Thursday
Michaela and I caught up for a drink and some haloumi (at Yulli’s) along with a friend of Michaela’s. Much media chat was had.
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Surry Rea
“EVERYONE was wearing these checked shirts”, my friend Sam said to me as we walked around the store. And he should know, as he was in Stockholm just a couple of weeks ago.
We were walking around a clothing store in Surry Hills, Somedays which sells Swedish clothing. Yes, really. There’s shirts and jeans, and shoes, and all sorts of things from Swedish clothing companies. Well, not H and M, but the other ones.
At the moment, they have a forty percent sale. So of course, their “sale” sign is in Swedish.
To be honest, there’s nothing I’d actually purchase myself, except maybe some of the stuff from Tiger of Sweden. It’s all a bit young and groovy for me. There was some Björn Borg underwear which caught my eye, but I have enough socks and jocks right now, so I didn’t worry too much about them.
Also today I ran into a mate from work who has a new baby. That was nice.
And then tonight I’ve watched the Hawke telemovie on Channel 10.
Although I’ve had a life-long interest in politics, it was during the 1980s that I “came of age” and was able to vote for the first time. It was an interesting period for politics, being the age of Hawke, Thatcher and Reagan. We still had apartheid and we still had the Soviet Union. And we were fighting wars in the Middle East, first against Libya.
As hard as it must have been to sum up 10-15 years in a 2-hour movie, I thought the story moved along well, without a sense they were jumping over major periods. I guess there’s always a tendency to feel you have to account for every moment and every action in someone’s life when you do a biopic. Thus, I think they did a good job focussing on major themes.
Without knowing the characters you can never be sure how accurately they’ve portrayed those involved. I was moved by the article in yesterday’s paper by Ros Hawke saying her mother was portrayed as overly ambitious. I’ve also been interested in Keating’s reaction to his portrayal in the new biography of Hawke.
It’s probably still too early to be sure about the historical accuracy of it all. The wounds between Hawke and Keating are obviously still very raw, based on comments from the last few days. You still have the aching legacy of Hazel Hawke’s illness contrasted with the apparent happiness of Bob’s marriage to Blanche,
And on top of that, you have film-makers, actors and so on, who lived through this period and who probably have strong views about the characters also.
In maybe 10 or 20 years time when the “key players” have passed on, perhaps we’ll have a better, more independant view of things. But in the meantime, I still enjoyed it very much, even if there were far too many bloody ads.
The Goods Line
“You have to remember, Sydney is a city built on gullies and ridges”, I have said to many people over the years. It’s something that was first pointed out to me by a friend of a friend. And she was right. “If you ever get lost in Sydney, walk up to the top of the hill, and you’ll know instantly where you are”, I’ve told people. Sydney is in stark contrast to many of Australia’s other large cities, which have, generally speaking, been built on grids.
There’s also a school of thought there’s been little to no planning in Sydney. Aside from the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and occasional projects like Darling Harbour, there’s a school of thought that Sydney “just happens” without little thought for the future.
I’ve also heard it said, that, compared with other Australian cities, architects are more likely to take into account the surrounding buildings when it comes to designing new buildings themselves.
Maybe both views are correct.
Either way, there are a some reasonably exciting projects underway in the city I now call home. Last weekend, for example, Barangaroo opened to the public for the first time. Despite the controversies surrounding the casino and so on, I think it’s really exciting to have more public space opened up. I would have liked to have visited on the weekend, but ran out of time.
So this morning, when a workmate asked if I wanted to check out nearby Goods Line, I jumped at the chance.
I’ve been working in Ultimo for twenty years now, and it’s been really exciting to watch the changes in the area, such as the expansion of UTS and the developments around Central Park.
And now we have our “own version” of New York’s “Highline”. Although comparisons with New York’s “Highline” are inevitable, this is quite a different project. First, it’s much smaller. Second, it’s very early in development. Further down the track there are plans, apparently, for wall gardens, noodle markets, and so on. And of course, with the planned relocation of the Power House Museum, it will probably change again.
But for now, The Goods Line is a much-welcomed new “green space” not far from where I work, and which I plan to make much use of.
Surry Heights
I saw a part of Surry Hills today I’ve never seen before. Although I’ve been to Belvoir Street Theatre on many occasions, I suddenly realised when I walked out of the box office today, I’d never actually been there in daylight hours. And subsequently, I’d never really noticed the view, and I’d never really noticed the elevation of that part of The Hills before.
Aside from that brief excursion, I also headed into the city this afternoon, despite the fact that I’m still not feeling all that well. I mean, I woke this morning feeling much better than I have been for the last few days, but I think that may have been the placebo effect of going to the doctor. You know how when you go to a doctor you start feeling better even if they don’t prescribe anything for you?
One of the most startling things I noticed in the city today was the closing down sale at HMV records. Aside from the very successful JB HI-FI which is both popular and carries a very broad range of CDs and DVDs, the end of HMV in the Pitt Street Mall in some respects marks the end of the “record superstore”. It was kinda odd walking around looking at all of the unsorted CDs just strewn on tables.
I certainly don’t think it’s the end of the record store, though. My local video store, which I haven’t been into for at least five years, seems to have survived the introduction of pay-television, bit-torrrent, cheap dvd’s and the like. And I’m sure record shops and record companies will survive the download revolution too.
With my shopping done, I came home exhausted. I quickly realised I’d pushed myself a little too far and retired quickly to the couch. In itself that’s been quite a good thing as I’ve watched a few hours of television programs I’ve never really watched before. And guess what? I finally understand “Futurama”.
