When I was in Brisbane the other week I walked past “The Alliance Hotel” on Boundary Street. As I peered through window, I noted it seems like a very modern “boutique” hotel these days. However, I remember it back in the 80s when it was a fairly down-market gay bar.
“Down-market” is probably the wrong phrase to use, as it’s a venue I remember with fondness. They had $3 meals on a Monday night, as I recall, which was a very attractive offering to an impoverished university student living such as myself.
But it was the Sunday nights I remember the most. There was a “Sunday Session” from roughly four until ten, which was always a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends for a beer or two. And they had a wonderful drag show which seemed to go on for hours. Although there were lots of drag legends in Brisbane at the time such as Toye de Wilde (who once ran for the Queensland Parliament) and Destiny Devine (who we named our cat after), the “star” of the show was a character called Freda Mae West. Freda Made was, probably, in her 70s, and her “star turn” was an inability to lip-sync properly. Most famously, the line “I see you shiver with anticipation” from Rocky Horror had the crowd in rapturous laughter.
In some ways, the Sunday night show at Sydney’s Stonewall reminds me of those days at The Alliance. Hosted by Polly, the show is all about having a fun time, having a few drinks with your mates, and in preparation for the week ahead, not taking life too seriously. A treasure.
Late this morning I had the sudden realisation I no longer have an AM radio in my house. I listen to a lot of radio through on many platforms. I’ve got a DAB+/Internet Radio in the bedroom; I’ve got an internet only radio in the lounge-room; I’ve got a DAB+ sound system in the lounge-room; and through my television, computer, netbook and smart-phone, I can stream radio from anywhere in the world. Mostly it sounds pretty good, and that’s why my preferred listening platforms are now DAB+ or streaming. But this morning I really wanted to listen to something on good old-fashioned AM. It was an issue of how the compression and processing of AM was dealing with a newish type of technology. And that’s when I started going through the cupboards and boxes and discovered there wasn’t an AM radio to be found at home.
Speaking of radio, that’s where I spent most of my day working on a few things. On the way home, I popped in to buy some dumplings from the Burlington Centre. It was a bit of a wait tonight, but the pan friend pork dumplings they have are surely worth the wait. As I made my way up Devonshire Street, I passed one of my local pubs playing live music. It was then I had a bit of a “I Love Sydney” moment, reflecting on how cool it was to be in a city where Sunday night can remain fairly buzzy. It doesn’t have to be a night where you sit in front of the television resting up for a new week at work. I’ve always loved doing things on a Sunday night. It just makes the weekend last a bit longer.
That said, I’ll be spending most of the night in front of the tele. I’m hoping there’s something OTHER than a cooking show or a talent show on offer tonight. Or maybe I’ll just grab a glass of wine and take up a seat on the balcony and watch tonight’s “super moon”?
I first read “Death In Venice” over twenty years ago. It was a university text in first year, I think. I seem to remember quite enjoying it because it was reasonably short and I thought the themes were quite interesting, although of course, there’s some a bit pervy about an old bloke who falls in love with a teenage boy.
As part of our studies, we also watched the famous 1971 movie version, Morte a Venezia, starring Dirk Bogarde. Maybe it was wrong place, wrong time, but I didn’t really enjoy the movie. Imagine if you would a group of 19 year olds in a stuffy university cinema did when he finally died? They cheered! In some ways it reminds me of the story about the urban myth about Pia Zadora’s performance in the stage version of “The Diary of Anne Frank”, which was so bad that when the Nazis came to the house, the audience stood up and yelled: “She’s in the attic!”
This production of Benjamin Britten’s opera of “Death In Venice” at the Sydney Opera House draws heavily on the imagery of the film, with a similar palette of colours and a brooding sensibility, and the character of Tadzio bore a remarkable physical resemblance to the film’s Bjorn Andresen. The music, the performances, all were terrific.
In particular, Philip Langridge as Von Aschenbach was amazing, especially as the opera mostly takes the form of a solo work. In a performance that combined both energy and subtlety, Langridge was the perfect person for this role. He has sung with most of the major orchestras, opera companies and Festivals world wide during his 40 year career, with a repertoire stretching from Baroque to the present day.
And of course, being opening night, there were a few celebrities in the audience including Dame Joan Sutherland. I was lucky enough to be invited back to the Green Room and there she was. I asked someone if she’d enjoyed the performance to which he replied, well she missed the first half. What? “Yeh, she arrived late and they wouldn’t let her in, so she spent the first half in the Green Room”. Great story, eh?
