I smiled when I saw the mural was still there, standing in the midst of the construction zone. Though I have no idea if that’s a good or a bad thing, in terms of preservation, it gave me a smile to see it standing there nonetheless. Seemingly further back from where it used to be, not far from Bourke Street, this is, perhaps its new location? Or is it the original location? I’ve never been that good spatially.
Wimbo Park (and the mural) are things I have written about a few times on this blog. Neither will continue in the form they’ve existed since at least the early 1980s, as the construction of the lightrail continues in earnest. Also gone, the Olivia Gardens apartment block where a friend lived during the 90s and 00s. I’m sure I read somewhere the park and the mural will return in some way, which is a good thing.
Meanwhile, on a hot day in Sydney, the construction site looks a little barren, to say the least. Anyway, for the record, here’s a few photographs of what the area looked like before light rail construction was complete. I’ll do my best to add further photographs, as construction continues.
Devonshire Street Lightrail ConstructionDevonshire Street Lightrail ConstructionDevonshire Street Lightrail ConstructionDevonshire Street Lightrail Construction
It’s Saturday afternoon. It’s another fine day in Perth. I haven’t really done all that much today, but I don’t feel like it’s been a wasted day. I got up at about 10am, wandered around home for a while, chatted on the net, and went out for lunch. Then I went in to work and burned a CD based on some of the mp3 files I was sent. And so for the last couple of hours I’ve been listening to the new Agnetha Fältskog CD, “My Colouring Book”.
Although she has written and recorded many of her own songs over the years, this album of 60s covers seems to be her most honest, seemingly biographical CD. Her accent is stronger than she’s ever allowed it to be evident in lines such as “my fallen tears” ending up sounding like “my volunteers”. But her voice is incredibly strong, possibly stronger than in anything I’ve ever heard before. There are some “gin and razor blades” aspects to the album, but there are also some joyous aspects. One of my favourites is her cover of the Shangri Las, “Past Present & Future”. It sounds like it was written for her.
I’m all packed up and I’m on my way and I’m gonna fall in love, But at the moment it doesn’t look good At the moment it will never happen again I don’t think it will ever happen again
With her life story of the big public divorce, disastrous relationships since, and now, almost 60 years of age, you can’t help but want to give her a big hug.
The last couple of weekends have been uneventful as I still haven’t made any friends, but that’s okay I guess as I’ve had a couple of visotrs. Roger, my boss from Sydney was in town with some work-related matters to attend, which was nice. And also visiting Perth was fabulous singer-songwriter, Merri May Gill. No matter where I go in Australia, Merri May comes to visit. I think she may be stalking me!!! We had a great hour or two at the pub on Wednesday afternoon which was just great.
Aside from that, I’ve just been coming home, listening to the radio, watching television and surfing the internet. I’ve also had a couple of things to do in organising our school reunion.
I went to Adelaide earlier this week for a couple of days, for a management workshop which focussed on effective feedback. Part of this involved doing a Myers-Briggs Test revealing that I am an INTJ. Some of the highlights of being an INTJ include
INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion “Does it work?” to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake.
No plans for the next few days, just resting up as the next week will be reasonably busy. On Tuesday, I’m heading down to Walpole which sounds spectacular. Located 441 km south of Perth, Walpole is located on one of the most dramatic and unusual stretches of coastline in Australia. It lies in that rare zone between the cliffs and beaches which are washed by the southern ocean and the vast karri and jarrah forests of the South West. This is isolated country which remained unsettled and uninhabited until well into the twentieth century. . And then it’s back to Perth for a day or two of job interviews and then I’m off to Sydney for a few days holiday and then I’m off to Melbourne for a few days work. Time really is flying.
I had a realisation earlier today I haven’t really been home much lately. I was home in Lismore for Christmas. I was in Newcastle for a week with my work, and my work will take me to Brisbane for a few days later in the month. And last weekend, a friend and I travelled to the Sunshine Coast for a few days.
We stayed in an apartment at Maroochydore which was nice: spacious and close to the beach. Maroochydore itself was quieter than I remembered, though noting it’s a few years since I last visited there. We relaxed, ate well, and enjoyed our time there very much. Memorably, Maroochydore must have the world’s largest adult store which, amusingly, has a large sign at the front saying they have parking and you should “enter via rear”. We both laughed.
Mooloolaba was a little more exciting, and a little more visually appealing with a lovely beach, and a lovely bush walk. The surf club was an excellent place for lunch: they’ve done a nice job making it appealing to both tourists and the many older, retired people who can still afford to eat out at what’s essentially a tourist town. My friend was after a pedicure and was told the basic pedicure would cost $90 “because we’re a tourist town”. Yikes. An unexpected highlight of the town was the Steve Irwin statue just off the beach. Yes, really.
