The White Hat Melbourne Newsletter

Archived Newsletter No.187 - 7 September 2006

Contents

Flower & Garden Festivals
Jazz
Some other music
How to get Grandpa out of the house
Classical music
Melbourne's Hidden Gems
Children & Family
Markets & Fairs
Talks & Seminars
Collingwood
John Wren
North Melbourne Walk
Portrait Exhibition
Festivals
The White Hat Quiz

Flower & Garden Festivals

For the next couple of weeks there are more flower and gardening festivals than you can poke a weeding wand at. Competition is fierce amongst the growers and gentlemen sitting down for a drink need to keep a close watch to ensure their fertiliser isn’t spiked by an unscrupulous female competitor. There is an orchid festival at Maribyrnong, Daffodil festivals at Leongatha, Kyneton and St Erth, a wildflower festival at Anglesea, a cymbidium festival, a floral festival at Ferney Creek, a tulip festival in the Dandenongs and would you believe it. . (trails off into unintelligible Peter Cundell accent). Details at Flower & Garden Festivals in Melbourne.

Jazz

The B# Big Band continues on Sundays at the Copacabana in Smith Street. The band comes with high recommendation from James Morrison but, more importantly, from a number of White Hat subscribers. A new show has opened at the Casino in the form of a tribute to Satchmo called I Love Louis. Details of both at Jazz in Melbourne.

Some other music

On Friday evenings the free world music performances continue at the George Adams Gallery in the city. On Sunday is the annual multi-faith concert at Melbourne Town Hall.

How to get grandpa out of the house

A new exhibition on the life of John Wren has opened at the Racing Museum at Fed Square (see below). Every Melbourne grandfather has either read Power Without Glory or watched the ABC production on their 17 inch Astor television (he didn’t see why they needed to get rid of that and buy a colour one because there’s nothing worth watching on television nowadays) and thus knows all about John Wren. There were also some bits that aren’t in the book that his mates at the pub told him about. Now this exhibition emphasizes John Wren’s other achievements and the publicity appears to be a glowing endorsement of the character of the man.

So, how to get grandpa out of the house? Leave a copy of this newsletter (opened to the John Wren section below) on the coffee table together with his glasses then retire to a safe distance. When the harrumphing has died down you can come back in and keep him on the simmer. When he asks you “Have you seen this rubbish on John Wren?” reply with “Who’s John Wren? They didn’t teach us about him at school.” That will keep him occupied for hours while grumps around the house complaining about the quality of education nowadays. He could tell them a thing or three about John Wren and his seedy tote. “Well why don’t you go and see the exhibition for yourself grandpa? You could do it after you’ve been to the TAB.” “You know what? I think I will!”

When he comes back you can tell him you’ve hidden the remote because he’s convinced you there’s nothing worth watching. However you’ll tell him where it is if he helps you with question 1 of this week’s quiz.

Classical music

There is wide selection of classical music on offer this week. On Friday night the newly-formed Victorian Opera present Bach’s St John Passion. There is also a Town Hall Prom concert featuring the Rite of Spring in the same venue where it was booed by a Melbourne audience in the 1950s for being too modern (can someone verify this for me – the secret to quality journalism is to make an assertion and then get someone else to do the research). On Saturday Ensemble Gombert perform German Baroque music. On Sunday the MSO Chamber Players perform at Iwaki Auditorium, there are chamber music concerts at Montsalvat and St Michael’s Church in the city and a particularly promising looking recital by the young Australian-Ukranian pianist Alexey Yemtsov playing German, Russian and French music. With a concert like this you can choose to label it ‘classical music’ or ‘multicultural arts’ – depending on where there is the best funding and support.

For those who work in the city, see if you can take an extended lunch break, on Monday and hop on a tram up Elizabeth Street for a free concert at Melba Hall featuring Villa-Lobos’ magical Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for 8 cellos and soprano.

Details of all these at Classical Music in Melbourne.

Melbourne's Hidden Gems

Saturday mornings are a special time in Melbourne. Residents head towards their favourite markets or shopping strips for the Saturday morning ritual. “Daaad! Daaad!” has the same cadence no matter what language is spoken at home. “Daaad can we have a doughnut? Mum said we could.” Dad, although a lawyer during the week has traded his wig and gown for jeans and the style of head covering more associated with cat-burglars, and decides not to pursue corroborative evidence to the claims made by his offsprings. “Just this once” he says, as he does every week. Mum is already enjoying a latte and, although her gym shoes might not be as fashionable as when she first bought them, they certainly are comfortable.

“Ciao, bella” says the butcher. Mum always likes this butcher. “Is this really spring lamb?” she asks. “Bella – I keep this one especially for you” he says wrapping up the piece of two-tooth. Women are particularly gullible on a Saturday morning.

