Ruby Tuesday

In the absence of any red photos I wandered down to Union Lane, of course, to see what street art was around.


There were a few new things but nowhere near as much good stuff as usual ... and very little had any red, except this little darling.


I'll just share a few more because I was there, not because they're red.

Do you think this is the cowardly lion?


This girl's so stylish and elegant.


This bird's very cute ...


and this girl's gorgeous too.


This girl looks a lot like a Debs ... but she's not! I'll check out the name next time I'm there.


For more ruby redness ... visit Mary at Work of the Poet.

Ruby Tuesday

It’s Tuesday again already ... where has my life gone?

Over the weekend I met up with a friend Phil for breakfast at a trendy inner city café called Three Bags Full in Abbotsford. My review of breakfast is elsewhere but it led Phil and I to attempt to burn off at least some of the calories earnt sharing a chocolate brownie (yes … sweets after breakfast is an acceptable way of eating) by wandering around the area. (It was such a miserable day I think I burnt off more calories shivering than walking .. but that’s another story).


I love Abbotsford … if for no other reason than it’s where Mr H lived when I met him almost 30 years ago.

It's so cosmopolitan. Where else would you see elderly Vietnamese woman squatting on the pavement selling greens and Vietnamese sweets?


I love Asian food and Victoria Street is like a mini Vietnam with restaurants everywhere.


Abbotsford is so inner city but still "ungentrified" ... just off the main street is this bright red fridge in a scrap metal yard.


I love finding signs written in red paint instead of the usual black … so much more in your face.


What about a little fresh fruit (red of course) from many of the small shops along Victoria Street?


How much more interesting is it to find the building in red and the door in black when it’s usually the reverse.


I love the menus in the window … and so nice to see one in red instead of the usual white.


Or maybe a relaxing massage ... I could do with right about now.


And right at the end of such an obviously Asian area is this pizza shop … I guess everybody loves pizza.


So much glorious red ... and I haven't shown everything I saw!

If you’re interested in even more ruby redness … check out Work of the Poet.

I had a great time

Some weekends are different ... sometimes it's the people, the place you go or just how you feel at the time.

This weekend it was all of the above and more ... being busy having fun is so much better than anything else and doing it in sunshine has to be the best.

I've been looking forward to seeing Jo from Joe Bloggs for a while. We met about six short months ago at Sew It Together and I was fortunate enough to share a room with Jo. Fortunate in so many ways because from the first few minutes we met I could tell I would like her ... it would be difficult not to.

We spent an action packed 24 hours ... and probably about 12,000 steps ... I definitely need to get myself a pedometer. We wandered all around Carlton and Brunswick and Richmond. We ate at Bimbo Deluxe (apple, almond, mascarpone and cinnamon pizza ... mmm, my favourite) and Vegie Bar, and listened to music at Bar Open, and just window shopped and rummaged for junk at Lost and Found.


But even though everything we did was fun it's so much more than that ... I admire Jo's honesty, her openness, and how much fun she is. I'm glad to call her a friend and I hope to see her very soon.

Thanks for a terrific time Jo.

Ruby Tuesday

On Sunday I ventured out with friends to an exhibition about Titanic held at the Museum and found my weekly splash of red in a number of huge woven tapestries at the Museum.

These were amazing … and there were so many of them.

I decided to do a little research and it turns out that tapestries are in celebration of federation … when the various Australian states and territories merged in 1901. There were ten tapestries in total, woven by 24 weavers between June 2000 and November 2001.

Here's a taste of a few of them:

The tapestry We All Live in Australia was a favourite of mine. This was designed by Murray Walker, who incorporated drawings by Aboriginal children from primary schools in Echuca, Cape Barren Island and Bathurst.


In essence they plead with us to take care of one another, and to look after all parts of the environment. Worth acting on ... I think.


One of the tapestries … this one with the number 1901 at the top was a giveaway federation had something to do with it. This one’s so soft and subtle … with touches of red and orange to draw the eye in.


The seventh tapestry celebrates the important role of Australia's artists in the Federation process. It celebrates ways Australians in the last two decades of the 19th century used literature and art to create and express a unique national identity.


And this beautiful red flower of course forms part of the mural ... please don't ask me what kind. I can't name trees ... let alone flowers.


This is a close up from the sixth tapestry which celebrates Home Sweet Home. The panel concentrates on the importances of the family home, and its important to many Australians who dream of owning their own home with a garden on a large block of land.


The next panel is quite different ... a summary of the themes underlying the whole suite. It presents an historical process from before the arrival of European settlement, through various voyages of discovery to the first white settlement of Australia.


The images are all part of our history, including the picture of Bungaree, an early Aboriginal from Sydney during the very earliest settlement of Australia.


This panel forms part of the tapestry focussing on Alone in the Bush. It depicts the loneliness and isolation many Europeans felt. The shepherd newcomer, his dog and sheep are shown with other animals including a kangaroo, now under the control of the British crown.


And last, but not least ... the Celebrations 2001 tapestry celebrating the 100th anniversary of Federation. A fitting close to this post and the week's red theme.


I hope you enjoyed this little look at Australia's history ... but this is just a peak at the many types and shades of red around the world, so visit Mary at Work of the Poet. There's much more to enjoy.

Ruby Tuesday

Anybody who’s read my blog before or knows me knows that I believe graffiti to be a legitimate art form. It’s topical, it’s current … and I like it also because it’s underground. Graffiti artists—which I think they are—are the Rembrandts and Van Goghs of today.

