talbot’s retirement closes the chapter on what has been one of the most extraordinary careers in men’s tennis history. He aced his way into tennis stardom at the age of seventeen to become the youngest man to win a Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 1983, a record which still stands today. He proved he wasn’t a one-hit wonder by following up his victory with a win at Wimbledon in 1984, and then another win at his home Grand Slam the same year. Still aged seventeen, Talbot had three Grand Slams to his name. He was a bona fide tennis prodigy (pictured, above in 1989, en route to his third consecutive Bercy Open win).

For a period in the mid-eighties, Talbot dominated every grass court tournament he set foot on. His brash, aggressive style that involved the spectacular diving volleys he became so famous for seemed tailor-made for the fast grass courts. His path to the top of the tennis world was also unconventional; he spurned the junior tour and turned professional at 16 because he needed the prize money to support his cash-strapped family. While his contemporaries were practicing drills at tennis academies in Florida, Talbot, by his own admission, was getting into bar fights in Melbourne.

His rough-and-tumble upbringing and everyman persona captured the hearts and minds of his fellow Australians, in a country that traditionally goes wild for AFL or rugby. Dubbed “the boy king of tennis,” Talbot seemed to have it all, from exotic cars to a Monaco mansion. But, confoundingly, he managed to lose it all just as quickly. First came a widely-publicized arrest for driving under the influence in 1989. Though he got away with a fine and a suspended sentence, the negative publicity seemed to have a profound effect on Talbot. The man who’d looked unbeatable at Wimbledon just the year before was humiliated with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to an unknown in the second round.

The injuries and the first and second round exits continued after that, leading tennis pundits and fans everywhere to ask the golden question: what the hell happened to David Talbot? The answer may never truly be clear, but one suspects it may have to do with the global superstardom thrust upon a seventeen-year-old boy. Talbot’s legal woes continued into the early nineties, and his tennis ranking tumbled out of the top fifty in the world. 

He garnered a reputation as a mercurial genius; immensely talented, but guilty of lack of focus at times. On the global stage, Talbot never seemed to mature out of being a brash teenager, and his fiery encounters with tennis umpires and linesmen have become the stuff of both legend and late-night show jokes. Then, in 1993, at twenty-seven, Talbot mounted a concerted comeback effort.

First came a win at the ATP tour finals that year, cementing his reputation as a fantastic hard court player in addition to his grass court prowess. Then a run to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open showed great promise. Talbot’s immense talent hadn’t vanished, and if he got his head in the right place, he could still work miracles. That was what made his injury at the US Open final so cruel. The final hurdle to show the world that Talbot wasn’t going to go away quietly, and the world was robbed of another engrossing chapter in his rivalry with Dvorak. It would’ve been his first Grand Slam title in six years, and his eleventh, if he had won the match.

Talbot retires with ten Grand Slams to his name, a figure that isn’t to be scoffed at. He also lifted the Davis Cup in Australian colours five times. He remains the youngest men’s world number one player. Impressive as these stats are, one can’t help but wonder: what if? What if Talbot had kept that mental focus and kept up that winning streak? What if Talbot hadn’t been so young when he’d first won, and what if he’d been in a better place to deal with his fame and wealth? How many more records could he have broken? How long could he have dominated the game? The world, unfortunately, will never know.

[lifenmaggie]

Hvar, Croatia - 15th - 19th August 2024

We took a ferry to Dubronik to the island Hvar. In Hvar we chose to stay near the Old Town where there was more action. We stayed in a resort closest to town called, Amfora Hvar Grand Beach Resort. it had a lovely pool to relax. Hvar was known to be the party island but strangely it was very quiet in terms of sound. Bars and restaurants either had no music or have the music low volume but the island was very busy with people. It turned out a week before we arrived there were some compliants on noise anyway that did not take away our experience.

