While most garbage bins are dominated by advertising or messages from the local council, there’s a handful of garbage bins in Lismore featuring the work of local artists.
I noticed them only today, having walked through the Back Alley Gallery which I’ve previously blogged about.
The article notes the works appear as the result of a competition which received about 50 entries.
Lismore City Council Mayor Vanessa Ekins congratulated the six winning artists and thanked those who entered. ‘The winning artwork reflects the diversity of our community and will draw visitors into our fantastic vibrant laneways, which is great for our CBD businesses,’ she said.
Everything Lismore by Nina Hurr. The Heart of Lismore by Rebekkah Cottam. Birds & Bats by Morgan Beresford Cattle Dog & Rainbow by Mish Moran. Respect & Effort by Rasharnie Smith. Interwoven: People & Place by Carmen Grady
I think all the works are terrific, and I think it’s awesome they’re now appearing in town. Far more appealing, in my view, than advertising.
It was the end of a memorable night at The Andrew Olle Media Lecture, the annual cross-media shindig in Sydney.
The lecture was delivered by Ray Martin whose central thesis was that good commercial television journalism is often supported by passionate media individuals, the likes of Murdoch and Packer. When media companies are run by banks and other financial institutions only looking at the bottom line, he argued demonstrably that journalism isn’t well supported in the commercial television sector. As I walked around the room at the end of the night chatting to people, the general vibe was that it was an interesting, well-timed, and well-delivered speech.
One of the funniest lines, though of the night, was delivered by the ABC’s Managing Director Mark Scott, who spoke about last year’s controversial decision to pull the feed from Channel 9 because of their use of the “debate worm”. Steadfastly denying it was his decision (as briefly reported), he said it just wouldn’t happen at the ABC. “I’d dare say any decision to pull the plug would have been mitigated by several committee meetings, until eventually a few weeks down the track the plug would have been pulled”. I’m reasonably sure the loudest amount of laughter in response came from our table, as we all knew exactly what he meant.
After the event was well and truly wrapped a few of us ended up at Ivy, arguably’s Sydney’s grooviest place at the moment, via the Marble Bar.
“Hey James, this guy’s an ABBA fan”, my colleague said to me last night on the fringe of the dance floor at Ivy. She’d met him moments earlier and they were getting along famously, it seems.
It was then she told him I’d been learning Swedish and had recently been to Sweden. “Let me tell you mate”, he said. “If you’re gay and that’s true, that’s really cool, and good on ya, that’s great stuff. But if you’re straight and that’s true, that’s kinda weird”. With apologies to straight male ABBA fans, we both laughed in agreement. “I’m guessing it’s more likely the former than the latter”, he said, and we laughed again.
A few minutes later some cool music came on the sound system and so I thought I’d leave them alone for a moment and go have a dance. “Tell me honestly”, I said to my colleague. “Do you think I can hop on the dance floor for a bit of a groove or am I just gonna look like a tragic 43 year old man in a dinner suit trying to look young?”, I asked.
Generally it’s a bad look, though, isn’t it? A group of well-dressed adult to middle-aged men and women who’ve just been to some sort of corporate function and then find themselves at some groovy bar surrounded by young folk. I kinda think we carried it off okay, though, and had a great time.
For almost twenty years I’ve walked to and from work at the ABC and have passed the abandoned railway tunnel that once was the Ultimo Goods Line.
From time to time I’d peak inside. But until today, I’d never been truly inside tunnel. There’s an art installation currently onsite which I thought would be interesting, though was not all that exciting, to be honest.
It was interesting to walk through the abandoned tunnel, though.
Sydneysiders will get a rare chance to enter a little-known tunnel in the centre of the city over the next 10 days. Inventive New York-based Australian artist Ian Burns has been quietly working some magic in the disused tunnel, which could eventually be part of The Goods Line public space project in Ultimo. Known for his curious and playful kinetic sculptures, Burns has spent the past 11 weeks as UTS Gallery’s artist-in-residence creating a charismatic new body of work Extended Stage developed especially for the tunnel and its mid-1800s sandstone bridge.
