Meet me at the cactus

by Cellobella on Monday, September 5, 2011 · 1 comment

Close up cactus

Saw the million dollar artwork for Perth yesterday.

Perth train station

Do I love it?

Am I supposed to?

Is that the point of public art?

I’ll give it this much… it stands out.

And I kind of like that about public art.

It can’t always be tasteful and classic… a statue of the great and good… usually a white male.

Oh yes the statue of Sir Charles Court is due to be unveiled soon…

Not that I’ve got anything against Sir Charles.

I danced with him once at the Shinju Matsuri ball in Broome, and I must say he was quite light on his feet.

But we need more than a statue in Forrest Place.

We need a statement.

Does it make a difference that the artist – James Angus – has an impressive resume.

Has his art in several state galleries and collections.

Holds a masters from Yale.

It shouldn’t.

We should take each artwork on its own merits.

We should respond to it, or not, and gauge its value by the strength of the reaction it evokes.

And on that basis, well, this has to be a triumph.

If nothing else, it is certainly a landmark.

Meet you at the cactus next time we’re in Perth.

Your shout.

 

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Why graffiti is so annoying and… powerful

by Cellobella on Monday, August 8, 2011 · 1 comment

Now I want to preface these remarks by saying that my thoughts on this subject have not been influenced by anything like a scientific study or even from a learned source of any kind, nay not even wikipedia.

I’ve noticed that when you are looking around in a landscape your eyes are naturally drawn to the written word.

It’s as if our eyes seek out letters and try and discern some meaning, to make sense of the world.

I first noticed this when I was pregnant.

You see I can read anywhere at anytime.

In a car, on a bus, on the back of a motorbike and I never get carsick.

Unless I’m with child.

(what a lovely phrase that is)

When I’m in the first trimester, reading even a word while travelling makes me feel nauseous.

In fact, that’s usually the first sign I’m up the duff.

And of course my eyes seemed to be drawn to every word in the landscape.

Street signs, billboards, graffiti.

Those days are over, but they did alert me to this phenomenon that as humans we seek to decode our world.

And words in the landscape act as captions for what we see.

Of course many of them don’t make sense, but it doesn’t stop our eyes finding them.

And that’s why I think graffiti is so annoying and powerful.

Simply because you can’t not see it.

Even when you try and ignore it, your eyes won’t let you.

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A sticking point does not mar perfection

by Cellobella on Sunday, August 7, 2011 · 3 comments

ravioli with pumpkin, preserved lemon and sage sauce... yum

I went to dinner at Unraveled last night.

Took some doing.

Mainly because in my head I thought I was trying to book “Entangled”.

Which isn’t a bad name for a pasta restaurant I thought.

Anyhow I couldn’t find a reference to my imagined destination online but I could find the number to the restaurant it used to be – The Twisted Fork – so I rang that number and we were in!

I think they call them selves Unraveled because that is how they present their menu.

You choose the pasta, the protein and the sauce separately.

So many of the sauces sounded delicious.

I tried the mushroom sauce with chicken and saffron linguine – which was a special kind of divine.

And the spinich and ricotta ravioli with pumpkin, preserved lemon and sage was also delicious.

The bread and butter pudding with white chocolate and raspberry – diet starts today!

The service – friendly and prompt.

My one question.

Should you take the sticker off the lime before you serve it?

Yeah.

That’s what I think.

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Installing Thesis theme

by Cellobella on Sunday, August 7, 2011

Yeah.

I’m bored.

A Sunday and I’m thinking lets change the look of the blog.

Note: Have already crashed the blog twice installing random plugins and it wasn’t broke in the first place.

So expect some changes peeps.

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Feeling like a grown up

by Cellobella on Friday, August 5, 2011 · 2 comments

There are a few times during your life when you feel like a grown up.

Antler New Zero cabin and medium sizes

You know, even at the age of forty-something-let’s-not-go-there, inside I still feel 17…okay maybe 22, are you the same?

And when I look in the mirror or catch a glimpse of my reflection in the window of the train sometimes I get a little unpleasant shock.

But there have been times in my life when I’ve suddenly thought… shit.  I’m a grown up.

Owning a mortgage on a house with a linen cupboard and larder – felt like a grown up then!

When I walked out of the hospital with my newborn.

The first time I travelled on my own.

Wearing matching underwear for the first time.

And today when I picked up my first ever set of matching luggage.

Grown. Up.

The luggage

I wanted matching cases, with the small one able to be used as hand luggage on domestic flights.

They had to have spinners – four wheels.

And they had to have those in-built groovy combination locking mechanisms.

I really wanted red luggage.

But.

This stuff was 41% off so it was practically free right?

I could live with bronze.

Happiness.

