It’s been an unexpectedly busy, but lovely weekend. As of Friday night, I had no plans for the weekend at all. But all of a sudden, a series of “spontaneous invitations” came through for lunch and dinner yesterday, and to catch up with my friend Kate, today.
We haven’t seen each other in real life for almost a year. The last time was at the opening of the Biennale of Sydney in March last year. At the time, Kate joked, “this might be the last gathering we go to for a while” and indeed she was right. She’s been coming to Sydney regularly to take care of her 93 year old mother, but trying to limit her interactions to protect her own health, and that of Joan. We’ve Skyped and spoken on the phone many times, but realised today, last March was the last time had seen each other in real life. So for most of the day, we masked up.
Kate at Market City, HaymarketYear of the Ox at World Square, SydneyWe had lunch today at a restaurant in Chinatown, and this happened. I’ve already shared this on social media, and friends keep saying they can’t stop watching this. They really didn’t think it through, did they? When we told the head waiter, he said, “I told them not to put it there!”
We also visited the exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, featuring the works of Lindy Lee, called “Moon In A Dew Drop”. There’s a few works which did absolutely nothing for me (a range of very “dark” works), but there’s also lots of works like the two below which I really, really loved. I really love the way her works “play” with light and dark, and shade and colour. Definitely worth a look.
Birth and Death by Lindy Lee at MCAMoonlight Deities by Lindy Lee at MCA
Yesterday at the Darwin Waterfront, a young staff member asked me a simple question that caught me off guard: “Do you need a wheelchair to get in?”. To my own surprise, I found myself saying, “Yeah, maybe?”
It was a tentative answer to a question I have spent a long time avoiding. For the last few years since my amputation, I have bypassed the aquatic wheelchairs available at the Cook + Phillip Park Pool in Sydney.
Instead, I settled into a routine of sitting near the edge, removing my prosthesis, and scooting across the tiles on my bum to reach the water. I did this much like a child might—a method that felt functional, if not particularly dignified.
I have often wondered if there was a psychological block behind this habit. Perhaps there was a lingering reluctance to embrace another piece of mobility equipment, or a desire to keep my transition into the water as low-profile as possible, even if it meant more physical effort. Whatever the reason, that reluctance seemed to melt away under the relentless Darwin sun. The nature of the wave pool, with its gentle sliding entry, finally convinced me to give the chair a go.
Taking off my prosthesis and hopping into that lightweight plastic chair turned out to be a revelation. As I rolled forward, I felt a lovely sense of confidence that I hadn’t expected. There is something uniquely peaceful about sitting still while the water gradually rises to meet you, slowly covering your legs and lower body in a cool embrace. It removed the struggle of the “bum-shuffle” and replaced it with a graceful, fluid transition into the pool.
Darwin wave pool
I hadn’t quite anticipated the physics of the situation, though. As I reached a certain depth, the combination of the waves and the buoyancy of the lightweight chair caused it to start floating. Suddenly, I found myself tipping backwards, a brief moment of instability that could have been alarming. But in the spirit of the day, it was fine. I recovered as best I could, and the sheer joy of being in the wave pool far outweighed the minor tumble.
The heat up here has been significant, making an afternoon swim at the Waterfront feel like a necessity rather than just a luxury. This experience has shifted my perspective entirely. What I once viewed with a strange hesitation has now become a tool for independence and enjoyment.
There was a brief moment when Michelle Simmons, a physicist at the University of NSW, was explaining some of the minutiae of quantum computing when I thought my brain might explode. I like to think I’m reasonably intelligent, and I’m a bit of a geek, but there were words she was using and concepts she was explaining which I thought were quite challenging. In the end I understood the point she was making, and I too, thought it was very exciting, but still, my mind wandered briefly. My mind also wandered briefly when Mandyam Srinivasan from the Queensland Brain Institute was explaining how it’s possible to train bees. He spoke with passion about his subject, but still my mind wandered. “I’d really hate to be stuck chatting to him at a party”, I told some people later.
On both counts, I’m joking. Both were absolutely fascinating people. I was completely engaged with the subjects they spoke about, however obscure, because they both spoke about these subjects with such passion. This thought reminded me of the saying often used in radio, and which Valerie Geller, the American radio consultant has often used, “there are no boring stories, only boring story-tellers”. She’s absolutely right, and pretty much without exception, there were no boring story-tellers at TEDx Sydney 2012.
TEDx Sydney
I was so pleased and excited to be able to attend as I’d heard much about the previous TED events. The speakers are, generally speaking, people doing really interesting research into areas of the life and mind which “matter”. Personal highlights for me included the following. Evan Kidd, the psychologist from ANU who spoke about the importance of play and “imaginary friends” in the development of a child’s language abilities and empathy for others. Tom Griffiths, the environmental historian from ANU, who spoke about the way in which we can better understand environmental history in the longer-term by looking at ice from Antarctica. Although I didn’t think I would be interested, I was also fascinated – mesmerized? – by Lynette Wallworth as she spoke about her forthcoming film which links the Transit of Venus with the potential dangers faced by the Great Barrier Reef from climate change. And Jeremy Heimans from Get-Up was also very interesting as he spoke about environmental activism, and in particular, how the word “green” has lost a lot of its meaning.
