Holiday in Hobart July 2011 Part 2

Holiday in Hobart July 2011

Pt 2: Botanical Gardens, the Tasman Bridge and MONA.

During my time in Hobart I decided to mostly use public transport to get about (whilst my mate was away). Whilst walking about the cold winter streets I listened to some fun upbeat tunes. I came across a couple of cd’s that I had been curious about buying but had never gotten around to doing so. These really made the walking effortless and I am sure I had a permanent smile on my face!: Firstly, off Phoenix’s LP “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”, here is ‘1901’ (Live on Letterman) from 2009:

And from Two Door Cinema Club’s LP ‘Tourist History, here is the track ‘Undercover Martyn’: (great clip… and how young do these kids look???)

An LP I brought across from home was Caribou’s album ’Swim’. This one also really complimented the cold weather. I just couldn’t stop listening to it, especially whilst on the bus! Well, I did stop listening when I visited the Royal Tasmania Botanic Gardens. The gardens were so peaceful and beautiful that no music was needed!

Pete's patch!!! say no more!!!

Other images from the Gardens:

Off Caribou’s LP ‘Swim’, this is the track ‘Sun’. This is what I listened to a lot of on public transport:

One objective I had on this trip was to try and take a nice picture of the Tasman bridge with my little automatic camera. There is something about the Tasman Bridge that I like.

This first one... Ok, yes they are cows... This Picture was taken literally a minute or two by car into the centre of the city! Gotta love that!

My mate Rod took me to this place on the Eastern Shore to try and get a good picture of the bridge. This is the spot where a temporary floating bridge was constructed weeks after the 1975 Tasman Bridge accident. Rod  also suggested trying to capture Mount Wellington in the background.. I mean who is taking the pics here??? Get your own camera!:


second attempt:

From up on Rosny Hill:




Mona. Many have heard about it and I have to say that this museum of old and new art is world class!. I have been fortunate to see the Tate Modern in London, as well as New York's museum of modern art (MOMA) and Tasmania’s MONA is up there with them. Not in terms of scale, but in quality!

Heading up past the vineyard.

The entrance, which took me forever to find:

Care for a rest before heading in?:

Inside and underground:

The room with the Sarcophagus. Only two people at a time are allowed in. The steps rise out of still water. It is a very cool room!

Madonna's greatest hits karaoke installation wall.... Cooler than it sounds!

Chinese coins left buried in a box and fusing together over time:

Part of a very long wall of plaster-cast vagina's.

Cool water installation and ummm...how far down are we?

I did say that we were underground! The tunnel to the library:

Finally:

It didn't rain every day I was there. On Rosny Hill looking out at a rainbow:

Mount Wellington, with the wind gusting snow off the top.

Different day and nicer weather, looking out across over Salamanca Square. Mount Wellington sits patiently in the background.

Ahh, Hobart, I love you and can't wait to return!

Holiday in Hobart July 2011 Part 1

Holiday in Hobart July 2011

Pt 1: Walking, eating and music….

Hobart, I love this city! A city which I see more as a very large warm town and I mean this in the nicest possible way. I have been to Hobart three times in the past two years, and If there was a good job offer I would seriously consider moving. So after a stressful long period of work and study, what better way to start my time of unemployment, then with a holiday to Hobart? (As kindly suggested by my mate Rod who lives down there). Apparently I arrived during some of the ‘as bad and as cold as it gets’ weather, but this did not dampen my trip. Rod also had to go interstate for four of the nine days I was there, but hey no problem cause I had his house and car to myself!! Yay.. that’s what friends are for!

So Hobart.. what did I do?.. walk about, eat, and write bad poetry… a 10 part piece called ‘winter is colder, since you died'. Yeah, bad and tragic! 

