Toby chats on Bell Shakespeare's online Q & A

LINK: Toby talks about Shakespeare, Much Ado, Acting, Ella

Toby Schmitz CAPTURE THE FLAG

LINK: Toby Schmitz on his play "Capture the Flag"

Review from its first showing 4 years ago:

At a time in Australia when symptoms of nationalism are on the rise (bribes to schools to fly the flag, bizarre definitions of "un-Australian" and "Australian behaviours, for instance) prolific actor-writer-director Toby Schmitz has turned his attention to the topic of nationalism - and its effect on children, particularly in time of war.
Child soldiers have been in the news in recent times because of the atrocities committed by and to them in various parts of Africa. As in so many social innovations, however, Adolf Hitler was one step ahead. His Hitler Youth - part boy scout-part brainwashed psychopath - was an integral part of the Thousand Year Reich plan: world domination, no Jews and really sexy uniforms being vital components of the dream.
Schmitz's new one act play Capture the Flag is predicated on Hitler's edict to his youthful followers: Rule One: Your body belongs to your nation. It is the mantra desperately recited by two Deutsches Jungvolk (German Youth) Karl and Albert as they cower in a freezing, wet sewer beneath a Berlin street. Their mix of bravado and naivete gives the lie to their futile attempts at playing men. These are boys and the square-jawed resolution to be ready to fight to the last (as the fuhrer has instructed) begins to crumble as, from an unseen above, the roar of tanks and marching Russian soldiers invades their dank, dark refuge.
Adding to the unease and outright fear and confusion is their companion, Herret. He is younger and more visibly damaged than the two soldier boys and wants only to get back to his mutti. He is unnerving to Karl and Albert because his indoctrination is either incomplete or didn't "take" - the heroic ideals of dying for the Fatherland and the Fuhrer are mostly lost on him. The result, for the older boys, is that their own resolve begins to crumble as uncertainty and fear replace blind belief.
It's strangely compelling to watch three boys dissolve from one state of being into another in the course of an hour or so. It's virtually real time and, because of the close confines of the theatre, there's also a strong sense of experiencing their fear, bewilderment and horror at the circumstances to a disquieting degree. This is probably heightened because the audience knows what they do not: that Hitler was not about to pull a miracle stunt and win the war, that the invading Russians would not be merciful and their dedication and sense of honour was all for nought.
A hint of reality, which is both a relief and even more disturbing, arrives with a girl who's just escaped from above and left her mother in their kitchen - being beaten and, although she doesn't say so, raped by the invaders. She - like most girls of that age - is older and wiser than her years and the boys. Her advice and understanding of what is going on in the city above their heads is unwelcome - as the truth so often is. That there will be tears before VE Day is more than simple historical fact and the inevitability of it makes fascinating viewing.
The creatives in this production are exceptional: a seeping, brick-lined sewer set by Leland Kean is minimally lit to great effect by Luis Pampolha and enlivened by echoing sound effects - dripping water, the invading army above - by Jeremy Silver. The excellent cast of Anthony Gee (Karl), Robin Goldsworthy (exceptional as Albert), Sam North (Herret) and Ella Scott-Lynch (Mathilde) inhabit their characters and Lisa Walpole's intelligent costumes with the ease and weariness of five long years of WW2.
It's probably not for the claustrophobic, but Capture the Flag is a thought-provoking and engaging piece of work that suggests Toby Schmitz is beginning to harness his ambition, energy and ideas to something like restraint and discipline. If he carries on like this he will be in grave danger of realising his great potential.



Military Police raid Canberra second hand bookshop

Never mind Afghanistan, ADFA sex scandals, Collins submarines not working, Terrorism...

Let's deploy our Defence Force to do something really important.

The owner of a Canberra second-hand bookshop raided by military police says other booksellers will now be worried they could be targeted.

Military police confiscated 21 books and pamphlets from Simon Maddox's Beyond Q suburban second-hand store on Thursday.
The books included a 1937 pamphlet on small arms training and 1970 instructions on how to use standard mortars.
Also confiscated was a Vietnam-era soldiers' handbook and a guide on how to use grenades and "pyrotechnics".
Mr Maddox does not record whom he purchases books from, so it might be difficult for the military to trace who sold the titles to the store.
"It was polite, but it was still intimidating," Mr Maddox said of the raid.
"All the current bookstore owners will be looking at their shelves now."
Mr Maddox says the military police acknowledged they had been tipped off by a serving member of the Defence Force who later asked if he could "photocopy the books".
Australian Booksellers Association chief Joel Becker suggested Defence was being a little too cautious in the age of WikiLeaks, but said: "Sometimes agencies have to respond to complaints."
Questions to Defence about the raid and possible further action went unanswered.

From AAP

Progress shop front 'new' 257 King Street, Newtown

Lighting installed on the decking. How groovy does that look!

Painting & signwriting happening after Easter. (So beware of ladders and lots of green paint!)

