Angie and Andy's Wedding

Yesterday was Angie and Andy's wedding, the official reason for my trip home. Things kicked off on Friday when Angie and I had our nails done at a salon next to her coffee shop (my first manicure and pedicure ever). We got all the wedding favors done while we were there- lottery tickets in little envelopes with a lucky penny. After our nails were finished we headed up to Healdsburg for the wedding rehearsal and dinner. Everyone practiced their entrances and exits a few times and I worked on my job as flower girls wrangler. The dinner was at an Italian restaurant and it was nice to catch up with some old friends and members of Angie's family.

Angie and I went out to run a few errands and then had breakfast on the morning of the wedding (the calm before the storm). We got our hair and makeup done before getting dressed and heading up to the Healdsburg Golf Course. It was a hot day but not too horrible. We did photos with the bridal party before the ceremony and then Angie went off to hide before her grand entrance. The wedding itself went very quickly. The flower girls did a great job getting down the aisle and the vows were over and done with before I could get a sunburn. After the family and wedding party photos we were finally able to join the reception inside. I got through my wedding toast and once dinner service was finished they cleared some tables so we had a dance floor. Everyone had a great time and I made sure to have a sample of each layer of the wedding cake when they finally cut it. Angie and I ended the reception dancing to New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle." The newlyweds are now off to Disneyland for their honeymoon, and will have a few days alone before Katie joins them mid-week.

Bay Area Fun

It has been a mellow yet somewhat active few days back home. I had Angie's bridal shower on Sunday and was happy to be able to attend. We had a few party games, including creating wedding dresses out of toilet paper. My group's efforts were not the best, but the others were very creative. I picked up my bridesmaid outfit from Angie's house, which thankfully only required a few alterations to the top. The wedding rehearsal and dinner are on Friday, with the wedding taking place Saturday afternoon up in Healdsburg. I think most things are ready to go.

I have enjoyed seeing my family and spending time with them. We all went out to dinner last night at The Cheesecake Factory and ate way too much food (the servings are huge there). I have yet to see my brother's new house, but hope to go up for a visit early next week when he is off work. I have also been on a few shopping excursions around Marin but have not found that much stuff that I like in the shops. I plan to go into San Francisco next week so hopefully there will be some good things to buy downtown.

Farewell

Today at work I got to have a morning tea in my honor not only because I am going on leave back to the States for two weeks, but also since this was my last day in my current role for the next six months. After a good month and a half of waiting for the paperwork to be signed off, I have now officially secured my secondment as a project officer to the Research Branch of the Education Policy and Research Division in the Department. It should be exciting as I'll get to do new things and this is the area I really want to work in. So I'm looking forward to that, but my immediate concern is getting my packing done and surviving the long flight across the Pacific on a United Airlines plane (which I am really hoping has had a major interior upgrade since I last flew with them).

Fran and Pete's Wedding

Today I was fortunate enough to attend Fran and Pete's wedding. The church service was at St. Dominic's in Camberwell. Fran looked beautiful as she walked down the aisle. It wasn't a full mass, but I was amused by the fact that the first reading was the same one I did at my brother's wedding. After the ceremony we got to congratulate Fran and Pete and also do a big picture with everyone in attendance out in front of the church.

The reception was held at Yianni's Tavern in Kew. Each table seat had a wedding favor of either hot chocolate or coffee, which I thought was really generous. Our food throughout the night was a mix of Greek and Italian tapas plates- and they didn't stop coming. We also had an interesting selection of music from the DJ. Fran and her friends had put together a CD of her favorite songs, but the DJ treated us to a good half hour of Greek music. It was entertaining to watch Pete's family dance and sing along to all these songs. Overall it was a great night, and I'm so glad that Fran and Pete have finally tied the knot. They now get to head off to far north Queensland for their honeymoon.

Slumburbia

Here's a really interesting article for those of you interested in housing and urban planning: "Is Suburbia Turning Into Slumburbia?" by Carol Lloyd.

The Footy Is Back!

