Taking a break ...
I'm off home to Australia for a while, so give me a call! The old Gloster Street number is still operational, and my old mobile number should be too. Hope to see you soon!
Love
Les
XXX
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Sunday, 8 April 2007
Brushes with fame ...
:: Brush number 1.
I was talking to Will's school counsellor yesterday and he mentioned that his brother-in-law was a writer. "Oh," I said, "What's his name?" "Michael Connelly - you might have heard of him ... " "Really? The Michael Connelly? Yes - I've heard of him!"
:: Brush number 2.
See the young chap sitting between Lily and Will in this picture (having dinner at Bondi)?
That's young Trevor Wilson, a great kid and one of Will's best school mates. He is also a guitar prodigy (and Will says he has a great big gravelly voice). One of Trevor's best mates is Lenny Kravitz. In fact, Trev went to New York last year for a week to lay down a few tracks with Lenny. And Trev cracks a mention on Lenny's latest CD cover notes. And on Trevor's 16th birthday, Will was out driving with him (Trev drives an enormous LandRover - can you imagine?) when Lenny rang to wish him happy birthday!
By the way - Will is wearing the suit jacket that Dave wore on our wedding day, 24 years ago. I guess it would be classified as 'vintage' now. Will wears it a lot and he's very fond of it. It looks great on him.
:: Brush number 3. Lily's going out with Nick, a fellow student, and Gerry Garcia was his uncle!
:: Okay - that's more than enough name-dropping.
Will and I have been talking about cars a lot lately. We spend a lot of time doing that, because we are surrounded by them, and some of them are the most beautiful and astonishing cars on the planet. Recently we've been thinking about what car I should get next, as it's been recommended to us that I keep my Ford Freestyle only until next February, as they depreciate so rapidly that they're just not worth hanging on to. This is my wonderful Freestyle:
It's beautiful, a V6, with leather seats and two extra seats that fold down in the boot. I love it to bits - but I average only 18 mpg and petrol is now over $3 a gallon down here in Southern California. And since I got it last February, I've done over 18,000 miles.
It has been a fabulous car, size-wise, for me to gain confidence on the freeways, and I've felt very safe and sound in it. But if it's wise for me to trade it in, I think I should go smaller and more economical.
Which is why Will and I are talking abut cars. He wants me to get one of THESE (click on the link). And he keeps leaving pics of very expensive-looking BMWs and Mercedes on my desktop, so when I switch on the computer they flash in front of my eyes.
Of course, he's thinking that he'll have his licence soon, so may get to borrow Mum's car occasionally. So his choice of cars for me is coloured by that 17-year-old's logic!
I, meanwhile, would very very happily settle for one of THESE.They are pretty cheap (and a LOT cheaper than Will's choice!), they're a lot of fun, and they'd get me more mpg. Will is not happy - unless, of course, I get the V8 GT version. Can you imagine a smallish car with a V8 engine?
:: I'd get a Prius, the little Toyota hybrid, if only they weren't so damn ugly. I'm sorry that that matters, but it does! They look like nasty little Moreton Bay bugs, and because they are so 'environmentally okay', they are allowed in the carpool lanes on the freeway even when there's only the driver on board (usually you have to have at least two people on board to qualify). And Prius drivers are very often the sort of dickheads who get in the carpool lane (which is also a fast lane because it is protected from the other lanes) and sit on 60 mph, or slightly less. Just because they can.
:: Talking about lanes on the freeway - my what a revhead post this is! - our local bypass has been completed, taking people easily and smoothly from the westbound 56 freeway and on to the southbound I-5, and also on to the 805 which splits from the 5. There are bypasses in both directions, so you can go north on both the 5 and the 805 and take the new bypass on to the eastbound 56. It cost $180 million to do this, and at one point there are now 21 lanes, counting both directions! Truly amazing!
:: Brush number 1.
I was talking to Will's school counsellor yesterday and he mentioned that his brother-in-law was a writer. "Oh," I said, "What's his name?" "Michael Connelly - you might have heard of him ... " "Really? The Michael Connelly? Yes - I've heard of him!"