On a purely superficial level, Jeremy was also the first person to alert me to a new and interesting fashion trend: brown shoes with black pants. When I mentioned this to a friend she told me “it’s all the fashion these days”. You wouldn’t believe how many people at TEDx Sydney were wearing brown shoes with black pants. Sitting in the front row it became somewhat of an obsession for me and my friend. For every person who came on the stage the first thing we noticed were their shoes.
Yes, I know completely superficial. But I reckon you need a bit of a break and a bit of fun in a day of otherwise amazing and inspiring talks. I’d definitely like to go again next year.
The last week or so has been crazy busy. Though part of me thinks “I’ve been busy, but haven’t really done much”, I really have. I’ve been to the theatre, I’ve had wonderful dinners with colleagues and with friends. I’ve also gone on some wonderful walks around my neighbourhood. And another adventure is about to commence. In the meantime, here’s some photographs from the last week. Hopefully the captions mean something.
There’s a pub at Taylor Square in Sydney called “The Oxford” which I’ve visited on many, many occasions. Back in the 90s, it was a gay pub and it was always packed to the rafters. I have many, many fond memories of the pub during those years.
Though I don’t recall exactly when it was, they re-developed the pub a number of years ago, and seeking to attract a broader and presumably larger clientelle, they decided they were no longer running a “gay pub”. The gays went away, but they weren’t replaced by anyone else, and so for many years, the pub has struggled. A couple of years ago they became a “gay pub” again, with rainbow flags and drag queens, and slowly they’ve been rebuilding. But even a year ago, they were still struggling to attract people to eat and drink, especially earlier in the week.
After months of every day being like Sunday, Cleveland Street seems to have revrted to its regular “car park” status.
But today, the pub was pretty full, and “packed to the rafters” in a “COVID-friendly” kinda way. It wasn’t exactly 90s glory days, but it also wasn’t half empty, as it has been for quite some time. Though they confirmed my entry, I decided there were “too many” people for my liking. “Sorry, I can’t stay, there’s too many people for me”, I told the bouncer, as I gained entry and left less than a minute later.
I’m sure their client base will return to “normal” after the novelty of “Freedom Day” wears off.
Most of the other pubs in my area also had large crowds today, including my “local”, the “Crown Hotel” on Cleveland Street. “The Crown” attracts a generally older crowd, more “working class” than most of the other pubs in the area. They’re also a fairly loyal crowd with lots of “regular drinkers” who know each other, and who know the bar staff by name. Going in today, it was like Rob, Lily and the others had been put into a giant freezer over the last months, and were thawed only yesterday, in preparation for re-opening.
I had a chat with one of the “locals” and his partner later this afternoon, which was very nice. They both LIKE A BEER, and were pleased the pub had re-opened. I’m also looking forward to catching up with a mutual friend who continued to work today, but who will probably be up for a beer later in the week.
The queue for the hairdresser in the Devonshire Street Tunnell in Sydney.
As the Victorian Premier, Dan Andrews declared last year, people are “back on the beers”.
The other business type that seemed pretty popular today were the hairdressers.
Interestingly though, people seem to have taken on board a “mixed response” to face mask wearing. We don’t NEED to wear face masks in public anymore. But I noticed in the city today, most people were still wearing them. Closer to home in Surry Hills, mask wearing was probably down to 50/50. In Surry Hills, I noticed it was younger people who were less likely to be wearing masks. Only a few hundred metres from all of the action, maybe people were associating face masks with pollution? (Surry Hills is a leafier, greener place).
Having seen the news reports about the crazy behaviour of midnight shopping and hair dresser appointments, I got a call from Pat, checking in to see if I was safe and sound. My family in Lismore have been worried about my return to Sydney, as they watch the daily news reports about all the cases here. “It looks pretty mad on the TV”, Pat told me.
The roads today were also busy, and I felt a sense of sadness that people haven’t learned the “lessons” of the last four months of lockdown. And I think there are genuinely “lessons” that we, as humans, don’t NEED to go shopping everyday, don’t NEED to consume as much as we have been. Yes, you have to find the right balance, but I worry that we’re headed back to the way it was without, perhaps, much reflection?
Meanwhile, it looks like we have a pretty low vaccination rate (30-49%) in my part of Sydney.
The official employment offer letter states it was twenty five years today that I was offered a job at the ABC.
I’d previously been employed at the community radio station at Bourke in Western NSW. I’d applied for a few ABC jobs during the previous six months. When the call came through from Don Bensted offering me the position, I actually had to ask him “for which job”. In reality, it didn’t matter much to me, as I’d long wanted to work for ABC Radio.
