australian rozie

I found out about this through my purchase of the Shop Ethical iPhone app. I try my best to shop ethical, but sometimes at the supermarket it is a decision between price, convenience and ethics.

I am a latecomer to the magic of Stevie Nicks. In the 1990s, I despised Fleetwood Mac – they represented the opposite of everything I liked about music eg. electronic, repetitive beats, with no guitars or real drums. Obviously, things have changed, I don’t do raves any more and Fleetwood Mac still sell albums 30+ years later. They were featured on Glee introducing them to a new young audience (who will probably download their albums)! In the 80s, I really liked Stevie’s solo track, Stand Back (much later on I found out it was inspired by Prince’s Little Red Corvette and he performed on the song). Other than that I didn’t have much time for these rock legends. Anyway, it’s true what they say about the more you hear a song, even if you hate it, you get used to it and then you start to like it! So constantly hearing Stevie Nicks over the last 20 years finally got into my brain. Then I started working with Ms JHair and she really got me into Stevie in the workplace (I still manage to be the office music Nazi).

Anyway, about the concert. Dave Stewart was her special guest, I guess no-one really knew any of his new stuff, as the audience was pretty stiff during his performance. When the band did some Eurythmics tracks (Here Comes the Rain again, Missionary Man…), it just didn’t feel the same without Annie Lennox.

An annoucement before Stevie came on stage asked the audience not to take photos or videos of the performance (ala Bjork). But really, no – I want a momento. Sorry Stevie.

Stevie Nicks appeared right on schedule at 9pm. She was actually much better vocally than I thought she was going to be. The concert went for two hours, which I consider very good value nowadays (Janet didn’t even last an hour and a half). Stevie told us from the start that it was NOT a “greatest hits” show and she was going to play her new stuff (whether you wanted to hear it or not). I can appreciate that she would want to plug her new album, after all, she said she worked really hard on it and was immensely proud of it. Luckily, I had acquired the new album a couple of weeks ago to familiarise myself with In Your Dreams. My favourite tracks of the night were Stand Back (the opening track), Dreams, Rhiannon, Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), Landslide & Edge of Seventeen. You can see the entire tracklist here. I enjoyed her anecdotes from her career and explanations of her new songs. She kept making jokes about being “old” – good to see a diva who can joke about herself. I was concerned when she needed a helper guy to make sure she didn’t fall over when she wanted to bend down and shake the audience’s hand during the finale. I also saw on Facebook, that PAdam got to touch her hand! Overall, a pretty awesome concert! As Tricky Dicky Wilkins said at the Arias, she is the queen of rock n roll!

Dave Stewart

Stevie Nicks

Well, it’s not much of a story, I wasn’t in New York or even America at the time. I was living at home in the burbs of Sydney, my mum had passed away six months earlier, so life wasn’t that great anyway. I was studying for my Certificate III in IT (Web design) course. It was night time in Australia and my brother or my dad told me to have a look at the tv. Needless to say, I was freaked out. I began thinking that perhaps this terrorism was going on all around the world and I just wanted to speak to my fiancé, Dave. At this stage, only one plane had hit the towers. While I was watching tv, the second plane hit as well. Dave was hanging out with his friend in Darlinghurst and didn’t know about the attacks until I told him on the phone. That night, I went to sleep feeling very shocked and sad. My dad, being dad, decided to video-tape the news (he always did that for important things). The next day I went to college/work in the city and everyone in the office was quite numb. Dave said to me, that I should come over to his place and stare at our pet goldfish, somehow it seemed like a good idea. The rest is history…

Hey there – long time, no hear on my blog. What can I say? Nothing exciting has happened recently (he he). I’ve done so much over the past few months, but haven’t got around to blogging about them, sorry. You’ll just have to get the short Facebook updates. Anyway, I’m pretty chuffed that the Annual Review that I designed for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has been shortlisted in the Create Awards. Unfortunately, they didn’t use the front cover image as the link on the Create Awards website, but I guess the aspect ratio wasn’t right. Also, I didn’t realise you are meant to do fancy product shots even if it’s an A4 brochure (I just supplied spreads straight from the document), in future I will try some more interesting promo shots. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can download the report from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead’s website.

