TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

Monday, May 1, 2006

10:45 AM
Posted by jodi rose

brain melt.
another busy weekend, alternating time in protools booth with trip to storage - where I found a whole wardrobe of forgotten clothes without having to buy a thing; then dropped into the warehouse party saturday night but distinctly underwhelmed by the vibe (cooler-than-thou wannabe gypsy/circus style, one girl smiled at me in the hour we were there) and music (wannabe avant-folk-european-gyspy played by very competent musicians in 30's suits and hats, but just didn't swing it for me - having heard ghymes, masfel and some of the 'authentic' eastern european avant-gypsy-folk.. oh dear am I being elitist? surely not!)

Sunday came in early to get a few minidisks out of the way before meeting lisa for yum-cha with phil and nadia, who leave next week for their 6 month jaunt. Chinatown on sunday morning was buzzing, people everywhere, a busker combo playing laptop and didgeridoo, woman blessed herself with water dripping from the golden tongue in the strange gold tree sculpture, the place we chose promised vegetarian options but none ever came, so we ordered broccoli and tofu wraps. Reacquainted myself with those delicious chinese custard tarts. mmm.

Another few hours work, then met lisa again to whisper for alex d in a group of 16 (more of the coolest kids in town!) playing chinese whispers in uts studio. That was fun, lots of laughing and ridiculous messages, look forward to hearing the work in his 16 channel surround sound set-up at the exhibition in a few weeks at Artspace. Interesting ideas about how information gets mangled and misconstrued along the way, many of the sentences were bizarre newspaper reports, or recent events, and some from the bible, one ended with buying satan an icecream.

Walked over to Glebe for dinner with cousin Kim, in her cosy, brightly coloured flat, had noodles and crock-pot bread and butter pudding (yes, that's my dessert allowance for the next week gone ina day!) then watched abc program on Saladin (Salah Ad Din) the Muslim leader who recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 or so, and showed the values of his faith and mercy by cleansing the city not with Christian blood, but with rosewater. He's the hero of our nephew, Yusuf, and the doco provided a good introduction to his life and events. It's interesting learning more about the history and tensions in the family, in particular the Shaw heritage from Scotland. Damn and I just erased the name from my birth certificate too! Still, that doesn't change the descendancy, great-grandfather Percy Shaw, have to find out from my auntie if he was from the lowland or highland branch of the name. Kim tells me the crest is a bloodied arm holding an axe, and the motto: 'we slaughter all in our path' but I can only find an arm with sword and motto "Fide et fortudine" meaning "By faith and fortitude" or "By faith and fidelity". The tartan is a lovely dark green and purple with a red stripe, and there are reportedly connections to the Earl of Fife, although it could also be persons residing near a 'shaw' or thicket, as in Pollockshaws in Glasgow. (The example they gave, and strangely where I had my passport stolen...)
Missed having such a strong a sense of continuity and groundedness seeing Kim so connected to the people in her life. She promised me that when I do decide to stay in one place, I'll make those regular connections again quickly - that would be nice. I'm appreciating her efforts to see me when I'm in town, although she said it's taken a while to adjust to the sonic nomad thing, but now just checks the diary and emails invitations at appropriate times. It's lovely not to be the one who always has to get in touch; there are times when it's just too much effort to ring people again and try to fit into their busy lives, so end up not seeing them.

Ah well, I'm always somewhere, and at least have all my limbs, organs, senses, free will, free choice, freedom of speech - so guess I'd better stop complaining and get on with living, expressing and communicating!