David M. Green: Purveyor of fine humour

Tag: Theatre

  • Francis Greenslade is Other Famous People

    Earlier this week I caught up with the very talented Francis Greenslade in my favourite Melbourne suburb in terms of pronunciation: Elsternwick. We chatted for an hour about insects, acting, Blue Heelers, Winners & Losers, Shaun Micallef, sketch comedy, theatre, musical instruments and other related things.

    Fortunately, this fascinating conversation was recorded and you can hear it all in the latest episode of David M. Green & Other Famous People. Available on iTunes, as well as in the player embedded below:

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    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Sans Slade.

  • Time Travel IS POSSIBLE!

    I did it.

    Last Friday night, I successfully travelled back in time to 1984, when Jemima and I went to the Wallis Mainline Drive-in movie theatre in Adelaide’s fabulous northern suburbs!

    I hadn’t been to the drive-in since 1995, when my Dad took my sister and I to a Jim Carey double feature (The Mask + Dumb & Dumber) at what is now a housing estate opposite the Warradale barracks. But 48 hours ago I was living the in-vehicle outdoor cinema experience once again, sitting in my car watching Star Trek XI (great!) and Wolverine (ok) at the Gepps Cross drive-in with my best gal by my side. A fantastic date, ’twas.

    But it was also sad… The place was filled to perhaps 15% of capacity, and the staff, as well as the facilities, were aged long past the prime of their respected “hay-days.” The snack bar decor clearly hadn’t been updated since the place opened in 19(cough cough)8. Pastel shades of pink and blue and “candy” spelled as “Kandi” greeted the motor-movie patrons upon entry. Surprisingly, the prices were cheaper than what one would expect to pay at a traditional cinema, with a much larger range of confectioneries and hot foods too.

    Outside, waist-high white poles with red tops marked recommended locations to park and view. Some of them also featured broken and rusting speaker boxes, relics of a by-gone era, as the audio is now broadcast on an FM frequency and listened to via each car’s own audio system. As I’m not an idiot, I of course remembered to turn on the engine between the two movies, to avoid a flat battery. At least one other car forgot to do this. I imagine flat batteries must occur so often at the drive-in, I was surprised they didn’t have a warning during the previews. I was also pondering… I wonder, if one lived nearby the drive-in, theoretically one could “pirate” a movie’s soundtrack by tuning their radio to (I forget the frequency) and recording using a few blank cassettes? Would there be a market for bootleg audio cassettes of latest release movies? Something to listen to in the car perhaps?

    In conclusion, a good old-fashioned, wholesome fun night out, with movies, cars and plenty of frotteurism in the dark. I highly recommend it. The drive-in, that is. Obviously, bring your own car and girlfriend.

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Enjoyer of fine Kandi

  • I’m DEVO and so is my wife!

    Hello Spuds (People)!

    I can cross another thing of my “To do before I die” list, because last night I saw DEVO play live when they performed a selection of their patented digital cartoons (songs) at Adelaide’s Thebarton Theatre! Oh man/woman they were awesome!

    They played predominantly from their Greatest Hits, although there were a few more obscure tracks thrown in there, such as “Going Under” and “Blockhead” which I wasn’t expecting but thoroughly enjoyed. As I practically like every single one of their songs, I obviously was never going to hear all the ones I wanted. I would have liked to hear some of their post-1982 songs, but I’m probably in the minority… There sure were a lot of single bald men in the audience though… But don’t let their naked craniums fool you! I was beat fair and square by one of them when DEVO started flinging energy domes into the crowd… jerk… that energy dome had my name on it. I mean, they sell them for $30! I was going to have an ’80s party and use them as chip bowls…

    It was a slight shock though to see them in real life. I’d just finished watching a couple of their DVDs, which consist mostly of their original music videos and some live shows from circa 30 years ago. For a second when they walked out on stage I thought they were wearing plastic masks os something (which they often do), but indeed it was pure DEVO. I loved it! I’m a HUGE DEVO FAN! I brought my camera along, but it was dark and the vibrations from the several hundred “moshing” DEVO-tees (fans) around me made it difficult to focus on Mark’s trademark glasses. These were the best:

    Kind regards,
    David M. Green
    Are we not men? (that’s sexist)