July Socials

ByJames O'Brien

Conscious that I sometimes share material on other platforms that never makes “the cut” here on my blog, here’s a few tweets, posts, and observations that still seem relevant from July. Lots of ephemera, but hopefully still quite entertaining.

July 2 : I found this in “The Northern Star” (Lismore) from January 1964. Commercial radio station 2LM also carried ABC News!

July 3 : New from Marvel Comics? “Knull Is Coming”. FYI – Knull is a very naughty word in Swedish. https://www.thelocal.se/20200702/swedish-word-of-the-day-knull

July 4 : Attended my first online family funeral yesterday, and LOVED this choice of a song by Margy which played as her coffin was carried out.
July 5 : I discovered this week there are now millions of photographs from the Sydney Morning Herald available through Getty Images, including these two from the SMH from January 7, 1993, taken in Wagga Wagga. There was an article in the SMH about the expansion of the ABC’s regional services. They didn’t use either one of these; they used a better one. Article, May 17, 1993. OMG, these photographs are almost thirty years old! More here…. https://www.gettyimages.com.au/collections/fairfax
July 8 : One of THE BEST things I’ve ever done with my home stereo is hook up a digital TV set-up box to listen to ABC Radio. Quality is awesome. Earlier it was @abcsydney, currently @ABCClassic
.
July 8 : I spent some time at the State Library today going through old copies of the @smh
(family history), and saw this article from 1993. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
July 9 : OK, it’s confession time for those who’ve been working from home. How many of you work with a blankie over your knees?
July 11 : From the late 1990s at Sydney’s Stonewall. I tried to peal off the tag to see the complete message. I think it says something along the lines of “I might shag someone else tonight, but keep you up my sleeve in case, because you’re boyfriend material.” Twenty years later…
July 11 : Dining room at IKEA.

July 16 : Yesterday a colleague admitted to Weetabix for a late afternoon lunch. Today I ate a bowl of ice cream during a video conference. Working from home!

July 17 : Have spent half the morning waiting for a quiet period at home to record some audio links for my weekly radio show. Jackhammers! Another colleague reports he has a possum in the roof (lives in the country). Anyone else having this problem?

July 17 : Losing track of the number of times I’ve taken a photograph, instead of scanning.

July 18 : Reading a newspaper article about the death of one of my ancestors. “Her spirit passed away from it’s earthly tenement, which from sheer decay of nature, had become incapable of longer retaining it.” Can I please request this for my obit? :)

July 18 : OMG, the K Tel record selector is back at JB
July 21 : A good read about Sydney’s Chinatown. I went to Emperor’s Garden last Friday night, and around 7pm, was the only person there. https://gourmettraveller.com.au/news/food-news/chinatown-sydney-restaurants-coronavirus-18656
July 23 : Watching the Matty Johns podcast show on Foxtel and noticed only one headset is patched into the mixer.

July 26 : Hardly a week goes by without me mentioning @vgeller (tell the truth, make it matter, never be boring) and @Brdcaster (on diversity – the risk of becoming a precious emblem to a dying elite). Thanks both for your inspiring thoughts that live on at ABC Australia.

July 26 : After many years of staying in hotels with cheap, shitty clock radios, this still makes me smile.

July 26 : Many years ago I noticed a subtle language difference between the Irish and the English. At Dublin airport they asked me “how long are you staying with us for?”, and at Heathrow, they asked me “when are you leaving?”. :)

July 26 : Move over selfie-stick, this is how you capture your holiday snaps now. Spotted this family using a drone yesterday at The Three Sisters.
July 28 : Though I missed it, they’ve been replaying the Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony tonight on TV. It was a great event, for sure, but I have more fond memories of the Closing Ceremony. Here’s a few photographs from pre-9/11 times when we were able to go down (with minimal security) onto the actual field of play where Kylie sang “Spinning Around”. Pictured here with some of the characters who appeared in the closing ceremony. Also pictured here with my friend Kate at the performers “After Party” which, I vaguely remember, getting home from when it was well past daylight. Buy me a beer, sometime, and I’ll tell you some celebrity goss from the night!

