Not everything in life is sure, but one thing certainly is: there’s a major food delivery at McDonalds on Broadway every Wednesday night. I know this because I have a reasonably regular Wednesday night routine which means I always see it.
My usual Wednesday night routine has been – usually – go to Swedish class, and then catch up with mates at a pub in the inner west. Generally speaking, after a few drinks, much laughter, and a bite to eat, we’ll finish up somewhere between 10 and 10.30pm and go our separate ways. Half the time I’ll catch a cab into the city, and half the time I’ll catch a bus. Whether or not I’m using a bus or taxi, I always get let off just before the stop near UTS and then catch a bus home to Surry Hills. And that’s when I see The McDonalds Truck.
So yeah, I guess, I should have begun this post by saying “not everything in life is sure, but two things certainly are: there’s a major food delivery at McDonalds on Broadway every Wednesday night, and I’m always there to witness it”.
This information provided for stalkers and those with an interest in McDonalds delivery patterns.
“When it rains in Sydney, it really bloody rains”, I noted to my friend Sue visiting from Melbourne.
Melbourne has its perpetual awful weather, whereas Sydney has awful weather on occasion. While in Melbourne it may be overcast most of the day with drizzle, in Sydney, our weather is usually characterised by bright sunny days followed by a late afternoon or evening torrential downpour. That’s why, oddly enough, Sydney has a higher level of rainfall than Melbourne.
Sue and I had planned to go down to the harbour to see the Light Festival, and had worked out all of the contingencies including buss timetables.
We were both extremely hungry though, and so had decided to head along Crown Street for something to eat first. My suggested location was Agave, a new Mexican restaurant which has recently opened in the same building as Hudson’s Meats and Monkey Magic, which Colin and I visited a few weeks ago.
Rainy Night on Crown Street
We both LOVE Mexican food. “If it contains sour cream, I’ll be there”, Sue commented when I suggested the place. Interestingly enough, neither one of our meals contained sour cream!
When we entered the place was almost empty. When we left it was packed to the rafters. And a bit noisy.
The sangria was excellent. The chorizo was excellent (the accompany tomato sauce was brilliant). I thought the chicken dish with a slightly chocolately sauce was terrific, though Sue found it a little rich. Overall, we had a great meal, and it wasn’t too expensive either. Forty dollars per head.
As we walked back up Crown Street towards the bus stop near Arthur Street the rain came pelting down. It only took us about 30 seconds of standing in the bus shelter to look at each other, and to agree that going home and watching television/DVDs was a far better option for the night, than going down to Circular Quay and getting wet.
Besides, we were both soaked by the time we got home, and that was with umbrellas, and only a short distance away.
I’m keen to go back to Agave if anyone is interested…
I had the most wonderful morning today in the Royal Botanic Gardens, arriving there at about 7.30. Although I’ve been in the general area at that time of the morning, especially around the Opera House and around Circular Quay, I’ve never actually been inside the gardens at such an early hour. Mostly, it’s a Saturday or Sunday afternoon when I’m in the gardens. By then the noise of the day has taken over, with weddings and family groups competing with birdlife to see which can be the noisiest.
But at 7.30am, nature is well and truly in charge, with the birds and the bats loudly declaring this was their home. Even the well-arranged plants seemed a little wild, falling just short of taking on “triffid-like” qualities. In the midst of the concrete, sandstone and water that characterises the environment of Sydney’s CBD, it was nice to find somewhere just a little “wild”. Yeah, I know it’s not the Daintree, nor is it Tasmanian Old-Growth, but it’s the closest I get to nature in my neighbourhood. And what a view!
Two weeks ago, when I was in Lismore we had a minor-moderate flood. There’s a chance Lismore will flood again over the next few days at a moderate-major level. In anticipation, my niece, Karran went to the nearby Rocky Creek Dam and sent me some photographs to illustrate the depth of the storage at the moment. These are photographs only for the water-storage enthusiast :) For the non-enthusiast, they’ll give you an idea of how full the storages are in Northern NSW right now, what the weather’s like, and how green everything is. It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?
