My Darling Darlinghurst

Darlinghurst Blog: Animal Life: Ralf the Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently and that's mainly because I've been feeling a bit blurgh. I've wasted far too much time watching television series on my laptop and being generally unproductive and uninspired. Adding to this general malaise is the fact that my muse appears to have left the neighbourhood.

I first met Ralf the cat in 2010 when I moved back to Darlinghurst and set up house in Royston Street. I didn't know his name for a long time, but would often stop with him to pat and chat.

It seemed that every time I went outside, Ralf was hanging about somewhere, a regular presence in the street.

You didn't have to search hard to find him: just look for the sunniest, warmest spot in the street and Ralf would be there.

During the day Ralf would sleep in whatever sunny pocket he could find, whether it was on a car, in a garden bed or even in the middle of the road.

But cars were a particular favourite, especially when the motor was still warm.

I once watched as a driver returned to their car to find Ralf asleep on the bonnet. The driver sat behind the wheel and started the engine, but Ralf didn't move. He simply woke slowly from his slumber, looked at the driver and sat there staring.

One time I saw Ralf taunting Digger the dog on Craigend Street. (Digger was also a regular street character, but moved out of the area earlier this year after nipping one of the children in his house.)

Digger was madly barking behind his fence at the cheeky cat who would dare come near his home. Ralf strolled by, barely giving the dog a glance.

I admired this about Ralf, his carefree, fearless, don't give a damn attitude and often wished I could be the same.

If Ralf was crossing the road and a car came along, he wouldn't run to get out of the way, but just continue sauntering on with his tail in the air.

If you stopped and gave him pats and he purred and you thought that you had won him over for life, he would then completely ignore you the next day.

He just had that way about him. And because he was so difficult to win over, it made me even more determined to be his friend.

So no matter where I was going, or even if I was running late, I always made sure to stop and say hello to Ralf, give him a rub under his neck and pat the dust and malting fur off his back.

During these days of wooing him, I often wondered where Ralf lived.

Once I had seen him jump out the ground floor bathroom window of a neighbouring apartment block. Another time, I saw him go into the building of the man with the umbrella, who lives in my street.

Other times I spotted Ralf loitering around on Craigend Street and as far away as the little park on Nimrod Street. So he may not have lived in Royston Street at all.

Ralf soon became familiar with my attentions and the way I would call out, 'Ralf!' in a sort of loud, breathy whisper when I saw him. And it seemed his attitude towards me started to soften.

One night, while coming home late, I saw him sitting on the bonnet of a large 4WD and just by habit called out his name: 'Ralf!'

Ralf leapt off the car and ran towards me where he was greeted by his usual pats.

Then as I said goodbye and walked towards my home, he followed me, right inside the door, up the stairs and into my apartment.

He soon became a regular guest.

I'd see him on the street, call out 'Ralf!' and he'd trot along with me to my door.

Once I called out 'Ralf!' and he followed me all the way across Craigend Street and down to Ward Avenue, about 500m away.

In my apartment, I would place a dish on the kitchen floor and feed him cheese and ham and milk and whatever I could find of interest to him in the fridge.

I eventually started buying little packets of Dine cat food from the supermarket and always made sure I had ample supply in case Ralf should visit.

He was rather picky about what he ate and would occasionally refuse to eat the new Dine flavour I had bought him, such as Turkey in a Delicious Gravy or Country Chicken.

When that happened he would just sit in the kitchen expecting me to dish something else up.

I refused to pander to this behaviour and would just ignore him.

But it didn't happen often, as Ralf mostly had a ferocious appetite - which only added to the mystery of his living arrangements.

Did anyone feed him regularly? Where did he go when he wasn't in the street?

Yet despite his apparent independence, he was always wearing a different new fashionable collar, strung with a metal circle engraved with his name. So clearly he had a home somewhere.

Once he had eaten his fill, Ralf would stand by my front door, waiting to be let back out into the street.

At first, the visits didn't last long.

But soon, Ralf began to make himself at home.

Instead of standing at the front door when he finished eating, he would stay awhile and keep me company.

I'll never forget the day when I was lying on my bed reading and he climbed onto my back, padded around to make himself comfortable and then fell asleep.

It was a rather uncomfortable 10 minutes, but his presence was still a comfort to me nonetheless.

One day I saw the man with an umbrella talking to Ralf, so I went up and asked him if he was his owner.

The man said "No, Ralf just comes up to eat sometimes. He visits a few different people in the street."

"I think he lives in that apartment over there," the man said, waving to the place where I'd seen Ralf emerge from the bathroom window.

So Ralf really did have a home. And I wasn't his only friend.

Still, I liked to think that Ralf preferred me best, especially when I returned home one day and found him waiting for me in the pot plant outside my door, showing off his latest collar.

The last time Ralf came to my apartment was on 23 March this year.

It was a Saturday night and I had a friend over and Ralf joined us for dinner.

He didn't visit long, despite us imploring him to stay. He just stood by the front door and waited for me to let him out.

About a week after that I saw him on Nimrod Street at night, walking towards the little park that opens on to Caldwell Street. I called 'Ralf!' but he didn't respond and I had the feeling that he didn't want to chat or be patted. In fact, he practically scampered off, as if he didn't know me.

I shrugged my shoulders and went home alone.

I didn't know then that it would be the last time I saw him.

It has been two months now and there has been no sign of Ralf.

There's no cat lounging on bonnets or lurking in bushes. No cat to pat and chat, no cat to call out to, and no cat to follow me home.

Royston Street just isn't the same, it almost feels dead without his presence.

At first I thought he had maybe gone on a short trip away, as his disappearance coincided with the school holidays. I would arrive home in hope, expecting to see his furry face.

But I have now accepted that he is gone for good.

I often wonder about him and where he is living.

Is he out exploring a new neighbourhood? Or is he trapped in an apartment, with no outside access?

Is he well fed? Is he happy? Has he made new friends?

I may never know, but I'll always keep a small packet of Dine in the cupboard in case he returns.

Darlinghurst blog: Lost and Found: Red Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:36:00 +0000

This poster was pasted up at Taylor Square. It's your classic 'Lost Cat' poster, except the choice of pet photography is rather interesting. Someone suggested the cat wouldn't be hard to find with its 'demonic' eyes. Has anyone seen this flashlight-eye feline?

PS. In a bid to explore new blogging frontiers, I'm writing this post on that new whiz-bang mobile phone technology, which may also add a certain weird quality to the format. Basically, it won't allow me to put the pic at the top of the post! Any hints?

Darlinghurst Blog: Detritus: RIP Rainbow Crossing

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

There was disappointing news this morning that the rainbow crossing at Taylor Square was ripped out last night by the NSW Government.

The bright, vivid colours - and what they represented - were such a welcome addition to Oxford Street and really brought the road to life, making it a destination for residents and tourists.

The crossing was put in place by the City of Sydney to mark the 35th anniversary of Mardi Gras in March.

But the state government refused to let it remain due to safety concerns and removed it at 10pm last night.

It's so sad that it's now gone and is just a memory.

You can read news stories about its removal here, here and here.

RIP rainbow crossing.

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Bars: The Bourbon

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Kings Cross institution, The Bourbon, finally reopened last week after closing in February 2010 when a storm tore off its roof and caused water damage throughout the building.

That feels like so long ago and I, like many residents, have been patiently awaiting its return to the Kings Cross strip.

It was always a great locals' pub, because you could sit outside on the street, people watch and chat to passersby.

The Sugar Mill hotel's outdoor seating fulfils some of that brief, looking out as it does on the colourful characters that hang out on the Springfield Avenue mall, but it doesn't have that beautiful sweeping curve where Macleay Street meets Darlinghurst Road.

And it doesn't have the view of the marvellous El Alamein Memorial Fountain.

The Bourbon has all that, and a rich history in the area, dating back to 1967 when it was christened The Bourbon and Beefsteak by owner, US Airforce veteran, Bernie Houghton.

The photograph above, by Paul Green (possibly this Paul Green?) is from the City of Sydney Archives and shows The Bourbon and Beefsteak in the late-1980s when it was still in the Bernie years with its Hollywood-style outdoor lighting and over-the-top interior with walls covered in memorabilia.

That ghastly plane tree to the right of the picture hasn't changed a bit.

But the Bourbon and Beefsteak did change when it was sold in 2005 and the new owner cleared the walls, gave the character-filled joint a stainless-steel makeover and shorted its name to The Bourbon.

I'm not going to cover the history of the drinking hole, because a proper historian, Paul Ham, wrote a great piece for The Monthly in April last year, which paints an evocative picture of the Bourbons and Beefsteak's colourful former life.

So after an absence of three years, I visited the new Bourbon last week, shortly after it reopened following a makeover by new owner Chris Cheung, whose hotel portfolio includes the Coogee Bay Hotel, Key Largo in Rushcutters Bay and Cruise at West Circular Quay.

The marketing campaign around the new venue is based on quotes by dead people and old people, such as Ludwig van Beethoven, above, who says "To play without passion is inexcusable".

Another quotes chef Alain Ducasse: "Desserts are like mistresses. They are bad for you. So if you are having one, you might as well have two."

I'm not sure what the quotes are all about, except perhaps they are alluding to The Bourbon's new focus, which is no longer $10 steaks and cheap beer for members, but live music and fancy food.

The absence of the cheap stuff is no great loss for me, because I no longer drink beer, but I was disappointed by the curious design of the outdoor area, which is rather claustrophobic with chunky tiled columns and large window panes obscuring the view of Macleay Street.