There was a moment a few days ago when a couple of older family members took an afternoon nap, and I was awfully tempted to join them. But I had work to do.
I think my family has been slightly bemused by me working from home this week. While they’ve all mostly had fairly manual jobs, by their reckoning, I spend my life listening to the radio, having phone and video conferences, and writing and sending emails. They’ve been surprised by the length of my day, and by the fact I can simultaneously have conversations with them, AND do my job.
While many people take a break at this time of the year, it’s one of my busiest. I still try to come home every year, and for the most part, will work from the local office during the day, and see my family at night. But this year around, after almost a year of working from home, it’s been great to be able to use the VPN, and spend a little more time with my family.
Aside from showing signs of ageing, they all seem well. I’m no longer the younger family member; I’m more around the middle these days. The older family members are relying on me more, and the younger ones are looking up to me for advice.
There was a funny moment the other day when a younger family member had the sudden realisation of where I fitted into the family. He’d previously only known me as “Uncle Jim”, without really understanding my place in the family. He also seemed surprised to discover that I’d travelled around most of the country and much of the world. “You’re a bit more interesting than I’d thought”, was the look that appeared to cross his face.
Earlier in my life, I couldn’t wait to get back to Sydney after coming home for Christmas. You know what it’s like when you’re young and you think NYE is the most exciting night of the year? . But now, I’m looking more towards a retirement life in Lismore, and I’m enjoying hanging out with my family.
One of the lovely highlights of each year is sitting around with my family, going through some old photographs, and digitising them. Every year, it seems there’s a new collection of photographs emerging from a biscuit tin, envelope or such.
Back in the good old days of mud pies!My first day of school. “If you wore pants that high these days, the other kids would bash you up”, my nephew told me.Wearing a home-made ABBA t-shirt in early 1979, by my estimate.
It’s also been lovely to catch up with extended family and some old school friends. There was one I’d hoped to catch up with, but didn’t hold much hope, as his partner has recently developed a spinal injury, and they’re spending a lot of time in care and rehabilitation. But we caught up for a glass of wine, which was lovely. I ran into another old school friend at Office Works. I also visited one of my aunties. She’s now 92 years old and still living at home, with strong support from her children. She’s still physically very healthy, but showing some signs of ageing. Though her memories remain fairly strong, she’s not very good with names. “What’s your name, again?”, she asked me several times. Once we had established that, we were able to continue chatting.
I’ve been to the shopping centre a few times, but haven’t seen anyone I know. The same at the Worker’s Club and at the Civic Hotel. Twelve months ago, The Civic was celebrating “Tropical Fruits”. Things were a little more downplayed this year. And downmarket!
“The shopping centre looks better than this time last year”, I told my friend Paul over a glass of wine. Nearly four years ago the town was devastated by a major flood, and many shops shut down permanently. Paul says things still haven’t fully recovered, but there didn’t seem to be as many closed shops as the last time when I was home, which was half way through this year.
Flood marker at the Stockpot Kitchen in the centre of Lismore
As I’ve wandered around town, I’ve kept looking at things and remembering how they were different when I was growing up here. Such and such shop was there, the phone boxes were there, that’s where the tennis courts were. That kind of thing.
“I live in Chinatown and so the places me and family eat are generally the Sussex Street Mall, and the Dixon Street Mall”, Dan Hong said, to the surprise of a lot of people attending tonight’s event at the Beresford Hotel. As the son of Angie Hong, a woman who was a pioneering Vietnamese chef in Australia, and as someone who has worked at places like Tetsuya (and now Mr Wong), I was surprised, and I think many others were too. But it shouldn’t come as too much surprise, as he also spoke about the joy he has with Monday night dinners with his mother, and in the experiences he has in visiting “street food” restaurants in Singapore. He spoke tonight about his particular excitement about food in Japan. He also spoke about his seeming failure at the Higher School Certificate, and how his first job, working at Long Grain, was something which was actually organised by his mother.
