Opera In The Park

     My mother is a huge fan of opera. Youthful memories of opera programs on the old Grundig radio with the volume turned up full blast while Mom ironed clothes are easily summoned. And for a few years when we were old enough to sit still but not old enough to rebel, Mom would take some of her younger kids to an opera matinee annually to raise our appreciation of the arts. 
     Didn't she know that our art consciousness was being raised every Saturday morning while watching Bugs Bunny cartoons?  Mel Blanc must have been a huge fan of opera as some of the more memorable episodes featured operatic numbers.  What about TV commercials?  Pasta commercials would feature some Italian favorite aria on occasion.  And a true American commercial advertising icon, the No More Rice Krispies ad, cemented at least one opera song into the minds of even the least cultured among us.  [Go ahead, click on those links to enjoy these old favorites yourself.]  
     Wisely, Mom picked operas that were sung in English and contained a fair amount of comedic relief.  And all of us were amused by 'young lovers' portrayed by some two-ton Tessie tiptoeing coyly behind a trellis while her eighth of a ton beau bounded after her.  We sat, we saw, we survived the cultural indoctrination.

     Fast forward to the Opera In The Park, a 50th anniversary gala performance of the West Australian Opera company last night. [50 years! Perth is not a fishing village, thank you.]  It was the annual free concert held on the Supreme Court Gardens, a huge grassy area lying between the Swan River and the skyscrapers of the central business district. Simulcast to country towns that have limited access to opera, there are also large screens for the huge crowds to get a close-up view of the action on the stage.  Being a "gala", many people dressed to the nines or in costume...to sit on blankets on the ground.  I missed this rare opportunity to wear a sparkly sequined cape and fascinator. DRATS.  The capacity crowd makes one wonder: is opera (or opera curious) this big in Western Australia?  I think the "free" tag brought in more than a few thrifty souls, but that's OK.  People can nibble at the product for free and then maybe want to take a bigger bite by buying a ticket to an upcoming season performance.
    

Opera In The Park Instagram

     The program was a predictable mix of opera's greatest hits and this is OK, also.  People may not recognize the name of the piece but may certainly recognize the tune (thank you, Bugs).  For those keeping score, some of the line-up included: Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, Carmen's Toreador Song, Il Trovatore Anvil Chorus, the Lakme duet, Tosca and Turandot's Nessun Dorma. The latter I've heard so many times I can sing it myself. The featured singers did  a fine job on a cool night and the chorus was as diverse as the audience.  Opera has moved away from the bigger-is-better mentality but the cameras couldn't hide the ages of the 'young lovers'  or what must have been some of the original chorus members.  And this too is OK. What was onstage reflected what was in the audience.  A nice touch was the encore, "With hope in your heart...you'll never walk alone" by Rogers and Hammerstein.


     And my annual arts appreciation commitment fulfilled, Mom.

 
 

Hi, Bye & Triplets. Random Musings #6

Gus!

     Say Hello to my buddy Gus. He's an Airedale Terrier who I frequently bump into while exercising.  We have much in common, Gus and I: We love walking along the Swan River. We prefer a 'slow and steady' pace. Sometimes our knees creak. We're both really cute. And we love the occasional cookie--especially the expensive kind. Gus' (nameless) owner shocked me the other day by stating that this former abused shelter dog from Sydney is only seven years old. That's 49 in human years.  Gus' slow speed can be attributed to being a bit overweight.  Ummm, another thing Gus and I have in common.  Not much of a dog person, Gus has waddled right into my heart. Occasionally, a collie named Vincent and his (also nameless--as if it mattered) owner come across my path and I say hello to him also.  In fact, my four-legged friend Gus is a great motivator for me to get out there every morning. I look forward to saying hello to him. And both of us ever earlier with a faster step as the days get warmer and warmer.  The sooner finished, the sooner in front of a fan.  We are so smart, Gus and I.

Old at 8 years

     Saying Goodbye to my trusty old cellphone. It served me faithfully for eight years. It fit into my hand and my bag quite easily.  And it also fit into my leather cover from my first cellphone. Technology is making it obsolete.  I'm obliged to buy a new phone that fits only into a child's lost sock and has more bells and whistles than I want.  I am not a technophobe. Those slick smartphones can really come in handy with maps, gps, internet access and the like. Easy to see how people get so glued to and reliant upon them.  And that is where I balk at the idea of getting one (besides being a cheapskate  thrifty.)  Phones are a great tool but not my best friend, social crutch or cleaner of fridge, as handy as that would be.  I would also be a bit nervous about putting my entire life-private and professional-on a single device so easily damaged or lost. And even more wary of turning into one of those phone gawking drones you see on the bus every morning--long rendered by technology incapable of carrying on a conversation with others or even the desire to do so. So hello low tech phone and hello to to all I meet. Lovely to communicate with you.

