Chinese Spectacular

Melbourne has been covered with posters and fliers for the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular. Matt said I mentioned it about 546 times so we booked some tickets to go see it. All I can say is Matt gets to pick out the next show we go see. I enjoyed the costumes especially the way fabric is incorporated into dance and Matt liked the drumming. However, between every act two people came out to explain the next act and tell stupid jokes in both Chinese and English. I don't like having dance explained to me. It's a dance. Usually I can get the gist of the story and if not atleast enjoy the aesthetics. So you might think this would be to buy time for magnificent set changes. No,no. The "sets" weren't sets at all but super cheesy digital backdrops.
Then the mood shifted as the Chinese Spectacular became a spectacularly political demonstration. Evil whirling dancing men dressed in black with the red hammer and sickle of communism sewn on attack danced against the followers of Falun Gong beating one dancer until she flew away digitally to sit in a lotus flower with some monks and 100s of other Falun Gong practitioners. It was overly dramatic, bordering on ridiculous and the show started to drag on. Matt started huffing and looking at his watch which made me start laughing, try to contain my laughter and proceed to make some horribly loud honking noise. After the show finally ended Matt was a bit anxious to leave and in his rush out of the parking lot he just happened to gutter grip his wheel reeking much more havoc than I did to the other wheel. This brought the night to a perfectly harmonious end.

Cloud Dragons

I love the sky in Australia. The sunsets are beautiful. There are rainbows constantly. The clouds are sublime. I have always loved finding shapes in clouds then the other day one looked like a perfect Chinese dragon. Suddenly all of the clouds looked like Chinese dragons. Now all I am finding in the clouds are dragons. It looks like I am not the only one. If you go on http://www.flickr.com/ and type in dragon clouds you will find TONS of pictures including this one I borrowed from Eco Snake.

There are many references on-line to dragons in the clouds but also quite a few about dragons made of clouds. Many can be found in the comic book world. There is also some pretty ordinary poetry about these billowy beings. Actually it was prose talking about writing "cloud dragon" poetry. There is a book called "Cloud Dragon Skies" by N. K. Jemisin about a shift in the earth's atmosphere causing a change in the color of the sky and causing the heroine to see dragons in the clouds. Ok...so this was my "i see dragons" post. I am not crazy, just have a vivid imagination, well maybe a little bit crazy.

How Could I Forget

I left something out of the wine country visit. Somehow these things creep their way into almost every adventure Matt and I have whether we are walking down the street or traveling overseas somehow, someway he always spots one, two or 300 of these things that he likes. When we were almost to Mintaro and I was really crying to get out of the car, Al (another motoring enthusiast) makes a sudden u-turn and it was no surprise why. We had just passed a showroom with "Classic Chevrolet" written on the sign. Ah yes, cars....always, always cars.

The next day there were quite a few older looking cars driving around Mintaro. Oh Happy Day! There was a car club meeting up in town for the weekend. We were directed over behind a meeting hall where there was a large collection of classic cars. I give Matt a hard time but these were fabulous automobiles especially this 1934 Daimler. This looked like the typical mobster car complete with red interior and a little lace doiley over the armrest.

Wine Country

Over Easter weekend Matt and I headed to Australia's wine country in South Australia with Al, Cheryl and Cooper. South Australia is Cheryl's old stomping ground so she led the way on our 12 hour drive. Our destination was Mintaro past the Murray River, skirting around Adelaide, thru the Barossa valley and into the Clare Valley. Having never visited California's wine region and only a small, family vineyard in Italy this was my first experience of vineyard after vineyard after vineyard. Where there weren't grape vines there were olive trees since the olive industry is growing rapidly in Australia.

We stayed in the guest accommodations of Julie and Mark Moss called Olde Devonshire House. Built in 1856 this building used to provide rest, refreshment and entertainment by way of a "skittles" (similar to ten pin) alley to the area's pastoralists, mining men and "bullockies". This place was gorgeous!!! I know I am turning into the crazy bird watching lady but the garden here was a bird lovers paradise filled to the rim with several varieties of wild parrots.

