On Wednesday evening Sam and I went to to see the Mythbusters ‘Behind the Myths’ gig. I introduced Sam to Mythbusters a few years back and it has been his favourite ever since, checking the TV guide each night to see if its on – and if its not then watching recorded episodes. There are many worse things a kid could be into and those guys are a lot of fun!

Sam is a dedicated fan and science nut, so when I heard they were coming to Perth it was virtually a case of ‘cost is no object’…We were going… And Sam was excited…. Very excited.

So Wednesday evening we headed into the Arena to be part of the event with 6500 other people. And while we had been anticipating this for months the actual event itself was probably a 6/10. If you like Mythbusters you probably like them for the way they blow stuff up and do crazy, zany experiments that mum would never let you try at home… and nor will Perth Arena… and therein lay the problem.

If you were a fan then perhaps just seeing the faces of Adam and Jamie was enough, but if you were curious as to how they might put on a show then you were likely going to be disappointed. They announced at the start that they weren’t allowed to blow anything up, but they were going to ‘blow our minds’, which is a big call and one they ultimately didn’t follow through on.

The rest of the evening consisted of a blend of practical science lesson and talk show with the odd moment of adrenalin pulsing. They showed some of their big explosions on the screen, but it felt a bit second rate when I think many had hoped they would do some ‘magic’ in person.

I thought maybe it was just me until I spoke with a mate who also found it a little underpowered. A review I read elsewhere said they sounded ‘like a talented band talking about how much they enjoyed performing music’, and it definitely did have that vibe to it. There was a bit too much talk time and story telling from people who have made a reputation for action. I guess if you went seeking that then it is all ok, but I’m guessing plenty didn’t.

When I asked Sam for the highlight he said it was ‘the humour’ and in that I thought he was spot on. Adam and Jamie are a good combination and Adam can spit our some pretty good one liners off the cuff. The Q & A was probably the low point for me, listening to some fairly inane questions and other people asking if they ‘could have a selfie?’ just seemed kind of a waste of time (and to his credit Adam called it that!)

As we left I felt that if they returned I might be prepared to spend $30-40 to attend another performance, (but I’d just as soon stay home) rather than $140, but Sam was beaming and ecstatic. He spoke about it all the way home – and I mean ALL the way to Yanchep… It was like he’d been to heaven and back and in that it was worth every cent – a bullseye.

So while the show itself didn’t raise my pulse, for Sam it was an evening to remember and those things are priceless hey?…

Yesterday I allocated the whole day to working in the local area for a very nice lady who was an ex UWA professor and a ‘church going’ lady and now retired.  To give me a hand she had hired a local handyman and he was a ‘roughie’.

So I alternated today between discussing Christology and spirituality with R while lamenting the mess that Yanchep has become since all those f@$-in young couples and families had moved in with Z.

It was enjoyable and entertaining. But it also highlighted the diversity of the community we live in.  Z has been in Yanchep renting the same house since 1990 and works as a handyman as little as possible, while R lives on a farm since retiring and comes home to her Yanchep properties on the occasional weekend.

R had identified herself as having ‘church heritage’ and seemed to enjoy discussing faith with me until it got sticky… She was talking to me about the importance of faith, but how all paths lead to God and it doesn’t matter which you take. Up to then we had found common ground, but on this  I disagreed suggesting Jesus definitely claimed to be the only way.  The conversation ended there – very politely mind you  – but when R opened her wallet to pay me I saw her ‘Bahai’ membership card. Of course that explained why any kind of exclusivity would be a problem.

By contrast Z and I discussed the more blokey stuff of life as we worked.  My favourite quote from the morning was him telling me about a conversation he had with tech support trying to fix his computer. The di*&^head said to me ‘Don’t you know how to re-install windows mate?’

I said to him ‘Will a rim off a VG Valiant fit on a HT Kingswood?’ And he didn’t know…  ‘We can’t all know everything mate!’ said Z and I think he made his point pretty well… albeit in a way I would never have thought of…

It was a great day with two good people but it highlighted the cultural differences that exist within this little community.

The flight home last night ended up being a five and a half hour marathon rather than the regular 4 1/2 hr deal. I don’t fly anywhere near as much as I used to but you have to be grateful for those little seat back entertainment systems that seem to be standard fare on all Qantas flights now. You can sit down, zone out and come back when the plane lands.

I managed to find myself in the back row next to the toilets… lovely… as you are continually getting bumped by people walking past, you are last for food service and then there’s the disturbing aromas  that waft from the toilets into your area… Not sure what I did to deserve that particular spot, but I think I’ll be checking in much earlier from now on!

The in-flight movie choice wasn’t that impressive. I had watched the Silver Lining Playbook on the way over as well as The Impossible, both nothing special, but watchable. I had seen several others so I was down to the dregs. I tried Parental Guidance, Guilt Trip and finally Lincoln, but none could hold my interest past the 10 minute mark, so I decided to move to the stand up comedy section.

There was an hour from each person and it was quite intriguing to observe the different approaches to genre each brought. I watched an hour of Carl Barron and some chunks of Akmal Saleh, Frank Woodley, Judith Lucy and Arj Barker.

Barron is genuinely funny, both with stories and facial gestures and he manages to circle back to some familiar themes throughout his repertoire. He moves between a west Sydney drawl and a more intelligible style of speaking. Akmal Saleh does the same, and while he’s funny in places a lot of his humour is at the expense of the audience as he throws out insults and interacts while thinking on his feet.

Judith Lucy has moments of being very funny, but I really struggle with her whining voice. I guess its her trademark and some will love it, but as far as female comediennes go, I’ll take Kitty Flanagan any day. When I flicked across to Arj Barker no one was laughing… He did get better, but the big winner for me was Frank Woodley who impressed  with his ability to be genuinely funny without having to say ‘F&ck’ every second word, without having to insult his audience, and without having to resort to obscenity.

I’m not particularly precious about those things, but it seems they are the way to get a quick laugh and Woodley didn’t take the easy route. He had some great content.

I like to watch the various Comedy festivals when they come around, but each year the  level of explicit and offensive sexual material seems to rachet up a notch. Its a shame because now it seems that the challenge is to be the edgiest with content rather than the funniest. I reckon audiences sometimes laugh because its the only way to deal with the awkwardness.

So if you’re an Aussie stand up comedian then I reckon your challenge in this culture at this time is to get people laughing without having to say ‘F&ck’, without having to speak of incest or bestiality and without having to insult your audience. There aren’t many who seem to be able to jump that bar.

Maybe that’s our fault?… If we don’t laugh at them then maybe they’d get the message. I hope I’m not just getting old and grumpy, but I would love to see a whole crew of stand ups come through who are just FUNNY.

Coming to Yanchep would probably be one of the best moves we have ever made as a family.

The header on the blog now is of our first day in this home.

It was cold and wet the day before as we moved in and on our first morning in a new place the kids wandered out onto the verandah to look out at the rainbow that had formed. Rainbows are symbols of new beginnings and I guess it felt a bit like that on the first morning.

I took this pic from inside the kitchen – hence the ‘spots’ on the window.

Not sure exactly why I love it – I think it just takes me back to a wonderful day