From Bling to Swing

F1

2011-03-25T19:10:00.000+11:00

As the #112 tram trundled down Collins St towards the Town Hall the barely perceptible hum grew. As I alighted the tram, the hum was now a drone - spooky, low, ever-present. It seemed to concern no-one else.

It could have been distant air-raid sirens. Or fighter jets circling the city. A warning of a soon to be post-apocalyptic world perhaps?

Realization soon hit me, nothing as melodramatic as all that - simply the sound of roaring Formula 1 engines drifting north across the Yarra river.

Ah well, the daydream was fun while it lasted.

The Burton Club

2010-08-05T00:46:00.000+10:00

The Burton Club: "The Burton Club - Thursday nights from 6pm-10pm

ACMI reveals a little of its darker side when Thursday nights come alive with a weird, wonderful and whimsical program that captures the spirit of Burton. Come along and see the exhibition with friends, then enjoy a drink or two plus some free live entertainment. Entry to the Burton Club is free. Entry fees apply for Tim Burton: The Exhibition."

Love this town!

Initiation

2010-07-04T01:27:00.003+10:00

Today is a big day. The biggest, possibly, in a big week.

In this past week I have transferred the registration of our car to Victoria. That felt quite amazing, actually, a full fist-pumping in the air moment. Very cool.

More and more I'm feeling like I am really here.

In fact after that big step we have really completed our move to Melbourne. We have a flat, our driver's licenses are now Victorian, even our car is now registered here. The kids are in local schools, we have joined a Scout group and have, in fact, been accepted as leaders ourselves.

What else is there? Well this is Melbourne. The season is winter. Footy season. This is a football town, the football in question is AFL/VFL - known as Aussie Rules. In many ways this is our final hurdle. We are to be initiated into the ways of footy at the hallowed ground of the sport - 'the G.' The MCG or Melbourne Cricket Ground. Forgive for a moment the irony of a cricket ground being the spiritual home of Aussie rules.

What will happen? Who knows. The game is between the Richmond Tigers and the Sydney Swans. We are torn in our allegiances - being from Sydney the Swans are, in a sense, our team. Richmond's Tigers, on the other hand, carry our favourite sporting team mascot. Richmond are known, in recent history, for losing pretty much every game (except the last couple since we were told that!)

Whatever happens, we will have properly joined the spirit of Melbourne.

That's what I call a great school fete!

2010-03-20T01:15:00.003+11:00

Skipping forward to now because waiting to write it all in order is insane. For me, anyway.

Tonight was Miss 9's school 'Twilight Market' which is a fete by any other name, but with more alcohol. Aside from the substantial amount of ink worn by the parents, the eclectic range of looks worn and general mood of acceptance here, the market was awash with the booze.

There's a stall for the (presumably parents) who home brew. They have a bicycle modified with a trailer as the front wheel that holds a keg (or two). These guys were selling home brewed pale ale and cider. Wow.

Beside that stall were the two buckets of drink - one sangria, the other a clear mix with mint and whatnot floating about. Probably deadly - the sangria we took home in a jug as a favour to that stall at the end of the night certainly was :-)

Beside them was the wine stall - you could buy by the glass, bottle or half-case.

Then there is the music - the students performed at the usual standard for primary school kids who have been learning the keyboards, ukelele or recorder for about six weeks (ouch), but they did it in a fun, and most importantly, fast way!

The senior band turned out to be a rock band with an exceptional voice in the lead. This girl's voice actually turned heads. Their rendition of "T.N.T." was so enjoyed (not least of all by the band themselves) that it was given an encore performance after the three song set.

Leaving with the newly anointed (full!) sangria jug was really the icing on the cake, which you could also buy in cupcake sized portions. A phenomenal adult band (the drummer was a school parent) topped off the evening with their bluegrass / swing fusion sound.

Loving Melbourne. Moar like this, plz.

We are the New Melburnians!

2010-02-18T09:50:00.002+11:00

You may spank me like a bad, bad donkey, for I have been a bad blogger. When last I left you, dear readers, my nook of solitude was untouched by the ravages of packing, a truck had been procured and things were, as they say, starting to happen.