Walking about:

In the city itself, I walked a lot and checked out a few shops. I had a tarot reading done at Akashic (http://www.akashic.com.au/akashic_tarot_readings/index.html) in the Cat and the Fiddle arcade. Dianne was brilliant and spookily spot on! To it’s credit Hobart has a few record stores that stock an impressive range of vinyl!  One such shop was ‘Music without Frontiers’ in Collins St, Hobart, where I purchased three sublime new records:

Recorded in 1954, Sarah Vaughan’s self titled LP, was later reissued as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown. 

Sarah Vaughan - 'Lullaby of Birdland':

Billie Holiday’s “Lady sings the blues’ recorded in 1955 and 1956…

Billie Holiday- 'Lady Sings The Blues':

Miles Davies ‘Kind of blue’. 1959

Miles Davis Quintet - 'So What' (April 2, 1959). This recording was done part way through the Lp’s recording…, which is kind of exciting:

Salamanca Place is a lovely area and has rows of converted sandstone buildings, which are now restaurants, cafes and various shops. Most days I made an appearance there.


Brunch or coffee at 'Machine Laundry café' in Salamanca Square was almost always on my 'to do list'.
I love this pic, it looks almost 3-D.   

Decadent and yummo!!!! You don't want to know what is in these beauties.... trust me and just order them!

One evening Rod and I had dinner at ‘Smoult’ in Salamanca Square (http://www.smolt.com.au/). I wasn’t impressed with the overly casual waiter who had has shirt purposely untucked and when he forget some of the ingredients in one of the specials, he described them as ‘some bells and whistles’. Having said all of  that, the food was delicious!

The gnocchi special, which had scallops amongst the bells and whistles.

Standard gnocchi dish..... both were yumm-tastic!

I also found this cool book of German poetry at the Hobart Bookshop in Salamanca Square (thank you to Peter for being my model).

Form the city to the waters edge, Salamanca is just around the corner to the left.

With my back to the city, looking out.

Rotunda in nearby St David's park:

Salamanca with Mount Wellington in the background.

From Battery Point walking into Salamanca:

 

Walking up and out of Salamanca to Battery Point via Kellys Steps built in 1830!.

Speaking of which, Battery Point has some beautiful old cottages (Georgian, according to my mate Rod).

I stumbled across this odd and cool looking place, situated under a park, I think I recall someone telling me that it was the entrance to the tunnels and underground magazine rooms for the actual Batteries.

At the end of the street, lies the sea.

I walked past this on the side of a fence, I have no idea what it is, but I like the look of it.

Narryna Heritage Museum in Battery Point:

Speaking of Battery Point, Hampden Road has the yum Jackman & McRoss Bakery. Where we brunched, lunched or just had coffee:

 

On my last day in Hobart, Rod took me to a lovely place called 'The Boathouse'. It is on Cornelian Bay (http://www.theboathouse.com.au/) and has a lovely view and warm fireplace:

to be continued......MONA and more....

Something old, Something new, Something borrowed and Something blue: July 2011

Something old:

Today's news that Amy Winehouse has passed away while not a great surprise, was still a shock and really sad news. She was only 27. When ever I played her music in the car, people would ask who it was, often shocked at the answer because all they knew of Amy were the news reports of drugs and drama. It would come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the music to hear that she had won 23 Awards, including 5 Grammys. This months section of 'Something Old' is dedicated to Amy Whinehouse, may she rest in peace. Forget the drama that surrounded her and if it helps close your eyes and listen to these couple of songs in memory of a truly talented person.

Love is a losing game:

Tears dry on their own:

Lastly, without the beehive hairdo and live (just to prove she does have an amazing voice), here is Amy in 2005 live on Jools Holland's show doing a cover of 'Teach me tonight':


Something new:

The Beastie boys are back and sounding very good with a great track called 'Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win' (featuring Santigold). As much as I used love the beasties, I did grow tired or out of them..but this new tune is so funky and cool. This clip is essentially done by boys who never grew up (it is fun!) ...There is some toy violence so be warned.
The Beastie Boys- 'Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win' (featuring Santigold):

Another new track that is fun and this time 'pop like' is from the Wombats. I can't help singing along and smiling to their singles!
The Wombats 'Techno Fan':




Something borrowed:

I stumbled across Maxence Cyrin and know nothing about this person, expect that I love their cover versions!!! So, here is Maxence's sublime version of a Pixies tune.