There was one good table with a view, but it was taken and so I had to sit and wait for my friend in a rather uncomfortable spot:

Just getting into the outdoor terraced area was an adventure that involved going up the steps at the new front door, passing a woman at a booking desk, walking round through the bar, past the indoor dining area, down some more stairs and then finally through a glass door.

There is also some banquette-style seating (above), lined with bookcases, which seemed at odds with an outdoor area.

It seems that inside is the place to be, but that's hard to take in Sydney when the weather is mostly sunny throughout the year and al fresco dining should be more common.

But to help encourage people indoors, the Bourbon has built a show kitchen where you can turn your head from the bar and watch chef James Metcalfe at work.

According to The Bourbon's new website, Metcalfe formerly worked for fine-diner Becasse, Etch in Surry Hills and burger joint Charlie and Co, so foodies will fancy a bit of name-dropping in that field. But I don't know if locals are going to be walking down the strip to have $22-plus mains that require a side of fries that cost $7 and a $6 salad.

I know I couldn't. I pay too much rent to live here. And although I really wanted to stay and try the food - especially after seeing yummy-looking plates pass my table - I can't really afford to go to the local and spend that kind of money.

To survive the competition - and there's lots of it in Kings Cross - they will need to win as a destination venue, attracting tourists or people from outside the neighbourhood each night of the week.

My friend Jane Green and I enjoyed a bottle of the Argo Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc ($32) from Orange, in the NSW Central West, and after being accosted by staff, who were friendly but helicoptered around the table, ordered some king fish sashimi for $12.

The plate looked lovely and was made up of four paper-thin slivers of fine fish, but I couldn't help but think of Brown Rice across the road, where $10 would get me eight nice, fat slices of salmon sashimi.

The best thing about the chatty staff was extracting details.
According to the waiter, the second level of The Bourbon will open in six months with a bar, and the third level will be open next year, housing a restaurant.
Chris Cheung also owns the neighbouring old Swannies club, which closed when the club went into administration in May 2011, but that isn't scheduled to open until 2015.

Moving on, I always think bathrooms are a good way to judge a place and the ones in The Bourbon, down the back stairs, were clean and grand with pseudo-Dyson hand driers, where you dip your hands into the machine and water magically evaporates. But there was no soap left in the dispenser.

To encourage sociability between the guests, there's also this mixed-sex hand-washing fountain (above), where the soap dispensers were full.

So, it was a fine night because I had the dear Jane Green for company and we eventually got the table with the view that I wanted, but will I rush back?

Perhaps after three years my expectations were too high.

I would love to know if you have been and what you think.

The Bourbon

22 Darlinghurst Road

Kings Cross NSW 2010

02 9035 8888

www.thebourbon.com.au

Darlinghurst Blog: Art and Culture: Blinged Out Fabulous by Ron Muncaster and Craig Craig

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:56:00 +0000

If you're attending Saturday night's Mardi Gras Parade and looking for some inspiration, you must go and see the show of the year at the Tap Gallery on the corner of Palmer and Liverpool streets.

The upstairs gallery, entered from Palmer Street, is featuring until Sunday an incredible show of museum-quality costumes by legendary Darlinghurst designer Ron Muncaster, alongside artworks inspired by his designs - and using off-cuts from the fabrics - by his partner of 15 years, Craig Craig.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but when I walked upstairs I was struck by a room filled with creativity and daring designs.

The costumes date back to the early 1980s and featured in Mardi Gras Parades throughout the years. The inspiration is incredible. Muncaster is a true creative dreaming up over-the-top concoctions that are shiny, sequined and could only be worn in the Mardi Gras Parade.

Meanwhile, Craig's works almost act as inspiration boards, dissecting all the pieces and fabrics that have gone into creating these extravagant costumes.

Can you imagine someone sauntering down Oxford Street in this sapphire gown:

I would love to wear a costume like the one below where my identity could be kept secret as I danced down the parade route (only because I'm quite shy):

Alongside one of the costumes is a photograph showing Ron in the parade wearing the large skirt and headdress (which was apparently stolen) and it really brings the idea of Mardi Gras to life: a celebration of sexuality, individuality and acceptance.

As Craig explains in the exhibition flier: "Early on, I could see that our acceptance in the wider community was going to be by our exposure in media, television and on the streets and Ron was part of that evolution that I could support."

Happy Mardi Gras everyone. I hope it doesn't rain on Saturday night.

Blinged Out Fabulous

By Ron Muncaster and Craig Craig

Upstairs at the Tap Gallery

278 Palmer Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Until Sunday 2 March 2013

www.tapgallery.org.au

Darlinghurst Blog: Art and Culture: Sydney Mardi Gras Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:00:00 +0000

The festive season has only just ended but the party season has already begun in Darlinghurst, following the launch last Friday of the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival when the rainbow flag was raised above Sydney Town Hall.

This year the festival is marking its 35th anniversary with the 'Generations of Love' theme, a packed program of events and a temporary Sydney Mardi Gras Museum on Oxford Street, which has been a long-time coming.

The museum has some great window displays styled like a drag queen's dressing room, with shiny costumes, feather boas and mirrors.

And I finally had a moment to pop in last night and take a look.

Inside, the museum is laid out chronologically and includes some fantastic archival photographs, memorabilia including posters and artwork, and a rainbow-coloured Ron Muncaster costume in the centre of the room.

I'm a big fan of Mr Muncaster for his daring and creative costumes, which in the early years of Mardi Gras helped set its festive and flamboyant tone.

Mr Muncaster lives just down the road on Crown Street and I have had the honour of being invited to peruse his massive archives of costumes that fill the spare rooms in his large terrace house.

He also loaned me one once when I had to go to a costume party and I may even be putting it on again soon to attend the launch of his new joint exhibition, with his partner Craig Craig, at the TAP Gallery next week.

That may be another story. But back to the museum.

The exhibition traces the roots of Sydney Mardi Gras, which began as a march down Oxford Street for international gay solidarity in 1978. The museum includes the original request from a group in San Francisco who asked for Sydneysiders to show their support for equality.

That first march involved more than 500 people and resulted in 53 people being arrested when the march was broken up by police. The museum photograph above shows the police response to the march at Taylor Square in 1978.

That same view today shows just how much things have changed in the past 35 years with the same street now lined with Mardi Gras banners and rainbow flags. And since then the parade has grown to become more of a celebration of our diverse sexuality.

One of the highlights of the museum are the original artworks and photographs, which illustrate how a simple drawing of a rosella . . .

. . . is the inspiration for a marvellous costume:

It's all these great artifacts, like the Dykes on Bikes badges below, that really personalise the museum and bring the exhibition to life.

While this is only a temporary museum, hopefully next year Sydney Mardi Gras will be able to open the doors to a permanent exhibition and museum space that can attract people all year round.

TONIGHT the museum is hosting a talk by photographer and Mardi Gras chronicler William Yang, who will be discussing the 1980s.

The guest speaker series continues on Monday 18 February with a talk by photographer C. Moore Hardy and on Tuesday 19 February with a discussion by Ron Muncaster on the 90s.

Tickets cost $35 plus booking fee and can be purchased from the Sydney Mardi Gras website.

The museum is open daily throughout the festival and is a must-see for all Sydneysiders.

Sydney Mardi Gras Museum

Corner of Oxford and Palmer streets

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

www.sydneymardigras.org.au

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Retailers: The Boomerang School

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I was walking home from work yesterday up William Street and as I always do, glanced in the windows of The Boomerang School.

I have long been fascinated by this little shop with its walls lined with boomerangs and Aboriginal art on canvas, so it was sad to see 'closing down' signs in the windows.

Normally there's just a sign in the window advertising free 'fun for the whole family' boomerang throwing lessons.

Boomerangs must be the most widely known Indigenous hunting tool, most likely because children love the idea of throwing something that spins around and returns, while tourists to Australia often buy boomerangs as a souvenir of their travels.

And that's probably why this shop sprang up 50 years ago. Yep, 50 years. I only know this because as I stopped to look at the signs, the owner was locking up the front door and so we had a quick chat.

Frank, above, is the son-in-law of the original owner Duncan MacLennan, who opened The Boomerang School in the 1960s.

Duncan still runs the school with his daughter Belinda and Frank, but business has been tough in recent years.

Frank said that because most of the big hotels in the area have closed in the past decade or so (the Rex, Top of the Town, Sebel Town House and Hyatt Kingsgate come to mind) there aren't so many tourists seeking boomerang lessons or souvenirs.

And the backpackers, he said, prefer to spend their money on other things.

Frank said they'll make a final decision in the next three weeks on whether to shut the shop.

The Boomerang School in 1975, courtesy City of Sydney Archives. Note Carroll's Hardware, which just moved to new premises on William Street, was once right next door.

I wish now I had written about The Boomerang School earlier and perhaps encouraged people to visit or take part in one of their free boomerang throwing lessons, which are held at Rushcutters Bay Park every Tuesday.

It's not just sad that this family will be closing shop after five decades in business, it's also sad for the area, which will lose such a unique business. And I dread to think what could replace it. Kebab shop? Convenience store?

Anyway, if you have been a silent and secret admirer like me, why not go into the shop and say hello or buy one of their boomerangs, which are all made in Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

The Boomerang School

224a William Street

Kings Cross NSW 2010

02 9358 2370

www.boomerangschool.com.au

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Art and Culture: Mum's In

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Fancy a Devonshire (Street) Wake? Bit of Blood on the Strand (Hotel)? Or do you want to share some Darlinghurst Push?