If the truth be told, it has all been a bit of a blur since then. Yet here I sit, in an all new nook of solitude, in Melbourne. This morning I walked out onto our balcony to greet the sun (which I find helps my body clock, when I remember to do so) and was greeted by an overcast day and a distinct chill in the wind blowing up the road from the city.

That would be autumn arriving around eleven days early. (Yes I realise that's on the other side of the planet, bear with me.)

It also prompted me to get back to the keyboard. So here I am. Over the next few posts I will fill in the blanks between those frantic days packing up and settling in here in Melbourne. Suffice it to say, for now, that without the amazing help of friends, neighbours and most of all siblings - that truck would not have packed itself.

By my reckoning (which is actually a note scrawled on the fridge) we arrived here on January the 7th. I'm pretty sure we stopped for an overnight sleep in a car park somewhere, so the packing went for another very full day after that last, oh so optimistic post.

Pack up in a day? Not quite.

2010-01-04T23:36:00.002+11:00

Today was packing day, after which we are quite tired.

The truck was picked up, though I had to wait with the various European backpackers queueing for camper vans from the same outlet. Nice big 3-tonne Pantec truck. Manual, but that's OK. Small issue of the brake warning light bing on, but they reckon it'll be ok. Hmph. Can't manage to find the brake fluid thingy to check. Deal with that tomorrow.

Have had some amazing help from friends, neighbours & family in working through the house. At various points I wasn't sure it would ever be done - yet now it seems achievable. Just. The truck is half full, the house seems to still be full, despite all the work.

Sydney's ReUseIt community has been great, under very short notice. The MacTalk forums less so, though I did manage to offload a PowerBook Duo 230, Asante Micro ethernet adapter & Duo installation floppy set. There's still a functional Macintosh Performa 580 CD that is likely to be junked. Le sigh.

My office nook is yet to be packed, or sorted for that matter. Then there's the iMac G4 that I've been meaning to fix for a friend for a very, long , time. Must do that before bed. So much to do, so bloody tired.

Then we drive two vehicles with two drivers the 900 kilometres or so from the old house to the new.

Oh crap - I still need to cancel the electricity & gas supply here (and get some switched on at the other end!) Also internet needs to be procured. My plan is to grab an Unwired modem on eBay and use that until I figure this ADSL stuff out (having been on the Optus cable network for internet & phone since, like, forever.)

Jason mentioned TPG as having a good deal - any thoughts anyone? The energy suppliers are a mystery as well. Maybe Choice can sort it out for me. Tomorrow.

Game on

2010-01-04T00:07:00.003+11:00

Sitting in my fortress of solitude (i.e. in my little room as yet untouched, mostly, by the madness) while around me the house is in shambles.

We have sent a few ute loads off to the tip. Many ute loads have been spread around to those who will re-use stuff. Vinnies have picked up a bit. Friends the rest - all our garden gear, pots, plants, mulch, potting mix and that list goes on. Toys, the TV, some computers, furniture...

Even my beloved hoard of Classic Macs has gone. As it happens, Reverse Garbage will take any IT gear. What they like will be resold (sometimes refurbished) - what is too old is consigned to this heap, the pile of Chrismas e-waste yet to be.

Tomorrow morning, according to the plan, we pick up a 2 tonne pantec truck and stuff all the remains of our house into it. What doesn't fit, I glibly repeat to anyone in hearing range, isn't coming with us.

The local Freecycle group, or should I say ReUseIt (some politics went on that I didn't follow much) has been fast to take some other stuff off our hands. At least they've promised to. Sydney North ReUseIt. Then we'll have to find the equivalent in Melbourne's (inner?) north to restock.

So much has happened. We have a place, in Northcote. A two bed apartment with huge balcony. Close to the high school we decided on.

So, off to bed for me. Pack the house & clean it tomorrow. Drive down on Tuesday. Unpack Wednesday.

Sounds easy enough.

Dealing with all the stuff

2009-11-03T17:44:00.003+11:00

Barely eight weeks until Christmas. My early plan had us running the house on minimal stuff come Spring, so we could more easily assess the move.

