I am a big fan of Melbourne-based bike rental company The Humble Vintage and the limited edition hand-drawn maps coming out of it called Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists.

Now author and entrepreneur Matt Hurst has written The Casual Cyclist’s Guide Melbourne, a book bringing a fresh perspective to cycle routes in Melbourne interspersed with articles on cycling tips, tricks and thoughts as varied as Taking the Scenic Route and Five Surprising Situations When it’s Better to Take the Bike.

The guide brings together contributions from a range of Melbourne architects, historians, chefs, designers and local identities, including chef Guy Grossi and milliner Richard Nylon.

With hand drawn maps by Matt, design by Studio Pip & Co and illustrations from graphic design duo Tin & Ed, it’s a uniquely Melbourne collaboration. The book is a delightful read and it’s an essential item for the ambling Melbourne cyclist.

Giveaway! Thanks to Hardie Grant, I have one copy of The Casual Cyclist’s Guide Melbourne to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment below by Friday 9 December and the winner will be drawn randomly. The competition is restricted to Australian residents. Good luck!

Tally-ho ladies and gents!

Thanks to some Sunday sun, a group of about 50 well-dressed cyclists gathered for the annual Melbourne Tweed Ride.
Tweed wearers and vintage-stylers rode out from Federation Square along the tweedy brown Yarra River to Como House, which was hosting the Paris to Provence Festival. We got many amazed glances, friendly waves and jolly car horn toots along the way.

Some pictures to inspire your next tweedy/vintage outing!

To see more images, check out CycleStyle’s Flickr stream and click here,  here, here, here and here.

We’re so lucky to have Books for Cooks in our city.

This independent book store in Fitzroy is Australia’s only retailer specialising in books on food and wine. The five rooms of an old Victorian terrace typical of the area are filled floor to ceiling with densely packed books, from the popular to the obscure. There are couches and chairs for browsing and the staff are always on hand with information and advice.

Books for Cooks also occasionally hold events in their small store. Talks and signings from visiting authors are normally accompanied by a free glass of bubbles and some tastes from the featured cookbook made by Amanda, one of the owners of the store.

From their mailing list I found out that Australia’s own Willy Wonka Adriano Zumbo was going to be visiting to promote his cookbook Zumbo: Adriano Zumbo’s fantastical kitchen of other-worldly delights. I am a huge desserts fan and I love Zumbo’s cakes and macarons, so I was not going to miss this event.

Adriano was a very personable speaker, even though he described himself as ‘not much of a people person’. We learnt about his beginnings baking in his parents’ supermarket in store bakery, his stint at a French sourdough bakery, his favourite cookbooks (Larousse des Desserts, Ramon Morato’s Chocolate), his favourite bakeries and patisseries in Paris (a long list, including Laurent Duchene, Fauchon, Pain de Sucre, Pierre Herme, Arnaud Delmontel, Laduree - but only the macarons, not the cakes), the challenges of managing 97 staff and looking forward to mechanising his processes, his most outrageous failed dessert (chocolate eggplant macaron, anyone?), his new dessert train at The Star and finally, the key to making winning macarons (finely processed almond meal, knock the air of the meringue, don’t eat macarons fresh but leave for 24 hours).

Books for Cooks have lots of other great events coming up in November, including a dinner with Luke Nguyen at Eat Drink Man Woman on 7 November, dinner with Andrew McConnell at Cumulus Inc and evening tastes with Janet de Neefe, author of Bali: the food of my island home. To keep up to date with their news, sign up to their mailing list.

As for my next Books for Cooks purchase? I reckon it’s going to be the Vintage Edition of the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book. Retro-fabulous!

Books for Cooks, 233-235 Gertrude St, Fitzroy +61 3 8415 1415
Sun 11am-5pm; Mon-Sat 10am-6pm

The Duldig Studio is a most unusual museum – because it’s housed in…a house.

From the outside it looks like any other residence on a residential street in Malvern. Go beyond the gates and you’ll find the building filled with artwork and antique furniture, a most restful and interesting sculpture garden at the back and the studio of the Polish sculptor Karl Duldig and his artist-inventor wife, Slawa Duldig (who invented the first foldable umbrella – isn’t that a great factoid for a trivia night!).

You can visit The Duldig Studioonly by appointment usually so I was most excited when NGV recently held an event at the studio. NGV’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition ‘Vienna: Art & Design, Klimt, Schiele, Hoffmann, Loos‘ is on at the moment and Karl Duldig’s work, Mask (1921), is included in the exhibition. Furthermore The Duldig Studio have also curated an accompanying exhibition called ‘The Duldigs in Vienna‘. Both Karl and Slawa studied in Vienna before World War II and escaped the Nazis by way of Singapore to settle in Australia in the 1940s.

