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June
   The bits of stuff that fall in the cracks between Life, Music and Outrageous Fortune.
 
     
 

1) Natasha Bieniek's miniature Archibald entrant 2) Maria and I check the break at the Rye back beach
A day on the Peninsula
28.6.13 - What to do on a perfect winter's Thursday? Maria had noticed that the touring version of the Archibald Prize was showing at the Mornington Regional Gallery so we took the long way to Frankston in the Mitsubishi and finally lobbed at the gallery at about lunchtime. I can't remember with whom we'd discussed the notion of small portraits at the Archibald, but in the event Maria chose Natasha Bieniek's iPhone-size selfie (pic 1) as her favourite and I couldn't disagree. Although they've cut the exhibition down to an aerodynamic fifty for the regional shows, we were both starving hungry by the time we left.
We made it down to Rosebud before grabbing a satisfying bowl of chowder each and then proceeding down to Portsea and the Rye back beach. I think London Bridge has fallen down since Helen and I were last there back in the '70s, but a magical cluster of about twenty rideable waves rising from the otherwise flat sea kept us entertained and the local surfers in a state of ecstasy for about ten minutes. (pic 2)
The round trip was in excess of 200 k but Maria hadn't seen much of the Peninsula before and it served to remind me that while Sydney-siders are prone to skite about the majesty of their Harbour, we Melburnians tend to underestimate the beauty of the Bay.
 
     
 

We helped Martyn Sullivan celebrate his birthday at Italy 1		 From Swan Lake to Italy 1
26.6.13 - One of Maria's missions when she came down from Canberra was to take me to see Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake at the State Theatre, just down the corridor from One Man, Two Guvnors that we'd seen the week before. Unsurprisingly, apart from both shows being presented by human beings on stages in the same building there was absolutely no comparison between the two. Anyway, Swan Lake's been around forever but I've avoided seeing all but a few fragments and then only on film. I did like Matthew Bourne's all-male version I saw recently and while there were some similar elements in the Graeme Murphy interpretation, overall it seemed just a little timid.
 
     
 

1) My publisher Gus McNeil and Margaret 2) One of Mike's birthday tulips from Choclatte
The birthday hangover contnues
20.6.13 - My publisher, Gus McNeil rang and asked if I was going to the APRA awards this year as he was going to be in town. I did make a late application but it was well over-subscribed and so we decided to meet for an early lunch at the Richmond Hill Larder on Tuesday instead. Parking can be a trial in Richmond so I was pleased that I got a park right outside the Larder and everything fell into place when Gus and Margaret (pic 1) magically appeared as I was feeding the meter.
We had a lovely, if very early lunch and the girls, who'd not met before, discovered to their delight they had a friend in common and there was the inevitable discussion about whether the margin of six degrees of separation should be reduced.
I forgot to mention that Adam gave me a bunch of tulips (pic 2) for my birthday from everybody at Choclatte and the purple flowers been opening most atttractively in their vase on the kitchen table over the past couple of days.
 
     
 

1) La Vita Buona Wine Bar where we tried something different 2) M & M looking intemperately happy at Ezard (Mary)

