#73: Sam Neill and Space Nerdery in Tuscany
Ciao Nonni,
A special mid-week telegram from Italy for you!
I'm on a quest to read 50 books in 2025, and I'm still kind of on track, but I think I'm going to need to pick a few short ones coming up to keep up the pace. There's a little bit of slippage starting to occur...
One book I've had on the go these last couple of weeks is Sam Neill's autobiography, Did I Ever Tell You This?. I'm sure you know Sam, although I'm less sure if you like him or not.
I do.
He's played parts in many of my favourite films over the years, most notably The Dish. As a space-obsessed teenager in Brisbane, I watched that movie more times than I can count.
Sam also guest-starred in an episode of The Games - a television program that, to this day, leaves me in tears of helpless laughter. His turn as the pompous partner of the consulting firm who spends a whole meeting swallowing yawns and gentle reflux, while spouting meaningless corporate one-liners, was almost too much to bear even as a 10 year old when I first watched it. The scene is now almost painful in its hilarity after a few years working in corporate strategy...
I still watch clips of The Games on YouTube whenever I need a little pick me up, and these days also a reminder of home. John Clarke was truly a national treasure of both New Zealand and Australia.
But why am I talking about Sam Neill so much, you rightly ask?
Well, yesterday I made a last minute decision to take Raffy on the train to Florence. She has been asking me lots of questions recently about space, stars, astronauts and telescopes - and this is a topic of conversation in which I am obviously very happy to indulge.
I jumped online and searched for planetariums in Tuscany. Turns out there is one in Firenze. Amazingly, it was running a children's session on finding constellations in the night sky that very same afternoon.
We packed a little backpack, and set off on my bike to the station.
On the train, I read Sam's book. Lo and behold, the chapter I was up to was about The Dish. I excitedly told Raffy all about Parkes, and the role the small Australian town played in the moon landing. I confessed to her that, when I was at school, I had been so captivated by this whole topic that I had gone to space camp. I'd also force our whole family to take large detours on our annual drive from Brisbane to Melbourne in order to visit said dish. It was my nerdy version of a celebrity sighting.
The real shock came on the late train home though. Raffy was tucked up next to me, almost asleep after a big day out in the busy city. I picked up the book again, and with a start, read all about Sam spending a few months living in the hills above Lucca, and loving the experience.
I had no idea of this connection, although I'm not surprised to hear he enjoyed it. I can't really imagine anyone coming to Lucca and not falling a little bit in love with it.
So now I am even more of a Sam fan.
He sits on a long list of excellent things from New Zealand that I'm glad made the hop across the ditch to Australia, at the top of which is David's whole family of course!
Lots of love, and a big hug.
Kate
