Every now and again I discover something interesting or noteworthy as I go about life in Perth. Sometimes it just not worth extravagant amounts of research for its own blog post. Others might be considered an addendum to posts already written. In either case, these bits and pieces bloat my 'topics to blog about' list and I'm getting them out of the way in another Random Musings list.
Perth is the proud home to Infusion, the national champions in synchronized ice skating soon off to Canada for the international championships. Ice skating? In Perth (or anywhere else in OZ for that matter)? It's hard to imagine such a sport (which is also known as precision skating) gaining any traction here. But there is the odd ice rink in the big cities. I live across town from the nearest one and have never been there. Along with so much else, I gave away my leather boot/steel blade skates when I moved here. Somehow I am so uninspired to drive a distance to rent plastic boot/aluminum blade skates to whirl around the rink. Maybe some day. In the meantime, Go Infusion!
A few months ago, I walked past a very familiar plant and was surprised. I don't believe I have ever seen a dandelion here in Perth. It had a straggly "Australian bush" quality about it but it was definitely a dandelion. And it was about thigh high. What? Don't people realize that they have to pull these weeds or it will take over the lawn? Of course they don't. They've never seen one before. But now, they see many...
There is no such thing as a Junior High or Middle School here. A public elementary school will go to sixth grade and high school starts at seventh grade. Private schools (which refer to themselves as "colleges") flex a bit but there is still no distinct transitional education atmosphere for this very transitional age group.
http://epostcardsfromoz.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/school-days-school-days-dear-old-golden.html
There is a culture of alcohol here in Australia. And it extends way beyond the youthful --and not so youthful--binge drinking. And it always comes as a surprise to people from other nations. My previous employment had me occasionally visiting law firms for hearings or depositions. Invariably, the visiting attorney from North America would be gobsmacked to see in the corner of the lounge or boardroom a silver tray well stocked with brand name bottles of booze. Jaws literally dropped at the sight. This wide open bar is like what you see in old movies. Certainly not in today's more cautious business atmosphere where liability or whispers of anti-social behavior from booze-soaked employees keeps every office a model of temperance. Parties or afterwork "sundowners" are frequently held at the workplace here in Australia. But I've only seen such extravagant tipple set-ups in law offices. Make your legal appointments near happy hour, folks.
epostcardsfromoz.blogspot.com/2009/07/culture-of-alcohol.html
Friday, February 27, 2015
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
PIAF 2015 The Writers Festival
I have to admit that my favorite part of the Perth International Arts Festival is the Perth Writers Festival. I can't wait to dash over to the beautiful University of Western Australia campus in Crawley with its old buildings, matured vegetation, wandering peacocks and view of the bay to hear the literati discuss interesting topics. It isn't just for writers. Readers come along for the ride and senior citizens show up in droves for the mental stimulation. The brochure for the long-weekend event is well put together for people to chose and chart their way through each day. Half of the one-hour sessions are free and the other half are a reasonable fee of $13.50. My innate sense of thrift has me leading the blue hair charge to the freebies.
One of the festival days is designated as Family Day. I've learned not to fear attending on this day as there are so many exciting and well-supervised activities, kids do not have a chance to become bored (and thus unruly and bothersome to everyone else.) A couple of special activities are available to everyone and I asserted my place in line for the free popcorn, the photo booth and to peek at the book made by school kids for the Giants exhibition the previous weekend. One of the offerings was The Future Postal Service (which boldly promised to connect "children and adults one delivery at a time.") whereby kids would write a sentence on a postcard and (under supervision) run to an adult to deliver it. A toothy boy gave me this card. I gave him a baby carrot as a tip. I'm not sure this was the hoped for "connection" but it was what it was.
Some interesting topics came up: Medical fiction and storytelling (including psychiatry), literature and song lyrics (skipped it--mediocre acoustic guitar music gives me a rash), Kinfolk or slow-food dinner party trends (they are soooo behind my lead) and the emergence of magazines for home decorating. And there seems to be a general trend of has-beens, never-weres, and wannabes who seem to feel their lives are worth documenting in books or movies. Sorry, can't whip up much excitement peering into their delusions-of-grandeur windows.
