LA PETITE FRANCAISE - CREPERIE ET CAFE (that's yer actual french)
307 Toorak Road, Sth Yarra.
Everso slightly creped out......
4 out of 5 stars
Finally! This was a miracle find; the laws that govern eating out for us poor punters normally err on the side of mine hosts and we invariably exit falling somewhere between sensations of nausea and/or being slightly or mightily ripped off.
But not this time, so yay for us!
We did venture inside this little cafe with boundless trepidation but decided to fore go our exploration of Chapel Street and take a punt on our gut-feeling and hoped our guts wouldn't get punished too severely. As luck would have it the coffee was great and the crepes were astonishingly good!
The fillings were superb, cooked deftly and with care. For the record I had 'Popeye' which I heartily recommend again to myself one day, and Mrs B had plain crepes with lemon. Both dishes served with the coffee (I know, it seems so silly to write that) and within a few short minutes of our order.
Why can't life always be like this?
FITZPIZZA
450-452 Nicholson Street, North Fitzroy
Always wondered where leftover pizza ends up.....
This place is not for the faint of heart: if you love your pizza base thick and tomatoey and topped with scraps from assorted garbage bins then this is most definitely the place to eat!
I'm not a huge fan of takeaway pizza - save for those brilliant slices served up in Rome - but if ever I needed an excuse to be excused from ever trying one again, then Fitzpizza handed me one, or two, on a plate (actually, served in a pizza box).
I ordered 'Morroccan Lamb' and expected, err..Moroccan Lamb, but what i got was this: pizza base freely schmeered with thick tomato sauce, topped with unidentifiable cheese, at least 3 cm thick, followed by some scraps from some random bins and topped with bits of inedible and alarmingly greyish 'meat' which may have been lamb but could have been last weeks roast beef.
Second pizza ordered was the 'Pecorino' which was: pizza base freely schmeered with thick tomato, topped with 6 cm of cardboard impression of cheese (well drawn I thought) followed by the contents of someones bin.
Expect food poisoning.
GROSSE FLORENTINO - CELLAR BAR
Bourke Street, City.
Hopefully, the dining room is better....
Love this place: wonderful ambiance, like being anywhere in Italy, waiters with attitude but everso attentive and an atmosphere which is slightly, but not alarmingly, snobbish. Being dressed in a suit helps I think. In this, I could be rich - who could tell?
Unfortunately, the meal did not live up to either expectation or reviews: spaghetti bolognaise was adequate (just) - this is one dish that defines many restaurants in my eyes - and the lasagne fairly bland.
A disappointment.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
A CONCERT REVIEW.....................
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, 23 MAY 2009
Programme:
Copland: 'Billy the Kid' Orchestral Suite
Bruch: Violin Concerto #1
Dvorak: Symphony #6
Conductor: Gerard Schwartz
Soloist: Sasha Rozhdestvensky
Sorry dear, who's symphony is this again?
2 out of 5 stars
Having emptied most of the retirement villages into Melbourne's Hamer Hall in some kind of keen anticipation for this matinee performance, the MSO launched into a tight and well-polished production of Copland's 'Billy the Kid.' An odd piece, nevertheless, and not a particularly well known Suite from the New World but well performed and fairly rousing for the oldies to get their collective teeth into.
Bruch's sublime Violin Concerto followed on, beautifully crafted and almost faultlessly played by Rozhdestvensky, although there were times when I wished I could have tweaked the volume knob up to 11 just to catch the lighter, softer notes. Otherwise, sheer joy.
The oddity of this programme was in its title: 'To the New World.' Having failed to notice the inverted number '9' in the programme, I settled down after the interval and waited, vainly as it turned out, for the that motif so familiar to us of English stock, and known famously as the 'Hovis' music.
Dvorak not being my most favourite of composers, I was even less than impressed at having to sit through the whole of his number 6 when it was supposed to be 'From the New World!' Number 6 is a searing, soaring and boring collection of movements that promises so much and fails to deliver at almost every level. A nod to Brahms here, a nod to Brahms there. I wanted just to nod off.