Maxence Cyrin - Where Is My Mind

Something blue:

I love this song, it makes me smile when ever I hear it. So it must be good for the soul!
E.L.O- 'Mr Blue Sky'

The good, the bad and the ugly- July 2011

The good:

After working 21 days straight, I headed off to Hobart for 9 days R & R.  Forget the fact that it was in the midst of winter and the weather was ‘as bad as it gets’ down there. I had such a great time, but am blogging about that very soon. So lets leave that there for now...

The other good thing is that I finally purchased Sigur Rós's 1999 LP 'Ágætis byrjun' on Vinyl. This is such a magical and beautiful record.  Here is the track ‘Svefn-g-englar'. According to the Fatcat records website, “This unforgettable and award-winning clip, conceived by and supervised by the band with direction by Agust Jacobsson features the Perlan special-needs theatre group acting out a simple but beautiful play about the elements.”

The bad:

This is probably more in line with the Odd, rather than bad…I recently finished working at a place and in the last week I was there, a guy who had been temping for  5-6 weeks came up and asked a favour. Now, I liked this guy and would chat with him at work and in the lunchroom etc, but that was it. There were no external catch ups or after hours phone calls. So, upon hearing that after I was finishing up  I was off to Hobart for a weeks holiday, he comes up and asks where exactly will I be staying in Hobart. I tell him I will be based in 'Howrah' and then it goes a little like this:

‘Oh, that’s only a few minutes by car to where my friend lives. Listen, can you take something over for me and deliver it to her?’ he asks.

‘oh…umm I guess..what is it?’ I am thinking how odd and hilarious.

‘Mobile phone. It’s not that I don’t want to pay for the postage, Its just that I don’t trust the mail system’ He says justifying this bizarre request. At this point I need to point out that this man is European and possibly fits the stereotypes; tight butt and dodgy.

‘Ummm can your friend come and pick it up from me, instead of me trying to find where she lives?’ Thinking I am not driving about all over Hobart looking for people I don’t know.

“I’ll ask her..but it’s not that far for you to drive over, your staying with friends..so they will have a car…it shouldn't be a problem for you.’

‘Ummm I’m not going to be a drug mule am I?’

 He looks around quickly.. “shhh.. Of course not. You can open the phone if you want and check it’.

‘Pfffttt. Of course not! Please.....!!' I say dismissively, 'I don’t need to, why would I need to open it?’  I looked hurt and offended that he said such things and that he would even suggest that I did not trust him, but I am really thinking- Hell Yeah! Of course I am. I don’t want anything spoiling my trip. Especially an airport drug bust!

The drugs, err I mean the phone never materialised

The ugly:

I was going to write about the man I saw recently who started to tenderly kiss my arm, starting at the hand and working his way up towards my neck, but then as he reached my soft white upper arm he bit it really hard and left a huge bruise.... but lets not go there..... Instead, lets look at Porn covers !!! So wrong they are funny. I was helping out at 'that' store again and had my camera handy! Some of these may offend so turn away now! You have been warned!

Comic book super hero's will never look the same again!!! Mind you I can't stop looking at their outfits and wondering how practical they would or wouldn't be... for example: I can't imagine 'Aquaman's' (far left in the orange top and green tights) boots as being practical for underwater swimming....

 Everyone seems to be loving Vampires at the moment!!

How could they do this to Cheech and Chong?? On second thoughts I don't think they would mind.

I love that these next couple need to warn us that these are not the real people!! Well I guess Paris Hilton might doing something like this...but Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie... come on!!

Wasn't this a video game??

