01. I love looking at big infrastructure projects (it’s the planner in me that lingers). Today we got to walk part way into the West Gate Tunnel, before the cars takeover in December. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Wheeler Centre
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. Victorian Opera’s performance of Eucalyptus (based on the glorious book by Murray Bail). It was wonderful and the set was absolutely outstanding – the canvas in the foreground was used to project various scenes, from a train arriving and forest to the lake where the main character swims. In the background were layered scrims, printed with trees, and behind them you could see the orchestra. Magical. (image). Continue reading
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. Dinner at Hazel. Hard to pick a highlight because everything was delicious, but… the bite-sized crab hash (above); the trout with salted cucumber and horseradish; the beef with charred carrots; and the radicchio, orange and ricotta salad… would eat all of those things again in a heartbeat. Continue reading
Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week
01. Melbourne Theatre Company’s 37 – is it too early to declare my favourite play for the year? It will be hard to beat. They managed to create so many distinct characters in such a short space of time; examine big themes (racism; sense of community; loyalty); and the highlight, the choregraphy, that drew on a game of footy and Indigenous dance. Really impressive.
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Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts
01. It was our annual International Night dinner with friends last week. This year we were Rockin’ the Moroccan. My contribution included cocktails, nibbles, and dessert. Of the things I made, a few recipes will be repeated in the future – Gin and Mint Tea cocktail (the complex sugar syrup is well worth the effort – I doubled the quantity and made a pitcher); Moroccan ‘sausage rolls’; this orange cake and this lemon cake – I’m no baker but these cakes were easy and delicious. Continue reading
Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts
01. We went to the cricket for International Women’s Day. It was spectacular (the result; being part of such a big crowd for a women’s sporting event; and Katy Perry and her dancing cricket bats). Continue reading
The TBR stack that (happily) never goes away
I write a post every year about how I’ve made virtually no progress on reducing my TBR stack. Some bloggers will read this post and feel really good (smug) about their own manageable-and-totally-in-control TBR stacks. Others will read it and say, “Pfft. That’s not a stack, this is a stack”, and point to pictures of their hallway, lined with bookshelves that are filled with unread books. Continue reading
Broadside 2019 – Zadie Smith
There were moments when I wanted to call out “Stop! Wait! I need to process that!” during the conversation between Jia Tolentino and Zadie Smith at last weekend’s Broadside festival. Their banter was rapid-fire; the topics they were discussing were big and intense ; and it’s taken me a week to reflect on all that was covered.
Zadie got straight into it with, “I’m always thinking a lot about death. And human autonomy, free will. Shit like that.” She was being truthful and funny all at once. Continue reading
Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts
01. The bushfires burning out-of-control across vast areas of New South Wales and Queensland are unprecedented for this time of year and are of unprecedented intensity, yet still the politicians in power won’t mention the ‘c’ words… (image by photographer Martin Von Stoll). Continue reading
Broadside 2019 – Helen Garner
What a day! The inaugural Broadside Festival opened with Helen Garner in conversation with Sarah Krasnostein.
It was the first time I’d heard Helen speak (despite trying to get to her rare speaking engagements in the past). My immediate impression was that she was much warmer and funnier than I had expected (I guess my expectations were unthinkingly based on her subject matter and her spare, pared-back prose).
The conversation began with talking about publishing a diary, something that by nature is intended to be private. On rereading her diaries, Helen said, “There was a lot of boring stuff in there, which naturally I found fascinating. To sort out what others would find interesting about you is actually quite a challenging process.” Continue reading