I didn't partake of any of these excellent-sounding vodka cocktails, but they're on the exclusive menu at the Kings Cross Hotel's Bordello Theatre, where the cult theatre show, Mum's In, is playing on Sundays at 5pm.

You may recall I saw Mum's In, and wrote about it, when it premiered at Heffron Hall back in June 2011. And still, two years later, actor Vashti Hughes' amazing one-woman show set during the 'Razorhurst' years is running.

But this time, it's in its rightful home, a pub. And only for another two weeks!

I had been planning on going to see the show again, which has developed since I saw it last, and when Vashti offered me a couple of tickets for free, I put on my best 30s frock, met my dear friend Milly Fisher and we slunk on down to the pub on a Sunday.

Mum's In is a drinking show. That means you can order drinks from the roaming barmaid while the performance takes place, or even step up and order at the bar (but do it discreetly!).

Drinking during the show is appropriate, too, considering it's focused on that period in Sydney's history when Darlinghurst and surrounding suburbs were home to many illegal grog dens where people could buy under-the-counter alcohol after the pubs had closed at 6pm.

It's hard to imagine pubs closing at 6pm, but Vashti Hughes brings to life the era and the characters that dominated the illegal booze scene, such as Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh and gangster Guido Calletti (whose wake the show is based around).

The Kings Cross Hotel is a great venue and the producers of Mum's In have made clever use of the space. We take the lift straight up to the level five rooftop and are met by a dubious-looking character, Slim Jim, who asks for the secret password and then draws an L on the palm of our hands, allowing us entry to the show.

Milly's red talons nicely matched the L and a quick glass of plonk before the show was a good match, too, for the fabulous view (of the 311 bus).

We loved the rooftop so much, we returned during the intermission.

Slim Jim rings an old brass bell and we troop downstairs and take a seat in the intimate Bordello Theatre, which is all red velvet curtains, gilt mirrors and shadows.

Vashti literally jumps, slithers and flits between five characters: Tilly and Kate, swaggering Italian Guido, as well as Frank Green - a lethal gunman - and Nellie Cameron, a North Shore schoolgirl who ran away to Kings Cross to become a prostitute (as you do).

All the character's featured in Larry Writer's 2001 true-crime history book, Razor, which is required reading for all residents of the 2010 and 2011 postcodes.

And this show really should be seen by anyone who has a fleeting interest in the deadly and debaucherous days of 1920s and 30s Darlinghurst when the streets were ruled by thugs with deadly razor weapons.

If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you get tickets as there are only two shows left before the season ends!

Mum's In

The Bordello Theatre, Level 4, Kings Cross Hotel

Last shows: 5pm, Sunday 3 February and Sunday 10 February 2013

Written and performed by Vashti Hughes

Directed by James Winter

Music by Ross Johnston

Graphic design by Righteye Creative

Publicity by Emma Jones

www.mumsin.com.au

Across the Border: Potts Point: Retailers: My Little Monkey

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I don't have any children, but a few of my friends do and two of them both gave birth in the past month. I was very pleased they had little girls (Finn and Emerald), because it meant I could go shopping for miniature dresses.

I normally would go to Plum Interiors, on Macleay Street, Potts Point, because they have a really cute range of little frocks with matching hats and handbags.

But about two months ago, a new baby and children's wear shop opened up on Orwell Street, just up the road, and I always like to support new businesses.

My Little Monkey has clothing and toys for babies and children, aged from about zero to five. The labels are mostly from France and the US and they are quite stylish. There are also wooden counting blocks, felt mushrooms, wraps and bibs, and of course, knitted monkeys with long arms and legs.

I absolutely adore this purple SILK swimsuit (above left), but I was worried summer would be over before Emerald or Finn could fit into it. Instead I purchased a couple of romper suits made from 100 per cent cotton, which the woman behind the counter happily gift wrapped for free.

If you have children, there is a play section in one corner where you can leave them while you look around:

But my favourite thing in the shop was a fabulous three-storey dolls' house with swimming pool and rooftop entertaining area:

It costs about $300 for the house alone and then you need to buy all the furnishings and residents, which adds up to about $1,000 for the lot.

The house is made by a Swedish company called Lundby and the attention to detail is incredible.

It's very different to the basic wooden dolls' house I had as a child, which looked a bit like this:

It never really fired my imagination or held my interest for very long.

But even as an adult, this Lundby house makes me want to start playing with dolls again, which is kinda weird. Perhaps the only solution is to buy it for Finn or Emerald and then just go and visit them lots. If you want to see the dolls' house it's in the front window of My Little Monkey.

You might be pleased to notice that the woman of the house, the mother I guess, is relaxing on a sun lounge by the swimming pool, while the father is up on the rooftop barbecuing some sausages for their Australia Day party.

My Little Monkey

3/115 Macleay Street (enter via Orwell Street)

Potts Point NSW 2011

02 8964 6191

facebook.com/mylittlemonkeypottspoint

Darlinghurst Blog: Animal Life: Minky the Street Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Feeling restless one recent steamy Darlinghurst night, I decided to go on an evening slink around the neighbourhood; to wander the backstreets, tire myself out with the Burton Street hill and hopefully come across something interesting. It didn't take long.

Pasted up on a telegraph pole on Farrell Avenue was a letter to the 'residents and carers of our dear street cat'.

Minky the street cat - a fine looking feline - is apparently Farrell Avenue's own version of Ralf, (except that Royston Street's Ralf does have an 'owner' and his own Facebook account).

So I was saddened to read about Minky the Street Cat's recent brush with an unleashed, aggressive dog.

The letter read:

"Minky was badly mauled by a nasty Staffordshire bull terrier (which was NOT on a leash) last Saturday (5/1/13) in the park where she sleeps.

"She would have died but for our quick attention to her plight.

"Our wonderful Rose Bay vet saved her life that night. To date she has not incurred any infection. Her 'will to live' was undiminished despite some horrible injuries. She has had two surgical procedures to get her back on her wobbly feet.

"I know many of you have been worried about her welfare for a long time and I hope it will be better safeguarded in future.

"With the more recent proliferation of dogs in the vicinity (especially of unleashed aggressive dogs) she needs to be protected henceforth.

"If you want any further information about her, please feel free to give me a call on 0417 294 014, Darryl."

Awwww, poor little Minky!

But good on Darryl for taking her to the vet and ensuring she was OK.

I wonder now what they will do to introduce her back to the little park on Farrell Avenue.

I might take her a little care package, with an assortment of Ralf's favourite Dines, and leave it at the foot of the telegraph pole.

Long live Minky!

Darlinghurst Blog: Lost and Found: Lost Tot

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

"LOST. Have you seen my cat, Tot? He was last seen in front of my home in Berwick Lane, Darlinghurst, 11am, Sunday the 23rd of December 2012.

"He is grey all over with a white chest and socks. Needs medication as he is 19-years-old.

"Wasn't wearing collar as he is an indoor cat.

"REWARD if returned. Please call if you have seen Tot.

"Dearly missed and fretted after. Owner heartbroken. Call 0405 178 509."

Oh, poor Tot. And poor Tot's owner. I feel so sorry for them. I would be devastated if Ralf ever disappeared. Please keep an eye out for Tot!

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Retailers: Exciting New Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:00:00 +0000

The Kings Cross Centre promised an 'exciting new shop' would be opening soon in the old GNC Live Well site. The sign was up for weeks and I had my fingers crossed there would be a new frock shop in the hood, or just anything that deserved the title 'exciting'.

But as it turns out, it was a false promise and a couple of weeks ago, the area had another one of these shops:

Another crap, over-priced convenience store. Seriously. That is not exciting. I'm so annoyed by the centre's big lie, but I suspect this Quick & Easy will be as unpopular as the one that moved into the old Kookaburra Kiosk site on Burton Street. It recently closed down.

Happy New Year!

Across the Border: Art and Culture: Kings Cross Festival 2012 Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:00:00 +0000

With all the bad press the neighbourhood has been receiving this year, it was good to see residents and shopkeepers reclaiming the streets last week.

We sometimes stay indoors at night, away from the rowdy crowds, or we rush down the strip in a hurry, careful to avoid stepping on a discarded chicken bone, triangle of greasy pizza or splatter of vomit.

But last Wednesday morning, the reclamation began in the normally grim ticketing area of Kings Cross Train Station, when a string trio marked the beginning of the Kings Cross Festival 2012.

Their music was a magical way to start the day, and I would have lingered, too, if I didn't have to go to work. That night, however, I was lucky enough to attend the festival launch party at the Mercure Hotel's Dandelion Bar.

It was a real squeeze of locals, politicians and performers, and we were kept entertained by a roving magician, live music and a lot of nice drinks. The magician, below, did some amazing card tricks, including one involving a lighter that burnt his fingers in the shape of the six of spades (the card I had selected). I still don't know how the magician did it. A friend of mine had a theory, but I refused to listen.

Another friend who arrived later said it was fantastic to walk along the street and hear the music, chatter and laughter of the party above. And everyone behaved themselves mostly. We didn't have to watch where we stepped.

Performer Vashti Hughes, from the hit-show Mum's In, was also there and I insisted on taking her picture with the Kings Cross Hotel behind her, because that's where her show is now on (5pm every Sunday!). She may not look too happy about being snapped, but trust me, it was all AOK. I think she had just taken a sip of beer.

The festival's artistic director Ignatius Jones, above, said a few words about Kings Cross, the most memorable being how the area is known as an 'entertainment precinct' and yet there is no entertainment, unless you want to get shit-faced or go to a blokey strip club. The festival was all about bringing entertainment back to the Cross, he said.

