AFL Grand Final Parade

Yesterday Inala and I escaped the office to attend the AFL Grand Final Parade. This year the reigning premiers Geelong were playing Hawthorn. All the players were in the parade from the Arts Centre up Swanston and Collins Streets. There was a huge crowd there to cheer on their teams. It was the first all Victorian final for 8 years, and Hawthorn's first trip the Grand Final in 17 years. The game itself today was fantastic and Hawthorn pulled off a huge 26 point upset of Geelong (who had only lost one game this season). I'm sure Tash will be celebrating this victory for the next month or so.

Little Red-O-Rama

It has been fun with Little Red over the past week with several shows starring the boys.

September 12
This was the second sold out show at the Corner Hotel. The opening bands were the same and last month, and this time I got to see Andy Bull play. He was entertaining and has a bit of a soul/funk sound to him because of the horns section. The Holidays started out good but after a while their songs began to get repetitive.

Little Red were in excellent form on the night as they tore through their set list. I was really happy to hear "Isabella" and "Believe In Your Man" tonight, as well as the unreleased "Forget About Your Man." We got some new songs as well, and it's good to see Tom playing keyboards on those numbers (an added instrument to the Little Red repertoire). Unfortunately due to Andy Bull starting late I had to miss the encore so that I could catch the last tram back to the city.

September 18
The Hondas came and played a show at the Brunswick Hotel so of course I couldn't miss it being so close to home. It has been a while since they played together, so their set was a bit messy at times but still entertaining. They played songs from the first album as well as brand new ones they have just written. I was glad to hear "God Save My Soul," "When I Was Young" and what could be the gay anthem for 2008 "I Am A Homosexual." It was all over in about 50 minutes and I went over to Taka afterwards to thank him for playing. Hopefully he'll get his visa sorted out.

September 20
Yes, I know what your thinking, "But you just saw them a week ago." I probably would have skipped Little Red's last date at The Corner Hotel except for the fact that The Fearless Vampire Killers were opening and I've been wanting to see them for a while now. Thankfully they did not disappoint and put on a fantastic set of 60's inspired psychedelic rock. I was very impressed by them and it's no surprise that they were named one of the "10 Bands To Watch" for 2008 by Wireless Bollinger.

Little Red put in another great performance, and Mel was impressed by them. They played a similar set to the previous shows, and of the new songs "Lazy Boy" is my personal favorite. The show closed with a rousing rendition of Coca Cola and all the bands came on stage to sing along (if anyone knows people who work for Coke, that song is begging to be used in some advertising). It will be very interesting to see what the future holds for Little Red and hopefully they will continue on their upward trajectory.

You can watch Little Red live from The Annandale Hotel in Sydney on 23/8/08 here.

Anika Moa

Tash and I headed to The Toff in Town this evening to see New Zealand singer/songwriter Anika Moa. This was the last night of her Wednesday residency and there was a good sized crowd in the room (including many Kiwis). She started the show with lots of disclaimers about what we were about to witness and hear, which was very funny. There were many amusing stories throughout the evening about the origins of the songs. Anika is a very entertaining performer! My favorite songs in the hour-long set were an emotional version of "My Old Man" and the fantastic "Dreams in My Head." Her latest album is coming out in Australia in November, so I'm looking forward to finally getting a copy (complete with some bonus tracks).

Art Deco 1910–1939

Mel and I headed down to the National Gallery of Victoria after work to see the Art Deco 1910-1939 exhibition. It comprised over 300 works and covered all artistic media from painting to photography, fashion to film and architecture to jewelery. The historic and global influences on Art Deco were displayed, as well as how the style differed in various countries and throughout the time period. My favorite pieces were the gorgeous gowns and the crockery. It's a fantastic exhibition and if you are in Melbourne and into Art Deco, you should definitely check it out before it closes in a month.

Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development

This week the Victorian government launched the new Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development. This document sets the agenda for education and early childhood services for the next five years. Yesterday both Ministers gave a briefing on the Blueprint to Department staff, which was one of the better presentations I've seen them both do. My work at the moment falls under the workforce reform strategies.

Here's an article from The Age about some of the actions in the Blueprint: School shake-up, with fries.