TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

  

VIEWING ALL POSTS FOR: JANUARY 2004

Friday, January 30, 2004

8:13 PM
Posted by jodi rose

Now I'm really sad about leaving melbourne. Sure, coming back in 6 months, but that's a reasonable length of time, and plenty can happen.
Just starting to feel at home here, enjoying cycling around Fitzroy, to the pool, gym and ici. Cycled up to uni today, dealing with the usual beaurocratic mayhem, trying to finalise leave of absence forms and my new supervisor hasn't materialised yet to sign anything, well he has but with no phone and no email contact it's hard to arrange. Cycled along the bike path from Carlton to Clifton Hill, I'm going to miss that bicycle friendly useful route, and now Emer's living right near Piedemonte's she's on my way home. (well, in a roundabout way but I need the extra 20 minutes exercise!) She cooked dinner tonight, Ari had his friend Isaac over, they were non-stop and very loud. Gonna miss the little man. And his mum. the clouds were amazing coming home this evening, hovering on the horizon all puffy and coloured with pink and orange sunset.
So there you go, wallow wallow wallow. Hired lots of videos to get me through the weekend, packing in front of the TV. Another friday night at home alone. Still in complete denial about the truck that's coming to take stuff away on monday, haven't reached that critical level of panic that usually gets me motivated. Wafting along, taking procrastination as an artform to new heights. Might as well try and sort through some of those boxes of bus tickets, old newspapers and lists, god knows I don't need to lug them around with me. I would love to just be transformed into one of those minimal people who don't collect stuff or hoard it. But then you read Mirka Mora on love and clutter and it all seems so necessary and gorgeous. Decided I have a truly bohemian approach to money - reading 'among the bohemians' last week, whereby one lives day to day, with no desire to work at a 'real job', always trusting that something or someone will come along to keep the wolf from the door, and then blowing any cash that does find it's way into one's pockets on 'ruinous fancies'. Although I think the Finland fancy is going to have to be bumped, it's just not very sensible to go all that way for a 4 day festival, much as I would love to. Then there's the extra weeks hanging out and travelling to make it worth while, and the fact that when overseas money all seems like monopoly currency and not real. I can guarantee I would get home in May with nothing to live on for the remainder of the ABC residency. And we can't have that. Maybe it is time to learn some responsible behaviour. It just seems so predictable. Did I mention that I'm in an exhibition in Helsinki in April? Pixelache DIY Electronic Media Festival, it sounds like a blast.
Lots of exciting things happening with the radio, I'm having a week in the studio in march, to learn stuff, and sitting in observing some other productions next week. Stay focused on the game, girl.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

11:32 AM
Posted by jodi rose

The inbox archiver of my email scares me. It keeps moving messages into the old-messages folder, which means I haven't got round to replying to or deleting them for 60 days. eeeek. When did life get so out of control?
Having a v e r y s l o w morning. Don't know how the kids do it - well actually I do, chemical enhancement - but that rock'n'roll really takes it out of you. BDO highlights for me definitely Peaches - she was totally awesome, very new york, very underground..... a little bit of s&m goes a long way with a straight boy crowd - and the boiler room, which had salmonella dub, sonic animation and david holmes. DJ Scribe and King Capisi also fantastic, and unfortunately all the really big rock bands like dandy warhols and the strokes played on the main stage where the sound was so crap it kept phasing in and out with the wind. Lots of walking around and the kids were getting pretty messy, but no discernable violence or bad vibes - unlike perth, as I heard on the radio this morning. what's going on out west?
This morning's rave is a cheap attempt to procrastinate a.sorting and packing b. replying to 80 emails, and c. doing the washing
So as I can't really think of anything wildly existential or even remotely interesting to say - not that it's ever stopped me before - am now signing off to go deal with life. have funxxxjr

