If you like the 1970s, music, art, politics and Sydney, you’ll like this exhibition currently at the National Art School. Made this video for my friend https://catherinecroll.com (Cathy/Kate), who has work in it, but couldn’t attend the opening, as she is currently working in remote WA.
It’s been one hell of a crazy week at work (and about to get even crazier), so when Sue texted me this afternoon asking if I’d like to go out for dinner, I was in two minds. On the one hand, part of me wanted to just go home, sit on the balcony and have a drink or seven. On the other hand, it would have been greeat to go out with her, have a chat and eat some terrific food. The offer was a sushi place at Kingsford, not far from where she lives.
I told her I just wanted to go home, get out of my “Work clothes”, have a gin and tonic on the balcony and relax. While the temptation would have been to stay at home, sit on the balcony, and enjoy a second or eighth gin and tonic, I made a quick decision I would definitely join her for dinner. And I’m pleased I did: first because of the catchup, and second because the food at Niji Sushi Bar was pretty bloody good.
The prices were good, the food was good, the service was a little slow and inconsistent. We asked for some bowls for a share meal a couple of times before they actually turned up, for example, and there was a fair gap between the first meal and the remainders. But that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, since the restaurant was really very busy. And the food was very tasty. Would probably go back there again.
http://www.nijisushi.com.au/home-2
It’s Saturday night and I’m doing what I always do on Saturday nights… watching “The Bill” and playing around on the web. I don’t think I’m in a rut, by maybe I am. Maybe I need to make a New Year’s resolution to stop staying home on Saturday night, to video-tape “The Bill” and to make an effort to go out and do something?
Friday was a relatively quiet day at work, as we were broadcasting the cricket. Nonethless, I had a few jobs to do, including some pre-records and some web-work. By 5.30pm, however, it was time to go for yet another “Christmas Drinks” with James, Jen and a few other people from work. We got into a reasonably interesting discussion with a guy who is an ethicisit and a guy who is a philosopher about the nature of addiction. As the glasses emptied on that conversation, I commented that it was time to meet the needs of my own addiction. I kept myself reasonably “nice”, until I went to the Triple J Christmas Party. Big mistake! No, actually it was fine, although I probably had a few too many drinks. Still I chatted to a few people who wouldn’t normally look twice at you at work but who wanted to have the biggest conversations of their lives with me – I’m sure they weren’t on drugs. The music was great, the drinks plentiful, and the conversation was pretty good too. Don’t remember much about getting home, except that I did have to have a little “sit down” on the way.
When I arrived home, I picked up the mail to find a great reminder of what a hedonistic, selfish life I lead. Earlier this week, I had finally decided to sponsor a child through the Christian Childrens Fund, having thought about it, but not having done anything about it for several years. It’s so hard to conceptualise that the money I piss up a wall on a regular basis can actually help someone so much more.
His name is Nureden Hussen from Ethiopia. He comes from Kebet, a small village in Guraghe Administrative region. Have just been reading about him tonight. He has siblings. Both his parents are alive and live together in a small hut. The family sustenance is depended on the father who is selling fire wood for living and the mother is a day labourer. However,what they get from the market is not enough to fulfil the family’s need satisfactorily. Considering the desperate situation of the family the committee referred this needy child to be helped. They are from Silti ethnic group. He is in preschool and he likes counting numbers and reading alphabets. Nureden is healthy and also likes playing with toys made of worn out clothes. I hope my small sacrifice can make a difference to he and his family’s life.
According to the Christian Childrens’ Fund In turning your commitment into action, CCF Australia guarantees to send 80% of all child sponsorship funds overseas for the effective planning, management and delivery of community based services to benefit children and their families. Our commitment to you ensures you that your donation is benefiting the people who need it most. Of the 80%, a proportion covers the operations of the National Office in each country, where highly qualified social workers and program officers oversee and implement activities in clean water provision, nutrition programs, health care, education and income generating skills. CCF is very careful in the selection and training of our field staff, as they represent an essential part of our ability to be accountable to our supporters. The remaining 20% covers the operations of CCF Australia, in the Sydney office, and is used for administration costs and to raise awareness of CCF’s work. 100% of the optional gift money to sponsored children is sent through CCF’s international bank channels with no administrative deductions from CCF.
