Essendon v. Richmond

It was an emotional evening at the MCG as over 88,000 people showed up to farewell two of the greats in Essendon football: James Hird and coach Kevin Sheedy. It was their last game in Melbourne and unfortunately the fairy tale ending just wasn't to be as Richmond played a far better match than we did and deserved the win. After the game Sheedy and Hird did a lap of honor around the grounds to thank everyone for their support. The entire crowd stood and clapped for them as they passed by and then the fireworks went off in the middle of the field (freaking out all the seagulls that had congregated there). Despite the result, I was really glad that Michelle and I were able to witness this historic event in person.


Final Score
Essendon: 13.14 (92)
Richmond: 17.17 (119)

Happy Birthday Rosemaree!

This evening Rosemaree, Fran and I gathered together to celebrate Rosemaree's birthday. I met them at Crooners on Lygon Street in East Brunswick. They had a wide selection of food on their menu, and we all had good sized meals. For dessert we headed back to my place as Rosemaree had brought along her own birthday cake- courtesy of someone at work. It was quite yummy especially with the added bonus of Lindt chocolate balls on the top. All in all it was a great night and nice to be able to catch up with them both.

Essendon v. Hawthorn

Michelle and I joined Tash and her family and friends at the MCG this afternoon for the rematch between Essendon and Hawthorn. Just like last time we lost the game- this time by 63 points. It was a horrible and disappointing game full of errors and lackluster play by the Bombers. Our hopes of making the finals are pretty much shot and now all that's left in the season is to send off coach Kevin Sheedy and James Hird with some sense of dignity.

Final Score
Essendon: 7.14 (56)
Hawthorn: 17.17 (119)

Get DEECD

Well, not only do we have two new ministers, but our department has a new name. We are now the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD). Thank God we never updated the stationary when we changed our name eight months ago! The new Premier John Brumby announced today that the Office of Children in the Department of Human Services will now sit in the Department of Education. While the decision makes perfect sense it will be interesting to see how this affects our restructure, which just went into effect in May. Now all we need to do is decide how to pronounce our new acronym.

Historic Day

It was just a normal Friday morning when the rumors started swirling in the office that Steve Bracks was about to resign as Premier of Victoria. We gathered around the tv during our end of month morning tea to watch the shock announcement. There were no real signs that this would happen, although his son's DUI a few weeks ago helped him to solidify his decision to leave office. It will be sad to see him go as he has been a good Premier over the past 8 years. Just as we were getting over Bracks' announcement word started to spread that Deputy Premier John Thwaites would be next. Sure enough at 2:00 pm he announced that he too would be resigning from office. It was weird to have this go down in the building next to us and you could sense that history was being made. On Monday the Labor Caucus will choose a new Premier, which means there will be new members of cabinet as well. We'll just have to wait and see if we get a new Minister for Education.

Winter in Victoria

Kangaroos in Springhill, Victoria. Yes, it's a bit cold today (no snow in Melbourne though).

Knocked Up

Tonight Tash and I met up at Melbourne Central to see the movie Knocked Up. This is the latest film from Judd Apatow, who directed The 40-Year-Old Virgin. There were quite a few members of the cast who previously appeared in his brilliant tv show Freaks and Geeks. The basic plot of the film is that Alison (Katherine Heigel) meets Ben (Seth Rogan) in a club, has a one night stand, and then discovers that she is pregnant. The movie shows how these two people from very different circumstances come to terms with this life changing event. The movie is absolutely hilarious but also sweet and sincere at the same time. I was crying with laughter at the birthing scene- one of the funniest things I have seen in ages. I highly recommend checking this film out if you haven't seen it already.

Crowded House

Crowded House finally arrived in Australia and have been all over the media these past few days. On Friday morning they appeared on Sunrise, playing four songs total. Saturday they headlined the Sydney Live Earth concert, which was absolutely fantastic to watch. Sunday night it was off to Melbourne to appear on Rove. But the highlight for me was Monday night because they played a secret show at the Corner Hotel.