Umm forgive me the dodgy cut and paste job, but you know I had to replace that 'u' with another 's'.. my mum may be reading this!!! Anyway I have been going around with this title in my head for days now!!! Its too funny!

I think the tag says it all 'Nursing home Nymphos'. Can I ever look at Nonna the same way again????

NME‘s 100 Greatest Music Videos

Recently NME posted a list of the 100 Greatest videos of all time. Going through the list I had a lot of  'WFT?' and ' yeah, but what about.....' moments, as I am sure will anyone else reading it. As far as I am concerned, any said list needs to make sure that it includes a healthy selection of Michael Gondry  or Spike Jonze's video's. I had dinner with my mates 'Double D' last night and we talked about the NME  list. Not only was 'D' shocked that NME was still going, but both D's went through a list of clips that they thought would have definately made the cut, sadly only one of their 'top videos' was listed (Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean”). I am exicted though because a couple of my all time fav' 'fun' videos came in high up, namely the Beastie Boys “Sabotage” & the Foo Fighters “Everlong”. NME's list is below. See what you think:

100 Michael Jackson – “Billie Jean”
99 Simian Mobile Disco – “Hustler”
98 Lykke Li – “Get Some”
97 Flaming Lips – “Watching The Planets”
96 Jay-Z – “Big Pimpin’”
95 Blur – “Parklife”
94 Radiohead – “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”
93 Janelle Monae – “Cold War”
92 Rage Against The Machine – “Sleep Now In The Fire”
91 Madonna – “Borderline”
90 Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
89 Human League – “Don’t You Want Me”
88 Peter Gabriel – “Shock The Monkey”
87 Foo Fighters – “Learn To Fly”
86 UNKLE – “Rabbit In Your Headlights”
85 Bright Eyes – “First Day Of My Life”
84 Robyn – “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do”
83 Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
82 Pendulum – “Salt In The Wound”
81 Ratatat – “Drugs”
80 Summer Camp – “Round The Moon”
79 Sonic Youth – “Teenage Riot”
78 These New Puritans – “Elvis”
77 Aerosmith – “Janie’s Got A Gun”
76 Bjork – “It’s Oh So Quiet”
75 Rilo Kiley – “Silver Lining”
74 Bonnie Tyler – “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”
73 The Strokes – “You Only Live Once”
72 Guns N’ Roses – “Estranged”

71 Eminem – “My Name Is”
70 Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
69 Outkast – “B.O.B.”
68 Klaxtons – “Twin Flames”
67 Daft Punk – “Da Funk”
66 Coldplay – “The Scientist”
65 R.E.M. – “Imitation Of Life”
64 The Pharcyde – “Drop”
63 Tori Amos – “Spark”
62 Bon Jovi – “Always”
61 Missy Elliott – “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
60 Blink-182 – “All The Small Things”
59 The Chemical Brothers – “Let Forever Be”
58 Arcade Fire – “We Used To Wait”
57 The Breeders – “Cannonball”
56 Pearl Jam – “Jeremy”
55 Eurythmics – “Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)”
54 Sinead O’Connor – “Nothing Compares To U”
53 Mark Ronson – “Somebody To Love Me”
52 Smashing Pumpkins – “Tonight, Tonight”
51 Aphex Twin – “Come To Daddy”
50 Nine Inch Nails – “Closer”
49 The Knife – “Pass This On”
48 Kate Bush – “Cloudbusting”
47 Pulp – “This Is Hardcore”
46 Depeche Mode – “Enjoy The Silence”
45 Talking Heads – “Wild Wild Life”
44 Judas Priest – “Breaking The Law”
43 Outkast – “Hey Ya”
42 PJ Harvey – “Down By The Water”
41 Major Lazer – “Pon De Floor”
40 The Replacements – “Bastards Of Young”
39 Radiohead – “Karma Police”
38 The Prodigy – “Firestarter”
37 The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”