Blondie, live in concert, Sydney, 2010 – 03, a photo by Australian Rozie on Flickr.

Considering how far back up on the balcony our seats were, this is a pretty good shot!
Debbie Harry – Blondie & The Pretenders, Enmore Theatre, Sydney 09/12/10

Haven’t been tagged for a while!

So 7 things about me? I’ve decided to also give you some musical insight…

:: My top three gigs of all time are: Bros @ Sydney Entertainment Centre c. 1988, Duran Duran @ The Enmore Theatre 2003 & George Michael @ Sydney Football Stadium 2010. (Oh I have to mention Michael Jackson @ Parramatta Stadium 1987 of course, and Daft Punk @ Sydney Showground at Nevereverland 2008)

:: My first concert was at the Sydney Entertainment Centre to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band in 1985. I can’t remember the exact date but a google search has found a set list from the tour! I was in Year 7 and I went with my Uncle Ronald and some other relatives & his friends. There was a bit of a drama… I think my other uncle had his car broken into and his briefcase stolen (with the tickets to the show). As this was a sell-out tour, the tickets ended up being scalped! Luckily my uncle was very a-n-a-1 and had photocopied the ticketsSomehow the credit card transaction records were enough proof of purchase, so when some randoms came in and sat in our seats, they ended up getting booted out, while my uncle was “waiting in the wings” to get in! I remember being the youngest person at the concert, but really enjoying it. This began a long history of attending concerts that continues to today

:: The three concert tours that I have done a double take (attended twice) are: Michael Jackson – Bad Tour 1987, Prince – Diamonds and Pearls Tour 1992 and Kylie – Showgirl Tour 2006!

:: DJ gigs don’t count as concerts, so here are my top three DJ sets of all time: Jeff Mills @ Apollo Festival 1998, Derrick May @ The Palladium 199?, Diplo @ The Mandarin Club 2006.

:: I am bummed that Australian Idol got axed. Luckily, it was not around when I was a teenager or I would have been one of those terribly off-key wannabe’s embarrassing themselves on national television.

:: Even though I have worn ear-plugs to parties/gigs/clubs for the past 15 years, I’ve still managed to develop tinnitus and must go into retirement

:: I will come out of retirement if Underground Resistance play in Sydney!

Hey kids – it’s that time of the year again!

The Bandaged Bear Appeal – is the signature public fundraising appeal for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

The highlight of the annual month long appeal is Bandaged Bear Day™ – Friday 25 March. On Bandaged Bear Day™, hundreds of volunteers assemble at train stations, shopping centres and major business areas, such as Martin Place, Sydney, to sell merchandise.

This is where you come in friends… if you are free before work on the morning of Friday 25 March, please volunteer to help me at Central station, where I will be Bandaged Bear Day co-ordinator! Alternatively, come visit me in Martin Place at lunchtime to buy a bear and show you care.

Help celebrate the 22nd anniversary of The Bandaged Bear Appeal™!
Buy merchandise, donate money or hold your own Bandaged Bear Breakfast during March and raise vital funds for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. The Hospital relies heavily on the support of the community to make this day an overwhelming success.

Funds raised by The Bandaged Bear Appeal help care for sick kids needing a range of medical treatments. Donations will be allocated to areas of the greatest need within the Hospital, including research into childhood diseases, the purchase of vital equipment and the provision of patient services. Community support contributes significantly to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead being a world-class centre of healing for sick children and their families.

I did not manage to cross off many things from my list of 10 things I wanted to do by the end of the 2010. I try not to make new year’s resolutions, but I’ll substitute for Chinese new year’s resolutions just for motivation.
1. Blog more – I may set a challenge to blog every day for a month again, or upload a picture every day.
2. Have dinner parties and play more board & video games
3. Use my new Kitchen-aid
4. Attend yoga and/or meditation classes (yes, yes, I know you can do it for free at home, but I need to pay someone to make me do it)
5. More organic and ethical shopping.