3) Marg, Syl and me take a break from chewing curry at the Milan @ Kew 		I celebrate my 68th birthday
15.6.13 - Nothing particularly resonates with turning sixty-eight so I hadn't thought of ways to celebrate. Nevertheless, Maria decided that she'd like to take me out to Ezard on my birthday, the very refined restaurant underneath The Adelphi in Flinders Lane and invited Dick and Mary to join in the fun, only to discover that Ezard was booked out for my actual birthday on the 15th so we settled for Friday night instead.
We arrived about thirty minutes early courtesy of CityLink and adjourned to the
La Vita Buona, (pic 1) a cute little Wine Bar just around the corner in the City Square. The waiter was very helpful and so we asked him about the couple of 'distillates' on offer and he gave us a taste. If you ever want to blow your brains out with just a couple of sips it's highly recommended! In the event we opted for something more sensible, but we were definitely 'in the mood' when we met the other Rudds outside Ezard at 6.30.
Ezard was everything we expected. The food was impeccable (with a couple of minor exceptions) and always imaginative. I remembered the Ezard characteristic compositions of contrasting and complementary tastes from my first visit there (shortly after it opened in 1999) and the service on the night was enthusiastic and helpful. In additiion Dick shouted me a couple of tickets to see One Man, Two Guvnors so it was altogether a night to remember.
On Saturday night we were invited to meet with the McClatchys and the Cafarellas at the Milan @ Kew, which despite its name is actually an Indian restaurant. I'm not a curry fan generally, but I feel a little more confident given my recent happy experiences in Somerville. As it happened I enjoyed all the food I sampled over the night and we had a laid back and very enjoyable time catching up with the latest family goss with my lovely in-laws Kath, Geoff, Marg and Syl. (pic 3)
So, despite my attempts to downplay this otherwise unremarkable birthday, it managed to become somewhat of an epic. Now I'm left with a lot of people to thank for sending me birthday greetings, including a shitload on FaceBook, and although I find the prospect slightly irritating I'm also very grateful just to be remembered.
 
     
 

1) Fiona Hall's Ghost Net from the Heide Museum show 2) Robbo, Leticia Maher me at the Caravan Club (Gravias)

3) Shane Pugh chats to Maria in Rosemary and Bill's kitchen at Rosewood on Sunday

4) The fairybook scene near David Brown's workshop at Montsalvat		 Help! There's a hare in my soup..
10.6.13 - Pardon the rings under my eyes - it's been all go here in Mt Waverley since Maria arrived in town last Wednesday.
An unexpected duty first up was attending the funeral of Chris' former fellow Vermont St resident, Dougie Bryans, at the Springvale Botanical Cemetery (aka the Springy Crematorium).
The next day Maria had an interview for a position at The Australian Tapestry Workshop, which she negotiated successfully despite being somewhat apprehensive about it.
That night we saw Farewell My Queen at the Nova, pretty much a waste of time in my opinion - not that my opinion should be necessarily heeded when it comes to movies apparently.
On Friday I rang my mum to wish her a happy 89th (!) birthday, then we missed out on Choclatte (!) and went straight to the Heide Museum of Modern Art, where we had lunch and checked out Fiona Hall's Big Game Hunting exhibition, (pic 1) an intense but thought-provoking and ultimately rewarding experience. (NB - the same proviso applies for Art shows as for Mike's movie critiques)
I had an ABC cheque to pass on to Robbo and, given we've got barely any gigs at the moment he'd invited me and Maria to meet him at the Caravan Club to see the Woohoo Revue strut their stuff and persuaded Leticia Maher (pic 2) to put our names on the door and garner us a table. The room was packed so we really appreciated the table and, despite it being overly loud, thoroughly enjoyed the band's performance of Balkan-inspired dance tunes and especially enjoyed the stand-out violin player's stage presence.
On Saturday we picked up Chris and did the fish 'n' chips overlooking the Bay at Black Rock thing before bro' Dick came over to watch the All Blacks v France first test that evening, (Maria said that she enjoyed it more than the Super Bowl), followed by a large seafood pizza at the world's-best pizzeria, 1061. (No dispute).
On Sunday afternoon we headed out to see Bill at home at Rosewood in Strathie. (pic 3) Bill's occasional backgammon opponent, Shane Pugh, (Clifton Pugh's son), showed up unexpectedly and might've been surprised to find Maria so conversant in the Arts scene, but didn't show it. He recommended we see Ruth Marshall's Vanished into Stitches exhibition of tiger and other threatened species' knitted pelts which was closing at Montsalvat that very evening - so we did. Maria hadn't been to Montsalvat before and thoroughly enjoyed the Camelotian ambience. (pic 4) The adventure continues..
 
     
     
 
 
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