These are very exciting times for sports fans in Melbourne because Australian Rules Football is finally back. It's the preseason at the moment, which means the NAB Cup is on. I joined Michelle and her extended family for tonight's semi-final match between Essendon and St. Kilda at Telstra Dome. Michelle's parents saved us some seats near the goal at the bottom of Level 2. We had a great view of the field and the game. It was a tight match with some pathetic umpiring decisions that resulted in St. Kilda winning by 3 points on a questionable free kick at goal with less than a minute to play. However, the Bombers have been very impressive over the last few weeks. New coach Matthew Knights has introduced a fast and entertaining style of play, and all of the younger players have been fantastic. It looks to be a promising season, which will kick off on Easter weekend.

The Music Moves My Feet

I have spent the last two evenings attending concerts. On Tuesday night Belinda and I headed over to the Northcote Social Club to see Little Red play at one of their Tuesday night residencies in February. Opening this week was Oh Mercy, a young Melbourne band that I was curious to see. I really enjoyed their set and they are another up and coming band to watch. Little Red was fantastic, as usual, and played for a bit over an hour. One of best things about the night for me was that I finally got my hands on a copy of their debut EP "Get Ready!" which I have been trying to get for months.

Photo by Tash

Wednesday night I joined Tash at the Prince Bandroom for Gotye and The Basics. I have been wanting to see The Basics live for a while now, and while I didn't get to hear the album tracks, we were treated to an acoustic set of all new material. Those three-part harmonies were so lovely. Gotye, otherwise known as Wally de Backer (and the drummer for The Basics), came out and played an amazing set of music. Wally's songs are created from a compilation of samples and vocals that he pastes together. It was amazing to watch him create this all on stage by himself. This show was scheduled to allow him to try some stuff out before the upcoming Laneway Festival, and while the lighting and visuals may not have gone quite to plan, it was still an entertaining evening. He finished up the night with a crowd sing-a-long of "We Are The World," which was quite funny.

Here's the video for "Hearts A Mess" by Gotye


Watch Gotye live at the Metro Theatre in Sydney on 29/7/07 here.

The Longnecks

I had a very special birthday evening last night because I got to see The Longnecks, otherwise known as The Living End, play a sold out show at the Ding Dong Lounge in the CBD. Ruth and Danny joined me for the evening. This was our first time in the Ding Dong Lounge, and it's a nice room. They have tables where you can play 80's video games, which I thought was cool. We enjoyed the second opening act, Yves Klein Blue, a band from Brisbane with a diverse number of great little songs.

The Longnecks came out to a roar from the audience. We were safely positioned by the soundboard off the main floor in order to avoid the mosh pit. The band played a very similar set to the St. Kilda Festival with some more new songs added to the set list since they didn't have a time limit:
- Raise The Alarm
- Hey Hey Disbeliever
- Loaded Gun
- Kid
- How Do We Know
- New Frontier
- Waiting For The Silence
- Faith
- Moment In Sun
- November
- Rats
- Suzy
- 21st Century
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- E-Boogie
- What's On Your Radio?
- West End Riot

A majority of the new songs have a much heavier rock sound than their previous efforts. There was some diversity though and some songs are more polished than others. I'm really curious to see what will make the album and what the final versions will sound like. For the encore they played officially as The Living End, and the energy in the room just went to another level. These guys are amazing musicians and so fun to watch live.

Sorry

Today Australia said sorry to its indigenous people.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's speech: text or video

The Hour Has Come. A Nation Says Sorry The Age Editorial

Hands Across The Nation by Professor Mick Dodson

St. Kilda Festival

Today was the St. Kilda Festival along the Esplanade and St. Kilda Beach. Belinda and I headed down to the festival in the afternoon and got there just in time for The Longnecks, aka The Living End. The boys are playing a series of shows around Victoria to try out the new songs in front of an audience before recording. They played a rocking 45 minute set of all new stuff and finished with "West End Riot." I'm really looking forward to seeing them again on Saturday night. After a very delicious hot jam donut break, we hit the Max Beach Stage and watched Operator Please, who sounded great. They even did a cover of Devo's "Whip It." We decided to head for home after their set before it got too chaotic in the evening. It was a gorgeous day down by the beach.