Luckily we just happened to be within walking distance to some of the regions wineries. Convenient! So off we went to the Mintaro Cellars. This place produces a shiraz that is absolutely scrumptious! Many places sell "clean skinned" bottles of wine which are bottles without fancy labels. Just as I was rambling on about how labels don't matter I saw the labels at Mintaro Cellars and ate my words. Not only was the wine delicious but the bottles were beautifully decorated with stained glass images. I am such a sucker for packaging.

Someone else was lurking in the bush outside of the vineyard. This region has been in serious drought for a while so I am sure some grapes might have been a tasty treat for this little roo.

Travelling around the Clare Valley I realized each of these quaint country towns held some claim to fame besides wine. Mintaro had a couple including a hedge maze we decided to go thru. Filled with garden gnomes, this maze was another first for me. I thought it was cute but with the heat, copious amount of flies and $7 entrance fee some people may have been less than impressed.

This little town also holds the bragging rights to being the home of Martindale Hall. We went to visit this 1879, English style mansion but decided to forgo the inside tour since photographs weren't allowed and we wanted to go spend time with Cheryls' family. I was a bit put off by the fresh, fly covered sheep skull that was left on a post out front to dry and in turn stink up the garden. Just what I want to look and (and smell) while strolling around an old home. Martindale Hall was featured in the film, Picnic at Hanging Rock. I haven't seen the movie yet and I am not in any hurry to since I already suffered through the book.

We met up with Cheryl's Aunt Kay and Uncle Lindsay in Marrabel which is famous (sometimes infamous) for it's rodeo and more specifically for Curio, the brumby mare who remained unrideable for eight years until 1953 when Alan Woods completed the ten second ride (depicted in this statue). According to various newspaper articles the rodeo looks like it might be on the way out or at least cut down due to excessive animal cruelty. In 2007 stock contractor at the Marrabel Rodeo, Noel Fraser, was convicted of animal cruelty. Many events have been scrapped but the RSPCA is calling for a full ban of rodeos.

Since Easter was coming the next morning I promised Cooper to set up some sort of bunny trap...not a real trap but a camera trap. I wanted to get a picture of this elusive Peter Cottontail to show Cooper. Unfortunately my timer was a few seconds off and this picture of a shadowy figure was all I got. At first I was excited thinking atleast I may have caught the shadow of the Easter Bunny and then I saw this........

Super "Easter" Cooper! Carrot and all!!!

After a traditional lamb roast and a not so traditional silly string fight we spent Easter afternoon with Cheryl's family in Kapunda. Her aunt and uncle live in a beautiful converted school house and have two little pets out in the back. Little isn't exactly accurate since Quilty and Annabelle probably weigh close to a ton. They are lovely rust colored, fluffy Highland cows with very long horns. Kapunda is definitely country Australia. Cheryl's cousin was laughing at my "newness" to Australia when I cringed at the idea of shooting kangaroos. I was quickly falling under the "city slicker" label when Matt piped up with a little info that gave me some "farm cred". He told them about the Annie Oakley award I won at age 12 for being the best shot at my camp. I rode this wave including my NRA markmanship award and membership to Greystone's silver bullet club. I failed to mention the camp I went to was for girls most of whom came from tidy American suburbs and had never held, much less fired, a gun. I thought that would probably diminish the small flicker of respect I might have gained. When I was asked why I gave it up I decided it would be better to leave my gun-control rant at the door and simply murmured about city life not really being conducive to shooting. I also left out the fact that watching one piglet get slaughtered at a wilderness camp sent my 15 year old self into a whirlwind of vegetarianism and PETA activism. I am a city girl...this is obvious, and I do believe in gun control but there is a crazy pleasure in being a good shot, especially when I creamed Matt in a duck shooting video game, I repeat, video game.

I had a great time getting to know Cheryl's family. She was able to surprise her Grandmother with her Easter visit. Everyone was absolutely lovely and good fun for sure!!