Twin & Triplet Bananas

     I have Triplets! I've only had twins before so this is really exciting.  OK, maybe just amusing to my eight year-old nephew Nathan and myself. At the Canning Markets lately, I've been finding Siamese twin bananas-two separate bananas side by side under one peel.  These are quite fun but no one seems to want them.  So I get a special deal on them and then pass them out to kids at church the next day and to my nephew. We think these are a hoot.  Yesterday I found Triplets. Way cool.  Nathan is out of town and cannot enjoy it in person so I will turn it into Banana Butter, a happy spread I won second place for at this year's fair.  Alright, I may be amused  by things of little consequence but you have to admit: Twin and Triplet bananas are really cute.


  Author's Note: Found December 24, 2016 at the Canning Markets. QUADRUPLET banana. Yes, all four are connected top to bottom under the same undulating peel. Will be making Banana Butter very soon.

Quadruplet  Banana!

 

Sunday Markets and Fairs

    Traditionally a day of rest, Sundays still remain a quieter day than the other six during the week. Many businesses either have no trading hours or greatly reduced times they will conduct commerce.  Except in Australia. The Energizer Bunny needs a full charge (done on the slow Saturday previous) to keep the pace with all the offerings on the 'day of rest.' Including church services, the following action was taken in on a single Sunday--with other options ignored.

Vic Park Mkts on Sunday

Holy Bagels!

    First, a stop to the Victoria Park Markets. Who doesn't love a local market?  The early morning vibe that's happy but not frenetic. Produce, baked goods, frozen meat/fish, hot food and coffee, entertainment, Girl Scouts selling cookies, cops showing off paddy wagons, etc., are all available.  I prefer my wholesale Canning Mkts on Saturday (much better bargains) but Vic Park Mkt is my next choice. My must-haves include: REAL bagels from The Holy Bagel Company! I despaired of ever finding a real bagel in OZ until these two guys showed up. Trained in New York, these genuine bagels are cured and boiled before baked. It's become a serious crutch and internal party starter for this gal. My standing order is for three salty and three everything bagels. They have other flavors but I can't be bothered changing the order or direction of my grin. I always wait until after church before biting into one.   Usually.

My lily arrangement

      Other customary purchases include yoghurt from a local yoghurt maker.  Certainly not the cheapest around and its a bit runnier than most commercial products, but I enjoy the product and the chat with the owner.  I don't have a budget that can really tolerate weekly flowers but Florescence (who ship Lillies In a Tube anywhere in OZ) comes way up from Albany with some of their overstocks.  I love the bucket of single stems--I pick a variety of colors of Asiatic lillies in the amount I want for $1 a piece. Sometimes I pick two or I pick five all depending on how many from the previous week are still hanging on. I do prefer the multiple bud stems, bang-for-the-buck and all. Unfortunately, other people have caught on to this fabulous offering and tend to buy the whole bucket. How greedy can they get?  This just forces me to go back to stealing rosemary from the neighbor...er, I mean, trimming the neighbor's rosemary bush...and pretending that's the bouquet.

Spiderchef @ Butchers Picnic

    Let's head downtown.  The Butcher's Picnic has moved from Russell Square to the much roomier CBD

location of Forrest Place.  It's part of the Eat Drink Perth month festivities.  I'm not the carnivore that Kev is but it is fun to watch the meat cooking, presentation competitions, try free samples of crocodile sausage (and everything else on offer), people watch, enter contests and generally soak up the atmosphere. Getting my picture taken with  Spiderchef was pretty cool also.
     Back at Russell Square,  India has moved in.  Or rather, a festival celebrating all things Indian.  I am not a fan of curries, vindaloos and other dubious delights but Kev adores it.  He breathes deeply as we pass the food stalls while I break out into a trot to fresher air. People are making themselves comfy in every corner. There are very old, very large banyan trees to offer shade, and a fountain surrounds a gazebo where little girls put on private dance shows for themselves.  At the main tent,

Miss Perth India  finalist

a Miss Perth India competition is going on.  Flowers and balloons are given to the finalists.  Not sure what all the duties are of this beauty pageant winner, but as a life long watcher of such pageants and a big fan of balloons, I am a captive audience member.

