The Good, The Bad and the Ugly- Jan 2012

The Good:

Instead of 'the good', this should probably be listed under 'The Exciting and The Magnificent' !

Tomboybill, who's work I love and I am not just saying that because we are good mates, but I am saying go and check it out!!!!! What are the details I hear you ask?

From Jan 10th to mid Feb pop down to APTE Cafe Gallery- 538 Heidelberg Road, Alphington...

How cool is the attached flyer???  Tomboybill's blog can be found here!

I have been a couple of times now and had great coffee whilst enjoying the brilliant art work..
At the artist's invitation I took some photos, here is one of them.. apologies for the reflection in the artwork:

The Bad:

This month's bad is 'having too many records to appreciate them all properly'. Yes it is a 1st world problem, I agree, but does that make it any less of a problem, especially for a lover of music such as I?

Towards the end of 2011, I purchased a few new LP's but hadn't really been able to enjoy them until the holiday season came along! First up, are a couple of LP's I brought myself for Christmas (though I don't generally buy christmas gifts for others, I do buy presents for myself!!):

Laura Marling- 'A Creature I don't know'. I have all three of Laura's albums, She is great, such a mature voice and songwriter, especially for her age.. just pure brilliance!

Laura Marling- 'Sophia' (Live on Jools Holland!)



Nico - 'Chelsea girl'. I never get tired of 'These days' and 'The fairest of the seasons', especially when I am maudlin!

 Nico -'These days'


One LP I brought late 2011 and have come to really like was Bill Callahan's  - 'Apocalypse'. I really loved Bill Callahan's last LP, as well as his work under the name 'Smog'. I have to say that initially I was a little disappointed with this Lp, but then it took hold and really grew on me. Cover art is by - Paul Ryan, titled “Apocalypse at Mule Ears Peak, Big Bend National Park in West Texas”.

Bill Callahan- 'Riding for the feeling'


In late 2011, as a reward for starting a new part time job and moving out of unemployment, I purchased 3 cheap-ish Lp's on the internet. They are up next.

Nick Lowe -'The Old Magic'. I really hate the front cover of this record, so here is the much better, back cover!

Nick Lowe- 'I read a lot'.


Bjork - 'Biophilia'. You either love her or hate her, appreciate her or 'don't get it'. I like Bjork and the way that she is constantly trying new things. The clip isn't a film clip as such, but apparently is the projection that goes on in the background as the song is preformed on the current tour.

Björk - 'Mutual Core' (Biophilia Tour Projection)

Coldplay- 'Parachutes'. Admitting to this purchase will likely take me down a couple of notches on the northcote-cool-indie-snob ladder. In my defence, it is an early work of thiers (which is usually the thing to say. isn't it???  You know the whole..."oh, I only like their early stuff...")

Coldplay- 'Don't panic'




The Ugly:
 
This month's 'Ugly' is 'Back to work'. It should be illegal to have to return to work after holidays!  Yes I had two whole weeks off, but who really has a chance to relax over the Christmas nightmare, err I mean period. I know some poor working sod's didn't even get a break, and some poor unemployed people, can't get a job, so I shouldn't really complain... But, short holidays are a 1st world problem and I live in the 1st world, so I will complain goddamn it!!! Anyway, to make matters worse  I turn 40 soon....and I am still single!!!! Can it get any worse?
No, well...unless I lose my hair, and my eyes start to fail... oh hang on that's already happened.. I guess that only leaves falling for a Nigerian Scam...

You’ve changed- Thornbury, Northcote and Westgarth's dying High St.

In the film ‘You’ve got mail’, Meg Ryan’s character Kathleen Kelly writes

“People are always saying that change is a good thing. But all they're really saying is that something you didn't want to happen at all... has happened. My store is closing this week. I own a store, did I ever tell you that? It's a lovely store, and in a week it'll be something really depressing, like a Baby Gap. Soon, it'll be just a memory. In fact, someone, some foolish person, will probably think it's a tribute to this city, the way it keeps changing on you, the way you can never count on it, or something. I know because that's the sort of thing I'm always saying. But the truth is... I'm heartbroken. I feel as if a part of me has died, and my mother has died all over again, and no one can ever make it right.”

