I've just finished (23rd November 2008) "My nine lives" by Diane Cilento, a famous film star, married to Sean Connery for some time and a Queenslander with famous Australian parents. Because of her birthplaace and family it was a very interesting read about many places in Queenslalnd I'm familiar with.
One of the best books I've read this year (2008) is "A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby
He has an interesting style of writing in which the thoughts of his characters supplant dialogue. He treats serious social topics with an element of humour avoiding a completeley grim view of the world.
In January I read "Things I didn't know" by Robert Hughes. It is a fairly frank account of his life, including the motor vehicle accident and his recovery. Not everyone likes his style, but he is very articulate and for me very informative.
In february I read "A most wanted man" by John le Carré. It was the usual le Carré espionage novel involving decent people trying to help victims of Islamic, Chechnyan, british, American and German political manipulation.
In March I read Daniel Barenboim's book "Everything is connected". I learned quite a lot about music and something of his feelings about Jews and Israel. He feels deeply about the need for lasting peace in the Middle East
Last year I saw And when did you last see your Father? a very moving film about the relationship between a father and his son. Another good film was
The Band's Visit a film about nice gentle people, Egyptians visiting Israel.
Then we saw In Bruges. Apart from the beauty of Bruges the film was a tale of three gangsters. It had a clever plot and a lot of nice humour.
to
find out
about French in Brisbane. And the language reflects the
culture of the country as a whole. It might be losing its
character and individuality; the world would be the poorer should this
happen. Along with France, Spain has propagated its culture on a global scale and its language is international.
has a large
programme of so-called classical music. There is a lot of music played at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University
conveniently
situated on the South Bank 
for a pre-dinner
concert on a Friday
evening. the Brisbane Broncos,
the Queensland
the Australian cricketers
and Football (with the spherical ball).
