Sunday, September 06, 2015

OKAY, CALM DOWN! IT’S ONLY OSCAR! HE’S GONE WILD – AGAIN!



John Osborne


What a mess!  Oscar’s gone Wilde and George Bernard Shaw isn’t a Coward! Over there cringing in the wings is the worrier Daphne du Maurier.  Hemming, naturally, is having his way! 

Within my minute section of the universe remain friends from my childhood and teenage years. Over the many years in between much water has flowed under many bridges, but we were never carried away by the currents; we've clung on to our friendship.

I enjoyed being a teenager. No time for angst, we weren’t “troubled teens”; we were too busy having fun to be troubled!  Unstoppable and unbeatable were we! Probably the only thing we "troubled" over was what colour our next bikini we wanted to buy would be!

September to early June, from morning until dusk, without exception, our weekends were spent at the beach chasing waves and a tan. At record hops we jived, twisted and stomped the nights away; and we wriggled under limbo sticks.

Mondays to Fridays, 8.30 am until 5 pm, my daylight hours were spent taking shorthand and pounding away on a typewriter deciphering my hieroglyphics.  After five years of doing so, I began to walk like an Egyptian. I gave up after my bangles started falling off!

Three members of the select, exclusive posse and I worked/played together in a legal office; one, an articled law clerk, was the son of our boss. He, the son, eventually became a fully-fledged solicitor and took over his Dad’s firm.  

The rest of the dedicated group held various office jobs within companies of one kind or the other. A member of the gang even married the articled law clerk/solicitor, and they remain wedded, living happily ever after, to this day. Another in our coterie was a hairdresser.  She ended up operating her own salon while at the same time raising four wonderful children. I'm the only one of the troupe who didn't have children.

Nowadays we’ve all been put out to pasture because we’re of the age and beyond.  However, in one way or the other we’re still kicking up our heels; not pushing up daisies!

“In the good old days” not only on weekends, but also during the week we didn’t believe in wasting our time.  There were dances and record hops that needed our unfailing, reliable attendance in our leisure hours.

Sports, too, required our attention. Basketball (we didn’t call it “netball” when I was a teenager), tennis (I was a hopeless tennis player, but that didn’t stop me) and swimming were on our agendas.

Broadening of our inquisitive minds demanded our in-depth scrutiny and dissection. We questioned, prodded and argued (peacefully) poets diverse as Whitman, Ginsberg, Poe, Emerson, Frost, Plath, Cummings, Auden, Byron, Thomas, Keats, Yeats etc.

At length we discussed and analysed the philosophies of Kafka, Nietzsche, de Beauvoir, Sartre, Russell, Kant et al. We ploughed our way through Proust, Joyce and Homer, as well as D.H. Lawrence and Kerouac, both of whom sat high on our extensive list. 

Music of all genres played a major role in our lives. And anyone who had a set of bongo drums had me at “G’day”!

Somehow, among those activities I found time to become a member of the local drama group. Not only was the acting fun, but so too were the play-reading evenings.

By becoming a member of Gympie’s Drama Group (a branch of which included the Musical Union) I was introduced to a whole new world brimming with playwrights beyond William Shakespeare.

Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, O’Neill, Ibsen and Pinter became new friends, along with the familiar Coward, Shaw, Wilde and du Maurier. 

In readiness for a visit from "Rebecca" we studied our lines; borrowed furniture; went in search for costumes and we willingly offered to paint backdrops.  For four nights we shared Rebecca's plight with those among Gympie's population who were interested in small theatre productions.

Naturally, during our play-reading evenings “the drinker who had a writing problem” - Brendan Behan - held a place of prominence. To make him feel welcome often a forward-thinking/forward-planning fellow member of the club brought along a Scotch-filled flask  We'd add a dash or two to our coffee.  Those holding the play-reading evenings, the producers/directors, didn't have a clue!  It was kind of like a lesson in Method Acting.

