As something of an addendum to my previous posts on photoblogging and Brisvegas blogging, my best friend P and I discussed all this tonight over Tahbilk Rieslings at Rock* Cafe (aka Aromas) in Adelaide St and we’ve decided to spend at least one day a week for the first six months of this year on blogging Brisvegas and its culture and its history with photos. Where this will end up we don’t know yet, though we might use it to leverage our campaign to have lots of laneway goodness in this town just like in Melbourne. But we’ll be trying to gather some oral history, as well as some contemporary oral sociology. So it’s a thing at any rate, and a thing that might be blogged a bit here though I suspect that its primary site will be Brisculture. There’ll certainly be some crossposting and some linking going on. We’ll also be using an actual digital camera and not just my phone. And also having better captions and lots more text between the photos.
Anyway, this isn’t really part of it, but just to get some practice in, here’s some photoblogging of where I’ve been tonight. What have you been up to this Friday night?
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/rockstar.JPG"
The night begins @ Rock* with plots to photoblog Brisvegas
After some dinner, we return to my place and eat gelati and drink BruichLaddich and watch Inugami on dvd, but this part of the evening isn’t photoblogged. It’s the third time I’ve watched this dvd in a week. I rented a heap of Japanese and Korean horror movies last week, and this one was so out of the box and such a standout I showed it to my flatmate Michael on Wednesday night and bought a copy of the dvd this arvo to give P as a new year present. I’ve figured out it’s the first time we’ve met in person this year and that seems wrong.
We decide to visit Japan later this year. What’s a good time to go? Is it cheaper than going to Prague?
The malt whiskey is a gift from Brian, his wife and my brother for Xmas. I’m following the injunction on the card and am drinking it slowly. We’ve speculated that if we had some vanilla gelati, and proper coffee bean grinding equipment, we could have had scotch ice cream. This would not be the same as Affogato. Not that there’s anything wrong with Affogato.
I walk P down to Brunswick St Station, and on the way back, bizarrely see my ex M whom I haven’t laid eyes on for about 7 years. I thought she was living in Germany. I’d seen the baby photos. We don’t make eye contact.
I am tempted but refrain from popping into Bowery for the third Southside in a fortnight. On the walk down, I’d been unable to recall the name. It wasn’t a Sidecar. I know it’s a cocktail starting with s and having two syllables, and served into a martini glass. None of this is a help, and we discount Google in advance. But the name pops into my head as soon as P is on the train. I get to send her a text instead of having to visit the bar to find out the name.
As we walked past the Brunswick Hotel, some chick leaned out of the window of her Holden and yelled out “Black slut!”. We’re quite puzzled by this as there’s only a white guy with a designer t-shirt on walking in front of us, and a bunch of old blokes standing outside the pub having a ciggie with their schooners. We’re probably too old to be taken for sluts now and we’re white as the driven snow. She’s probably been illegally dragracing along Brunswick St which is very long and straight. It must be some sort of reflex yob action. Maybe she thinks the black trannie prostitute who always cornerstands outside the laundromat is always there. But she’s not there right now, and she’s probably with a client. The streetwalkers are not in evidence tonight. Perhaps they’re busy, or perhaps the cops have decided to arrest them for once. Odd.
So I catch the bus up to New Farm, and approach Alibi.
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<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/alibifromthestreet.JPG"
Two glasses of Ninth Island Pinot Grigio in Alibi, and I wonder what the group sitting around the table behind me have been up to. In the four hours or so that have elapsed since we left Rock*, they’ve followed a different trajectory to the Alibi from the same starting point. We’d seen them all drinking the same green cocktail there around 6pm. One of the girls took a photo. The moment at which we decided we could take a photo ourselves had passed. But evidently a large group drinking the same green cocktail at the same time is photoworthy. We’re yet to perfect asking permission, but have plans. And quizzes worked out.
We muse on the fact that Rock* has regulars, but because it’s not a bar, we never meet. But if we’re regular enough, we get to the point of exchanging knowing glances. We wondered if we could have a horizontal relationship with other Rock* drinkers instead of all sorts of groups of drinkers having vertical relationships with the wonderful staff. If we could draw a diagram to get this across, we would. We’ve dubbed one guy with a moustache and a suit who’s always there no matter what hour of the day or day of the week “Martin”. We have a vague feeling that actually might be his name, but maybe we made it up. He looks very much like a Spanish aristocrat. But that might be nuts. Who knows, we’ve never spoken. If the Alibi crew are also Rock* regulars, they might know him. But I bet they’re in the same conundrum we’re in.
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/insidealibi.JPG"
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/insidealibi2.JPG"
They look like they’re into the gins. That’s always a temptation after a few cocktails or wines, because it feels like a soft drink. But it’s bad headache news in the morning. Not necessarily hangover, but headache. Even if you drink Bombay Sapphire. It’s not the gin that gives you the headache but too much soda water. I’m convinced of that.