This quote sticks in my mind as I walk the local streets and notice 'it', the emptying of the local soul. It seemed to have crept up on us silently. Just like cancer. I see the vacant spaces where life used to be. In the places where people once engaged and ‘community’ was created, now sit empty shops, closing down signs and sales announcing ‘the end’. Many of these stores I recall from when I was a boy. They were filled with people who remembered your name.They would strike up a conversation, ask how you are, talk about this and that and importantly ask how you went with your last purchase; ‘how did the sanding go’, ‘did you get those pants altered’ ‘did you like that new cheese or sausage?’ ‘how did the party go that you brought that gift for', 'did they like the gift?’ etc...

Now it is all disappearing.

It is more than about business, It is about community. Behind the businesses are the people of the community, who live here and often employ other locals. Just like you and I, these people make the area what it is. The vibrancy you feel, the one that brings others here, The one that gives Thornbury, Northcote and Westgarth it’s appeal… well, we as a collective, as a community created it. Unfortunately, the popularity of the area means that property values skyrocket,  landlords increase rents to prices that are not viable for these ‘mom and pop’ stores. As well, local council increase rates and fees. Who can afford to stay? Certainly not those who have small profit margins, high overheads and/or low stock turnover. I know it’s more complex than that. I know that business is lost to larger chain stores, who (because of buying power) can sell the same products cheaper, drawing away those locals wanting or needing to save money. And yes, there are many other reasons why local businesses close, but either way, I am grieving for our loss, for our community’s loss. I know that change and death are the only things we can rely on, but I guess I foolishly expected my local community to remain unchanged and the truth is, just like Kathleen Kelly, I find myself heartbroken.

 

This is for my neighbourhood. 

Billie Holiday-  "You’ve changed"

"You’ve changed.

That sparkle in your eyes has gone.

Your smile is just a careless yawn.

You’re breaking my heart, you’ve changed"

 Images from a collapsing neighbourhood:
As I walked down High St (traveling through Thornbury, Northcote and Westgarth), this is what I saw (forgive me the rudimentary picture collages).

Eight shops/businesses going or gone:

Another eight:

  

 Yet another eight:

Twelve final images of loss:

Click here for more you've got mail inspired blogging

Patterns, Texture and Life.. as well as 'a day away with friends'

In celebration of the new year and of the wonderful things that lay ahead for us, I thought I would share some images taken with my little automatic digital camera. Some of these images are of the small often overlooked details, which somehow caught my eye as I passed them.  I do love the idea of some of these below images enlarged and hanging on a wall somewhere.


Patterns- Bark in Thornbury :

Texture- Graffiti-ed wall in Northcote:

Wall in Northcote:

 Peeling post in the city.

Painted wall in Fitzroy (detail)

The details from a wall in Collingwood:

Life- South Yarra:

Life- Or, where life once was (Nth Fitzroy):

Life- In my front garden:

What the fence painter did:

A day away with friends. 

Here are some shots from a recent trip to Daylesford with friends:

Later that night on a walk through the city, I came across this surreal image of a forklift parked on St Kilda Road, out the front of the National Gallery Of Victoria. Surrounding the forklift were trees beautifully lit up with green lights:

Some things for christmas

Christmas trees in Federation Square:

 


Santa. (Who deliverers the gifts under our tree in the living room. Please note Australia Post, how Santa doesn't just leave our stuff in the letter box out front!!):

Here is a little something to put under the tree:
Yes, it's a bike for little Timmy (and by the front tyre are some beers for dad.. umm I mean Santa! I remember my step-dad once telling me that Santa doesn't like milk!  So we should leave out a stubbie and corned beef sandwich!):

Christmas is also a time to think about others:

Our friends and family:

Obscure reference for all but a few:

  Nieces and nephews, cute when they aren't being a pain in the backside:

It is also a time to spare some thoughts for those doing it rough (bedding seen here is situated next to train tracks and  under a carpark in the very affluent suburb of South Yarra):

Lastly what would Christmas be without those daggy songs we pretend to hate, but can't stop singing along to!