Kapunda is also home to the "Map Kernow" aka The Cornish Miner. The statue is a monument to the profound contribution of the miners who worked in the Kapunda mines. The mines were open from 1844 to 1878 producing over one million pounds of ore and employing over 340 men and boys, most of them Cornish.

There were many other sights to see on the way home. Between Horsham and Stawell is the home of the Giant Koala Tourist Complex which is now for sale. You could be the proud owner of this 14 meter high, bronze and fiberglass Koala for only $220,000.

Murray Bridge has paddle steam boats and this old fashioned train engine along the river. If you listen closely you can hear the faint strumming of banjo strings as the theme song from Deliverance wafts thru the town. Ok, ok, so it was Matt and Me playing it on the ipod as we drove around.

By far my favorite local attraction is in Springton. I am a self admitted tree freak. I LOVE trees!! Especially big, twisty ones with lots of knots and branches. I thought this tree was special only because of pure aesthetics. It was actually a home at one point. Friedreich Herbig immigrated to South Australia in 1855 and took up residence in this hollow red gum tree. in 1858 he married and he and his wife welcomed their first two (of sixteen) children in this tree. The Herbig family still has reunions at this site every five years of so.

Not all of the sites were man made. We passed by the Grampians Ranges which looked fantastic and I would love to go back and hike around. We also passed Pink Lake which is actually pink. The colour is naturally-occurring from beta carotine that is produced by algae in the lake.

We had a fantastic time and on the way home a torrential downpour started which was bad for driving but wonderful for the farmers of the area.

Happy Easter from the Easter Bilby!!

Here in Australia the Easter Bunny has a counterpart in the Easter Bilby. Bilbies are a native Australian marsupial who have lost much of their habitat partially due to the import of rabbits. Many groups such as the The Australian Bilby Appreciation Society have made a push for the bunny to be replaced by the bilby. Some schools have even had ceremonies were the Easter Bunny turns over his basket of eggs to the bilby.

Most of the major chocolatiers including Haigh's, Pink Lady and Darrell Lea have not only started making chocolate bilbies but some of the proceeds from these chocolates go directly to bilby conservation.

There used to be two species of bilbys but one became extinct in the 1950's. The switch to the Easter Bilby is all part of the national recovery plan to save the endangered bilby species that still exist.

Other aspects of the plan are managing the Bilby's remaining habitat, breeding in captivity, monitoring existing populations, and
re-establishing Bilbies in areas where they previously occurred.

For Bilby stories, games and even a song visit

http://www.easterbilby.com.au/

Bottle Brush

My favorite flower used to be the purple flower of the artichoke thistle. Now I have fallen for a new flower or I should say group of flowers, the bottle brush. These flowering shrubs called callistemon are part of the myrtle family and can be seen all over Victoria in many vibrant colors. The native birds seem to like them too. These little black and white birds were having a field day in this bottle brush tree.

These plants are often represented in the art of Australians including Torres Strait Islander, Billy Missi. He was making a living as a diver, fishing for crayfish when he was inspired by other indigenous people to start making art. This piece's title, Sager Gubanu, is a Western Torres Strait dialect which means 'during South Easterly wind'. This painting depicts the season in May and June when red bottlebrush bloom and cormorant birds arrive to eat sardines around the shoreline.

Another Artist I Like

I have always been fascinated by Mexico's El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). Maybe it's because I have always felt comforted by visiting relatives where they are buried. I think I watched the Shirley Temple movie, The Blue Bird, one too many times. When she goes to her grand parents grave site they come back to life and tell her they continue to live in her memory of them. Maybe that's why I love genealogy so much. I appreciate the Mexican way of embracing the memory of their loved ones, making sugar skulls with children teaching them death isn't horrible but a natural part of living and spending a day celebrating where their family is buried. In the U.S. visiting a cemetery is often such a maudlin affair and viewed by many people as down right creepy. I have sort of made a habit of picnicking on the grave sites of people I am interested in. Matt and I had lunch with Daniel Burnham, the architect of Chicago's 1893 World's Fair and my sister, Judy, and I spent an afternoon with Cora Taylor Crane. She was a notorious figure in Jacksonville history having many titles like madame, the first ever female war correspondent and the common-law wife of Stephen Crane (author of The Red Badge of Courage).