Don't want to labour this point, but why was there reference to the New World? Copland I get; Bruch had an American friend whilst Dvorak's connection to America was non-existent until circa1890, many years after his number 6.
The MSO marketing people did a number on me!
Programme:
Copland: 'Billy the Kid' Orchestral Suite
Bruch: Violin Concerto #1
Dvorak: Symphony #6
Conductor: Gerard Schwartz
Soloist: Sasha Rozhdestvensky
Sorry dear, who's symphony is this again?
2 out of 5 stars
Having emptied most of the retirement villages into Melbourne's Hamer Hall in some kind of keen anticipation for this matinee performance, the MSO launched into a tight and well-polished production of Copland's 'Billy the Kid.' An odd piece, nevertheless, and not a particularly well known Suite from the New World but well performed and fairly rousing for the oldies to get their collective teeth into.
Bruch's sublime Violin Concerto followed on, beautifully crafted and almost faultlessly played by Rozhdestvensky, although there were times when I wished I could have tweaked the volume knob up to 11 just to catch the lighter, softer notes. Otherwise, sheer joy.
The oddity of this programme was in its title: 'To the New World.' Having failed to notice the inverted number '9' in the programme, I settled down after the interval and waited, vainly as it turned out, for the that motif so familiar to us of English stock, and known famously as the 'Hovis' music.
Dvorak not being my most favourite of composers, I was even less than impressed at having to sit through the whole of his number 6 when it was supposed to be 'From the New World!' Number 6 is a searing, soaring and boring collection of movements that promises so much and fails to deliver at almost every level. A nod to Brahms here, a nod to Brahms there. I wanted just to nod off.
Don't want to labour this point, but why was there reference to the New World? Copland I get; Bruch had an American friend whilst Dvorak's connection to America was non-existent until circa1890, many years after his number 6.
The MSO marketing people did a number on me!
MY $6 FILM FESTIVAL...........
When we arrived in Melbourne last year, the International Film Festival was underway. Ticket prices were ridiculous, so I took advantage of Carlton's Nova Cinema $6 Mondays and treated myself to a 2 month binge of film festivalling of my own making.
Here are a few I saw:
YOU, THE LIVING (Sweden)
1 out of 5 stars
The unbearable lightness of boring......
Forgoing my film mantra - no swedish films shall pass thine eyes - I took myself off to catch this cinematic voyage on the recommendation of almost every critic I could lay my hands on.
To the former, I wish I hadn't and to the latter I wish I really had.
Here are some words that best describe my feelings to this film:
Pseud - unfunny - dull - swedish - cliched - turgid - wasted a perfectly good $6 note.
New note to self: imprint first sentence onto brain.
THE BANK JOB (UK)
0 out of 5 stars
Cor blimey guv, its the old bill.......
Having all but pulverised any remaining fillings through copious teeth grinding during this lame 'boys-own' adventure, and all within the first 20 minutes, it occurred to me that I may have missed the point. This film's title and synopsis, masquerading as a 'real-life' story, was actually a clever misnomer for the long overdue theatrical release of 'Minder' but without the clever script and the understated acting of Waterman and Cole in the guise of Terry and Arthur. And then it occurred to me that perhaps it wasn't; this was actually a theatrical version of 'Life on Mars' but without the clever and witty script, attention to 70's detail and understated but believable characterisation. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps this was actually another Carry On film but with serious intentions.
Then I got bored with my mind games and instead focused on the real mission I had set myself: sit through the excrement and get some worth for my money; suspend disbelief and go along for the ride. Or be taken for a ride.
Drivel.
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (Turkey/Germany)
5 out of 5 stars
Strap yourself in.......
At some point in your cinematic experience there comes a film that simply wraps itself around you and takes you to places uninvited and unexpected. This is one of those experiences.