The event comprised an insightful behind-the-scenes tour with Eva de Jong-Duldig- director of the not-for-profit museum, only child of Karl and Slawa, writer and international professional tennis player. She shared many personal anecdotes about her parents and the stories about many of the artworks on show, including how her father used to sculpt using potatoes when he had no other materials to use.

The entrance room, along with parts of the original house, have been turned into a museum that holds a large collection of sculptures, paintings, drawings and decorative arts by the Duldigs and other artists. The interior of the Duldig’s apartment in Vienna has been recreated in one of the rooms. The only reason that artworks and furniture from the pre-war period are in Australia now is because Slawa’s sister married a Frenchman and she had the wherewithal to pack up all of the Duldig’s possesions and transport them for safekeeping in France when the Duldigs fled Europe.

My favourite part of the gallery though was the sculpture garden. You can see the diversity of the Duldig’s craft, from abstract sculptures to keen likenesses, dotted all over the lawn and in unexpected nooks and crannies.

I particularly liked two sculptures – the bronze abstract torso and the portrait sculpture with the flaring of the metal, which was apparently a mistake but actually enhances the expression of the subject I think.

The studio has been pretty much left as is, with old tools, a small fireplace and kiln and rows and rows of sculptures on display. You really get a sense of what it would have been like working in such a space.

If you have an interest in sculpture then The Duldig Studio is a unique insight into a sculptor’s work. I recommend combining your visit with a poke around some of the nice-looking cafes and shops on Burke Road nearby – it’ll be a lovely way to spend a day.

The Duldig Studio, 92 Burke Rd, Malvern East +61 3 9885 3358
Individuals and group visits are hosted by appointment.
Preferred Visiting Hours:Tuesday to Thursday 10.30am – 3.00pm, Saturday 1.00 – 4.00pm

Melbourne Sustainability Drinks are part of a national networking evening hosted once a month by the Shaper Group with the byline ‘connecting passionate people to create a better world’.

In Melbourne it happens on the first Wednesday of every month and is well attended by ‘light to medium green’ types who work in or have an interest in sustainability issues, with a surprising number of people in suits. It’s not just a gathering of beardy middle-aged men wearing socks and sandals!

In my guise as the founder of an online bike accessories shop, I went along to my first drinks in June to meet people who were interested in sustainability and to glean some business advice from the guest speaker that month, Malcolm Rands, the founder and CEO of Ecostore. From a personal standpoint I was also interested in hearing from Malcolm as I came across Ecostore‘s laundry and household cleaning products at Woolworths and quickly became a fan of their range – effective and green! As I read more about them I became more impressed by the company’s philosophy and brand and their commitment to develop products which cared for the health of people and the environment. They proudly proclaim that they test on humans and use the precautionary principle to determine the ingredient make up of their products ‘does it belong in our environment/on people’s skin’?

The evening began with a meet-and-mingle session for about an hour and I found people were very friendly and approachable. Name tags were provided printed only with names, no companies, to encourage people to talk to others as individuals, not as representatives of a company.

Malcolm then spoke for about 10 minutes with some time after for questions. He outlined his vision for Ecostore to be a profitable business with non-for-profit values and its beginnings in a permaculture eco-village in New Zealand. One thing really resonated with me ‘make it easy and pleasurable to make a difference in everyday life’.’ Apparently 30% of people make purchasing decisions based on their values, which means that the products still need to save people money, work as well, be easy to use and not too look ‘hippy’.

Eighteen years after Malcolm and his wife Melanie first founded Ecostore, the brand is still innovating. It has collaborated with artists for the abstract artwork on all its products. The plastic containers used for its products are now manufactured using 85% regrind plastic and 15% virgin plastic from renewable sources, meaning that they literally grind up their old bottles and put them back into the new bottles.

The next Melbourne Sustainability Drinks are on Wednesday 6 July 6-8pm and the guest speaker is Danny Williams, the founder of ProGreen Biofuels, a subsidiary of Renewable Energy & Biofuels Limited (REBL). To RSVP go to http://www.melbournesustainabilitydrinks.com/rsvp

http://www.melhotornot.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=9872&message=10

Funerals & Food: Inspired by Tradition is definitely the winner of Most Intriguing Event during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (though technically it’s not part of the festival’s official program).

Nelson Bros is Australia’s oldest family owned funeral company and at their historic Williamstown funeral home they hosted an afternoon of panelists exploring the rituals and traditions of funerals and funeral food. The free event included refreshments from a classic afternoon tea such that you’d expect to be served by Nelson Bros for families plus the macabre-sounding funeral jelly from artisan ‘jellymongers’ Bompas and Parr from the UK, who are guests of the festival this year.