Melbourne artist Madeleine Stamer is obviously very influenced by Mexican art including Day of the Dead images. This is probably why I was drawn to her artwork. http://www.littlecircusdesign.com/

The Memory of Cats

When I was making the decision to move to Australia I had two little fuzzy people to think about. I had lived with Laura and Coca for 11 years or I should say they were nice enough to let me live in their house. After meeting with my vet I decided the 24 hour trip and at least 30 day quarantine would just be too much for my kitties.


They have found a new home with my friend, Lara. When she moved over to Chicago from South Africa she had to give up her two cats. Her kitties were around the same age as mine and Coca fell in love with her from the first time they met. I know I made the right decision in giving them up and I know Lara is a great kitty Mom but I still miss them and I wondered if they missed me.


Many people say animals forget. My Aunt Jenell sent me this picture and video that made me think maybe my cats remember me a little. Evidently, these guys raised this lion in London. When he got too big they took him to Africa to an animal reserve. After a year they went to visit and were told Christian (the lion) wouldn't remember them.


I guess whoever said that was wrong.

Where Lillianna Lives

Some of you have seen the children's book I wrote for my niece, Haley and my nephew, Skyler called Lillianna. If you haven't it is about a little outcast pixie who takes care of lily pads. I did illustrations about 11 years ago but right now I am working on new ones.

I have started taking walks down to the duck pond behind Mick and Beck's neighborhood. I am pretty sure this is where the ducks that used to visit me live because there are gazillions of them there along with blue and black water hens. The area is surrounded by gnarly, twisted gum trees that are eerily beautiful but what I love most is the weeping willows that bend over the pond which is chock o' block full of lily pads.

It looks like somewhere Lillianna might live.

Kangaroo Cull

http://www.gopetition.com.au/online/17501.html

Help save the Kangaroos in Canberra!!
Click the link above.

Noojee and A Taste of Croatia

Before I left Chicago Matt and I found a notice online about the Piedmont Winery and their "Taste of Croatia" festival. We made plans to go and happily Mick, Bec and Rassie decided to go with us. Noojee is a small holiday town in the midst of a logging community minutes away from the winery so that is where we decided to stay. "Noojee" is an aboriginal word which means "valley of contentment" or "place of rest. The name doesn't lie. Noojee reminded me very much of Lakeside, Michigan where I used to vacation with friends from Chicago. The main difference is less antique shops bedecked with rainbow flags and more bikers and country music...very odd to hear Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" floating thru the mountain ranges of Australia. We stayed right on the Latrobe river which was perfect for relaxing and catching yabbies (a type of crayfish). We found one by accident and thought it may be a scorpion at first but he was just a little yabby.

I did want to try to go fishing. I haven't fished since I was a kid and I went with my Dad. There was a hand reel in the cabin so I bought some worms and thought I would give it a try. Supposedly there had been buckets of rain which had brought lots of trout up the river. I personally didn't see any fish whatsoever. I happened to forget that in order to fish I needed to be patient. I am not patient, I get bored pretty quickly and so went the way of my fishing adventure. I did manage to catch some river weed and a stick. While looking for a good fishing pool we had a look around Noojee and found this lovely little suspension bridge. Putting earthworms on a hook was Matt's job since it made me feel really guilty. We only sacrificed two and I freed the rest of them by the river hoping they live a long happy worm life.

The back yard of the cabin had a big platform that we put some seed on and attracted all kinds of birds. We mostly had gallahs and rosellas. The rosellas weren't really too scared of me (Rassie was another story). They would sit in branches just above my head and look down there beaks at me. Two of these cheeky parrots were very friendly with each other, making horrible squawking noises while the boy wobbled his head like an angry woman on Jerry Springer only stopping from time to time to kiss the girl bird. It looked more like they were chewing on each others beaks but we'll say it was kissing.