Absorbing and gut-wrenching, I couldn't help but wonder why there was such little fanfare for this gem. I can find little evidence of it making the slightest of blips on the critics' radar and wonder how many have missed this brilliant piece because of that.
My film of the year.
THE BAND'S VISIT (Israel/Egypt)
3 out of 5 stars
A very nice, gentle film. Unheralded around the world and with limited release here in Oz. Such a shame.
KATE BUSH:UNDER REVIEW
Minus 10 out of 5 stars
Wow...unbelievable
I added this film into my list to get back at the organisers of the Melbourne Film Festival. A ridiculous amount of money ($25) for a 'made for tv' doco that was so poorly made and so far up its own arsehole it beggared belief that any right thinking film buff actually believed it good enough to be part of a film festival.
I wont waste too much time reviewing this tripe, except to say that anyone who recalls Kenny Everett's (and, come to think about it, Kate Bush's) take on the phenomenal rise and rise of Kate Bush way back in the late 70's will completely understand where I'm coming from.
The only reason I gave the film minus 10 is because the festival screened a Patti Smith short music film on the same programme; the song was amazing (Smells Like Teen Spirit) but the close-ups were truly scary.
Sorry Patti!
IN BRUGES (UK)
2 out of 5 stars
The beer's not bad either...
Cannot recall ever seeing a film where all the action is based anywhere in Belgium! I still don't have any inclination to ever visit Bruges after seeing this film even though it certainly looks like a very interesting place to visit.
I hate violence, so I watched most of the film through squinty eyes. Stupidly, I should add, because the violent scenes announced themselves well in advance. Also, I'm not even sure if I was supposed to take the film seriously or not and therein lay the difficulty.
A good film that could have been a whole lot better.
THE SALUTE (Australian)
2 out of 5 stars
Disgraceful treatment dished out over the years to an Aussie hero. This doco lays bare the utter hypocrisy of the Olympic spirit.
Quite welll made, but the interviews became irritating at times andf the story tended to jump around a fair bit.
Glad I made the effort to see it though.
Here are a few I saw:
YOU, THE LIVING (Sweden)
1 out of 5 stars
The unbearable lightness of boring......
Forgoing my film mantra - no swedish films shall pass thine eyes - I took myself off to catch this cinematic voyage on the recommendation of almost every critic I could lay my hands on.
To the former, I wish I hadn't and to the latter I wish I really had.
Here are some words that best describe my feelings to this film:
Pseud - unfunny - dull - swedish - cliched - turgid - wasted a perfectly good $6 note.
New note to self: imprint first sentence onto brain.
THE BANK JOB (UK)
0 out of 5 stars
Cor blimey guv, its the old bill.......
Having all but pulverised any remaining fillings through copious teeth grinding during this lame 'boys-own' adventure, and all within the first 20 minutes, it occurred to me that I may have missed the point. This film's title and synopsis, masquerading as a 'real-life' story, was actually a clever misnomer for the long overdue theatrical release of 'Minder' but without the clever script and the understated acting of Waterman and Cole in the guise of Terry and Arthur. And then it occurred to me that perhaps it wasn't; this was actually a theatrical version of 'Life on Mars' but without the clever and witty script, attention to 70's detail and understated but believable characterisation. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps this was actually another Carry On film but with serious intentions.
Then I got bored with my mind games and instead focused on the real mission I had set myself: sit through the excrement and get some worth for my money; suspend disbelief and go along for the ride. Or be taken for a ride.
Drivel.
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (Turkey/Germany)
5 out of 5 stars
Strap yourself in.......
At some point in your cinematic experience there comes a film that simply wraps itself around you and takes you to places uninvited and unexpected. This is one of those experiences.
Absorbing and gut-wrenching, I couldn't help but wonder why there was such little fanfare for this gem. I can find little evidence of it making the slightest of blips on the critics' radar and wonder how many have missed this brilliant piece because of that.
My film of the year.
THE BAND'S VISIT (Israel/Egypt)
3 out of 5 stars
A very nice, gentle film. Unheralded around the world and with limited release here in Oz. Such a shame.