Anyway… back to my reality. Although I had several things planned for the day, I did none of it. I just didn’t feel like leaving the house. Tomorrow is another day, as I’m going to see the Harry Potter movie with some friends. Tomorrow is another day. Spent a while doing some work on websites for friends.
It’s hard to believe it, but today was my last full day in Stockholm. With my departure looming, I woke up with a clear mission: it was time to tick off those final bucket-list items that have been lingering on my mind.
I decided to head back out to the archipelago—specifically to Vaxholm. I’ve been here once before during the summer when it’s a bustling, sun-drenched holiday resort. Winter tells a different story. The crowds are thinner, but the ferry was still surprisingly lively. I found myself surrounded by a mix of French and Italian travellers, along with plenty of Swedes heading out for a Friday escape.
The journey takes about 80 to 90 minutes. I’ll admit, I was crossing my fingers for a sea of thick, dramatic ice, but nature had other plans. While there wasn’t as much as I’d hoped for, there was still enough to satisfy the soul, especially as we pulled into Vaxholm. I even managed to snag a short video of an icebreaker working alongside our ferry.
The ferry was completely covered by my weekly transit pass—no extra cost at all, which is always a win for the travel budget. I settled in for a light lunch at the Vaxholm Hotel, right opposite the quay. There’s something incredibly peaceful about a Friday lunch overlooking the frozen water (or at least, the “slushy” water) with a few locals enjoying the view.
As I sat on the bus and train today, I found myself drifting off and wondering about the automated voices you hear on public transport. I ended up discovering a really clever piece of Swedish engineering. It turns out that northbound trains are announced by a female voice, while southbound trains are announced by a male voice. It’s a unique system designed to help commuters with visual impairments know exactly which side of the platform to stand on just by listening to the gender of the voice. It’s such a simple, thoughtful touch that makes the city that much more accessible.
Back in the city this afternoon, I finally tackled something I’ve wanted to do for ages: a traditional Swedish sauna (or bastu). I’ve done the baths in Iceland and Japan, but never the local experience here. I headed to the swimming hall at Medborgarplatsen.
As an amputee, navigating these spaces can sometimes be a bit of a logistical puzzle. At the entrance, there’s a strict “shoes off” rule before you even reach the changing rooms. I had to explain to the staff that my prosthetic limb and shoe are a package deal! They were great about it, though—they gave me these blue plastic covers (very IKEA-esque) to keep the grit off the floors.
After a relaxing 25-metre lap swim, I hit the sauna. It’s a very different vibe from Australia. It’s incredibly family-oriented; fathers and sons all relaxing together, which felt very natural and wholesome. I did have a sweet moment with a little girl who was absolutely transfixed by my prosthetic. Her father was a bit apologetic, but I told him it was no worry at all.
I finished the evening with a quiet glass of wine at a local bar before retreating to the hostel.
To be honest, these past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I’ve had to remind myself that things are a bit different now than they were during my last visit nine years ago. Between the amputation and the slippery winter streets, I move a little slower than I used to. I haven’t ticked off every single thing I imagined, but I’ve learned to be okay with that. Travel isn’t just about the volume of sights; it’s about the quality of the moments.
Tomorrow, I’m jumping on a four-hour train north to Sundsvall. It’s Melodifestivalen Heat 5 weekend (the massive Swedish lead-up to Eurovision), so the energy in the country is going to be electric.
The last time I caught a train to Parramatta I caused a controversy on Facebook. “Why are you doing that?” “What’s going on?” was the shocked and surprised response of many people who may have mistakenly confused me for an inner-city urbanite. It’s partly true, but I have spent two-thirds of my life living in regional Australia, including about 5 years in remote areas. Anyway, I digress.
