fabulous flower fiesta flourishes

Wednesday was day one for this year's Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, and the only day that I was going to be able to squeeze in time to visit. As always, it was sensational - makes me wish that I still owned a garden, so that I could get out, raze it to the ground, and rebuild it with the inspiration that the Garden Show provides.

The floral displays inside the magnificent Exhibition Buildings were all stunning; I spent most of my time covering every square metre of the two floors, which feature more things to do with flowers and greenery than I ever dreamed possible (or would even want to try, in many cases!) Highlights for me were the rose displays, table setting designs, the new nursery section, and the... ummm... floral bordello! Outdoors, the garden designs were fantastic; only the garden art section was a bit of a letdown compared to last year, but that's a tiny complaint compared to all the wonderful sights at this Show.

The visit to the Flower Show almost marks a year of blogging for me... I seem to recall that my very first post here was about my visit to the 2009 Flower Show... although it was in early April last year. How time flies.

fabulous french film festival finale

Dunno why, but the French Film Festival was extended by 3 days this year, so I got to see another movie at the Kino on Tuesday night - LoL (That's the name of the film, not a comment!) The story wasn't what I expected, but I enjoyed it very much all the same, especially the beautiful Sophie Marceau! This one gets 3&1/2 stars from me; a fine way to wrap a very enjoyable Festival (and I sure hope I get to see how Fashion Victim ends some day!!)

pourquoi PAS de sous-titres??

I was so impressed by the movie Micmacs at the French Film Festival that I decided to buy a copy on blu ray to see again.

As usual, Amazon.fr was *exceptionally* efficient, and I received my disk barely 8 days after ordering. But to my horror, it's yet another wonderful French movie transferred to disk with NO ENGLISH SUB-TITLES! aaaarrgghhhhh!!!

What's wrong with French dvd companies?? Don't virtually ALL English language movies come out with French sub-titles? Why don't the French think that English-speakers aren't interested in their movies? There are so many excellent French films that I'd like to see, but the majority of them aren't released with English sub-titles, so it's not worthwhile ordering them. I'm doing my best to master a bit if French, but I don't think I'll get good enough to watch a movie without textual help.

precious experience

I did NOT want to see Precious.

Yeah, I saw and read the great reviews, and all the praise for the performances of the cast, and the Oscar nominations, but I also heard about how it was a depressing and miserable story, and I just did not want to experience that.

With the movie in its last days at the cinemas, I was convinced to go along to the George and see the only session showing today. Up until I bought the tickets (reluctantly), I was trying to think of a way out of it, but finally, I accepted the inevitable and sat down to see this urban horror story.

The session ended two hours later. I was SO glad that I hadn't found a way out of seeing it. It was one of the best films that I've seen in recent months. The story was as harrowing as I expected, but the movie was so well made, and the performances so fine, that I found myself completely carried into the world of Precious, her trials and suffering, and her incredible strength and dignity. Lead actor Gabourey Sidibe was perfect as Precious, and I hope to see her in other movies in the future.

This was a real 4-star effort, and will make me think twice about writing off a movie before I see it in future.

(OK, unless it's Pursuit of Happyness - yuk!!!)

micmacs

The French Film Festival rolls on! And just as well, 'coz there's not much of interest coming out of Hollywood at the moment. In fact, of the 12 movies that I've seen so far in 2010, half have been 'foreign' - five French and one Australian! :-)

Tonight's feature at the Como was 'Micmacs A Tire-larigot', an almost untranslatable title in French slang which means something like 'Loads of trouble'. It's Dany Boon's latest flick, and it's visually one of the best movies I've seen for a long time. It's a comedy - fantasy - caper flick, with a fairly convoluted plot in which Boon's character plots to take revenge on the presidents of two armaments companies, whose products killed his father, and years later, severely injured him as well.

While the story is a bit over the top, the film soars on the strength of its brilliant photography and scenery, wonderful characters and amazing mechanical creativity(!)

I'd happily experience this one again, though sadly, the French dvd release once again doesn't have English sub-titles. I'm really going to have start taking French lessons some time. Anyway, this movie gets 4 stars from me - catch it with sub-titles if you can!

one perfect day

I love Melbourne most of the time, but for a week or so every year, it's even better then usual. That week usually falls in early to mid-March, when we get a period of perfect Autumn weather that makes everything in the city more wonderful than ever. It's happening now; started yesterday, Saturday 13th, and by the looks of the forecast, will last through next Friday 19th, at least.

