Well, Chrisso, today's the day... and dammit if you didn't let us have a Sound of Music farewell party [though the clowns surely sufficed?!], at least I deserve to paraphrase...
Chrisso, Chrisso, Chrisso, you are but a star. You turned up in my world at a, er, fairly fragile time, and BANG, you, unknowingly helped me get back on me [clown shoe-wearing] feet... falling several times on me erse again - in a good way! Many beers, many chats, did I say many beers, many rugby games, many ANY games, the 'odd' game of Sundee morning tennis, many ventures to the pub, the unforgettable toothbrush incident after the beerfest, sunset cinema , trips to the theeyater, festivals of film, of music, of West End, and the true friendship began to form...
Then you made the fatal mistake of introducing me to Bronathon... and 'the family' was born... Thus began the infamous 'tea-light, dvd, red wine, Green pizza mattress parties' [although we've probably really only had a couple], the equally infamous dinner party [with alleged comets in the sky!] and countless trips in and out of the valley...
Chrisso, you're a solid bloke... a 'true blue', to paraphrase Bronathon, I love your guts and am so very sad to see you go...
But, I know you'll be back... I just know it!
Sentimental Ging
I'm leaving the country in less than 24 hours and I've come to the realization that I have too much stuff. When I returned from the US just over a year ago I had one huge bag stuffed full and a backpack that was mostly empty. Now I've got the same huge bag stuffed even more full, a backpack that's bursting and I still have to mail back a box of less essential items like CD's, t-shirts, cameras, etc. If a rolling stone gathers no moss, this pebble is covered in green.
Awhile ago, Sean suggested that I left a present in the pipes of the BnA office. Well, I think I've outdone myself here at BnA Oz...
What actually happened was my brother accidently hit the toilet pipe while he was jackhammering the concrete path. It had to be replaced by the white PVC pipe, which is probably just as well anyway.
Still, it'll make for an interesting journey if I happen to have a few too many wines at my farewell family gathering on Sunday arvo.
Fellas, if you're looking for a great location to take a date for an afternoon drive and lunch, I'd have to recommend Sirromet Winery and Lurleen's Restaurant. Situated on a hill in Mt Cotton, about 20-30 minutes south of Brisbane, you can sit out on the back deck of the restaurant and see all the way to Stradbroke Island. The food was fantastic and the service was exceptional. It's not cheap ($30+ for a main), but it's a beautiful location and the wine is very tasty. The website says it won an award for informal dining, but I felt under-dressed in my sandals and threadbare shorts (I'd just come from the beach).
I was there with my brother, his family and some friends of theirs and we had an opportunity to speak briefly with CEO and chief winemaker, Adam Chapman. He's really put a lot of work into this place and it's starting to pay off. He said the winery plans to have three major events a year, with one big concert (they've had John Farnham and Adam mentioned Sting, Mark Knophler and Elton John to come), a food and wine festival, and the annual Sirromet Long Lunch.
So head on down, check it out and keep an eye out for the very cool pepper grinders.
Being such a 'foodie', as all Taureans are, cooking for a Taurean partner automatically raises the bar... and being an extraordinary cook himself only makes matters worse...
Never mind that I can barely boil toast...
However, last night, based on some rapid 4pm internet research that initially went from tuna tacos to me suddenly having an urge to cook with pistachios... and ending up at the supermarket addressing 'the [innocent] fish guy' with, 'um, do you know anything about cooking fish? [or do you just sell it?!]', 'what fish is good for 'ENCRUSTING'? What a great word that is! Not one I've ever used before, but sure... After him giving me the, 'ah, I just sell it' look, he made up some shit and I went for what I was originally gonna go for - lashed out on some Barra... I then got all the other ingredients, put all me stuff through the checkout and went, 'd'oh, i forgot the nuts - the most important bit!' I can't NOT get 'em... so I raced around trying to find my, er, nuts, while the checkout boy had no idea what was going on... About 5 mins later, I return, he's just finishing processing my goods, so I throw on the nuts as if it was all perfectly rehearsed...