Cooking, it seems, was something he fell into. Though he said it was something he always enjoyed, as it was something he did as a child, as his mother was always working, and his father never cooked. Nonetheless, he spoke about the difficulty of managing long hours with a young family, contrasting that with when he worked as a chef where “seventy hours per week was nothing”.
“As a young chef you don’t really care what the customers want. You just cook really cool food for yourself”, he admitted. It wasn’t until he started working for Justin Hemmes (and probably having a young family) that he realised the importance of making a living, and gained the pleasure of seeing a full restaurant every night. That said, he noted, a restaurant he worked at “looked like everything was from St Vincent de Paul, but cost two million dollars to open”.
“It’s hard to find chefs now”, he said, “because everyone thinks of what it was like ten years ago when everyone was shouted at, yelled at”, echoing shades of Gordon Ramsay. “That still happens, but kitchens are changing”, he added. He quoted one chef he knew who said he would rather get 48 of “their best hours, rather than 65 of their average”. He also bemoaned the fact he didn’t have apprentices “because all the good ones are doing fine dining, or something less”
It was a fascinating evening, which I enjoyed very much. Cost? Nothing. Keep an eye out for these regular events at The Beresford in Surry Hills, announced through Eventbrite. Sadly, the next four are completely booked out. I understand why.
Unexpectedly, it’s become a relaxation day for me. The last week has caught up with me, and I had to come home mid-afternoon for a nap. I’ve been here a week and I’ve done so much, I guess my body has caught up with me a little.
Aside from that, I’m staying for a few days in a hostel which, in itself is a little tiring. The crowd in the hostel is much younger than the last time I stayed here. And last night, I was woken twice while trying to get a good night’s sleep.
The first time was by the two girls I have dubbed, “The Whispering Russian Lezzos” (aka Tatu). They’re two young girls who spend hours and hours in the room whispering to each other. Personally, I think they’ve got an unresolved unspoken lezzo thing going on, but that’s for them to discover in their own time, I guess. I know they think they’re being polite while whispering, but it’s damn annoying.
The second time was by the two I’ve dubbed, “The Scottish Groupies”, a guy and a girl who are following their favourite group around Europe at the moment. When they first began talking about last night’s concert with a Swedish girl in the room (at about three this morning), I was mildly interested. I thought they were chatting about one of my favourite Swedish groups, Kent. But they weren’t. And that’s when I lost interest, and asked them politely to keep the noise down. They apologized this morning for waking me, while members of Tatu haven’t so far.
Breaking up the iceA fine spot to relax near the Stockholm city hallKatarinahissen view this week – the snow is disappearingEwww… not so winter wonderlandEvert Taube, a famous Swedish musician and composerSodermalm ChurchyardStockholm city hall
Staying in a hostel for a few days is a compromise I knew I was making to save a few dollars along the way. It’s $25 per night which is worth the compromise, I think, since I’m staying in nice accommodation elsewhere.
And I’m glad I did it, I just forgot one of my principles for staying in hostels from my last trip, being that you should actually go for the really large dorms, as you usually end up with a more peaceful experience there. People tend to be a little more courteous given the size of the room.
Anyway, aside from that observation, it was a fairly relaxed day for me.
I had some breakfast at a great little Italian cafe just around the corner, wandered around the city looking, caught a train, and then came back home for an afternoon nap.
And my body reminded me today, that in the midst of all of this wonderful sight-seeing, and mind-enhancing cultural experiences, I also need to rest up a little, because, after all, this is a holiday!
No plans for the night, though I may have to wander out for peace of mind.