Mooloolaba, Queensland
Mooloolaba, Queensland
Steve Irwin statue at Mooloolaba, Queensland
On the subject of travel, my mid-year plans are coming along nicely. In essence, a week in Japan, a week in New York, and three weeks in Europe (Sweden, of course) which now includes 5 days in Rome. I’ve never been there before, but am looking forward to it very much, having found good central accommodation (without breaking the bank), and with plans for sight-seeing both in Rome and beyond (Venice for a day-trip surely?). Any travel tips would be most appreciated.
It was another night of “The Great Foxtel Challenge”. I’m attempting to see if I can “give up” Foxtel for a week, with a view to ending my subscription. I’m doing it partly for economic reasons ($1000 per annum), and partly because my own viewing habits have changed somewhat.
I first subscribed to Foxtel in about December 2004 when I returned home from my year in Perth. At about the time, my apartment block was “wired” for Foxtel Satellite and I was an enthusiastic early subscriber. Since then I’ve hardly ever watched free-to-air television, and I’ve loved the convenience of being able to listen to ABC Radio in all its forms via the superior sound quality of the satellite.
Lately however, I begun to notice I’m watching less and less live television: I’ve been using the ABC’s iview, and my recent purchase of a PVR has meant that I’m able to “time shift” a lot more often. I’ve also recently bought a digital and internet radio which delivers reasonably high quality radio. The recent launch of ABC News 24 has also meant one of my main reasons for subscribing to paytv has also been catered for: 24 hour news.
I’ve also noticed recently my general television viewing habits tends have tended to involve television as “background noise” or “company” more than active viewing.
And so as all of these things have combined, I’ve decided to attempt a week without Foxtel. It’s a bit like “Dry July” in some respects. In fact, I might even extend it to a month to make sure I’m certain about this potential change.
So far, I’ve managed to avoid Foxtel since Saturday, though I “caved” on Sunday night for an hour with repeats of “Are You Being Served?” and “Yes Prime Minister”. Oh, the shame.
I’m anxiously awaiting to see what 7, 9 and 10 will do with their remaining digital channels. I like Go. But for me, personally, 7TWO and OneHD are like watching paint dry. I hope these networks will offer something truly interesting with their remaining channels. Presumably SBS will also offer an addition channel? I don’t care much for HD, I’d much rather more choices in SD.
Getting rid of Foxtel? The main pro, of course, is that I’d save $1000 each year.
The cons? There are things I think I would miss: I would miss some of the documentaries (particularly Louis Theroux, my most recent obsession), I would miss some of the Swedish movies I can often find on World Movies, and I would miss repeats of The Simpsons, Frasier, Will & Grace, Absolutely Fabulous and Yes Prime Minister. Although I know I can find many of these things on DVD (or download), there’s a degree of “convenience” that allows you to simply turn on the television and have countless choices. On a “con” basis, it would also probably lead to an increase in my data consumption via my internet connection. But I also hardly ever get close to my data limit anyway.
Of course another option is just to get a new boyfriend.
It’s another beautiful Spring day in Sydney and, once again, I’ve woken up with a bad case of the sniffles. Although I live on the first floor of my apartment block, which means I’m literally in the treetops when I wake up in the morning, the downside of this is regular annual cases of hay fever. I don’t know why but this year the hay fever’s been much worse than in previous years. In fact, I had a day off work this week, hardly able to get out of bed. Thankfully, I’m feeling much better now, though the sniffles remain.
My Tree
Although I haven’t actually made any firm plans for the weekend, aside from a fairly vague idea of wandering down the road for the Surry Hills Festival (which has just firmed up thanks to a mid-blog telephone call from The Other Andrew) that’s probably not a bad thing. In the midst of this terrible hay fever, I’ve had a reasonably busy week with a night of theatre, dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant and another work-related event that took me to the forty-first floor of Governor Macquarie Tower which enjoys spectacular views.
The dinner on Thursday night with my friend Colin (and two of his friends) was definitely a highlight of the week, as we attended one of the “closing down dinners” at RQ Restaurant, a terrific Asian restaurant on Crown Street. Although I can’t remember exactly how many courses we had (it was one of those fixed-priced degustation menus), I do remember it was an evening of great food and conversation. As they have a daughter doing the HSC at the moment, it was a great night out for John and Catherine, who had also been to the night noodle markets the previous night, which Tom from Tom’s Place also enjoyed this week (even if they had run out of red wine!).