Natasha joined me in line and we secured a great spot about 3 rows back from the center of the stage. The opening act was one Liam Finn. Once again he did a great set like the last time I saw him play in May. When Crowded House hit the stage it was hard to believe I was seeing them again live after all these years. The guys looked great in their suits- thank God Nick is styling them all. They played a lot of songs off the new album, along with some old favorites. The setlist (not necessarily completely in order):
Recurring Dream
Mean To Me
Heaven That I'm Making
Nobody Wants To
When You Come
Pineapple Head
Silent House
Nails In My Feet
World Where You Live
You're The One To Make Me Cry
Walked Her Way Down
People Are Like Suns
Locked Out
Something So Strong
Don't Dream It's Over

Encore 1
Don't Stop Now
Fall At Your Feet
Distant Sun

Encore 2
Pour Le Monde
Walking On The Spot
Love You Till The Day I Die
She Called Up
Four Seasons In One Day
Sister Madly

They played for nearly 2 1/2 hours. It was great to hear the new songs live and I thought "You're The One To Make Me Cry" was particularly moving. They did a brilliant and thankfully different version of "Don't Dream It's Over" after Neil decided to "murder it." The first verse was all shimmery guitar, the second verse reggae, and the rest of the song in depressing Cowboy Junkies style. There was the usual banter between songs and little musical interludes that took the show in new directions. Matt Sherrod, the new drummer, was fantastic and he really hits hard and drives the songs forward. Even though the guys were tired they still put on a wonderful show. I'm just so happy to have my favorite band back together.

Afterwards I stuck around to have a brief chat with Matt since he is a fellow California native. He was very nice and we talked about where we were from and how Sydney is like LA and Melbourne like San Francisco. He also asked what I was doing in Melbourne and how long I've been a fan. I saw Mark and Nick wandering around but didn't bother them (Neil disappeared pretty soon after the show finished). I will now have to wait until November to see them again- this time at the very large Rod Laver Arena. If you have the chance go see them in concert- you won't be disappointed.

Essendon v. Geelong

It was back to the Telstra Dome tonight to see Essendon play Geelong. We knew it would be a tough game because Geelong are currently at the top of the ladder and have won their last 8 games and we were without captain Matthew Lloyd, who was suspended this week for striking. However, there were a couple big events to motivate the Bombers: James Hird's 250th game and the return of Adam Ramanauskas to senior level footy after battling cancer.

The game remained close through the first three quarters, but in the end Geelong triumped by 50 points. Things started going downhill for Essendon in the second quarter as Alwyn Davey broke his arm and James Hird hurt his calf. In the last quarter we had no interchange bench left as Paddy Ryder (strained Achilles tendon) and Tom Hislop (corked thigh) got injured. It was just too much for the Bombers to overcome.

Final Score
Esssendon:12.11 (83)
Geelong: 19.19 (133)

Essendon v. Melbourne

Tonight I joined Michelle and her parents to watch Essendon play Melbourne at Telstra Dome. After a brilliant first quarter we were ahead by 37 points. Matty Lloyd kicked the 800th goal of his career. However, Melbourne started to gain ground in the second quarter and took the lead shortly after halftime. At three quarter time a bit of a scuffle broke out on the ground between the two teams, but no damage was done. It wasn't looking good for us in the fourth quarter, and with five minutes left Essendon was down by 17 points. A quick goal from Alwyn Davey started to ignite the team and in the final 5 seconds Scott Lucas kicked the winning goal! The Essendon supporters lept to their feet and screamed with joy. It was so fantastic, but sad for Melbourne as this was their coach's last game. We were lucky to pull it out in the end, but we needed the win because the next few games are going to be really tough.
   
Final Score
Essendon: 19.11 (125)
Melbourne: 18.15 (123)

Blades of Glory

With winter settling in here in Melbourne, what better way to spend a Friday night than at the movies. Belinda and I went to see Blades of Glory, which was just released here in Australia. Will Ferrell plays "sex addict" ice skater Chazz Michael Michaels, while Jon Heder plays his innocent orphan rival Jimmy MacElroy. After an unfortunate incident on the gold medal podium, they are both banned from male figure skating. A few years later they find a loophole that allows them to come back to competitive skating as an all male pairs team. The movie was very funny in spots and there were lots of cameos from former US skating champions. I really enjoyed Will Arnett and Amy Poehler (married in real life) who played an incestuous brother/sister skating team who will do anything to win. I'd probably recommend waiting for DVD or cable on this one, but it's good mindless fun to watch.