Lastly, I leave you with a message from the the King and I:




All photographs's copyright matthew schiavello 2011. My nephew is copyright his parents 2005. God bless being able to give children back to their parents!

Cleaning out the front room- forgotten treasures

I was cleaning out my front room recently and whilst culling my CD collection I came across these forgotten treasures.

This first one is such a cool tune. Handsome Boy Modelling school, A.K.A Dan the Automator and Prince Paul. This track features Sean Lennon, Josh Hayden and Money Mark.

Handsome Boy Modelling School: 'Sunshine'



This next one, was a tune I loved for so long, I can't believe I had forgotten it.

Everything but the girl- 'Walking wounded'



This next one many people loved... well a few people I know hated it.. but with lines like:
'A letter to you on a cassette, cause we don't write anymore'.. and
'there's no aphrodisiac like loneliness, you shouldn't leave me alone'...
how can you not get caught up in it?

The Whitlams: no aphrodisiac




In the process of cleaning out my front room I also found some notebooks I had written in a very long time ago. I think I was in my early 20's at the time. Yikes!!!!! As I previously shared three songs, I will share some pieces from three notebooks found. These writings of youth with its dizzying heights and depths... where every feeling seems to be overwhelming... Ah to be young again and to feel the roller-coaster highs and lows of life, love and unrequitedness... ummm, maybe not.


One notebook I titled 'Things best left unsaid'.

_____________________________

Everything comes to an end.
Somethings sooner than most
The sadness that permeates
the happiness that never was.

_____________________________



In another note book I wrote down some thoughts on relationships (some editing done for flow):

We define our relationships as we live them. Conventional rules are no longer relevant- wife, kids, dog, till death do us part. Now the possibilities are endless and fidelity seems a curious remnant of the past, something quaint, something that we wish we had still. The rules of modern relationships seem to be discovered as we hurt and become hurt ourselves. If the hurt does not tear us apart, we learn of a new boundary, a new rule of engagement. Writing the rules as we go hurts like hell. Why can't we harken back to the old days and ways,  using their learning's, reshaping to suit our modern life?



Theses are from the last of the notebooks rediscovered:


In the silence that gathers
my heart lies broken
Words cannot express
this deepest, deepest sorrow.

_______________________


I do but wish to be with you
to feel your warmth and caring
this mouth so sweet, I'm wanton to kiss
Oh, but I do so wish.

_______________________
 

A training guide for the European counsellor : Guiding Principles

Previously you were promised a whole new world, a brave new world, the world of the european counsellor. You were teasingly introduced to the concept last month and here we are with another precious installment. This installment provides you with what is most crucial and critical. It provides a foundation from which you can build your practice upon. These guiding principles will underpin and inform your work. This is not reading for the faint of heart! Dear reader, prepare to be challenged, to be enlightened, to have the information wash over you, caress you and then lead you to it's private chambers. Prepare to be reborn. All the while, dear reader, never loose sight of the fact that your new self was only possible due to my humble self and K.P. (editor extraordinaire)!  Yes, all donations are gratefully accepted (cash only, no paper trails please)! Without further ado, without enforcing an ad break like some tacky television program, or even to leave you waiting till next blog post, like some tacky serial, let me waste no more time and get straight to the point. What is the point I hear you ask, yes tis seems an eternity since we last talked of why we are here. Alas, existential questions such as these must wait for their appropriate time, which is not today, for today we are here instead for another installment in the magnificent guide for the European counsellor. This frightfully sublime installment provides some guiding principles to help us as make sense of the mess that is other people’s lives.  Forget those pompous doctors with their ‘do no harm’ oath, because 'sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind!' Which should probably be guiding principle #1.  Read on for more:

‘You are right, you are the expert, that is why people come to you’.

