Initially I was a little “ho hum” about Loreen’s entry in Melodifestivalen (the contest which leads to Eurovision) in 2011, “My Heart Is Refusing Me”. It kinda sounded like someone had put Swedish lyrics into “Google Translate”.
I have since come to love this song, thanks largely to seeing her performance at the Swedish Gay Gala in 2012. The song, which went on to represent Sweden at Eurovision was Eric Saade’s “Popular” was very good, even though, of course, it was musically a rip-off of Boney M’s “Rasputin” and Lilli och Sussie’s “Oh Mamma”.
But it was the Gay Gala performance that convinced me how great the song was, and what a terrific performer she is.
And of course, the reaction of the audience is terrific! In the midst of a bunch of nameless people, you get to see some well known (for Sweden) performers performers really getting into it. Swedes have a reputation for being quiet and reserved, which I know, from my many nights at many venues including the now, sadly closed, Victoria’s, isn’t true. The Swedes love a good sing-a-long.
It’s been ten months now since the catastrophic flood hit Lismore, my hometown.
The damage is still being felt in many ways. Emotionally and financially, many people remain scarred.
But there are signs of optimism, with an increasing number of re-opened shops. Re-opened shops won’t tell you how people are feeling, but they’re still a recovery indicator.
So today, I went for a walk around the block and recorded this short video.
There’s a cat in my apartment block who I feed from time to time. Mostly, it’s because the owner of the cat (who lives on the third floor, and I live on the first) travels a fair bit with her work. I’ve spoken about Spidercat aka Biscuit previously, having remarked in some ways, that he’s a bit of a pet for the entire apartment block, as he often invades my neighbour’s apartment also.
At first, I started offering Biscuit some reasonably nice tuna (the same kind I mostly consume) from the supermarket. He liked that. Then, being budget conscious, I started buying some rather generic cat food. No interest. And then when the generic cat-food failed to inspire, I recently decided to up the ante a little and to buy some more “upmarket cat-food”. When Biscuit followed me into the apartment tonight, and when I offered him some more up-market cat food there was no response at all. Sigh.
Cat Food
It seems biscuit prefers the rather nice “upmarket” “human” tuna I prefer myself to the more regular cat food. These Surry Hills cats are all a little “too gourmet”, eh?
Something must have gone horribly wrong in the kitchen at Tabou Restaurant in Surry Hills tonight. There was a period of between 30 and 45 minutes where absolutely NOTHING emerged from the kitchen. We imagined for a just a moment a scene reminiscent of “Fawlty Towers”. You know the episode where everything goes horribly wrong and Basil is forced to drive back and forwards in his mini to obtain meals from another nearby restaurant? You could see the signs of frustration on the faces of the waiters, though the patrons (including us) seemed to just take it on board, and we saw no evidence of people getting uptight. Aside from that slight delay, tonght’s “Taste Of Provence” menu was excellent.
The five courses – consisting of Zucchini flowers and salt cod fritters, Coffin Bay mussels, Lamb cutlets, St Marcellin fromage and a cherry clafoutis with honey ice cream – were all excellent. They were also matched extremely well with a variety of French and Australian wines. In some cases the matching was unexpectedly good, such as the combination of the St Marcellin fromage with lavash and grapes with a Grenache-Shiraz from Corbieres. And while a night at Tabou is not exactly in the price range of a McValue Meal, we both thought the summer degustation menu was excellent value.
One of the many things we noticed about the evening was the absence of “street smokers” outside Tabou. Ever since the new smoking laws came into place, espcially with the hotels, Crown Street at night has become awash with people. It can be a real pain the arse trying to walk home from Coles when there seem to be more people on the footpath than actually inside the restaurant. But tonight Tabou was packed and with one or two exceptions, everyone was happy to remain indoors.
As we chatted about a variety of issues, Damo asked me when the new “small bar laws” were coming into force in NSW? Dunno, I replied. He mentioned a friend who works in the industry, who planned to open a small bar as soon as possible, had told him small bar applications were going into the liquor licensing authority at a current rate of about sixty a month. We both concluded, as in Melbourne, many of them would close soon after opening, when their lack of sustainability became evident. However for a brief period of time later this year Sydney will have almost as many small bars as you find people outside on the streets of Surry Hills as night.
Amongst the many people we saw walk past tonight (we had a window seat) was fellow blogger, Monty. It was the second time I’ve seen him out and about in the area in the last month. With visitors to the area like Monty, you know the area has become fashionable! :)
The other sign of Surry Hills fashionability is that Lachlan Murdoch has well and truly found himself a home in the ‘hood. In August 2006, it was reported in The Sydney Morning Herald Lachan had paid $4.3 million for a two-storey Surry Hills warehouse on Nickson Street.