I’m tired and I decide to go home.
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/headingdownbrunswick.JPG"
I have to turn right into Crackwhore St to get home. Attempt to photograph the Catholic Archbishop’s palace fail. I need a camera to do that, not just a phone.
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/turnright.JPG"
I suspect that this is actually the best photo I’ve taken all night, because I’ve had to think about it so that I can make sure the street sign is visible. Another tip for the budding photographer! Think!
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/almosthome.JPG"
At the corner of my street. Almost home. I definitely need a camera.
Japan cheaper than Prague? Are you kidding?
Maybe the airfare, but come on Japan is probably one of the THE most expensive places to go as a tourist.
If you want to visit eastern Europe, I can also suggest Poland. Still cheap, very beautiful and lots of fun. Then there is also Dubrovnik, haven’t been there myself, but I hear good things.
Thats just my 2 herrings worth.
Great post Mark. I quite liked the trip through Brisvegas nighlife via the drinks list.
Pingu is right that Japan is expensive but don’t let that bother you. April is the best time as if you pick the right week, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. In 92, my sister visited Japan when I was a living there and we followed the cherry blossoms over a week from Kyushu to Tokyo. We hit Kyoto when the trees were in full bloom and sight of the old temples framed by the blossoms is still vivid 15 years later.
Otherwise go in September/October after summer has ended. The weather will still be nice but the stinking humidity will have gone.
Great post Mark.
My Father-in-law lives on Sydney Street overlooking New Farm Park. I absolutely love visiting and checking out the vibrant night life. Oh, and the girls are just so puurrty too. Just sayin.
Mark, you should have a look at Darren Prowse’s Digital Photography School.
The school also has a group at flickr.
Many of the articles probably won’t interest you – more complex post-production, discussions about the sort of cameras you can actually buy different lenses for, and so on, but there are articles like “How to be a curious photographer“, which are useful no matter what sort of equipment you have.
My digital camera is probably the lowest-end you can get without being inside a phone – the Kodak Easyshare C310, today’s equivalent of the Box Brownie. No optical zoom, no white balance adjust, no nothing. It has a flash.
I’m enjoying finding out what you can do with low-end equipment.
Also, groups that might be interested in the Crackwhore St sign are Brisbanites (who seem to be the largest and most active of the several groups about Brisbane) and Brisbane Graffiti.
And you might want to download Picasa if you don’t have it – it is mainly for organising photos, but it lets you do basic post-production and is very easy to use (I had never altered a photo on a computer before using it).
I generally use it for cropping and adjusting light levels.
Fun beginning to the Brisblog, Mark!
Re. Japan…
“one of THE most expensive places…”, sez Pingu?
Compared to most of the world?…yes.
Compared to Eastern Europe?…probably, most of the time, although Eastern Europe doubtless continues to catch up (I haven’t been for a long time).
Compared to Northwest Europe (as in UK Scandinavia)?…not at all.
I had two work trips to Japan last year. I thoroughly enjoyed both, know that I am now stuck with a permanent fascination for Japan, and will be back.
Prices? I think petrol was about the same as here. Was able to get a small room in a friendly hotel in central Tsukuba for about $70/night. And if you wander round the food halls in modern built-up areas, the corner supermarkets, or the little specialist, family-run micro-restaurants in more traditional places, you can get superb light meals for $5-6 and more substantial courses for $12 or less. That does not strike me as outrageous compared to, say, Brisbane. But do eat Japanese, not “foreign” (curries and Italian are all the rage at the moment, expensive, and dreadful).
One thing that can mount up is transport. If you spend a lot of time travelling round Tokyo, with its millions of different suburbs with completely different looks, feels, and characters, then you will spend a lot of time changing trains on the subway, and having to buy new tickets at a couple of bucks a pop (usually 130-300 Yen) for the next leg of the journey since most tickets only cover trips on lines run by a single operator out of the 30-odd. And the fast trains to get you to other cities cost, too. The 600 km to Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe is a few hundred $ return, but very fast (under 4 hours), smooth and clean.
I agree completely with Shaun about which seasons to go. Summer is hot, sticky and typhoon-prone. Winter can be very cold up North, and it gets dark ridiculously early in the afternoon because Japan is very far East in its time zone. Even in mid-November, it was getting dark at 4pm in Tsukuba (60 km from Tokyo) but was light at 6am. Early Autumn and the Cherrymania season of Spring are purportedly perfect.
And the standards of service, friendliness, and courtesy are generally phenomenal.
Go for it, and have a great trip!
You live in New Farm, go to a bar in the Valley and order a drink called *Southside*? Feh. Don’t drink it, live it.
My two cents on Europe: if the dominant church uses Latin Liturgical Rites, it ain’t really eastern.
d
Thanks folks – we were actually thinking of spending a week outside the cities – presumably the prices are lower. And I imagine airfares to Japan are cheaper than to Europe.
