Interstate Visitors
Aug. 10th, 2024 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipIt is always a joy to have close interstate visitors come to town, but sometimes the circumstances aren't ideal. In particular, I feel for my dear Darwin friend, Lara D., who at the end our holiday in Bali received news of her grandmother's passing as she was at the airport. Such events can bring close friends and family together, which has certainly been the case in this instance. Lara is not one to let a visit to Melbourne occur without adventures in her style however, and on Sunday night we and Anton went to the beautiful "Lightscape" event at the Botanic Gardens, whilst on Tuesday night we all met members of the immediate family and friends at the Simon's Peiking Duck restaurant, named after the famous former owner Simon Lay. Despite the circumstances, it was quite a delight to spend time in their company. Thursday afternoon was the funeral itself, held at St Scholastica's Catholic Church. As has been observed as one gets older they go to more funerals than weddings, and whilst everyone dies many of my friends have chosen to be unmarried (including the broader sense of civil union ceremonies, etc). It must be said am more familiar with secular funerals as well, which are inevitably more about the person. But I was thoroughly charmed with the Polish components of the services, and the closing song "Goralu, czy nie żal" a story of leaving the Tatra mountain range, where Lara's grandmother was born.
For less sombre reasons, I have been blessed with a visit from my dear friend from Adelaide, Paula DA. Neither of us will tire of how we first met, on a protest bus trip to the Woomera Detention Centre for asylum seekers in 2001. We discovered very quickly that we had similar interests (e.g., history from a worker's perspective, anarcho-syndicalism, Unitarianism), and were of a like mind, disposition, and humour of such matters and, as a result, we have been firm friends ever since. It was also a great opportunity to whip up something special for my regular Friday evening dinner party which was attended by myself, Paula, Erica H., and Dom J., and which I plied people with Italo-Franco food (air-fried gnocchi with a light tomato salsa, pot de crème au chocolat, etc) which all worked out pretty well. Erica, also a good friend of Paula's, has enjoyed her company as well, and today Erica and I ventured to see the "The Art of Banksy" exhibition, which included several videos and a very impressive collection of static pieces. Of course, we are both overfond of rodents which is always a draw-card, but apart from this stylistic inclusion, one must be impressed with the darkly humourous insight, humanist subject matter, and dedication to just causes displayed by this artist. I found the video referring to the Syrian civil war (rather, the war on civilians), for example, to be very moving.
For less sombre reasons, I have been blessed with a visit from my dear friend from Adelaide, Paula DA. Neither of us will tire of how we first met, on a protest bus trip to the Woomera Detention Centre for asylum seekers in 2001. We discovered very quickly that we had similar interests (e.g., history from a worker's perspective, anarcho-syndicalism, Unitarianism), and were of a like mind, disposition, and humour of such matters and, as a result, we have been firm friends ever since. It was also a great opportunity to whip up something special for my regular Friday evening dinner party which was attended by myself, Paula, Erica H., and Dom J., and which I plied people with Italo-Franco food (air-fried gnocchi with a light tomato salsa, pot de crème au chocolat, etc) which all worked out pretty well. Erica, also a good friend of Paula's, has enjoyed her company as well, and today Erica and I ventured to see the "The Art of Banksy" exhibition, which included several videos and a very impressive collection of static pieces. Of course, we are both overfond of rodents which is always a draw-card, but apart from this stylistic inclusion, one must be impressed with the darkly humourous insight, humanist subject matter, and dedication to just causes displayed by this artist. I found the video referring to the Syrian civil war (rather, the war on civilians), for example, to be very moving.
