AUGUST WRAP UP

The month started quietly with a day off and a lovely walk at Green Point, I had just discovered a new lookout (new to me!) which serves as a nice midpoint to my walk and meditation spot. It was a dark, overcast day, so I couldn't stay there long, and ended up reading underneath my favourite tree at the end of the walk.

 

The following day was full of sunshine, fun and friends. Brunch at Talulah, Olive Tree Markets, Movies, and supping at Bar Petite.

 

The movie was an Australian documentary called Once My Mother. Difficult to describe, but a must see, it's about a mother's extraordinary journey from Europe through the holocaust and WWII to Melbourne, told from the eyes of her film-maker daughter.

 

I returned to The Regal the following night to volunteer and to see the French/Iranian drama, The Past. Directed by Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) and starring Berenice Bejo, it is about a young French woman and her children. She is living with her lover and her ex-husband returns from Iran to finalise their divorce. Over a few days a whole range of hurt and torment from the past rises to the surface and you wonder how anyone involved will ever be the same again. Great acting and tightly wound drama, this is really worth seeing.

 

On a mild Thursday evening I was finally lured by the White Rabbit to an Underground Epicurean event. What a delightful evening with friends. Champagne and starters at Soul Foods, mains and dessert at Napoli Centrale, and a movie next door at The Towers. The movie was 100-Foot Journey with Helen Mirran. It was a sweet film about culture clash between Indians and the French in countryside France.

 

After months of anticipation I met L & A at Glendale to watch Monty Python Live on the big screen. It was very much an underwhelming experience, with some laughs, but nowhere near enough for the almost 3 hours of the show. Terry Jones and Michael Palin the stand out performers (nothing changes really!). Kinda made me sad.

 

Every now and then you have a night so spectacular that it will go down in history. Our Sat night out for L's birthday was one of them. L, J, A, & I began (as planned) at Red Baron. Oh my, I had heard much about this club, and I was thrilled to be there. We walked in to this buzzing Berlin bar decked in Deco to The Andrews Sisters singing Rum and Coca Cola and I knew I was at home. Great Russian tapas, champagne, and laughs and chats in this fabulous bar. We had not planned past this, so headed to the Great Northern for mains, but it was in between owners, no food, and looking sadder than usual (oh I long for the day someone looks after my favourite pub with the care it so deserves!). After a drink, we moved on to Chooks and Brooskys, a new place on Hunter Street, that served fried chicken and beer. We didn't have a beer, but the chicken was amazing. Then we headed to the Lass, where we played pool drank, laughed, danced, and had a blast listening to the cool bands playing. You don't plan nights like these, they take on a life of their own and just happen. Happy Days!!!!

 

The next evening was a slower, quieter almost-repeat of the night previous. I met M at Customs House for a drink and some pool, then we headed to Red Baron, where it was quiet and pleasant, before moving on to Grainhouse for dinner. A great evening of chatter and reflection.

 

The following weekend provided an evening of variety. Starting at Back to Back Galleries for the opening of our friend C's stunning art exhibit, L & I then headed next door to the Oriental Hotel for pizza and beer for dinner, then to the Terrace bar for more drinkies before heading to Ncle Panthers to meet B and A, and see Courtney Love!! Let's pass on the whole venue thing and go straight to how extraordinary the concert was. I had low expectations, cause you never can predict her behaviour, and her solo stuff is a bit ordinary. Well, she turned it on and it was a sight to behold. She looked great, mostly sung 90s (Hole) songs and sounded terrific, and seemed to be joining herself. We lasted about 30mins up the front before the mosh pit got a little bit too much, not bad for 40 somethings!!! We ended the night with a reflective drink at Cooks Hill Hotel.

The following day was the new Doctor Who on the big Screen at Charlestown. C & I reveled at Capaldi as the new doctor, almost a year after his announcement. It was a great first episode and my thoughts were cemented that he may well go down as the best doctor ever!

 

The family celebrated A's birthday at Heng Loong Chinese at Wallsend. Heng Loong is in the old Wallsend Library and I had heard good things about it, but never been. They have decorated the old library well and the food is outstanding. So much so I was back a week later for a catch up with N & V.

 

We had a work function at Sesame's Belmont, another restaurant I had heard good things about and again, outstanding.

 

The month ended with B & I having a chat at Talulah instead of bookclubbing. Bibliotweeps was a bust this month due to inclement weather, illness, and kid wrangling.