     OK, we're getting sunburned and some sporting event on TV is calling Kev's name. Can't spend all day wandering about...but we could.

Public Art Space in Perth

     I wrote about public art way back in 2009, Community Art,  because I was impressed how "a fishing village" (as someone from the eastern states referred to Perth) embraced the intangible delights and merits of public art projects.  The widespread employment of sculpture and artistic venues has never struck me as an inferiority complex kind of reflex but seen as having genuine value.  If you take a quick look at  Community Art , you'll see some of my basic shots on my Hannah Montana camera with its CIF (Crap, In Fact) resolution and understand how I was initially  impressed.

Cultural Center Beach

    Fast forward five years and you'll notice the upgrade in photography and in public art projects. I rather wonder if people sometimes complain under their breath that money spent making public spaces artsy wouldn't be better spent on relief projects for the impecunious.  Speaking  for the close-to-broke set, I like having a happy place to go to and enjoy for free.  As green space gets eaten up by cement and chrome buildings, it's nice to have a refuge.

Cultural Center Ice Rink

Penguins to the rescue

The Cultural Center, comprising the Art Gallery, Museum, State Library, Institute of Contemporary Arts, public garden and State Theatre , has a big open space which has been alternately  been turned into a beach complete with sand, umbrellas, "changing houses" and a free book cart.  Fast forward a few months and for the first time, Perth had an outdoor ice rink! A half hour ice time plus ice skates cost a fortune in this case but it never went wanting. People,  likely just about every northern hemisphere expat and a few natives ,  flocked to this opportunity to ice skate outside.  This rink was up for just a couple of weeks, but it was a success.  I spotted no Zamboni but lots of stabilizing penguins for youngsters for the easy Dorothy Hamill effect.

Yarn bombing bike racks

     It all sounds a bit brutal, but flash mobs and (blank) bombings are oh so popular. And the knitting nerds have joined the fun.  Mobilized by the city library, the local knitting circle and terrorist society made colorful covers for the bike racks on St George's Terrace--the main road in the CBD. Many are still holding up after several months.  I just love the whimsy.  I appreciate the whimsy that many Perth International Arts Festival public art installations provide. 

    Life just needn't be all Stalin-block gray and gloomy.  Bring on the balloons, bubbles and grins!

An Evening at The Theatre

    Despite the fact I host a radio program that alerts the greater Perth metropolitan area to all the exciting events that are happening or coming soon, I rarely get to see much of it myself.  And that includes media previews. So when Kev, normally a very reluctant escort to even these infrequent opportunities, heard of a play  about political intrigue at the Vatican, he made it a date.

    The Last Confession, starring David Suchet (best known for his portrayal of Agatha Christie's Hercule

Poirot) is about the the extremely short time- 33 days- that Pope John Paul I  served as pontiff and his dubious end at the start of his era of reformation. Many had much to lose. It is not so much a whodunit as a did-anyone-do-it.  A fictional play based on real people and events held at the glorious, velvet-seated His Majesty's Theatre starring no small amount of notable actors.

   Oh boy, my big chance to dress up!  I brush the dust off my black velvet dress (a bit shorter than it should be but lots of Australian mutton dresses like lamb so no one notices) and the archbishop purple cape I wear over it.  I decide against wearing my black velvet with pearl trim Juliet cap (it's not premiere night after all) but don real south sea pearls on my neck. Slip on those patent leather shoes with the one-and-a-quarter inch heel (which is as high as I go anymore), splash on some expensive perfume and grab the crocheted clutch for the finishing touch.  This gal was styling!  So were most of the women there.  The slender females wore impossibly artsy outfits. The less fashion forward put on their best earrings or a very sparkly brooch on their lapel. We know how to dress for an evening at the theater.

   The menfolk were sadly a different matter.  The best you  could say for some of them was that they remembered to wash their hands after the last time they went to the bathroom...and were proud of the accomplishment. A few turtlenecks surfaced and a couple of guys stayed in the business suit they wore during the day. Kev himself didn't get too exhausted in preparation. He wore heavily patched up blue jeans and a rugby top. He did manage to shave four days worth of stubble from his chin...and wash his hands. Perhaps he thought no one would notice as our seats were rather high up and behind two Strand stage lights.