See the Bombers Fly Up, Up!

In the greatest win so far this season, Essendon beat reigning premiers West Coast by one point tonight! We played a horrible first quarter and were down by 30 points at half time. Thankfully the boys did not give up and played much better in the second half. It was a nail-biter at the end, but they prevented West Coast from scoring in the final seconds. In the last two weeks we've beaten both teams from last year's Grand Final by a point each. What a fantastic start to the three day weekend!

Final Score
Essendon: 15.5 (95)
West Coast: 14.10 (94)

Liam Finn

Last night Belinda and I headed to The Toff in Town to see Liam Finn play a solo show. Liam played songs off his new album "I'll Be Lightning," which comes out in July. I already knew about half of the songs from hearing them on his myspace page. Liam was a one man band (with some backing vocal support from EJ Barnes). He looped guitar riffs and then used the pedals to change up the sound and layer everything. Liam also had a drum kit that he would play over the loops. It was pretty amazing to watch. This clip will give you an idea of what it was like- the song "Lead Balloon" filmed at Spaceland in LA.

Operator Please, Treetops, and Little Red

Last night Belinda came over to my place for dinner and then we headed to The East Brunswick Club for Queensland band Operator Please's EP launch. This young band plays very happy indie/electropop and the crowd was bopping along. They reminded me of The Grates with their enthusiasm on stage and sound.

The second band of the night was Treetops, who have been around for a while. They have that unique Melbourne sound which is hard to describe but you know it when you hear it. From what I have read they have gone through many line up changes over the years (their current drummer seems a lot younger than the rest of the band). The songs sounded good- very nice melodic pop.

Of course, the real reason I wanted to go was to see my new favorite band Little Red who opened the night. They were fantastic and the harmonies were in top form. Three of the guys take turns singing lead on the songs, and you can't help but love them. They are unsigned at the moment, but I doubt that will be the case for long. Little Red are opening for another band next week, so I may have to go see them again and bring along more people to convert into fans.

Essendon v. Hawthorn

Michelle and I headed to the MCG for our first Essendon footy match of the season. We met up with Tash, her mom, sister Jessie and her boyfriend Heath, who are all big Hawthorn supporters. Thankfully the rain we experienced on our way to the MCG stopped an hour before the game began- although we would have been fine either way since we had seats undercover. The game started out well for Essendon and we had the lead at first quarter time. However, just like last week's game against Collingwood, we lost our lead and got soundly beaten by the Hawks. Lance "Buddy" Franklin kicked 9 goals for Hawthorn, which is just inexcusable. I don't know what has happened to the Bombers in the last few weeks, but they are playing like they did last year which is not a good thing. Hopefully they can turn it around and cut down on all the mistakes otherwise it will be a long season.

Final Score
Essendon: 15.6 (96)
Hawthorn: 20.11 (131)

The Good Shepherd's Circus Pie Classic

You probably never thought that an "Iron Chef" inspired cooking contest mixed with rock music would be a good way to raise money for charity, but that's what happened tonight at the Corner Hotel. The beneficiaries were Good Shephard youth and family services. Ruth, Michelle, Belinda and I were treated to the mad culinary skills of Scott Owen and Andy Strachan from The Living End, Died Pretty’s Ron Peno, Ally Spazzy, Rebecca Barnard, Macromantics, Dan Kelly, Angie Hart, Lindsay MacDougall (Frenzal Rhomb), Candy Bowers (Sista She), Bob Log III, Link Meanie, Lisa Miller, PBS’s Kene Lightfoot, Paddy Donovan (The Age), RRR’s Holly C, Mia Dyson, and Dallas Crane front man Dave Larkin. The food was judged by Epicure’s John Lethlean, Mecca’s Cath Claringbold, and Andrew McConnell from Three One Two and we were given updates from the commentary panel of Helen Razer (774), Clem Bastow (The Age), and Melbourne Food & Wine Festival’s creative director Matt Preston.