 

You can read all my reviews of the month here.

 

As always there were photo opportunities to be had, with some spectacular sunsets this month!

 

Melbourne: Part One

My friend C and I had a lovely weekend in Melbourne recently. We flew down specifically to see The Doctor Who Symphony. But we also saw a few excellent exhibitions, did a fair bit of walking and balanced that nicely by consuming some amazing food and cocktails. We stayed in what will henceforth be known as MY apartment. I found it on my last trip and it's a clean, modern little one bedroom with kitchen, bathroom, laundry etc and in an excellent position on Collins Street, near Elizabeth Street, AND it has a view!

 

Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular

This was held at the Plenary at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre on our second night. I have never been there but it's a very large, newish, modern centre with various areas for exhibitions, concerts and so forth. I loved the range of ages who attended and some amazing costumes, from t-shirts and scarves to Dalek or Tardis costumes. There was much to see in the foyer prior too.

 

 

Our seats were towards the back but still pretty good. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) was joined by the Melbourne Choral Ensemble, conducted by Ben Forster, and some beautiful arias were added by the stunning Antoinette Halloran. And the whole thing was hosted by 5th Doctor, Peter Davison. Peter was charming, very English, and gentlemanly as you would expect. The music played with clips on a large screen behind the orchestra. 

 

 

At various times monsters, Cybermen, Oods, and of course Daleks would appear on stage, on throughout the audience which really added to the charm of the evening. The sequences with the Daleks were particularly funny.

 

 

But the star of the show was the sensational music of Murray Gold. With powerful music like that I knew it was going to be an amazing show, but I wasn't prepared for how emotional and beautiful the whole thing was. I would have gone again the next night, had it not been sold out!

 

 

Spectacle: music video exhibition at ACMI

We spent hours watching, dancing, and singing to this brilliant exhibit on the Friday afternoon. It was great to escape into this cool area on a hot afternoon. As you walked down the stairs into the main exhibit area there was a large screen with 'movement' video clips playing, that is videos that used a lot of dance movements within. We entered to Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet, which was followed by Toni Basil's Mickey and many, many more. 

 

 

Then we were taken on a journey through videos from early 'music' clips including jazz and blues from the 20s and 30s through to Dylan, the Beatles, early 60s clips, Bowie, Queen, Devo, the MTV era and Countdown. There were mini screens with multiple headphones, and posters, album covers, and memorabilia. You couldn't help but groove and sing along. 

 

 

After that it moved to the more interactive generation of filmmaking, had a lot of clever clips and how they were made or ones you could interact with. My favourite was this Johnny Cash project, where you could much about with various stock photos of Johnny and they are added to a continuous clip.

 

 

Other rooms had loads of memorable video clips on large screens, there was photography and even a curtained off room with small peep holes to view the more risque videos. 

 

 

I was very impressed, my favourite piece being this:

 

 

All that Glitters: Costumes from Arts Centre Melbourne's Performing Arts Collection

We spent Saturday moving slowly through this and the other 3 at the NGV...the best way to spend time in Melbourne!

 

All That Glitters was a free one we chanced upon and it was wonderful. Featuring costumes that dated back to the late 1800s up to Kylie's ShowGirl Costume and Hugh Jackman's outfits from The Man From Oz. Plus everything in between, a lovely array of Dame Joan Sutherland's Operatic costumes plus hats, jewells, posters, photography, and costume sketches. C did overhear one elderly lady stating how disappointing that there was not at least a cardboard cut out of Hugh next to his costume, lol!

 

 

 

Art Deco Fashion including the photography of Edward Steichen at NGV

This was the most divine collection of costumes from the Art Deco period and about 200 beautiful black and white photos from the camera of Edward Steichen. The photos ranged from shoots for Vogue and other fashion advertising at that time and of famous people and movie stars. His style was glamorous and of that period.

 

 

 

Melbourne Now at NGV

Spread throughout the NGV, this was all modern art, some great, some not so much. Some interactive and some just had to be seen to be believed.

 

This was my favourite, as you walked into the room you were drawn to it, but as you got closer you realised how very special it was. Each letter is made from cast resin and depicts the artist, Mark Hilton's journey from childhood to adulthood. Incredible!

 

 

Regular Collection at NGV

Always outstanding, I can't visit without at least seeing my favourite lady!

 

 

There will be more, buildings, Melbourne at night, and places to eat so stay tuned!