At this point, we were already tired from walking around in the sun in Dubronik and in need some low and slow time. The resort was excellent for that we roughly spent two full days by the pool where we tan, napped, ate, drank and swam. I loved doing all night. I did feel guilty flying all that way just to do that than rather exploring the island. Melbourne does not have a resort style place where you can do this so we felt it was worth it. We completely checked out of our realities and entered a state of relaxation.

My favourite thing I loved at the resort was their frozen cocktails and club sandwich. I love a good club sandwich and it's actually not that easy to find in Melbourne. I have only found them in resorts!

The first day we arrived we relaxed by the pool and dinner in town. It was a relatively low key day.

The second day, we did more exploring of the old town where we had a tour guide who took us around and shared us the history of the area. Apparently, the town has kept its original aesthetics so 100 years ago it looked like this similar to Dubronik. It's a small town so we pretty much saw the whole town on the tour, he showed us different lane ways, churches and major landmarks. We watched the sunset at the Napolena Fortress, we didn't go in the Fortress we stook outside on its feet. The sunset glittered on the sea , a beautiful golden light, its warmth touching our faces; absolutely a lovely experience. We sat on a bench and watched the sunset in the distance, we didn't actually see the sunset as it was in a different direct to where we were sitting but we see its light slowly fading away.

[beatdisc]

A big day for New Releases tomorrow!

Obviously we're very excited about the new PARTY DOZEN LP Crime In Australia which drops tomorrow. We'll have the band playing a FREE and ALL AGES show right here in the store tomorrow evening from 6pm. Swing by and help us celebrate their new record after you knock off work!

We're also very much looking forward to playing the new Ned Collette LP Our Other History. His last solo release, 2018's Old Chesnut, has been a long-time shop favourite and we're keen to hear what the Berlin-based Melbourne avant-garde folk songwriter has up his sleeve for this one. Featuring guests Leah Senior, Chris Abrahams, Jim White and Mick Turner.

Belarusian post-punk/synth-wave trio Molchat Doma release their highly anticipated 4th studio album Belaya Polasa. We'll have the limited Cloudy Clear colour vinyl press available in store.

Legendary Pink Floyd guitarist and songwriter David Gilmour will release his first solo album in nearly a decade with the new LP Luck and Strange. He says it's his best work since Dark Side Of The Moon. Big talk Dave!

UInfortunately not pictured as stock is running late, but another highly anticipated new record (at least amongst the staff members of Beatdisc) is the new MJ Lenderman record "Manning Fireworks", his first on new label Anti Records. All 3 singles have been stone cold classics so we're very keen to hear the rest of the record.

All records out tomorrow and available in-store from 10am:

- Party Dozen - Crime In Australia - $40 (Blue LP) - Ned Collette - Out Other History - $50 (Black LP) - Molchat Doma - Belaya Polasa - $50 (Cloudy Clear LP) - David Gilmour - Luck And Strange - $85 (Sea Blue LP) / $70 (Black LP) / $24 (CD) - MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks - $60 (Red LP) (*running late, ETA early next week)

[qnewsau]

Why go to Rio when you can see The Boy from Oz in Melbourne?

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/why-go-to-rio-when-you-can-see-the-boy-from-oz-in-melbourne/

Why go to Rio when you can see The Boy from Oz in Melbourne?

The biographical musical tribute to the late great Peter Allen The Boy from Oz is coming to Melbourne. Mathew Hadgraft, in the titular role, can’t wait for you to experience what independent musical theatre company Theatrical has in store.

“I really think it’s one of the best Australian musicals that ever there has been and maybe ever will be,” Mathew told us.

“Even though it takes place around the world, there’s something very Australian about the way it’s written.”

Featuring a total of 46 songs, The Boy from Oz jumps throughout the story of Peter Allen’s life like one of his energy-packed concerts.

Although this isn’t the first time Mathew is playing Allen, his own energy and vivaciousness makes him a natural fit for the role.

“Director and choreographer Rhylee Nowell gave me the part because I forgot the words to I Go to Rio in the audition,” Mathew recalled.