:: Brush number 2.
See the young chap sitting between Lily and Will in this picture (having dinner at Bondi)?
That's young Trevor Wilson, a great kid and one of Will's best school mates. He is also a guitar prodigy (and Will says he has a great big gravelly voice). One of Trevor's best mates is Lenny Kravitz. In fact, Trev went to New York last year for a week to lay down a few tracks with Lenny. And Trev cracks a mention on Lenny's latest CD cover notes. And on Trevor's 16th birthday, Will was out driving with him (Trev drives an enormous LandRover - can you imagine?) when Lenny rang to wish him happy birthday! By the way - Will is wearing the suit jacket that Dave wore on our wedding day, 24 years ago. I guess it would be classified as 'vintage' now. Will wears it a lot and he's very fond of it. It looks great on him.
:: Brush number 3. Lily's going out with Nick, a fellow student, and Gerry Garcia was his uncle!
:: Okay - that's more than enough name-dropping.
Will and I have been talking about cars a lot lately. We spend a lot of time doing that, because we are surrounded by them, and some of them are the most beautiful and astonishing cars on the planet. Recently we've been thinking about what car I should get next, as it's been recommended to us that I keep my Ford Freestyle only until next February, as they depreciate so rapidly that they're just not worth hanging on to. This is my wonderful Freestyle:
It's beautiful, a V6, with leather seats and two extra seats that fold down in the boot. I love it to bits - but I average only 18 mpg and petrol is now over $3 a gallon down here in Southern California. And since I got it last February, I've done over 18,000 miles. It has been a fabulous car, size-wise, for me to gain confidence on the freeways, and I've felt very safe and sound in it. But if it's wise for me to trade it in, I think I should go smaller and more economical.
Which is why Will and I are talking abut cars. He wants me to get one of THESE (click on the link). And he keeps leaving pics of very expensive-looking BMWs and Mercedes on my desktop, so when I switch on the computer they flash in front of my eyes.
Of course, he's thinking that he'll have his licence soon, so may get to borrow Mum's car occasionally. So his choice of cars for me is coloured by that 17-year-old's logic!
I, meanwhile, would very very happily settle for one of THESE.They are pretty cheap (and a LOT cheaper than Will's choice!), they're a lot of fun, and they'd get me more mpg. Will is not happy - unless, of course, I get the V8 GT version. Can you imagine a smallish car with a V8 engine?
:: I'd get a Prius, the little Toyota hybrid, if only they weren't so damn ugly. I'm sorry that that matters, but it does! They look like nasty little Moreton Bay bugs, and because they are so 'environmentally okay', they are allowed in the carpool lanes on the freeway even when there's only the driver on board (usually you have to have at least two people on board to qualify). And Prius drivers are very often the sort of dickheads who get in the carpool lane (which is also a fast lane because it is protected from the other lanes) and sit on 60 mph, or slightly less. Just because they can.
:: Talking about lanes on the freeway - my what a revhead post this is! - our local bypass has been completed, taking people easily and smoothly from the westbound 56 freeway and on to the southbound I-5, and also on to the 805 which splits from the 5. There are bypasses in both directions, so you can go north on both the 5 and the 805 and take the new bypass on to the eastbound 56. It cost $180 million to do this, and at one point there are now 21 lanes, counting both directions! Truly amazing!
Tuesday, 3 April 2007
Moon's a balloon ...
Look what just drifted over our house - gorgeous!
Funnily enough, I just watched 'Enduring Love' on the weekend - a brilliant movie version of a truly brilliant Ian McEwen novel.
There were three of them over our roof, and then I saw another one in the west, on its way ...
:: The Chicago Cubs are for sale - now if we just count our pennies and do really well with the beer this weekend ...
Monday, 2 April 2007
Shopping list ...
Things I have to bring back from Australia*:
Rexona (lots), Palmolive Gold soap, Milo (two tonnes), Cherry Ripes (hundreds), Panadeine, Nurofen and Nurofen Plus, Bushells Blue Label leaf tea, Madura teabags, barbecue sauce, Barbecue Shapes, plus lots of fabric so I can make myself some fab summer frocks.
