melbourne royal show

 

went to the show

Laura and I went to the Show on Saturday morning, it was rad as usual though I have to say (memo to my future self) that by the time 12 noon or so rolled around the place was absolutely packed and there were all kinds of insanity going on that did provoke feelings not unlike those a hackneyed psychodrama film can bring forth: harrowing, visceral, nightmarish. But I just wanted to get the bad stuff out of the way first because there was a lot of great stuff too. Here's some highlights:

A handsome sheep.

Nice curlies

I believe these are what are known as 'longbois'. In fact... 

Here (above) are a couple more, although I fear these might actually be cake-based. We're now in the artsy crafty section, where the magic of the Show really happens. The weird thing is how few people actually win all the prizes, but I guess some people just rise to the top. You can't fight it. 

I have a bad feeling this bunny who is going to have a birthday is actually also a cake. Enjoy it while it lasts, little one. 

Stumpy and friends. I don't know why Stumpy is called Stumpy. Part of the magic. 

Some beautiful dogs in the dog pavilion, and although I loved the shiba inus (always do, can't help it) I was probably most taken with the swedish vallhunds, a breed with which I had previously been unfamiliar, and I am very into their vibe. I think this might be a good companion animal for Perry, if one ever comes across our path, which it probably won't. 

And there was also this feisty individual. 

There were some birds too, lovely birds.

 As mentioned above, and this should be no surprise at all it being a Saturday, things got really packed as we neared midday and it was all a bit crowded so we were pleased I think to be leaving (when I was a kid, the show seemed massive, now it's manageable - I mean I know that some of the area was rationalised - still I feel that. Maybe since they took the chairlift down which, by the way, needed to be taken down). 

I just want to mention a couple of exciting elements viz the SEC exhibit for which I recorded a message (!?) so as to obtain a metal SEC mug. They were giving the yo-yos away whether you did a message or not so, you guessed it, they were no strings attached. 

This was just funny. 

'So have you ever shot anyone for not having a ticket?'

By the way Laura promised me she would blog about her show experience so that's something to look forward to. 

my favourite icecream

Last night I was re-reading David Collier's book Just the Facts which is one of my favourite comic books (eg as in book compilations of comics). Collier has a few good things to say about nostalgia eg when he parodies Chris Ware's (what Collier sees as) uncritical nostalgia by making him star of a strip where, by aid of a time machine, Ware is sent back to the 1920s and goes around collecting everything he sees forever, and is of course unable to throw anything away.

I have a strong sentimental feeling about the Toppa icecream company (pic is the Toppa display at the Melbourne Show in 1954 - I'm not in it) I suppose because it was a whole culture (as much as I understood culture in 1970) that disappeared apparently overnight. I have a nostalgic feeling for all kinds of no-longer-available icecreams actually, presumably because that's one thing I absolutely know without a doubt I will never experience again, unless I get that special dementia Oliver Sacks wrote about.

finally read september's monthly

I had cause to take the train this morning and while I probably should have been refining my lecture power point instead I read The Monthly. I enjoyed Robert Manne's dissection of the Cornelia Rau outrage although it didn't really tell me anything I didn't know about immigration policy, however it did tell me that she had been involved in a sect called Kenja in the late 90s, though I am not entirely sure I believe that this was the reason for her mental illness.

Watched a funny little documentary from 1986 about schoolkids from NESBs - they were all 12 or 13 - it's so clear that someone was thinking about coming back in 7 years and making the film again (there is even a short sequence when all the kids interact at the zoo, just like the first 7 Up film) but if it ever happened, I didn't hear about it. I am sure I saw Basia Bonkowski briefly in the zoo bit but she wasn't listed in the credits. The music was I'm Talking's 'Holy Word' for some reason.

I'm stoked because we're going to the Show on Thursday. One of the highlights of my year. If not the.