Just watched Tim Burton’s excellent retelling of Steven Sondheim’s excellent musical retelling of the tale of Sweeney Todd.

Love the musical but we’ve been toying with yet another retelling… featuring the music of Stephen Sondheim and the inimitable stars of Warner Bros. Here’s our cast list - this won’t be remotely interesting unless you know the musical, but if you do… whaddya reckon?

Sweeney Todd - Elmer Fudd (…’these are my fwends…’)

Mrs Lovett - Bugs in drag (ain’t I a stinker)

Judge Turpin - Porky Pig (’p-p-p-pretty women…’)

Toby - Sylvester (’nothing’th gonna harm you, no thir, not while I’m around…’)

Johanna and Anthony - Pepe le Pieu and Tweety Pie (’green finch and linnet bird…’)

Pirelli - Daffy Duck

Well, it may not be getting any writing done but at least it’s entertaining my brain while I’m still finishing the unpacking!!

Bliss, bliss, triple bliss!!! 

At last we’ve moved house and I am sitting at my WRITING DESK with music playing (yes alright, it’s Dire Straits but give the woman a break, she’s had a tough week…) and a tumbler of Sav Blank (note to self, unpack some wine glasses…)

Not completely unpacked yet but the basics are there - my Reading List books are in their own library bag beside the bed. And how have I prioritised?  Let’s see: first grandpa’s books into his glass-fronted bookcase, because they are finite and easy to categorise - Dickens, Meredith, Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Origin of Species, Statistical History of Dumfermline (huh?) etc.

Second is the writing desk, third the bathroom, fourth the clothes. Tomorrow the kitchen and eventually the rest of the books.

The writing desk is set up facing the front window, and will get the eastern morning sun. This is where I’ll be doing my writing before I face the dramas of my working day, and I can feel those juices tricking already. I will array my shells from the Bribie beach along the window sill and they will take me straight back to that freedom. If I get stuck I will sniff them and smell the sea they were washed in.

If only I can remember which box I packed them in…

Ah well, it’s a start!

Thanks to Luke Keioskie the Orbiteers now have our very own squeaky clean website - check us out at http://orbiteers.wordpress.com

Wow, just checked stats and found I have had VISITORS - quietly alarmed as this blog is very new. Nevertheless, welcome one and all, please excuse the packing boxes dotted around, I hope to be settled in soon.

Belatedly reporting on the extraordinary phenomenon that was the QWC/Orbit manuscript development program. Part of me is still walking along the beach on Bribie Island, dreaming up solutions to make my manuscript perfect. I was amazed that my novel Kindred Spirit was selected; conversation with other participants revealed I wasn’t the only one, and I was happy to learn this is apparently also common amongst much more experienced and well-known writers, too. Good to feel part of the gang…

Thanks especially to the amazing Kate Eltham (CEO, Queensland Writers Centre) and the wonderful Julie Beveridge; also to Bernadette Foley and Deonie Fiford from Orbit/Hachette Livre for their insights, support, honesty and encouragement - and of course to both organisations for making the program possible.

Thanks too to wonderful author Marianne de Pierres whose perspicacity and good humour were matched only by her generosity, warmth and skill at badminton. And of course thanks to Tara Wynne from Curtis Brown Australia and Ron Serdiuk from Pulp Fiction Press - I’m sorry you guys couldn’t share our island paradise for longer, it was a blast!

And finally, thanks to my fellow participants (working title Orbiteers, until we go through a democratic process to finalise our name). You guys rock!

 Back row: Author Marianne de Pierres, Terence Hornby, Susan L Cullen, Jeremy Gordon, Graham Storrs, Joanne Clay, Jody-Ann Brocklebank
Front row: Fiona Sawyer, me, QWC’s Kate Eltham, Joanne Anderton, Luke Keioskie

Just picked up the latest Dr Who DVD - 25th Anniversary 2-disc release of “The Five Doctors”, one of my favourite specials of all time.

Disc 1 includes the original 90-minute TV release plus “Celebrations”, an indepth exploration of every step of production from concept through to post-release publicity. Hosted by a very dignified Colin Baker, it includes excellent snippets from cast and crew including the late director Peter Moffatt. Set aside a spare 52 minutes for this one, well worth the time. Nice to see interviews that aren’t repeated fifteen times elsewhere on the DVD.

Disc 2 includes the 10-year anniversary release with its updated special effects - purists will prefer the original but this one’s fun as well.

“The Ties That Bind Us” is an exploration of obscure continuity details - narrative, character, setting - running from the earliest days of Dr Who right through to the 2007 episodes. Narrated by Paul McGann, it’s enticingly short - any longer and it would be only for die-hard fans. Lots of “oh, yeah” moments, especially the great compilation at the end.

“Five Doctors, One Studio” is oddly hypnotic - long chunks of uncut footage from the scene in which the four doctors finally meet in the Tomb of Rassilon. Makes you realise how patient actors are, especially poor Richard Hurndall who must have been standing for hours. Worth a look for some of the quiet byplay between Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton, but doubt whether you’d want to watch it more than once.

“Outtakes” is the usual mix of special effects hiccups and actors drying, with some nice Dalek moments at the beginning.

“(Not so) Special Effects” - ah, the good old days when TV special effects meant plastic and rubber and cardboard…

There are also some nuggets of old kids’ TV gold, with cast members appearing on shows such as Saturday Superstore, Blue Peter and Breakfast Time, including an interview with the late, great Verity Lambert on Nationwide. And of course there is the usual collection of trailers, teasers and stings.

Both discs include the Info Text facility and various audio commentaries.