Tonight we travelled to Parramatta Riverside Theatre to see a very “urban” play, “Angels In America”.
As I’ve spent most of my life living in rural Australia, I didn’t actually see the play when it was first staged in Australia. And I didn’t go to this particular production when it played in Newtown.
But I had seen the mini-series with Meryl Streep et al, which I enjoyed immensely.
In all, “Angels In America” amounts to about 6 hours of theatre, staged in two parts. Tonight we saw part one.
“How did it work as a night of theatre?”, I asked my friend Sam, who had neither seen the play nor the mini-series. He was unsure, as I think he thought a lot was left up in the air, and you really need to see both nights to make a complete judgement.
I, on the other hand, knew what comes next. And for me what happens next is far more interesting. I haven’t checked to see when “part two” runs, though I’m hoping it will be soon.
I really enjoyed tonight’s production. I mean, I like the play because it’s wordy and challenging, but also very entertaining with a great heart, and some fantastic one liners.
For me, the standout performances came from Akos Armont (as Louis), Abi Austin (as his wife, Harper), and Elaine Hudson (who played a variety of roles). They were all totally convincing, and seemed to understand their roles well. As much as I like Tyran Park, I couldn’t help but compare his version of Joe with that of Patrick Wilson who was in the mini-series. For me, Patrick Wilson completely nailed the role of a young Mormon man struggling with his sexuality.
As we glanced through the program, we noticed we were setting next to the set designer which was fortunate, because we both thought the set and design were excellent.
“It didn’t seem like three hours”, we observed to each other on the way home on the train.
In fact, the whole day flew for me. I’m extremely busy at work at the moment, working on a project which is pretty rewarding. When you’re enjoying what you do, time flies, doesn’t it?
Waking up at 5 am for breakfast to watch the Eurovision Song Contest is a far cry from how I experienced it two decades ago. Back then, we’d gather on a Sunday night in Australia for a delayed broadcast, indulging in too much food and alcohol, staying up excessively late, and dissecting it all at work on Monday. I no longer have the stamina for that kind of Eurovision party.
Besides, the immediacy of results has changed things. Twenty years ago, even if you accidentally stumbled upon the winner, there was a strict pact among friends: no spoilers. Everyone was impressively respectful of that. It was a fun ritual; we’d have friends over, armed with our own score sheets, individually rating performers and competing to predict the winner.
Eventually, this evolved into online discussions, the Twitter Years, which was enjoyable for a while. However, I grew tired of some of the “too clever by half” comments, particularly those bordering on racist generalizations about nationalities. It became a bit tedious, so I stepped back from that. Subsequently, I transitioned to watching the live morning broadcast all by myself.
For a number of years, I found some of the Australian Eurovision hosts a little tiresome, seemingly all trying to emulate Terry Wogan or Graham Norton. I haven’t watched the Australian coverage for several years now, as I didn’t find previous hosts particularly engaging; it sometimes felt more about them than the contest.
This year, however, I caught some of the Australian coverage with Tony Armstrong and Courtney Act. I thought they were quite good – respectful of the competition. Clearly, Courtney Act was more knowledgeable, but Tony seemed to genuinely embrace the spirit of it and wasn’t just there to mock, which I appreciated.
I do enjoy the Eurovision Song Contest. Obviously, it’s changed in the last 20 years. It used to be amusing to see the clichés from different countries, and sometimes, frankly, it was quite “naff.” More recently, it has morphed into a more mainstream pop competition. When I watch it now, I sometimes long for the days of more outlandish and “crazy” entries.
Speaking of crazy, Sweden’s entry this year really appealed to me. They’ve gone from having a series of great pop songs – really beautifully made and produced – to actually having a great novelty song. It’s a great, fun number. It’s also interesting that the three men performing are Swedish-speaking Finns. As someone who speaks some Swedish, I noticed some words I didn’t understand, which I later discovered were either dialect words or Finnish. It was good to get that insight.
