3 posts tagged “melbourne”

I 'watched' this game. Which really meant I spent time in front of a very dull game of footy reading World War Z, playing with the kids and talking to Min. Poor old Ds. They just seem to be completely and utterly incapable of sustaining effort if they get behind. Its surprising because on paper everyone says they have a decent list but it is like they can't even be bothered trying. Like the old joke about Italian tanks they have one gear in forward and four in reverse. Sigh.

Well the Doggies look a chance this year and should improve on last years bottom four finish. They'll have to remain consistent throughout the year and stay fit.

I have a Flickr set from my recent trip to Melbourne up for the world's enjoyment. It's not particularly representative of the trip, not being a single record store, book store, project management workshop or the insides of any bars. There is however lots of fantastic Melbourne street art, some wonderful Fitzroy skyline, one photo of almost all of my hosts (or at least their canine representatives) and one sad little pooch.

The street art is mostly from two parts of the city. One is Centre Place, a wonderful old alley in which I had my first Melbourne coffee during my first visit five years ago. The wonderful atmosphere of these alleys, one part Blade runner, one part Paris, another All Australian just define Melbourne for me. More than the cold and the wet, more than the footy. Melbourne, unlike Brisbane, has retained a sense of history and embraces its old buildings. Melbournites know a little decay is part of living in a big city and Centre Place with its deco alley lights and little balconies rising above boutiques and

coffee shops has a  side alley which is an unofficial free zone  where vandalism laws are not necessarily enforced. What has happened is a progressive art space, as artists paint the walls over the work of their predecessors, a strata of art on art. I wonder what the unwritten laws are in the space. How soon can you paint over another work? Do you wait until the bombers and taggers have had their way with a piece? Or is there a time limit, some form of currency of talent and seniority that says its OK to take that piece down now, it has had its day?

The other section is an alley that whose name escapes me but offers the same amnesty, mostly to stencillers. Its interesting how both stencilling and sticker art don't seem to happen much in Brisbane. You see a few isolated pockets here and there, but its still mostly spray can art in

Brisneyland, and the chances of any sort of amnesty or free areas like we see in Melbourne seem pretty slim. Anyway enjoy the photos, where you will also see the amazing GPO Building, a shopping mall with a unique approach to muzak, my abortive attempt to capture Melbourne's wonderful array of inner city pubs and my surrogate dog of many years, Brodie, who is sufferring from coonhound paralysis and was a sad little dog indeed.

Well I'm back from an excellent work enabled trip to Melbourne. I went down for what turned out to be a great workshop on Project Managing Design Focused projects by Scott Berkun, a former Microsoft project manager. Berkun has a very human approach to project management and I've started reading his book, The Art of Project Management and finding it very practical with a strong focus on positive relationships, responsibility and commitments. I can also recommend his blog for tips on management, dealing with noxious colleagues and generally getting things done.

The rest of the trip involved catching up with good friends Jonathan and Kate in Melbourne and heading up to Kinglake to catch up with Peta and her great fella Joe. Three booze soaked evenings with great food from some of Melbourne's best eating establishments and the very interesting St Andrews Hotel in Kinglake. The drinking highlight was certainly a bourbon at The Melbourne Supper Club. With a drinks list that didn't start the whiskeys until page 83 of the menu you know you are dealing with a serious drinking establishment.

There was of course CD and book shopping where I picked up all of the excellent stuff that you can see here. I also took a lot of photos around town, of street art, nice looking old pubs and trams for Thomas. All that to follow.