Transport snafu caused 3 pallets of books to arrive all at once at Sydney shops:
Caused temporary staff panic, but now all sorted and the shelves are chockablock for the 5 day Easter – Anzac Day break.
Also doing some excellent second hand buying: Interesting stuff across the whole range.

Good Friday was HUGE in all non-city Elizabeth’s Bookshops…
The Bank Manager and us pray it continues over the whole holiday break.

Big selling categories:
Children’s Books (1000′s of real cheapies now at the South Terrace Freo branch), Lit Fiction / General Fiction (obviously Easter holiday reading), Cookbooks, Military History (because of Anzac Day?)

Easter

What a perfect time to curl up with a stack of books from Elizabeth’s, a box of Lindt easter chocolates, maybe a couple of slices of Poland and your favourite German shepherd.

Filming has started on The Hobbit

Check out the video of the start of production.

And Elizabeth's Bookshops have splendid hardcover copies of The Hobbit for only $6.95 !



The Hobbit is a novel written by J.R.R. Tolkien in the tradition of the fairy tale. It was first published on September 21, 1937.
While it also stands in its own right, it is often seen as a prelude to Tolkien's monumental fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings (published in 1954 and 1955).
The story, subtitled There and Back Again, follows the adventures of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins as he travels across the lands of Middle-earth with a band of dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf on a quest to restore a dwarven kingdom and a great treasure stolen by the dragon, Smaug.

The Novel Is Born...

In a 1955 letter to W. H. Auden, Tolkien recollects in the late 1920s, when he was Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, he began The Hobbit when he was marking School Certificate papers. On the back of one of the papers, he wrote the words "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit". He did not go any further than that at the time, although in the following years he drew up Thror's map, outlining the geography of the tale.
The tale itself he wrote in the early 1930s, and it was eventually published because he lent it to the Reverend Mother of Cherwell Edge when she was sick with the flu; while the Reverend Mother was in possession of the manuscript, it was seen by the 10-year old son of Sir Stanley Unwin, Rayner Unwin, who wrote such an enthusiastic review of the book that it was published by Allen & Unwin.

Travelling in winter: Random images from book buying expeditions 2

Not all european airports close when there is 5" of snow. I wear my ski gear on warehouse visits.

Random images from book buying expeditions

Oh the endless fun one has with Vladimir & Leon

Tintern Abbey en route Wales

Winter in South Wales

Brekky in a roadside caf

Sometimes there are compensations...

Team Saab wins 2011 Bakewell-White 36 State Championship

Consistency pays: 2, 4, 2, 6, 2, 2, 2
Gordon Lucas, Graeme Spence, Brent Fowler, John Naughton, John Gardiner, Mark Wheeler, Giles Harden-Jones, Jay Halligan, Mark Atkinson, Johnny Holder, Dan Smolenski, Harry Schmitz

Congratulations to 'Grand Prix' and 'Anemoi' for pushing us all the way in a great series!

Next week: Team Saab vs Anemoi in the final heat of the Royal Perth Club Championship.

The "Books Suite" at the Michelberger, Berlin

Dinner with Rory and Kelly (Snilda's girl, merchant banker,  Coen Brothers heroine ) and far too many Berlin cocktails may have hazed my judgment, especially with a 7:00 am assessment of bookshop locations at Berlin Hauptbahnhof scheduled. Is Berlin ready for an English language bookshop? If not, I am at least having a good time thinking about it. This is the cutting edge of modern culture. Rory and I avoid discussing the aesthetic ramifications of the impact of taggers on the urban landscape. I would not want to be alienated from dear son on the grounds of some philosophical contretemps. I suspect the bourgeois dimensions to this old Scotch boy will make Rorz amenable to a compromise modus vivendi with Da. (Do used car dealers have these worries in communicating with their progeny?) Afer all, his knowledge of top of the list vintage wines is superior to mine.

I dream a lot

In an ideal world, I would like Karl O'Callaghan as WA's next State Premier and Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister of an ALP government.

Future Premier of Western Australia

Future Prime Minister of an ALP Government

That's when I'm not dreaming of Nigella Lawson licking an icecream.

10 Restaurants Worth a Plane Ride

(From Evan Sung for The New York Times and M. Wells in Long Island City)

APONIENTE : EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARíA, Spain

In the exclusive world of America’s and Europe’s top chefs, Ángel León has been getting some hard-won respect. His 22-seat restaurant, Aponiente, which opened in 2005 in a small port village in southern Spain, specializes in sustainable seafood; it was awarded a Michelin star last year. Mr. León, 33, is an insatiably inventive and curious chef who is always trying to invent techniques with traditional products — using unusual (to say the least) ingredients like fish eyeballs (as a sauce thickener) and plankton.

BENU : SAN FRANCISCO

Urchin tofu with salmon roe, Benu in San Francisco.

Not long after Corey Lee, Thomas Keller’s wunderkind chef de cuisine at the French Laundry, left to open his own place, San Francisco’s food critics were waiting hungrily for the debut of Benu, which finally opened in August. Despite the high-altitude expectations and prices (the 12-course menu is $160), the response has been impressive. Michael Bauer, food critic at The San Francisco Chronicle, recently awarded the chef three and a half stars and noted a “beautifully crafted menu that looks eastward for inspiration.”

