stories from the golf

Cliff Ellen and Monica Maughn in Stories from the Golf. In the service of one of my forthcoming books I am forced, forced to watch a lot of Australian comedy DVDs and this is one of them, from 2003. It's the first Robyn Butler/Wayne Hope series - 5 minute stories all revolving around one hire car (the Golf). Butler and Hope are the usual stars but sometimes there's some real surprises and this was one of them. A really simple and dare I say touching story with some funny things thrown in. Good series! 

nuttelex milk

Well I hae nothing against almond milk exactly though usually I go for Oat Milk, I am not entirely sure why since I like them all. I was fond of that one, I now can't remember the brand, which claimed to be made from pea protein. It was probably the closest in flavour-consistency to real milk although tbh I haven't drunk a glass of cow's milk for over forty years so do I really remember. Anyway, I am a fan of the Nuttelex brand, when it comes to both margarine and now their milks, and I like the no-nonsense packaging too, which essentially says the lie of, 'we've been making this kind of stuff for almost a century, haven't you noticed? Well until recently it was only medical.' I noted that the Nuttelex brand was in 'clearance' mode at woolworths this week and I hope it's not going out of production (of the milks. I'm sure the margarine line is solid, there are so many options). 

coburg wander yesterday

 First, houshops:

Second, just things/buildings that are sort of interesting:

maybe dolls - propaganda

It's been CD city round here lately as I lazily pick up releases by Go Genre Everything, Hot Palms and as promised/threatened/muttered a few days ago, Maybe Dolls. 

It's funny how this album sounds so much more dated than The Numbers' records - I don't know if that's an objective reality or just a feeling, perhaps a suspicion that with Maybe Dolls the Morrows are trying harder to be a part of some current trend. Apparently at the time they were compared to Baby Animals. I don't remember BAs well enough to have an opinion on this but I do think the first track on Propaganda sounds like a very good approximation of a lost track from the first Pretenders album. I am utterly not against that. 

Whereas almost all the Numbers' songs were by Chris Morrow completely (the story goes that he was the singer and Annalisse was 'just' the bass player almost up until they recorded their first album) these songs are co-writes between the two of them, and she is putting a lot more into her performance, but you know, I kind of liked the restraint on the Numbers records. 

This is by Brett Thomas from the Sydney Sun-Herald 15 March 1992 p. 125.  

Remember safe love? Yeah. 

SMH 19 March 1992 p. 31

And below is I suppose where they got their name from.

Sydney Sun-Herald 31 Oct 1971 p. 151

arden st kensington this evening

 

for some reason...

everybody in Melbourne, and the tourists, were all at QVM today. They couldn't go yesterday I suppose so they were borek deprived. It was insane and I'm amazeballed that I was able to get to the nut shop. 
 

foodies april 2021

Five years ago today Laura and I walked past the old Foodies on Nicholson St and, seeing that part of the fence had fallen/been pushed down I went on a quick detour to see what it looked like inside. I half expected a commune in there but no just a clean-ish empty space. That's OK. The pages taped to the outside are all council saying you have to make this property safe and secure, etc, dated September 2020. I can't remember when Foodies closed down but I am strongly of the opinion that when this post appears on my blog the Foodies building will not be here anymore.

Here's something else though. A few doors down from what became Foodies was The Bluebird, a 24-hour establishment that I remember in the early 80s as notable for its old cheap plastic toys and this unreplicable smell that I equated with old ice cream. When I came to know Mick Turner in, I guess, the late 80s he told me the hilarious story of the owner of The Bluebird trying to blow up the new 24-hour place up the road and the wires from the dynamite he'd deposited there going all the way back to The Bluebird. I'm not saying I didn't believe Mick's story, but I am surprised how 100% accurate his relay of the story was! This is from the Age 13 July 1987, p. 5:

I won't put the shop owner's name in text here, he seems to have a career in real estate now and he doesn't need the notoriety I suppose. He was sentenced to five and a half years in prison with a minimum of three and a half ('Man jailed for trying to blow up food store', Age 19 August 1987 p. 16). If he is the same person who currently works in real estate, he says on his facebook page: 'Riddle me this: When all is taken away and you have nothing left in your life. what are you left with?'