As I’d never actually watched it, aside from background noise, while I waited for the second nightly episode of “The Simpsons”, I didn’t really understand the program’s premise. I still don’t think it’s as funny as “The Simpsons”, but at least I can laugh at it now with a vague understanding.
A big day tomorrow with a friend’s seventieth birthday…
P.S. Thanks for all the kind wishes about my health this week.
Contains Nudity
I woke early this morning with a determination to do some sightseeing. I’d done my research, the weather was looking good, and I was looking forward to seeing more of Riga and a little of neighbouring Jurmala. My research had told me that when Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, the town Jumarla was a favourite holiday-resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials, particularly Brezhnev and Khrushchev. I’d also read that you could take a 2.5 hour river cruise from Riga to Jurmala at a very low cost. Unfortunately, for whatever reason the vessell wasn’t running today. And so I settled, initially, for the vessel called “Jurmala”, which of course doesn’t actually go there. Instead, the “Jurmala” takes you on what is possibly the lamest one-hour river cruise I’ve ever done.
There wasn’t a lot to see, aside from a distant view of the town, the television tower, a building that looked like a penis and the nude beach. Well, maybe not a nude beach per se, but as we toured along the riverside I noticed a couple of guys having a skinny dip. “Should I take a photo?”, I thought to myself, responding with “why not?”. I’ve blurred the faces of the two blokes, though, for their anonymity. And especially since they had a bit of cuddle seconds later. And besides, if they were to be recognised you’d hope it was for their faces and not their genitals, as I think D.H. Lawrence once said.
Arriving back in town I headed towards Central Station, walking through the Central Markets. The fresh produce on display looked very good. The people here seem to really love their food, though I’ve found a disturbingly low number of restaurants in the area in which I’m staying. There were a couple of things about the area around Central, though, which disturbed me. First of all, there was a lot of begging. Lots of people with missing limbs and other disabilities. A lot of people who look like they might have been from the countryside. And there were a couple of quite old women. It was enough to make me feel very, very teary. But there was also a lot of dodginess about the area too. As I walked through the Central Markets there were two separate blokes who said something to me in hushed tones. I suspect it was something along the lines of “you wanna buy something”. I don’t know exactly what the “something” was, but it was enough to make me feel pretty uncomfortable with the area.
Later this evening at Jurmala, I had a similar problem with a bloke trying to sell me a “classic Russian camera”. He looked pretty out of it, but was also really quite insistent and followed me around the station for a while. He even followed me in to buy a ticket. Although I don’t speak Latvian or Russian, I found the phrase “fuck off” delivered a fairly universal message. As it was, I caught a mini-bus to Jurmala. It was my second trip on a bus today. The first one I didn’t pay for, as I had an older driver with whom I couldn’t communicate at all. As it was, he just told me to sit down and not to worry about the ticket. The bloke in the mini-bus was similar. By mini-bus Jurmala is about thirty minutes from Riga, by train it’s about forty. And it’s obviously the beachside resort that most locals would go to, even now.
As you walk along the beach, however, you can still see remains of 1940s/ 1950s hotels and the grand era of the Soviet Union. One of those old resorts was burnt out, while another remains in a state of disrepair. In their place are modern resort hotels. Russians still seems to be the most common kind of tourist you find though. When I went for a swim at one of the indoor pools, for example, the only language I heard spoken was Russian. And obviously there’s something quite fascinating about what’s on offer at these spa resorts. There’s a salt room to clear your sinuses, mud baths, honey baths, all kinds of things. As it was, I just had a swim.
Though there was an odd kind of massaging waterfall associated with the pool which I gave try. Imagine if you would standing underneath a waterfall with the water gently massaging your shoulders. After watching two blokes use the contraption, I thought I’d give it a go as well. The water pressure was so strong I actually fell over, much to the amusement of onlookers. Even when I recovered my footing, I found the pressure so incredibly strong that I just couldn’t stand it any longer and left before the “shower” ran out.
After my swim I decided to check out one of the bars in the resort hotel, the Baltic. Oddly enough, as I drank my glass of white wine there was a basketball match on television between Australia and Argentina. It’s the third time in as many days when I’ve seen a television with the Olympic Games, and every time there’s been an Australian on screen. Is it like that back home too? Or is it, as I suspect, only Australians on the television coverage?
I’ve arrived home tonight and my feet are aching. But my mind is also spinning. English isn’t widely spoken at all, except by the very young. A local “expats guide” says you’re best relying upon younger women for advice, as they both speak English and are willing to help. I think I’d agree with that assessment.
Heading back to my hostel tonight, I discovered Latvians have a great sense of humour. The graffiti of Borat was too funny for words.
I’m heading out for a drink tonight at the local venue for gentlemen such as myself, and then tomorrow I want to see some more of the history associated with Russian occupation.
Oh, by the way I found this blog which is pretty funny…
If you are a homosexual, this is probably not the best place unless you like rough people who look like they have just got out of prison.
August Socials
Conscious that I sometimes share material on other platforms that never makes “the cut” here on my blog, here’s a few tweets, posts, and observations that still seem relevant from August. Lots of ephemera, but hopefully still quite entertaining.
August 3 : Oh no. 5g on Four Corners. I have a family member will see this is part of the preparation for the NWO etc. “They’re just preparing us…” (I can hear it now).
August 25 : I do a language course every Tuesday night via Zoom. Five months since the start of lockdown, I’ve noticed the participants have now replaced their coffee cups with wine glasses.