But the speech-ette I liked the most was by the chairman of the Potts Point Partnership, Adrian Bartels (above), who was the driving force behind securing funding for the festival from the NSW Government and the City of Sydney. Quite a lot of cash, too.

Bartels talked about how he was raised on the North Shore of Sydney, which was filled with white, Anglo-Saxon heterosexuals.

The Cross, however, was unique and filled with a diverse range of people of all ages and backgrounds, who came to the area because it was so welcoming. There were no weirdos in the Cross, he said, just eccentrics.

It was a beautiful line, which gave me goosebumps.

Sadly, I wasn't able to attend any other festival events until the weekend, mainly because I'd only seen the program last Wednesday and my diary was already booked with stuff, which is most unusual, but it's that time of year. I hope next year, the program comes out a little earlier and perhaps they could hold the festival a little earlier, too.

On Saturday, I headed down to the festival pop-up shop, at 28 Macleay Street, in the hope of finding a dream dress, but the one I liked was about $1200, so I went to Fitzroy Gardens for some free entertainment instead.

It was a gloriously sunny day and I wished I'd brought my hat as I could feel myself burning, despite seeking shelter under a magnolia tree.

Warren Fahey had put together the line-up of performers and I stayed around for his set with the 'larrikin band', who played bush songs and 'city ditties'. There was a song about Woolloomooloo, which was interesting and Fahey told a few historical tales about the area.

It's not my favourite style of music, but the mood was really good, everyone was happy and a couple of adults danced as the children watched on.

Later, we were treated to a performance by cabaret artist Carlotta, one of the original members of the long-running Les Girls, featuring "heavily costumed males". Les Girls Restaurant opened in 1963 in a purpose-built building on Darlinghurst Road, which was then owned by the late Sydney identity Abe Saffron. Les Girls ran until 1993 and the building is now known as the Empire Hotel.

Carlotta, who sang a tailor-made Kings Cross version of The Lady is a Tramp, was one of four people to be presented with an inaugural 'Characters of the Cross Award', by Lord Mayor Clover Moore, for their contribution to the area.

After receiving her award and performing, Carlotta - who had a sold-out show at the Kings Cross Hotel the night before and a big picture story in the Sydney Morning Herald - signed autographs for her fans.

Also receiving an award was Frankie Davidson, whose song, Have You Ever Been to See Kings Cross, topped the charts in 1962.

If you think you've done some travellin', like to say you've been around;

That you've seen the sights of Paris or the heart of London town;

You might say you dined in Soho, would be mighty hard to toss;

Well let me tell you boy, that you just ain't lived until you've seen King's Cross.

It was quite a lively tune and while he was accepting his award, the music came on and Frankie gave a surprise performance and sang along, as his lovely wife, Helen, pictured with him above, looked on proudly.

Vittorio Bianchi, above, has been making coffee at the Piccolo Bar Cafe, on Roslyn Street, for about the past 50 years and in that time has become a well known character of the area. As he accepted his award, young children jumped up and cried out his name, "Vittorio! Vittorio! Vittorio!", such is his popularity.

One of the most photographed men in Kings Cross, Animal from the Kings Cross Bikers, was the last to accept an award from the Lord Mayor, for his contribution to many charities in the neighbourhood.

Animal arrived at the gardens with the crew of men who normally spend Saturdays sitting at Froth Cafe on the strip.

I always say hello when I pass them, so when I took the photograph above on Saturday, the chap on the right asked me when I was going to go for a ride on his Harley.

Now that would be a great story. But first, I have to get myself some biker chick threads.

As I was leaving the gardens, I passed by the lovely El Alamein Memorial Fountain and a beautifully dressed woman, above, who had just dropped her handbag, spilling some of its contents on the ground.

I stopped to help her and as I was picking up some of her belongings, I remarked upon how pretty her red velvet rosebud pocket mirror was.

"No one ever helps me," she said.

"Please, you keep it."

I couldn't accept it, but instead stopped and had a quick chat, also complimenting her on her exquisitely coloured outfit, which had been put together like a fantastic Matisse.

I soon learned her name was Boom Boom LaBern and she once a well-known Kings Cross cabaret artist. Pictures from her career feature on the wall of the Piccolo Bar.

Since googling her, I have discovered she keeps a memoir-style blog, and also once ran a cafe in Dharamsala, a hill station in northern India.

I was so pleased to meet her and happy that she posed for a picture. Doesn't she look marvellous. Next year at the festival, she should be presented with a Characters of the Cross Award.

I returned to Fitzroy Gardens briefly on Sunday, but it was so unbearably hot and there was not a breeze to be felt. I only stayed long enough to see one of the performers in the gypsy caravan, above, and to buy a couple of second-hand crime novels, which I duly took home and read, while an electric fan kept me cool.

But I'm looking forward to next year's festival and hope to meet more characters and attend many more entertaining events.

Across the Border: Art and Culture: Kings Cross Festival 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Make sure you zip into Kings Cross today or tomorrow for the Kings Cross Festival 2012, run by the Potts Point Partnership with creative director Ignatius Jones.

The program features loads of free entertainment, including music, poetry, history, as well as quite a few interesting retail things.

One of these is the window displays by fashion designer Alex Zabotto-Bentley and the curated Festival Pop-Up Shop, at 28 Macleay Street, which features the best of the area's clothing, art and design items in one neat shop. I will be investing my pay there today.

There's also a free concert today from 11am in Fitzroy Gardens, alongside the markets, with a line-up put together by local fellow history geek, Warren Fahey. It closes with a performance by local muso Renee Geyer, from 6-7pm.

There will also be roving street artists, 'Razorhurst' tours, and a free talk at the heritage-listed Australian Institute of Architects building, at 3 Manning Street, on urban density. That's from 2-3.30pm. Bookings are required on 02 9246 4055.

If you have junior burghers, take them to the big family picnic day at Beare Park tomorrow, where there will be old fashioned tug-of-war and circus acts.

Also tomorrow, for civic-minded locals, there's a neighbourhood expo in the Rex Centre where a bunch of community groups will be hosting tables to show off what they are all about. Groups include Kings Cross Rotary, Kings Cross Knit Wits and the 2011 Residents' Association. That's from 11am-3pm. The Rotary markets, where I once found a pristine Gucci coat for $250, will also be on as usual, in Fitzroy Gardens.

If that all sounds a bit straight-laced, head off on Sunday early evening to the Writers and Whisky storytelling night at the Dandelion Bar at the Mercure Hotel, from 4-6pm. It's free.

The Dandelion Bar is the official festival bar and is a great place to drink, because it's not normally open, yet it has a fantastic outdoor section where you can look over the streets and feel the energy of the neighbourhood.

For more information, look out for the impressive newspaper-styled program, or visit www.kingscrossfestival.com

Festival artwork by Jeremyville

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Binge Drinking

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:00:00 +0000

If you've been to Kings Cross Train Station in the past week, you couldn't have missed the large anti-binge drinking campaign covering every available advertising space between the street and the train doors.

The campaign was launched in reaction to the death of 19-year-old Thomas Kelly, who was king-hit on Victoria Street in July, and is part of a wider suite of safe-partying messages and initiatives by the NSW Government and the City of Sydney.

(We are yet to learn whether the man who allegedly king-hit Thomas was indeed under the influence of alcohol. My guess is ice, or methamphetamine, but the authorities appear helpless on cracking down on that one, and alcohol is a much simpler target.)

One of the initiatives is a ghastly digital message board on a trailer, which is dumped near Poos on Sticks on weekends, that reminds people to party safely and about late night transport options. It's the kind of billboard you would normally see located next to a highway to warn motorists about upcoming traffic works. It make our little village feel like some awful war zone.

I really don't like it.

But what I find more bizarre is one of the photographs being used as part of the anti-binge drinking campaign, which is located on the wall of the street level station tunnel:

This isn't the greatest photograph of it (above), but if you look closely to the left you can see the young woman's dress has been pulled up, revealing her knickers:

The woman's bottom is a very strange sight to see when I'm going to work in the morning. It doesn't really make me think, 'ooooh, I better not binge drink because I may end up with my face in the pavement and my knickers on show'.

In fact, the first time I saw it I thought, 'ooooh, I really should stop drinking so I can lose weight and get a butt like that'.

So, in a way I guess it does have the intended effect, but do I really have to see this woman's arse every morning?

Darlinghurst Blog: History: Books: Trams

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:00:00 +0000

A well-placed source of historical photographs last week sent me some great 1940s colour images of trams trundling down Darlinghurst and Sydney streets.

They belong to a private collector and as far as I know have never before been published, so it's an honour to be able to reproduce them here.

I had a hard time placing where exactly the photograph above was taken and had to refer to a tram line map (below, Copyright John R Newland, 2010) to see exactly where the lines ran.

I believe the photograph at the top of this post shows the 'Special' turning off Oxford Street and into Greens Road, Paddington, on its way to Moore Park. In the background there is a smokestack, which I assumed belonged to the Royal Hospital for Women in Paddington (which still marks the horizon today), but it would be in completely the wrong position if that is Greens Road. If anyone can identify it, please let me know.

This one, above, was definitely taken at the corner of Greens Road and Oxford Street. As my source says, the "luminous" colour photographs "have a depth and intensity of colour that only film from that era seems to provide. Gems!".

Here's another one, above, showing the trams cruising down Oxford Street. Again, that smokestack is in the background.