36 Prince – “Raspberry Beret”
35 Kanye West – “Monster”
34 Madonna – “Like A Prayer”
33 The Smiths – “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before”
32 The Verve – “Bittersweet Symphony”
31 NWA – “Straight Outta Compton”
30 The Streets – “Fit But You Know It”
29 The xx – “Islands”
28 Nada Surf – “Popular”
27 Muse – “Knights Of Cydonia”
26 Wax – “California”
25 Metallica – “Turn The Page”
24 My Chemical Romance – “Helena”
23 Smashing Pumpkins – “1979″
22 Nirvana – “Heart Shaped Box”
21 No Doubt – “New”
20 Blur – “Coffee & TV”
19 Hot Chip – “I Feel Better”
18 The Cure – “Close To Me”
17 Lady Gaga (Feat. Beyonce) – “Telephone”
16 Fatboy Slim – “Praise You”
15 OK Go – “This Too Shall Pass”
14 Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
13 MIA – “Born Free”
12 The Horrors – “Sheena Is A Parasite”
11 Hole – “Doll Parts”

10 The Prodigy – “Smack My Bitch Up”
9 Sigur Rós – “”Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása”
8 Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
7 Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
6 Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
5 Bjork – “All Is Full Of Love”
4 Soundgarden – “Black Hole Sun”
3 Chris Isaak – “Wicked Game”
2 Radiohead – “Just”
1 Johnny Cash – “Hurt”

A couple  of clips from the list that I hadn't seen before but liked:

97: The Flaming Lips - Watching the Planets (Offical Video).. Umm warning with this one..some nudity and the clip is of low quality:

53: Mark Ronson and the Business International - Somebody To Love Me. This song is a modern CLASSIC!! Umm there might be a flash of a butt in this one as well:

9 Sigur Rós – “”Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása”. This song is beautiful as is the clip:

a few classic clips:

44 Judas Priest – “Breaking The Law”. Oh yeah.......Breaking the law! Breaking the law! This clip is so bad it's great!!!!

26 Wax – “California”. I am partial to any video clip which is one continuous shot, and this is an iconic clip.

74 Bonnie Tyler – “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”. This is one for the diva in us all... 'And I need you more than evaaaaaa.....I really need you  tonight!'  Ummm  p.s. This clip is a little scary...  It's not the camp quality so much (cause camp ain't nuthin' but a whole lot of fun.. and you can never have too many semi naked men prancing about!!!), It's the creepy eyes. be warned!

My first overseas trip: a year on- Hawaii and final thoughts.

Hawaii  13/07/2010 and final thoughts

I started my stay in Hawaii with a few days at a retreat on the Big Island. The ocean is across the road from the retreat and it is so quiet and peaceful. At night you can hear frogs and insects sing. I go to sleep with natures own symphony. The meals have Vegan and Gluten free options!!. On my first night here I went to a healing circle. The next day I had a Lomi Lomi Massage from a Hawaiian Shaman!! It was so relaxing.. This was the best idea after my hectic travel across the western globe... I also did something that I never thought I would do! I walked to a beach that had black sand and was 'clothing optional' beach.. I arrived and as I was the only one there that had swimming trunks on... I stripped off and swam naked in the ocean!!! WOW !!! I was a bit scared, but thought.. I will do something that I would not normally do... and it was liberating....  The surf was rough and a few times waves washed me under... but I was ok... I went back to my towel and lay naked in the sun and dried off... who would have ever thought!? (Fear not dear friends, it won’t be repeated).

Despite napping that afternoon, I went to slept early that evening! This time here has been about me catching my breath and catching up on the sleep I have missed. In essence this has been about me re-energising. Saturday morning I went on a tour to 2 places that are culturally significant here. One place was called ‘green lake’ and another I cannot recall but both places were so beautiful. I have thought about C in New York a few times and how lovely it would have been to not only get to know him more, but to also have him here in Hawaii. I am doing a little meditation here and feeling more centered. I walked out into nature and had a realisation that I was kind of wrong in thinking I would find something on my trip. It was never about finding any ‘thing’, instead it was about self-discovery. I feel empowered in the knowledge of who I am and what I am capable of. I feel strong and free and able to achieve anything. This was what was awaiting me.