* for some of the Bondi staff, friends and family - not all for me!
:: There was a retro thang happening here while Lily was in town for her Spring Break: she's moving into an empty double dorm at college and wanted mt to make her two big floor cushions ouot of denim. Not knowing where I could buy denim, I pulled out a pile of jeans that Will has discarded (he's so tall and they were all too short) and set to with the cutter:
It so reminded me of the '70s, when we used to cut and re-construct old jeans as shorts, or bags, or those skirts with the weird crotch dead centre! Anyway, the result last week was these two fab, soft, denim cushions. All Lily has to do is buy the inserts and sew up the tops ...
:: There's a biker convention on in town and the place is roaring! Everywhere you look there are metallic tangles of the most beautiful bikes from all over the US, corralled into parking pens or in rows along the street, their immaculate paintwork and chrome bits sparkling and shining in the sun.
And the streets are loud with them. Their owners, sans machines, are easy to spot in their uniforms: lots of black T-shirts, leather vests and jackets (with and without long dangly fringes), bandannas, pigtails and ponytails (often grey!). So much fun!
:: A wonderful, wonderful day yesterday - most of it at the Bondi! The sun was shining, the air was warm, everything looked beautiful. Will was busy waiting for the call to help on a music video some friends of his were shooting, so Dave and I took the dogs for a long canyon walk, returning via the local park, and then we headed downtown for lunch. Well! The place was humming!
We had all the big folding doors wide open to the street and the porch, and there was a happy, relaxed crowd inside and out, enjoying a cold beer at the bar, sitting out on the sunny porch and having lunch, little groups of girlfriends huddling and giggling ... if it was an indication of what the place will be like when summer well and truly arrives - wow!
Friends from LA, Damien and Leah, were there as well so we arranged to join them for dinner. Back up the 5 for a sleepy, sunny Saturday afternoon. Dave had stayed up the night before listening to the disastrous Dockers v Pt Adelaide game online so he had the New Yorker and a nap; I sat out by the pool, tanning my legs, and crocheted a few more granny squares; Will came home and fell asleep on one of the couches downstairs ...
... this pic is actually Will asleep on one of the couches last winter, but that's just how he looks. That night, Will was off again, so David and I smartened up (just a bit) and headed back to the Bondi.
We were 17 for dinner! And the place was absolutely packed. At our table were Yanni Trianides and his American wife, Shannon, and her brother Bryan. Yanni is a young Melbourne man of Greek descent who lives now in Pasadena. His family own and run the Villa Romana in Lygon Street, and he is still involved in restaurants, so it was fab to get to talk to him.
Our friends from LA are similarly fun and interesting: Damien is Queensland's deputy trade commissioner, and his wife, Leah, is a composer, writes music for film and telly, and is an Australian - American Fulbright Scholar. She is also a voting member of 'the Academy' - as in Oscar! Imagine!
They brought with them several friends of Damien's from his uni days at UNSW and UCLA, plus two Australian doctors, Erica and Andrew. Erica is researching the role stress plays on children's mental behaviour. Andrew is a paediatrician and they both work at hospitals in LA.
With them was Lisa, an Australian forensic psychologist, now working at a research institute in LA, looking at the devastating effects on aid workers of living with trauma and working with victims of trauma.
Such great people, doing such fascinating work - so bright and enthusiastic and appreciative of the experience and opportunities they're enjoying in the US. One of the best things about Bondi is the opportunity it gives us to meet them all.
Things I have to bring back from Australia*:
Rexona (lots), Palmolive Gold soap, Milo (two tonnes), Cherry Ripes (hundreds), Panadeine, Nurofen and Nurofen Plus, Bushells Blue Label leaf tea, Madura teabags, barbecue sauce, Barbecue Shapes, plus lots of fabric so I can make myself some fab summer frocks.
* for some of the Bondi staff, friends and family - not all for me!
