“The last time I was here, it was a plate-breaking Greek restaurant called Dimitris”, I told my visiting interstate colleagues. I was referring to “Gardel’s Bar” at Porteño in Surry Hills. After years of plate-breaking, it’s now an uber-fashionable bar for the Surry Hills crowd. Along with the “Norfolk Hotel” which has also become uber-cool, Porteño seems attract big crowds, even on a Monday night.
Tonight there was the added attraction of a CD launch by Lanie Lane, a singer-songwriter who was discovered through Triple J Unearthed. As such, she’s fairly new and some of her style is derivative. A little bit of Amy, a little bit of Adele, a little bit of Tammy, a little bit of Tina, and a little bit of Janis, to name but a few. But she’s also a lot of Lanie. Although she obviously listens widely, she has a style of her own, and a voice of her own, sings well, plays the guitar, and write songs with clever lyrics. One song had a sadness to it that ended suddenly and made me feel even more sad. Another song, Bang Bang Bang made me smile with its joy.
I was also impressed with the make-over they’ve given Dimitris. It’s very cool. Dark. Rich colours. A fashionable crowd – we were the oldest there aside from Lanie’s mum and dad – and you would never know it’s on Cleveland Street. They’ve done a good job silencing the traffic, though the noise from the downstairs bar was loud enough to travel upstairs during her quieter songs.
“Where shall we eat?”, my colleagues asked. It didn’t take too much argument to convince them to visit one of my new favourites, Cafe Sicilia on Crown Street. Good food. Good wine. Good prices. Good conversation. And just minutes from home. That’s why it was okay to head out on a “school night” ahead of the next few days at work which are fairly busy for me.
I’m not sure if I’ll have time to blog, but will definitely a few photographs and stories here and there on Google+.
Lanie Lane CD launch at Gardel’s Bar at Porteño, Surry Hills
In the last twenty-four hours I’ve had some lovely flashback memories of my time in China a few months ago.
Over lunch today, my friend Kate – who arrived back from Beijing yesterday – asked me what were my strongest memories and favourite parts of my trip to China. I told her I thought walking on the Great Wall was amazing, really amazing, and how I’d enjoyed the food immensely.
“It was the best food I’ve ever experienced, without exception on holiday”, I told her. As we enjoyed some dumplings and some pork over lunch, we reflected on how good the food was in Beijing, and how average it can sometimes be here in Sydney. It’s all relative I guess, since Asian food in Sydney is usually pretty fantastic, but in Beijing it’s even better.
“You know those pork buns which are always so gluggy here?”, I told her, adding they were universally tasty and non-gluggy there.
And then last night I chatted to a bloke I’ve known for a few years who is originally from China. He told me a former flatmate of mine – who I no longer converse with (he had a troublesome boyfriend) – was now living in China. “Did you go to Destination?” he asked me. When I replied in the affirmative on a Wednesday night, he told me it isn’t so good during the week and that I should have gone on the weekend.
Aside from that, it’s been a reasonably hectic twenty-four hours. I went out for dinner last night with some mates, which was fun. Afterwards, I ran into a mate and had a few drinks with him.
And then today has been “busy as”. I’ve approached a time of the year with several significant looming deadlines.
Disapora T-Shirt
The only other bit of excitement in my day was receiving an invitation to join disapora, the so-called “non evil” version of Facebook. I made a donation towards the project a few months ago on the basis it was about you controlling your info, not Zuckerberg. Last week, I got the t-shirt, and today I got the invite.
They could turn out to be evil also, but from the look of things, I suspect not.
There have been a couple of articles about them here and here. It could be a big flop, of course, and it will probably never have the reach of Facebook, but a nice idea and one which I’m happy to support.
At the moment, it’s only in Alpha release which means it’s very very new. There’s about 10 people called James on it, for example. But I’ve got 10 invites, so if you’re a friend or family member and you would like to give it a try knowing you can probably only chat with me right now, drop me an email and I’ll send you an invite.
A few months ago I was lucky enough to be on a table that won the “Lucky Door Prize” for a dinner at Sydney’s Aria Restaurant. Along with ten others, I enjoyed a wonderful night this evening of great company, great conversations, delicious food and wine, and great views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Though the servings look small, they were very filling and very, very enjoyable.
