Been There Done That

7 Sep 2018

Life as we know it … not always as we like it

Anniversary, Community, Diversity, Gay, History, Icons, Politics, Pop Culture

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Life as we know it … not always as we like it

This week, we’re chatting about our politicians who still believe that it is possible to “pray away the gay”! We refer to the current movie “The Miseducation of Cameron Post”, shown at the recent 2018 MIFF.

Chris reminisces about his previous travels to Germany, and more specifically the colourful fun-fair “Oktoberfest”, now held in September (!). He tells the back story of the public celebration of King Ludwig I’s wedding to Princess Therese in October 1810, and the regular re-celebration thereof (except for years of war). His grandson King Ludwig II was born 25 August 1845 was interested in other directions (some gay) and his legacy was a series of extravagant and flamboyant castles and palaces, which earned him the name of the ‘Mad Swan King’ or ‘Fairy Tale King’.

From our Anniversaries book, we select two members of our community who lead very interesting lives. We talk about the gay UK/US author Christopher Isherwood who lived through the social changes from the 1930s to the 70s, reminding ourselves that the film ‘Cabaret’ is based upon a character from his play & later film “I am a Camera”, recollections of his life in Berlin.
We also chat about Stephen Fry – gay UK actor, comedian, presenter and author – he was ‘always gay’, but he had some other demons in his life.

Locally we remind ourselves that the Australian flag, as we see it today, was first flown on 3^rd September 1901. Sadly, our coinage comes and goes – 1c and 2c coins began disappearing on 21 August 1990, leaving the 5c coin as our smallest denomination. We ask how much longer it may remain in use, given our modern use of digital wallets.

We celebrate the birthday of magical Freddy Mercury on 5 Sept 1946, and recall his musical legacy to us.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #820 – First broadcast on 4 September 2018