KATE BUSH:UNDER REVIEW
Minus 10 out of 5 stars
Wow...unbelievable
I added this film into my list to get back at the organisers of the Melbourne Film Festival. A ridiculous amount of money ($25) for a 'made for tv' doco that was so poorly made and so far up its own arsehole it beggared belief that any right thinking film buff actually believed it good enough to be part of a film festival.
I wont waste too much time reviewing this tripe, except to say that anyone who recalls Kenny Everett's (and, come to think about it, Kate Bush's) take on the phenomenal rise and rise of Kate Bush way back in the late 70's will completely understand where I'm coming from.
The only reason I gave the film minus 10 is because the festival screened a Patti Smith short music film on the same programme; the song was amazing (Smells Like Teen Spirit) but the close-ups were truly scary.
Sorry Patti!
IN BRUGES (UK)
2 out of 5 stars
The beer's not bad either...
Cannot recall ever seeing a film where all the action is based anywhere in Belgium! I still don't have any inclination to ever visit Bruges after seeing this film even though it certainly looks like a very interesting place to visit.
I hate violence, so I watched most of the film through squinty eyes. Stupidly, I should add, because the violent scenes announced themselves well in advance. Also, I'm not even sure if I was supposed to take the film seriously or not and therein lay the difficulty.
A good film that could have been a whole lot better.
THE SALUTE (Australian)
2 out of 5 stars
Disgraceful treatment dished out over the years to an Aussie hero. This doco lays bare the utter hypocrisy of the Olympic spirit.
Quite welll made, but the interviews became irritating at times andf the story tended to jump around a fair bit.
Glad I made the effort to see it though.
ANOTHER BORING REVIEW BLOG......
....but since this is my blog, I don't care what anyone else thinks. I like the idea and couldnt give a tinker's whether there are 50,000,000 similar blogs to this.
Anyway, a collection of random 'reviews' on just about anything I get my hands, eyes and ears on.
And here are my starters for ten (english-type joke):
I just did these seven book reviews for amazon.co.uk, not sure why I posted them - I think it was the Charlie Chaplin and Tchaikovsky bios that had been simmering in my head for some years: note to self - get even with authors at some point in my life. When you read a book or go see a fillum or lsiten to music and want to rant, rail or rave to someone other than, say, your better half who couldnt care less, what can you do? Write to your local paper? Complain to Borders? Talk-back radio.....?
Here we are then:
Tchaikovsky
by Anthony Holden
2.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, get over yourself.......
Half way through this read, a voice in my head was urging the subject to stick his head in a bucket of rancid water....but instead, I chose to just close the book and get on with the rest of my life.
It was enough to turn me off his music forever! How pathetique.....
Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics
by Jonathan Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars.
A game of two halves, two teams, two goals and one football....how difficult can it be to get right?
Reading this book washed away many years of agony and frustration that has blighted this supporter of english football since 1966! At last, a voice to echo my own thoughts on the modern game; a sequel analysing every international ever played by England since 1966 would be the icing on the cake - maybe fellow long-suffering supporters could be invited to participate. This way, we could all put the boot in, which is more than most capped players ever did!
I had no idea how much of an impact english coaches had on the world game in the modern era. Is that the equivalent of football's brain drain?
I've been waiting for this book for most of my life.....
A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam
by Robert Mann
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mike Mansfield: or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb....!
A weighty tome, to be sure; but a wonderful piece of political science that unmasks the Capitol Hill deception that was the war in Vietnam. Also, a boring biography of the life and times and speeches of Mike Mansfield. Actually, this book would have been 10 times lighter without Mike Mansfield's name, speeches and press-grabs.
Reminds me of the Bob Dole scene in 'Family Guy:' Mike Mansfield, Mike Mansfield, Mike Mansfield...(ad infinitum).
Can I be honest here Mr Mann? At one (or maybe two dozen) points in the book I was secretly harbouring fantasies that the US of A would nuke Vietnam by at least page 350 so I could close the book forever and never, ever have to think about Mike Mansfield for as long as I live.