And then, it was time to get down and dirty.

We exited Noel Coward’s rather dignified drawing rooms and jumped head first into the revolutionary “kitchen sink” dramas such as John Osborne’s “Look Back in Anger”. Osborne and Kingsley Amis were part of the emerging “Angry Young Men” brigade. 

An even angrier young woman, Shelagh Delaney had joined the squad. Delaney, in 1958, at the tender age of 18 years, wrote the raw, meaty “A Taste of Honey”.

Suddenly we were awash with the true-to-life frustrations of the “working class”; the “silver spoon-upper-crust” set were pushed aside.

Now the cutlery was tarnished; the crockery cracked; glasses chipped and unpolished.

Our teenage years were filled with inquiring enlightenment, not cultivated, mimicked troubled angst.  The only peer pressure we succumbed to was learning and having fun while doing so.  I doubt we'd even heard the term "peer pressure", let alone understood what it meant.

The only ice we sought were the fresh fruit salad ice-blocks we bought from Webster’s Corner Shop. The drink we binged on was Golden Circle Pineapple juice.

Pineapple Chicken: Bring to boil; 1/2c pineapple juice, 1/4c honey, 4 minced garlic cloves, 3tbs Worcestershire sauce, 1tbs grated fresh ginger or 1tsp ground ginger and 1tsp salt; simmer uncovered until reduced to ½ cup; stir occasionally; cool. Marinate 12 chicken drumsticks/thighs; chill overnight. Drain; reserve marinade. Place chicken on rack over drip pan over bbq grill; shut hood; grill 40-45mins; for first 30mins brush occasionally with marinade.

Salmon with Sweet & Sour Cucumber Salad: Heat 1c pineapple juice, 1/2c honey, 1/4c brown sugar, 1/2c soy, 2tbs sesame oil, 1c water, juice of ½ lemon and 1tsp white pepper; once sugar and honey melts, put into bowl; cool; then pour over 4 salmon fillets; marinate 15mins; drain marinade into pan; bring to boil; simmer. Pat salmon lightly with paper towel; heat pan to very high. Crust salmon in sesame seeds (including black sesame seeds, if you like), Pan-fry on both sides; once seeds are golden, turn heat to medium; cook to med-rare. Salad; slice Lebanese cucumbers; toss slices in 1/2c white vinegar, 1/2c white sugar, 1/4c sesame oil, 2tbs sesame seeds and 1/4c chopped shallots.

Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal Crust Pie: Combine 3c rolled oats, 1c plain flour, 1/2tsp salt, 1-1/2tsp cinnamon, 6tbs light brown sugar, 1tsp vanilla and 1c melted butter; mix well. Press firmly into bottom and sides of a 9 or 10-inch pie pan; reserve about 1c of crust mix for topping.  Drizzle 3tbs lemon juice over 7c peeled, thinly sliced Granny Smiths and 1c frozen cranberries; toss through ground cinnamon, ground allspice and ground nutmeg; add 1/2tsp grated lemon zest; sprinkle in 3tbs plain flour; add 1/4c packed light brown sugar and 1/2c sour cream. Place into unbaked crust; sprinkle crumbs over top; pat into place. Bake 45-50mins in 190C oven until apples are soft, crust browned; serve hot, warm or room temp.

Apple Sultana Pineapple Cake:  Preheat oven 180C/350F. Lightly grease a 23x13cm loaf tin. Put 125g self-raising flour and 125g unsalted butter, softened and cubed in a bowl; mix with fingertips…preferably your own…until you have a fine breadcrumb-like consistency. Stir in 140g chopped walnuts/pecans, 140g sultanas and 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and grated; add 3 eggs and 65ml pineapple juice; beat everything together until well combined. Spoon the mixture into loaf tin; smooth top. Bake in centre of oven, 1-1/4hrs; or until skewer comes out clean; cool in tin for a few minutes; then turn out onto wire rack and leave to cool before slicing and serving.