So why does it have to be matched luggage?

You know, I don’t know.

I mean the times I will actually use both at the same time will be few and far between.

And it’s not as if there are luggage police – well not ones that are interested in whether they match or not.

“Excuse me madam, we see you don’t have matching luggage… please come this way…”

Or.

“Last month you were spotted with a black suitcase, today yours is bronze… please explain!”

Bronze.  A fancy pants way of saying beige.

Matched luggage is just… nice.

Smart.

Grown up.

So ‘fess up.

What makes you feel grown up?

And how old are you inside?

;)

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Cottesloe in winter

by Cellobella on Monday, August 1, 2011 · 2 comments

A cold blustery morning at Cottesloe Beach
The beach has all but disappeared
And there is so much seaweed on the beach that remains.
Still the scenery isn’t all bad

I haven’t been down to Cottesloe in a while and I was surprised to see the beach all but gone.

 
I know it diminishes in the winter but I’ve never seen so much seaweed.
 
Still the walk down to the Naked Fig for breakfast was invigorating.
 
And the gale force wind pushed me back up the hill on my way home – bonus.
 
I had a chat to one of the trainers of the Hawthorn Football Club as well – who commented on the weather – I pointed out that even at its worst it’s warmer than Melbourne to which he agreed. 
 
The boys were walking a bit slowly (wonder why… :) ) so we powered past them towards our coffee and some great service.
 
And I was glad I had decided against wearing my Dockers scarf.
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A lament for lost opportunity

by Cellobella on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 · 4 comments

Oswal house, Peppermint Grove

Oswal home now abandoned

The Taj Mahal on the Swan it was called, a family home for the now financially troubled Oswals, a potential tourism attraction,  gathering autumn leaves in the corners as it sits, abandoned.

Okay.

A little over the top you might say.

For a family of four.

An appalling waste of money.

Maybe.

But there’s something inspiring about it too don’t you think?

I mean, to have such a vision, even if it isn’t to your taste…. to spend $70M on that dream.

One woman’s dream.

I love that.

I wouldn’t do it myself, but then I wouldn’t like making decisions on new taps let alone a whole house, let alone a mansion.

I love the fact that some people go there.

This is how the great houses of England were built.

How the Taj Mahal was built.

One man’s dream.

I’m kind of sad that maybe they have to sell it half done.

That we will never see the Taj Mahal on the Swan.

Mind you… we did see Prix d’Amour… and I’m not sure that was such a good thing.

What’s the betting the new owners knock our Taj over and divide up the blocks.

Sigh.

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Rainbow at cottesloe station

by Cellobella on Thursday, June 30, 2011 · 2 comments

Rainbow - I have nothing more to add

No story.
Just a rainbow.
Isn’t that enough?

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“She’s just got big bones” takes on a new meaning

by Cellobella on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 · 5 comments

So... would you say she's just big boned?

So I walked past this window display the other day.

It’s been there for a while but today I actually looked at it.

I’m not sure I like it.

It’s probably an ironic statement about the skeletal frames we see on the catwalk but even so…

I mean it’s not Halloween or anything.

Does it entice me to go into the store.

Not so much.

I guess it stands out.

What do you think?

Yea or Nay to skeletons as manniquins?

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Stand to the left Perth – and make our city better!

by Cellobella on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 · 7 comments

Warning: Rant alert

Perth Train Station at 8 in the morning

A foggy morning.

The rain splattered against the skylight in my bathroom so I knew it was raining.

Raining!

Deep happiness.

I walk into my bedroom to get changed and I can hear this weird rushing sound.

I check to see if the overhead fan is on… or maybe the reverse cycle air-conditioning.

No.

What is that weird sound?

It’s coming from outside.

I check through the blind.

Oh.

It’s the rain.

The pouring rain.

I’d forgotten what pouring rain sounded like.

Later…

The train was packed at a quarter to eight.

Standing room only.

And when we got to Perth Station the train disgorged its damp and steaming passengers into a mass of humanity.

It swelled at the bottleneck of the escalator.

Does this happen anywhere else in the world?

I have only seen it in Perth.

In London, in Washington DC, in New York, in Paris – much larger populations – the commuters flow like a river, a babbling brook.

But in Perth no – every morning – a huge swell of people trying to get on the escalator.

And here’s why.

No-one stands to the left.

There is no fast moving lane to the right.

Crazy town.

It’s the same on the roads, but don’t get me started.

I would love it if someone could stand there – some official in a high viz vest and just educate my fellow commuters.

Stand to left, walk to the right.

It’s a simple message.

And couldn’t we have some posters in the trains or something?

We have posters for everything else.

C’mon Perth – it’s not that hard.

You can do it.

Seriously.

You CAN do it.

Please?

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