Whether ‘Wicked’ is worth it, plus ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’

The giveaway is 'Leave the Girls Behind' by Jacqueline Bublitz

In case any of you missed it, apologies for Becks and the City not happening last week. Time got away from me. The end of year crunch, you know how it goes.

I’ve been deep into the mind-messiness of Welfare Queens draft two, trying to solve several problems with the novel manuscript at once without creating more. Feeling like I’m wasting time because I’m not increasing the word count, trying to tell myself that this planning stuff is important and necessary. It is. That doesn’t stop my mind from trying to rebel, though.

I knew it’d be a lot of work, staring at the wall, thinking hard thoughts, but I’ve still underestimated how long the process would take. I’ve been making a few mini-breakthroughs. There’s still plenty of work to go.

I’m typing this newsletter today as I’m waiting to board a plane to travel to a bookish event in Sydney. I’ll probably be doing more of this planning palaver on board, hunched over my laptop. Oh, the glamour.

Have a florally fun week!

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News

1.     ‘Uranus’ jokes aside, this is pretty cool. I’m not particularly a space nerd, but I do enjoy a bit of science fiction now and then, so I’m excited to hear that maybe there’s other life in our solar system. When we last checked out Uranus, the planet happened to be a bit under the weather, skewing what we knew about it at the time. Now we’re ready to take a fresh look and perhaps find it could be harbouring signs of life.

2.     I know aspects of Enid Blyton’s books haven’t aged well, but I was a big fan of The Magic Faraway Tree as a kid. As an adult, I even named one of my memoir-flavoured essays after it (paging lit journals: anyone wanna publish it?). Anyway, I’m thrilled at the news the story is being made into a movie. It would be so luscious to see it on screen – all the weird worlds floating to the top of that wacky tree. What’s more, Nicola Coughlan impressed me in Derry Girls with her terrific acting and she seems like an all-round fab person off-screen as well. So, seeing this sneak peek of her in the movie? Hells yeah!

3.     Fashion makes me happy – the colours, the way it can lift your mood, the playfulness of the designs. When it collides with eco-friendliness? Even better. It’s hard to resist the sway of changing trends and new goodies hitting the stores every five seconds. All we can do is the best we can to make sustainable buying choices and support events like this in Western Australia with a fun jetty catwalk record attempt. Good on ’em.

Reviews

1.     Not gonna lie, I’ve been looking forward to the Wicked movie ever since I heard it was happening. I came to it almost completely ignorant of the musical – never seen it, although I’m familiar with ‘Defying Gravity’ from Glee. Pretty much the only other things I knew coming in are that it’s based on The Wizard of Oz and Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth were in it. Another matter I should address up front is I’m no fan of Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda. She’s an exceptional singer, but as a person? Not my jam at all. I must admit, she does a great job in Wicked both as a singer and an actor. She has impeccable comedic timing, she’s charismatic, and her singing is top tier. Same goes for Cynthia Erivo, who plays green witch Elphaba. The entire cast does a fab job overall. There are a couple of older actors who only sing briefly and aren’t the best vocalists, but they more than make up for it with their acting and stage presence. Also, I feel it’s fair to warn you, as I didn’t realise this coming in: it’s actually part one of the story and ends on a ‘To be continued…’. So, if that bothers you, wait to watch this one until the sequel is released. Anyway, I was impressed overall, it’s a visual feast, the songs are good, and I’m keen (and slightly nervous) to see where the story goes in the second half.

2.     You will pry my Vita C Serum by AG Care from my cold, dead hands (I’ve reviewed it here before when it changed formulation and thankfully still worked the same). For my troublesome thick, dry, curly hair, it makes it silkier and smoother and more manageable. Recently, I was sent a free sample of the equivalent product from Briogeo – their vegan Style + Treat soft power air dry cream ($26 for 118 ml). It has a pleasant light, soapy smell to it, probably nicer than the AG Care product and the cream is thinner. Other than that, they are pretty similar. I still think the Vita C Serum gives me the best anti-frizz result, but if it ever goes off the market, Briogeo’s offering makes a serviceable plan B.

3.     I always marvel at clever cake decorating, but I hold no talent in that regard whatsoever. Not only do these Harry Potter mandrake brownies look cute as hell, they actually look super-easy (I’d cheat and just buy the chocolate cake/brownie because low-fuss is my religion). Keeping this in my back pocket for the next pot luck I’m invited to attend.

What I’m Feelin’ Right Now

• Wearing a bucket hat at a beachside bar, sipping a drink with a tiny umbrella

• A breakfast of hummus on toast with healthy extras like avocado or tomato

• This snappy pair of pointy black patent shoes I bought recently for a Xmas party

• Trying bubble teas in various flavours I haven’t trialled before

• Neon with sparkles because why not?

• This cheeky chip-stealing one-piece

• A K-pop idol singing a song in English written by Take That’s Gary Barlow? Jin’s ‘Running Wild’ is a dream come true

• Burgundy trousers

• Tracking down roti canai to have with teh tarik

Giveaway

Congratulations to Penny George, who won Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo. Hooray! I’ve sent Penny an email.

The giveaway this week is Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz. Enter your name and email address here for a chance to win.

Playlist of the Week

Get out the Doritos, it’s salsa night: