“This tour combines two of my passions: history and beer”, our tour guide told us, as we began the Craft Beer Tour yesterday. I don’t recall exactly how I discovered the tour through Foodi, though it was possibly doing a search for “history and beer”, as they’re also passions of mine.
The tour covered Sydney pubs such as The Hero Of Waterloo, The Lord Nelson and others, and the beers we consumed ranged from light to dark in style, and from well-established brands like Reschs and James Squires, to those made only on site. The tour also covered some really interesting insights into Sydney history, including a visit to the basement of the historic pub, The Hero Of Waterloo (which was really terrific). The tour was well-paced, with enough room to sit down down and enjoy the experience, without the feeling you were constantly on the move.
Craft Beer TourCraft Beer TourCraft Beer Tour
By the time the tour ended at the Lowenbrau, we were a little tired of beer, having spent close to four hours wandering around, and so headed to a nearby bar for some wine instead. It was a really enjoyable tour, and good value at $35 (plus beer).
“Well, well, isn’t that a happy face!” began the email from h2, who comments from time to time on this blog.
It was such a lovely surprise to receive the email which alerted me to a video clip on the website of the Swedish newspaper, Expressen with yours truly front and centre. My friend Graeme can also be seen in this image.
It’s been a few years since I’ve travelled to Canberra for the Australian Of The Year Awards. The last time was, I think, 2010 (or thereabouts). Through my work, I have a close relationship with the team organising the awards, and was involved in setting up ABC Radio’s live coverage of the announcements.
Having helped set things up, I travelled down for the first year, and left it at that, knowing the team at ABC Canberra do an excellent job with it all. The weather was great this year, and I was really pleased to have travelled down, as I got to meet some terrific folk, hear about some of the amazing stories from the finalists and winners, and also enjoy the sounds of Jessica Mauboy, Paul Kelly (and others), and even got to catch up with an old school friend and her sister.
Have known her media advisor for over twenty years, formerly of Wagga, and then he worked for the ABC. The very tall Ben Roberts-Smith, a recent recipient of the very rare VC.Andrea Ho, Manager 666 ABC Canberra.
My niece told me she had to summon up all her courage to tell me halfway through the year that my lower right leg had been amputated. I had been in an induced coma for several days and was still heavily sedated, so, in all honesty, I don’t remember the conversation or my immediate reaction.
Pretty quickly, I remembered my grandmother, with whom I grew up, had a diabetes-related amputation as well. I’ve also noted that in 2022, my family had nearly drowned in the Lismore flood. Only a few weeks earlier, I met some people in Cambodia who had amputations due to landmines.
Without the privilege that comes from living in a wealthy country with a great medical system and surrounded by a fantastic network of family and friends, I’ve tried to look on the bright side of what happened to me earlier this year. I’m incredibly grateful to be alive, and to have had all the wonderful support I’ve enjoyed. Many others would not have been so lucky.
As Elton John once sang, “I’m Still Standing”.
There have been a couple of days when I’ve been a little “down.” In both cases, it was due to fatigue more than a any kind of depression about becoming a “person with disability”.
On my first night home after a few months in the hospital, I also shed a few tears. Thankfully, a good friend was with me that night and provided me with great reassurance. Looking back on the situation now, I have to laugh. I was in my own bed, and a tap in the ensuite was dripping. Knowing to stop it, I would first need to get up and put on my prosthetic limb was all too much for me. “You’ve been so good throughout this. You’ve been the model patient. You need to stop worrying about how everyone will respond and just be in the moment,” I remember my friend saying.
At the end of 2023, the response and reaction of friends, family, and colleagues remain higher on my list of concerns than any negative feelings I’ve had myself. Sure, the change is associated with the classic “stages of grief” (denial, anger, acceptance, etc.), which a couple of people have said I’ve gone through “too quickly.” That is to assume a linear approach to the theory, whereas I know at any time I could lapse into a period of negativity.
But what’s the point? Millions of people around the world are in a far more desperate situation than I am, and besides, there is so much to be grateful for this year, including participation in Mardi Gras/World Pride a wonderful two-week vacation to Vietnam and Cambodia with two wonderful friends.
Group tour, visiting Angkor Wat
I also had some wonderful time with my family. They’ve come to visit me in Sydney, and I’ve been home to Lismore on a couple of occasions.
As 2023 comes to an end, it’s great being home with my family. After all they’ve been through since the flood almost two years ago, things are looking good as they approach 2024, and hopefully, moving into new accommodation. It will be tough for them in many ways, as they’ve lived in their house since 1968, but now they’re in their 70s and 80s, having somewhere new, modern, and with greater comforts will hopefully make their remaining years a little easier.
Crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge with the incomparable Manda Hatter at Sydney “World Pride”
As the year comes to an end, I’m thinking about what 2024 has in store. Work has changed quite a bit. The approach to the area of ABC Radio I’ve been looking after changed quite dramatically while I was in the hospital. It was only when I returned part-time to work in November that it became apparent to me. So far, and I’m not 100% sure of what my job will be like in 2024. But in the grand scheme of things, I remain positive that I still have a job, a generous amount of personal (sick) leave up my sleeve, and colleagues who have been supportive with wishes, gifts, and understanding.
The greatest lesson I’ve learned in recent years, and which I’ve been trying to convince family and friends of, is the need to stop for a moment, don’t think too much about what might happen, accept it, and get on with your life. As I’ve lived through the experiences of 2023, I’ve been extremely conscious of the depressive impact of negativity. The whole “glass half full/empty” thing has been a recurrent theme for me this year. Chatting with people recently, I’ve heard too much about all the terrible things that MIGHT happen and not enough about the good things that COULD happen.
As the year comes to a close, my heartfelt message to both myself and to you is to savor the positive moments and express gratitude for the blessings surrounding us. While this may not be a groundbreaking revelation, it’s a sentiment that many individuals like us, who lead privileged lives, might not always do enough.
It’s been a really busy week. Well, a really busy several weeks, which explains my lack of posting lately. I’m finding that I’m coming home most nights mentally and physically exhausted and collapsing on the couch. I’ve also been working on the weekends, and so my Saturday has been pretty much collapse on the couch also. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel, as many of the deadlines I’ve needed to meet have been met.
Sure, I’m working on Sunday for a few hours, and I’ll actually be “on the radio” tomorrow (on digital/streaming/Radio Australia) between 1 and 3, but I’m also actually heading out for lunch tomorrow for a few hours (don’t ask how it’s possible to be in two places at the same time, it just is). We haven’t decided on a venue yet. I’m guessing that will depend largely on the weather which has been fairly crappy most of the week.
After about four or five days of continuous rain now, like most of Sydney, I’m starting to get a little bit stir crazy. Sydney goes into shut-down mode whenever it rains. It doesn’t rain that much, but when it rains, it really bloody rains. Sydney also goes into a state of denial about the rain. The other day, for example, I saw someone jogging at about 6-am with an umbrella, as if the only option was to run in the rain, when it would have nice just to stay in bed. I was on my way to the bakery, but very quickly returned to bed and considered for a brief moment “a day working from home” :)
In my own case, I don’t have what you would call a “regular umbrella”. When it rains, I either buy a new one, or try to stick to covered areas. This week, I bought a new “rain jacket” which I thought was a bit of a bargain at $39, down from $129. I look fashionable, and I have some wet-weather protection. But to be frank, I’m sick to death of wearing the bloody thing. Four days in a row and I think it’s starting to look like I only have one set of clothes.
I did manage to go out during the week though. A bunch of visiting colleagues were in town, and we went to a Chinese restaurant, the Sky Phoenix in Westfield which was very bloody good. Lots and lots of prawns. Very tasty. Chicken excellent. I caught up with mates, as always, on Wednesday night at our favourite pub.
And then tonight I went to the Lord Mayor’s Christmas Drinks at Sydney Town Hall.
Pipe organ played at Sydney Town Hall for Lord Mayor’s Drinks
There was a wonderful contrast between Clover Moore’s speech when she spoke about Sydney as a “global city”, and people wanting late night shopping, restaurants, bars and so on, and the reality outside. I left the drinks at about 7.45 (they started at 6.00), and already Sydney was pretty much deserted.
As I walked through the Pitt Street Mall there was hardly anyone around. Surely, with a population of 4-million, there would have been a few people around, or has the rest of Sydney, like me, retreated to indoors?
It’s Saturday night and I’m half-watching “ABBA – The Movie” on SBS TV. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it, and it’s not the first time it’s been on television. It’s the first time, however, it’s been shown on SBS and I can’t decide if their decision to show it relates to the current Eurovision season or the imminent release of “Mamma Mia” the movie. There were three ads in the last commercial break alone.
I watched the Eurovision semi-final tonight and thought some of the songs were okay. I was devastated that Ireland’s entry, Dustin The Turkey failed to make it through, as I thought it was genuinely funny. I loved the line in the song about how they were sorry for Riverdance. I also think it would be great to think there’s room in Eurovision for a bit of self-parody. Obviously not, as the song was booed. I’m a bit of a fan of Charlotte Perrelli from Sweden (of course), though she looks really weird these days. Too much plastic surgery or botox if you ask me.
