Ogalo Burger
For the first time in a few years, I had an Ogalo burger for dinner tonight. I had actually forgotten how incredibly tasty they are, even if they are DRENCHED in fat. I’d just been to see a cabaret show in Kings Cross – no, not that type of cabaret – and so I was looking for something fast and small for dinner. As I wandered past some of the countless outlets on Oxford Street with their food on display, Ogalo looked the best of a bad bunch, by far.
The other thing I noticed on Oxford Street tonight was the impact of the new anti-smoking laws. Even though I’ve been to a pub twice since the news laws commenced, I hadn’t really noticed the impact until tonight. On the street outside The Columbian, there was just a lone girl smoking, rugged up for winter as if she was on the ski-fields. The scene outside The Midnight Shift seemed to more closely resemble a modern day public service office block, with the smokers being confined to a group of middle-aged men in bad shoes.
A friend and I had just been to see Robert Bertram in cabaret at Bar Me. Robert is the latest discovery of Les Solomon who, over the years, has supported the careers of David Campbell, Tim Draxl and Hayden Tee. We had seen Robert perform about six months ago at Statement Bar, part of the graduating class of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and were pretty impressed.
We were both a little disappointed with tonight’s show since the other week the Sydney Morning Herald declared him “the new Hugh Jackman”. Yes, he can sing, he can dance (of sorts), he can write songs and he can tell stories, but he still has some way to go in regards to sincerity. He’s still a “performer”, if you know what I mean, never really “connecting” with the audience. But that said, six months ago, he was a musical theatre student in Perth, and he is now performing in his own cabaret show in Sydney, which is a great achievement in itself. Good luck to him and what I’m sure will be an amazing career.
It was an early show, which was good, with a six o’clock start, which meant I arrived home in time to see Daniella on the eviction couch on “Big Brother” and to do some washing (and yes, ironing, Tom) in preparation for the next few weeks which are likely to be fairly busy.
New Ties
As my boss retired the other day, I’m going to be “acting” in that role for a little while, which will be both very interesting and very exciting. To acknowledge this, I went out and bought two new ties. I think the blue is quite fetching, though a little bit “finance sector corporate”, whereas the black (with a red stripe) is a little more “creative and challenging”, with the choice of the two reflecting the need to be all of those things.
As well as that, the next few days are going to be reasonably social. On Tuesday night, I’m going for dinner at Snakebean, followed by seeing the very groovy new singer Eran James at the incredibly fashionable Will & Toby’s. Finally, I’m going to get to see Company at Theatre Royal on Wednesday night, and then on Thursday night, I’ll probably head along to “Fruits In Suits”.
I’ve got nothing planned for next weekend? Any offers? Andrew, shall I come over and fix your television antenna? Oooh, I just realised how suggestive that sounds!