Dinner at AriaDinner at Aria
We were treated to matched wines chosen by the son of one of our hosts. We also had a visit to our table by the restaurant’s owner, Matt Moran. Feeling very, very fortunate/privileged tonight, so I thought I’d share a few of the lovely photographs I took. Very grateful.
There was a time when weekends were synonymous with bulky newspapers – hours spent poring over them at a café. I’m talking about the weighty Saturday editions of The Sydney Morning Herald, which used to arrive with seven thick sections, or The Australian, once a national masthead, now far more partisan in its political leanings. Today, those papers feel diminished, both in size and substance, with fewer sections and a less diverse editorial voice. Now, I fill those hours by immersing myself in podcasts.
Despite my radio background, I confess I was a latecomer to the world of podcast listening. Professionally, I was an early adopter, involved from the outset in producing and distributing them. But as for making them a staple of my personal listening, that’s a different story.
Initially, I found many podcasts fell into two extremes: either too “low-rent” or too “high-rent.” The former often meant unedited, rambling chats between two people in a kitchen – sometimes charming, but frequently unfocused. The latter, on the other hand, felt overly polished and formal, akin to NPR or BBC Radio 4. While expertly produced, they sometimes lacked the spontaneous spark I loved about live radio.
My turning point was twofold: spending four months in hospital with endless hours to fill, and the emergence of political podcasts. They offered an unparalleled deep dive into political discourse, a level of detail largely absent from mainstream radio. This became especially true during the run-up to the American and UK elections, solidifying podcasts’ place in my daily listening.
While friends often suggest narrative or comedy podcasts, those aren’t my focus; I find those genres adequately covered elsewhere. What I uniquely value in political podcasts is their profound analysis and, paradoxically, their often unscripted feel.
For years, my full-time radio job meant I was constantly immersed in audio, leaving little personal time for listening. However, a significant shift in my career over the past couple of years has freed up my schedule, allowing me to delve into a wider range of content. Unsurprisingly, I gravitate towards political podcasts, with “The Rest is Politics,” (all versions), “The News Agents” (all versions), “Back-to-Back Barries,” and “Politics Now” (ABC Australia), being my go-to’s.
I still engage with Saturday newspapers, albeit online. When it comes to The Sydney Morning Herald, I particularly appreciate their digital version that mimics the physical layout. This format encourages me to explore a wider variety of articles than simply relying on headlines.
PS on podcasts: from pre-recorded to live
One of the historical weaknesses of podcasts was their pre-recorded nature, meaning listeners had to wait for episodes to be uploaded. However, this has significantly changed in the past year or so, with a growing trend of podcasts going live, particularly through platforms like YouTube.
YouTube has become a central hub for podcasts, offering both video and audio formats (through YouTube Music), and is where I get most of my podcasts from. This shift to live broadcasting allows podcasts to provide immediate commentary and reactions to breaking news or events.
For example, during recent American and British elections, many podcasts went live on YouTube, with the audio becoming available shortly after.
A more recent and stark example is today’s bombing of Iraq, where many of my favourite podcasts quickly went live to discuss the unfolding situation. This means that the previous limitation of podcasts being a delayed medium has largely been overcome.
Unlike traditional television, which often requires significant setup time outside of a rolling news format, podcasts can go live very quickly. Radio, of course, can do it much faster, but you need to be tuned in to know about it happening. This agility and the notifications allows podcasts to cover unfolding events with remarkable speed, offering timely insights and discussions to their audience. This evolution makes podcasts an even more dynamic and responsive medium.
“That’s fantastic! Do you mind if I take a photograph of your shoes?”, I said to the woman nearby as I noticed her taking off her high-heeled shoes only to replace them with some similarly glamorous flats. At first, she seemed a little reluctant. As far as she was concerned I could have been some weird bloke with a foot-fetish. As it turns out, I later discovered she’s a reasonably well known actor who is currently appearing in a program running on national television. So, on top of the foot-fetish, I could have also been some crazy stalker. In hindsight, I understand her initial reluctance. But when push came to shove and realised I was neither, she happily posed for a photograph.
