Boxing Day Melbourne: Ashes

Going down to Melbourne Xmas night, picking up Harris along the way, I was joined by Melissa and Greg to get into the MCG the next day, for the highly anticipated Boxing Day Ashes test.

We joined Belinda, painted Harris, Jess and a bunch of others in our row in M1, shivering in the Melbourne cold. The cricket didn't do much to warm us up, with Australia batting, and finding ways to get out all too easily. A long rain delay over lunch was the only break from this English domination.

The Flag group then made our way across the CBD, to the Royal Standard Hotel, which Transport has recently taken ownership of. A great catch up with everyone at the home test, this session led to a lock in at the pub.

The night of Day 2 for this test has become a bit of a tradition, with the pink Sheilas heading to Richmond. First a few pints at the Post Office, before landing at Mexicali Rose, for much anticipated jugs of sangria and little bites of mexican food. A big group, they tucked us away into a room of our own, but I think we got very loud as the jug frequency continued - to the point where we were advise they had 'run out'. The Swan was the next stop, for some classic tunes by the DJ here, who must have thought it was Xmas again, finding a group who would sing and dance to his choices which included The Horses.

I left the group, and taxi-ed out to The Espy, to meet up with Mary and Sandra, for The Basics free (final) gig. Grabbing a spot up the front, I was perhaps a little under the influence, and gave Tim more encouragement throughout the set than I would usually! I had such a great night, and loved the set. It did seem that Wally was holding back a little, vocally, but Tim more than made up for it for mine. Ending the set with an awesome rendition of their cover of The Police's Roxanne, we got the chance to chat to Wally after the gig.

A fragile Day 3 for most of us after our large night, more so for some than others, the cricket continued to be painful for the Aussies - and a joy for Pommy Greg. England piled on the runs, and then took 6 wickets, to end the hopes of the Aussies and the Ashes.

Just the 3 days this year for me, given my over-usage of leave for the calander year, working through the session of Day 4 until England put the Aussie out of our misery, was less than productive!

Perth: Ashes

The end of our roadtrip across the Nullarbor led us to the cricket, being the 3rd Ashes test for the summer. We were treated with an Aussie turn-around, and the match of the series from our perspective. The return of Mitchell Johnson's form, the batting of Mr Cricket, gave us such hope for the series.

Drinks at Jess', before Belinda, Jess and I met up with Wizden and Blair for dinner, at GoGos. The best Indian dinner ever, this restaurant was adorned with cricket memorabilia.

With Jess and Dillo having to put in some hours at the office, Belinda, Carl and I made our way to the WACA, and staked out a spot on the hill for Day 1. Surrounded by the Milo Kids, we were soon baking in the sun for the day. The top order crumbled as the Aussie batted, and we soon wondered if the inclusion of Johnson back in the line-up was for his batting!

Drinks after the day at the dodgiest Irish pub, not too far from the ground, before calling it a night fairly late, to do it all again the next day. Day 2 saw Mitchell destroy the Poms, taking 6 brilliant wickets, and bringing the Ashes series to life after the disappointment of Radelaide.

Day 3 was all about a great innings by Hussey, with a well deserved century, to steer the Aussies into a great position. 5 quick wickets from the Aussie bowlers after the change of innings, and the match was poised. This evening we went to the better Irish pub in Perth, and formed quite a large group, and a big night.

Our final day, being Day 4, consisted of 3 sessions - one on the hill at the WACA watching the Aussies win, we then took a swim at Cottesloe Beach to cool off, before a final session at the OBH. Here, I was advised of the weather back home, of which I was returning to that night on the redeye - the news of a return to winter from the glorious Perth weather was the only downer of the day, and indeed week or two.

A Groovy Kind Of Love

My first received mixtape through the Love Is A Mix Tape group, was the Valentine's Day mix swap last year. And I totally love it!