Monday, January 26, 2004

12:59 AM
Posted by jodi rose

I love my life. Having such a great time - just got home from seeing 'The Morning After Girls' play at the Ding Dong lounge, the most retro rock'n'roll crowd you can imagine. All genres mixed in together, the girls in tight jeans with high pointy shoes and long straight blunt hair, boys in leather jacket and elvis hair, or stovepipe trousers, thin tie and winklepickers, the coolest rock chicks in knee high boots, short short skirts and lots of black eyeliner - it was fascinating. The band were pretty rockin' too, started with a wall-of-sound feedback blast, then some lovely harmonies sung over screaming guitars, pounding drumbeats and the girl playing not one but two tambourines... and maracas. It was like being in a timewarp, and I got some fabulous stories from Emer about her wild and crazy youth.
Just decided to go to the Big Day Out tomorrow, with Michael and Eileesh, we're going to relive some of our wild and crazy youth. Last time I went was in about 92, the year Nirvana played. It feels like time for some live music inspiration, having barely left the house all winter.
This week has been one of the best ever in Melbourne, fallen into a pattern of going to the gym (yes I know, it's very disturbing), or swimming in the morning, stopping by ICI for a coffee then home. Ostensibly spending the afternoon sorting and packing up my house for the move to Sydney, but keep being very easily distracted. One day Nic stopped by, so we went and got boxes, which was actually useful, the next Emer was in a state packing and moving her house, so gave her moral support and randomly threw everything in her kitchen into boxes. Yesterday was a picnic for Sue's birthday, very delicious and lush in the Carlton Gardens, and now the music festival. There's plenty of time next week, and I did go through all the random piles in my filing cabinet today, threw out heaps of stuff.
It's been a fabulous week for emails out of the blue, and I am going to reply soon, it's been a crazy week. First was from Pelle, an engineer who actually installs cables on bridges, offering me the opportunity to record the cables while they are being tensioned - yes yes yes yes! That's in Bangkok mid 2005, in exchange for a special composition of sounds from the cables. Then in the same morning heard from Josh and Arras who I knew at art school - the rabbit warren before we moved the Callahn park, something very appropriate about having an art school in an old mental home, that mad genius archetype. And this evening two of my gorgeous cousins in NZ wrote, with offers of a bed in Auckland, and a historic suspension bridge just out of Greymouth (on the West Coast past otira). I'm planning my NZ winter trip for the rest of my new wardrobe. One has to look the part of a successful international art star.
I'm going to miss my street, there are so many lovely people living around here, who say hello when they go by. It's cool knowing so many of our neighbours, from the people next door - Chris and Jo, Monique and Dominic -to Beannie Boy (ben) and Marty 2-3 houses along, and in the big blue art house (where the rock band played last year) Lyndal Walker - very funky melbourne artstar - Molly with the black curly hair, and the boys next to them, Leroy et al. The new house in Redfern has a great balcony, Lisa knows all the locals, and it has the added advantage of a fire station across the road. Apparently the fire men bring out the trucks and wash them on the street get every Sunday - I'm looking forward to that!

Monday, January 19, 2004

12:34 PM
Posted by jodi rose

Can't remember exactly when I last wrote - maybe in christchurch after leaving takaka. Speed synopsis of the last few weeks.
Flew into sydney Tuesday 6th Jan. Stayed at Julaines, she's working in the armoury for a military movie filming in sydney. Went out to Maroubra with mum to visit Jeannie, singer and my godmother, swam at the beach and hung out with her friends visiting from Mexico city. There's always someone staying from somewhere interesting at Jeannie's. Then quiet evening at home, next day caught up with Lisa just back from woodford via a nightclub on the central coast for several hours - she's regressing to adolescence according to her flatmate Pip. Checked out their spare room which will be my home for 6 months in sydney. Very cool, a big old terrace with polished floorboards, lots of light and really big rooms - mine is a decent size, under the kitchen and not really part of the rest of the house, it's like the bungalow or something. We all went out to Homebush for the opening night of Sydney Festival - 'of angels and light' - absolutely gorgeous performance by an Italian company, who had aerialists flying overhead on 200m wires, their incredible costumes fluttering in the wind, and enormous helium balloons painted with classical italian style imagery, another dancer in a harness underneath, who would leap above the crowd and dance over our heads for a few feet, then run along the ground. Wild fire perfomance with a woman twirling in a leather skirt with a belt of long straps with fiery corks at the end spinning out around her, and two gorgeous men playing with flaming ropes and throwing handfuls of fire out into the audience - we were directly in front of them, it was mesmerising. One of those experiences that is so beautiful, my heart was in my mouth, totally mindblowing. Then the shadows on the buildings as they danced, the music also gorgeous singing and a very solemn narration about the angels of fire and light.
Drove down to cobargo with mum on friday, spent the weekend at her newly built studio, very stylish, met up with Garry and Helen and Oskar and Harvey at Jude's place, had dinner with them and a swim next morning at cuttagee beach. Then got back to melbourne via canberra on monday afternoon, collapsed for a day and went down to somers for a few days complete relaxation with Philippa at her beachouse. Lay on the beach, read trashy magazine, ate fish and chips - decadent.
Now it's monday and I really have to get over being on holiday and get on with life. Like everyone else. Except I have to pack up my house and sort out all the accumulated junk to try and be minimal in sydney. It's times like this I wonder about the whole nomadic lifestyle thing - sure it's great to be in new places, and have adventures, and of I still have a place back here, but I am really craving somewhere of my own to make a home and come back to every time. Well, if one chooses to spend the equivalent of a deposit on a house travelling the world to record bridges, I guess this is consequence of making that decision. Yes it is much more fulfilling for me anyway to be living this life, than with a mortgage and a small investment apartment somewhere in the outer suburbs, one day I will have that fabulous house with a balcony looking out over the ocean from my bedroom, and a garden and a dog. Just not this week, or probably this year. I'm definitely going back to spend some time in NZ, it was amazing reconnecting with family, and meeting all the kids, just having that sense of belonging and being part of that family is so important to me. It's only taken 15 years to work that one out. Oh well, better late than never.
Did I really just write that. Sometimes cliches make the most sense.
Decided this morning that I need to live with a deeper connection to my soul, not to let things slide or just wander around vaguely heading towards my goal - but immerse myself completely in the life I'm living now, stop imagining some fantastical perfect scenario with the ideal house, lover, creative fulfilment, lots of money etc. Guaranteed once you find yourself living those dreams, something else will seem to grab you and it's never enough. So, starting right now, it is enough. More than. Yes, I'd like to hang out with Viggo and write my novel and compose more and do some dance classes and learn spanish etc etc etc but it starts right here.
So, best get out and do some of the things I need to do today.
love to you all xxxxxx lulu