Such was not the case last night when Colin and I went to The Ensemble Theatre for the opening night of Noelene Brown in “Glorious”, a play about the American socialite and singer, Florence Foster Jenkins. Vaguely familiar with the true-life story of Jenkins, and as a big fan of Noelene Brown, I was really curious to see this play. As noted in Wikipedia…
From her recordings, it is apparent that Jenkins had little sense of pitch and rhythm and was barely capable of sustaining a note. Her accompanist can be heard making adjustments to compensate for her tempo variations and rhythmic mistakes. Her dubious diction, especially in foreign language songs, is also noteworthy. Nonetheless, she became tremendously popular in her unconventional way. Her audiences apparently loved her for the amusement she provided rather than her musical ability. Critics often described her work in a backhanded way that may have served to pique public curiosity. Despite her patent lack of ability, Jenkins was firmly convinced of her greatness. She compared herself favourably to the renowned sopranos Frieda Hempel and Luisa Tetrazzini, and dismissed the laughter which often came from the audience during her performances as coming from her rivals consumed by “professional jealousy.” She was aware of her critics, however, saying “People may say I can’t sing, but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.”
Wikipedia
Ensemble Theatre
The most memorable part of last night’s play, along with some good one-liners, was how Noelene Brown managed to sing the entire night intentionally off-key. There was not one occasion when she actually hit a note, reminding me of my own, often disastrous attempts at singing. Very funny. Although not a hugely memorable play, it was an evening of great fun.
And it was especially fun to see a play set in the bizarre world of 1940s New York social life, as I’ve become a little bit interested in New York this week. Aside from the hay fever I’ve had, the other bug I’ve caught this week is the “travel bug”. I went to my tax agent on Monday (and Friday to sign the paperwork) and if all goes to plan, I should receive a fairly healthy return within a few weeks. With the Australian dollar so strong at the moment, I made a mental promise to myself that if the return was indeed a healthy one, I would set aside some money to travel to three places I’ve always longed to visit: Stockholm, Paris and New York.
Every time I go to Bourke Street Primary School to vote, there’s always a healthy number of party officials handing out how to vote cards. In contrast to most occasions at the school, this time the Liberals outnumbered Labor two or three to one. I suspect they thought they may have had a chance unseating Clover Moore this time around.
Their candidate was a fairly good looking young gay man whose face adorned more posters than any other candidate on telegraph poles in the vicinity of Crown and Bourke. I swear there were may 10 posters alone at the corner of Devonshire and Crown Streets.
Having made my way through the “rumble chamber” of the party officials I joined the fairly lengthy queue of those waiting to vote, while simultaneously taking in the smells of the nearby sausage sizzle.
“A local?”, the electoral official asked me as I joined the queue. “Yes”, I told her. That was my cue to queue-jump. In a polling booth that’s seemingly overwhelmingly used by absentee voters, being a local voter is like being able to fly first class. They send you straight to the front of the queue, they give you the forms, and you’re in and out within five minutes and eating a sausage sandwich, while the poor absentee voters are left waiting.
Election day at Bourke Street Primary School
In contrast to the last state election, this was a rather leisurely day for me. In the last election I was working as the Executive Producer of ABC Radio’s coverage from the tally room which was at Homebush. This time around there was no longer a tally room, and I no longer have any involvement in state-based programming.
Election night at the ABC
As there wasn’t a “tally room” per se in NSW this year, the ABC did set up the television and radio studios in the downstairs foyer, making them open to members of the public to create a “tally-room-like” atmsophere. I went in for a while and enjoyed the atmosphere very much, but since I was still a little bit sick (the cough, the wheeze and the sneeze) I decided to come home to watch and listen to the coverage from the comfort of my own lounge-room.
“Are you okay”, I said to the cab driver just a short while ago, noticing his hands were shaking.
“Yes, I’m fine”, he told me, “but could you wait a while and be a witness?”, he asked.
A minute or so earlier a car had run up the back of us on Parramatta Road.
I don’t exactly know what happened, except that a couple of seconds or so after we stopped at the traffic lights, a car had run up the back of us with a loud thud.
As the driver was a little shaken, I wrote down the details of the driver’s licence and number plate, and generally looked after the situation fairly calmly.
It reminded me of my first (and worst) car accident years ago in Brisbane.
The car in front of me stopped, I stopped, but the car behind me didn’t stop, and went right up the back of us.
I remember organising the traffic, I remember finding a place to make a phone call to the place, I remember being completely in control.
And then I remember coming home and seeing my flatmate and bursting into tears.
I haven’t wanted to burst into tears tonight, though you never know what memories might be dragged up.
Overall, today was a bit of a car-crash, as flu has continued to make its way through my workplace.
Concert Hall Seating Plan
The only bright spots in the day were tonight, as usual, at the pub (for a Wednesday night) earlier in the day securing tickets for the Liza MInnelli concert in October at the Sydney Opera House.
The website there crashed too, as they had “unexpected demand” for early ticket registration.
Thankfully, we have scored EXCELLENT tickets for the Saturday night show.
A few people I’ve told about securing the tickets have smiled, laughed. “Isn’t she past it?”, they’ve asked. “Is she gonna be out of rehab by October?”, they’ve joked.
Even if she is, I’m still looking forward to the show, because I feel she’s one of the great performers of the last forty years.