Soon comes the time to leave the retreat and I spend my final night in Hawaii in Honolulu. Because it is quiet season I have a great hotel room for a very cheap price. I walked the streets of Honolulu in the evening, wearing my linen pants, campers and polo. I saw the tourist mecca that is Honolulu, all bright lights and crowds. I walked along the beach and did some shopping. I then ate at a 24 hour diner kind of place which had a karaoke bar next door. I was drawn in, so brought a beer and listened. The karaoke man was a hoot and liked to join in and badly sing back up from time to time. Two single singers teamed up on the spur of the moment and dueted on 'Suddenly, it was great!! Another highlight was this large, boring looking middle aged man singing some song that went- “I just came here to chill....there are no VIP's just you and me”... it was fantastic in its cheesy-ness !!! Talk about land of the free and home of the brave!!!
 

Pictorial intermission:

Green Lake, including rain and algae:

Black sand beach- clothing optional... yes this is the place: 

Hilo airport and the very comfy (& large) seats:

 

Oh yeah... fun for the whole family! So wrong, for so many reasons:


Holiday time means- Mai Tai time!

Final thoughts:


One thing that struck me about Hawaii was the number of indigenous people here. It is beautiful and they seem proud. There is a movement towards sovereignty as well- I will definitely support them! I reflect with sadness how own indigenous people are hidden, and are now a tiny percentage of the population. They are the traditional owners but are now displaced and largely viewed negatively. It is terrible. I can't help but feel really sad, a sadness that takes over... we have displaced a whole race of people... for our office blocks, and brunches and cafe lattes.. for our fancy cars, bank accounts and for the shallowness of modern life.... transient relationships, shallowness abounds, but have no fear for we are the victors, displacing the uncivilized and converting them to a life of modernity.. but what does that mean?.. our  civility seems only to extend to our peers, not to those deemed to be ‘beneath us’... wog, fag, dole bludger, no hoper, darkie, drug fucked...all hate filled labels, which in our civility we fail to see past…So much for modern life! Our gift to the displaced is our condescension and arrogance… but for now I'll pause and collect myself.. for I am off again.. railing against all, including myself.. 

One a brighter note.... I have Simon and Garfunkles 'Homeward bound' in my head... switching occasionally to 'the only living boy in new york'... the songs fill me with warmth...I am off home...not to cart luggage about, make connecting flights nor to take my shoes off to go through security checks and scanners. I am off home to the 112 tram, my friends and family, that which is familiar  and to my own home and bed.... I think of NY and I think of Billy Bragg’s "the saturday boy".. which I played on my flight... 'in the end it took me a dictionary, to find out the meaning of unrequited...., I  never understand my failings then.. and I hide my humble hopes now.... ' Lovely things happened in NY and perhaps they were meant to be for but for that short time. After feeling ugly and unwanted for so long, my New York experience has left me feeling that I am desirable.  I move forward knowing this. Soon I will arrive home with the gifts from my travels, the realisation that we are as similar to each other as we are different. Kindness and generosity abound, and in giving and assisting without expectation we all make the world a better place. I reflect upon my gift from Hawaii in particular, where the power of the land was tangible and cut through me. Allowing me to see what I always was, but which I never nurtured or realised till now. 

What a momentous, amazing and most beautiful six weeks!



 
Life is a series of adventures and misadventures, It is experience and learning,
a continual class room, where we are both teacher and student, where we seek and share. Life is complex and yet simply 'is'. It is around us and in us. It is us and them and that over there. Life is in the breath of the dying and in the newborns first inhalation... life never stops. It doesn’t judge or expect, it just is. Life is bigger than you and then it is you.

Life is magnificent.

Life is beautiful.


Thank you for sharing my journey.
 

matthew laurence schiavello.