I really liked the session on women in the media. Popular local columnist Ros Thomas and national broadcaster Geraldine Doogue shared their experiences with a standing room only crowd. Both gushed about the immediacy of radio (not a new concept) and the endurance they saw for it in the digital age. The older, personable Doogue expressed surprise that women seemed to "argue for their limitations" and that young women were most concerned about work-life balance. From my experience in the industry, these are essentially two fingers on the same hand. A vocation requires more personal investment than the job they may be looking for. Ros Thomas was concerned about the quality of journalism in the digital information world. "The craft is truth telling," Thomas said, "not repeating whatever is on the web." Sadly, we're still talking about pay inequality.
A few final observations:
"Medicine is not a business of victory."
"Short form (writing) doesn't have to solve everything."
If the writing is too Australian, it is less international. (yes, some translation or alteration required)
Writers aren't necessarily great speakers. ('fraid so, maybe that's why they write)
Young authors start every speech or reply with "Yeah."
New venue option this year. It's no longer just the traditional lecture hall, large tent or performance grove created by mature trees. Enter the very intimate caravan camper locale!
 |
| PWF 2015 mementos |
Some interesting topics came up: Medical fiction and storytelling (including psychiatry), literature and song lyrics (skipped it--mediocre acoustic guitar music gives me a rash), Kinfolk or slow-food dinner party trends (they are soooo behind my lead) and the emergence of magazines for home decorating. And there seems to be a general trend of has-beens, never-weres, and wannabes who seem to feel their lives are worth documenting in books or movies. Sorry, can't whip up much excitement peering into their delusions-of-grandeur windows.
I really liked the session on women in the media. Popular local columnist Ros Thomas and national broadcaster Geraldine Doogue shared their experiences with a standing room only crowd. Both gushed about the immediacy of radio (not a new concept) and the endurance they saw for it in the digital age. The older, personable Doogue expressed surprise that women seemed to "argue for their limitations" and that young women were most concerned about work-life balance. From my experience in the industry, these are essentially two fingers on the same hand. A vocation requires more personal investment than the job they may be looking for. Ros Thomas was concerned about the quality of journalism in the digital information world. "The craft is truth telling," Thomas said, "not repeating whatever is on the web." Sadly, we're still talking about pay inequality.
A few final observations:
"Medicine is not a business of victory."
"Short form (writing) doesn't have to solve everything."
If the writing is too Australian, it is less international. (yes, some translation or alteration required)
Writers aren't necessarily great speakers. ('fraid so, maybe that's why they write)
Young authors start every speech or reply with "Yeah."
New venue option this year. It's no longer just the traditional lecture hall, large tent or performance grove created by mature trees. Enter the very intimate caravan camper locale!
 |
| Intimate Writers Fest venue |
 |
| PWF tent venue |
Monday, February 23, 2015
PIAF 2015 The Giants
The Perth International Arts Festival always likes to start off with a bang. You know, get that party started right with fireworks or a water show or confetti falling on the main drag. But this year PIAF set their guns to 'stun' and indeed we were.
The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of The Giants , created by the French company
Royal de Luxe, was a spectacular public art exhibition that walked around the Central Business District for three days. Giant marionettes, Young Girl and Diver, were escorted through streets (aided by 70 handlers dressed in red velvet called Lilliputians) loosely enacting a story that incorporated the Aboriginal peoples of Australia and the World War I ANZACS. A rather long bow had to be drawn to connect the two but most onlookers weren't bothered by the stretch. They were enchanted by the duo.
Young Girl, at six meters tall, had everyone wrapped around her little finger. She bathed and dressed in the mornings. She would walk or ride her scooter or don a raincoat and go on a boat ride. At rest, she would read a giant book made by local elementary schools or snore while napping in a huge lawn chair. At one point during her walk, unable to find a restroom, Young Girl crouched down, pulled her dress out a bit and peed on the road. The school kids must have howled with laughter.
