Shadows and shine: a different angle on the Sydney Opera House.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Ok, so we went to Sydney. This is what we saw.
We stayed at the Raddison on Liverpool St (nice sheets), the balcony smells like the restaurant 8 floors below, the monorail is a stones throw away. There are lives played out across the street. Each window like a TV screen of people watching their TV. We arrive late on Thursday night but the air is full of the static electricity of so many lives in one place, feet constantly moving on the footpath, and constant noise.
There are two Sydney icons to be ticked off. We climbed one of them. This 77 year of bridge with rust like wrinkles shaped this city and still does. The buttresses on either end of the bridge serve no purpose at all other than aesthetic. Each tile was hand carved, the larger ones at the base took one man a week. Hey, this was the depression right?
Icon number 2. The thing about the Sydney Opera House is there are so many ways to see her. From every angle she is something different. In every light she is something different. Just like a well rounded woman.
The Rocks are both sad and fascinating. Sad because it has been made sterile by galleries, cafes and tourists, fascinating because the real gritty history that claws from behind the walls. These bricks all look different - each convict used the them to graffiti their mark.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sweet Jasmine
For many, August may signal the Ekka and westerly winds, but for me, August is the scent of Jasmine.
Pink Jasmine smells like heaven. Better than chocolate cake, better than Calvin Klein’s Obsession. Pick the flowers before they have opened and fill your house with sweetness.
Jasmine is tropical and sub-tropical plant and well suited to our sub-tropical Queensland. There are several varieties of Jasmine, coming from different parts of the world. They can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs or climbing plants. They produce yellow or white flowers, whose best quality is their fragrance.
Commonly seen in South East Queensland are the Pink Jasmine and the Star Jasmine.
The Pink Jasmine, also sometimes known as White Jasmine, is native to China. It is a fast growing evergreen, needing a strong trellis or fence to ramble over. It is called Pink Jasmine because of the colour of the buds that open to star shaped white flowers.
For South East Queensland, it is a low care plant. Once established it does not need excessive water, and only needs a good trim after flowering. In cold areas it will flower much longer, and it has become invasive in southern parts of Australia. It also causes allergies in some people.
Star Jasmine, on the other hand, it a woodier plant, with (I believe) less sweet flowers. Technically it is not a Jasmine, but we won’t get technical here!
This plant grows more slowly and can be shaped as topiary or against a wall. Unlike the Pink Jasmine it will cover the whole of a fence or wall, rather than just growing along the top. It can also be used as a ground cover, even in the shade (but don’t expect too many flowers). It requires more pruning to keep it shaped. Flowers will only form on new growth.
Both of these plants can be grown from cuttings. Grow, smell and enjoy.
Pink Jasmine smells like heaven. Better than chocolate cake, better than Calvin Klein’s Obsession. Pick the flowers before they have opened and fill your house with sweetness.
Jasmine is tropical and sub-tropical plant and well suited to our sub-tropical Queensland. There are several varieties of Jasmine, coming from different parts of the world. They can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs or climbing plants. They produce yellow or white flowers, whose best quality is their fragrance.
Commonly seen in South East Queensland are the Pink Jasmine and the Star Jasmine.
The Pink Jasmine, also sometimes known as White Jasmine, is native to China. It is a fast growing evergreen, needing a strong trellis or fence to ramble over. It is called Pink Jasmine because of the colour of the buds that open to star shaped white flowers.
For South East Queensland, it is a low care plant. Once established it does not need excessive water, and only needs a good trim after flowering. In cold areas it will flower much longer, and it has become invasive in southern parts of Australia. It also causes allergies in some people.
Star Jasmine, on the other hand, it a woodier plant, with (I believe) less sweet flowers. Technically it is not a Jasmine, but we won’t get technical here!
This plant grows more slowly and can be shaped as topiary or against a wall. Unlike the Pink Jasmine it will cover the whole of a fence or wall, rather than just growing along the top. It can also be used as a ground cover, even in the shade (but don’t expect too many flowers). It requires more pruning to keep it shaped. Flowers will only form on new growth.
Both of these plants can be grown from cuttings. Grow, smell and enjoy.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
I'm excited
Hint fiction is sweeping through the world - hopefully with the staying power of Energizer batteries rather than a Rubik Cube fad.
Submission guidelines for "the" Norton publication on Robert Swartwood's blog.
Submission guidelines for "the" Norton publication on Robert Swartwood's blog.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Cannot Buy My Soul - Story in Song
Myth or otherwise, our Australian belief system includes the idea that anybody can succeed - that we are a land of opportunity. Kev Carmody’s story may embody this belief, or it could be a story about talent always winning out.
There were many things working against Kev Carmody being a successful singer-songwriter. To begin with he is an aboriginal who grew up at a time when aboriginals in Australia were not considered citizens. He didn’t go to school until he was 10 years old. But he had family, he had country and he had stories and music.
At some point he found a book at a rubbish tip – “How to Teach Yourself to Play Guitar”. He dried it out and sometime later he is at university studying music and history.
“Cannot Buy My Soul – The Songs of Kev Carmody” is a tribute concert which should become a legend of Australian music and we were lucky enough to say we were there at the Riverstage in Brisbane.This gathering of Australian artists – Paul Kelly, Tex Perkins, Missy Higgins, Troy Cassar-Daley, Bernard Fanning, John Butler – to name only a few, paid tribute to Kev Carmody, sharing their respect and esteem for Kev Carmody with the biggest concert crowd this performance has had.
I have always loved songs that tell stories. For some people music resonates, I listen for lyrics. Kev Carmody’s music is story.
It is stories I remember, like "The Young Dancer is Dead" performed by The Last Kinection or places I know, like "Darkside" performed by Tex Perkins.
Kev Carmody also tells me new stories, of people and lives with deep roots in the Australian soil - like "Droving Woman" with Missy Higgins singing the last verse with passion.
The ultimate climax is "From Little Things Big Things Grow" the song Kev Carmody co-wrote with Paul Kelly. This is song always makes me cry.
There were many things working against Kev Carmody being a successful singer-songwriter. To begin with he is an aboriginal who grew up at a time when aboriginals in Australia were not considered citizens. He didn’t go to school until he was 10 years old. But he had family, he had country and he had stories and music.
At some point he found a book at a rubbish tip – “How to Teach Yourself to Play Guitar”. He dried it out and sometime later he is at university studying music and history.
“Cannot Buy My Soul – The Songs of Kev Carmody” is a tribute concert which should become a legend of Australian music and we were lucky enough to say we were there at the Riverstage in Brisbane.This gathering of Australian artists – Paul Kelly, Tex Perkins, Missy Higgins, Troy Cassar-Daley, Bernard Fanning, John Butler – to name only a few, paid tribute to Kev Carmody, sharing their respect and esteem for Kev Carmody with the biggest concert crowd this performance has had.
I have always loved songs that tell stories. For some people music resonates, I listen for lyrics. Kev Carmody’s music is story.
It is stories I remember, like "The Young Dancer is Dead" performed by The Last Kinection or places I know, like "Darkside" performed by Tex Perkins.
Kev Carmody also tells me new stories, of people and lives with deep roots in the Australian soil - like "Droving Woman" with Missy Higgins singing the last verse with passion.
The ultimate climax is "From Little Things Big Things Grow" the song Kev Carmody co-wrote with Paul Kelly. This is song always makes me cry.
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