This year, I once again watched the Swedish coverage via SVT, the Swedish broadcaster. I prefer their more downplayed, minimalist approach – perhaps what you’d expect from the nation that gave us H&M and IKEA. It’s something I genuinely enjoy about getting up early now: breakfast and the Swedish Eurovision broadcast.
This time, I even prepared a bit more. There’s a Swedish guy in Sydney who sells Swedish confectionery through pop-up stores and markets. https://yumyumcandy.com.au/ Even though I really shouldn’t be eating sweets with my diabetes, my friend Andrea and I bought some yesterday at their pop up stall at Broadway Shopping Centre. She’s also been to Sweden and occasionally gifts me Swedish treats she finds. There was a young Swedish woman selling the candy, and we had a lovely chat with her.
As we bought the Swedish candy, we also discussed Australia’s failure to make the final. We thought the song entered was reasonably okay, though it didn’t particularly stand out for me in the broader Eurovision context. Maybe a little “too clever by half”?
In fact, it’s been a number of years since I felt Australia was truly competitive. Kate Miller-Heidke’s song was quite good fun, but our peak was undoubtedly when Dami Im sang “Sound of Silence.” She came second to Ukraine, and honestly, had Ukraine not been competing, she probably would have won. It was such a great performance and song.
So, I don’t really understand how Australia’s Eurovision songs are chosen. I recall a deal with Sony Music for a while, and then perhaps a year or two of an actual national contest. Now, the selection process is unclear to me, but I believe we need to find a better way – something Australians can get genuinely excited about, and the Europeans too.
The Results (Spoiler Alet)
I caught a good chunk of Eurovision this morning, even if I did nod off once or twice. No surprises here, Sweden was my absolute favourite! What really jumped out was the massive gap between what the juries liked and what the public voted for. Juries played it safer, but the public? They were definitely up for something different. And, oh my gosh, the UK getting zero points from the public again is just golden – I bet they didn’t see that coming with Brexit! I also loved the songs from The Netherlands (who sang in French, how cool!), Ukraine, and Estonia (who went with Italian!). And even Sweden’s winner was a cool blend of Swedish, Finnish, and a Swedish dialect.
Here’s a summary of the top 10 results from the Grand Final:
This week, Swedish TV SVT, has announced the hosts for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest as Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede. I’m really excited about this, as I like them both very much. But as much as I love Eurovision, I’m more of a fan of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish finals leading up to Eurovision. Eurovision is fun, but Melodifestivalen has passion. While the UK looks at Eurovision as a bit of a joke, the Swedes take Melodifestivalen very seriously.
But one of the things which has kinda annoyed me in recent years has been the tendancy for Swedes to sing in English. Yes, I know Swedish is not exactly the universal language of pop. But when ABBA, for example, won Eurovision in 1974, they sang in Swedish at Melodifestivalen, and then in English at Eurovision. I think this is a cool model. As much as a universal language interests me, I’d like to think people could speak their own languages too.
Also increasingly, I’ve noticed over the last few years an awful lot of Swedish pop singers have only been singing in English. But in the last year I’ve noticed a few Swedish singers have discovered their “Swedish Pride”. Interestingly, some of the most obvious ones have been the children of immigrants. I wonder if this is a response/reaction to the rise of the anti-immigration party, Sweden Democrats, or am I reading too much into it? Here’s a few examples:
Also lately, I’ve seen some great pop clips with some really strong imagery from Stockholm. Here’s a few examples:
I actually recognised someone from the last clip. Small world.
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Great video James!
I was entertained by Malcolm Fraser with the hitler moustache – it’s easy to forget how loathed he was as PM, when he was so beloved in later life. Did society change so much or did he?
I guess a little of both.
Yeah me too, though I’m guessing it was still very close to the Whitlam Dismissal and the role he played. I think he changed when he was no longer in the daily thrust of politics. I think it’s also fair to say the Liberal Party changed.