About the only good thing worth reading in the Sunday papers, these days, is the wedding profiles. I had completely forgotten it was Valentine’s Day until someone mentioned it at work.
I’ve been really busy the last few days preparing for something major at work today. All in all, the preparation turned out to be worth it. But somehow in the last few days I lost track of time.
That’s my excuse for why I didn’t spend Valentine’s Day out and about at a restaurant gazing lovingly into someone’s eyes.
Instead, I’ve just woken up after two or three hours collapsed on the couch.
Although I didn’t work physically all that hard today, I guess I did expend a lot of emotional energy throughout the day.
Thus, by the time I got home I just hopped on the couch and collapsed.
My selection of A-Pac, the new public affairs channel on Foxtel probably helped me fall asleep. Or maybe it was the glass of wine I had.
When I woke up a few minutes ago, Malcolm Turnbull was still on the television.
“You’ve missed Valentine’s Day”, I thought to myself when I woke suddenly from the couch.
At first I thought it might have been an LGBTQIA+ rally. On the stage in the nearby park, they had just rehearsed “We Are Family” (by Sister Sledge), and then it was “What’s Going On?” (by Four Non-Blondes). Respectively, they are anthems you might normally associate with gays and lesbians. As I got closer, I spotted the word “family”, further reenforcing my thoughts that it might have been a “rainbow family” event. But I was wrong, it was an anti vax rally. Suddenly, I was a lot less sympathetic to the disruption it had caused to the light rail service that would have brought me home.
I had spent the morning at Sydney’s “Museum Of Contemporary Art” (MCA) checking out some of the works on display. Due to COVID, there have been quite a few interruptions to my regular visits to the MCA. Heading back for the first time in a while, I was surprised at how friendly and pro-active the guides were. I couldn’t decide if it was because they’d received training, or if it was because there were so few people, so they had more time to spend chatting. As my face-mask dropped down below my nose, a guide came over to me asking me to pull it back up. I suspect they’re just as nervous about things as we all are right now.
Though there’s a “big ticket” exhibition on there right now, I was more interested in checking out Primavera (the exhibition which celebrates under 35s), and an exhibition of permanent collection works focussing on time and place.
I really loved these works by Sam Gold, as part of Primavera at the MCA.There’s a bunch of great bark paintings by David Malangi Daymirringu at the MCA. This was my favourite.This work by Louise Bufardeci re-imagines the world as a “floor plan”.This work by Louise Bufardeci re-imagines the world as a “floor plan”. And here’s Australia.I’ve seen this work before, by Justin Trendall which re-imagines Darlinghurst 2010.Though I’m not sure why, the small village of Grong Grong (near Wagga Wagga) gets a mention.
Also, this weekend, a couple of friends and I took in a movie, “Ring Mamma” which is part of the Scandinavian Film Festival.
“She’s a bit of a fuck up” one of my friends commented, as we chatted afterwards.
Without too many spoilers, the film tells the story of a 30-something woman who faces some life dilemmas: she has relationship problems, she becomes unexpectedly pregnant, and her mother is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (a quick death). Despite these dramas, the film is also a comedy, and there are lots of laugh-out-loud moments.
There are also many moments of great intimacy in the film.
Interestingly/amusingly, a couple of our “favourites”, Viktor Frisk and Björn Gustafsson get “star billing” but utter only a few words of dialogue.
The transformation of “our end” of Crown Street continues with the imminent closure of another long-term local business.
For as long as I’ve been living in Surry Hills, I’ve been popping in to our local “variety store”. As befits the area, it’s more than a “two dollar shop”, selling a variety of “stuff”. Most of my purchases have been around various plugs for electronic equipment, wrapping paper, and picnic gear. It’s also been a great place to pick up half a dozen wine cheap, replaceable wine glasses and some laundry detergent or dish-washing liquid in preference to Coles.
Coles really has taken over the area for many of these types of purchases. You see people going in now just to purchase a bottle of milk, especially with the self-serve terminals which make it – usually – so much faster.
I guess the problem for our Variety Store was that they weren’t selling anything you couldn’t find at Coles at a cheaper price. The selling point for me, though, was always convenience. It was just a few hundred metres away. And I liked that it has been owned by a lovely couple. When I saw the “closing down” sign the other day I popped in to say g’day and wish them all the best. It’s been apparent sales have been slow for a while as they’ve had a number of sales in the last twelve months. As I wished him the best, he told me he was looking forward to a new less busy life.
They’re open for three more weeks with a “half-price sale”, so I plan to pop in a few more times to help make sure their shelves are empty when they leave.