Rocky Creek Dam is located within the Whian Whian State Forest approximately 20km north of Lismore. Water stored in the dam is used to supply drinking water to the Northern Rivers area stretching from Woodburn in the south, north to Ocean Shores and west to Lismore. This supply is supplemented by Emigrant Creek Dam, the Wilsons River Source and several bore sites
Inadvertedly, a few weeks ago I booked for a “Chicksflicks” screening of the movie “Mamma Mia”. I enjoyed the movie very much, and on the upside was presented with a “goodies bag” of, apparently, appropriate items. In contrast, tonight I went along to a “men’s night” focussed on men’s parenting, where there was also a “goodies bag”.
Mens Health FreebiesChicks at Flicks freebies
Though the “women’s bag” was focussed on sweets and “other specials”, the “men’s bag” was far more focussed on healthier optionsm possibly because it was partly sponsored by the “Men’s Health” magazine. Did I miss the memo about “Hemp Infused” soft drink?
Hemp Infused
The men’s bag was a welcome addition to a terrific discussion about parental leave equality, and the launch of an exhibition called “Aussie Dads” by the same photographer who did an exhibition called “Swedish Dads”. Both exhibitions focussed on the wonderful intimacy father’s can have with their children in the first few years of life.
Unlike Sweden which has equal rights for either parent to take paid leave when they have children, Australia has some way to go. It exists, but it’s not uniform and widespread. Despite the apparent equality in Sweden, only thirty percent of men take it.
The men who spoke about their children and fathering did so with passion. Though some way to go, the world is changing.
A night earlier, I attended the launch of some research about LGBTIQ inclusion in the workplace, by the Diversity Council of Australia. I actually participated in the research, which sought to better understand how things stood in Australia.
Though there’s a view sexuality shouldn’t be an issue in the workplace, the research rightly pointed out people talk about their families all the time at work, and can take leave to care for children etc. But if your workplace isn’t supportive, people who are LGBTIQ, will often “carry on regardless” or leave. It’s a “business issue”, we were told, and I thought it was fascinating to hear the stories of where large companies like Deloitte’s and Qantas, appear to have more progressively supportive actives then parts of the public sector.
Out At Work
And in stark contrast, my Monday night went from learning about LGBTIQ workplace inclusion to seeing Rugby League The Musical. It’s kinda like the footy show, but funny, as Denis performs as different characters, affectionate taking the piss out of the sport and it’s characters.
Though I’ve seen the show before, Denis keeps updating it, because not a week goes by without more material.
One of the many things Damien and I have in common is an interest in politics. At times, you might describe us as “political junkies”, as we often get together for election nights. We also will often discuss over the phone or through chat major political events.
We’re not, however, what you’d call “partisan”. We have our own political preferences, but we’re definitely not “slaves to the party”.
When I won tickets to see the new Oliver Stone movie, “W” about George W. Bush it was only natural that I’d invite Damo.
We were both, however, somewhat disappointed with the film.
“It was like watching a cartoon”, Damien commented after the film. “Everyone was a charicature”, he added.
I was in total agreement. For me, It was just a film for the “chattering classes”, confirming or re-affirming their beliefs about George Bush.
As we watched the film at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington, the “chattering classes” giggled at all the expected moments.
For me this was a real disappointment. The death of thousands of people is not something you dismiss with a giggle, and sly “he was an idiot” comment.
“These are serious issues” I thought to myself.
But still they giggled and laughed, as they had their views re-affirmed by a film that barely went beyond the surface.
“They didn’t tell me a thing I didn’t already know or feel about the Bush presidency”, Damien told me as we wandered down the street.
It was disappointing in so many ways. In fact, I began to feel the man “W” was probably more interesting and complex was the film “W”.
It’s such a shame because the last eight years were so important in so many ways. The end of an era. An important change in US foreign policy as they moved to a “first strike” philosophy. The fundamental change as the United States moved back into isolationist mode.
I refuse to believe – as the movie suggested – it was all about a bloke who could never live up to the expectations of his father. It was far more complex than that, which unfortuantely “W” failed to explained. It was, as Damien suggested, just a big cartoon.
That said, I did like Colin Powell and George Bush Senior, as they were clearly the film’s “heroes”, the dramatic counter-balances to “Junior” and played by the actors with a great deal of intelligence and authenticity.