The Diver, at 11 meters tall, was far less active but no less captivating. He stretched out to sleep just outside the train station downtown. Not your average rummy or vagrant lying about, Diver gained rock star status with commuters in no time who held off their morning trot to the office long enough to get a really cool selfie with the big guy. Diver's handlers had to be highly athletic as their swinging weight from ropes helped propel him along. I have to wonder if physiotherapists weren't on hand to help those folks out during the breaks. Click HERE to see some video that really brings the Giants to life.
Where was I? At a disadvantage for the big picture but a front row seat for the inner workings of working massive marionettes. The Diver had a mobility issue his very first time out on the second day. There is an elevated crosswalk at the train station that the Diver had to be craned over. He landed right in front of me. Careless craning would have shortened my height considerably. Once in position, the Lilliputians worked quickly to the Mission Impossible opening march (played by an accompanying live band) to reconnect the ropes, guy wires and hydraulics. They had to repel down, climb up and swing over to get this done and get him on his way.
Despite the fact that even Ebenezer Scrooge himself softened up to the Giants, they almost didn't happen. The price tag to bring this "free" exhibition in totaled over $5 million. Corporate sponsors contributed the biggest part of that but the State contributed $2 million of taxpayers money to make it happen. Oh, the roar, the stink, the outrage and the chin-wagging that followed this announcement. Was this how the state mishandled our tax dollars!!!?? was the hue and cry. The verbiage changed as skeptics and the curious fell beneath the Giants spell. It has been estimated that 1.4 million people saw the Giants. This does include multiple visits as there are less than 2.5 million people in the whole state. Someone did the math and determined that each taxpayer contributed 80 cents (or 27 cents per day) to the magic. Such a paltry sum people tutted.
And the conquering of Perth by two giants was complete.
The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of The Giants , created by the French company
Royal de Luxe, was a spectacular public art exhibition that walked around the Central Business District for three days. Giant marionettes, Young Girl and Diver, were escorted through streets (aided by 70 handlers dressed in red velvet called Lilliputians) loosely enacting a story that incorporated the Aboriginal peoples of Australia and the World War I ANZACS. A rather long bow had to be drawn to connect the two but most onlookers weren't bothered by the stretch. They were enchanted by the duo.
 | |||||
| Giant Young Girl. courtesy T.Debski |
 |
| Giant Diver. courtesy The West Australian |
The Diver, at 11 meters tall, was far less active but no less captivating. He stretched out to sleep just outside the train station downtown. Not your average rummy or vagrant lying about, Diver gained rock star status with commuters in no time who held off their morning trot to the office long enough to get a really cool selfie with the big guy. Diver's handlers had to be highly athletic as their swinging weight from ropes helped propel him along. I have to wonder if physiotherapists weren't on hand to help those folks out during the breaks. Click HERE to see some video that really brings the Giants to life.
 |
| Repelling down Diver |
 | ||||||||
| Connecting the hydraulics. |
 |
| Feet bigger than mine! |
Despite the fact that even Ebenezer Scrooge himself softened up to the Giants, they almost didn't happen. The price tag to bring this "free" exhibition in totaled over $5 million. Corporate sponsors contributed the biggest part of that but the State contributed $2 million of taxpayers money to make it happen. Oh, the roar, the stink, the outrage and the chin-wagging that followed this announcement. Was this how the state mishandled our tax dollars!!!?? was the hue and cry. The verbiage changed as skeptics and the curious fell beneath the Giants spell. It has been estimated that 1.4 million people saw the Giants. This does include multiple visits as there are less than 2.5 million people in the whole state. Someone did the math and determined that each taxpayer contributed 80 cents (or 27 cents per day) to the magic. Such a paltry sum people tutted.
And the conquering of Perth by two giants was complete.
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