Now, I'm stuck with him in perpetuity (as I'm sure he would have wanted).
A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution, 1891-1924
by Orlando Figes
What's a little ice-pick between friends...?
A superb book and a wonderful introduction to the history of Soviet Russia.
I'll never be able to watch '10 days that shook the world' in the same way ever again!
Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World
by Elizabeth YoungBruehl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sorry, but who is this book about again....?
A wonderful introduction to the philosophy of Hannah Arendt - highly recommended to those wishing to pursue a voyage around Arendt's books but would like their hand held along the way.
Two gripes I'm afraid: firstly, almost every sentence and every paragraph appears to start with "Hannah Arendt....(did this)..." or "Hannah Arendt (wrote this)...." - this tic drove me to such distraction that the book became that much heavier (some creative editing may have, therefore, also reduced the number of pages?); secondly, and as much as really liked Young-Bruehl's style and the clarity of her prose, I wasnt sure whether I was the right audience for the book. Should I have been an undergraduate studying philosophy or at the very least an amateur philosopher? That many of his contemporaries found Heidegger confusing is alarming in itself (what is the point then?), but for us poor lay people, what chance is there? Suffice, and sorry to say, I skipped so many of these pages and am still none the wiser. Call me a philistine if you wish! Still, and all, a marvelous read and through it I really really miss Hannah Arendt's presence.
The Anatomy of Fascism
by Robert O. Paxton
5.0 stars out of 5 stars
A fist in the face by any other name......?
This certainly is a perfect introduction to an extremely complex subject - but I hate to admit that I did find Paxton a trifle over simplistic at times.
But if you're looking toward a literary exploration into 20th Century European tyranny, fascism and totalitarianism - then this book is an ideal starting point.
Charlie Chaplin and His Times
by Kenneth Schuyler Lynn
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful (yay for me!):
2.0 out of 5 stars
No, go on...tell us what you really think......
If I die famously, please please do not ask Kenneth Lynn to write my biography!
This is a well written poison-pen addition to the Chaplin factory of bios - and that Lynn despises Chaplin is quite obvious from almost the first few pages. No coincidence, then, that the publisher decided to use the famous 'devil' pic of Chaplin on the dust cover.
Why Lynn just didnt cut to the chase within the first two pages and tell the reader how odious a subject Chaplin was to him is beyond this reviewer! Still, I did keep on reading mainly out of pure curiosity just to see where Lynn was taking me; where he did take me was to a place I really didnt want to go.
I gave you 2 stars Mr Lynn: one star because you write quite well, and the other because the book is still on my shelf and can't bring myself to chuck it.
Still to come: dvd review....Edge of Heaven
book reviews (havent decided)
Film reviews: I have to review The Bank Job and one crap Swedish film
TV: too much to choose from, so maybe Madmen, Eastenders and more!
Anyway, a collection of random 'reviews' on just about anything I get my hands, eyes and ears on.
And here are my starters for ten (english-type joke):
I just did these seven book reviews for amazon.co.uk, not sure why I posted them - I think it was the Charlie Chaplin and Tchaikovsky bios that had been simmering in my head for some years: note to self - get even with authors at some point in my life. When you read a book or go see a fillum or lsiten to music and want to rant, rail or rave to someone other than, say, your better half who couldnt care less, what can you do? Write to your local paper? Complain to Borders? Talk-back radio.....?
Here we are then:
Tchaikovsky
by Anthony Holden
2.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, get over yourself.......
Half way through this read, a voice in my head was urging the subject to stick his head in a bucket of rancid water....but instead, I chose to just close the book and get on with the rest of my life.
It was enough to turn me off his music forever! How pathetique.....
Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics
by Jonathan Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars.
A game of two halves, two teams, two goals and one football....how difficult can it be to get right?