While we've shed ourselves of some, the stuff lifestyle runs strongly in my family. Neerav has a great post "Too much stuff: Consumption is not a way of life" where he comments :

When you buy a bigger home to accommodate your stuff, you pay higher taxes, higher heating bills, bigger cooling bills, a bigger mortgage, plus whatever the upkeep costs are for the stuff itself.

So what to do? Tonight I will decide which of my shoes I really don't need anymore. That will be a great start. Perhaps get those spare cables onto eBay as well? Brilliant. Then I need a reward - I wonder what that will be?

Oh crap!

2009-10-20T13:03:00.002+11:00

What the heck have I been thinking? It is October and we're still in Sydney. Still no schools chosen. Still got a house full of stuff that isn't going to come down with us.

Kids have just gone back to start the fourth & final school term of the year. That gives us about nine weeks to get it sorted and underway. Wondering about how long we can afford to pay rent in two cities & how much petrol we'll burn on the mighty Hume Highway?

At least the road is almost entirely dual carriageway now. That will help.

How I lost 6 weeks without even trying!

2009-05-23T04:11:00.003+10:00

It is hard to believe, now that I look it up, the last entry here was nearly six weeks ago!

What progress has been made on the move? Precisely none. Nothing physically, at least. The news continues to spread - reactions continue to vary. This past school holidays we were planning to head down for a few days and check out some schools - but sudden car trouble spelt a rapid end to those plans.

A wonderful friend has sent us up the guide to schools in Victoria - but somehow I haven't even taken a look inside yet. Other priorities, more urgent, more day-to-day press in and leave no room for this important, but not urgent bigger picture.

So what now? Well my big plan was to begin shedding 'stuff' throughout the winter. Winter is but days away. There's plenty of things around that I need to eBay. None will be coming with us.

After that, the plan is to seriously reduce our stuff into the Spring, culminating in a garage sale that leaves us with a functional quantity of belongings for our remaining days in Sydney.

Then there's the final give or chuck session before the move, which is looking like late January 2010.

Of course in the mean time there's extra money that will need to be saved for moving costs. Brushing up my earning ability so that there's more coming in as soon as possible once we hit the ground in Melbourne. Deciding on schools, enrolling, finding a place to live, fixing the car issues that are ongoing, the lists does seem to go on - and that's just the short list I can come up with at four in the morning!

None of this touches on recent events here in Sydney - the sudden passing of a friend of ours that brings life into sharp focus. Perhaps next time?

What does the title mean, Bling to Swing?

2009-04-05T19:12:00.002+10:00

This is no Seachange. No Treechange. What is it? I tried to encapsulate the change by reference to the fundamental character of the cities ... this is hugely subjective of course, but it is all about my point of view after all.

Over the past decade or so the popular culture here has begun to name these big moves in people's lives. Starting with the Sea-change, then to the Tree-change and more besides. Of course the term isn't new, we can trace it at least back to Shakespeare, taken from the song in The Tempest, when Ariel sings :

Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
into something rich and strange,

Enough of me being pretentious, preachy and just showing off my Googling skills.

In the post "Moomba vs Mardi Gras" I did delve into the differing characteristics (at least the widely held ones) of Sydney and Melbourne that lead me to the title "From Bling to Swing." We're hoping to be more in touch with the, dare I call it bohemian, lifestyle that Melbourne appears to offer.

So, about the byline then?

When I asked, on Twitter, what this blog should be called I received some really great responses. Some really smart-arsed ones as well! However the one that stood out immediately was from @lelak : "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Yarra"

What a terrific encapsulation of our move away from the frantic, property obessed Sydney lifestyle to embrace the city with the upside down river.

Now all we need is a plan and some action.

Storm Over Sydney

2009-03-15T21:10:00.002+11:00

Posted with LifeCast

Moomba vs Mardi Gras

2009-03-09T16:05:00.002+11:00

When hearing the news of our move, many people ask "why?" Which, I suppose, is a fair enough question. By way of an answer (because how can you answer that quickly?) I tend, at this time, to talk about the different types of cities Sydney and Melbourne are.