:: There was a retro thang happening here while Lily was in town for her Spring Break: she's moving into an empty double dorm at college and wanted mt to make her two big floor cushions ouot of denim. Not knowing where I could buy denim, I pulled out a pile of jeans that Will has discarded (he's so tall and they were all too short) and set to with the cutter:
It so reminded me of the '70s, when we used to cut and re-construct old jeans as shorts, or bags, or those skirts with the weird crotch dead centre! Anyway, the result last week was these two fab, soft, denim cushions. All Lily has to do is buy the inserts and sew up the tops ...
:: There's a biker convention on in town and the place is roaring! Everywhere you look there are metallic tangles of the most beautiful bikes from all over the US, corralled into parking pens or in rows along the street, their immaculate paintwork and chrome bits sparkling and shining in the sun.
And the streets are loud with them. Their owners, sans machines, are easy to spot in their uniforms: lots of black T-shirts, leather vests and jackets (with and without long dangly fringes), bandannas, pigtails and ponytails (often grey!). So much fun!:: A wonderful, wonderful day yesterday - most of it at the Bondi! The sun was shining, the air was warm, everything looked beautiful. Will was busy waiting for the call to help on a music video some friends of his were shooting, so Dave and I took the dogs for a long canyon walk, returning via the local park, and then we headed downtown for lunch. Well! The place was humming!
We had all the big folding doors wide open to the street and the porch, and there was a happy, relaxed crowd inside and out, enjoying a cold beer at the bar, sitting out on the sunny porch and having lunch, little groups of girlfriends huddling and giggling ... if it was an indication of what the place will be like when summer well and truly arrives - wow!
Friends from LA, Damien and Leah, were there as well so we arranged to join them for dinner. Back up the 5 for a sleepy, sunny Saturday afternoon. Dave had stayed up the night before listening to the disastrous Dockers v Pt Adelaide game online so he had the New Yorker and a nap; I sat out by the pool, tanning my legs, and crocheted a few more granny squares; Will came home and fell asleep on one of the couches downstairs ...
... this pic is actually Will asleep on one of the couches last winter, but that's just how he looks. That night, Will was off again, so David and I smartened up (just a bit) and headed back to the Bondi.
We were 17 for dinner! And the place was absolutely packed. At our table were Yanni Trianides and his American wife, Shannon, and her brother Bryan. Yanni is a young Melbourne man of Greek descent who lives now in Pasadena. His family own and run the Villa Romana in Lygon Street, and he is still involved in restaurants, so it was fab to get to talk to him.
Our friends from LA are similarly fun and interesting: Damien is Queensland's deputy trade commissioner, and his wife, Leah, is a composer, writes music for film and telly, and is an Australian - American Fulbright Scholar. She is also a voting member of 'the Academy' - as in Oscar! Imagine!
They brought with them several friends of Damien's from his uni days at UNSW and UCLA, plus two Australian doctors, Erica and Andrew. Erica is researching the role stress plays on children's mental behaviour. Andrew is a paediatrician and they both work at hospitals in LA.
With them was Lisa, an Australian forensic psychologist, now working at a research institute in LA, looking at the devastating effects on aid workers of living with trauma and working with victims of trauma.
Such great people, doing such fascinating work - so bright and enthusiastic and appreciative of the experience and opportunities they're enjoying in the US. One of the best things about Bondi is the opportunity it gives us to meet them all.
Friday, 30 March 2007
And the winner is ...
We've made a couple of lists of things we enjoy about being here, and the things about Australia that we really miss.
First, the things I miss:
• You guys! And Marnie, Simon and Mack.
• Clean, empty beaches - with no footprints on the sand, and when the sea is that clear turquoise. Cate sent me this pic (below) of the beach at Eagle Bay - and I just love it.
• Kookaburras, parrots, magpies and mourning doves.
• Rokeby Road
• Clean air
Dave misses:
• The smell of plants - especially eucalyptus. You can't smell it here, though there are eucalypts all over the place
• The dawn chorus of birdsong
• The Southern Cross at night
• Absolutely everything to do with footy, all week, every team, every sports column inch, every radio talkback show, absolutely everything.
We both miss:
• Being among the people we love - our 'support network' is so very, very far away!