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve just returned from the Strawberry Hills Hotel where I’ve eaten one of their $5 rump steaks. Yeh, so much for the vegetarian diet I’ve been on for about a year now. Occasionally, just occassionaly I get a craving for meat and that’s what’s happened today.
A highlight, I guess, in an otherwise fairly eventless week, aside from last Sunday night, when Graeme and I went out for a beer or two. Or was it twelve? Actually, I’ve always been partial to a beer or two on a Sunday night. I think it all started when I was going to university in Brisbane.
I remember vividly going to “The Terminus” (in the notorious Fortitude Valley) and (another bar I can’t recall) where beer and food was cheap. As I recall, $3 got you entry and a meal at “The Terminus” in those days. And then we’d go down the road to another club which officially closed at midnight, though the arrival of police officers shortly afterwards usually meant an unofficial extension of trading hours. This was Queensland in the 80’s don’t forget. I wish I could remember the name of that other pub we used to go to… it started with A… and it was in Spring Hill… and they had a drag queen who was 85 in the shade called Freda Mae West.
Brisbane in the 80s was such a contrast with Sydney in the 00s. Sydney never sleeps, except at about 4am Monday. Last Saturday night, for example, at about 12.15 I received a text message I assumed was from a friend who has a penchant for karaoke. It wasn’t her number, though, but I assumed she might have been using her sisters phone. The message was inviting me to take a five minute walk down the road to “Ding Dang Dong”, a legendary karaoke club in Surry Hills which she and I have been to several times before. As I was wide awake I thought, “why not” and got dressed. Imagine my surprise when the SMS turned out to be from fellow blogger, Glenn. Feeling a little self-conscious at not knowing everyone there, I resisted the desire to sing, but had a good time, nonetheless.
But aside from that, it’s been a quiet week, just work, reading and watching television. And I’ve also been following the visit by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth this week on television. The lime green dress worn by the Queen at the opening of the Opera House extensions reminded me a lime green shirt I used to own. I still have that shirt somewhere, as it has a strong memory attached to it, a memory of meeting and interviewing legendary Australian fashion icon, Maggie Tabberer. Of course I asked her about timeless fashion, clothing you can purchase that will always look good, and in her answer she said, “Most things can be pretty timeless, except for that horrid lurid green shirt you’re wearing”. So yes, I’ve received fashion advice from Maggie T.
…but back to QEII. I’m sure that both she and Phil nodded off during the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. And what was it with the flying trams? They’re not iconic, they’re just a mode of public transport! And, where else, but in Melbourne, could they think it was a good idea to incorporate “Plucka Duck” from Hey Hey It’s Saturday into an opening ceremony shown all over the world? The Aboriginal stuff, was good though.
The most recent visit I made to the National Art School was back in August 2023. At that time, I was still at St Vincent’s Hospital, recovering from my below-the-knee amputation. It was before I had my prosthetic leg, and I was still in a wheelchair.
At the time, there were significant risks for me in leaving the hospital, and so I needed special permission from my specialist. Though the gallery is only metres away from the hospital, it was still a significant trip for me and my friend Kate. She was, herself, recovering from some back pain, and it didn’t help that I was in a wheelchair. Although it was exhausting, I had the time of my life. https://thelimbshift.com/2023/08/exhibition-opening-in-a-wheelchair/
Today, I returned to the NAS to attend the annual Graduate Exhibition. Upon reaching the front desk, I told the attendant of the immense joy I felt, being able to make it it to the gallery, using public transport, unassisted. This, by the way, was one of the explicit goals in my rehabilitation plan.
With only a handful of people present at the gallery today, I loved the opportunity to take a leisurely look around things.
Among the exhibited pieces, these three stand out as my favorites.
Fire at 5am, endometriosis by Chantelle Monique BubicSunflowers never lie by Ben FayleRebirth by Samantha StrongGetting out and about, visiting the National Art School in Sydney
There’s a couple of people I know who are planning to spend between one or two weeks in Stockholm next year, during the months of April and May.
Based on my own experiences of being in Stockholm during that time of the year (and other times of the year), here are a few handy tips I’ve prepared for them, which you might find useful also.
Streets of Sodermalm, Stockholm
Where to stay in Stockholm: Where you choose to stay depends on a whole range of things: do you like city-life, do you like the countryside, how much you’re prepared to pay etc. My biggest best advice would be to stay near a public transport stop, especially near the subway/metro system, the Tunnelbana. You can buy affordable transport tickets that give you unlimited travel for 7 days, a fortnight or a month. When you don’t have to worry about how you get around, you spend a lot less time worrying about the dailies. And besides, trains and subways go exactly where they’re supposed to. My other piece of advice would be to make sure where you’re staying has a washing machine in your apartment. There are so many awful stories of conflict over “the washing room” in older Swedish apartment blocks, so if you’re using AirBnB, just double check the washing machine is actually in your apartment.