The photograph above shows a tram turning from Elizabeth Street into Liverpool Street, on its way to Oxford Street. The trams really were beautiful with their lovely heritage green and cream, with red-trim, paint. They also, for some undefinable reason, remind me of great big caterpillars wriggling along the streets.

The photographs also brought to mind a book I received early last year: Bondi to the Opera House, the trams that linked Sydney, by Dale Budd and Randall Wilson.

The 92-page book was published by the Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW division) and is a comprehensive and educational look at Sydney's tram system, once one of the world's largest.

Budd and Wilson are certainly passionate about the Sydney trams, which scuttled along the streets from 1879 to 1961, and one of the things I love about the book is that they place contemporary photographs alongside historical ones, such as this one:

According to the caption information, Bennelong Point, now the site of the Sydney Opera House, was once home to a tram depot designed by government architect Walter Vernon.

Trams terminating at the Fort Macquarie depot would arrive on the western side, while those beginning another trip would travel around the depot to its eastern side to make their first stop at the Man O' War Steps.

The ornamental tower you can see in the top left corner of the depot housed an elevated water tank - the early 20th century version of fire safety.

Prior to the tram depot being built in 1901, the headland was home to the real Fort Macquarie: a square stone fortress with an armament of 24-pound guns and five 6-pounders. Boom.

A tram climbs through the Bronte cutting, now a car park (Copyright: From Bondi to the Opera House, by Budd and Wilson).

According to the authors, "the Sydney tram system extended from Narrabeen in the north, to La Perouse in the south; from Bondi in the east to Ryde in the west.

"From the 1920s to the 1940s there were up 1,500 trams operating on 290km of lines serving the city and more than 70 suburbs. Trams carried more than a million people every weekday."

Tram passengers line up at Market Street stop on Elizabeth Street, Central Sydney (Copyright: From Bondi to the Opera House, by Budd and Wilson).

There are more than 250 photographs in the book, featuring trams in a vast array of suburbs including Birchgrove and Balmain, Botany and West Kensington, Manly and Milsons Point. There are also a couple showing William Street and Kings Cross.

Most of the photographs were taken by John Alfred, who apparently "had a special talent for spotting unusual vantage points, often elevated," the book says.

"Starting in the 1950s he took more than 4,500 colour transparencies of Sydney trams: his total body of work amounted to more than 21,000 images, almost all of trams and trains throughout Australia."

Alfred died in 1969 - in a road accident - and his photographs are now in the collection of the Mitchell Library, part of the State Library of NSW.

The authors owe him a great debt.

One of the Kings Cross photographs in the book is identical to the one above, which I have framed on my wall. My father picked it up at a garage sale in the 70s. The only clue to its origin is the name of the framer printed on the back: Mr Frame of Wetherill Park. But I think it was a common travel pic of the 1940s as I have seen it before in many places.

Pic copyright: From Bondi to the Opera House, by Budd and Wilson.

This photograph (above) showing the tram passing within a few metres of The Gap is one of my favourites in the book. I would have loved to have ridden that tram. The authors say the view would have been "stunning"

Pic copyright: From Bondi to the Opera House, by Budd and Wilson.

Back in the 1950s some major fool decided to start closing off the electric tram lines and replace them with diesel buses, the same vehicles that today emit such a foul stench and ear-grating noise throughout the city. Bravo.

The photograph above shows the last tram in George Street, Central Sydney, in November 1958.

"It is after midnight, a wreath has been attached and everyone is trying to get into the newspaper photographer's picture," the caption says.

"This scene was repeated many times as the tram network was progressively closed down."

Pic copyright: From Bondi to the Opera House, by Budd and Wilson.

The La Perouse and Maroubra routes were the last to be served by the trams, with the final day of operation on 25 February 1961.

"Travellers packed aboard the trams and crowds gathered at vantage points along the route," the book says.

The very last tram (pictured above) was "jammed to the rafters" and it would be "36 years before a tram again carried passengers in Sydney."

Pic copyright: From Bondi to the Opera House, by Budd and Wilson.

Some of the trams were donated to various institutions and museums, such as the Sydney Tramway Museum at Loftus, south of Sydney. Many other trams were burned to death, as illustrated in this very sad photograph above.

Trams, or light rail, returned to Sydney in 1997 and the authors hope that this network is expanded.

The City of Sydney is pushing the NSW Government to commit to an expanded network, including the addition of a line along George Street, which they would like to close off to north-south traffic.

Part of their vision is detailed on their website, which is worth visiting just to see, at the bottom of the page, a film that was shot in 1906 by someone on the top of a vehicle cruising down George Street.

The animation at the top of the page showing what George Street would look like with trams today is also pretty cool.

From Bondi to the Opera House, the trams that linked Sydney

By Dale Budd and Randall Wilson

Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW)

92pp, $39.95

www.bonditotheoperahouse.com

Darlinghurst Blog: Past and Present: Higgs Corner

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 13:00:00 +0000

So the Frenchman never sent me any more pix as promised (see previous post), and I don't write or speak his language so I can't really blame him.

But never mind, because this major crossroad of Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street - which his Papa had photographed in the 1960s - had already been on my radar, specifically the corner of William Street and Darlinghurst Road (pictured above in 1936).

Back in the early 20th century it was known as Higgs Corner (pictured above in 1916). It was called this because the building was once home to A.A. Higgs, a bootmaker who specialised in surgical shoes and "repairs by craftsmen skilled in the art".

I guess Higgs was the early 1900s version of the Surry Hills Perkal Bros who were profiled in yesterday's Good Weekend in The Sydney Morning Herald.

In September 1916 Flora Helena Mann and Daniel Spillane, executors for the will of Esmay Farrell sued the Municipal Council of Sydney for compensation for the land at Higgs Corner.

The property had been resumed by the council for the widening of William Street at a cost of 8,800 Pounds. But Mann and Spillane wanted 18,000 Pounds.

(There's not much talk about Esmay Farrell in the archives, except for her estate, because she apparently owned the York Hotel in Central Sydney. Was she a descendant of the Farrell of Farrell Street? A relative of Bumper Farrell? I'm afraid I can't shed any light with my research budget.)

In case you are interested, the photograph above from the City of Sydney Archives, was taken in March 1918, probably just before the building was demolished.

Here's another view (above) from the archives of 1918, from the perspective of Darlinghurst Fire Station. As you can see Mr Higgs is having a sale, no doubt because his building is about to be demolished.

As an aside, Ms Farrell's estate also had an address known as 1A Craigend Street, which was declared, in April 1939, a "common gaming house". Legal action was taken against the tenant, Frank Benjamin.

The picture at the top of this post shows what the corner looked like in the 1930s, after Higgs Corner was demolished, but William Street was widened or realigned again in the 1970s for the Kings Cross Tunnel, so the building pictured above (from City Archives) now marked the corner.

In the 1980s the building was home to Michelangelo's (above, from City Archives), an Italian cafe with gelato, pasta and espresso coffee.

The cafe stayed for many years and was still there in the late 1990s as far as I can recall.

Do you remember the old news stands, like the one above?

I vividly remember the one at Taylor Square and frequented it to buy American Vogue and The Face magazine.

In recent times Higgs Corner has been home to a series of not so successful bars, such as Firebar, shown above.

At the moment Higgs Corner is home to a bar awkwardly named Awkward.

It seems to be going OK, despite the fact they have strange displays in which they place a live model dressed in colourful clothing in the Darlinghurst Road window on random evenings.

Not sure what that's about, but the location looks like a good place to have a coffee on a sunny day.

SOURCES:

City of Sydney Archives

Trove

Darlinghurst Blog: Past and Present: French Photographie

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I was contacted last week by a Frenchman Marc Coetmellec who emailed me three photographs his father had taken of Darlinghurst in the 1960s. They have never been published before, so I am very pleased that Marc sent them to me to include on my petite blogette. The photographie is fantastique.

This first one, looking down William Street, shows the original Bar Coluzzi on the left.

There is a similar photograph in the City of Sydney Archives, which shows the cafe proprietor standing at its doorstep.

The scene today is quite different as the road was realigned in the 1970s for the Kings Cross Tunnel, Sydney's first road tunnel according to this website.

Marc's father, Jean-Yves Coetmellec, visited Australia frequently in the 1960s as a merchant seaman on board the Tahitien (do click on the link to see a photograph of this lovely ship).

Jean-Yves was a mecanicien, or mechanic, with the French maritime company Messageries Maritimes (again, click on the link to see the beautiful old shipping posters).

The Tahitien would have docked at Woolloomooloo so Jean-Yves would have been well placed to explore the local area, including Darlinghurst and Kings Cross. I wonder what the Frenchman thought of Sydney in the 1960s. And would he be interested to see what the area in these photographs looks like today:

Marc said he had many more photographs of Sydney taken by his father and he promises to email them to me. I can't wait to see them and will publish them here as soon as I can.

Across the Border: Central Sydney: Plant Life: Royal Botanic Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Now that awful winter has passed and the sun is out the best place to be is outdoors, so last week my friend Crystal Kaye and I headed to the city's backyard, the Royal Botanic Garden.

From Darlinghurst, it's just a short walk down William Street . . .

. . . and across The Domain, looking back to see the neat rows of antique terraces and modern apartments of Potts Point, the new and old faces of our city.

Soon after arriving at the garden, close to the Macquarie Wall, we were hit with a boom of colour: pink, red and creamy white tulips, heads the size of apples, necks craned to the sun.

I had visited the garden the previous week so I knew what to expect from the annual Spring Walk, but Crystal was overwhelmed with the colour.