    The last thing that remains is the upsell. Now, a pair of tightwads...er, thrifty people...like us walk on past the merchandising opportunities that exist in such a case.  The program costs $20.  A hardcover book about David Suchet's Hercule Poirot is priced at $40.  And for those who prefer to have the Good Book read to them, David Suchet obliges with a six-CD box set of the NIV version.  I suppose this is a natural tie-in with a price tag of $70.  Missing from the "merch" table was a selection of  papal-approved tee shirts.

    Kind of explains the disappointed look on the faces of several men shaking water off their paws.

Want To Work

    She was strolling along the central business district. Not in a hurry. Not smiling. Not really in focus, actually. Just a middle-aged woman neatly dressed but looking a bit frayed at the edges. She was wearing a homemade sandwich board around her neck. It was made from a brown cardboard box and measured about 12 inches by 15 inches.  She used a ballpoint pen to write on it instead of Magic Marker, so it was rather light. But the top line was unmistakeable. It read:

    "Want to Work."

     Below that was the line "Need Advice On:" followed by a list of several items  unreadable at 15 fifteen paces. Stunned at first, it was several moments before the vision made sense. I turned back to find her and confirm what I thought. But she was nowhere to be found. No matter.  I can tell you her story anyway.

     A woman with lots of work experience, yet too young to retire, finds herself without employment one day. No problem, she says to herself, I have a good resume and the economy in Perth is better than in many places.  I'll find a job in no time. But instant employment does not appear. She goes over to the unemployment office, Centrelink, to apply for her entitlement while making a mental note never to dress like the permanent down-and-outers also in line. She's obliged to prove that she makes at least five applications a week. Piece of cake, she thinks, I won't be doing this long.  But she finds that she gets no response to her applications and little useful feedback from rejectors. Our gal is eventually referred to a government contractor for help. This is an agency charged with  giving people the assistance they need to get employment. But she is deemed to be at the lowest tier of need: literate, educated, previously employed and not disadvantaged in any real way. So all the agent (half her age) can do is offer her the same advice given to the simpletons who also walk through the doors. Frustration mounts. Why am I not getting a job? I'm not even getting many interviews! Is it my resume? Are my cover letters out of date and ineffective? What about this "selection criteria" thing? Am I pre-interviewing myself properly? Why is my network letting me down?  She gets no help, no answers and no job offers.

    A critical mass is now forming.  Her employment gap is starting to get rather long and unexplainable.  Unemployment  benefits are woefully inadequate for anyone paying rent or making mortgage payments and her savings that make up the difference are rapidly being depleted. Panic is rising and her self-esteem is dropping. She is now being obliged by Centrelink to volunteer one day a week at any nonprofit organization that will take her to keep up her puny payments. During the 1980s, there was a phrase being bandied about in this state, "You're too young at 18 and too old at 22."  Could this ghastly maxim still be true? Facing financial ruin and permanent career damage, our desperate woman parks her dignity and reaches out in the only way that seems to remain.  She made a sign.

    I wish I knew what kind of results this lady got from her sandwich sign. She wasn't asking for a job, just effective, real life assessment of her CV presentation materials.  I  wish I could tell you that her case is unusual but that would be an untruth.  I don't bother to find empathy for 25 year-olds who wish 50 year-olds would fall off the perch already and open the top jobs for them.  I wonder how, in the face of this obvious ageism, the federal government can expect people to work until they are 70 to keep the pension demand down. Is this a First World problem? Probably, but this is a First World country. And it shouldn't be a problem.

    I admire your pluck, Lady, regardless of what brought you to it.

A Walk Along The Foreshore

    I have really stepped up my exercise routine from whenever to one and a half hours, five days a week. I power walk along the Swan River southside foreshore and use some of  the community fitness equipment along the way. In the last four months I have lost not a single ounce [grrrrrrrrrr] but early every morning I am treated to some great visuals.  Get your sneakers on and walk with me:

    Wildlife : The animal kind.  There are a million white cockatoos walking around--yes, walking.  They wattle to feed before terrorizing the innocent from the sky. You have to work at not stepping on them.  I never see the cormorants feed. They usually just stand on the retaining wall with their wings open hoping to warm up in the early morning sun. Look almost like pterodactyls posing for a movie still.   Now, the pelicans can be fun to watch. They scoop their long bills into the water and take in a few gallons of water. Slowly they squeeze the water out of that big, fleshy pouch and then gulp, gulp, gulp the remaining fish. This always attracts seagulls looking for some quick chum or escaping fish for breakfast. There is the usual  game of black swans, the very signature of Perth, gracefully swimming in pairs and confident of their place in the sun. Finally, on a noteworthy day, a pod of dolphins will make their presence known. Sometimes just their fin shows and sometimes they happily breach the water. Everyone likes to see dolphins although those hardcore exercisers will only stare as they zoom past instead of slowing down to admire.