In May. Murdoch’s search for office space ended when he paid $4.3 million for a two-storey Surry Hills warehouse on Nickson Street. The building, between Crown and Bourke streets, is halfway between his present News Ltd office in Holt Street and Aussie Stadium. The premises are destined to become the headquarters for his new company, Illyria Pty Ltd, named after an island off Croatia he once sailed around and not from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, as speculated. There has been talk the 700-odd square metre Surry Hill’s warehouse will soon undergo renovations in preparation for Murdoch’s arrival, but this week the darkened building lay deserted.
That’s my street, I thought to myself at the time. “What’s Lachlan doing in my street in that old warehouse?”, I wondered. In the time since they’ve installed frosted windows and security doors, and aside from the occasional flash car in the street, you would never know I am often never more than 100 metres away from Lachlan Murdoch. And on Saturday and Sunday, you would never know it was where Lachlan Murdoch and Jamie Packer were finalising a multi-billion dollar media deal. As was reported in today’s edition of The Australian…
They spent Saturday and Sunday in Murdoch’s office in Surry Hills, Packer and his advisers with Murdoch and his. A constant stream of sandwiches, bottles of water and cups of coffee came through the door. The deal was only finally clinched about 10pm on Sunday.
When I read the story today, the first thing that came into my mind was “where did they get their sandwiches from”? I’m guessing it was Cafe Nikki, as it’s about the only place that’s open on the weekends who would do take-away sandwiches. And I wondered, too, if they popped down to the servo on Cleveland Steet when they needed water. Or maybe to the turkish pizza place just around the corner, as I often do? And I wondered if Jamie, who now seems more interested in gambling than media, had popped down to the TAB on the corner of Nickson and Cleveland Streets to place a bet sometime on the weekend? You often see a lot of “street smokers” there too, by the way. As far as I could see there were no flash cars, and no evidence of the rich and influential walking up and down my street, when all this was happening, But I guess it was a wet weekend…
Though I knew it happened “in theory,” I’ve been surprised by the number of times people have spoken to my friend or support worker instead of me, now that I’m usually seated below regular line of sight in a wheelchair.
One of the worst spaces for being below the line of sight is the prescription counter of many pharmacies. They’ve been designed, I assume, with the pharmacist in a standing position behind the counter. Seated in a wheelchair, I’ve been far too low behind the counter to be able to easily get the attention of the staff.
And then sometimes when I have gained the attention of the staff member at the pharmacy, or elsewhere, the staff member has begun the conversation with my friend or support worker instead of me. “Actually, it’s me, down here, doing the transaction,” I’ve been half-tempted to say.
I don’t know how much this has to do with line of sight, or the idea that being in a wheelchair I may also have a degree of intellectual or cognitive disability that requires additional support.
Earlier in my condition, I was on some pretty serious pain relief, and prone to hallucination (which I’ve written about here https://thelimbshift.com/2023/07/psychedelic/). And an early diagnosis of my condition suggested the possibility of serious brain damage. Thank goodness, that didn’t occur, and I’m (arguably) just as smart (and feisty) as I was six months ago.
As I have planned trips out and about, I have often used Google Maps to assess wheelchair accessibility. I discovered this a few months ago, while still in hospital, and I was looking for somewhere for a haircut. Of all the hairdressers I looked at in the Darlinghurst area, most had at least one or two steps at the front door. Thanks to Google Maps, I discovered Oxford Barber (on the corner of Crown and Oxford Street) was the most wheelchair friendly. On entering, the barber told me he already had a number of customers in wheelchairs. “The word must be out you have a good, accessible shop,” I told him.
Using Google Street Views on Google Maps to determine easy to enter barber shops.Using Google Maps, here is another barber shop in Darlinghurst with a more difficult entry.
Although public attention on accessibility in shops often focuses on a wheelchair entrance, another issue to consider is what happens inside. Are the aisles wide enough for wheelchairs, for example? Are there lots of boxes on the floor?
As much as I love Chemist Warehouse, I’ve found the aisles are very narrow and often difficult to negotiate in a wheelchair. On top of that, I’ve found there are often lots of boxes on the floor, with goods waiting to be shelved. A tip? Make sure you don’t have too many boxes on the floor.
While the front door of cafes and restaurants can often be wheelchair friendly, I’ve often found it difficult to negotiate a clear path to a table, because the furniture is so tightly packed together. A tip? Have a table, near the door, that has a little more room around it to accommodate people who might need a bigger turning circle, because they’re in a wheelchair.
Quite often, Google Maps/Street View will allow you to actually go inside shops to check out things like turning room around the aisles.
Awesome wheelchair friendly entry, and a barber with a number of wheelchair clients.
“I knew all this stuff in theory,” I told a few colleagues who also live with disability recently, “but it hasn’t been until I’ve had this lived experience that it’s all made sense.” They’ve smiled in recognition.
Post Script
I shared this story with friends on Facebook and had a very strong response.