Pineapple-Ginger Juice: Push 2 cups cubed pineapple, ½ to 1-inch peeled piece of fresh ginger and half a pear.  Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

34 comments:

  1. I loved hearing about your younger years , sounds rather blissful. Times have changed , sadly as they do.

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    1. Hi Leisha...Yep! They were good times. I'm glad I was a teenager when I was...during those years way back when...times of innocence.

      Thanks for popping in. :)

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  2. I am glad that your teenage years were so happy.
    I did know anxt. The anxt of not belonging, and believing I never would. If someone would invent a time machine, my teenage years are the last ones I would go back to. Late twenties on the other hand...

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    1. Hey EC...that's a shame that you didn't enjoy your teenage years. I revisit them if given the opportunity and a time machine!

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  3. On the breakfast tv this morning whilst I was waiting for the local news and weather (I'm afraid I'm a bit of a news/weather junkie which I find unexplainable) someone said that it was hard for parents these days 'finding things for their children to do'. I shall blog about that but it did make me realise how much things have changed. We found our own things to do.

    My childhood was happy too and we had wonderful parents. As a teenager though I was full of angst for so many reasons and until your post I didn't even realise or think about it. Or perhaps I did but have since swept it all under my mental carpet (another thing you can't do now because we have fitted carpets and wooden floors). Today is going to be a thoughtful day whilst I paint the garage wall!

    And tomorrow I shall probably use your pineapple chicken recipe when a friend comes to dinner. Note to self: get ginger.



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    1. Hi Graham...I'm a bit of a news/weather junkie, too, but I'm trying to cut down on my news viewing. Lately, it's so overwhelming...it just sucks the life out of me.

      I think after living on a couple of islands and being dependent on the weather is where I got the habit of being a diligent watcher of the weather reports.

      I really had nothing much to be angry about when I was a teenager...enjoying those carefree years was what was important to me and my group of friends. We enjoyed the simple life. None of us had much money to spend...but that didn't matter to us. None of us had cars...and that didn't matter, either. We were fortunate, I guess, that we had much to keep us entertained and interested.

      I hope you enjoy your pineapple chicken...thanks for coming by, Graham. :)

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    2. I wasn't really angry about very much either Lee. I was anxious though about a career, health (I had a life threatening disease although I didn't know was until a few years ago that most people who have it die from it.), girls, religion and just about everything. Most of that left me in my early twenties and and during the last 10 years in most things (except timekeeping and manners) I've become so laid back I'm almost horizontal. Leastways that's how I see myself. Others may well have a different perspective!

      I never took to Brendan Behan or his works but was immersed in the Russian authors in my late teens and early twenties.

      Writing has never come easily to me and a career making sure that every word was not capable of being misunderstood (or deliberately being obtuse) has made writing spontaneously very difficult even now. I envy you your spontaneity and fluency.

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    3. Oh...I'd forgotten about the Russian authors...they, too, joined the throng, of course. Wow! My mind boggles just thinking about, remembering everything we did do; everything we managed to fit into our hours. We were surrounded by so much...how could we not be interested?

      You kicked that disease in the butt and sent it on its way, Graham. Good for you!

      And as for your writing....you do pretty well at that, too! Don't be so hard on yourself. :)

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  4. Poetry, philosophy, drama club; your teenage years were so much more cultured than mine. All I did was run around on the beach until I was 15, being a child, brown as a berry and just as innocent.

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    1. I'm not sure if "cultured" is the right word, River...we were just keen to learn...to learn about as much as we could. I always loved reading...still do...so books covering all subjects played a huge part in those growing years.

      We never missed a weekend at the beach. We either left for the coast after we finished work on Friday afternoons, or we left first thing on the Saturday mornings; returning back to Gympie on Sunday afternoons. It was all great.

