Right. So, Saturday. Felt absolutely rubbish after the night before. We’re talking curled up into a ball kinda nauseous. And yet! And yet we still managed to crawl out into the overcast outside world to market with the farmers. Bought some chicken and pistachio terrine (so good), beetroot, sweetcorn and other assorted goods for events I’ll cover under Day Six.
The afternoon was all N64-ported Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. To be honest, I was still too miserable a state to play but I did help in my own way (rapid-fire walkthroughs) while Josh played instead. The game is incredibly dated (it was registered back in 2000) and the graphics really rather laughable (clipping aplenty), but it was still fun to watch.
The late afternoon was opera in the park with the MSO. It was the last of a four concert series at the Sidney Myer Bowl (I haven’t been there since Daft Punk a few years back) and the song choice seemed rather festive with Au Fond Du Temple Saint from Bizet’s Les Pecheurs Des Perles (The Pearl Fishers) a particular favourite of mine. That said, we got there when the opening act, the Melbourne Youth Orchestra, were performing a particularly Disney-esque waltz. In the break between the MYO and the MSO it started to rain and our resolve abandoned us for the tram-ride out to Carlton to drink beer with Ned and Luke and others.
Was fun although they’d already had enough to be well past us on the alcohol stakes so we soon said our goodbyes and headed off to Palm for birthday drinks with Josh and others. What I saw of the rooftop bar seemed pleasant enough and the beer was pretty drinkable. We then excused ourselves while the others went on to see Amanda Lepore.
I remember eating when we got back to the flat but not a lot more.
Suffice to say I’ve swiftly become a cheap drunk. Shameful.
Most of last Friday was spent nurturing a terrible hangover in the air-conditioned confines of Chez Yarraville as the heat outside was just ridiculous.
I did manage to dart out in the morning to the shops to pick up bacon but Jesus did I feel the worse for wear for it. The heat. The nausea. Too much. The savoury french toast was rather delicious though.
My night was dedicated to good food and wine with Ed and good food and wine we did enjoy. We started drinking at Von Haus, moved on to eat and drink at Bar Lourhina and then finished up drinking and smoking at Madame Brussels. Definitely be looking for a repeat with the man the next time I’m in Melbourne.
The night then finished with gin and juice back in Yarraville and an hour long phone call with a gaymer in Queensland. I don’t know who was more drunk or most of what we talked about but I do remember it took him a while to stop laughing about muh accunt.
So much pinot gris. So very very much pinot gris. And asparagus cooked in lemon butter with grated pecorino and consumed through the awesome medium of sourdough baguette.
Ladies and gentlemen, my fair readers, I am THE drunken master in the kitchen.
Please do feel free to bask in the collected magnificence of my sojourn at Chez Yarraville.
Well, the ears are still ringing from last night, but less so so shouldn’t be much to worry about. This morning was a bit of a write-off despite scrambled eggs on toast in the backyard courtesy of the lanky one. I even managed to get some work done which is both tragic and impressive given my less than energetic state earlier today.
Enjoyed a wagyu burger lunch in the city with Albert before heading off and sorting out various things best left undiscussed here.
As for right now, I have a bottle of Waipara Valley pinot gris, sourdough baguette, asparagus and organic butter (I couldn’t be bothered walking those extra feet to get normal butter). Colour me craving something simple after lunch today and non-Cambodian after the last few nights.
Really not sure what is on the cards for tonight. Hopefully very little. The next few days are looking to become somewhat… eventful.
This is the The Juan Maclean remix of Marina & The Diamonds’ song “Hollywood”.
Sure this has an air of generidisco about it, but the relentless thumping disco beat with intermittent error sounds are successfully fighting through the ringing in my ears, certainly so much as to be really rather enjoyable.
Today comprised mainly naps and bread and more naps with a dash of TV shows Wonder Showzen and Mad Men before heading off to Richmond to see HEALTH.
HEALTH were amazing. Loud, chaotic, near-pure noise, but amazing. They didn’t disappoint in any respect, despite the short set they played (done and dusted in 40 mins including encore). Maybe if they’d paused for breath between songs, it may have seemed to have lasted a little longer. All good though.
The only song I actually recognised from their set was “Die Slow” and they rather nicely buried that in the middle of their set. Throughout the set the skinny asian guy leapt around a lot, the ginga had the thousand yard stare, the lead vocalist carried his own and the drummer was going so ridiculously hard out.
The ears are ringing something wicked and the right ear has started to ache, but HEALTH were definitely worth the trip to Melbourne.
Now to sort out what I’ll do the rest of my time here.
Arrived in Melbourne yesterday to the lanky one and breakfast at Jungle Juice on Centre Lane. Hadn’t been there in quite a while for reasons that really quite escape the two of us, but it was good to see that some things never change. Their coffee seems to be fairly popular but I’ve usually preferred their Dirty Ron bagel with kransky and fried egg and a mixed fruit juice to wash it down.
Made my way out to the Yarraville flat through an oddly unpopulated Melbourne city centre and Flinders St Station. Got back and tucked into a bottle of disappointing white wine and a few unforeseen errands for work in the sun-splashed backyard.
Early afternoon was all about Ikea. I hadn’t been since I was a youngster back in Canada and even then I only have memories of the ubiquitous ball pit. The stern-faced woman at the entrance to the kids area meant I wasn’t going to be revisiting those memories at this particular store. The flat has a new roommate so we were on the hunt for various things she needed to deck out her room. Inasmuch as I enjoy the accessibility of Ikea for most home situations, the thought of other people having the exact same things in their own home as I might have in mine was more than a little disturbing. And so, with a trolley-load of pillows, manchester, coat hangers, wine glasses, desk and chair we departed with pepsi in hand and an Ikea hot dog for moi (quite good for $1).
The rest of day one involved the drinking of gin, smoking of cigarettes, consumption of delicious if over-priced Cambodian takeaways, the abjectly terrible Jennifer’s Body, the horror that is manufactured K-Pop boybands, and the mild panic that comes with suggesting an American noise rock band come around to the flat on their night off.
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