Wow! So many nerds, so little time! The ratio of women to men is 1:100 here – single ladies get down to QUT, QLD

This special event was held at one of my favourite Sydney restaurants, Danks Street Depot. Seven little Australians gathered to celebrate Dave’s birthday and enjoy food sources from within 10 miles of Waterloo. I thought it was not only a great concept, but a great example of sustainability and common sense! It really annoys me that supermarkets have garlic from China or Mexico and oranges from America. Really, I think it’s wrong to stick fresh produce on a plane and fly it to Australia. I am perfectly fine with not being able to buy a particular vegetable if it’s not in season.
Anyway, back to the meal – I was delighted to see Brasserie Bread, lemons sourced from someone’s backyard in Ryde, veges from a Chinese market garden in La Perouse and a rock cod caught off Botany Bay. Even some of the alcohol (beer) was produced locally. The meal wasn’t 100% within the 10 miles (eg. salt, flour, olive oil) but pretty much from within NSW, which was great. I particularly enjoyed the hand churned salted butter (yum), dessert – pavlova with lemon curd and honey sorbet (yes, honey locally made). We had a lot of fun with the rock cod which was wrapped in paperbark from a tree on Danks St!

Jared Ingersoll made a passionate and amusing speech. We really got our money’s worth because he was standing right in front of our table! I think he’s a really cool guy and he works really hard for what he believes in. A lady was filming a doco during the meal, I hope she didn’t film me eating. One of the organisers sat at our table (DSD loves the sharing food/tables with strangers concept), she helped to source all the local vendors for this special meal. Her mum’s chickens produced the eggs used on the night. We had a really great time at the 10 mile meal and at the end of the night walked down the road and went to bed

The 10 mile meal
Also known as the 16.09km meal, this multicourse dinner will illustrate the bountiful beauty of Sydney produce while also showcasing Sydney’s cultural diversity and its ability to feed itself – highlighting the growing interest in community gardens and growers markets.

10 MILE MEAL
Thursday October 7th 2010
Sourdough Bread
Brasserie Bread Sourdough with Pepe’s hand churned salted butter.
(Made in St. Peters from Picton cream)

A Medley of Spring Vegetables
Julienne daikon, grilled scallions and roasted beetroot.
(Freshly picked from Gordon Ha ‘s Chinese market gardens in La Perouse).

Frank’s Tomatoes
A tomato salad of Grosse Lisse, Baby Ox heart, Ox heart, Sweet Bites and assorted heirlooms with chapons and flat leaf parsley. (Tomatoes sourced by Frank Bonfante from Haberfield gardens).

Globe Artichokes
Artichokes steamed and served with a garlic, chilli and cream sauce. (Artichokes from Cornwallis and cream from Picton).

Squid Salad
Preserved squid salad with Daikon, Mint, Coriander, Choi Sum and shallots. Finished with a chilli, honey and lemon dressing. (Squid caught off Botany Bay, herbs and vegetables from Gordon Ha ‘s market garden in La Perouse; honey from George and Charis Schwartz in East Sydney, lemons picked in a backyard in Ryde).

Baked Fish
Whole Rock Cod baked in paperbark with lemon and chilli.
(Rock Cod caught off Botany Bay, Lemons from Ryde and Paperbark from Danks Street).

Green Veggies
Stir fried Bok Choi and Gai Lan (From Gordon Ha ‘s La Perouse Market Garden).

Dessert
Pavlova with lemon curd and cream. (Eggs from Sonia’s Happy Chooks in Homebush, Lemons from Ryde and cream from Picton).

Honey Sorbet
(Honey from George and Charis Schwartz)

Rock Cod caught off Botany Bay, Lemons from Ryde and Paperbark from Danks Street