They sometimes treat people who are disabled like little children but we’ve got to stand up for ourselves
Person with disability
Well, I’m not glad you’ve got a disability but I’m glad we have someone so articulate and, to use your word, feisty, as an advocate. Its a horror to be honest and I recently threw my toys out of the pram in a big way over here demanding to know what a particular cinema chain thought they had been doing for the last 30 years since our disability legislation came in. I wasn’t polite at all. Im just exhausted at making the same point over and over for decade after decade. You’ve taught me something today about being constructive so I thank you for that. Though I’ll probably be back to being a screaming quren tomorrow. Much respect mate.
Person with disability
Yep they’re definitely thinking you’have a cognitive disability because you’re in a wheelchair and you have a person with you. Like they think all older people are deaf and raise their voices at them. Hope you keep blogging about these issues. I often find myself nodding my head in agreement. As I did only today when you wrote about the table and chairs layout situation. Another bugbear is the amount of people who don’t put their chair back in in when they vacant the spot,leaving it in in the path. Good tip about street view I must make more use of it.I’m often interested in the terrain getting to a place.
Person With Disability
Very well expressed James. As a carer of a stroke survivor, I’ve noticed people addressing me rather than Alex. I always steer them straight. JB HiFi is also very dangerous for wheelchairs. And not every accessible cafe/restaurant/bar have sensible accessible toilets. For example, Alex’s building only has one public accessible bathroom- it’s on the 1st floor in the Carpark, And the door is so heavy that he can’t open it on his own. So if he visits the restaurant he goes home if he needs the loo. The ‘normal’ toilets are on the same floor as the restaurant. A lot of places just don’t accommodate their disabled customers. Thanks for the tip about the barber, it’s in his neighbourhood.
Carer
Yes they used to talk to me, as carer, instead of my parents. it’s so rude! You are still 100% smart and feisty. so many hurdles… I think the Chem Warehouse at Newtown has a bit more space between aisles. Maybe get a little flag to hold up to wave and get attention. So frustrating…
Carer
I’ve especially become aware over the past few years with Mum more and more wheelchair bound and me pushing. It annoys me that she (and all mobility impaired people) cannot go to certain places, like South Head and around Watson’s Bay. No . Access. Period. Mobile people just take it for granted and don’t care. The disabled should have a powerful lobby like the First Nation activists and the LBQT lobby.Who is campaigning for equality for disabled people? People like Clover Moore seem more interested in bike riders.
Carer
I learned many similar things when I became a parent and had to contend with pram/stroller accessibility. It’s so obvious in hindsight but I’m now seeing accessibility hazards literally EVERYWHERE I go. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve moved someone’s dumped rubbish (sometimes mattresses) off the footpath to clear access… it’s astonishing how little thought is given to this given the number of mobility scooters, prams, strollers, wheelchairs, young kids on bikes/scooters, etc that you see around.
It’s Wednesday morning. I’ve just had breakfast. Am half-watching Sunrise on Channel 7 and curiously enough, since I’m on holiday, I’ve been having a great night’s sleep and getting out of bed early. What’s going on?
The last few days have been relatively quiet and quite relaxing. I spent most of Monday just hanging out at home, cooking, eating, playing on the internet and watching television.
On Monday night, however, I had tickets to an advance screening of the new movie, “Love Actually” which I saw with Colin. We both thought the movie was pretty average. Despite a strong cast, the movie was let down by the plot which was virtually non-existant. In some ways it reminded me of the Blue Room: lots of short vignettes, offering only a brief insight into the lives of the characters. Although there were some good performances and some funny moments, I never actually got much of a chance to care about any of them.
I spent yesterday hanging around home, doing nothing in particular. Last night was just a television night – watching “The Bill” – before going to bed.
Today, I’ll spend some time preparing for the Palliative Care Conference I’m hosting.
“Sorry Uncle Jim, I was just trying to give you a cuddle”, my young nephew apologised last weekend.
I was on the couch half-watching television and had my glasses on my chest.
My young nephew jumped up on my to give me a cuddle, and that’s when we both realised the frames on my glasses had snapped. Not badly, but enough to warrant a sticky-tape job until I was able to go back to my optometrist to see if there was anything that could be done. Thankfully, the sticky-tape was an almost perfect “colour-match” for the grey hair just above my ears.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that could be done, as they were made from titanium (not able to be welded) and were no longer stocked. It’s three years since I got my glasses, and therefore also three years since I had my eyes tested.
With that in mind, I decided I’d have an eye-test, and also get some new frames. I’ve got a two-for-one deal which means my old lenses have been put into new frames, and I’ve got a set of new frames with the updated prescription lenses. Thankfully, my health insurance was able to make a significant contribution towards the cost. Hopefully they’ll be ready later this week.
My New Glasses – Dirty Dog Terrier
I swear, if I had boofy hair, a beard, skinny chinos, and was 20 years younger I would be such a “Surry Hills hipster”.
