It’s Thursday afternoon and I’ve just woken up from a nap. I’ve been sick for the last thirty six hours (I almost typed years) with a terrible flu-like condition. When I haven’t been asleep, I’ve been watching a fair bit of television. Yes, I know I could have read a book or listened to the radio, but this bug has been so bad even my brain hurts. Not that daytime television has given it any…
I begun my task, today, to see as much of the Biennale of Sydney as possible, by heading of to the Art Gallery Of NSW. Actually, task is probably the wrong word, because it’s going to be an absolute pleasure, but with the works on display at twenty or thirty venues, I’ll need to have a methodology about this. Anyway, there were three works on display at the AGNSW that I really liked and a…
Damien and I went to an interesting talk last night at the State Library of NSW called, “French Indulgence”, featuring three guest speakers: Damien Pignolet (Claude’s & Bistro Moncur), Guy Vaillant (Pavillion on the Park) and Franck Fancois (La Gerbe D’Or). Of the three, Pignolet was by far the smoothest of the three guest speakers, with a well considered (and probably well rehearsed) history of his family. Although Australian born (with a French father and…
Inspired by a post on Angus Kidman’s Blog I decided to do one of those online personality tests. According to this one I’m an Anxious Communitarian, though I also demonstrate traits of being an Autonomous Rebel. So what does this all mean? Anxious Communitarian Fundamental Motivations: Traditional Communities, Institutions and Social Status Key Values * Consumerism * Deference to Authority * Need for Respect Words to Live By * Dress for success * It’s only…
I went to the annual “Heritage Lecture” of the “National Trust” tonight, presented by the emminent broadcaster and writer Clive James. I’ve been a fan of James for many years, starting with his “Unreliable Memoirs” all those years ago, right through to his tonight and travel shows which featured, for example, the unforgettable Margarita Pracatan, possibly the world’s worst singer. As fellow blogger, Mark and I stood in the foyer of the State Theatre waiting…
Ahead of catching the bus into the city tonight, I called in for a bite to eat at the Crystal Palace Hotel on George Street. In the midst of chrome and floor boards that characterises so many pubs these days, Crystal Palace is one of those old fashioned city hotels with awful RSL style carpet, a pokie and smoking room out the back and one of those old fashioned bistros which serves calamari and chips…