• Silence - you have no idea how much background noise there is here. Planes, helicopters, freeways in the distance, cars everywhere. Dave reckons that when he was back in Subi in January, the silence was astonishing.
• Australian efficiency, particularly when it comes to things like banking, or insurance - and health insurance. Sometimes the systems here are so big, and have become so complicated, that even people working in them can't explain what's going on. And often the systems seem incredibly old-fashioned - lots of paper. People still send faxes!
• The ABC in all its manifestations. And Kerry O'Brien, Margaret Throsby, Triple J, radio news, and evening news on the telly. PBS doesn't come close - while earnest, and good in parts, it's also old-fashioned. And while we're on the subject - we miss decent, news and current affairs shows that aren't pushing agendas. We know Aunty gets slagged for its leftist leanings, but honestly - that's nothing to what goes to air here.
• Simple pleasures: decent bread, butter, bacon, chocolate, Madura tea, Vittoria coffee, tomato sauce, apple and guava juice, good lollies - especially mints ...
And these are some of the things I love about living here:
• That the Barnes & Noble store in our local shopping centre is open every day from 10am to 10pm, and it's good.
• The postal system. I love buying stamps online and having them delivered to my mailbox, and I can post things in my own mailbox too!
• The shopping. From Marshall's discount stores to the suavest, glossiest boutiques on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and all the Mexican stuff.
• Hummingbirds.
Dave loves:
• Showing San Diego to people from home.
• Being able to tell people here all about Australia.
Will loves:
• The sheer number and range of prestige and super-cars - 'cars from the royal family' as he puts it.
Above: A very fancy tangerine Porsche and a silver McLaren Mercedes, parked in Rodeo Drive. Will reckons there's over a million dollars' worth just in these two! Madness! You should have heard the noise when the orange one took off!
Lily loves:
• 'The forest of the Pacific North West, where I live. I can't imagine living without the forest, and after a shitty day being able to walk through the trees to the beach (see all the pics on the Flick'r badge on the right of this blog).'
• 'That the idea of a hippy state really exists here - and that I live in one. Washington and Vermont are the two big hippy states.'
• 'Being able to see great touring bands - tickets here are about $15 rather than $70 or $80 back home. If you pay $20, that's expensive. I paid $120 for a Sasquatch Music Festival ticket and half the bands are headliners, like Bjork, and the Beastie Boys. It's on for two days next month, at a place called the Gorge, in George - that's George as in Washington!'
We all love:
• The climate - no extreme Aussie-style summers.
• Feeling that we are part of the world. (Lily adds here that she loves the fact that there's this enormous continent and you can get in your car and drive anywhere and everywhere - plus she loves being an hour out of Mexico when she's in San Diego, and three hours out of Canada when she's at college.)
• The fabulous landscape here - canyons, hills, and seeing mountains in the distance.
• Mobility - the freeways and the ease of getting about. The freeway system is amazing, and it works - okay, there are snarls, but it is also brilliantly designed and engineered, and I love it.
• Cheap fares within the US, and cheap fares ($232 to London return I saw this week) to the rest of the world are a thrill.
• Cheap subscriptions to fabulous magazines: Dave gets the New Yorker for 95 cents an issue; we get Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Esquire ... and they cost next to nothing if you subscribe.
• Everything about baseball!
• Live entertainment - last year we went to about 16 concerts, from Jerry Seinfeld doing stand-up to Steely Dan. Just wonderful.
• That Hollywood is just up the road, so world entertainment news is local news, reported well and articulately. The 'Calendar' lift-out in the LA Times runs an incredible list of phenomenal shows - more than you can take in. The entertainment reporting, unlike the day-to-day current affairs, is often brilliant, with great reviews and interviews.
• The friendliness of the Californians.
We've made a couple of lists of things we enjoy about being here, and the things about Australia that we really miss.
First, the things I miss:
• You guys! And Marnie, Simon and Mack.
• Clean, empty beaches - with no footprints on the sand, and when the sea is that clear turquoise. Cate sent me this pic (below) of the beach at Eagle Bay - and I just love it.
