debbieann

Since I last posted -

went back to Sydney, had our stuff all packed up, flew down to Melbourne, waited for our container of stuff to arrive, got our bed set up, moved our stuff out of the 58th flr of Eureka Tower and took it by transit to our new place.

our new place had a few little repairs that involved waiting for people to come - for 2 days the front door wouldn't lock! also the smoke detector had to be moved and the plaster repaired, and a door handle for a storage room had to be fixed. Luckily all we had to do is wait.

We now have internet and all the repairs are done. I have three library cards and three movie cards.
I am learning my way around, although I can still get very turned around, esp on Bridge Rd. We have found
good beer and good food. Saw Winter's Bone, the new Harry Potter, Red - and my favorite, might have
to see it again: Gainsbourg. Also a couple of silent Swedish films from the early 1900s and some
films by Lubitsch. Also a great film about Jane Birkin. I go to a film series every Weds night
that shows unusual films - next up films by Zanussi.

I'm reading an Australian novel called The Watcher on the Cast Iron Balcony by Hal Porter.
It starts out in Kensington, which is where I found the book in a used bookstore.

We have a new table top pizza oven and have had some great pizzas. The markets here are great -
esp for things like cheese and meats.

Will try to get back in the posting habit. oh and now I am a square. I have been square before, but
not for awhile.

Still exploring - went to a brewery last night that makes some very hoppy beer and
is open two nights a week to the public and on Friday night has pizzas. So we had a
pizza and tried some beers and sat at big communal tables in a big open warehouse
space. It was great. Off the beaten track. Then we went to hear some live music and
heard three different bands, btu not the one we went to hear, because he wasn't going to start
until 1130 pm and we wanted to go to sleep and also there was nowhere to sit. We
went around by tram, which is fantastic.

LOVE the transit policy - if you ride once, then you get 2 hrs to complete your journey,
if you don't finish in those two hours and dip your ticket again, then it turns into a day pass
good until 3 am. You buy a ticket for about $29 that is ten 2 hr journeys, or five day passes, but it doesn't have to be consecutive days. Compare this to Sydney where you have to pay each time
you get on a bus or train unless you have a one week pass. But if I get a one wk pass
and don't use it for a day it feels like a waste.

Saw Father of my Children - which was good. sad. Also saw two excellent Alain Delon films.

In love with Melbourne - who could not love a city that gives a visitor
for a month a library card? And great street art, and delicious Italian pastries,
and a fantastic film institute, and a market for produce, meat cheese and even fresh butter!
Life is good.

Melbourne is such a great city - I am so happy I got to spend four days there.I went to the Natl Gallery Victoria with Australian art and Natl Gallery Victoria with Intl art and my favorite thing was the Bill Viola video art Ocean Without a Shore -
you can see a small bit that doesn't really capture the whole thing = picture it with three screens and better sound in a dark room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyMWn8ebItU

I don't even think of myself as liking video art (I don't like Pippiloti Rist, and she seems to be everywhere - I do like Omer Fast and Kentridge though), but everything I have seen by Viola I like a lot and it all fits together, so the more you see, the more depth everything has.

Melbourne also has a GREAT city library - it is open from 8-8! those are great hours, it has a large zine collection, and a very large magazine selection. And a cafe, and art, and electric outlets and wifi. And you can even use their computers for an hour without having a library card. It was my comfortable place to hang out in the city.

Melbourne also has a free circle tram and a free hop on hop off bus that takes you on a 90 min tour.

And and ACMI is a film museum - they had a great free exhibit of Mary and Max items.There was a big Dennis Hopper exhibit, but I didn't want to pay the $17 for that. I then found these screening pods where you could watch all sorts of films on a big screen with headphones. I watched early films by Australian directors - Jane Campion and Sarah Watt! and more. Also all sorts of documentaries. It was a huge selection, and all high quality and difficult to find elsewhere.

We enjoyed excellent food at Noodle Kingdom, Sichuan House, Cumulus and Gill's Diner. We had fantastic macchiato every morning at Brother Baba Budan.