I think Jetstar goes to Japan now… and I’ve heard that you can eat cheaply too at the right places. Electronics might not be cheaper… but you’d certainly get the latest stuff that takes donkey’s years to get here. Maybe you should get your camera over there?
Jeez… I’m talking as if I’ve been to Japan… but really I’m just saying what “they” say. Das Man speaking through me, y’know…
You should check out Mt Fuji… I had a look at it on Google Earth and it looks like it had only recently erupted. Not sure how recent the satellite picture is though.
Been 11 years since I was last in Japan but I’ll echo Cliff’s remark that the electronics aren’t any cheaper than what you’ll find in Australia. Just way, way cooler.
One of the best views of Fuji is via the Shinkansen if you plan to travel that way. A Japan Rail Pass is good value for getting around the country.
My best view was from a JAL 747 flying from Tokyo to Kyushu. I was oblivious till a stewardess came and got me from my seat and ushered me up the front of the plane to a window and told me to look down. We were flying right over a snowcovered Mt Fuji. It was an incredible sight.
Sorry… had too many quotation marks in those previous two hyperlinks… fixed now. Click Here
Bombay Sapphire is sugary toilet water. I suggest Tanqueray Number 10.
On Saturday night I found myself across the road from Alibi in Gertie’s. I have never been in there before. Way less hip crowd that at the Alibi — but the beer’s cheaper.
BTW Mark I have been thinking of “supporting” L.P. by sticking your name up on the drinks board at Alibi. I’m down for Taco Tuesday this week with a mate so I’ll try to remember to buy you a drink or three then.
Japan can be very exxy. Plus, if you’re like me, the exchange rate will confuse the dickens out of you and you’ll spend far more money than you thought you were.
Not having been to Prague, I can’t speak as to which is better value for money. However, after visiting Tokyo in 2005 I have vowed to go back, because I thought it was an amazing place. I was there in August and it was pretty sticky but not exactly hot.
(If you do go to Tokyo, you MUST go to the Edo-Tokyo musuem. This was one of the most amazing musuems I have ever seen. And I was only there for two hours.)
Berlin is very, very cool. Heaps better than any other European capital (that I’ve been to anyway). If only I had better German than simple high school German I’d be off like like a shot looking for a job there.
Cheers, T. Rex.
Depends how you define “hip” I guess. I’ve never been a fan of Gerties and have only been there once or twice in the past few years. A while back it used to be the favoured venue for 20 something marketing and advertising types who considered themselves “hip”.
And thanks, Kate, and everyone for the Japan advice!
Friday night? Why, thanks for asking. Lessee now…
Lunch: 2 jugs of Coopers and a few games of pool with a mate. More drinks and a quiet smoke or two at his place. Later, after a little sobering-up and preparation for a house move, some d-bangers and bourbons with another mate, and then a 2am nude swim in his pool. (My first male-only skinny-dip. It made for healthily humourous conversation later.)
By 3am I’d convinced him to come into town, and straight to Geisha it was. Almost immediately, as we waited at the entrance, he recognised a lass and her friend, and from there it was to the lounging area. After a little sweet-talking, one drink, and some slightly indiscreet fumbling, we dropped them home. Whereupon, despite my hopes for a (ahem) pleasant finish to the evening, the young lass with whom I’d shared a cigarette and personal details took off the loo for a bout of spewing. Phone number from her friend; insistence upon my friend’s part that they were 18, not 21 as I’d been told. Wide and self-indlugent smile on my part.
No matter: to Scabs it was to join a coupla young lasses who’d found a coupla leftover, um, things from New Year. A glass of two of wine, far too many cigarettes, and a short drive later, we reclined in the backyard by the pool and finished off the aforementioned bourbon. Departure time, midday Saturday; home arrival, 12.30pm – precisely 24 hours after I left work for lunch the previous day.
Result: a brief, pleasant thrill and two phone numbers. Now, it’s time to prepare for next Friday…
The Tahblik Marsanne is awesome. I highly recommend it.
Tried it, harry, though I haven’t seen it in any bars. Agreed – it’s a great wine.
Looks to me like that blonde girl with the straw wanted you to buy her a drink!
Not sure her b/f in the blue t-shirt did, though!
Ah well, like a Blundestone!
The Iraq thread was a bit intense, but as it’s topical, I’d like to recommend ‘In The Shadow Of The Palms’, which will be screened on ABC this Thursday evening. ‘Twas the last film I ever saw at the Schonell
Thanks, Megan.
The Schonell was a very sad loss!
Hurrah! This was a very pleasant read and I look forward to more.
Thanks!
Must get a decent camera soon…
Mark, if you’re looking for a good compact camera for future friday night photoblogs you probably can’t go past the Fujifilm F30. By far the best sensor in its class for lowlight shooting and a nice big screen. Pick up an xD card on eBay and you’ll be away.
Thanks, dk.au, I’ll check it out.