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The White Hat Melbourne Newsletter
Archived
Newsletter No.204 - 1 February 2007
Contents
February is usually a bumper month in Melbourne for free and outdoor events and this year is no exception. On Sundays throughout February there are free world music concerts at the Fairfield Amphitheatre. If you prefer your opera free, in small doses and at a cocktail bar you can head along to ‘Opera at Curve’ this coming Wednesday. Details at Opera in Melbourne. Orchestra Victoria has free concerts at the Melbourne Town Hall, Abbotsford Convent and Camberwell Centre this month and you can also go along to Camberwell Gardens to and enjoy a free Symphony under the Stars. Of course the annual free orchestral concerts at the music bowl are also on in February. Details of all these at Classical Music in Melbourne. This weekend sees the last of the free entertainments in the Fitzroy Gardens with performances on Saturday and Sunday.
This Sunday at Flemington Racecourse is an All Holden Day with lots of family fun. Children all over Melbourne know about such weekends. Saturday is clothes shopping with mum in the factory outlets, Sunday is family fun with dad at the All Holden Day. Sometimes there’s only so much fun a teenager take over a weekend. Details at Driving Activities in Victoria.
In April Cirque du Soleil present a new production called Varekai. Two new weeks of tickets are due to go on sale on Feb 5th but the organisers are allowing White Hat subscribers to jump the queue and book earlier. In order to book you require a special password – that should make you feel special. Contact us for the password.
This weekend there is a ‘Taste of Summer Open Garden' in Wantirna. Details at Garden Festivals in Victoria.
A new community festival called the East Melbourne Festa is currently in the planning stage. See details at Community Festivals in Melbourne. There are a variety of Chinese New Year festivals coming up including the Victoria Street (Richmond) Lunar New Year Festival. Last year I was browsing amongst the stalls whilst the official speeches were taking place. In the midst of the Cantonese speech I heard the words “White Hat” which was repeated shortly after. I quickly sought a translation from my neighbour who informed me that the organisers were thanking White Hat for exposure on the website and the newsletter. You could have knocked me over with a skewer of marinated beef and lemon grass wrapped in betel leaves. People are always prompt with criticisms about omissions and mistakes but rarely offer thanks. So you lot had better not let me down. Head off to the Victoria Street Festival on Sunday. Lots of colour and motion, great food and a chance to brush up on your Vietnamese and Cantonese. Details at Ethnic Festivals in Melbourne. The Jindivick Hot Food Festival has just submitted their listing for this year. It includes the following sentence: “No B.Y.O no pets allowed and no bootscooting (line dances).” Details at Food & Wine Festivals in Victoria.
No.1 – A Monument to Sydney-Melbourne RivalryThis section of the newsletter can now be found under 7 Melbourne Monuments.
On Sunday there is a baby market at Mornington. You may be able to trade your current model for a quieter one.On Friday Night you can find the occasional Little Malop Market in Geelong. Details at Twilight Markets in Victoria.
“Hello, I am leaving Melbourne to work in Port Moresby for a while but would still like to be entertained by your great newsletter. [Please change my email address]
Thank you very, very much, Brigid”
Thank you. With a name like Brigid you should blend in naturally in Moresby. Ex-pat subscribers may be in for a little surprise form us in the next couple of months. Stay tuned. “Thanks for the great website - my kids loved the Medieval Festival.
Jennifer” “Hi,
In your newsletter 18th January, you have listed a link for the weather bureau. The link you have shown is via the University of Toronto, Canada, website which has a link to the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia. Surely you should be using the direct link to the Melbourne website, not via CANADA!!! Why not use our own links? The correct link is: http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR023.shtml. I hope you will correct this link!
Regards, Graeme”
Graeme. Thanks to you and other readers for pointing out the convoluted link. The reason it was bookmarked on my laptop involved a conference in Toronto, a Canadian air hostess, an unusually potent local brew, two elks, a lost earring, a boyfriend of impressive proportions and a sudden need to return to Melbourne on business and check the weather before leaving but we wouldn’t want to bore you with the details. I hope you have all taken notice of the correct link.
Many families have their matriarchs and there many grand old chooks out there. We would never dream of using such a description for Dame Elisabeth Murdoch but she is grand and well into her nineties. Each year she holds a Jazz at Twilight fundraiser for the McClelland Gallery at her property on the Mornington Peninsula. It’s a great place to take the family for a picnic, and to add some significance to the day have the kids do some research on the Murdoch family. I’m not sure whether Rupert will be there, but I will. If you see a debonair gentleman in a white hat enjoying a picnic go up and introduce yourself. They won’t have a clue what you’re talking about but it’s a great way to meet new people. For us at White Hat this a special event on the Melbourne calendar and we thoroughly recommend your attendance. Details at Jazz in Victoria.