Reading this book washed away many years of agony and frustration that has blighted this supporter of english football since 1966! At last, a voice to echo my own thoughts on the modern game; a sequel analysing every international ever played by England since 1966 would be the icing on the cake - maybe fellow long-suffering supporters could be invited to participate. This way, we could all put the boot in, which is more than most capped players ever did!
I had no idea how much of an impact english coaches had on the world game in the modern era. Is that the equivalent of football's brain drain?
I've been waiting for this book for most of my life.....
A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam
by Robert Mann
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mike Mansfield: or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb....!
A weighty tome, to be sure; but a wonderful piece of political science that unmasks the Capitol Hill deception that was the war in Vietnam. Also, a boring biography of the life and times and speeches of Mike Mansfield. Actually, this book would have been 10 times lighter without Mike Mansfield's name, speeches and press-grabs.
Reminds me of the Bob Dole scene in 'Family Guy:' Mike Mansfield, Mike Mansfield, Mike Mansfield...(ad infinitum).
Can I be honest here Mr Mann? At one (or maybe two dozen) points in the book I was secretly harbouring fantasies that the US of A would nuke Vietnam by at least page 350 so I could close the book forever and never, ever have to think about Mike Mansfield for as long as I live.
Now, I'm stuck with him in perpetuity (as I'm sure he would have wanted).
A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution, 1891-1924
by Orlando Figes
What's a little ice-pick between friends...?
A superb book and a wonderful introduction to the history of Soviet Russia.
I'll never be able to watch '10 days that shook the world' in the same way ever again!
Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World
by Elizabeth YoungBruehl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sorry, but who is this book about again....?
A wonderful introduction to the philosophy of Hannah Arendt - highly recommended to those wishing to pursue a voyage around Arendt's books but would like their hand held along the way.
Two gripes I'm afraid: firstly, almost every sentence and every paragraph appears to start with "Hannah Arendt....(did this)..." or "Hannah Arendt (wrote this)...." - this tic drove me to such distraction that the book became that much heavier (some creative editing may have, therefore, also reduced the number of pages?); secondly, and as much as really liked Young-Bruehl's style and the clarity of her prose, I wasnt sure whether I was the right audience for the book. Should I have been an undergraduate studying philosophy or at the very least an amateur philosopher? That many of his contemporaries found Heidegger confusing is alarming in itself (what is the point then?), but for us poor lay people, what chance is there? Suffice, and sorry to say, I skipped so many of these pages and am still none the wiser. Call me a philistine if you wish! Still, and all, a marvelous read and through it I really really miss Hannah Arendt's presence.
The Anatomy of Fascism
by Robert O. Paxton
5.0 stars out of 5 stars
A fist in the face by any other name......?
This certainly is a perfect introduction to an extremely complex subject - but I hate to admit that I did find Paxton a trifle over simplistic at times.
But if you're looking toward a literary exploration into 20th Century European tyranny, fascism and totalitarianism - then this book is an ideal starting point.
Charlie Chaplin and His Times
by Kenneth Schuyler Lynn
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful (yay for me!):
2.0 out of 5 stars
No, go on...tell us what you really think......
If I die famously, please please do not ask Kenneth Lynn to write my biography!
This is a well written poison-pen addition to the Chaplin factory of bios - and that Lynn despises Chaplin is quite obvious from almost the first few pages. No coincidence, then, that the publisher decided to use the famous 'devil' pic of Chaplin on the dust cover.
Why Lynn just didnt cut to the chase within the first two pages and tell the reader how odious a subject Chaplin was to him is beyond this reviewer! Still, I did keep on reading mainly out of pure curiosity just to see where Lynn was taking me; where he did take me was to a place I really didnt want to go.
I gave you 2 stars Mr Lynn: one star because you write quite well, and the other because the book is still on my shelf and can't bring myself to chuck it.
Still to come: dvd review....Edge of Heaven
book reviews (havent decided)
Film reviews: I have to review The Bank Job and one crap Swedish film
TV: too much to choose from, so maybe Madmen, Eastenders and more!
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