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111 Things Outside

#26 – Spend a weekend in Daylesford

26 – Take the book and spend a weekend in Daylesford to experience the official spa centre of Victoria – August 30, 2013

To get to #26 of the list, you first have to pass #25, buying a book at Hill of Content. Since this blog is written by a German, and German follow rules sehr ordentlich, I’ve been to Hill of Content and bought a book. To be specific, I got Peter Temple’s Truth, a detective story set in Melbourne. Having done the purchase last week on Monday, pressure built up to complete the necessary #26 and to relieve my consciousness of that obligation.

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Eating Melbourne

In Melbourne steht ein Hofbräuhaus

Although the list is a major influence of our leisure time, there are pockets of fun that sidetrack the list. When compiling the list, I heavily relied on the recommendations of local Melbournians. That might be the reason why the Hofbräuhaus fell through the cracks and didn’t make the list. But rather than delving into an archeology session at this point, let’s get to the good stuff.

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111 Things Events

#51 – Scream your heart out at a footy match at the MCG

#51 – Scream your heart out at a footy match at the MCG … and go with somebody who can explain what’s going on – August 16, 2013

Australia is a country with a strong sports culture, which makes sense if you consider the good weather and thereby excellent conditions for sports outside. Early on we were introduced to the culture through the Australian Open in January, the Formula One in March and the excitement that built up throughout those events. However, if you follow the news, those events represent only a glitch in the sports year. The major share of news coverage goes to what the Aussies call footy (which is the abbreviation of Australian Rules Football, Aussie rules or even shorter footy) – even in summer and early autumn, when the season wasn’t even on. Footy is Australia’s contribution to the “kick the ball in the goal” ecosystem of sports, which from an outsiders perspective looks like the love child of soccer, rugby and American football.

At this point, I’ve lost the respect of every Aussie who started reading and no Australian continues to read this post. Comparing footy to American Football is for any Aussie at least as offensive as faking a British accent in front of a Brit and expecting him to find it amusing. Now that we’ve lost the southern hemisphere, let’s continue with the post.

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111 Things Eating

#53 – Romantic dinner at Moon Under Water

#53 – Wine and dine your girl at Moon Under Water and talk about the George Orwell essay after which it is named – August 7, 2013

The Moon Under Water is an essay that Orwell wrote in 1946 for the Evening Standard. He describes in detail his most favourite pub, the Moon Under Water. It sports features like being quiet enough for a pleasant conversation, serving snacks and having a family friendly garden. The impatient reader can get a quick overview at Wikipedia. However, the full essay is not that long either and worth the extra five minutes. Unfortunately, Orwell’s Moon Under Water is just his ideal of a pub and he had yet to find it. “I have mentioned above ten qualities that the perfect pub should have and I know one pub that has eight of them. Even there, however, there is no draught stout, and no china mugs.”

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Melbourne

Dear Melbourne

You can be so much more. So much more than the stormy days, grey and rainy as they were throughout the last few weeks. So much more than the coldness that sneaks up on you, won’t leave you for days on end and drives your heating bill into astronomical heights. Honestly, you’ve been quite a turd.

But Melbourne, you can be so beautiful, so exciting. I even dare to say, you can be adventurous. Your bright cloudless skies that sport a blue like no other. Your crisp air on a sunny winter day that is warm enough to be outside just with a sweater. Your outdoorsy culture that invites for a stroll along the beach, a sit down in a lane-way cafe or a bike ride through Albert Park. You’ve been so fabulous this weekend that I forgive you. I forgive you your grumpy misdemeanour over that last couple of weeks. We’re friends again and I’m so looking forward to spending my first spring with you. The last two days’ preview makes me look forward to spring, summer and autumn so much. Just give me a couple of days to get my bike fixed and then I’m ready.

The two of us will have so much fun together.

Your BFF,
Michael

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111 Things Uncategorized

#20 – Watch an art house movie at Cinema Nova

#20 Stroll along leafy Lygon Street to discover Little Italy and watch an art house movie at Cinema Nova – Monday, June 3, 2013

Go and watch “The Hunt”. It is one of the best movies of the year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Umv4CyxTdg

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTg2NDg3ODg4NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzk3NTc3Nw@@._V1_SY317_CR4,0,214,317_.jpg

Michael, Emma and I strolled a negligible amount of Lygon Street to get to Cinema Nova on a Monday in June.  After a quick pizza at Trotters, we stocked up on supermarket treats from the Woolworths below the theatre – an excellent local tip from Emma. We filed into a very cold cinema to watch a very chilling film.