Rufus Wainwright

After an afternoon of catching up with Will and Helen at Edinburgh Gardens in North Fitzroy (they are in town from the UK), I headed into the city to see Rufus Wainwright play at Hamer Hall. Despite being a fan of Rufus since his debut album, this was the first time I had seen him perform live. I had a seat up in the balcony with a great view of the whole stage. Rufus has a full band with him for most of this Australian tour, and they were excellent and very versatile musicians. The setlist:
- Release The Stars
- Going To A Town
- Sanssouci
- Rules And Regulations
- Matinee Idol
- The Art Teacher
- Tiergarten
- Leaving For Paris
- Between My Legs
(Intermission)
- The Consort
- Do I Disappoint You
- Foggy Day
- If Love Were All
- Beautiful Child
- Not Ready To Love
- Slideshow
- Macushlah
- 14th Street
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- I Don't Know What It Is
- Poses
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- Get Happy
- Gay Messiah

The sound in Hamer Hall was absolutely fantastic- the best I have ever heard at a concert. My favorite songs of the night were "Going To A Town," "Slideshow," and "Poses." The lighting and staging really enhanced a lot of the songs and Rufus performed material from all his albums. We even got a few Judy Garland numbers- complete with Rufus in drag for the encore. It was an amazing concert and I am so glad I went.

Little Red- SoCo Cargo

Last night Belinda and I ventured down to SoCo Cargo in St. Kilda to see Little Red play as part of the Sunday Soul Sessions. SoCo Cargo is a live venue made out of shipping containers that has traveled around the country. It was very comfy inside- especially since we got to sit in lounge chairs facing the stage. The boys played two sets of 40 minutes each and had many people up and dancing by the end of the night. The harmonies were gorgeous, as usual, and it was good to hear the old favorites along with newer material (really liked "Sad Song.") They have such a diverse range of songs it will be interesting to see what ends up on their debut album when it comes out sometime this year.

Here's the video "Waiting" for your viewing pleasure:

Happy Australia Day!

Today is Australia Day, although you wouldn't really know it by walking around as most stores are open. The day definitely doesn't seem to hold the same significance as Independence Day in the US. Here are some opinion pieces from The Age to read around Australia Day and national identify:
Australia Day In Question by John Hirst
True Blue In All Its Shades by Peter Goldsworthy
Our Flagging Enthusiasm by Michael Leunig
Why It's Australian To Be Un-Australian by Larissa Dubecki

Juno

Tonight Belinda and I went to see the movie "Juno." It stars Ellen Page as Juno, a sarcastic teenager who ends up getting pregnant by her good friend, Paulie Bleeker, played by Michael Cera. Juno decides to have the baby but puts it up for adoption. She finds a couple to adopt her unborn child through a local paper. The movie is very well written and explores not only Juno's feelings during and after pregnancy, but also that of the couple who are desperate for a child and scared that Juno will back out on them at the last minute. I thought Jennifer Gardner and Jason Bateman were great as the couple and a lot of their scenes were really touching. "Juno" has received four Academy Awards nominations, so you should definitely go check it out.

Conan Doesn't Need Writers

Happy New Year

It is 2008 here in Australia and soon to be in the United States. I spent my New Year's Eve at The Espy in St. Kilda with Tash and her friend Steve listening to various bands. We caught the second half of Children Collide's set, rang in the new year with Architecture in Helsinki and caught a couple songs from Rocket Science before heading home. It was an incredibly hot night as temperatures during the day were 41/106 degrees, and it was still 30/86 degrees by the time I got home around 3:00 am. I've been lying low today as it reached 41 degrees again, but a cool change has finally come through, so I should be able to sleep tonight. I hope you all have a fantastic 2008!

St. Kilda Esplanade

Today Missy and I took the tram to St. Kilda to wander around. Our first stop was to look in the windows of the cake shops on Acland Street. From there we walked to Luna Park so Missy could get photos of the entrance and then we headed to the stalls of the Sunday Esplanade Market. There were quite a few vendors there who were also at the Night Market on Wednesday. Unfortunately for Missy, the one vendor she wanted to buy from who had paper-mache ornaments was not there. For lunch we walked down the pier to the kiosk, where we had toasted sandwiches and hot chocolate. A brief rain shower passed over while we were eating, but the weather was calm again when we headed back towards the beach.

Once we were back in the city we stopped at a few shops so Missy could buy some souvenirs and gifts to take home. She headed back out to Brunswick Street for more shopping while I headed home so I could get some groceries and food for dinner. It has been great to have Missy here for a visit and I think she has enjoyed her stay in Australia. Tomorrow she flies back to LA, just in time for Christmas.

