It's Friday, and I'm home today! This is not a fun at home day, this is more I'm home because there's tradies on my roof and WHAT THE HELL IS THAT NOISE? Are they fixing the roof or whacking pigeons with a baseball bat? It sounds like the roof is going to cave in. Hopefully a spot of food blogging will take my mind off it...I think I may have mentioned this previously, but South Melbourne Market is my favourite place to go for fruit and veg. It started operating in 1867, and went through ...
Archives for May, 2008
Frost/Nixon, by Peter Morgan, directed by Roger Hodgman. Designed by Richard Roberts, costumes by Judith Cobb, lighting by Matt Scott, composer Paul Grabowsky. With John Adam, Jada Alberts, Bruce Myles, Marshall Napier, Yalin Ozucelik, Neil Pigot, Teague Rook, Kat Stewart, David Trendinnick and Greg Ulfan. Melbourne Theatre Company @ the Fairfax Studio, Victorian Arts Centre, until July 5.
David and GoliathIn Washington in 1972, a break-in was intercepted at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel. The ‘thieves’ were not your average 'breakers & enterers' and had links to the secret services and before long a connection had been made between the thieves and the President’s staff and ultimately the President himself. The investigation leading up to Nixon’s resignation to avoid impeachment is still one of the greatest scandals in modern political history and his pardon by the succeeding president, Gerald Ford, only increased the public outrage. Peter Morgan has written a nice line ...
Cupcakes are the new semi- sun- dried- tomato. They are the fashion food of the moment - and what could be more glorious really?The history of cupcakes really brings things into perspective - because most classic cupcakes are a good deal more petite than the average cup (boo hoo the uncouth ungainly muffin!). The story being that in the 19th century cupcakes were so named on account of the process of measuring ingredients in cups (as opposed to weighing) - and this was a great leap forward.The petite fairy cakes that you find tucked away inside the super cute specialty ...
Monday night looked like a good one for De Orchid takeaway, so I gave them a call as Michael walked home. Unfortunately their phone went unanswered, eventually returning a message that they were closed due to unforeseen circumstances for a week or two. Darn. It seems that someone else was having the very same conundrum, finding our blog via a google search for indian delivery carlton melbourne just eight minutes after they searched for "de orchid" carlton! I wonder if they tried the Balti Indian Cafe as google recommended? Instead I took a look at ...
This weekend I ended up at Cookie on Swanston Street twice, on two consecutive nights. I’d been before, for coffee in the afternoon, had dinner there on Thursday night, and drinks on Friday night. I now feel like I’m sufficiently equipped to review the place from every angle possible. My two beverage experiences were fantastic. I had a great coffee with great atmosphere on a Saturday afternoon, and last Friday night the bartender took at least 20 minutes making my mojito and it was worth every minute. However, my dinner experience left something to be desired. Our waiter returned to the table ...
Auction Rooms (website)103-107 Errol Street, North Melbourne (map)Open Tues - Sun, 7am (8am weekends) - 4pm9326 7749Disclaimer: One of the owners of Auction Rooms, Andrew Kelly, is an acquaintance of mine met through mutual friends. The fact that I know Andrew in no way influenced my conclusion that Auction Rooms is an awesome venue that everyone should frequent!It was a dreary and overcast day and I was meeting G, new to Melbourne after moving from Adelaide, for lunch. Our venue of choice was Auction Rooms, a cafe which opened in North Melbourne just six weeks ago.Frequenters of Errol Street may ...
On our way to Game On the other week, I noticed the original Lord of the Fries (on the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets) selling new nuggets! However, after getting our game on, we retired to the newer LOTF stand across from Federation square at Flinders St station - there were no nuggets to be found here.So Lisa beat me to blogging them, sampling the nuggets on the same weekend that I had hoped to. A few weeks later I was offered a second chance while running a few city-based errands.These are advertised as vegan, gluten free, ...
