Russell Crowe Coffs Harbour Community Centre Appeal

Thanks to NBN News, here is some further video of Russell and the Russell Crowe Coffs Harbour Community Centre Appeal. The appeal is being coordinated by Coff's Harbour City Council and has the support of many local businesses.

“It is absolutely devastating to think about the huge loss of lives and people losing family members, property and other belongings in these bushfires,” Coffs Harbour Mayor, Keith Rhoades, said.

“Some of these townships have lost everything, and with the loss of community facilities comes the loss of community as we know it.

“The rebuilding of those communities won’t be possible without assistance from communities around Australia.

"Coffs Harbour City Council has always been at the forefront to assist in circumstances such as these and we are very pleased to be able to help by coordinating this appeal on behalf of the community.”

To make a donation, go directly to the Coffs Harbour City Council website and follow the instructions there.

Australia Unites Video

Our hearts and prayers go out to all those involved in the recent bushfires in Australia. Many lives and homes were lost and we at The Glen, Russell Crowe Fan Fiction, and Libriscrowe would like to offer our condolences and prayers to all who have suffered during this devastating event.

This video is a clip from the Austalia Unites telethon on Channel Nine in Australia. Russell, Coach Jason Taylor and Rabbitohs team members talk about the devastation and the fundraising efforts in Coff’s Harbour. Anyone who would like to make a donation can do so at the following link:

Australian Red Cross

Video of Russell, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush

Thanks to AsiaNet, here's a brief video of the ceremony at the Australia Day Lunch where Russell, Cate Blanchett, and Geoffrey Rush received the 24-carat gold replicas of their Australian Legends stamps.

Russell, Cate, and Geoffrey all appear in the first few seconds of the video as they are introduced. The last part is commentary by Cate Blanchett.

Australia Day 2009

We couldn't let today go by without mentioning Australia Day. Australia Day, also known as Anniversary Day and Foundation Day, is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the unfurling of the British flag at Sydney Cove and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia.

Australia Day is an official public holiday in every state and province of Australia, and is marked by the Order of Australia and Australian of the year awards, along with an address from the Prime Minister.

Learn more about it at these sites:

Australia Day 2009

Australia Day.gov

And, to celebrate Australia Day in our own way, here's the video of Russell Crowe and TOFOG singing "Land of the Second Chance", the song Russell referenced in his article for The Daily Telegraph, What Australia Means To Me.






The Land of the Second Chance

What Australia Means to Russell Crowe

In a special section iof Australia's Daily Telegraph, Russell talks about his immigration to Australia and what his adopted country means to him. His narrative reveals the beautiful story behind the Russell Crowe/Alan Doyle song "Land of the Second Chance". Crowe fans won't want to miss it. Here's a brief excerpt:

What Australia Means to Russell Crowe

You see, I'm an immigrant too. I understand the feeling and have experienced the gratitude of being blessed and accepted by a country that I wasn't born in.

I call Australia: "The land of the second chance", and that's what I called the song we wrote for Mario.

********************************************************************

Land of the Second Chance (Crowe/Doyle 2005)


He didn’t say her name; he described her with a tear
In 1952 he left that girl and made his way down here
And the ocean raged around him, cleansed his soul and sharpened his aim
He was coming down to Queensland to cut the Sugarcane

Chorus

Burning Field
Bow my head and bend my back and I will kneel
I’ll give the angels thanks
For bringing me here and guiding my hand in this land
The Land of the Second Chance

In ’53 he bought a car with the proceeds of the season
He travelled three States, coast and bush wandering without a reason
He was driving away her memory, driving himself insane
Then he drove back up to Queensland to cut the Sugarcane

Chorus

Burning Field
Bow my head and bend my back and I will kneel
I’ll give the angels thanks
For bringing me here and guiding my hand in this land
The Land of the Second Chance

Troppo is not tropical it’s Italian for crazy in the heat
He got arranged to a Spanish girl but she didn’t like his canecutter’s teeth
That season he tripled his workload to prove he was worthy of her hand
When he got back up to Rockhampton, she’d taken off with a handsome man
Five or six years on a gambler’s drunk, he woke up in Sydney one morning
A thousand miles south of his last night out so he took it as the angels warning
That car got him a job fitting aluminium window frames
Floating above the big city, far away from the Sugarcane