July 29 : #nerdalert My local pub takes your temperature when you enter. Here are some recent entries: 35.4, 35.7, 35.9, 35.7, 35.3, 35.3 Who needs Medicare? :):) To which, a colleague replied: “Were these all taken in one day, or are you spreading out these visits?” Hheheheheeheh

Similar Posts

Laleh - Sjung

Laleh

2 Comments

Laleh - Sjung
Laleh - Sjung

I have a new favourite Swedish pop star: her name is Laleh. With quite an interest in Swedish pop music, I don’t know how or why she’s slipped under my radar.

But it wasn’t until about a week ago, when I checked out the Swedish Charts that I discovered her. Just a week or so after the release of her latest album, Sjung (Sing), it’s topped the Swedish album charts, and she currently has two songs in the Swedish single charts, including a remake of Eva Dahlgren’s “Ängeln i rummet”, a song she performed in front of Eva on “Så mycket bättre”.

“Så mycket bättre” (so much better) is a Swedish television phenomenon. The basic premise is you get a bunch of well-known and loved Swedish pop performers from the last fifty years, put them together in a house (no it’s not Big Brother), and ask them to interpet each other’s songs. A good example of what this can lead to is Lasse Berghagen’s interpretation of “Längesen”, a song written and performed by Swedish rap performer, Petter.

Here’s the original

And here’s the version by Lasse.

Another good example is September’s re-interpretation of Petter’s song, Mikrofonkåt which topped the Swedish charts, and which has now been released in English.

This is a seriously good television format, and I hope we see some English language versions develop.

After appearing on “Så mycket bättre”, Laleh is now also topping the charts, and deservedly so. She sings well, has a dramatic quality to her work (she’s an actress also), and sings in a wide variety of styles.

According to Wikipedia,

Laleh Pourkarim (Persian: لاله پورکریم‎, born June 10, 1982) is an Iranian born Swedish singer-songwriter and former actress. She uses her given name Laleh as her stage name. Following a short acting career, she entered the music industry in 2005 with her self-titled debut album which peaked at number one in Sweden and went on to become the highest selling album of the year. She has since released three further albums, all of which have been produced, written, recorded, engineered and performed by herself. She has sung in both English and Swedish, in addition to her parents native tongue, Persian. In 2011, she participated in the Swedish television show Så mycket bättre, which sees a number of artists create new interpretations of the others songs. Her performances on the show were lauded by both critics and the public. Following the show, it was noted in the media that she had been given “a second breakthrough”. Her latest album, Sjung, was released across Scandanavia on 25 January 2012.

Her latest CD is both in English and Swedish, and contains a wide variety of musical styles. It’s kinda quirky, it’s a little bit Kate Bush. A little bit Tori Amos.

My favourite tracks on the album are… as follows, but sadly, WMG has restricted their re-use, so you’ll need to watch and listen via the Youtube links below.

The big hit song from the album so far is “Some Die Young”.

Elephant

Who Started It?

Vårens Första Dag (Spring’s first day)

And finally… I love this… her cover verion of E-Type’s “Here I Go Again”

Do yourself a favour. She’s a star.

Glogg

Glogg

3 Comments

I caught the ferry to Manly to go to Nordic Fusion, a Scandinavian design store, that also stocks a range of Swedish food and drink – Svensk mat och dryck – including, Glögg. I remember having tasted mulled wine many years ago at a dinner party at Wentworth, near Mildura on the NSW/Victorian border. I think I was about 25 or 26 and it was all very exotic for a young man who had spent most of his life living in rural and regional Australia.

Many years later, it was with some trepeditation that I approached the store to purchase three bottles of the stuff to take along to my Swedish class tonight. I’d called Nordic Fusion a day earlier and told them what I wanted and why. As I entered the store, there were a couple of other customers looking at hand-bags, sound systems and other such things. My bottles of Glögg were tagged in the fridge out the back. In an absolute bargain, they gave me an extra bottle for free. And then one of the women began to speak with me in Swedish.

“Oh my goodness”, I thought to myself. This is the real thing, speaking Swedish to a real Swede. I stammed out a few words, explaining that I only spoke a little Swedish, and that I was planning to travel there later in the year. Shyly, I left the store, totally appreciative of the way they had treated me so kindly, especially counting out the change in Swedish etc. That said, I really have to gain some confidence in speaking with real life Swedes, rather than just my classmates.