It's so striking and intense, because you emerge from the usual paths of green foliage into a mardi gras of floral freakishness.

There are those endless tulips, dainty primula, cute pansies, fragrant wisteria (above left), blue mist flowers (above right), blossoming ornamental pear trees and loads of other bee magnets.

There are also plenty of other plants that I couldn't identify, such as these two pinky flowering things (above).

Fortunately, there are plaques on some of the flora so I was able to identify the unusual Japanese spiketail (above), which is one of those plants that you need to stop and look at closely to appreciate the beautiful, intricate buds that form its jewel-like strands.

I also admired these blue towers of mini flowers (above), which I don't know the name of.

According to a flier I picked up at the garden, the Spring Walk began in 1856 when shade-loving plants, such as azaleas and rhododendrons (below) were planted along the southern side of the Macquarie Wall.

Since then, the Spring Walk has become "a much-loved and visited horticultural feature in the garden" and there were loads of people dawdling along the path with us.

The short walk begins at the Botanic Garden Creek and the start is marked by a sculpture of a woman, Spring, which was donated in 1957.

The walk then runs along the Macquarie Wall up to the 1878-built Lion Gate Lodge, possibly one of the best sandstone party venues in Sydney.

Crystal and I mooched on a bench, admiring the lodge's neat lawn and flowering garden, while dreaming of the party we would host in its grounds: live music, real Champagne, canapes.

But then reality kicked in and we knew we would never be able to afford the $3000, or whatever, fee to rent the place and so instead we rambled down to a sunny spot near the main duck pond and polished off a bottle of wine (or two).

POSTSCRIPT:

Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of clivia (above) across Darlinghurst and the inner city over the past month?

There are clumps of them everywhere, even in my own street, and I don't remember seeing so many in previous years.

Is the spread of the waxy orange flower a result of the high rainfall we had over winter?

Or has someone seed-bombed the area?

Darlinghurst Blog: Detritus: Winter 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Why have I not blogged in so long? Well, let's just say I'm glad winter 2012 is over. I'm going to pretend it never happened and move along.

But still, it's hard to dismiss a whole three months of my life and there were some OK moments in that bleak time, including the official switching on of the El Alamein Fountain on Saturday 28 July.

Heaps of peeps turned out for the ceremony, which included short speeches by the RSL and family members of the fountain's architect and original manufacturer. There was also lots of people taking photographs and recording footage:

The cameraman on the left is filming me photographing him.

This photograph (above) captures the moment after the fountain was switched back on and everyone cheered. It was a good day so it was lucky it didn't rain.

During winter, I also discovered the joys of the Bandstand Cafe (above) at Green Park and its marvellous owner, Carlos. Please support his business because he is one of the friendliest cafe chaps in the neighbourhood and he makes a good soy flat-white too (with Bonsoy)! I also tried the cafe's lasagne and it was one of the best I've eaten.

Winter also welcomed a new mural on the exterior wall of the Darlo Bar, which features wolves walking all over a woman's face.

I also spent quite a bit of winter with the animal in my life, Ralf the street cat, who came over to my apartment quite regularly to eat and run. He may only be in it for the food, but I still appreciate his friendship. Meow! This photograph (above) shows him sleeping on some dirty old mattresses that someone dumped at the bin monster in the middle of my street.

On cold winter nights, a local chap with a telescope could often be found outside Strawberry Cream with the lens trained on the moon or a planet. He let passers-by take a look for free. I don't know the chap's name but he has a dog called Sarah and he's also on the St John's Church board.

During winter walks I spotted a couple of Will Coles artworks, including the balaclava man at Belmore Street in Surry Hills and the culture teddy near the Taylor Square substation.

Speaking of Coles, this little dog was left in a handbag outside the supermarket in Kings Cross. The poor dog didn't look very happy. Just imagine how embarrassing it must be for him or her stuck there looking like that.

It was also during winter that 18-year-old Thomas Kelly died after being king-hit in Victoria Street, Kings Cross. It's still not known if the alleged offender, Kieren Loveridge, 18, was drunk at the time, but the NSW Government reacted by introducing tougher restrictions on the area's pubs and clubs, including the use of ID scanners at all licensed venues.

The media went crazy with the story, publishing infographics, like the one below, "Dark Heart", which maps out the different areas of the Cross. Fitzroy Gardens, according to The Daily Telegraph, is known as "Poets and Pimps Corner". And bugger if you happen to live on Kellett Street, because it's known as the "Personal Services Strip". Hehe.

Kelly's death and the massive amount of media it attracted may have also deterred quite a few people from coming to the Cross for their night out. On Saturday nights it is normally impossible to find a parking space in my street, but a few weeks ago there were four empty spaces at about 10pm.

But it's still the same old Cross with its proliferation of kebab shops, Chinese massage places, tobacconists, hairdressers and chemists, although some people might like to see an Italian delicatessen or homewares shop on the strip:

This poster was pasted-up on the window of the old Kirketon Road Centre at 38 Darlinghurst Road. I personally wouldn't mind another dress shop or a place where I can buy home-made dinners so I don't have to bother cooking.

What would you like to see on the strip?

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Heritage Items: El Alamein Memorial Fountain

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Isn't the El Alamein Memorial Fountain just the most beautiful thing?

The 52-year-old fountain is an engineering marvel, an internationally known landmark of Kings Cross and creates a wonderful sense of calm and feeling of awe at Fitzroy Gardens.

I, like so many residents, visitors, photographers and tourists to the Cross, have long admired its presence: the sound of its water falling into the pool below, the wet spray that envelops you when you walk by on windy days, the droplets glistening in the sun and the perfect orb of H2O created as if by magic.

But the much-loved fountain has been surrounded by scaffolding since early this year and I have longed for its return, which is why I am over the moon about it being switched back on this Saturday at 10.30am.

Do not miss this historical moment when the taps are turned on and the fountain springs back into life.

The fountain was designed by architect Robert Woodward in 1959 for a design competition by the then Sydney City Council. Woodward did it mainly as a creative project, to push his discipline, and it must have been fantastic for him when he won the prize.

The 211 wands that make up the fountain's dandelion-style shape were manufactured, in what must have been a fairly monotonous process, by metalworker Eric Williams (pictured above left with foreman George Bushnell, right).

The fountain is actually a war memorial, and was erected in commemoration of the battles of El Alamein during World War II.

Australian soldiers of the Ninth Division fought near the Egyptian town of El Alamein and these two battles helped turn the course of the war towards victory for the Allies.

Woodward himself was a World War II veteran so he obviously put his heart into the design.

Rather than commemorating lives lost by Australian troops, the El Alamein Memorial Fountain celebrates a victory, and so rather than being a solemn memorial, it bursts forth with life and vitality.

Picture: State Library of NSW

After the fountain was officially opened in 1961, by the then Lord Mayor Harry Jensen, Woodward was catapulted into international fountain-designer stardom and he duly changed careers, setting up a private practice to focus on his new specialty "making art out of water".

(By the way, I love that chap in the photograph above who has his back to the camera. It's like he can't be bothered with all the pomp and ceremony; he just wants to admire that fountain.)

Woodward's design was copied around the world and even ended up in mail-order catalogues, where you could purchase your very own dandelion-style fountain.

But they never had the same quality or effect as the original.

Of working with water, Woodward told Hazel de Berg in 1972:

"I like water very much, it's a fine medium to work in, a little difficult of course, one can't put it in a lathe or shape it as you do with metals, or forge it or cast it, but those difficulties themselves are what give it its main charm . . . it has form, it has transparency, it reflects light, has movement.

"It has constantly changing form, although one can control it."

Woodward was also commissioned to create numerous replicas of the fountain including one in Malaysia (since dismantled) and three in the United States.

One of the US versions was made for the headquarters of Tupperware in Florida and also became the company's logo.

In a 1996 interview with Paul and Susan Johnson, Woodward talked about how he created the fountain specifically for the site - remember this was before the Fitzroy Gardens were landscaped by Ilmar Berzins in 1969.

"I would go to Kings Cross and look at it, both in the day and at night, and realize that as you walk down the street and look backwards, traffic blocked the view.

"It needed to be high enough to be seen above cars and, luckily, people's eye line is just above cars.

"The fountain needed to be seen from three different streets and the streets were different in those days - it needed to be a three dimensional thing.

"I suppose the first idea that came to me was a ball of water and even the word itself seemed an appropriate thing of Kings Cross.

"Fairly quickly my design evolved to form a dandelion. Of course the presentation method was difficult because how do you present water? I did that by going to Kings Cross and taking photographs of the site and then blowing them up and making a montage. I even used an old photograph of a dandelion in a montage.

"Having the water in the air like that, a long way above the footpath, I used the contours of the site to create a pool just above the highest contour.

"Then by setting it off to one side a certain amount, I had the chance of repetition once again.

"The steps and the detail in the stonework repeats all the way down, but there is organic freedom in it, in that they are not all the same size and the pools shorten. It just grows in that fashion and the site dictates most of what happens."

The plaques from that opening ceremony in 1961 are still there today, as they should be, but after five decades the fountain was not in the best condition.

Many of the tiles in the surrounding pools were chipped or broken and had been replaced over the years by inferior copies. The wands were also clogged by years of dust - and washing-up detergent - and were not spraying as well as they should. Not to mention the water that would leak out onto the surrounding pavers.

The City of Sydney began working with Woodward on how best to restore the fountain to its original glory, and following his death in January 2010, that consultation continued with his family, including his widow, Margaret Woodward.

