Brett Debritz’s archive

My annual holiday starts here. If all goes to plan, this blog will be updated every few days until mid-January, when daily updates will resume. I’ll also update the Celebrity Deaths Archive and Brisbane Theatre Calendar when I can. When I return, I plan to start work on a new look (and a slight change of direction) for debritz.com.

He may not have achieved world peace and an end to poverty yet, but Bono and his U2 bandmates certainly made some money this year. The band’s Vertigo tour, coming to Australia next year, was the world’s biggest in 2005. According to a BBC report quoting Billboard magazine, the tour grossed £146.6million over 90 days. The top 10 earners also included the Eagles, Neil Diamond, Kenny Chesney, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Dave Matthews Band, Jimmy Buffett and Green Day. Funny how, with the exception of No. 10, we hardly ever hear any of these acts on the radio.

Brisbane’s only daily newspaper, The Courier-Mail is to change size from broadsheet to tabloid sometime in the first half of 2006. The story is on The Courier-Mail’s website here. The announcement comes on the same day that Premier Peter Beattie said he would like to see another newspaper in Queensland.

Twelve European women have spent two months in bed – all in the name of science. By lying down and undertaking certain tasks they have helped scientists learn more about the effects of weightlessness in space. They were also paid £10,000 each for their cooperation. I wonder if they’re looking for male volunteers …

Actor Karen Crone was won the 2005 Brisbane Glugs of Gosh award for excellence in theatre. Crone, who starred in Creche and Burn at La Boite’s Roundhouse theatre earlier this year and has a long series of stage credits over the past two decades, received her prize at the Glugs’ Christmas luncheon yesterday. The event, hosted by Chief Glug Muriel Watson and Mayor of Gosh Eric Hauff, attracted more than 60 guests. There’s a photo of Karen and Muriel above, and there’s more pictures from the function here.

Brokeback Mountain, about a longstanding gay relationship between two cowboys, has scored a swag of nominations for the Golden Globes. Actors Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams and director Ang Lee have been nominated in their fields, and the film itself will be competing against George Clooney’s Good Night, And Good Luck, Woody Allen’s Match Point, Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardener and David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence in the best film drama category. Significantly, many of the nominees are low-budget independent efforts.

I had some feedback about links that don’t work for some readers – although they work perfectly well from this end. Please let me know by email if you’re having trouble with the Brisbane Theatre Calendar link. The calendar, which is still being developed (and is farily bare for this time of the year), can also be found at www.brisbanetheatre.com.

ABC Radio’s Conversations is going south. From early next year, Richard Fidler will host the 11am program both on 612ABC Brisbane and 702ABC Sydney. However, it’s not clear from the announcement whether it will be the same program. Because of the time difference between the states, it will be theoretically possible for Fidler to do unique shows back-to-back for the different markets. If it’s the same show, then the Queensland audience will get their “live and local” radio on a one-hour delay during summer. If the Sydney experiment gets extended beyond its initial 13-week trial, the show will have to have a more “national” approach when the time zones fall back into alignment. It’d be a shame if that meant guests were chosen for their appeal to the larger NSW market rather than their ability to connect with Queensland audiences. Whatever happens, it’s clear – as I’ve been saying for some time – that Fidler, who is also slated to host the 1pm to 3pm slot on 612 next year, is being groomed for bigger things on the ABC. Perhaps the big-wigs in Sydney regard his time in Brisbane as an “out-of-town tryout”.

Life without sin is not boring, according to Pope Benedict. I guess it all depends on what you class as sin – and I have more than a sneaking suspicion that the pope’s definition is way more conservative than mine.

“There are many different kinds of comedians – the observational humorist, the impressionist, the character creator, the physical comedian, the self-deprecator, and the dirty-joke teller. What made Richard Pryor so brilliant is he was able to incorporate all these styles at once.” So said Damon Wayons in tribute to Richard Pryor. Bill Cosby said: “I wish that every new and young comedian would understand what Richard was about and not confuse his genius with his language usage.”