Glogg
Glogg

We had a great time at tonight’s class which, focussing on food, involved everyone bringing along some kind of food item. The cakes and sweets were, as our teacher said, the best in the world. I also really loved the pickled herring and meatballs. And the Glögg? Well, I thought it was okay. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, warmed and with raisons and almonds, though it was perhaps a little sickly sweet for me. I still have a bottle left at home, by the way, for those cold winter nights which are almost upon us.

Some Odd Things Have Happened

It’s Wednesday night, close to midnight, and I’m wide awake. I had to go into work tonight at short notice – a baby arrived early for one of the blokes I work with – and so I’m mentally very alert. And with this alertness, I thought it a good idea to update my website, as a fair bit has happened since last Friday night when I last posted.

Saturday was a reasonably social day, starting off with Yum Cha at the Regal on Sussex Street. After Yum Cha we wandered around the new World Square building – even though it was replacing a thirty year old hole in the ground I didn’t think it was much better – and then had a couple of beers. Later in the afternoon, Yvette came over to watch Melrose Place which is currently being replayed on Foxtel. Unfortunately they’ve already by-passed all the “crazy Kimberley” episodes, but “kooky Sydney” and “whacky Michael” provided enough comic relief to make it worth watching.

And then on Sunday afternoon my friend John and I went to the Italian festival in Stanley Street, East Sydney. The street – the site of the first Italian community in Sydney – was turned into an Italian Piazza with lots of Italian motor bikes and scooters on display. There was also an Italian photographic exhibition called Che Evoca and a replica Trevi Fountain.

I suspect it was far busier than the organisers had expected since the were lengthy wait-times for all of the restaurants. We waited almost an hour to get into the place we decided was “the place to be”. As John is quite a social person we got chatting with a lady behind us and a couple – Judith and Bill – in front of us. After chatting for quite some time they asked us if we’d like to join them for lunch. Over a couple of hours we chatted about the life, universe and everything. And then, 10 minutes before we paid the bill, it turns out that I actually work with Judith’s brother in law. Small world, eh?

After that, it was birthday drinks for Michael from work.

And then last night I went to a Sydney Bloggers Meeting.

On the way there, though, something really odd happened in my taxi ride from Ultimo to Newtown. As I got in I noticed the cab driver was listening to a talk radio station and was seemingly enjoying the program. At first I thought he was asking me questions, but I soon realised he was repeating everything the announcer said. When I asked him why he was doing that he replied that he was practising his English language skills. Although I thought that was really great blah blah blah, I gotta say that a five minute cab ride with someone repeating everything they’ve just heard can become slightly annoying.

The Bloggers meeting was pretty good fun. I missed last month due to work commitments, and so I was pleased to see two new people attending. We had a great night, perhaps largely due to the $7.50 jugs of beer and free pool. What a bargain on both counts. Both Mark and Glen have declared they woke up with terrible hangovers. Tragic!

Surry State of Affairs

6 Comments

“It’s my last day”, the bloke behind the counter said to me. “What?”, I asked half in disbelief, and half because he has quite a thick accent. The owner of the Surry Hills Charcoal Chicken Shop (or Charcoal Chic as it is at the moment, which is so incredibly “Surry Hills”), went on to explain that due to the difficult economic times he had been forced to close. When I asked if he was moving somewhere else, he was a little less forthcoming. I suspect he has nothing lined up.

For me, It’s personally sad because he has been in the shop for as long as I have been in Surry, probably longer. And he always has a smile, and he always remembers your name and your face and what you like to order. I’m a fan, in particular, of his roast potatoes which are always excellent.

Surry Hills Chicken Shop

The convenience store on the corner has also closed in the last few days. And we have a bunch of new “health” shops on the strip these days. So it looks like my end of Crown Street in Surry Hills is undergoing further change. Maybe it’s the first sign of the recession, or maybe it’s part of the evolution of the suburb that is ongoing?

Or maybe it’s the fact that I only called in for a soft-drink this time, and not one of their BBQ meal dinners?

I was on my way to a house-warming party for a colleague who has recently bought an apartment in Ashfield. Michael’s apartment is very funky. And as it’s a classic 60s/70s apartment block, he’s decorated accordingly with some terrific furniture he’s found on ebay. Much sought after furniture, it seems, as quite a few people were eyeing off the lounge chairs in his bedroom, and actively – jokingly – plotting their removal. “You don’t really need these chairs, do you Michael?” was one of the phrases I heard a few times.