Don’t forget that, because once you do, how can you help others? Don't lose sight of why you are there!

‘If you feel it, express it’.

The moment you put a filter between what you feel and what you say, you’re not being honest. Is that what you want? To lie to your client? They are paying for you! For your brilliant advice and for your honesty. They are paying for you not to bullshit them. The only people in life you lie to are; the tax man, the government, your partner, your family, your friends and anyone else you feel  it appropriate.

‘If the client isn’t listening to you, they are not learning, and if they are not learning, how can their situation change’.

The client has come to you because you are an expert. If the client knew how to fix their situation, why would they be there paying you? So less client chit-chat and them going over and over the mess they are in, and more focus on you and your brilliant advice. They can share their long winded woe-is-me stories with their friends, shop assistants or strangers in bars, you only have 50 minutes to change their life. Keep an eye on the clock and make it happen. 

‘Problem in, solution out’.

As a beginner, you should aim to solve each problem by the end of each session. Set a 'best time' and try to beat it. The more experienced you get, the more problems you can solve in each session. The truly gifted will square the client up as they walk through the door and tell them what their problem is before they have a chance to sit down or open their mouth. An example – “I can tell from looking at you that you don’t listen”. The next step would be to move straight into solution finding, which for the European counsellor means, dishing out your sage advice. Remember, the more advice you can dish out in a session, the more 'bang for their buck' the client is getting! Who doesn't love value for money?

‘If the advice didn’t work, It’s because the client has not followed it properly’.

You can lead a man to water but you can’t make him drink. If you hold his head under water long enough he will drown. Keep that in mind and remember that the law may view it as facilitated suicide. Speak to your lawyer in need.

‘If you think this is too hard, it probably is’.

There is no shame in walking away from a ‘too hard client’ or ‘situation’. Better to do it now than later, as chances are it will only have become a bigger problem. At the end of the day it is not your problem and you have to ask yourself, ‘do I need this right now’? Just think, you could instead be catching up with fellow alumni for high tea. Don’t forget to (constantly) think of yourself and what is best for you. After all, your clients need you to be at your best.

Hilton

It is odd that almost ten years later I still find myself thinking of him. Sometimes I wonder if he is ok. I wonder if he is happy. I like to imagine that he is. Sometimes I want to pick the phone up and call him. Sometimes I miss him, his smile and warmth. Sometimes I realise that I didn't really know him. I was too immature to see beyond myself and my own needs. When it ended, it was clear that this was all that could have come of it, we both wanted and needed very different things. But for a few brief years, we were what we both needed. We loved as best we could and we became better people. Now, for many varied reasons I can't call him, but I still think about him. I still miss him and love him. When I am maudlin, his memory is most strong. A glass of wine or a beer, weakens my resolve not to complicate his life or trouble him with my phone call. But over time I have learnt to trick my desire and as such his phone remains silent from my calls.

Hilton, you loved phonographs and gramophones. You loved a world that existed before you. I still have the cd you made me of Libby Holman. I still recall your seriousness as you said 'If anything ever happens to me, take the Edison phonograph'. Though you rarely said 'I love you', this was your way of saying it. Where I was verbose, emotional, expressive and quick to react, you were the opposite. Back then I didn't know how to read nuance, especially yours. My insecurity got the better of me and so I missed the best of you.
And here we are. Years later, different people, grown older and further apart. My thoughts of you are imbued with romantic dreams and fallacy. The truth is that we are human and we err. The truth is that I am very grateful that our lives crossed. You helped me grow, you gave me love and every day that I woke up next to you, I felt like the luckiest person in the world. You were and are beautiful, intelligent, generous and kind. Some people believe that once we express something, it enters the collective consciousness where others are then able to access this expression. It becomes shared in some mysterious and unknown way. I'd like to think that this is true and that it does happen. I'd like to think that my heartfelt thanks and apology for not being all I wished I could be, finds its way through the collective consciousness to you, where ever you are, hopefully happy and living a content life.

with love,
matthew.

Libby Holman- 'Am I blue'.