Before I’m slammed for promoting vandalism … I’m not talking about tasteless and pointless tagging done by people without talent or a life. I can’t stand buildings and trains defaced by people who should be made to clean off their childish rebellion. Being able to buy a can of spray paint doesn’t make you an artist any more than getting behind a fast car makes you a racing car driver!

What I’m talking about are people with real talent. And I’m lucky to live in a city that not only understands this … but which provides them with multiple canvases to share their talent.

The location I like best is the Hosier Lane area at the top end of Melbourne … this place totally rocks.

Check out this gorgeous girl … courtesy of Deb, one of the best known Melbourne graffitists. Debs has done work for various mainstream media in Australia and has even travelled to Los Angeles for her art. I love catching her work in the most unexpected places and I’m glad she’s able to work creatively in her preferred field.


And because I can ... a few more views along Ruttledge Lane, just off Hosier Lane.

The umbrellas look fantastic and I’m just sorry I arrived after one of them had blown away and another is askew. It would have been amazing when it was first put up.



And what about this? I love this new form of graffiti ... a sort of wallpaper installation that's taking Melbourne by storm. And wickedly red!


So what do you think of graffiti? Do you think it’s art … or do you lump tagging and graffiti into the same bag and think it’s all just vandalism? Maybe your city sets aside a canvas for local graffitists to explore their talent? Drop me a line … I’d love to see.

For more Ruby Redness ... visit Mary at Work of the Poet.

Neil Sun 17 Jan 10

NEIL: The Dandenongs
It was a bit of a rush at this end of Neil's visit with us ... a case of too little time left and still so many things to do.

The Great Ocean Rd is always one of those places you want to take visitors. It's so impressive and we had great hopes of taking Neil there. But in the end we decided on the Dandenongs as the last place to visit: Neil had seen the ocean and bay a couple of times so we figured he got we lived by the water, but he hadn't seen any Australian animals during his 3 week visit.

That definitely clinched it ... we had to go to Healesville Sanctuary, and in getting there call into Grant's Picnic Ground to feed the birds.

Grant's Picnic Ground.
We were lucky to spot the picnic ground as we drove past ... I knew generally where it was and it was really fortunate we saw it in time to call in.


Neil with one of the birds ... he really seemed to enjoy this.


And the birds are so friendly they come to feed almost immediately you put your hand out.


The downside is the cockatoos ... they bite and bite Neil they did. This one bit Neil twice!


The birds also seemed to have this tag team system ... only one of them would feed at a time and one that wanted to feed would attack the one feeding. And it would all happen so fast you could barely see it happening.

Healesville Sanctuary.
We spent a few, slightly wet, hours wandering around the Sanctuary ... another place in Victoria I haven't been. You have to love overseas visitors for helping you to get to know your own home better. And the Sanctuary is absolutely the best place to see native animals.


The first thing we was was an Eagle presentation ... four eagles of differing sizes including one that was probably hand reared and very tame. This eagle was the most trained of all of them.

We also saw a presentation about didgeridoos and boomerang throwing from a local Aboriginal. Unfortunately this time, the boomerang didn't quite come back.


Horace and Neil walking along one of the trails.


The sanctuary had loads of these little information boards everywhere ... so good for understanding more about Aboriginal culture.


This male and female dingo were the stars of the Sanctuary ... it was as though they were posing for the camera.


This koala lived up to its name ... Prickles. There was no way she was going to show her face.


Kangaroos are the laziest animals ... we were lucky to see any with their eyes open let alone upright and looking at the camera like this one!


The Australian version of the ostrich ... the emu. These babies can be vicious, so I was glad it was behind a tall fence.


Looking through a gap in the rocks to see a huge goanna ... or lizard.


Kookaburras make the most amazing noise ... but unfortunately Neil didn't get to hear its call.


We call these guys flying foxes ... a type of bat.


And a sweet wombat before we left. These guys are huge ... but vegetarians and this one was eating his way through a huge pan of vegetables.

Good things Tue 5 Jan 09

GOOD THINGS: Flash mob dance
Today in the Bourke Street mall, the Summer Fun in the City put on a Flash Mob Dance.

I didn't get to see it live ... today's been one of the few times I haven't walked through the city at lunch time ... but news of it seemed to work its way through Melbourne and a link to the YouTube video landed in my inbox by mid afternoon.


This looks like so much fun. I wish I'd been there.

Too cool, huh?

Neil: Sat 3 Jan 10

NEIL: Visiting the Art Gallery
The day didn’t start out with such nice weather so a day in order—at the Art Gallery—seemed in order so as not to waste the day.


Neil standing outside the art gallery against the water streaming down the glass wall ... Neil liked the way this was done.

Not really Neil’s thing—spending the day with grandparents and a day at the art gallery—but he was a really good sport wandering around and taking in a little culture. I expect him to wow his mother with talk of Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the broad, sweeping strokes of the early Impressionists. He’s all primed to impress when he gets back … don’t let me down Neil.


Look Mum ... Neil actually looking interested in art!

He was a little naughty as we wandered through the Asian artefacts and snapped a few pics using his flash. When the guard popped his head around to ask that the flash not be used he looked straight at me ... when it definitely wasn't me! Whoops!


And finally Neil with his usual expression towards the camera. Wini and he are definitely related!

It was nice to spend a not so nice day wandering around the art gallery ... but it's so small after the V&A in London and the Met in New York. I'm not sure I'll ever feel the same way about it again.