    Humans : The wildlife kind. Surprisingly many of these for so early in the morning. Most are the garden variety walkers, joggers and runners  accompanied by friends, dogs or their own thoughts. There is no shortage of Lycra-clad cyclists zooming along on the parallel bike path. The other day I saw a dad taking his daughter to school...on a tandem bicycle! On weekends you'll see the Over 30s Road Runners taking the weekly foot race that rotates between the parks in the metro area.  These folks are actually mostly over 50 and enjoy field events once a month also. Just watching them exhausts me.
    Early morning (and lunchtime and after work) are good times for personal trainers and fitness instructors to meet their clients. The year-round moderate weather in this region really encourages fitness sessions anytime, anywhere. It is becoming ever more common to see small groups of people led in exercise by a trainer who

Lunchtime fitness in the Park

sees no reason to buy or rent premises when congregating on public property is absolutely free and nicer to look at. But some municipalities are starting to have a problem with this.  There are so many private classes conducted on public lands that city officials are worried about liability. These communities are now looking to license these exercise 'businesses' with a further requirement of carrying insurance. Tough break for the folks who get paid to watch others sweat.
    And finally the vision that reminds me once again that I am in a different place.  We are all familiar with the image of corporate executives staying lean, mean, shrewd business decision making machines in their thrice weekly, early morning squash sessions with other corporate colleagues. Save the sweatbands, small rackets, and tiny spaces for there is a whole different image for those same high flyers here in OZ.     At six o'clock in the morning, the Aussie executive is out water skiing with his cronies. You can't miss them--very middle-aged men with sturdy legs and (ahem) solid stomachs clad in neoprene suits take turns skimming the top of the water behind an expensive speedboat. I suppose that if they lived on the ocean, these same captains of industry would be surfing the waves at the same hour.  Totally cracks me up.
    O.K., exercise time is over. Let's get some breakfast.

Fitting in at the Perth Fashion Festival

     Tonight I got in touch with my inner fashionista. Well, such as she is anymore. The 2013 Perth Fashion Festival is in full swing highlighting local and national designers, clothing trends and size 2 fantasies. In its fifteenth year, it coincides with that other big fashion festival in London (England, not Ontario) in many ways: dates, pretension, impractical clothes, pouting models and dreamy glamor. 
   
      I have certainly given plenty of publicity to the Perth Fashion Festival on my weekly radio show but have never been to an actual event. So when I got out of work just at the time a free event in the festival tent was about to start, I seized the moment. Shooed away from the VIP entrance, I skidded in the commoner entrance just in time to get pointed to a few deserted chairs way high up off runway level.  They didn't give me the toys everyone else got: glow sticks and cheapie sunglasses. Probably startled (or horrified ) by my old geezer office clothing. Hey, my make-up looked good. This same sartorial statement kept me from getting  moved closer to the runway to fill in chairs for the photo opps  numerous photographers and videographers were waiting for at the end of the runway. No biggie. I was plenty close to the pulsating bass music and fog machines up there in the nosebleed section.

      Tonight's show featured clothing from stores in a particular shopping area. This is not high fashion but it has a place at festivals in cities outside the major fashion centers.  The festival's fashions need to be accessible to a wider audience in Perth than they do in Milan, Paris or New York. Of course there are the designer shows (none free admission) here but also kids clothing and the "upcycling" fashion parade consisting of outfits found at local thrift stores. It's all good.  So cue the DJs and start the action. Lots of slouching young models mincing their way down the white path in extravagant heels . Some forget to put on the I-hate-modelling-scowl and smile at the professional and amateur photographers. "Selfies" (taking a picture of yourself using your cell phone's camera) being all the rage , half the models are using smart phone cameras as props for the action either on themselves or with audience members. The models high-five, bump booties, shimmy or in some other way interact with each other as they pass on the runway. Bub-bub-bub-bub bubblebutt  the music booms. Is that a size 10 model out on the floor??!  Just one female model seems to eat three meals a day but the organizers recognize that not all of their target audience  resembles the human coat hangers who will wear the haute couture garments at the high-end events.  All of the male models looked quite normal.