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

12:20 PM
Posted by jodi rose

Rose Road, Takaka

Last day on the farm, started by making pancakes for 20. Picked lemons fresh off the tree in the backyard of Great-Grandad's farmhouse, then walked down to the milking shed to pick up the deep blue billy of fresh milk straight out of the cows. Afternoon expedition to the Upper Takaka River, in Cobb Valley, an old goldmining spot. Robbie spent the entire time smashing rocks, looking for nz greenstone - he's a geologist. Everyone else swam across to the cliff side of the river and hung out on the rocks, the kids had rides on their boogie boards down the smallish rapids, Kath arranged a picnic lunch on a big flat rock. Drove to Picton with mum, over the Takaka hill to Nelson, then across the Queen Charlotte Sound to Picton - gorgeous seaside views. A few days in Christchurch at the Chateau on the Park hotel - more cousins, on mum's mothers side this time, visited their place in Lyttleton - lovely old port town out of Christchurch. Now waiting to board the plane. Fantastic dinner at Barcelona on Oxford Terrace, mushroom risotto and sticky date pudding with chocolate marscapone. Yum.
Sad to be leaving, it was a little strange at first meeting all these family members again, but once we got in the swing of it had lots of fun. The country has changed so much, that nostalgia thing

Thursday, January 01, 2004

7:50 PM
Posted by jodi rose

Golden Bay, NZ
New Year's Eve started with a 4 hour walk up the Pu-Pu Walkway, an old goldmining track - only 15 minutes of steady uphill trekking - cruisey, says Cousin Rob, yeah right!- and another half hour along these narrow wee wooden walkways along the old water races to the powerstation. It was worth all the pain at the top, with a swim in the freezing mountain stream and the kids jumping in off the rocks.
Got home, had fish and chips on the lawn and played petanque (sp?) with the fiercely competitive Alan and Paul. Ended up watching the royal comand performance, ronan keating and robbie williams concerts on telly with a selection of cousins and ma. Happpppy new year!
Just got distracted by a family discussion on wether or not I would go out to visionz dance/trance party in the morning for the last few hours - Jenny and Jane are taking their friend Jonno out for a look in the morning, but it is my last day and Robbie reminded me that we did promise the kids pancakes for breakfast. So the tarot cards and reiki sessions will have to wait until another time.
Recorded a surprise bridge today - beautiful old wood and steel cable suspension bridge over the Aorere River, which made a glorious sound when the occasional car drove over. Found it getting lost on the way to the Salisbury footbridge, which has been closed due to safety concerns, rotting posts in the walkway, and had a serious slab of wood blocking the path, saying 'Bridge closed'. That was ok, cause the cables at the end were still accessible and they had very little vibration happening, too short and not taut enough. Went swimming in a gorgeous deep pool in the Aorere, which I found out later I had swum naked under the waterfull years ago when I used to come here for christmas holidays, between 4-12 years old.
Read stories to Ollie with Karen, and am a bit sad to be leaving the farm and all the kids on saturday, although I have an open invitation to visit all over NZ and be a domestic goddess and storyteller to my second cousins.