“Ding Ding”. I smiled when I heard the familiar sound of a tram. After a long absence, light rail (trams) will soon return more prominently to the streets of Sydney. Although we’ve had them for a while around the casino and the Inner West, they’ve been absent for decades from the main CBD, and around the neighbourhood where I live, Surry Hills. I’m within a few metres of the new tram, so I’m getting to know the familiar “ding ding” sound very well. Getting trams back is an important lesson Sydney has learned from Melbourne.
Melbourne Tram
The lesson Melbourne
needs to learn from Sydney? Get yourself a few hills! What? Melbourne
needs some hills, or at least a few high level landmarks to aid
navigation. I’ve mentioned this to a number of people also visiting
from Sydney, and with a smile and a laugh, they’ve agreed.
“Melbourne people say it’s all on a grid, so it should be easy,
but it’s not” one person said to me. In Sydney, where many of the
roads are built on hills and gullies, it’s easy to navigate. You’re
either heading down to the harbour, or upwards to the mountains. With
that knowledge, you can pretty much find your way around,
But in Melbourne CBD, it’s all quite flat. For me, the consequence has been that I keep getting lost, heading one way when I should be heading another. This happens every time I come here. Eve with Google Maps, my inclination is to head one way, only to discover it’s the wrong way. A few hills or prominent tall buildings might help!! Ah well, it’s not such a great deal, since it’s lovely being here.
Chinatown in Melbourne
There’s a terrific saying I once heard that, “In Melbourne, there’s a strong case of Melbourne-Sydney rivalry, but in Sydney, it’s a case of New York/London/Tokyo rivalry”. Though I’ve lived in Sydney for half my life, I’m not imbued with any of that rivalry bullshit. Phrases like “cultural capital” and “most liveable city” and “gateway to Australia” mean nothing to me. I mean “who cares”?
Both cities are terrific in their own individual ways, though you would have to say Sydney definitely has the better climate, and for the last few years (due to the broader impact of the lock-out laws), Melbourne seems to have been doing better in the area of nightlife. As I walked around the inner-city last night, there was a genuine buzz on the streets, that you often find lacking in Sydney. Perhaps because Sydney is so spread out?
Some terrific laneway art, located off Little Bourke Street.
Though I’m here for work, it’s also great, because I really do love travelling. If I had a million dollars (or realistically a lot more), I’d spend my whole life travelling from town to town.
I’m a fairly “organised” traveller. I have a standard packing check-list, and so I generally don’t have to worry about purchases for “forgotten items”. I always go online and book the bus to and from the airport. Though I have public transport passes for most Australian (and some overseas) cities, I’ve never before needed a Myki, as I’ve mostly stayed within walking distance of most things I’ve needed to be. This time around though, I’m staying a little further away. Still within the city, but far enough away to make hopping on a tram an easy thing to do. (You might call it “practice” for the upcoming launch of the light rail near my home in Sydney).
To my delight, I discovered the Google Pay app on my phone, allows you to purchase a “virtual” Myki. On arrival, I usually visit the closest supermarket and bottle-shop to pick up the “necessities” which can otherwise be quite expensive when staying in a hotel. Being that organised can sometimes frustrate me at the airport, when you see people ahead of you in the queue who arrive at security, and spend far too much time unpacking and repacking their bags. Sometimes, I’m sure my mumblings about “Why didn’t you start to unpack your laptop while you were standing in the queue” are a little too loud.
Chinese sausage, which I enjoyed at a terrific restaurant called Dragon Boat on Little Bourke Street.Dinner with my old school friend, Anthony.
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Great Idea. Would be nice to see that done in my area.
Maybe have a word to your council? Clearly there would be some costs, but the benefits to the community, and to promoting local artists would be amazing.. In the City of Sydney, there’s art on construction site hoardings which is pretty awesome too.
Great Idea. Would be nice to see that done in my area.
Maybe have a word to your council? Clearly there would be some costs, but the benefits to the community, and to promoting local artists would be amazing.. In the City of Sydney, there’s art on construction site hoardings which is pretty awesome too.