We headed to the Piedmont Winery which was founded in 1988 by Ivan and Lubi Juric for their annual "Taste of Croatia" lunch. The winery was lovley and huge. There were vines everywhere even over where we were sitting for lunch. There were also trellises covered with growing kiwi fruits.

Lunch was fantastic full of traditional Croatian fare and Lubi walked around talking to everyone holding her first grand child dressed in traditional Croatian dress made by the little baby's great grandmother. There were young Croatian dancers/singers who did a great job but I felt sorry for because it was really hot out of the shade and they had lot of layers of clothes on. We had a great time talking to the family sitting next to us about traveling around the world.

After lunch we decided to check out some of the sights of Noojee. We went up to see the old trestle bridge which was part of the railway used by the logging industry in the first part of the 20th century. There were originally seven of these bridges but all of the others were destroyed by fire. We climbed up some slippery, uneven steps to the top, walked over and climbed down some slippery, uneven steps. Lovely.

We went off to see Toorongo Falls. There was a beautiful (if not a little hard for one out of shape girl) hike up thru the mountains where I could feel the temperature significantly drop as soon as we hiked into the woods. There were massive ferns and gums trees dripping with all kinds of unusual moss. We walked along side the river which fell over huge boulders all the way up to the first of the falls, the Amphitheatre Falls.

We went farther up into the mountains until we came to the Toorongo Falls. They were beautiful and the sun was shining making rainbows in the spray from the water. I kept nagging at Matt to smile naturally not the strained camera smile. He chose to strike a serious pose in front of the falls. Very dignified man he is.

We took the 45 minute drive up to the top of Mount Baw Baw. Winding, winding roads. As a child I loved to visit my Aunt Jenell and Uncle Ra-Ra in south Carolina but these visits always came with the trip to the top of Paris Mountain and more often than not me throwing up. I felt a little deja vu going up to the top of Mt Baw Baw. I would love to say that the trip was worth it but all that was at the top was a nearly abandoned ski lodge. Very popular with snow skiers Mt Baw Baw is strictly a place for the winter months.

On the way back to Melbourne we made a detour to the town of Jindivick to stop into Laurie Collins workshop. He makes art from "junk". He was leaving that afternoon to clean out a friends garage and find more materials to turn into art. He showed us around his workshop explaining how he made the various dogs, planes, and furniture pieces all out of thrown away materials. This was recycling at it's best. He was very friendly and enthusiastic. I really liked the balloon sculpture he was working on the day we were there.

A Block and a Half

When a transplant to a new country tries to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road this said driver might expect her fiance to be a kind and patient teacher. If this said fiance happens to be any of the following this driver may be wrong, petrol-head, motor-head, car enthusiast, motor aficionado etc, etc. Matt's main piece of advice when learning to drive on the other side is "passenger to the curb". So off we went. The plan was to drive to Sunbury. A block and a half later I really got the passenger on the curb, brand new rims grinding right against the curb. There were 57 different looks of horror on Matt's face as he jumped out of the car to check the damage (which I think is minimal and he compares to watching your dog be run over). I reached for the door handle ready to surrender the drivers seat, tears welling in my eyes memories of my sixteen year old self wrapping my Mom's blue station wagon around a tree and having to go home and face my (loving but die-hard car guy) Dad. Matt wasn't too mad. At least he tried not to be. Maybe I won't be driving in Australia after all.

Califone Video

Zsofi and Elizabeth did makeup on this video. Chris and Elizabeth are the clowns doing a little kissing at the end. So proud of the work my friends do. Califone is a really awesome band too.

Painting with a Puppy

I leave my seat for thirty seconds and look who takes over.