“But she said the way I handled it reminded her more of Peter Allen than anyone who sang the songs perfectly. So that’s how I ended up getting the role of the first place.”

Mathew’s natural authenticity onstage is one you can’t emulate. He first played the role in 2010 on a Queensland stage. Over the years, his and Rhylee’s working relationship and friendship continued to grow. They’ve collaborated on other Peter Allen-inspired cabarets as well as a variety of shows around Australia.

But even with all that history and experience, it isn’t something he takes for granted.

“It’s a lot to live up to. I feel like I’ve got a lot of people’s expectations pinned on this. Peter Allen is a very unique performer,” Mathew said.

“And while it’s great having all this support behind me, it’s also terrifying in equal part. Because it turns out that our dancers are young!”

“We were rehearsing the other day. I’m a middle-aged man kind of fumbling through, while all these 20-something experts are just pissing on me from a great height. It can be a bit demoralizing!” Mathew laughed.

“I’m very determined to hold my own. They were born into this dancing stuff. But when they got to hear me sing is when I got to really shine.”

‘The most special thing I’d ever heard’

The Boy from Oz is just one of the crowd-pleasing musicals in the National Theatre’s 2024 season. Mathew Hadgraft joins a cast of 29 talented dancers and ensemble members in bringing the musical to life.

“I’m much older than a lot of people in the cast. I have a completely different perspective on the show. I knew personally the kind of people alive in that era when Peter Allen was popular,” Mathew said.

“The uncle who the family didn’t keep in touch with, who never married and had the Judy Garland or Liza Minelli records.

“I think about those people, and those who we lost, and what it would be like for them, seeing these iconic performances for the very first time, and how special that is.

“When I first heard Liza singing Arthur’s theme, a little bit of wee came out! It was the most special thing I’d ever heard. It hit all these wonderful old gay touch points. That’s exactly the kind of experience I want our audience to feel as well.”

“When you sing a Peter Allen number, I just find it resonates on a different level and audiences love them. You don’t need anything else.

“Luckily, we are blessed with amazing sets as well as dancing and costumes. It’s going to be magnificent.”

The Boy from Oz plays National Theatre (Melbourne) from 6-21 July, 2024. Get your tickets here.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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Get Maximum Value from Second Hand Car Sales in Melbourne

When one wishes to sell their car for whatever reasons one must utilise the services of leading dealers for second hand car sales in Melbourne. The best dealers can buy cars made by most companies and also cover a large spectrum of car models. Also, many people buy second-hand cars and in such cases, it is important to buy from a dealer who maintains the quality of cars. The best dealers understand the concerns of customers and hence sell cars that have undergone rigorous inspection in a workshop followed by a road performance test. Also, the leading second-hand car dealers offer Victorian Roadworthy Certificates for the second-hand vehicles they sell.

Navigate with Confidence: Your Ultimate Guide to Used Car Sales

When it comes to used car sales in Melbourne it is best to contact a renowned dealer since they can offer the best value for the old car due to their expertise and market knowledge. Also, one can sell cars whatever be its type like wagons, sedans, hatchbacks, utility vehicles, vans and more. People should also not be concerned about whether their vehicle hasa manual transmission or automatic transmission since they can buy both types of vehicles. Also, selling the old car is the best way to earn money from a vehicle that is not required. Sometimes people like to upgrade their car for a variety of reasons and they can easily do so by selling the old car getting some money and then buying an upgraded car.

Should One Buy Second Hand Car from Car Dealers?

Second-hand cars from reputed car dealers are of top-notch quality and hence one need not worrya bout the quality since a car is an asset that depreciates in value quite quickly hence one can buy a much better and upgraded car than a new one with the same kind of money. Leading dealers offer prices which is inclusive of GST and title history reports are made available for putting the buyer’s mind at ease.

Contact a leading car dealer through phone or mail and get a valuation for your old car or buy a second-hand car easily.

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