There were two 30-minute heats with two teams competing each round, and then the winners took part in a 15-minute dessert challenge. The secret ingredients were mushrooms (heat 1), chicken (heat 2), and bananas (final heat). Some of the dishes were fantastic, others were shocking, but in the end the best (and my favorite) team prevailed: Rebecca Barnard, Ally Spazzy, Ron Peno, Scott Owen and Andy Strachan! We were lucky enough to get to taste test Andy's chicken dumplings from heat 2, and they were delicious. Best band of the night was Little Red- I was impressed with their gorgeous harmonies and songs. One reviewer called them "The Beach Boys meets The Strokes." I think they could become huge and I eagerly await the release of their debut EP.

Conan O'Brien on TV Talk Machine

As a devoted viewer of Late Night with Conan O'Brien since its inception in 1993 (and yes, I still watch it here in Australia) I was excited but a bit bummed out when I heard that Conan was coming to San Francisco to do a week of shows at the Orpheum Theatre starting April 30th. I would have loved to attend one of the tapings, but that won't be happening. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle has done a podcast with Conan discussing the upcoming shows, his take over of The Tonight Show in 2009, and other assorted topics, which you can listen to here. Most interesting factoid for me- Conan's sister lives in San Rafael!

MICF: Tim Minchin: So F**king Rock

Tonight Belinda, Natasha and I went to see Tim Minchin's show "So F**king Rock" at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Tim is a genius musician/comedian and he interspersed stand-up bits with his songs throughout the hour show. I had missed Tim's show last year, so was very happy to be able to catch him this year. Here is a sample of a couple of the songs we heard tonight: "Peace Anthem for Palestine" and "Canvas Bags"

Update

I hope you all had a good Easter/Passover. In the great Aussie tradition, we had a four day weekend- Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays. People at work even lamented that they don't get Easter Tuesday off anymore. I just laughed and told them to be happy to get any days off. It was great to have the long weekend to relax. I was a good Catholic and went to mass on Easter Sunday. I was shocked at the lack of effort in the dressing appropriately department for a large part of the congregation. Why on Earth would you wear shorts and flip flops to church, let alone on Easter? The other big thing in Australia over Easter is this weird obsession with the national Easter road toll. Victoria lead the way this year with nine deaths, which we're supposed to feel ashamed about (I wasn't out there speeding). For Tuesday night trivia we named our team "Easter Road Toll Shame." Unfortunately we lost by two points.

Work is getting interesting. The Department of Education is currently undergoing a restructure, which will go into effect at the start of May. No one is losing their jobs- it's a realignment of people to meet the newly elected government's priorities. They have renamed the four offices and each one has a different focus area. Most divisions and branches are moving as whole chunks, but our branch will be split up between two offices. My boss is becoming the general manager of student learning programs, which means I will now be higher up in administrative responsibilities for her (more involvement with the ministers' office and briefings). It should be a good shake up and ultimately I hope it means that some senior policy/project officer positions will open up so that I can advance in the Department. I want to get involved with the policy research side of things, which will be in a different office to the one we are moving to.

The Australian Rules Football season has begun, and Essendon are doing much better than last year. We won our first two matches against Adelaide and Fremantle. However, yesterday's game killed me because despite having a 48 point lead over Carlton in the second quarter, we lost by 3 points! So utterly depressing and it should never have happened.

MICF: Meshel Laurie- A Shadow Of My Former Self

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is on once again, so tonight Belinda and I went to see Meshel Laurie's show "A Shadow of my Former Self." In the show she told stories about her life based around segments of a tv taping she did ten years ago for the series "The Smallest Room in the House." To get on the tv show she had to tell a secret about herself- hers being that she was fat. She joked that after the taping she gained a lot of weight and her image on the tv became her goal weight. The show was very funny as she talked about members of her family, celebrity, and the desire to be thin. In the end she urged everyone to accept themselves and be happy. She's achieved her dream of fitting her body into one leg of a pair of pants by making really big pants!

Minor celebrity sighting of the night: Australian Idol 2006 contestant Dean Geyer, who walked past us on Swanston Street.