Crazy For You - Groove Armada
Sexy Boy - Air
Jealous Of Your Cigarette - Hawksley Workman
She Fucking Hates Me - Puddle Of Mud
All I Want Is You - Barry Louis Polisar
Crazy In Love - The Magic Numbers
Green Eyes - Coldplay
Jolene - The White Stripes
Song to Delia Smith - Aidan Smith
Kissing My Love - Bill Withers
Happy Together - Mel Torme
My Baby Loves Lovin' - White Plains
If You Wanna Be Happy - Jimmy Soul
I Don't Care - Patti Page
Carrie - Joni Mitchell
Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson
Afternoon Delight - Ron Burgandy
Love Her Madly - The Doors
Sexyback - Corinne Bailey Rae
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
Time's a Wastin - June Carter

Some great covers there! And the mix plays beautifully.

Anyway, it's time to sign up for the next one for this year, so make a committment, have a play with a collection of songs, and send it on! And discover new music in an equally poured over mix in return!

Flood Relief Gig

The story goes that Bertie Blackman sent a text to Megan Washington, who sent an email to a bunch of other Melbourne based artist, and Thursday nights relief benefit was born. I got a text from Michelle about it, said yes, and our tickets were sorted - a gig which sold out in an hour, apparently!

So Michelle and I drove down to Melbourne after work, met up with Ruth and Danny for dinner along Victoria Street, before getting to The Corner in the middle of Clare Bowditch's set. Ending with the beautiful The Thing About Grief, after confessing to having Googled the lyrics after not playing it for so long, showed the depth of her talent, from her infectious smile to a serious and beautiful track like this.

Tim Rogers was next, with a solo set which included an awesome Berlin Chair.

Then Bertie Blackman opened with Valentine, and remained a backlit silhouette as she played a couple of new tracks. Byrds Of Prey and Heart then also showed that she is experimenting with some new sounds, whilst tinkering with the live versions of her album tracks. Following her set, a piece of Bertie's art was auctioned off by MC Julia Zemiro, for a whopping amount.

Megan Washington was next on the bill, and showed me why she has been getting so much attention in the past year - she was great live! How To Tame A Lion and Cement were stand outs. Tim Rogers joined her for her last song, being a cover of That Thing You Do, which was loads of fun.

The commanding presence of Dan Sultan filled the stage next, and enchanted the crowd with his voice, his stories - and keyboard playing, after explaining that he has injured his fingers and can't play guitar at the moment.

Another auction, of a guitar this time raising $2000, a blonde Missy Higgins finished off the night. Missy was great, with new tracks, bookended by known tracks ending with Peachy. She apologised in the end for being so excited to play that she had managed to create herself a bubble of musical experience - which only added to the joy of seeing her live again.

This fantastic night ended with most of the acts of the night coming together to play You've Got A Friend. This gathering had raised something like $30,000 at one point on the night, for the flood affected Queenslanders.

Gotta Love the Aussie Open!

Just one full day at the Australian Open for me this year, looking over the draw the day before, it seemed I had lucked out on the days...which, in typical form, was totally not the case. The Open delivers great matches all over the complex - you can't lose!!

I drove down in the morning, and met up with Melissa, Mum, and Jessie, for our day at Melbourne Park. We first made our way to Court 6, coping a peek at Rafa practicing on the court next door, thinking that it presented with a potentially even match up. The Frenchman had been swapped for a German, to meet the 26th seeded Argentinian, Monaco. Proved right, a couple of us stayed for the whole match, which was a close and entertaining game, with 2 tiebreak sets.

At the end of the 3 sets win for Monaco, Jessie and I changed to Court 7 to sit with Melissa, and watch a disappointing Davydenko lose his first 2 sets way too easily. We then decided we would pop into Centre Court and use our tickets, for a look at Roger Federer before his first round match was all over.

Next, finding James as we left the big court, we went to Show Court 2, for Berdych's match against an Italian qualifier. The crowd made it more interesting, with a bunch of Czech Aussies singing and chanting for their countryman.

Monday's bonus was the music act scheduled for the Heineken stage, being Clare Bowditch. We ducked back to the beer tent, grabbing a beer, and took in Clare's talent. Charming the crowd with her stories and chats, and also interacting with the kids up front dancing, and the tennis clad beer-carrying lads walking past the stage, she played from her new album, and also some of the gems of her back catalogue. Lips Like Oranges and Divorcee by 23, plus the sexy You Looked So Good. I Thought You Were God, and Running, in an ode to sport, ha! The beautiful Lucky Life and Your Own Kind Of Girl, and ending with Bigger Than The Money. Clare is so amazing!