      So what did I see?  Will I be running out and buying new clothes this weekend? Well, I did see one or two things I could imagine wearing...if they came in my size. I certainly know what to expect to see walking the sidewalks over the next few months. And it definitely was an interesting bit of theater in a world I usually don't inhabit. And that qualifies as a mini-adventure.
    

The Jamie Oliver Experience

     Perth -all of Western Australia, for that matter-  fancies it is shedding its backwater yokel image due, in part, to its ability to attract big name chefs and top end restauranteurs to our shores over the last few years.  Why, the local restaurant reviewer is a bit of a celebrity himself.  For the common man, names like Nobu or Neil Perry aren't exciting any electrons.  Who has $200 for a (well-aged) steak at Rockpool?    And then, Jamie Oliver moved into town.

     You know Jamie.  The not-so-naked Naked Chef.  The affable Brit with a lisp who cooks two-hour meals in 30 minutes on TV and insists you can have the same result in your home kitchen also.  Jamie opened an Italian restaurant right in the heart of downtown Perth.  Only 15 bucks for a pasta dish, no reservations taken and lines that wind around the block. Finished with work very early today, I urged Kev to meet me at Jamie's while the front of the line could be seen without binoculars.
      Warehouse chic is the decor style here and it works for us.  A guy making pasta at a machine right near the front door says "fresh food here."  The bakery loaves of bread waiting to be sliced just off the aisle have you drooling.  Totally forgetting that money is not currently growing on our trees, we order what our hearts dictate instead of what budget suggests.  Kev has a dark beer and a rabbit & pasta dish. I order a bellini (champagne and peach juice, yummmy) and truffled turkey.  Are we mad? Maybe, but definitely gobsmacked to find that Jamie includes FREE bread with meals.  Apparently no one told him that Australian restaurants never give away bread.  It is an unwritten rule that you must charge $5 for four pieces of Wonderbread for anyone foolish enough to ask for it.  We ate and shared bites with great gusto.
       Kev's part of my turkey was not faultless. Part of his turkey was absolutely raw. How?!  Everything else was cooked so how did this silver dollar sized bit escape the flames?  Guessing how this happened kept us amused for the rest of lunch.  The chef and the manager didn't have a clue either.  As a conciliatory gesture, the manager refused to charge for the turkey and made my Bellini complementary.  I protested over this extravagant gesture but was outvoted 2-1.  This very expensive lunch had rather instantly become affordable.  It would have been worth it at full price. We enjoyed our meals.  We enjoyed rubbernecking to see everyone else's meals.  We enjoyed the sunshine outside awaiting us.

     Post script: Kev and a buddy may have figured out the mystery of the raw section of an otherwise cooked piece of meat.  The raw part may have still been frozen when put in the pan.   If the turkey started as frozen...       http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/australia/perth

Launching Winter

    A small amount of excitement here on winter's eve but it gave me a few happy moments for which I am grateful.  The City of Perth Winter Arts Season 2013 held a mini-launch for its upcoming season today, the last day of autumn for the after work crowd. (Australia calendars each new season on the first day of the month.)  According to the program, "The Season Sampler includes: Live performances-mini Supper Club-snow dome-Winter Photo Booth-Water Labyrinth-and SNOW!"
    In its entirety.  The live performances included a couple of snow queens posing for photos in their white feather wings and Nancy Sinatra-esque white boots. The mini Supper Club was exactly three stands: "New York Style" hotdogs (er, not really but yummy anyway), Moroccan food and a potato stand. The nine foot tall snow globe is cool and with a long line of kids waiting to get in and play in the plastic snow flakes. The Winter Photo Booth, if there was one, consisted of a couple of college kids with their cameras clicking away. The Water Labyrinth (oh so cool ever changing walls of water I've written about before) is a permanent fixture in the Forrest Chase square. And the SNOW. This is where I stopped dead in my tracks.  The same two snow-making/blowing machines used in London Alley at dead-of-summer Christmas were back and producing white glory at the 'entrance' to the festivities.
   I was mesmerized. It's a cool night (54F), a three piece band was playing, the smell of (free!) popcorn  in the air and snow flakes shown brightly against the dusky plaza. My slack jawed stare into the overhead walkway where the machines were probably photobombed too many snow princess photo opps, but I just loved it. It just said Magic.  It said Home.
   Oh I suppose I'll blog on some of the really cool events designed to get us out of our homes this winter, but tonight  it was all about hot dogs, chance meeting with a friend, free popcorn and SNOW!

   I thought to myself as I left this cheery little scene, "Maybe I should put away my summer clothes."        Happy Winter, everyone!

