A weekend in widescreen

So this was my weekend in widescreen. I'm going to use one of these as my new header. Which one should I choose? Your vote.

Niagara lane - art

One of the new batch of laneway commissions, this one is right out there. I'm going to put this one into the "how did they, why did they, but?" basket. To me this is a bit of an insiders artwork. Hundreds of people probably walk past the stair case every day without thinking about it, but if you stop and have a good look that's when you appreciate the randomness of this installation.

As far as a laneway goes, I like Niagara, cool name, great looking old warehouse buildings, a few random chalk-on-wall quotes, oh and a nice sticker to end of with at Little Bourke!

> Locate this

Finlay Alley - art

Here's a new challenge that I've set myself. On top of getting to all the Laneway Commissions I am now going to see if I can also document all the registered Street Art areas in the Melbourne CBD.

Each area has been given a "STA" code so I'll tag all the posts with STA. First up are the images above, this is Finlay Alley, STA005. Some great pieces are up and down this area, the nice people that manage this area have also installed motion sensor lighting to give you a chance to view the art at any time of the day or night.

If you want to know more about the Street Art permits you can go here, but be prepared for some reading! I haven't bothered to read through it all because there's about a million different forms on the page.


NEW TO LOCATE THIS - GOOGLE STREET VIEW ...

> Locate this

Warburton lane - art

One of the great things about the City of Melbourne is its creative use of public space. Laneways, the otherwise forgotten ugly sister to the wide boulevards, are embraced with vigour. Like Cinderlla, Melbourne's laneways have the chance to shine and put on a show throughout the year. Melbourne's Laneway Commissions are an annual chance for public artists to slip a glass slipper and ball gown onto the dusty utilitarian laneways.

This example here is from the 2007 commissions. As I make my way around the city with my trusty camera phone I will also be bringing you 2008's intake of cultural and artistic interpretations of laneway art.

New Quay Promenade, Docklands - art

I bet there's plenty of debate whether Docklands is a raging success of an urban renewal project or a misguided ill-placed misadventure - I know I can't make up my mind. It's a perfect venue for daytime activities; the dragon boat festival is great! But come nightime it's a ghost town. And don't even mention the micro-climate! Stick a few wind turbines in there and I bet the whole of Docklands would be self sufficient!

If there has been one definite benefit of the Docklands build, it's been for public and installation artists. There's a great amount of public art to see, get the tour guide here. Above is an image of one of the installations on New Quay Promenade.

> Locate this

Balcombe Place - Art

It's like there's a party in the lane and every shoe is invited. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes, sometimes it's even a size 9.

> Locate this

Hardware Lane - Art

I love the grunge of many of the lanes in Melbourne, I'll be photographing plenty of them in the following months. But I thought I'd start off with a really nice piece of art I saw in Hardware Lane, it really fits in with the surrounding restaurants. This particular piece is outside Vialetto Restaurant

Melbourne a'hoy!

I'm going to celebrate today, my first day in Melbourne with a Melbourne shuffle, just like this ...

Dunny n' shed tour

If you're thinking of driving from Sydney to Melbourne (or vice versa) and can do it in two days, then you have a million options that are available. Driving along the coast takes you past some beautiful seaside towns, a whale museum, plenty of cheese shops, and if you take your surfboard you'll get some of the best breaks in Aus.

Another option is going inland. The Hume highway must be one of the most boring roads in the world as it now bypasses pretty much everything, you'll even bypass 10 hours of your life if you don't jump off the highway to appreciate the fact you're in the heart of Australia's farming region.

So my suggestion is, if you're going the inland route, do it over two days and jump off the Hume. Get into some of the old towns and see what you're missing out on. Get a vanilla slice, have a pie and watch a country footy match (honking your horn when a goal is scored is a must).

One town that I'd like to visit it Lockhart. It's classified by the National Trust,which is great and I'm sure is a reason in istelf, but what I really want to see is what's in the picture above - a Dunny 'n shed tour!

If you're a vistor from overseas and wondering what in the world that might be, here are two links for you: Dunny. Shed.

Things Melbourne doesn't have ...

Well, from my office I can safely say Melbourne doesn't have one of the world's best harbours, or best opera houses. I can also add surf beaches within 30mins of most places in the city. National parks around every corner. What else is missing in Melbourne? Can we get it if we don't have it? (I don't envisage surf beaches coming to Port Phillip Bay any time soon) ...

The presets @ the enmore

Went to the Presets @ the Enmore last night, very fun. Still not sure why you would have a band like that in a venue that includes seating. I reckon seating etiquette is that standing is not only fine, but encouraged - why in the world would you want to sit through a Presets gig!?

Gig was awesome, had a great dance and also played around and made a new banner for the blog.

Still making the most of the rest of the time I have in Sydney but can't wait to get back into all the Melbourne venues (they're much better I reckon!!)

Getting up to speed

Alright, so now that I'm on the way back down I need to get up to speed with the local culture. No doubt there's plenty of e-zines, blogs, websites and, of course, street press out there to get me started.

I'm already checking out Three Thousand every now and then and I have my POW subscription.

Help me here, how do I find out what band is playing and when! Is there an online version of the plastered walls of the Espy front bar? Where are the online 'telegraph poles'?

Why I love Melbourne

So I'm moving home to melbourne after a couple of years away. I've always been popping back to Melbourne here and there, but haven't had the chance to 'live' in Melbourne for quite a while... I can't wait!

So why am I hanging to move back? Is it the footy? Is it the culture? The style? The shops? The cafes? The pubs? The bands? Not sure, but I think if you put them all together there's not many places in the world that compares.

For example here are two videos (1976 vs 2007) that show Melbourne's breadth of culture on the streets. I agree plenty has changed in the last 30 years (just watch the videos to check out how different a trip down Swanston Steet can be now!!!) - but all for the better I think!