And the future for the store? Presumably, it’ll be replaced by a cafe, a restaurant or day-spa, as seems to be more and more the case with “our end” of Crown Street.
One of the great dilemmas of public art is the idea of what art you should put in public.
Unfortunately, a lot of the major debates about art – in the newspapers at least – centres around extravagant, obscure, and expensive art works being placed in public spaces.
I’m a great believer in all types of art being in public spaces, and as much as possible.
And so today, Patrick (visiting from Canberra) and I went for a bit of a walk around the city to look at the City Life Exhibition in Hyde Park and the City Laneways Installation PIeces.
The City Life Exhibition is always a popular one and last year I was lucky enough to go on a walk where the philosophy of the exhibition was explained in a guided tour.
“The photographs need to say ‘Sydney’ without resorting to cliche”, was the summation of the woman who did the tour.
As we walked around the exhibition this afternoon, we both felt that brief was met. I think my favourite piece is called “Applause”, which features a sea of people at a rock concert – presumably – clapping. The photograph was taken from “on high”, and in some ways resembled one of those great Aboriginal “singing” works. Dorothy Napangardi’s work sprang to mind.
We also chatted for a while with Theresa, who was photographed for the exhibition. I’m guessing she’s one of Sydney’s great eccentrics in the genuine, honest sense of the word. There’s nothing contrived about her. She just is who she is, from what I could see. As we chatted – for about ten minutes or so – she told us a little about the photograph, her work as a performer, including singing at The Menzies, and of her concerns for her grand-children.
You could just tell though she was extremely proud to be in the exhibition.
“Would you mind if I took a photograph of you with the photograph”, I asked.
Sensing a group of German backpackers were keen for their photograph, we bid her a farewell and headed off to the Laneways Exhibition.
Theresa and her photograph in City Life.
Inside the Silver Birch Forrest in Laneways
Looking to the Silver Birch Forrest in Laneways
Hanging Birdcages in Laneways
Making people get closer to each other in Laneways.
Human Bar Code in Laneways
Even though I read the explanation, I thought this still made no sense.
Inaction on Climate Change in Laneways
Hairy, human like installation with a corresponding heartbeat in Laneways. Loved it!
Some of the installations were a little obscure even for my tastes. Some of them just didn’t work, in my view. But I loved the hanging birdcages (and the birds sounds), and I loved the silver birch forrest installation.
You walk into a large wooden container with mirrors on the wall and in which there are birch trees in pots. And just for a moment, you have a wonderful sense of serenity in anotherwise noisy city.
On the way home, we caught up briefly with Sam for a beer and a chat at The Green Park.
The grand final was on the screen there, and that’s when I noticed how bad the result was going to be.
Closer to home I peaked in the window of the Carrington Hotel which had been adorned with Parramatta’s colours. Sad faces all around.
Arriving home, I saw a terrific comment on Twitter…. “Oh no, looks like Parra forgot about daylight saving. They’ve started playing an hour late”
Anyhoo, better head out. Meeting some people for dinner at 8.30. And frankly, the sound of doof-doof from Parklife is giving me the trotts.
About 10.45am on Friday, I received the following text message from a friend and former colleague. “Watching you on tv xxx move out from behind Nat where do I buy merch?” Shortly afterwards, she added, “Ps I’m in WA forgot time difference”. If you look closely at the video below, you’ll see me as a “backdrop” to a live cross on ABC News Breakfast.
ABC News Breakfast on March 5, 2021
I’m part of a staff group at the ABC called “ABC Pride”. Along with some other staff groups covering Indigenous people, people who are CALD (Culturally & Linguistically Diverse), and people with disability, ours is a group of people who belong to the LGBTQIA+ communities. We do a whole range of behind the scenes things, such as help with appropriate language guides, and provide input into staff welfare issues.
For the last two years we have also participated in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Last year, for our first parade, we had 80 people marching, and were joined by some high profile people such as the Managing Director, David Anderson and the ABC Chair, Ita Buttrose.
This year it was very different, as numbers were halved, and we moved to the Sydney Cricket Ground, due to COVID-19 restrctions.
Even thought it lacked a little of the “magic” and “historical significance” of walking along Oxford Street, we all still really enjoyed the experience of marching at the Sydney Cricket Ground. All of the people I’ve spoken to who were in the audience said they also enjoyed the experience, especially as they were able to sit down and watch the parade.
Cheering on our colleagues at the other public broadcaster, SBS.Though you can’t see much of my face around the COVID-safe facemask, I think you can see the smile in my eyes.