Kosher for Lent

     Fish on Fridays.  A time honored tradition especially during the Lenten season--the forty days before Easter. Actually, any vegetarian dish will do when you're at home.  But what happens when one goes to an exciting food festival like the  Eat Drink Perth  celebrations which last the entire month of March?  The Twilight Markets are held every Friday in the center of the shopping district.  Lots of different food stands from different nationalities serving up wildly different dishes.  It's a challenge for the taste buds and Lenten reserve. What constitutes kosher for Lent?

Croc   &   Roo

       For example, the Australian tent is serving up Skippy-on-a-Stick (a skewered kangaroo sausage) and  Croc-on-a-Stick  (lose a fight with Mick Dundee and you, too, could find yourself on a short pole).    Pretty safe to say that kangaroo is not a 'legal' option.  But what about crocodile?  Do reptiles count?  And that brings amphibians to mind.  Frog-on-a-stick.  Those toads spend as much time in the water as fish do...and so do crocodiles  come to think of it.  The discussion of how these water animals did or did not qualify went up and down the line waiting to be served.

      I tried the Croc-on-a-Stick.  Slightly gamey  taste (it's those four legs) but the texture was rather mealy (I'm thinking grain here). 

Japanese dim sums

genuine paella

     Of course  there were other choices. It was fun watching the lady in the Japanese tent turn over the pot stickers in their individual cooking cups with speed and grace. The mystery contents were enough to rule it out.   
     The Spanish paella was gorgeous, colorful and legal. But all those mussel shells get in the way of serious chowing down.  Not to mention that the last time I ate mussels I ended up in a hospital emergency room.  I gave it a miss.

East Indian in Copper kettles

   Look at the beautiful color here at the East Indian tent.  I happen to be looking at those handsome copper pots.  You might be looking at the colorful contents.  All legal at this stand but truth is I don't like curries. And I abhor the smell.  Curries are banned from our house although Kev will make one when I am out of town on business and then fumigate the house before I get home.  This is a real big miss.  Have I pointed out those really lovely pots yet?

      We took stock of the situation and decided that speared reptile was enough, all sorts of vegetables at home just waiting to be eaten. .  The food and festive atmosphere makes this a great event...just on the wrong day of the week. 

CHOGM 2011

    Perth was invaded last week.

    Politicians constituted one major front, met by an army of law enforcement, witnessed by thousands of celebrating citizenry and all covered in digital detail by a battalion of media.  The official code name of this action?  The Commonwealth Heads of  Government Meeting or CHOGM (pronounced as a word, not a series of letters.)   It is a biennial meeting of the British Commonwealth nations led by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.  The voluntary congress talks about issues of mutual interest (trade, immigration, polio eradication, climate change) and individual gain (nuclear power/weapons, resource attainment, operating funds to keep the country going.)  Two related forums immediately precede these foreign Heads of State meetings: the Business Conference [where the host country is likely to gain some benefit from all the hoopla] and the Young People's Conference [where 21 year-olds tell themselves that they should be running countries and companies.] 

Police guard VIP hotels

    So what does this mean to the citizens of Perth hosting this event this year?  The added security (police brought in from all states and New Zealand) especially around the ministerial hotels guarding delegations and hovering like raptors seemed a bit much.  Barricades, street closures, burly men with earwigs "magging and bagging"  (magnetometer and bag check) everyone and rooftop snipers being vigilant every time the Queen surfaced gave this otherwise laidback city the look and feel of being occupied by a military force.

staff security

      Even the people working the event got used to forever walking (or wheeling themselves) through ID doorways despite wearing identity tags and anti-designer shirts few felons would don  to get access  to third tier delegates and heavily guarded national leaders.  Five hundred Perthians  were needed to volunteer their time to move general citizenry and dignitaries on to where they needed to be with the least amount of disruption.  Hard to believe but a thousand people applied to be goodwill ambassadors of the city for this event.