I got up on Saturday with no particular plans, but just had to get out of the flat to enjoy the day. I caught the #220 bus and headed towards the city... but where to get off? I wanted to do something outdoors. I thought about South Wharf, but I knew I'd only end up indoors at DFO, and I had no reason to go there. I thought about the CBD, but that would invariably mean a stroll through the department stores and lanes, out of the sun. I could have stopped at Prahran Market, but I wanted to do more than just get the groceries. South Melbourne market? nah. St Kilda? Still too crowded on the weekends. By this time, the bus was heading down St Kilda Road, and I still had no particular destination in mind. As the bus zoomed past the Domain interchange, someone pulled the cord to get out. Done! I got out too. But where was I going?

Across St Kilda Road, the Shrine of Remembrance loomed in the bright sunshine. It had been years since I last visited the Shrine, so maybe this would be a good starting point. I crossed the road and climbed the hill. That should have been enough exercise for the day! Surprisingly, there were very few people at the Shrine, so I got to take some nice photos without the usual crowd of tourists in the picture.

I then decided to head for the Botanic Gardens to grab a coffee and stroll across and pick up a no. 8 tram in Domain Rd, but a few surprises awaited!

At the entrance, bright tents were set up. I had stumbled across the monthly Botanic Gardens craft market! I never even knew it existed, but what a perfect day for it! I strolled around the stalls, picked up a coffee, and took in the sights - all dominated by the Shrine in the background.

Completing the tour of the market, I headed past the Visitor Centre, only to find it completely and indefinitely closed down as a result of storm damage from the previous weekend!

As I entered the Gardens proper, I couldn't help buy notice cranes poking above the treetops. I soon realised that they belonged to the new Rectangular Stadium, nearing completion across the Yarra. I'd been wanting to get a photo of the Stadium for some time, but hadn't had an opportunity, so I changed direction and headed towards the Temple of Winds to see if I could get a view of the Stadium.

It was still only possible to see the top of the Stadium from the Temple, so I walked down the steps from the Temple, crossed the Tan, and got a shot or two from across the river. I walked back past the lake, and stopped to sit in the sun for a while. Not for long... just long enough for my pallid complexion to start to burn in the deceptively strong Autumn sun :-S

I retraced my steps to the Shrine, and decided that I needed to climb to the top to grab some photos. It had really been many years since I had been up there, and it was perfect day for taking in the scenery. I got some great shots, in perfect conditions. And still had time to get home in time for a lunch date.

If only more days could be as pleasant as this.

storm victim

Saturday the 6th March started out a beautiful day; fine and sunny, a little on the humid side, but glorious.

After a sleep-in, we headed into the city for coffee and crepes (gluten-free, of course) outdoors at the Le Triskel, then on to the Kino to buy tickets for the afternoon showing of Rose et Noir (aka Fashion Victim) at the French Film Festival.

The session started at 1:45; the sun was shining and it was a balmy 26 degrees - really, too nice a day to spend in a dark cinema, but there are few screenings of any given movie during the Festival, so you just have to go when the session is on if you want to see a particular film.

Rose et Noir was a beautifully-produced period farce, set in 17th century France and Spain, about a very flamboyant dress-designer and his troupe who are sent to Inquisition-era Spain at the order of the King of France to make a wedding dress to help seal a marriage of state. What the designer doesn't know is that one of his entourage is secretly Jewish, another Muslim, and another, a Protestant planning to plant a bomb to blow up their hosts!

The story was building up nicely, until, about an hour in, just before 3pm, the film suddenly lurched to a halt and began to burn up! Oh mon dieu, not again! This is what happened when I went to see Julie and Julia at the Classic not six months ago!

As the house lights came up, a stressed cinema guy announced that a severe hailstorm had knocked out the building's air conditioning, causing the film to burn. They would try to get the film to resume in the next 10-15 minutes.

So we sat and waited, and then, about 15 minutes later, the cinema guy returned to tell us that the movie could not be saved, and that we would all need to get refunds and leave.