One of White Hat’s favourite markets in early spring is the Gleadell Street Market in Richmond. It is one of the few remaining street produce markets in the inner suburbs. The street is blocked to traffic on a Saturday morning and various produce traders set up stalls and spruik their wares. If you look closely you will find that a certain amount of the produce has come from local gardens (they haven’t learned that in the trendier suburbs you call yourself a ‘farmers market’ even if some of the produce is shipped down in small quantities from Mildura). If you want to make some Moroccan preserved lemons, try some of the lemons grown in Richmond back yards with plenty of skin and not much pith and where they understand the proper method for fertilising a lemon tree. Walk through the market and watch the morning mists gradually disperse and listen to the local football team kick the dew off the grass at the adjacent oval and the carrolling magpies contemplating the feast that will be exposed once the local warriors (who closely resemble Asterix and the Gauls in ill fitting football jumpers) depart the scene.

There is a Stall I find that offers particularly good value. “Ah, signor. You are looking particularly ‘ansome this morning. We ‘ave some special fruits I ‘ave been saving for you. Special price for you!” You don’t get that sort of service in a supermarket.

Does anyone have a recipe for 5kg of quinces? They cost me a fair amount so I don’t want to waste them.

Children & Family

We have had a recent spate of events – particularly family and children’s events – which will be processed onto our website in the next few days. You will find an increasing number of things to do with the kids at Children's & Family Events in Melbourne.

In particular watch out for events connected with Melbourne Show week. There is also a performance of Cinderella at South Morang where I imagine the impressionable young servant girl is overwhelmed by the earthly splendours of North Morang before fleeing slipperless back to the south.

Markets & Fairs

This weekend there is a fashion fair to raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital with designer labels and garments donated by Kylie and other celebrities. Wilmott Park Primary School are having a market and Collingwood College has a Spring Fair. Details at Fashion Events in Melbourne.

Talks & seminars

The Royal Historical Society has a talk on ‘The Origins of Australian Rules Football’ on Tuesday evening. On Thursday at Melbourne Uni there is a free lecture on Brecht and at the weekend there is a Symposium on German Theatre since Reunification. You may wish to attend in case one of the questions on next week’s White Hat Quiz is: “Discuss how the profound changes brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of East and West Germany call for new investigations of theatre, history, aesthetics and representation in a culture in which the theatre, historically, has been central to national cultural development.” Details at Lectures & Forums in Melbourne.

Collingwood

Organisers save many of their Collingwood events for this time of year because they know that local residents are usually at a loose end for most of September.

On Sunday there is a Spring Fair at Collingwood College. Details a Fairs & Fetes in Melbourne. This Saturday is the farmers’ market at Collingwood Children’s Farm. Next door at the Abbotsford Convent is the slow food weekend complete with market. Expect parking to be at a premium on the Saturday. Starting next week at Abbotsford Convent is a ‘theatrical installation’ celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Shostakovich and Beckett. This looks like particularly innovative programming and we hope that it lives up to the concept.

John Wren

A new exhibition on the life and achievements of John Wren has opened at the Racing Museum in Federation Square. The publicity reads – “GLORY, GLORY, GLORY. From catholic working class origins Wren went on to become Australia’s richest man. [He earned] a reputation as an anti-establishment working class hero. But there is much more to the man . . . Wren’s interests and influence were far reaching. John Wren was a philanthropist and visionary business man with a passion for spectacle and organized entertainment, he established racecourses at Ascot, Richmond and Doomben, promoted boxing, cycling and wrestling as well as opera, dance and cinema. This exhibition offers an insight into the personal, political and business life of this extraordinary man.” Details at John Wren.

North Melbourne Walk

This weekend there is a walking tour of North Melbourne (cost $5) run by the Victorian Archive Centre. You may need to go along to find the answer to question 2 in this week’s quiz.

Portrait exhibition

In the foyer of the Casino is an exhibition of photographic portraits of prominent Australians by the celebrated Australian photographer Robin Sellick. I suspect they have moved the portraits of Steve Irwin and Germaine Greer to opposite sides of the display.

Festivals

This weekend there is a community festival at Diamond Creek. Details at Community Festivals in Melbourne. Next weekend is a Chilean Festival in Dandenong. Details at Ethnic & Religious Festivals in Melbourne.

The White Hat Quiz

How well do you know Melbourne?

First to last week’s quiz.

Anthony’s was the first response in.

Please note: This section of the newsletter has been removed as it forms part of a forthcoming publication or because it is forms part of our Questing activities. If you find yourself on a tour where the guide is White Hat Accredited they are likely to know the answer to many questions you may have in this area. All guides on White Hat Tours are White Hat Accredited.

We also had prompt responses from Kimberley, Marie, Ilya, Doug, (who mentions that H.V.McKay was a friend of his), Johnathon, Katie and at a substantial distance behind the pack Scott. Scott may only have a luke-warm inner glow this week but he likes to consider his answers carefully before submitting them, which is more than I can say for some of you. We could name a Chief Financial Officer for a major institution but will see if they can lift their game this week.

Now to this week’s quiz

1. The mansion ‘Raheen’ in Studley Park Road has had some prominent residents. Name two.
2. The North Melbourne football team had the nickname ‘the shinboners’. Why?
3. If you lose your Australian passport overseas, Australian embassies have a secret question that can verify if you are truly an Australian citizen. Who is the blue Wiggle?
4. Melbourne people love to abbreviate things thus the Melbourne Cricket Ground is not just abbreviated to the MCG – it is ‘the Gee’. What is your favourite Melbourne abbreviation?

No prizes – just glory and a warm inner glow.