So in the great tradition of “cheese sandwich” blogging .. here i am in a cafe in the city. I’ve just had the biggest and best big breakfast in the whole wide world, and i’m luxuriating in the free wireless net connection of blue point cafe, opposite the watch-house in Russell Street.
Yes, i’ve got the day off work, Tim doesn’t start his sergeant role for another couple of hours, and this is my first access to internet for non-work reasons in months.
Off we go to wander through the city and search the computer shops for gadgets. End up in a liquidator shop on Swanston St called “Arthur Daley’s Lock-up”.
Gloves for three dollars Yah!
Tim’s gone to rehearsal, so i head across to Minotaur, to get the latest copies of Buffy Season 8, in comic book form. I can’t wait. Apparently Buffy meets Fray, the vampire slayer from the 24th century.
Last i heard, Buffy and Giles aren’t talking to each other; the tricky “Twilight” crowd are dividing Buffy from Willow, and Dawn is still a giant.
How lucky am i! Jude and Jody invite me over for a sumptuous lamb kofta experience, followed by dripping-down-your-front apple and strawberry strudel. Yum.
So we watch the US Dance show, and we agree that Katee and Joshua are the best. This piece, choreographed by Mia Michaels, made me gasp.
Then Jude pulls out the Will Ferrel classic, “Anchorman”. Talk about cheese!
Time to go home and devour Margaret Cho, the best comedian in the world.
Life is wonderful.
Margaret Cho – Assassin! (part one)
image and photo credits: licensed under creative commons at flickr: Thanks very much: cowtools
Well here’s an exciting event. My wonderful sister katie has an article over at Reuters news agency (in the Alert Net section).
Not so much a good news piece .. more focussing on the humanitarian disaster that is the lack of food in developing countries at the moment.
While we lap up the luxury here in the West, a $25 sack of rice is not so easy to get hold of in Timor Leste, especially given that’s more than a month’s wages. Katie met with one woman who is struggling to feed her children.
Very sad really.
But kt is a really good writer, isn’t she!!
Yah.
photo credit: decade_null
The skies were gloomy, but that didn’t stop one incredibly generous commuter giving away her ticket for free, in Melbourne today.
i was getting on the tram, in Elizabeth St, very near the whole Melbourne Central experience, when a woman thrust out her hand and gave me a ticket. “Want a ticket?” she said.
Woah! Hang on, where is the brainspace for this kind of activity? i’m not sure i can cope!! An Australian citizen freely handing out tickets? This Two-Hour Ticket had about 2 hours left on it too. And the tram was swarming with inspectors.
How generous, how lovely, how utterly delectably sweet. Thanks to that angelic lady.
photo credit: specialkrb
Via Delia at biddyjournal, news of a movie called Hope, which tells the stories of Siev-x. Screening very soon !! At the Nova in Melbourne, and around the whole of Australia.
i referred to an article in New Matilda a while back, and they’ve since changed all their links: Tony Kevin wrote on the seventh anniversary of the tragedy, describing the heartfelt compassion in the Canberra memorial that so many people struggled to create.
“Each pole represents compassion, love and acceptance of the stranger Australian values that were in little evidence in Australia during the 2001 election campaign”
353 people on the boat .. only 7 made it to Australia.
(image from wikipedia, thanks :{
i have to say, it’s quite an adventure moving across to the other side of the Merri Creek. Time seems to move more slowly now because there’s so much newness to absorb.
Sydney road has a different character from Northcote High Street .. can’t quite describe the difference just yet. Larger range of ethnic diversity? More established cafes and hotels?
But all these new cafes, i need a local tour guide .. and where are all the musicians madly improvising?
Thank Evans i’m still cycling distance from the Northcote hill.
image thanks to deepwarren at flickr
One of the best moments during the whole moving-house extravaganza, was waking up at 7.30am on the Saturday, to find Bethany in the hall pushing the piano with a friend toward the front door. With bravado and gumption.
i don’t usually think of a piano as something easily shifted, but Bethany and gray and all their gang hoisted it up on top of gray’s ute, and after much hilarity, drove it away down the cobblestone laneway.
The fun bit was when Ricardo started playing the thing on the ute, at top volume. At eight in the morning. Neighbours did not complain. His playing is much better than mine.
As soon as i can get a photo or two from B., i shall post here.
love michael
Time for some good news. i’ve just been reading Pitchfork Design .. where Sam talks of a new project up near Swan Hill; and her inspiration is this amazing tale of greening the desert in Jordan.
This video is so worth watching, from desert to fruit trees and oasis: “You can solve the problems of the world in a garden,” says Geoff Lawton the permaculture artist behind the project.
3years later they’ve revisited the system to see what’s happened:
and here’s Geoff Lawton talking more about the project:
.. and read up on Sam’s projects too, she’s doing amazing work rebuilding the gardens in schools around Victoria. go Sam!
Lucky me to have such wonderful friends and colleagues helping me out !!!
Annie the angel comes over and completely re-organises the garage sale, so that it looks like useful things rather than a pile of junk; and then spends all day over here packing boxes for me. What a darling.
Tim brings croissants for breakfast. Ooo yum what could be better. Not only that, but then he packs up all my telephone and internet gadgets neatly into a box. Plus, he’s going to take away the fish and his tank. Yay Tim.
Jude and jody-Lee go mad on the council rubbish collection pile. Just keep piling they say.
Lovely Czek offers me a room even though he really doesn’t want or need a housemate.
Will and Jodie lend me their van on two separate days, meaning they have to get all thinkie on their schedules. So sweet!
Margot spends hours packing up all of the precious ceramic art, and then takes it back to her place for storage.
Amarina lets me store a mountain of boxes in her huge Land Rover called Keith. Plus, she brings up so many coffees for Louise and me, when our kitchen is not functioning. Am is a very generous and wonderful woman, so kind.
Lou does such an amazing job on the kitchen, cleaning it like it hasn’t been cleaned before (well, since Jude and Jody lived in the house, and Jude scrubbed every last bit of it.)
Then plenty of people – Ben, Maggie, Daryl, Deb, Zoe, Libby, Amarina – send across possible ideas for rooms or houses.
Fraser asks every time he sees me, and offers cardboard boxes in case i have to live under a bridge. Later i find out he’s been asking Syl, “Can michael use that space under the cupboard?”
Some days i feel like i’m surrounded by angels.thank you all .. so much !
May the universe bless you all with this kindness and more.
So, the final party was a bit wild and messy.
One of the neighbours (overlooking from James St) came up and said, “i don’t usually complain about your parties .. because you’re finished by one or two .. but last Saturday was just too much”.
“i agree,” i replied, “it was awful”.
Kept going ’til dawn; people thrashing away in the music room and chattering drunkenly. We imagine that there’s a cone of silence around our little rustic village castle, because people never complain. But no.
“oh, if it was your swansong .. i guess it’s okay,” said the neighbour when i told her we were moving out. And got back on her bike.
Now i have temporary housing in Barkly St Coburg (phew!)…will start looking again when i can muster the energy.
Thanks so much to all who came along, much appreciated!!
Normally you expect titles like “When only the best will do” and “Perfect position” etc.
Here’s a sensational effort from some real estate agent in the northern suburbs:
“When Anything Will Do”oh yeah, spell it out for me.
.. ‘ideal shared student accommodation’ etc
in Glenroy.