Despite the modern day equality enjoyed by men and women, women still have to go that little bit further when it comes to formal events. My friend Kate, for example, agonised over what she was going to wear, taking advice from her mother who actually supplied her with an outfit she had originally worn back in the 70s. I, on the other hand, wore exactly the same outfit I’d worn to work during the day.
Kate had invited me to be her “date” for the inaugural Australian Arts in Asia Awards held at Sydney’s Luna Park. The Arts Minister, Tony Burke described them as “the first, and if we’re elected to government, they won’t be the last” when he spoke. The whole idea behind them is that lots of Australian artists are now working in Asia, and, in keeping with the Asian White Paper, there was a feeling that work should be recognised.
Kate was a finalist for the work she has been doing encouraging cultural exchange between artists in Australia and China. In the end, she didn’t win, but I’m very proud of the work she has been doing, and was so very proud that she invited me as her “date” for the night.
It’s Wednesday night, close to midnight, and I’m wide awake. I had to go into work tonight at short notice – a baby arrived early for one of the blokes I work with – and so I’m mentally very alert. And with this alertness, I thought it a good idea to update my website, as a fair bit has happened since last Friday night when I last posted.
Saturday was a reasonably social day, starting off with Yum Cha at the Regal on Sussex Street. After Yum Cha we wandered around the new World Square building – even though it was replacing a thirty year old hole in the ground I didn’t think it was much better – and then had a couple of beers. Later in the afternoon, Yvette came over to watch Melrose Place which is currently being replayed on Foxtel. Unfortunately they’ve already by-passed all the “crazy Kimberley” episodes, but “kooky Sydney” and “whacky Michael” provided enough comic relief to make it worth watching.
And then on Sunday afternoon my friend John and I went to the Italian festival in Stanley Street, East Sydney. The street – the site of the first Italian community in Sydney – was turned into an Italian Piazza with lots of Italian motor bikes and scooters on display. There was also an Italian photographic exhibition called Che Evoca and a replica Trevi Fountain.
I suspect it was far busier than the organisers had expected since the were lengthy wait-times for all of the restaurants. We waited almost an hour to get into the place we decided was “the place to be”. As John is quite a social person we got chatting with a lady behind us and a couple – Judith and Bill – in front of us. After chatting for quite some time they asked us if we’d like to join them for lunch. Over a couple of hours we chatted about the life, universe and everything. And then, 10 minutes before we paid the bill, it turns out that I actually work with Judith’s brother in law. Small world, eh?
After that, it was birthday drinks for Michael from work.
And then last night I went to a Sydney Bloggers Meeting.
On the way there, though, something really odd happened in my taxi ride from Ultimo to Newtown. As I got in I noticed the cab driver was listening to a talk radio station and was seemingly enjoying the program. At first I thought he was asking me questions, but I soon realised he was repeating everything the announcer said. When I asked him why he was doing that he replied that he was practising his English language skills. Although I thought that was really great blah blah blah, I gotta say that a five minute cab ride with someone repeating everything they’ve just heard can become slightly annoying.
The Bloggers meeting was pretty good fun. I missed last month due to work commitments, and so I was pleased to see two new people attending. We had a great night, perhaps largely due to the $7.50 jugs of beer and free pool. What a bargain on both counts. Both Mark and Glen have declared they woke up with terrible hangovers. Tragic!
I recently had an email from someone interested in the oral history project I had been involved in back in 1998, celebrating twenty years since the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Although I have a copy somewhere in my extensive CD collection, I needed to touch base with my friends Glen and Greig who had been instrumental in putting the project together. They came up with the idea, they found the talent, and they made it happen. All I did was chat with a few people, and hopefully got them to tell their stories as well as they could, and create the audio. The premise for the project was simple: for Sydney Pride Centre, we would get together a bunch of people who had participated in the first Mardi Gras and ask them to tell their stories.
Cover for the oral history project released by Sydney Pride Centre in 1998, commemorating 20 years since the first Mardi Gras.
I remember at the time of doing the interviews of being in awe of these people who had quite simply participated in something quite amazing, but who hadn’t really thought of it in those terms at the time. The aim of the project was to document in some way the experience of the many “ordinary people” who had taken part in the first parade and protest.
Thankfully Glen and Greig were able to find the original audio files, and so to make these more widely, here they are, hopefully never to be lost again.