      It was a time of innocence...and in so many ways I certainly was innocent...most of us were in those days of the early Sixties.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  5. what a colorful life you have had and continue to have, acting is one thing I've never done, perhaps some day, now after seeing your scrumptious food I am hungry, ha

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    1. Hey Linda...My life these days isn't colourful. I fly under the radar; I live a peaceful, quiet existence, enjoying my own space and privacy...I keep to myself - my own choice.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  6. Wow,I haven't heard the name Brendan Behan for a very long time. He was celebrated in my youth but his fame seemed to have dissipated with his death.

    Yes, when we look back, times seemed to be so busy and exciting during our younger years. There was always something to look forward to and the world revolved around us.

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    1. Hi Arleen...I'd not thought much about Brendan Behan for a long time, either; that is, until I started writing this article. As I was writing my post many memories flooded back of those days (and nights).

      Thanks for popping in. :)

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  7. How wholesome was your youth Lee! Untainted by mobile phones or social media , attention was turned to your peers and your shared interests. You must have been a very intellectual bunch back in Gympie.

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    1. Hi Yorky...we were probably just questioning and more interested in many things, more than intellectual! We were willing to discover as much as we could. It was the early Sixties...everyone was "questioning" the purpose of life.

      The music and lyrics of people like Dylan, Baez, Seeger, among others, surrounded us. We had much to be inquisitive about. Our minds were open; our minds were like sponges. We were eager to learn as much as we could about as much as we could.

      There's nothing more wholesome, I believe, than the beach and the ocean...a wonderful way to spend our weekends...surfing/swimming and getting a tan. :)

      Thanks for coming by. :)

      P.S. My life remains untainted by mobile phones. I think I'm the Last of the Mohicans as far as they're concerned...I don't have one; I have no need for one. :) (I couldn't do without my computer, though!)

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  8. As it is said THOSE WERE THE DAYS. PEACE

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    1. That's for sure, Lady Di. I would hope the teenagers of today had such a time as we did in our day. I doubt it though...the innocence of those times has long disappeared, never to return again, unfortunately.

      Thanks for popping in. :)

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  9. I am glad you had such a sweet childhood. You have had a very interesting life there girl. And the chicken with the pineapple juice marinade I copied!

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    1. Hi Sandie....My childhood wasn't all sweet; but once I was old enough to stand on my own two feet and was able to work and earn my own money, I grabbed life with both hands. It was mine and it had so much to offer me.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  10. Great memories and food Lee.

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    1. Hey Carol...yes...great memories...ones I'm pleased I made. Thanks for coming by. :)

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  11. I think we were much less literate than you were at that age! How long does it take you to come up with the clever puns?

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    1. Hi RK... My mind works in mysteriously weird ways!

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  12. I always knew you were an actor! :)

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    1. Uh-Oh! You've seen through me, Mr. Ad-Man! It was all an act!!!

      Thanks for popping in! :)

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  13. Wonderful writers! All of them - I loved the book "Rebecca" and the movie!

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    1. Hi Lynn...and let's hope future generations continue enjoying them as we did.

      Thanks for coming by. :)

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  14. What wonderful writers you have showcased and punned here Lee. Golden Circle Pineapple juice in those big tins. Yum. I used to turn it into punch for parties. Yummo. Memories are sweet!

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    1. Hi Denise...in those days of yore we bought our Golden Circle Pineapple Juice in glass bottles...the same size as the small Coca-Cola bottles. We loved it!

      Thanks for coming by...glad you enjoyed my bit of nonsense! :)

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  15. I've bought the ingredients for your pineapple chicken; I don't have a barbecue, but I'll give it a go in the oven.
    The apple sultana pineapple cake sounds great too, but that can wait.

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    1. Hi again, River...that'll work...the oven, that is. Enjoy your chicken. I might even make some for me on the weekend...oven-style for me, too. Thanks for popping in. :)

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  16. The good old days. Nothing can beat them.

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    1. That's for sure, whiteangel! Thanks for popping in. :)

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