W/o a recipe per se [other than one on the net about pistachios and salmon!], I ended up making:
Herb & Nut encrusted Barramundi [w sour cream to aid the stickage] on a red sweet potato, sour cream & chives mash, served with button squash & a lime & avocado garnish...
Hello! Move over Nigella...
Said taurean bf gave it 21/10 - 10 for presentation [I tell ya, it looked gorge!] and 11 for taste... [I think he's slightly biased...]
Mate...
I swear it was, and probably will be, THE best meal I've cooked/I will cook in me loif...
Culinary Ging
ps. Why did I blog this? I dunno - I was just so darn proud!!!
This is Ging-Ms Vebose-Bangpants we're talkin' 'bout here; how on EARTH am I to be THAT succint. However, that was my assignment for last night's sassy acoustic gig from a performer I've been waiting about 18 months to FINALLY see in BrisVegas...
I first stumbled upon Ms Blackman when I heard the tres groovy, beautiful-people-slagging track, Favourite Jeans. I becamed obsessed with it... and her. It became 'my track'. I bought the ep and as Chrisso pointed out last night when she played it, 'All of a sudden I feel like I'm in your car'... She finally released her debut LP in August, I nabbed a copy and was delighted to see she was finally touring 'north of the border'. She's doin' a swag of gigs, and definitely count me in when she tours with her full band.
Here's something I prepared earlier [and yes, I was WELL over the limit, but I suspect it'll be published anyway...]
Bertie Blackman, The Troubadour, Thurs 16 September
With a string of promo gigs for her debut LP, Headway, the loungeroom-esque Troubadour was a fitting, laidback taster for Sydney�s singer-songwriter. Opening with the album opener, I Like Your Way, followed by its title track, Bertie then hooked into my current auto-repeat-in-peak-hour-traffic-fave, So Much To Do, sans the album�s full-band calypso feel. The �supersexy� Criminal of Desire revealed her be-bop-almost-scat vocal, then in complete contrast, Very Well returned to Bertie�s softer, dulcet tones. Sometimes �60s folk, sometimes smoky jazz, tagged �urban soul�, Bertie melts into her music, her eyes closed for the most of the set. With just a [huge] guitar and even bigger voice, Bertie delivered a rocked-up version of the Js-friendly �hit�, Favourite Jeans, a yet-to-be-named �newie�, a cover (Tyrone), ending with the sweeping waves & lulls of the onomatopoeic The Storm. Just as her time was up and she announced �my cold & flu tablets have worn off�, we realised the poor thing had been [unapparently] suffering all night� But, taking advantage of the small crowd of guinea pigs, she closed with another newie. Some people are clearly born to create & perform music; it�s obvious Bertie�s doing exactly what she should be.
Music Critic Ging
How could this NOT draw my attention? Tonight at Avid Reader bookshop, West End, I'll be attending this.
Firstly, I LOATHED, DESPISED, how you say, HATED The Bride Stripped Bare, primarily because I has no empathy whatsoever for the writer/primary character. I've not read Mark D'Arbanville's right of reply The Naked Husband, but it appears to be the male autobiographical equivalent!
We shall see...
Either way, a good debate over a few glasses of vino, with odd bit of jelly wrestling & strip poker thrown in can't be bad thing!
Literary Ging
1000-1 odds on US Cricket Team
It'll be fun to hear/watch the Aussies etc crush the Yanks.
Sunday was a perfect way to end a fairly quiet weekend. It started off with breakfast at the very civilised hour of 10am at Pandemonium Café in the very trendy suburb of Paddington. I was joined by Paul, Ging and Bronathon and, after a quiet start and a couple of excellent coffees we were off to the races - moving our tables into the sun and no doubt leaving tables within conversational earshot shaking their heads.