The Hunt is an art house film and the antithesis of a Hollywood blockbuster.  The story brews slowly, the cinematography is beautiful and the acting is subtle.  The wintery scenes of kids in onesy playsuits brought back memories of Munich but this tale could play out anywhere. The lead figure, Lucas, is a kindergarten teacher in a small Danish town.  The story was shown from his perspective, but if another point of view had been used, the film would have been quite a different story.  The question of trust in such uneven relationships can never be as clear as the film’s vision but the last few scenes were incredibly poignant.

I found the dilemma of child abuse in an educational setting extremely relevant.  There are two men in our class of 24 primary teacher trainees and from day one, the message for them has been “be cautious”.  Do not be alone with a chid in a room.  Do not touch a child if you do not need to.  Never initiate a hug.  Tell someone quickly if something happens.

In the beginnings of the film Lucas is established as a well-respected member of the community.  He is an engaged teacher, a helpful friend to his hunting buddies, a catch for his new girlfriend, and a reliable friend and adult in Klara’s world.  This good reputation comes crashing down when Klara tells Grete, the kindergarten leader, that Lucas exposed himself.  We, the audience, knows this is a false accusation. However, for Lucas’ friends, colleagues and the townsfolk, the accusation is believed, repeated by several children and too hard to bear.  Child abuse is too big a violation of trust and taboos that Lucas never received the benefit of the doubt.  Only his son and one friend stand by him.

At the end of the film there are two powerful scenes of rebuilding shattered trust.  Lucas and Theo share food and silence.  The friendship, dating back to mopeds, is given a latent chance to heal.  A final scene with Klara and Lucas together was heart wrenching and yet uplifting.  Lucas’ optimism outweighs my own.

Please go and see The Hunt.  The subject matter is heavy but the film is amazing.

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Uncategorized

Dear Diary

Today was a good day. Jogging in the morning sun along the beach, biking to St Kilda for brunch with friends, a little nap at noon, more biking to Elwood for afternoon steak, watching a perfect sunset at St Kilda beach, being amazed by Super Moon, finishing the day off with Sunday Movie night with friends. It’s been a very good Melbournian day filled with sun, friends and fresh air. Thank you, I’m glad we’re here.

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111 Things

#97 – A day out in the Dandenongs

#97 – Stroll the little boutiques and shops in the Dandenongs and eat out at Cockoo and take a hike along the thousand steps – Sunday, June 9 2013

This is basically a triple feature of (i) the thousand steps, (ii) the little shops in Sassafras (great name!) and (iii) an “authentic Bavarian experience” at Cuckoo’s. But let’s start with the thousand steps. As we were in the middle of a long weekend and anticipating crowds, we got up bright and early to get to the Dandenongs. The streets were empty and the drive was smooth. I’m still getting used to driving on the left side (which is not the right side) and I’m still missing the efficiency of the Autobahn and its lack of traffic lights.

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111 Things

The Doomed Present – the Alternative List

It can be difficult to find presents for Michael, but this year, I felt like I was onto a good thing. Our friend Lucy had recently visited San Fransisco and explained about a list (*alarm bells* Michael likes lists), which her local friends made with the top 100 things to do in San Fransisco. I thought that could transfer quite nicely to Melbourne.  So I sent this email to a bunch of friends on April 30, hoping to elicit excellent ideas for my list:

Hi,

Michael’s birthday is coming upon May 25th and I’m hoping you’ll help me with a gift…
I want to make him a book of “Top Things To Do In And Around Melbourne” and I would love your contributions :)

Please send me your top 5 things to do (10 if you’re ambitious), in either English or German. And as I have learnt from teaching 5 year olds, the best writing is always accompanied by a picture. Thus please attach a photo, hand drawn picture or use your mad MS Paint skillz. The more personalised the recommendation and picture, the better.

I will collate the pages and make a book to present him at his party on the 25th. You’re invited.. Michael will be in touch soon.

Please send me your contributions by Saturday May 11.

Thanks in advance!

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111 Things

#54 – Breakfast at Chez Dre

#54 – Have dessert with your breakfast at Chez Dre – Saturday, June 1 2013

DSC_8551Having had dinner at the Waiters Club the previous night, we were brave and chose to tackle Chez Dre directly the following morning. Chez Dré is a patisserie/ boulangerie, or as normal people call it, a café located in a small side street in South Melbourne. One week into the list and we kind of get it: good venues are in lane-ways and you have to know in advance where to go to. There is no such thing as discovery by chance. Similar to last week, when we had breakfast at St Ali’s, we just went there without making a reservation. However this week we arrived two hours later, i.e. during the breakfast rush hour in South Melbourne. The place was packed and so we had to wait some time to be seated. We put our names on the list, went out to get some groceries from the South Melbourne market and came back about 20 minutes later. Not much progress on the seating front. So we waited and engaged in light people-watching. A fashionable crowd, not quite as hip as you would see it in Brunswick, but definitely paying attention to their outer appearance. Harriet was very intimidated.

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