Aside from Charlotte, my favourite tonight was the entry from Croata. It’s got everything. It opens with a well-dressed old bloke dressed entirely in white. He’s ranting about something. From there, a middle-aged bloke wearing black takes over, singing a cabaret-style tune to a piano accordian accompaniment. After a while the old bloke begins wandering around the stage. A little bit “Azheimers” if you know what I mean. Then, in a scene that reminded me of that bloke who plays beer bottles outside Paddy’s Market on the weekend, a woman emerges playing bottles filled with red liquid. Bizarre. You just know Croatia doesn’t want to win for the second successive year!
I had another Eurovision moment today at a matinee performance at the Theatre Royal by the Soweto Gospel Choir. In keeping with the themes of peace and universality in their show, the final song (before the obligatory encores) was “World In Union”. As the first strains of the song emerged I whispered, “This is very Eurovision, isn’t it?” in Andrew’s ear. I really love this song, based around the Gustav Holst’s Planet Suite, and in particular “I Vow To Thee My Country”. Unfortunately, however, I can’t mentally separate the song from the Rugby Union World Cup.
The premise for the show was “spiritual songs”, with the word “spiritual” interpreted in its broadest sense. They sang everything from reggae to pop (including a hip-hop dance) centred around the traditional gospel. About the only song that didn’t work for me was their version “Amazing Grace”. What should be a simple, heartfelt lyric took on an “American diva” quality with some overblown vocal gymnastics. To anyone attempting this song, just remember it’s about the “amazing grace” not the “amazing me”. That said, the rest of the audience LOVED it.
Aside from these minor criticisms, it was a really great show. Like, really great. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who has the chance to see the show. And afterwards, the performers held buckets collecting money to help people living with AIDS in Africa.
The only other thing I’ve done in the last 24 hours is have dinner and drinks with a mate of mine, who shall remain nameless at the moment. That’s only because it was a particularly trashy night, and she and I have our reputations to maintain. It all stated off with drink at the Clock, followed by dinner at Bills. And then of course, she said to me “Feel like a nightcap?”.
That’s where it all went wrong. A few more wines and a few more beers and we somehow found ourselves upstairs at “The Gaslight” chatting to teenage lesbians and being shown how to play an Italian card game by two young men. The best thing about getting older is that you know when it’s time to call it quits, and thank goodness we did.
In the midst of an otherwise busy weekend I managed to fit in two of the films screening as part of the Nordic Film Festival.
Yesterday, Graeme, Grant and I went to see “Mannen som elsket Yngve”, literally “The Man Who Loved Yngve”. It’s a “coming of age” story from Norway with a difference. The lead character, played by an actor who looked a lot like Danny Bonaduce from The Partridge Family, is about seventeen or eighteen years old. Living in a small town in Norway in the late 1980s, he is part of a rock band with dreams of international success. He has a girlfriend, but he also has a crush on a new boy in town, Yngve. Of course it all goes terribly wrong, as he manages to alienate his friends and family, as he goes through his own internal struggles. The film jumps around a bit with a series of flashbacks almost indiscernable from the narrative, and after the film Graeme asked, “Did you understand the last ten minutes?” At the time, neither Grant nor I did.
Tonight’s film, “Livet är en schlager”, literally “Life is a pop song”, though translated into English as “Once in a lifetime” was much more straightforward. And a much more enjoyable film. It’s a “star is born” kind of film about a woman who enters the Swedish finals of the Eurovision Song Contest, “Melodifestivalen”. Helena Bergström plays the lead character who works caring for a man with a disability, has an unemployed husband, a transexual brother, and four daughters she has named after famous Swedish singers. So, she has a bit on her plate, you might say. All of the main characters are completely rounded, wonderfully enchanting people. The film also worked for me on several levels: the Swedish pop, the gratuitous shots of Stockholm, and the background “cultural knowledge” I now have which helped me enjoy the movie perhaps more than I would have several years ago. In fact, there were times in the movie when the three of us laughed before even the Swedish speakers, because we had that additional layer of cultural knowledge. But that said, you don’t need to be a fan of Eurovision or Melodifestivalen to appreciate the film, as it’s a great story of the triumph of the under-dog.
Coming home tonight, I decided it was time to hop online and really concentrate on booking my airline tickets for next year. And guess what? It’s done. I’m heading off on March 3rd, arriving in Stockholm just in time to head off to Örebro for Andra Chansen.