I bumped into Vince Prince of PBSfm Soul Time fame who does the soul nite at Cherry, and confirmed that Cherry is back and running, and is a little quiet due to the four weeks while it was closed. I'm pumped as for me the best Soul Night in Melbourne, get behind it this Thursday and hopefully every Thursday for a long time to come.
Isn't it annoying how life always gets in the way? When I first started working in the city, my friend Emily and I had the intention of having lunch about once a month. With lots of stuff happening in both our lives, it was difficult to set a date and we skipped a couple of months. In April, we finally managed to get together again, and headed to Journal Canteen. Journal Canteen is located in the Centre for Adult Education building, and used to be a vacant first floor classroom. The menu, written on a ...
There's a lot going on. On Friday, The Double Agents play a farewell show at Cherry before heading off on their second European tour.The Double Agents are bidding farewell to their beloved Oz, as they head off on their second sojourn to Europe in early June. Taking a stellar new line-up, regulars Dave Butterworth, Kim Walvisch and Chris Loughtman will be joined by Callum John Barter(Ancient Free Gardeners) on the skins and Dave Larkin (yes, he of Dallas Crane infamy) on bass guitar. Playing their blistering brand of garage country swamp in one final Melbourne show before heading to France, ...
This international exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the stunning World Heritage site of Hampi in southern India. Using state of the art digital technologies, this ground breaking experience presents 3D stereographic panoramas of an extraordinary site with all its mythological, archaeological, artistic and historic significance. Ancient Hampi includes animation...
This international exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the stunning World Heritage site of Hampi in southern India. Using state of the art digital technologies, this ground breaking experience presents 3D stereographic panoramas of an extraordinary site with all its mythological, archaeological, artistic and historic significance. Ancient Hampi includes animation...
What do you suppose is the use of a child without any meaning? Even a joke should have some meaning - and a child's more important than a joke, I hopeThrough the Looking Glass. Chapter 9Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, along with his other non-academic writings (as an academic and under his real name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, he published mathematics and logic treatises) seemed to escaped operatic settings until quite recently. A 'Musical Dream Play' appeared as early as 1888 but apart from small scaled adaptations for school and amateur performance major English composers left ...
Bar Lourinhã37 Little Collins Street, Melbourne (map)9663 7890It had been a bitch of a day and I couldn't help but think "My God, WHITHER the daily office grind... I require a glass of red wine posthaste ERE I DIE". Luckily, best-friend-K was feeling exactly the same way so we decided to meet up after work for a snifter 'o wine.She was up at the Parliament end of the city so we selected Bar Lourinhã as our venue. For a Wednesday night the joint was jumping, but we managed to find a place on the sofa at the front. I selected ...
Little Salon is wee. Little Salon is petite. Little Salon is bite-sized. Little Salon is just-right.Branching off from their Fitzroy shop on Gertrude Street, their newer CBD site is the cutest little nook of Australian designer treats.A cozy cave and beautifully designed too - Little Salon offers handmade accessories, jewellery, homewares and artworks. Yes, even their wares are little.Little SalonShop 1353 Little Collins StreetMelbourneTel: (03) 9670 6996
People use the term MAGIC far too lightly. A soup is "magic". A regular summer's night is "magic". A special cuddle with a special friend is "magic".Guess what people? That aint magic.If you want magic, go to 211 Elizabeth Street.They got all the gear for REAL magic - coin tricks, card tricks, rope tricks ... and stuff to do something called "mentalism" (which I'm sure all you Mums know all about without the help of props).Plus - old school costumes and novelties (you know rubber dog poop and itching powder). All of which they have been rockin' since the 1930s.Bernard's ...
Bizzarr Beads don't have a website. They don't have business cards either. But they do have about a trillion million beads!This is an unpretentious place which serves as a shop and a workshop rolled into one. You can buy beads in whatever quantity and combination that you fancy - in addition to wire, string, chain and findings to help you make a cool, customized, crafty creation (ya know, a necklace or something!). And they also sell some tools of the trade.You can even make them onsite on at their benches that float in the middle of their modest space. The ...