The only other bits of excitement for the day included a morning pick-up by Damien of some software, and endless hours spent watching “Will & Grace”. There’s a Foxtel marathon on this weekend which I’m enjoying very much.

ABBAMAIL Ends

ABBAMAIL Ends

2 Comments

A dozen years ago I was part of a fairly dysfunctional and heavily moderated mailing list for ABBA fans run by a bloke called James Preston.

Although the vast majority of organised “hard core” ABBA fans are gay men there’s also a large number of fans who feel somewhat uncomfortable with that reality. When one too many posts about poofters were moderated out of existence on the old list, Graeme and Grant decided to set up their own. Not surprisingly there was an exodus from one list to the other.

Without doubt, the success of the list has been thanks to the efforts of Graeme and Grant. As much as I know they’ll deny it, a lot of the “personality” of the list came from the personalities of Grant and Graeme themselves. Whenever things were quiet on the list, Graeme could always be relied upon to stir things up. Whenever things got a little too rowdy, Grant could always be relied upon for a calming word or thought.

As ABBAMAIL celebrated Ten Years, the wonderful Norma Parker organised us all to make a contribution towards a series of gifts to acknowledge the contribution Grant and Graeme have made to ABBA fans over the years.

ABBAMAIL Turns 10

It was really nice to be part of that celebration, and to say a public “thank you” to two blokes who’ve contributed so much over such a long period of time, going right back to the days of the Australian ABBA Fan Club in the 1970s.

ABBAMAIL Turns 10

But after a series of brutal attacks by some of the organisations behind ABBA, including an attempt to close down the site, Graeme and Grant have decided enough is enough. Although they’ve declared they still like ABBA’s music, they no longer consider themselves ABBA fans. After thirty years, that’s a pretty big decision to make.

For me life will go on, and I still have their friendship which is great. But to be honest, I kinda worry for the more isolated ABBA fans. ABBAMAIL was important to me, but I’m pretty sure it’s been more important for those fans who are either geographically or socially isolated. Thankfully though, the list will continue in a new form, thanks to a wonderfully enthusiastic American called Kevin.

Busting a move in my ABBAMAIL T-Shirt

And life will go on, but it’s kinda sad that a lot of people who’ve come to know these blokes through an email list will lose that connection. I really love them both and I’m glad they’ve chosen to walk away with dignity. A bit like ABBA really… :)

Gosh it’s going to be interesting at the pub tomorrow night….

Sandra and Me

1 Comment

Sandra and James
Sandra and James

For about four years now I’ve been corresponding with fellow blogger, Sandra Carpenter. She’s an American, married to Robert (an Australian) who has been living in Stockholm for almost a decade. We first met through our respective blogs, and then in 2010, we met in real life.

Spending a few months in Stockholm last year, we had a really great time doing lots of things together. As I returned to Sydney at the end of May, we both (independently) experienced a moment of sadness when we realised we no longer “lived” in the same city, as we share lots of similar interests and experiences.

Sandra and Robert are both in Sydney at the moment. Robert’s work has brought him here and Sandra could continue to do hers locally, as she works for an international company.

Even with limited time, we’ve found time to catch up. We had dinner on Sunday night. And then yesterday, we both started and left work a little early, so we could do some sight-seeing, visit some galleries, and enjoy a drink and a meal (Robert joined us later).

We managed to squeeze so much in such a brief period of time that we were both feeling a little tired this morning, as we exchanged emails. Even this evening, I took a rain-check on catching up with another friend because I was still quite exhausted from all that we managed to over the course of eight or nine hours. It was a lovely day, with many cherished memories to live on, I’m sure.

2 Comments

  1. My James. That was a big one. I am not going to listen to Will I ever see your face again, acoustic or not. I know what will happen.
    You had me scared about Dr Swanee for a moment.
    “Her spirit passed away”! Or she just died.
    You have photographic proof of the JB record selector. I hope the whole unit doesn’t fall onto the floor like it used to as the last record fell forward.
    I expect our Chinatown is a disaster, never mind the other Asian restaurants nearby.
    Ms Naidoo is now presenting Nightlife. I won’t know until I hear her with Toby Hagon presenting Motortorque.
    As if the Irish and English are similar! Chalk and cheese.
    Kylie singing Spinning Around must have been magic at the closing ceremony. I wish I could have been there.
    I din’t get to buy you a glass of beer. Next time.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.