After breakfast we walked a half block up the street to Always Habit, a men's clothing store run by Vanessa Hoe. She owns another store in the Valley and will soon be opening another in the city. Ging had recently been there with Paul to assist him in parting with a fair chunk of change for a new suit and related apparel. Ging and Vanessa had bonded during the two hour experience and so it was really the only logical place to go when I expressed my need to buy my very first suit.
As we arrived, a gentleman and his partner were standing over a pile of clothes on the counter worth $2700. Paul said he noticed a vein pumping furiously on the side of the man's head and I'm not sure if it was the quality of the clothes, his partner's reassurance that they all looked excellent on him, or male pride in front of an audience that finally tipped him over the edge and brought out the credit card. (This is what you might call 'foreshadowing')
With a big sale under her belt, Vanessa was able to turn her considerable fashion experience towards me (with able assistance from Bronathon and Ging, and occasional comments chipped in by Paul). After determining what I needed a suit for, and any preferences I might have had, she very quickly had three jackets off hangers and on my shoulders. The first, a black one, got the thumbs down. The second a dark chocolate with irregular pinstriping was good, but not great. The third, another dark chocolate with blue pinstriping, was perfect.
With the outer taken care of, I needed to try a combination of shirts and ties to complete the outfit. Near misses, possibles and probables, and definite no's followed but eventually we settled on a combination that seems to work well. But let's not forget shoes! Vanessa aims to complete an outfit from top to bottom and offers a range of stylish Italian leather shoes.
Then it was my turn to be standing at the counter over a (much smaller) pile of clothes. The price was much higher than I was expecting, but Always Habit sells quality stuff and makes no apologies for that. Vanessa sweetened the deal with a Ging discount and a few bonus extras thrown in, and after a few minutes umm'ing and ahh'ing I said, "oh fuggit," and whipped out the plastic.
No doubt using the benefit of his own experience, Paul swiftly took me down the street to the Paddo Tavern for a couple beers to ease the shock. It was a beautiful day to be out in the sun, especially after spending an obscene amount of money on myself.
Back home for a couple of hours to check email, grab some food and catch up on the NRL footy final games, then it was into the city for the Muse concert. Originally they were due to play in the much smaller (more intimate) venue of the Brisbane Arena. But selling out so quickly enticed them to move the concert back a day and have it in the much larger, open-air Brisbane Riverstage.
It was a breezy, clear night and we were not the only ones underdressed for the evening. But it was a cracking show and well worth the odd numb toe or ten. Muse ripped out most of the songs from their new album, Absolution, and several from the back catalogue. The lights and AV components were excellent and during the encore they sent out huge balloons filled with big confetti into the crowd.
Being a school night, it was all over by 10-ish and there weren't really many places for people to kick on to. But that's Brisbane on a Sunday night for you and I for one was happy to be in bed by 11pm after a huge day.
After two solid days of rain, the powers that be decided that our touch footy grand final would go ahead as planned. Driving out there I was alternately struggling to see out the windscreen of the car and being blinded by massive lightning strikes, one of which blew out about 100 metres worth of street lights on the freeway. Exciting stuff.
Figuring we'd get there only to have to turn around and come home, it was with a mixture of relief and disappointment that we were told that the game would go ahead. Relief that we hadn't gone out there for nothing, disappointment that we were playing in pissing down rain and gale-force winds.
Back when I was a kid in primary school we used to love heading down the oval for some "slushy football". Half the fun was diving for the tryline 5 metres out and sliding the rest of the way over. Last night the conditions were ideal, but the competition a little more serious. Despite the puddles on the pitch, the quality of the game was pretty good - not a lot of dropped ball and not too much slipping and sliding.
In the end we got spanked by the better team (6-1) and harshly done by some poor refereeing decisions (what's new, right?). But at the end of the day, it's not whether you win or lose, it's how many trophies you can keep!
It's bigger than a silver medal!
On the way home, traffic on the riverside freeway slowed right down to get a look at the fireworks that were going on as part of the RiverFeast celebrations. It went ahead despite the rain, although I think most people were moved indoors.