• Kookaburras, parrots, magpies and mourning doves.• Rokeby Road
• Clean air
Dave misses:
• The smell of plants - especially eucalyptus. You can't smell it here, though there are eucalypts all over the place
• The dawn chorus of birdsong
• The Southern Cross at night
• Absolutely everything to do with footy, all week, every team, every sports column inch, every radio talkback show, absolutely everything.
We both miss: • Being among the people we love - our 'support network' is so very, very far away!
• Silence - you have no idea how much background noise there is here. Planes, helicopters, freeways in the distance, cars everywhere. Dave reckons that when he was back in Subi in January, the silence was astonishing.
• Australian efficiency, particularly when it comes to things like banking, or insurance - and health insurance. Sometimes the systems here are so big, and have become so complicated, that even people working in them can't explain what's going on. And often the systems seem incredibly old-fashioned - lots of paper. People still send faxes!
• The ABC in all its manifestations. And Kerry O'Brien, Margaret Throsby, Triple J, radio news, and evening news on the telly. PBS doesn't come close - while earnest, and good in parts, it's also old-fashioned. And while we're on the subject - we miss decent, news and current affairs shows that aren't pushing agendas. We know Aunty gets slagged for its leftist leanings, but honestly - that's nothing to what goes to air here.
• Simple pleasures: decent bread, butter, bacon, chocolate, Madura tea, Vittoria coffee, tomato sauce, apple and guava juice, good lollies - especially mints ...
And these are some of the things I love about living here:
• That the Barnes & Noble store in our local shopping centre is open every day from 10am to 10pm, and it's good.
• The postal system. I love buying stamps online and having them delivered to my mailbox, and I can post things in my own mailbox too!
• The shopping. From Marshall's discount stores to the suavest, glossiest boutiques on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and all the Mexican stuff.
• Hummingbirds.
Dave loves:
• Showing San Diego to people from home.
• Being able to tell people here all about Australia.
Will loves:
• The sheer number and range of prestige and super-cars - 'cars from the royal family' as he puts it.
Above: A very fancy tangerine Porsche and a silver McLaren Mercedes, parked in Rodeo Drive. Will reckons there's over a million dollars' worth just in these two! Madness! You should have heard the noise when the orange one took off!Lily loves:
• 'The forest of the Pacific North West, where I live. I can't imagine living without the forest, and after a shitty day being able to walk through the trees to the beach (see all the pics on the Flick'r badge on the right of this blog).'
• 'That the idea of a hippy state really exists here - and that I live in one. Washington and Vermont are the two big hippy states.'
• 'Being able to see great touring bands - tickets here are about $15 rather than $70 or $80 back home. If you pay $20, that's expensive. I paid $120 for a Sasquatch Music Festival ticket and half the bands are headliners, like Bjork, and the Beastie Boys. It's on for two days next month, at a place called the Gorge, in George - that's George as in Washington!'
We all love:
• The climate - no extreme Aussie-style summers.
• Feeling that we are part of the world. (Lily adds here that she loves the fact that there's this enormous continent and you can get in your car and drive anywhere and everywhere - plus she loves being an hour out of Mexico when she's in San Diego, and three hours out of Canada when she's at college.)
• The fabulous landscape here - canyons, hills, and seeing mountains in the distance.
• Mobility - the freeways and the ease of getting about. The freeway system is amazing, and it works - okay, there are snarls, but it is also brilliantly designed and engineered, and I love it.
• Cheap fares within the US, and cheap fares ($232 to London return I saw this week) to the rest of the world are a thrill.
• Cheap subscriptions to fabulous magazines: Dave gets the New Yorker for 95 cents an issue; we get Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Esquire ... and they cost next to nothing if you subscribe.
• Everything about baseball!
• Live entertainment - last year we went to about 16 concerts, from Jerry Seinfeld doing stand-up to Steely Dan. Just wonderful.
• That Hollywood is just up the road, so world entertainment news is local news, reported well and articulately. The 'Calendar' lift-out in the LA Times runs an incredible list of phenomenal shows - more than you can take in. The entertainment reporting, unlike the day-to-day current affairs, is often brilliant, with great reviews and interviews.
• The friendliness of the Californians.
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