Thursday, September 08, 2005

The city that never sleeps wakes

Went to a show last night by stand-up comedian Wil Anderson. A very funny man & a most enjoyable evening. His stance is the “this guy’s stoned” routine, until you realise how skilfully he weaves his way around, diverts from, comes back to, goes off at a tangent, has nothing to do with, a story that is about he & his girlfriend at an airport being confronted by a sniffer dog. It’s the act of someone with an extremely alert mind, who maintains the tension & the humour for the entire length of his hour-plus monologue.

But. The show started at 7.30 p.m., an extremely obscene hour, but this is Queensland where they don’t have daylight savings because, amongst other things, that extra hour of sunlight will fade the curtains. & we were running a little bit late, so with no time for a meal beforehand, we grabbed kaffee und küchen at the local McDonalds on the way, deciding to have dinner after the show.

But #2. This is Rockhampton. & when we got out of the theatre at about a quarter to ten, nothing was open, or, if they were, the kitchens were closed. Chairs piled up on tables & people mopping the floor, or dark windows. There may have been a truckstop open across the river, but that was in the wrong direction. So, home to a BLT sandwich.

This is a place that claims to be progressive, multi-cultural, thriving. It is, in fact, a place that lives in the past, a time-warp, truly a Rocky Horror Show. & now it’s been announced that the once-a-day direct flight to Sydney has been withdrawn. That connection, kept in the back of the mind, was a lifeline. The fact that you could be back in Sydney in under two hours at least gave a semblance of contact with the real world. Now…..

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