This weekend at the Docklands is the Summer Boat Show where the will be boats, entertainment, boats, displays, boats, activities, boats, and classes where people who like messing about in boats are taught how to take the appropriate precautions. Details at Sailing in Melbourne.
I hadn’t noticed that exit before. I had often driven along that road – near the beach and quite close to the city – but had never noticed that exit. Having already passed it I needed to do a u-turn. It is quite often by poking your nose into out-of-the-way places that you come across hidden gems. The exit was half hidden by ti-tree and immediately doubled back as if to hide its tracks. After a short distance there was a car parking area with 10 or 12 cars there. It had been drizzling on and off throughout the afternoon, so the cars probably belonged to fisherpersons. I parked the car and walked into an open grassy area. At first I was puzzled by the sight of a number of individual men walking in seemingly random directions with their eyes focused firmly on the ground. Being of a naturally perceptive nature it soon occurred to me that one of their group had lost his car keys and all were attempting to find them. As helpfulness ranks second in my nature only to perceptiveness I approached to offer assistance. Then a strange thing happened. As soon as I approached any of them they disappeared into the surrounding undergrowth as if drawn by some other-worldly force. I followed two who had headed off through a gap in the ti-tree towards the water. I emerged onto a small beach with the desolate atmosphere that is unique to Port Phillip Bay on a grey Sunday afternoon only to find that the two gentlemen preceding me had dematerialised. This was decidedly strange and I decided it was safest course was to adopt the demeanour of one who was alert but not alarmed. As I made my way back from the beach to the grassy area, a number of men – no women, only men - had re-emerged but as soon as they caught sight of me they assumed the almost robotic behaviour of searching for the car keys. I realised that this behaviour was not of the everyday and if I was to understand it I needed to photograph it. I searched in my bag for my camera, made sure it was adjusted correctly and raised it to my eyes for the first photograph and – all had mysteriously vanished. Fortunately I had watched enough late night television to realise that I had stumbled across a place where alien intervention had altered the behaviour of unsuspecting humans. I hurried back to my car and drove off lest I be afflicted by this alien force. My intuition tells me that next time I drive along that stretch of road, the exit will no longer be there. And for me, intuition is third only to perceptiveness and helpfulness.
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Think of something you were going to do anyway – either before or after – and call it a “Valentine’s Day Outing”. Such a pre-emptive strike earns you credit for two forgotten birthdays or one forgotten anniversary. You will find some suggestions at Romantic Melbourne.
If seems that the Victorian Government is on a campaign of Americanisation by stealth. A number of government and government-funded websites have quietly adopted American date formats without any warning to an unsuspecting public. Thus if you consult: http://www.goforyourlife.vic.gov.au/hav/events.nsf/pages/San_Remo_Channel_Challenge?Open you will find that the San Remo Channel Challenge is on the 2/3/07. Most Australians would interpret that as the 2nd March, but no, it means 3rd February. Unless the website has been changed recently the Australian Centre for the Moving Image at Fed Square has also decided to go with American date formats. Maybe we need to become used to this. When Australians speak about 9/11 should they really be speaking about 11/9? In the meantime the Victorian Government continues with its campaign of Americanisation by stealth – or should that be Americanization? [Please note - since publishing this newsletter we note that the Go For Your Life website has reverted to using Australian date formats. Maybe this newsletter had a little to do with that change]
The St Kilda Festival starts this weekend and culminates on Saturday 11th in a sea of bands, perspiration, testosterone and abandonment. This is the only street festival in the world which can be heard from the moon. By the way, the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival is not until the 24 & 25 of Feb but the first day has already sold out so you need to get in fast. Details at Rock & Pop Music in Melbourne.
How well do you know Melbourne? Sydney-Melbourne rivalry. - Where can you find the monument mentioned above?
- Which prominent figure is likely to greet you with a broad smile and the words “Waycomm to Maybawn!”
- Sydney is often referred to by its alternative (and more correct) name of xxx xxxx. What is that name?
- The position of Canberra was written into our constitution. Although often interpreted as ‘midway between Melbourne and Sydney’ what is the constitutional wording regarding Canberra’s location?
- Although maps may proclaim that Victoria stops at the Murray everyone knows Victoria and civilization stops just north of Wagga Wagga because after that people start playing rugby. However back to the official border. Is it
a) in the centre of the Murray
b) on the north bank of the Murray
c) on the south bank of the Murray - Melbourne is named after a British Prime Minister of the period. What is Sydney named after?
- Sydney may have the harbour, the bridge and the opera house but Melbourne has trugo. What is trugo and where can you find a trugo club
- Sydneysiders often say the best thing to come out of Melbourne is the Hume Highway. What is your suggestion for a response to such a low remark?
No prizes – just glory and a warm inner glow.
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