Chorus

Burning Field
Bow my head and bend my back and I will kneel
I’ll give the angels thanks
For bringing me here and guiding my hand in this land
The Land of the Second Chance

Bridge

Forty-five years of married life,
Children and children’s children
He can still point to where he fitted the glass
And smiles when you recognise the buildings

Most of his mates have seen the pearly gates but there’s a few that have survived.
They sit here and drink espresso
Like it’s Florence – “Firenze, prima della guerra” (Florence, before the war)

Back in 1935
On a front table at Bill and Toni’s he told me his story on Stanley Street
A little hard to understand that day Mario got brand new teeth
Fifty-three years he’s been here and he says he’s never looked back
A fortunate find for a lucky guy
The Land of the Second Chance

Chorus

Burning Field
Bow my head and bend my back and I will kneel
I’ll give the angels thanks
For bringing me here and guiding my hand in this land
The Land of the Second Chance
The Land of the Second Chance
The Land of the Second Chance

Buy Russell Stamps

Australian Legends of the Screen stamps, featuring Russell along with Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Nicole Kidman are available for purchase at the Australia Post Stamp Shop. Two different packages are available for each actor, as well as a package containing all four.

Russell Gets Stamped

Russell, along with Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Nicole Kidman have been named the 2009 Australia Post Australian Legends. All four will be featured on a series of eight stamps, with each having one portrait stamp and one stamp featuring a character for which they won, or were nominated for, an Academy Award.

"These four outstanding individuals have been honoured with this years Australian Legends award as representatives of the nations incredibly talented acting and theatrical community,'' said Australia Post managing director Graeme John who instigated the award in 1997.

"Cate, Russell, Nicole and Geoffrey are tremendous ambassadors for Australia on the world stage.

"They have touched people across Australia and around the world with their talent, their commitment to the arts and award-winning performances.''

Congratulations to all four!

Charlie's 5th Birthday!

For those of us here in the States it's December 20th, but Down Under it's December 21st and Charlie Crowe's fifth birthday! To celebrate, here's a great photo of father and son! Hope you have the happiest of birthdays, Charlie!

Just us guys!

Australia

Ok, for starters....YAWN!

This film is 2 hrs and 45 minutes which can fly by on a great film, but was agonizing for this film.

Most people who watch movies know the premise. Hugh Jackman plays a drover named "The Drover" and Nicole Kidman is a British aristocrat traveling to Australia to get her husband in line to sell their property in New South Wales to have some cash infusion into their British lands and holdings. She gets there and her supposedly cheating and ingoring husband is very dead.

I've seen plenty of films that build slowly that don't seem 'slow,' but this is NOT one of them. This is a beautiful film to look at that highlights the harsh land of this portion of (Darwin) of Australia, but I wasn't going to the theater for a travel film. And that was mostly what I did enjoy of the film.

Like another war film (though this is as much an Aussie cowboy movie with cattle drive and all) named Pearl Harbor it seems to have all look and little substance. Obviously I didn't like that film either.

I'd fit the blame for this lackluster film firmly in the lap of Baz Luhrmann. He was the director and cowrote the screenplay and that's where the problems are. Come on, Baz...EDIT! This film would have been better if at least 20 minutes were cut and tightened up. Seriously I didn't care about the characters either (very different from the previous film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas). The half Aboriginal boy and his grandfather were the most interesting characters in the film. A much better film on the subject of what was done to the half Aboriginal and half white children of Australia is Rabbit Proof Fence.

Ack, enough said on this film. I don't recommend it. Average at best. C+ and only the plus because of the cinematography. Originally the buzz was this film would star Russell Crowe with Nicole Kidman. He'd have brought more gravitas to the role of the drover, but I think it was good for him that it didn't work out.

I'll try to get to some thoughts on the Golden Globe nominations later. I was pleased with the Slumdog Millionaire and In Bruges nominations, but was sad there was no nominations for Richard Jenkins from The Visitor. I want to see a few more of the films in the next few weeks like Frost/Nixon, Doubt and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

imdb's got the nominations of course: imdb: Golden Globe nominations