CHOGM Festival corner

   Not to be totally left out of the excitement the federal government was creating, the state of Western Australia sponsored a CHOGM Festival for its citizens and visitors.  Concerts, community art , Speaker's Corner, public movies, Exhibitions, performances, lectures and even international athletic competitions in netball and field hockey. Something for everyone. And most of it free.

press conference prep

     So where do I fit in in all this?  I was one of the volunteer force with a collective resume to match any in the corporate world. Doing two days work in the busport, I was moved up into the convention center on Saturday morning.  A big press conference on the eradication of polio was being held.  I had the distinct pleasure of escorting some of the participating Heads of State to the media room.  First, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Gilani (not as warm and friendly as his delegate whom I found delightful) and then (drumroll, please) the Prime  Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard!  The PM and I shared pleasantries about the weather and the exercise we were getting trotting from one event to another ["And still not enough." "I know what you mean."]  PMs Gillard and Cameron (UK) were notable amongst the lucky few volunteers to get close to any VIPs for being warm to the insignificant people leading them around. Of course they wouldn't remember us 15 seconds after we delivered them where they needed to be but their acknowledgment of our existence was as good as recognition for a job well done.

     There were plenty of detractors to this whole event (we won't mention the objectors to individual rulers) usually about the amount of money spent for so little  outcome.  Politicians would have us believe that all this would put Perth on the real world map.  I have to agree, in part, with the negative assessment.  Just about everyone paid to plan and organize CHOGM was imported from the east coast, including the lowest tier people like graphic artists, volunteer liaisons and venue managers. And those folks had to be fed and housed.  Yes, the CHOGM Taskforce needed 500 WA people to volunteer to help save money for their six months hotel bill.  Many people started to rename CHOGM as  Chaps Holidaying On Government Money. Heaven knows the state paid enough money  for the Festival and additional police hours not covered by CHOGM security budget. But all that said, I hope people availed themselves of some of the culture offerings laid out for them. The party was paid for, they may as well attend.

SOME  FACTOIDS

The Commonwealth:

  The world’s largest and smallest, richest and poorest countries make up the Commonwealth, which is home to two billion citizens of all faiths and ethnicities – over half of whom are 25 or under. Member countries span six continents and oceans from Africa (19) to Asia (8), the Americas (2), the Caribbean (12), Europe (3) and the South Pacific (10).  Some island countries have 10,000 (or less!) inhabitants.

   The Commonwealth has grown from just eight members in 1949, to 54 members in 2010

   The Commonwealth countries are:

Antigua and Barbuda

Jamaica

St Lucia

Australia

Kenya

St Vincent and the Grenadines

The Bahamas

Kiribati

Samoa

Bangladesh

Lesotho

Seychelles

Barbados

Malawi

Sierra Leone

Belize

Malaysia

Singapore

Botswana

Maldives

Solomon Islands

Brunei Darussalam

Malta

South Africa

Cameroon

Mauritius

Sri Lanka

Canada

Mozambique

Swaziland

Cyprus

Namibia

Tonga

Dominica

Nauru

Trinidad and Tobago

Fiji Islands*

New Zealand

Tuvalu

The Gambia

Nigeria

Uganda

Ghana

Pakistan

United Kingdom

Grenada

Papua New Guinea

United Republic of Tanzania

Guyana

Rwanda

Vanuatu

India

St Kitts and Nevis

Zambia

Community Art

Perth has its share of art outlets: a symphony orchestra, opera, jazz group, art museums and an a mammoth arts festival. But patronage [along with the money to do so] is not what gives the greater metropolitan area its vibrant, lively feel. It is the ubiquitous statuary and sculpture art that are sprinkled throughout the area.


These hopping kangaroos, along with another 'roo drinking out of the fountain, are outside Council House (municipal office building) and are popular with tourists and locals alike.

This starts a Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame-style trek through downtown of Western Australia's own stars of commerce, politics, sports, agriculture, charity, public service and general glitterati. This keeps more than a few tourists with their nose to the ground instead looking ahead.



Here we have Perth's first bishop, Matthew Hale, preserved for all time welcoming boys to his downtown school. The building is now repurposed as the new building moved to some prime real estate closer to the ocean. Hale School remains to this day a very illustrious institution for boys.




At the main shopping area of the CBD [Central Business District=downtown], the statues get livelier as do the people. Street performers entertain the shopping crowds. An aboriginal man with his didgeridoo, a mime, a guitar player, even a man who rolls in his stand-up piano on a wheeled dolly. The tips must be good or how else could the opera singer still remain smiling through her fifth rendition of "Nessun Dorma" in one hour? It is a powerful, if subconscious, lift to the psyche of people walking about the shopping area.



There are a couple of these gum nut (from native eucalypt trees) fountains to be found in the center of traffic circles. Traffic circles are not rare and the challenge becomes how to make them noticeable and unique. Many have a large tree in that center island but I like fountains, whether water is running from it or not.

Some may see community art as a superfluous bit of expensive fluff, but Perth proves there is real public value in it.