Personally, I really like the southern island, Södermalm. Traditionally a working class suburb, it’s now become quite fashionable. There are two things I really like about Södermalm: first, it’s a cool, funky, and interesting place to walk around; second, it’s close to the city, so you can actually walk to lots of great tourist places. You also look back over the water to the Old Town, Gamla Stan which is fantastic.
New Clothes
What Clothes To Wear: Earlier today when I was chatting with my friend and colleague who’ll be in Stockholm in mid to late April, she asked what clothes she should wear. She doesn’t want to pack too much clothing, and is concerned the warm clothing she has (she bought in New Zealand) might actually be “too warm”. Going back through my blog posts from March/April/May 2003, I noticed I needed to make a similar transition, and so went to a second-hand clothing store on Södermalm and picked up (for about $30-40) some clothing which kept me both warm and dry. Stadsmissionen is probably the best known second-hand clothing store in Stockholm, though the store I bought these clothes from was called Emmaus Stockholm just off Götgatan.
Arlanda Airport from Stockholm-Arlanda
Getting to and from Stockholm Airport (Arlanda): Of all the options you might consider – regular taxi, fast train (Arlanda Express), public transport (connecting train and bus), airport buses, I’d recommend the airport buses. For around $15-$20 AUD, it will take you roughly 45 minutes from the airport to central. This is slightly longer than catching a taxi, and twice as long as catching the Arlanda Express, but it’s much cheaper, and you get to see a little of the countryside. http://www.flygbussarna.se/EN You can buy your tickets beforehand and just show them on your phone, though noting you shouldn’t buy them too early as they can “expire”.
Getting a Swedish SIM Card: If you’re going to be in Stockholm for more than a week or so, I really think it’s worth getting yourself a Swedish SIM Card. As well as things like Google Maps, you can access email, social media, and not have to worry about international roaming. WIFI is everywhere, and Swedish homes generally have high-speed broadband, but for the sheer convenience, I think it’s worth spending about $40-50 for a casual plan which is often unlimited but usually has more than enough to do everything you’ll need. The last few times I’ve visited Stockholm, I picked up a SIM Card from 3 at a fairly reasonable price. Though the website is in Swedish, I found it was pretty simple to go into the 3 shop on Götgatan, and explain my situation. They asked me a few basic questions about usage patterns, and they even set the phone up for me.
Stockholm Rooftop Tour: I’m not sure if actually operates during April, but the rooftop tour is amazing. Stockholm is a low rise city, and you’ll see a whole lot more if you’re just above the city, not far, far away at Kaknastornet, the radio and TV transmission tower. I’d also really recommend Katarinahissen.
There are so many great galleries and museums (most of them free), but Fotografiska is my favourite. Great art, great location, and great food.
If you’re looking for a great fun night (that makes the most of the Swedish nights), I’d recommend Patricia, a boat on the water.
A ship inside a museum. The Vasa Museum in Stockholm.
Vasa Museet: A massive Swedish warship inside a museum. Amazing.
The Millenium Tour: A walking tour of Stockholm, as seen through the eyes of the books/films by Stieg Larrson.
Dr Käse at Hötorgshallen
The Nordic Experience Food Tour: Swedes eat all kinds of food, reflective of their increasingly multi-cultural society, but this tour takes you on a journey of pickled herring, bear and all kinds of great stuff.
Schlager band, Hallå Hela Pressen plays at Victoria Restaurang
Monday Night at Victoria’s: Swedes love pop music and drinking. If you’re sceptical, read the story of a guy I met who was VERY sceptical, and ended up having a great time.
Valborg bonfire in Stockholm
Valborg: A pagan festival at the end of April. Bonfires in the centre of Stockholm.
Kulturnatt: The night when galleries and museums are open during mid-April.
Walking on the frozen water of Lake Mälaren, Stockholm
Walking On Ice: Hopefully, there will still be some snow and ice around during March-April, and so long as you follow in the footsteps of others, you should feel confident about walking on ice.
Systembolaget Södermalm
Booze: Swedish bottle shops operate only 9-5 Monday to Saturday, so if you’re looking for take-away alcohol, you’ll need to plan. Supermarkets which are generally open until 10 or 11 at night, sell low-alcohol beer in case you get a little desperate.http://thelimbshift.com/2013/05/05/systembolaget-saturday/