Back to the tennis after her hour set, we grabbed dinner and watched a couple of sets of Luczak against commanding Croatian Ljubicic. The fun police kept a watchful, unnecessary eye on the Ivan's fans. As the temperature dropped, and the Aussie's hopes dropped, we called it a day. And what a great day!

Eyes Wide Open

Meeting up with Nicole and Mary, and the work crew for drinks at The Mint, the 3 of us soon escaped the city to find the National Theatre in St Kilda, ready for our night of music treat!

Taking our seats in this beautiful old theatre, we were ready for the start of the support for the night, being Tash Parker. Showcasing her debut album, she commanded the stage and venue with her voice and talent. Joined by Wally on stage for the last 2 tracks, he told us all that they had recorded one of them in an old church down on the Mornington Peninsular. The final track, Not Unprepared, also featured Wally on percussion and harmonies. She won the hearts of many in the crowd, as she has clearly won Wally's!

The Gotye set opened with his new track, Eyes Wide Open, with Wally at the front on standing drums, and the images of the video clip filling the back of the stage. The sound, in this cavernous stage, was incredible. Moving into Coming Back, before playing a new track, later introduced as Smoke and Mirrors, which seemed to have a very strong message for someone!

Starting Heart's A Mess by mentioning a few people had thought something of it a few years back, Wally wowed the crowd by reproducing those sounds and samples on stage - including bouncing from instrument to instrument, across stage. Another new song was dedicated to a couple of people in the audience, Bronte is about loss, and was sad and beautiful.

The Only Thing I Know was a treat from the back catalogue, before the final new song of the night, being The Light (maybe!) - which is surely destined to be big this year! Very exciting! Ending with the brilliant Learnalilgivinanlovin, this night was an little glimpse into the music and performances ahead. Such a talent!

Esperance – Denmark – Margie – Perth

Taking a day of rest, and beaches, at Esperance, we drove out to the Cape Le Grande National Park, and spent much of the day lazing on beautiful white beach with clear blue water - Lucky Bay, Thistle Cove, Hellfire Bay - tough day! We would have been playing beach cricket, but a seagull took off with our ball at the first stop.


Back into town, we had a BBQ on the seafront of Esperance, before further drinks back at the Motel to see out the night. The next morning, we were back on the road, for a big day of driving. Covering a large section of the map, we stopped for lunch somewhere in the middle of nowhere, before heading further south, and making it to Albany.

Still driving, we reached our planned destination of Denmark, and checked into the YHA Backpackers. Going out for a pub meal, we returned to find our fellow travellers all seated around the big dining table....all buried in their laptops. Belinda, Dillo, Carl and I decided we needed to take matters into our own hands to stir things up for ourselves, and unpacked the blender we were carrying for Jess (of Blender Party fame). A bit of rum, pineapple, coconut milk, ice, a bit of noise, and our balcony card game was mixed up with pina coladas!

Morning had us heading out, stopping outside Walpole to visit the Valley of the Giants, and walk the Treetop Walk in the Walpole-Nornalup National Park. Being up amongst the canopy of the forest, before walking at ground level pass some of the biggest trees, and a tour by a very enthusiastic Ranger.

More driving had us reach the most south-westerly mainland point, being Cape Leeuwin. Here, it's said that the Southern and Indian Oceans meet, and it is also the site of a pretty impressive lighthouse.

Reaching Margaret River with just a half hour before the closure of the cellar doors, Carl, Belinda and I managed to squeeze in a visit and tasting session at both the Leeuwin Estate, where our wine presenter impressed us with his honesty and humour, and then down the road to beautifully manicured gardens being Voyager Estate.

Our last night of the roadtrip was spent at the YHA in Margie, where Carl cooked for us, and over more card games and drinking, Dillo finished his barrel of port carried across from Adelaide.

The next morning we stopped off at the beach at Yallingup, where Carl and Belinda took a dip, before starting the last portion of our trip, up to Perth. Running the gauntlet with the petrol tank, we found a stop to fill up just before we were in real trouble, and then reached the city outskirts.

Reaching Jess' new place in the early afternoon, we had covered just over 4000 kms since we saw her last, in the carpark of Adelaide Oval. Such an awesome trip!