Yarra Valley Wine Tour

Missy and I were up bright and early this morning to meet up with our van for a wine tour of the Yarra Valley. Our tour guide was Cameron from the Australian Wine Tour Company and he gave us amusing commentary as we made the hour drive to the Yarra Valley from Melbourne. Our first stop was Yering Station, where we had our first taste of wine at 10:45 am! Missy and I sampled probably half of the wines available for tasting. After checking out their gift shop we went for a wander around the lush grounds and took pictures.

Our next stop was Rochford Wines. We went to their tasting room first, where we got to sample more wine as well as hear about the Day on the Green concerts they hold at the winery. After our tasting we went into their large dining area and sat at a table by the fireplace for our gourmet lunch. Both Missy and I had the grilled tuna with Asian greens, which was yummy. We also got a full glass of wine with lunch, and it was funny to see how most of the group were barely touching it. After lunch we checked out the grounds before heading back onto the van.

Yering Farm was the smallest vineyard we visited. Their tasting room is a former hay shed and they joked about the fact that the rust was authentic. Their wines are more boutique and aged longer than most other places. We were able to taste wines from their different ranges, which were all good. While we were there the skies opened up and it just poured rain. Thankfully it stopped as we went to leave.

The last place we visited was Domaine Chandon, the complete antithesis of Yering Farm. Our guide Cameron gave us a tour of the winery and cellars, explaining the different steps taken to make the sparkling wine along the way. We then went to their huge tasting room and had a glass of the sparkling wine of our choice, along with some cheese and crackers. Missy went for the red sparkling wine while I stuck with the classic dry. As the rain began to fall again we all headed back to the van for the drive back to Melbourne. The tour was really good and I highly recommend it if you are ever in town.

Evening Adventures

My cousin Missy has come to stay with me for a week, so we have been out having fun around town. On Tuesday night we headed down to the Corner Hotel in Richmond to see Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set in concert. The first opening act was Whitley who was drunk or on something because he didn't make much sense when talking. We thought shoegazer music was over, but he is bringing it back. He even did an emo version of Bjork's "Hyper-Ballad." The real stars of the night were Little Red, who played a very energetic set on the smaller second stage, including my favorite song of theirs, "Misty I." Missy was impressed and deemed them a band to watch. We stayed for most of Clare Bowditch's set but left around 11 pm as it was hot in the venue and we were both tired.

On Wednesday we were joined by Belinda and went to the Night Market at the Queen Victoria Market. It was another hot evening, but we checked out all the various booths and sampled the food. We had gozleme first and then the honey dumplings with chocolate and ice cream. While wandering around we even ran into Michelle and Ruth.

Tonight Missy met me at work and we headed across the road to The Commune for dinner and jazz, which is a regular Thursday night event. Mel had reserved a table, and it was good to see both Carlene, who is teaching at the Victorian International School of Sharjah, and Marg, who is doing teacher coaching at schools in New York. They were both back in Melbourne for the holidays. The jazz music was good (they played some Jobim) and my dish of pad thai was yummy. Missy and I had a delay of 20 minutes at the train station because of all the thunderstorms, but we managed to make it home safe and dry.

The Party Season

It's that time of year when you can't escape attending a bunch of parties. On Friday we had our Department Christmas party at work. By 2:30 pm most people were outside in the Printer's Court vying for shade and a cool drink. It was a very hot day so I only lasted an hour and a half before heading home.

On Saturday Michelle held her 30th birthday party at the Fitzroy Victoria Bowling and Sports Club. After eating a barbeque dinner we headed out to the greens to commence lawn bowling. By the end of the night my bowling had improved significantly. Michelle had four flavors of cupcakes for us to eat for dessert. It was a fun night and good to catch up with everyone.

Today I headed up to Kalorama for Peter and Mark's Christmas party. Rosemaree was kind enough to give me a ride. The boys have purchased more art since I was last up there, so we had a bit of an art walk around the house. Lunch was good but we had so much food to eat I was bursting by the end of it. I got a nice picture frame from Rosemaree and this beautiful bronze statuette with mirror from Peter and Mark. Overall it was a very busy weekend but nice to spend time with people I haven't seen in a while.