Melbourne's Golden Mile: Part Two

Matt and I were downtown yesterday and decided to finish the heritage walk we had started when I was here last time. We began at the immigration museum and walked up past quite a few beautifully preserved blue stone buildings many which have been turned into something that must make Melbourne proud, strip clubs. There are blue and gold heritage signs mixed in amongst posters for "Mandate" the all male review and pictures of girls with stars stragegically placed where clothes should be. So...moving right along. We came to a strcuctue which looked like it had an rough extension of corigated iron. Matt knew the structure was old and had been incorprated into the design of a hotel but wasn't exactly sure what it was.

We went around the corner and down Collins Street to view a large block of architecture built during Melbourne's land and building boom in the 1880s. An English journalist dubbed the city "Marvelous Melbourne" when land prices on Collins Street sold for the same amount as land on London's Regent Street. The Rialto hotel was designed by William Pitt and is one of Melbourne's finest examples of fin de siècle architecture. The hotel is under construction until later this year so we couldn't peak inside but there was an answer to the funny metal structure on the back side of this building. When the Rialto first open Melbourne's sewer system had yet to be completed. The corrugated iron part of the building was once the gentlemen's urinal. The lack of sewer led to horrific smells and the spread of typhoid. The city was rechristened "Marvelous Smellbourne."

We continued down Bank Street and stopped off at The Mitre Tavern, Melbourne's oldest building. Built first as a private residence around 1837 this tavern has catered to many in Melbourne's history including the judge who sentenced Ned Kelly to death. Banks Street is a lovely lane lined with really beautiful lamp posts. There is a beer garden set up outside which is great spot to watch men in suits come in and out the big red door of another historic spot, The Savage Club. The club is named after the poet Richard Savage and for the bohemian ideals of the founding members. There is also supposed to be a collection of arts related to "savagery" like shields and masks. I have read a bit about the history of the club and still am not exactly sure what they do in there. According to the Golden Mile brochure there is "arguing and singing, eating and drinking and fraternising"...hmmmmmm. Sounds like the Melbournian version of an "old boys club". I had to use the restroom in the Tavern and was more entertained than in a usual restroom visit. The walls are tiled with illustrated limericks some being a bit strange but entertaining none the less.

We continued back down Collins Street to a building that some consider holy ground. From the outside this massive building has all the characteristics of a typical medieval cathedral complete with arches and gargoyles.

When I entered the building the inside it also looked like and felt like a traditional gothic cathedral, quiet and grand with ornate marble arches and huge stained glass windows. But this isn't a church at all. This is the ANZ Bank also the dubbed "The Cathedral of Capitalists". The "Cathedral Room" or Great Hall used to be the meeting place just before the entrance to the old Melbourne Stock Exchange. Below the hall is a museum on Melbourne's banking history.

We caught a tram over to the Melbourne Museum for a tour of the inside of The Royal Exhibition Building. Built in 1880 and home of two world's fairs in less than twenty years. Also the home of Melbourne's fist Parliament in 1901. This building has been used for everything from a skating rink to music hall. The walls of this great hall have been repainted many times but over the last twelve years have been restored to their original glory. The people engaging in the restoration project had to carefully scrape back 27 layers of paint to find the original wall decor. When the original floor was pulled up for replacement a there was a virtual time capsule of mementos that had literally slipped throug the cracks including dance cards, photos, letters and matchbooks.

Even though the walls were painted over many of the original murals were saved by simply being boarded over. There are roman gods and latin phrases including "Carpe Diem". My favorite were "The Sylphs", eight murals or women symbolising truth, justice, night, day and the four seasons. Sylphs are normally considered immortal spirits who take form in the clouds so these paintings are very flowing and airy. The only one little thing I didn't like was I have always seen justice represented with a blindfold but not in the Royal Exhibitions Building version. She had the scale and the sword but no blindfold. I guess the painter never heard "Justice is Blind." I liked "Winter" the best.

This is a copy of a painting showing men gilding the top of the dome with gold. I especially enjoyed seeing this because of legend in Matt's own family. Matt's Great-Grandfather was a a commercial visual artist and performed on stage as an escape artist and painting burlap sacks while tied upside down. According to Matt's Mom at some point he climbed to the top of the Royal Exhibition Buildings. That would be a very long way to fall.