The restoration began in February this year and since then the site has been surrounded by scaffolding. I have been following the project with much interest and have even been lucky enough to be let through into the construction site to see how it was progressing.

The restoration project included the manufacturing of new wands and this task was given to the original fountain metalworker's son, Denis Williams.

He remade the 211 wands, just like his father did five decades earlier.

It was a much simpler process for Denis, who had the aid of computers, but it was still a nerve-wracking process for him, especially on the night before the 211 wands were due to be screwed back into the ball, and the water switched on for testing.

Before installing each wand, Denis Williams (pictured above) tested it with a hose to ensure the water flowed through properly.

And then once the wands were in place, he had to go around and check it all again, making sure the water came out of each wand with the correct pressure in a perfect circle.

I'm told, by sources close to the fountain, that the water tested again, now flows in a perfect globe and that is far superior to how it appeared before the restoration began. I suppose now it will look just as it did in 1961 - and I can't wait to see it.

Years after the fountain was opened, Woodward still gained attention for his Kings Cross jewel. In a 1978 article about Woodward in the Bulletin magazine, journalist Carol Henty wrote:

When the day before the official opening came Woodward and his wife Margaret took their old friend, the sculptor Lyndon Dadswell, to see the first test.

It was a Sunday night in November. They heard the rushing water, then, above the hoarding they saw it, alive and alight. Dadswell burst out: 'Oh Bob, I wish it was mine'.

Woodward says: "You can know, of course, that it's going to work. But until you press the button you never know whether it will have that extra touch of magic."

El Alamein Memorial Fountain re-opening

10.30am, Saturday 28 July 2012

Fitzroy Gardens, Kings Cross

To learn more about Woodward and the design process behind the El Alamein Memorial Fountain, visit the Heritage Branch website here, which has a comprehensive history.

Darlinghurst Blog: Detritus: Instagram Autumn 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Thursday March 1 - Waiting at Poos on Sticks

This is a blog post dedicated to all the lovely readers who once called Darlinghurst home, but now live in far-flung places and still yearn for the lights, sights and smells of the 2010 and 2011 postcodes.

I know you enjoy seeing pictures of your old neighbourhood and I've been taking plenty of them through the Instagram application, but unfortunately it's quite elitist and only available to people with smart-phones.

The good thing about Instagram is that it takes pictures in the Hasselblad-style square format, so even if they are crap, they look slightly professional.

Here is a collection of my autumn ramblings through the neighbourhood.

Thursday March 1 - The Coca-Cola sign from the Kings Cross Hotel

Thursday March 1 - Kings Cross Hotel, level one veranda

Thursday March 1 - Shady Pines Saloon bar, Foley Street

Thursday March 1 - Street art, Foley Street

Saturday March 3 - Night out in a phone booth, Kings Cross Road.

I know exactly who left behind this liquor stash, because I see him nearly everyday with the same condiments. He looks a bit like Ernest Hemingway, so that's what I call him.

I fear he'll come to an equally tragic end as his namesake because he also has a chronic alcohol problem. I often see him passed out on the footpath. What to do?

Wednesday March 7 - Street art, Foley Street

Thursday March 8 - Full moon from my kitchen window

Thursday March 15 - Early morning Cafe Hernandez, Kings Cross Road

Sunday March 18 - Street art ant, Crown Street, Woolloomooloo

Sunday March 18 - Veranda security, Crown Street, Woolloomooloo

Sunday March 18 - Ruby's kitchen wall, Darlinghurst

Sunday March 18 - Street art, Llankelly Place, Kings Cross

Thursday March 29 - Sunrise study from the Rushcutters Bay footbridge

Saturday March 31 - What Bird is That? mural, Nickson Street, Surry Hills

Monday April 2 - Brand new wands for the El Alamein Fountain, Kings Cross

Tuesday April 3 - Lucky 13 door and Tim Storrier burning log print at Darlinghurst Medical Centre, Victoria Street

Thursday April 5 - Dawn at Barnett Lane, East Sydney

Thursday April 5 - Beautiful and practical signage, Barnett Lane, East Sydney

Friday April 6 - Dog in a window, King Street Gallery on William

Saturday April 7 - Deals in the sky from my bathroom window

Monday April 9 - I Saw, Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst

Tuesday April 10 - One of my favourite buildings at dusk, corner of Forbes and Burton streets

Thursday April 12 - Leaning bollard at Chard Steps, William Street

Saturday April 14 - Autumn clouds

Saturday April 14 - Artist Rod McRae's vicious fawn, King Street Gallery on William

Saturday April 14 - Saturday night, Kings Cross

Sunday April 15 - Visit from Ralf, the neighbourhood cat

Sunday April 15 - Marvellous red flowering 38-year-old clerodendrum splendens at Robert's house on Caldwell Street

Wednesday April 18 - Caitlin Shearer's Cat Lady watercolour at World Bar, Bayswater Road, Kings Cross

Wednesday April 18 - Couple in the rain, Victoria Street

Saturday April 21 - The Darlinghurst Road strip was closed for a police investigation after a group of teenagers allegedly stole a car and mounted the footpath at 3am.

The police gave chase and shot and injured two of the teenagers.

After the police tape was pulled down, I walked along the strip and it was incredible.

The council cleaners had not yet arrived and there was rubbish, vomit and piss everywhere.

There was also a large patch of thick sticky blood, which I nearly trod in.

Tuesday May 1 - Fliers saying, "Is this your cat?" were plastered all over the neighbourhood. They have since been removed, so presumably the ownership of the cat has been settled.

Monday May 16 - Darlinghurst Road street art. This woman, who also appears in Llankelly Place, has replaced the dalmatian artwork on the wall of the Darlo Bar. Yesterday when I went by, tourists were photographing themselves next to it. Cute.

Tuesday May 17 - Dawn moon, the no man's land end of Ward Avenue

Tuesday 24 May - Ramp at dawn, the no-man's land end of Ward Avenue

Tuesday 24 May - Morning cloud from the Rushcutters Bay footbridge

Darlinghurst Blog: Art and Culture: Stables Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

It's Tuesday night, a month out from winter and darkness falls quickly on Darlinghurst, bringing with it a biting cold air.

My feet move fast as I walk through the night, hands dug into pockets, head wrapped in the warmth of a woollen hat, I turn the corner into Nimrod Street and just 112 steps from my home (I counted them), I arrive at the door of the Stables Theatre.

This is what I love about living in Darlinghurst: 112 steps to a theatre, 153 to a bottle shop and a neat 200 to the closest pub.

Even so, there are very few people or events that could lure me into a theatre or a cinema, as I simply can't sit still for prolonged periods of time.

Tim Rogers, acting in a show, 112 steps from home, is one of them.

It was my gal-pal Ruby Molteno's plan to go to the theatre, really.

I can't take credit for such grand plans. The only plans I was thinking, was that it was so close to home, I could surely wear my pyjamas.

But I dressed like a normal person.

We bought a glass of wine each from the bar and then stood near the door sipping from our drinks while I quickly read up on what the play was all about.

I had to be careful not to cross this yellow dotted line at the theatre's doorway - or face the wrath of liquor licensing laws - as I read through the theatre flier for The Story of Mary MacLane By Herself, starring Bojana Novakovic and Mr Rogers:

"Promiscuous prophet or philandering fool? Mary MacLane is a woman you’d be mad not to meet.

"More than 100 years ago, The Story of Mary MacLane set America aflame.

"A shocking confessional from a 19-year-old girl who refused to succumb to the corset-bound prudery of her age, Mary’s scandalous memoir broke all the rules – and sold over 100,000 copies.

"Today, Ride On Theatre’s Bojana Novakovic and Tanya Goldberg bring Mary’s writings to the stage in a bold and magical ‘monologue for two’ backed with original music composed and performed by You Am I frontman Tim Rogers.

"The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself will whirl you through a kaleidoscopic tale of the greatest genius you’ve never heard of, defy you to look deep within and dare you to dance with the devil.

"WARNINGS: This production contains the use of a hazer and a herbal cigarette."

I liked the sound of Mary MacLane.

Any woman who writes scandalous memoirs has always appealed to me.

Just before 7pm, the woman who was working the bar stood up on a chair, invited everyone into the theatre and there was a rush for the entrance as all tickets are general admission: first in, best seated.

Ruby and I found a seat about three rows back from the stage.

Even if you find yourself in the back row, it doesn't matter: the theatre seats just over 100 people, making for an intimate theatre experience.

There was a lot of noise as people found seats and then the music - two minstrels playing a double bass and a violin - started up and Tim Rogers and Bojana Novakovic appeared.

I don't have any pictures of anyone as there is no photography allowed.

Novakovic, dressed in cream silk pantaloons and camisole, was Mary MacLane who, I discovered, was a Victorian-era Anais Nin or Djuna Barnes with a fixation on the devil.

She reminded me very much of my teenage self, without the satanic obsession, and as such was quite an indulgent, immature character; slightly irritating.

Rogers was the star for Ruby and I, as he swaggered about on stage in a large top hat and waistcoat - a 19th-century vaudevillian-style showman, whose musical interludes kept the pace of the show moving.
After it was over, the audience clapped, the performers bowed, and I walked the 112 steps to home.

The Story of Mary MacLane By Herself

Until 12 May

SBW Stables Theatre

10 Nimrod Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 9361 3817

www.griffintheatre.com.au

I would have loved to have written about the history of this old building, which was presumably a stables many years ago, but could find absolutely nothing during my armchair research.

If you know any interesting historical facts about the building, please let me know.