Disappointed, and none the wiser about what had happened outside the cinema, we queued for our refunds, and left the building at around 3:30pm. When we approached the exit, it felt as though we'd been transported to another place!

The sunny, balmy afternoon that we had left two hours earlier had been replaced by a scene of stormy carnage! The sky was leaden, water literally lapped at the entrance to the building as the floor flooded, the streets were littered with leaves that had been stripped from the trees by what we were later to learn were giant hailstones (such as the ones that had also killed our movie), rain poured from the sky in a way that I hadn't experienced in many years. The change in conditions was stunning!

Not yet comprehending the extent of the storm's fury, we headed for our tram in Swanston St, soaked to the skin within the first 50 metres of our journey (no coats or brollies, of course - it had been a gorgeous day when we left home!)

At Swanston St, it became clear that we would never get aboard the few trams that were managing to make their way down the flooded street, so we decided to head towards Flinders St station. It soon became clear, from the size of the sodden crowds teeming down the Swanston St away from the station, that there would be no trains to catch at Flinders St.

We continued walking across Princes Bridge, past traffic jammed in between flooded streets, in the hope of finding a bus further down the road.

To our delight, we instead found that trams that had made it this far into the city were turning back at the Arts Centre, which meant that we were able to hop on board a #64 and commence the trip home. Just as well, as the corner of St Kilda Road alongside the NGV, from the where the bus comes, was under water, and the buses would likely have been jammed in with the rest of the traffic.

As we travelled cautiously along St Kilda Road, we could see cars trapped in flood water, thick hail piled up in the gardens and gutters, steam rising like fog from the Domain, where the ground was apparently still warm from the afternoon sun. It was an amazing experience.

We finally arrived home around 5pm; one-and-a-half hours for what would usually have been a 40-minute journey, but we were grateful to have made it safely.

I'd of course left a couple of windows of the flat open in the morning to get the air in while we were out, so there was some minor flooding in the kitchen and bathroom where the rain had been blown in, but no major damage.

Except that we didn't get to see the end of Rose et Noir... and who knows when we ever will!

Summer fades

And so Summer ends... not with a bang, but with a chilly whimper. 20 degrees at the end of February? brrr

I stayed in bed a bit late, in the hope that the sun might peek out before I did, but no such luck. In the end, I took a quiet walk around the city, from the NGV, via the Sunday market, across the river, up DeGraves St, through DJs, around for a coffee at Brunetti's, and finished at Fed Square, before heading home to find a jacket to put on and get warm again!

Roll on Autumn - March is always *the* best time of year in Melbourne, anyway!

a single movie

I can't believe that no-one has pointed this out in all of the reviews that I've read, but Colin Firth plays an almost identical role in A Single Man as he did in the last of his films that I saw : Genova.

In both films, he plays a man struggling to carry on with his life after his partner was killed in a violent car accident. In Genova, he's forced to go on by the need to raise his two daughters; while in A Single Man, he's reached a point where he's decided that he cannot go on after the loss of his partner.

Both movies are beautifully filmed and create a real sense of suspense and surprise about where events will lead. I won't give away the ending, but A Single Man has a stunning twist at the end, whose possibility was foretold, but overshadowed, in the events that occur during what is intended to be the last day of his character's life.

As another single man, it gave me quite a jolt - like unexpectedly seeing one of your big fears plastered all over the cinema screen in front of you.

Anyway, aside from that, it was a terrific film, with another great performance by Firth, ably supported by the wonderful Julianne Moore, in yet another of her outstanding period character performances. 4 and a half stars from me; best film that I've seen so far in 2010, and the only one that I've been bothered to see in this whole month!

the 30th anniversary tour gets closer

It's not that I haven't been online for the past month.

In fact, I think I've been here almost *every* night for the past month, 'til well after midnight. I've just been busy. Too busy even to blog... even though I wanted to.

But last night, I passed a milestone... after weeks of planning, and months of procrastination, last night, I pressed the button and booked a return flight to London and a week's accommodation - whoo-hoooooooo!

Towards the end of May, just as Winter's starting to get depressing and miserable, I'm off to the northern Spring for a long-awaited holiday. My first visit, in fact, since 1980! Where did the time go?

Only one more task before I can relax - finding a place to stay in Paris for a fortnight!