DINNER BY HESTON BLUMENTHAL : LONDON



The highly respected British chef Heston Blumenthal, winner of three Michelin stars at his Fat Duck restaurant, has been researching British recipes that date as far back as the 14th century. They will serve as inspiration for his new, much anticipated outpost, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, which is scheduled to open in London’s Mandarin Oriental hotel at the end of this month. While dining on dishes like hay-smoked mackerel with a lemon salad and gentleman’s relish, guests will be able to see into the kitchen through a floor-to-ceiling glass wall and watch its modern stainless steel pulley system, modeled on a 16th-century design for the Royal British Court’s kitchens.

M. WELLS : LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y.



If there happens to be an uptick in passengers on the 7 train to Queens, it might be thanks to the word-of-mouth engendered by this retrofitted diner, overseen by Hugue Dufour, formerly chef at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal, and his wife, Sarah Obraitis. When it opened in July, M. Wells served only breakfast; it is now open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the intention of opening for dinner once a liquor license is obtained. For now, the menu is a glutinous celebration of Montreal and American dishes and ingredients like pickled pig’s tongue, escargots and bone marrow, and a much-loved breakfast sandwich.

MIRAZUR : MENTON, FRANCE



Last spring the popular and well-respected food blogger Pim Techamuanvivit, following a friend’s recommendation, tracked down this restaurant in a village in the French Riviera. Mauro Colagreco, the Argentine chef at Mirazur, paid his dues at the acclaimed, vegetable-friendly L’Arpège in Paris, so it’s no surprise that he grows some of the restaurant’s produce on the premises. In 2009, he was named Chef of the Year by Gault-Millau, becoming the first non-French chef to be given that title. Ms. Techamuanvivit raved in her blog entry about her meal there: “I still dream of the impossibly sweet red prawn, enrobed by ribbons of fresh young asparagus, borage and wild garlic blossoms and a drizzle of buttery Ligurian olive oil.”

MOMOFUKU : SYDNEY



In just a few years, the chef David Chang has come to be a major force on the New York scene, as he’s expanded his Momofuku empire to include five restaurants. So the foodie gossip mills started churning when he recently announced that he will be opening his first restaurant outside New York: a Momofuku outlet in Sydney’s Star City casino. It will develop its own menu, limited to “the abundance of Australia,” he wrote in an e-mail. “We will try not to import anything except some wine and Japanese products like shoyu,” he added, referring to a type of soy sauce. Mr. Chang will trade kitchen duties with Peter Serpico, the chef at Ko, the high-end Momofuku branch in downtown Manhattan.

RESTAURANT ANDRÉ : SINGAPORE

Andre Chiang dresses oysters at Restaurant Andre in Singapore.

Only a few weeks after the October opening of Restaurant Andre, in Singapore’s lively Chinatown district, the chef Andre Chiang is wowing even the city’s most critical gourmands with French-inspired dishes like braised eggplant with cockscombs and duck tongue. Having spent 14 years training in France at some of the country’s most revered destination restaurants, Mr. Chiang has finally found a place to come into his own.

RESTAURANTE GARZON : GARZON, URUGUAY



If you happen to be as obsessed with grilling meat — and have as powerful a personality — as the Argentine chef Francis Mallmann, you can manage to pioneer a remote spot like the Uruguayan village of Garzon on your own. A few years ago he left the resort of José Ignacio, bought a chunk of Garzon and built a five-room hotel and restaurant that debuted in 2004 and has attracted the jet set to that dusty town ever since.

TICKETS : BARCELONA, SPAIN



Ferran Adrià has not abandoned his cultish fans. Not long after he announced that he would close El Bulli, his wildly acclaimed restaurant, in 2012, he and his brother, Albert, signed on with the chefs who own the landmark Spanish seafood restaurant Rías de Galicia. This month, the team plans to open a contemporary tapas bar called Tickets, as well as a cocktail bar, in the Parallel neighborhood. Tickets will be far less formal than El Bulli, though its food and space will embrace a sense of the theatrical, with “stages” set up throughout the restaurant. At one, classic seafood tapas, like red shrimps from Costa Brava and razor shells from Galicia, will be showcased; at another, more-experimental small plates will star, like artichokes with smoked Idiazábal cheese serum.

WILLOWS INN : LUMMI ISLAND, WASH.



Willows Inn, on the tiny San Juan island of Lummi, is about two hours from Seattle by car and ferry. Yet it is about to become a destination restaurant, thanks to its new chef, Blaine Wetzel. The 24-year-old, formerly the protégé of Rene Redzepi at Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant that was ranked the “best restaurant in the world” for 2010 by S. Pellegrino, took over the kitchen at Willows last year. The restaurant itself reopens in February; expect a menu with an obsessive focus on local ingredients, in the style of Noma. Since he was hired, Mr. Wetzel has been working with a farmer and an urchin diver who work solely for him.

Travel