Can I really speak to the differences between two cities having only ever lived in one of them? Not really, which is why this post is tagged 'myths.' I intend to explore the myths of Sydney and Melbourne along our journey.

Sydney is often accused of being overly concerned with appearances. With a harbour like we have, can this come as a surprise? Sydney is all go, go, go. Chaotic, unplanned. If you will - in Sydney it is all about the Bling Bling. Do I believe this about my home (and birth) city? Perhaps, there's plenty of evidence around if you care to look for it - however we don't really run in those circles.

Or do we?

On to Melbourne. The pace is said to be slower than Sydney. Everyone, yes everyone has to follow an AFL team, at least nominally. Often international musical acts seem to perform more dates in Melbourne than anywhere else in the country. From what we've seen in our visits the city seems a little more Bohemian, which would suit us. The city is somewhat planned, public transport is, well perhaps not better but different!

Melbourne is a city that could put on a regular 24 hour Science Fiction movie marathon for some years - in Sydney the best we could get was a single 12 hour event. Even then the residents complained so much about the cinema that eventually it was shut down and turned into apartments. Long live the Valhalla.

In summary, I usually say something along these lines "Melbourne seems to be more like our kind of people." This gets nods of agreement, by and large, whether from politeness, understanding or wisdom. Doesn't really matter. We'll find out, soon enough.

Test Post

2009-03-09T00:23:00.001+11:00

Testing the iPhone app lifecast

Posted with LifeCast

Reactions to the move

2009-03-08T02:09:00.002+11:00

Fascinating to me are the reactions of people to the news. Especially in light of the dramatically different reactions our move is causing compared to some close friends of ours - but more on that later.

It seems to me so far the reactions have been very positive. This should not come as a surprise, I would think, for most people. While some friends have said they'd be sad to see us go, they also agree that it is an adventure and one worth taking. Some agree wholeheartedly with the move - "it will be good for you", they say. I agree.

My own family have been a little less enthusiastic. To be fair, I had always been a great one for dreaming big dreams, talking big talk and being a little shy on the follow through. They know me well - or at least they know who I used to be well.

Every day, in every way, I keep getting better and better.

Better at following through with plans. Better at doing things on my to-do lists. Better at throwing things away (I have great room for improvement here!)

A cousin I spoke with today at a family christening, S., has lived in a few places around the world. She has lived notably in New York and Melbourne. When I asked S. why she was now living in Sydney, the answer was so that her kids would grow up being connected to their extended family. What a great answer. Fortunately for us I think our kids have had a good deal of that experience. Not the best, perhaps, but they are aware of being connected to a greater mob, so I think we can check that box.

So what of other reactions? Well our good friends have moved out of Sydney to a regional area. A large family with four kids and a few pets, the move was - interesting. While we were (I hope) very supportive, others have not been so. Especially their families - on both sides - have been downright unpleasant. Which is really sad.

The reasons center around family responsibility. Who will be looking after their parents? Up until now these wonderful people had been taking on a caring role of their own parents - but they are not only children! Are the siblings scared of having to take over? Feel that it is not their responsibility? Who knows - but these are some of the adverse reactions that can come up.

How have your loved ones responded to you moving away? How have you dealt with those reactions?

So it begins

2009-03-04T13:28:00.003+11:00

A few days ago I dropped a bombshell on my wife - yes, we can move to Melbourne.

It took about ten minutes of convincing her that I had finally caved in. I had been holding out for a very long time.

In fact pretty much all the time we've been together, if her side of the story is to be believed. My side of the story is that I have only become aware of her desire to move to Melbourne in the past few years.

Moving has been quite a traumatic experience for me, those few times I've had to do it. Yes, I am a bowerbird, a collector, a hoarder if you will. There is a deep relationship between me and my stuff. Moving house seems to involve getting rid of stuff. See the problem?

Well now is my time to change. Eliminate all of that stuff that ties me down. Motivated by a post over at Get Rich Slowly, Cheap World Travel and the related Simplicity Movement I am embarking on a journey that, frankly, scares the hell out of me.

My wife, however, is excited beyond words - and that makes it all worthwhile.