I have a vague memory of finishing work in Bourke on a Wednesday or a Thursday, driving overnight via Broken Hill, and of arriving in Renmark on a Thursday or Friday afternoon. I’m pretty sure I went to air the following Monday, though it’s possible I had a few days to settle in.
Twenty five years later and I’m still working for the ABC. Along the way, I’ve been the Morning Presenter in Wagga Wagga, the Statewide Afternoon and Drive presenter in NSW, and have acted in other jobs in Darwin, Perth, Canberra and Lismore.
Ten years ago I made the switch from on-air presenter to Manager which wasn’t as traumatic as I thought it might be ego-wise. In a lovely piece of symmetry, I’m currently back in Regional Radio, working as the National Manager of our regional stations.
I’ve had many great opportunities over the last twenty five years, and I continue to love working for a really terrific organisation. Win.
I’m normally quite a good “public transport sleeper”. I can, for example, hop on a bus at Railway Square, going into a deep “power nap” and wake up seconds before I need to get off the bus in Surry Hills On a plane, I am normally asleep before take-off, and also wake up just seconds before the first meal arrives.
On the way home from Cronulla tonight, however, I slept through the stop at Central and ended up at Martin Place. Whoops! I guess it’s the length of the trip from Cronulla, where you go into an intense sleep as opposed to a power nap. Or maybe it was the several glasses of wine and beer that we consumed?
I had dinner tonight with Damo and his boss, as a kind of “farewell” to Damien who is heading off overseas for the next four months or so. Damo and his boss have worked together for twelve years, and I’ve known her for almost all of that time, and so it was also for me, a chance to catch up with her.
And what better a location than the restaurant at the Wanda Surf Live Saving Club. With spectacular views, really good service, great food (including ample portions), and some lovely champagne and white wine to accompany, we had a really terrific few hours together. From the view, we could watch the whales and the seals, and the people coming in and out of the water from their after-work swims.
About to eat pork belly for dinner at the Wanda Surf Live Saving Club Restaurant
Seriously though, it’s a good place, and we were blessed with the weather. I don’t go to The Shire all that often, and when I do I always enjoy it. Another friend who lives also at Cronulla rang me during the meal. “She must be psychic knowing I’m in The Shire,” I said at one point over dinner. After dinner, we chatted further at the Cronulla Club (the local bowls club), and Damo gave me a tour of his new apartment. It was a lovely way to spend Friday evening.
The other news of the day is that I started in my new job. It was a day of passwords, printers, distributions lists, and chats about “what do you do? and which days do you work?”
I also appeared briefly on the radio in the weekly debate on James Valentine. The debate today… “that Scandinavia has nothing to offer the world”. It was a perfect topic for me, of course.
So overall, a memorable day in many respects.
On a downside, one of the taxi drivers we had insisted on sharing a few jokes with us. Anti-Muslim jokes. Doesn’t help the cause guys…
Hello James, Re the clip, it’s the frustrated expression on your face that made me laugh.
Surprised that you were out and about today after being up all hours to watch #Melfest. Can’t wait to get up to Sydney again and go to MCA. Always amazing and interesting exhibitions to see. Love having lunch on the roof-top terrace overlooking the harbour. Will probably wait until we are all vaccinated before venturing out of Victoria. Hope to go up to Melbourne later this week to visit the Biennale at NGV. Jazzy strides BTW.
As Kate kind of predicted and of course worse here in my state. We all has our own thoughts in March. Mine were of uncertainty and internal panic after returning to Victoria from Tasmania, but of course I never let that show. The clip is funny, but I suppose the door paused open long enough for the camera to work.
Yeah it worked in the end. Kate did hers while I kept the door open by standing in place, and then I did mine at the entrance to the restaurant. Yes, almost a year. March 17 was when I started working from home.
That short clip, is very watchable…hehehe!
I think I’ve watched it thirty times already. Getting widely shared on Twitter. Hopefully it gives everyone a big smile and LOL-moment.
Hello James, Re the clip, it’s the frustrated expression on your face that made me laugh.
Surprised that you were out and about today after being up all hours to watch #Melfest. Can’t wait to get up to Sydney again and go to MCA. Always amazing and interesting exhibitions to see. Love having lunch on the roof-top terrace overlooking the harbour. Will probably wait until we are all vaccinated before venturing out of Victoria. Hope to go up to Melbourne later this week to visit the Biennale at NGV. Jazzy strides BTW.
My secret? A nap.
Rod, Triennial?
Andrew, yes, yes, you are correct. The Biennale is in Sydney of course. I’m getting older and more silly.
As Kate kind of predicted and of course worse here in my state. We all has our own thoughts in March. Mine were of uncertainty and internal panic after returning to Victoria from Tasmania, but of course I never let that show. The clip is funny, but I suppose the door paused open long enough for the camera to work.
Yeah it worked in the end. Kate did hers while I kept the door open by standing in place, and then I did mine at the entrance to the restaurant. Yes, almost a year. March 17 was when I started working from home.