I’ve read that Wildflour bakery and cafe in Fitzroy has closed. Good riddance. On my first visit back in January, I was impressed. On my second, about 3 weeks ago at a quarter to ten on a Sunday morning, I was annoyed. It was not early. It was not unreasonable to expect breakfast. On entering Wildflour however we were rather rudely told that they were too busy to serve breakfast. What? The attitude was indifferent and unforgiveable.…
Monthly archives: May 2007
a day in the Yarra valley – Healesville Hotel and Sticks winery
On Sunday I went exploring in the Yarra Valley armed with my copy of the Foodies Guide. It’s a foodie paradise – cheese, hearty meals, wine, fresh air and time to think. I started at the Yarra Valley Dairy and then had lunch at the Healesville Hotel. I had the lamb shank and a friend had the beef ragu pasta. Both were fantastic.
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Najla Cafe
Update 22 January 2009: Najla featured on last night’s episode of Food Safari on SBS.
On Saturday night after another film at the Westgarth in the Spanish Film Festival I took my friends to Cafe Najla, a Syrian restaurant on High St. The food is incredible. We were lucky to get a table vacated by a cancelled booking; otherwise it would be impossible to get in on a Saturday night.

Above is the mezze vegetarian entree, which was plenty for three to share.…
city evening

Walking though the city on Thursday evening was my first taste of winter. The city was full of life. Street chess on Swanston St drew a curious crowd.
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thinking green
The Fitzroy Nursery sell plants and gardening products and also provide an essential humour service to amuse me while stand on the street waiting for the tram. Cheers!
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in between days at the Spanish Film Festival
Last week at the Spanish Film Festival I saw Life in 65 Minutes (Tu vida en 65′ – official site). It’s a story about a group of young men who read in the paper that a man they went to school with had died, and so they go to the funeral. However, this is a case of mistaken identity, as the man who died was not their former school friend.
sniffing at the law
Apparently lawyers in Australia should not be expected to practice what they preach. In 2005 a solicitor made a formal complaint against a fellow lawyer, alleging cocaine use and consequent inappropriate behaviour. The complaint was dismissed as vexatious.
How convenient. When I ride my motorbike on the freeway at 150kmh and am stopped by the police, I will simply tell them that their speeding fine is vexatious and I, as a superior being, should be allowed to go on my way.…
anti-American media
I’m loving the current set of political songs. Who says popular music has no message at the moment? Tori Amos, Nine Inch Nails and the Pet Shop Boys have all released songs that are critical of the western imperial worldview. I love them all. Firstly, Tori’s song ‘Yo George’, which satirises US President George Bush’s ‘Yo Blair’ statement.
Yo George
I salute to you Commander
and I sneeze
Cause I have Now
an Allergy
To your policies it seems
Where have we gone wrong America?…
green girls

Yesterday I went to see the new David Laity exhibition at Metro 5 Gallery in Armadale. His paintings of women have a pop art consistency across different exhibitions yet they appear fresh each time, and the debate about sex, gender and representation repeats itself each time he exhibits.
Some of his previous work can be seen here. Not knowing what Laity looks like, we played an amusing game of ‘spot the artist’ from among the crowd.…