Across the Border: Potts Point: Reader Story: Apartment Buildings: Byron Hall

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

This is a history of Byron Hall written by someone who lives in the building - what could be better than that?

I enjoy writing about all the excellent early 20th-century buildings, and 19th-century buildings in our area, but it's so much better when it comes from someone who lives in it and loves it.

Here is Ms X's journey through Byron Hall on Macleay Street - a building that is unmissable if you are into that kind of thing.

Internal and fireworks pix by Ms X; externals by me.

2011 Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks display from the roof of Byron Hall.

"Given the new year has well past, it's about time I delivered on a promise to a woman I have never met.
"My Darling Darlinghurst is a favourite blog of mine.
"I love hearing stories from 2011 and share the author's fascination with the strange timetable the 311 bus keeps.
"A while back I happened to see that Violet had created a hand-coloured zine and was sharing them with her fans/readers.
"I was quite the excited one on the interwebs, and a quick email secured a copy.
"Shortly thereafter Violet fed it under the front door of my apartment building.
"In return for that kind gesture, I’m introducing her and you to the insides of my home at Byron Hall.

"Byron Hall sits at 97-99 Macleay Street and was designed by Claud Hamilton.
"Hamilton was a fairly prolific architect in the area, and also designed other apartment blocks like The Savoy (1919) and Regent’s Court (1925).
"He and the construction workers of Sydney finished Byron Hall in 1929, the year of the stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression.
"Byron Hall is a mix of styles: many aspects are art deco, some a little Georgian (like the windows), and others classical (such as the pediments).
"Until the 1950s the building was a series of serviced apartments.
"Maids lived on the top level and the caretaker in a small flat on the ground floor.

"The foyer is the grandest part of the building, and the caretaker’s office is usually occupied in the early part of the day by one of the longest-term residents who is now in her 90s.
"She arranges the more basic repairs and trouble shoots any issues, but more than that she is a pretty impressive collective memory of the old building.

"Just outside the office are the original and still-used letterboxes, so tiny and made for an era when post-delivered objects had a smaller and more uniform size I expect.

"Anything that does not fit has to sit on top in piles, each resident sorting through the pile.

"It is terribly inefficient, but a reminder that it really is OK to spend a minute or two extra in the foyer collecting mail and chatting to neighbours.

"There are two lifts, with wonderfully un-automated doors, which tend to inspire two types of reactions.

"On the one hand there are the friends who squeal with glee (squee!) at things so well aged and beautiful.

"On the other, those who cannot be convinced that the lifts, despite recent and full refurbishment, are safe.

"The basement and an area on the top floor are the two other common spaces.
"The company (the building is company title) still own the flat the maids previously resided in, and you can access a small balcony and a meeting room.
"The view from the balcony is beautiful — straight across The Domain to the city and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
"The meeting room contains the original name board from the foyer, listing some of the first residents against their flat number.

"The basement has a communal laundry and the boiler room.

"While not quite out of Nightmare on Elm Street, it is a little dark and spooky.

"The basement also houses the building’s bike racks and ‘The Shed’: a giant old wooden workbench where you can repair things, sand things, paint things and generally make a mess.

"One thing you are always conscious of living in Byron Hall, is how lucky you are.

"Lucky because the building is wonderful, but also because 2011 is home to a great many people who are without homes.

"For that reason I'm a Friend of the Wayside Chapel, who live next door to us at Byron Hall.

"They are often a friend to those who are in need, so perhaps you might think about become friends with them as well?

"The sun is pretty low in the sky as I finish writing this, streaming in to our lounge room and demanding I get organised for dinner.

"So goodnight from Byron Hall."

Across the Border: Town Hall: Art and Culture: Michael Kelly's Nightworks, at Gaffa

noreply@blogger.com (Violet Tingle) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

So welcome to my very first blog post without any pictures. It's a damn shame because my words don't really stand up to scrutiny when they're alone on the page and the thought of publishing such a piece is quite intimidating.

~~Unfortunately Blogger, which hosts my blog, hasn't allowed me to add pictures for about the past five or six days, which is why it has been all quiet on the~~ ~~My Darling Darlinghurst~~ ~~front.~~

~~And the real shame is that I wanted to tell you about an exhibition of paintings that you really must go and see if you are interested in artists' depiction of this area.~~

I have photographs of the artist, Michael Kelly, and - most importantly - some images of his works, which I had hoped would lure you out of Darlinghurst to the Town Hall area where the gallery is located.

~~And the exhibition closes on Sunday, so there is not much time to waste, and without a fix to the Blogger problem, I will now have to do my best with words only.~~**

You may remember Michael Kelly. He was the artist that my dear friend Ruby Molteno photographed painting with oil paints en plein air at the end of Barnett Lane about a year ago.

Well, Ruby and I were at King Street Gallery on William recently, checking out their current exhibition, The Animal, which features paintings, sculpture, taxidermy and installations all to do with animals, when I picked up a flier on my way out advertising Michael Kelly's new show, Nightworks.

I showed Ruby the flier, which featured an image of a painting depicting Green Park in Darlinghurst, and said, "hey, he's that chap you photographed in your alley about a year ago. His new show is opening next week - do you want to go?"

Well, of course Ruby said yes, because she was hoping the exhibition would feature a painting of her apartment building that she had seen him doing, and if she happened to be feeling both rash and rich, she could buy it, mount it on her wall and always have a personal story to tell about its provenance when guests came calling and remarked on the marvellous picture.

So with that in mind, last Thursday evening Ruby, myself and a friend, Milly Fisher, met outside the Gaffa gallery at 281 Clarence Street, just around the corner from Town Hall train station.

During the day, Gaffa lures people in with a cafe and a range of "pop-up shops" that sell arts and crafts. I really hate that term, "pop-up shop" because it's such an overused buzz term - but whatever.

When we arrived at night, there were hip-looking young things loitering about on the footpath outside and when we walked in, we were drawn straight to a small desk at the back of the hallway, where there was a young man selling glasses of wine for a $2 "donation".

We all donated some money, grabbed a glass and precariously climbed up some flights of stairs to the gallery space on level two, where Michael Kelly's exhibition is hanging.

The show is comprised of 16 artworks - paintings mostly, but also illustrations - depicting street scenes from Darlinghurst, Woolloomooloo and Surry Hills.

The works range in price from $1600 to $11,100 and most of them are quite large - with one up to 1.5m x 1.8m.

You will recognise many of the streets in the oil paintings, but with others you will have to scratch your head and think and guess.

One of my favourites, mainly because of the subject matter, was a small ink wash on paper, Stairway (35x45cm, $1400), which featured Beare's Stairs.

But I also loved the large oil paintings, which show the detail in the architecture of inner-city buildings, but focus mainly on the people in the foreground, and specifically, those who are experiencing homelessness.

There is no judgment of the people, or serious comment on society, just an honest depiction of the everyday: the beauty, the mundane and the rituals of daily life.

There is Footpath Library (oil on linen, 113.183cm, NFS), captured in Woolloomooloo, showing a group of people looking at the books that have been laid out on the footpath for free.

Green Park (oil on linen, 102.137cm, $7700, above) is painted from an insider's angle, from the grass, looking south to where the park meets the Sacred Heart Hospice. Three figures are gathered under a street light near the footpath on Darlinghurst Road.

It is a lonely picture for me, because I used to live around the corner on Hardie Street and would often walk past the park at night. It was always so cold and quiet, with people huddled in the shadows and sleeping on benches.

Night is the key to these works and it soon becomes clear that Kelly has spent a lot of time loitering around these inner-city streets after dark, and in the process has formed relationships with some of the characters that inhabit these quiet night spaces.

There was no picture of Ruby's building, because that was painted during the day, Michael Kelly told us when we went to say hello.

He is an interesting character and thankfully not from the arrogant Woollahra or Paddington mould, but a down to earth, slightly eccentric person who appears to only live for the paint and brush.

Kelly quotes from poet-librarian Christopher Brennan's 1902 poem, The Wanderer:

"All night I have walked and my heart was deep awake . . ."

In his artist's statement, Kelly goes on to say:

"The wanderer, like the flaneur of Baudelaire and Benjamin, walks the city in order to experience it and like the Symbolist poets of the late 19th-century sees in it the reflection of his own soul.

"More recently, the writer Chris Jenks refers to the concept of "minatorial geography" being that which is experienced by the flaneur, as both fascination and a rebuff or intimidation, and "an acknowledgement of the ontology of the occupancy as an act of respect that honours the integrity of social sentiment that binds a community."

Don't let Chris Jenks' academic speak throw you, for Kelly goes on to write, more personally - and more truthfully:

"Like Christopher Brennan, the Sydney poet and scholar influenced by the French Symbolist poets, I too have spent many nights walking the streets of Sydney after having been away from the city for several years.

"The works from this exhibition have evolved from drawings and sketches I've made while walking the streets of Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills.

"The city, its parks and overlooked corners appear not as thoroughfares to and from the busy metropolis, but rather as the backdrop to the human dramas and everyday life lived out there.

"It is more the atmosphere of these places and these times that I'm attempting to evoke."

I urge you to go and see his show and to also walk the streets at night and perhaps see a reflection of your own soul.

Michael Kelly

Nightworks

19-29 April 2012

Gaffa gallery

281 Clarence Street

Sydney NSW 2000

02 9283 4273

www.gaffa.com.au
My Darling Darlinghurst Facebook photo gallery of Nightworks

**Blogger is still buggered, but I am nothing if not industrious, and have found a way to post pix.