Sette BelloCorner Hardware Lane and Lt Bourke Street, Melbourne (map)no phone yet!My fabulous housemate DJ emailed to alert me to a new candidate in my Quest to find great lunch spots within an easy walking distance of the King and Bourke Street intersection: "A King/Bourke lunchtime recommendation for you: Sette Bello on the north-eastern corner of Little Bourke and Hardware. Kind of like a more homely Brunetti in the CBD. Yummy pizza by the slice, cute pastries for dessert, very good coffee, delightfully kitsch decor, lots of natural light."Sette Bello! What a great name for an Italian cafe. ...
They say its okay to be a square on their website. Hooray!And this is a store of handcrafted glory which makes the stationary fetish in us all sit up and listen with geeky compulsion. Holy-Swedish-Design Batgirl, this is a sweet place!The rainbow ordered wonder of Bookbinders is totally awe-inspiring for anyone who likes to keep a notebook, a journal, a diary, a recipe book or an album.Making organization a lush treat for us all.Bookbinders DesignShop E25, The Galleria385 Bourke St, Melbourne, VIC 3000(you actually enter via Elizabeth Street!)Tel:(03) 9642 4050
Babushka Dolls, Russian Dolls, Nesting Dolls ... or Matryoshka Dolls have had a fashionable and crafty renaissance in the last few years.I always used to think of them in terms of the generations - children, mothers, grand-mothers and ancestors. I told this to a random lady I met at a bus-stop once. She told me I had it totally wrong and that it was all about multiple personalities. Eep! I caught my bus and stuck to my generations theory.This awesomely trad shop in an old fashioned arcade in the CBD sells all sorts of Babushkas - traditional ...
I was in Melbourne over the weekend and really appreciated having so many excellent food choices! And by food choices, I mean junk food. Bendigo has great produce but it’s a bit light on the ground for mock meats and greasy vegan goods. Thursday night was aduki’s A Soup For All Seasons book launch in Collingwood. It was a fantastic night as usual and the book is gorgeous, I can’t wait to get into the recipes. I was working the book table: (Missing from picture: a pile of La Panella party-sized sausage rolls, which went down a bomb with the vegos and ...
If I was a beatnik - and I think I am on my "days off" - I would hang out all day at Sahara with my beret, my black coffee and write maudlin poetry by the dim light of Sahara's first story windows.Sahara is a home-made kinda joint with a loving, poetic warmth that inspires artists, lovers and connoisseurs of old-timey dining where white tables cloths are mandatory.Tucked upstairs on busy Swanston Street where Vietnamese and Japanese take-away is somewhat the theme, Sahara is a hidden cave of lovely surprises and gorgeous time-wasting meals.I'm a fan of a late night ...
You know that dusty, damp, old smell you get in second-hand shops? You know that weird powdery, old-lady scent you get in some crafty stores? You know that "where-the-hell- is-that-cool-thing- I'm-looking-for- amongst-this- crazy-mess" feeling? You know that "is-this-cool-I-can't-tell" feeling?Well, you don't get any of this at Arthur's Circus.Arthur's Circus is a quiet, bright, sunlit store of absolute crafty 'n' vintage goodness. Oh, and its the height of clean, white, ordered, nice-smelling welcomingness.Japanese specialty lunch boxes sit next to genuine Australiana. Magic Jelly cards sit next to Aunty Cookie printed goods. Planet lamps light up other vintage goodness. Old kid's games ...
Job Warehouse is the infamous, eccentric oldy-timey fabric emporium of Melbourne. This place is an institution. A landmark!And its true - you have to go in there with conviction and meaning. There's no airy, fairy browsing allowed. Absolutely not! But if you can get over this and banish your intimidation - this place is the Aladdin's Cave of unique and amazing fabrics.Imported fabrics, vintage fabrics, specialty fabrics. Wild patterns of psychedelic wonder next to lush, rich suiting from another time (world class). Towering walls of bolts and bolts of material to make any maker sweat.Don't forget to have a coffee ...
