Art or Competition?
Posted: March 11, 2018 Filed under: ART, WRITERS, WRITING | Tags: acting, ART, artists, competitive theatre, hip hop, Hustle & Flow Bar Redfern, live DJ, luvvy actors, performance, players, Shakespeare vs hip hop, single mother artists, spoken word, The Leftovers Collective, Theatre, verse, William Shakespeare 1 CommentToday I am indulging my combined love of the bard’s verse and hip hop by competing / performing / appearing in Shakespeare Dance Party, a sharp new show presented by The Leftovers Collective. Fancy.
In a small bar in Redfern, 16 actors will compete for our audience’s love to see who best performs a short Shakespearean sonnet or monologue. Each performer will slam to a beat laid down by a live DJ, not knowing in advance which track will be chosen for them. If the audience likes the art, they will dance. If the audience dislikes the performance, pies will be thrown. The eventual winner receives a part in a web series. The losers need to bring a towel.
In an era of social media starlets, where few skills are needed to become a YouTube star, are actors necessary?
16 tracks
16 artists
A rap roulette
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
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Sail Away With Me To Another World
Posted: March 5, 2014 Filed under: LOVE, SONGS | Tags: beautiful friends make life worth living, female role models for growing girls, friendship, glamorous single motherhood, Karaoke Lovers Anonymous, karaoke partner in vocal crimes, KENNY ROGERS & DOLLY PARTON - ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, love only, single mother allies, single mothers with attitude, Sonnet 30, the only ones for me are the mad ones, William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare quotes Leave a commentI woke up this morning thinking of my gorgeous, generous friend and the times she and I would sing karaoke. We’d work our way through rock ballads, fabulous country songs, Patsy, Tammy, then Whitney and of course Dolly Parton. My funny friend also introduced me to the delights of Smooth FM and their back catalogue of hideous one hit wonders. A couple of years ago we gatecrashed an 18th birthday party at a pub and then it turned out C knew the family! She was there for me when I became a single mother and I didn’t know how I would cope. She showed me that single motherhood can be fun. Her funeral is today and I don’t think it’s right that two little girls don’t have their fabulous, funny mum any more. At 42 years old my beautiful friend had so much more to give, more books to write, many more songs to sing. Fly free my darling, your spirit soaring with the sun and the twinkling stars, thank you for your friendship. We will walk with your girls through this life. Love you, love always, always love
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unus’d to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish’d sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.
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If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books…
Posted: November 19, 2013 Filed under: WRITERS, WRITING | Tags: Alain De Botton, Caitlin Moran, can't live without books, David Sedaris, DBC Pierre, Donna Tartt, Haruki Murakami, Henry David Thoreau, Jack Pollard Australian author, Jack Pollard books, Joan Didion, Lemony Snickert books, loaded on gin, must read books, never trust anyone who doesn't read, Quotes by John Waters, reading, reading addicts anonymous, reading by an open fire, reading is as important as breathing, Ryan Adams - Sylvia Plath, Stewart Lee, Tim Winton, to read list, William Shakespeare, Writers 4 CommentsShakespeare said we must, “unpack our heart with words.”
My name’s Lou and I’m a reader-holic. Reading keeps me sane but I don’t have enough time for all the books I’ve fallen in love with because I let trivial things like work and child rearing get in the way of my devotion to great literature. I’ll read anywhere; it’s not a problem. I take hours at the supermarket because I read every label. I scan the back of the cereal box at breakfast because I’ve taught my children it’s rude to read at the table. But really I’d be reading that too if I didn’t have to talk to them about their day.
My writer dad fostered my devotion to great books, when I was 11 he gave me Hemingway and Steinbeck to read and we talked about their writing. I still remember talking to Dad about the ocean being a character in Hemingway’s book The Old Man and The Sea when I was 12 years old. Books kept my dad’s mind alive through his deprived childhood and he treasured the craft of good writers.
This is a photo of the current to read pile beside my bed. The book at the top is what I’m reading right now. The one at the bottom is by my dad. My dad wrote or edited over 100 books. Reading is my family’s addiction of choice. There are so many books and so little time. When I’m really, really old I’m going to live in a house filled with furry dogs and books and an open fire. The dogs will force me to get out of the house to walk them otherwise I’d stay inside reading and never see the sun. You’re never alone when you have a great book to read. Henry David Thoreau said,
“Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written.”
But my favourite quote on reading is from Lemony Snickert:
“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”
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Innit
Posted: June 3, 2013 Filed under: COMEDY, Self improvement | Tags: Australian comedians, comedy, Comedy On Tap, Comedy On Tap Stand up comedy night, female comedians, Laughter therapy, Lou Pollard - Stand Up Comedy, mirth, stand up comedy, William Shakespeare Leave a commentOn the first Friday of every month I get together with a bunch of funny chicks and a few lady men and attempt to make people laugh. A lot. My fellow fools and I host Comedy On Tap Sydney at Tap Gallery in Darlinghurst. I’m the youngest child in my family so I’ve been trying to divert people’s anger with my humour all my life. To quote Shakespeare “I was born to speak all mirth and no matter” (Much Ado About Nothing). It’s a laugh innit?
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Día de los Muertos
Posted: November 1, 2012 Filed under: LOVE, Parents, WRITERS | Tags: All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Jack Pollard, los angelitos, mexican holidays, remembering, Sonnet 30, The Day of the Dead, William Shakespeare Leave a commentWhen to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.
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April 23 birthdays
Posted: April 23, 2011 Filed under: Birthdays | Tags: April 23 birthdays, birthdays, Shirley Temple, St George, William Shakespeare Leave a comment23rd APRIL is also ST GEORGE’S DAY.
George slayed the dragon to save the king’s daughter. George explained to the king and his people that it was his Christian faith that gave him the superhuman strength to do it. George was originally a pagan.
SHIRLEY TEMPLE and SHAKESPEARE were also born on this day.
loupollard 