The crowd began to gather in the bright afternoon sunshine, some dressed in mourning garb, some not. At last the event began with Bompas and Parr entering the venue in a black car, behind an elaborate 19th century hearse drawn by a pair of extravagantly plumed horses.

Then out popped these two young Englishman dressed in neat shirts and twee bowties, reverently holding a wobbling red jelly pyramid. Oh this was going to be fun!

Inside the chapel, four panellists had been gathered by Adrian Nelson, a 5th generation funeral director, to speak about the funeral traditions. Why funerals and food? Because in effect funerals are a celebration of life and food is a vital part of living.

First up was Elizabeth Chong, a chef and educator famous for bringing Chinese food to the Australian masses. She spoke about Chinese traditions of mourning, including the burning of paper images of items from the person’s life, money, servants and clothing – all so the deceased would be comfortable for their journey to the afterlife. This tradition still happens in modern times and you can now buy a funeral package for a woman consisting of paper diamonds, a Gucci purse, mobile phone and gold Omega watch! A Chinese funeral banquet consists of strictly 7 courses of simple food, with a separate round table for the immediate family who will eat only vegetarian food. Typically, the rest of the guests will partake in dishes such as a sweet soup (to take away the bitterness of sorrow), a mixed cold platter including poached chicken, crispy pork and bean curd), a Buddhist dish consisting of 10 dried ingredients, sweet and sour pork (again, representing the sweetness taking away the sourness of the occasion), e-fu noodles with mushrooms, vegetarian fried rice and a fresh fruit platter.

Alan Samuel from Temple Beth Israel then spoke about Jewish funeral traditions, some of which had parallels with the Chinese customs. The wake was often held in the home of an immediate family member with neighbours and friends preparing a ‘meal of condolence’ for the family to eat. This meal consisted of round rolls, bagels and hard-boiled eggs, all items representing the eternal, cyclical nature of life. The egg in particular would be the first item to be eaten after the funeral, as it had no mouth and represented the mourner in shock with no words for anyone. Neighbours and friends were also called upon to make meals for the immediate family to eat for the next 7 days, the period of ‘shiva’ or mourning.

George Haralambopoulos is the head sommelier at Werribee Park Mansion Hotel and also gives English sermons at the Greek Orthodox Church. The funeral food of the Greek Orthodox church is based on the meal that the Virgin Mary ate after the crucifixion - a small handful of olives, dry bread and some sweet wine. The wine, called commandaria, is the world’s oldest named wine still in production, and is used as part of communion as well.

Finally, Priscilla Nelson spoke about the development of the modern funeral and the role of a modern funeral home and funeral directors such as Nelson Bros.

The second part of the event was Sam Bombas and Harry Parr discussing how they became to be jellymongers and in theme with the title, how they came to make funeral jellies. They first started out applying for a jelly stall at Borough Market but were rejected for the silliness of their idea. However, in the meantime Sam was studying architecture and encouraged by his tutor was applying his knowledge to designing jelly moulds. Together with Harry they decided to launch a competition amongst the world’s leading architects to design jelly moulds. To their surprise they receive thousands of entries.

They were excitable, funny and obviously loved their job. They passed around the first jelly mould that they made, a very ambitious replica of St Paul’s Cathedral – you can see the jelly in action here and an example of the sort of classical structures which make the best jelly shapes.  Everyone then got to try the funeral jelly – a wobbly, melt-in-the-mouth plum and prosecco jelly.

They are looking at developing commercial jelly moulds for sale, with their first project being a Royal Wedding commemorative mould to be sold at Selfridges! I’m putting that down on my shopping list for my London-based friends.

You can read about another Bombas and Parr adventure by my friend Gourmet Chick, who attended the Courvoisier’s Complete History of Food in London last year.

New Nordic cuisine is so hot right now.

You may know that best restaurant in the world according to San Pellegrino’s World 50 Best Restaurants is Noma, in Copenhagen. The chef of Noma, Rene Redzepi, has been instrumental in building a movement to reinvent Nordic cuisine using local, oft-forgotten ingredients. In 2004 some of the greatest chefs in the Nordic region, including Redzepi and his co-founder Claus Meyer, created the Manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen. The New Nordic Cuisine Manifesto dictates, amongst other things:

• To base our cooking on ingredients and produce whose characteristics are particularly excellent in our climates, landscapes and waters.
• To develop potentially new applications of traditional Nordic food products.
• To combine the best in Nordic cookery and culinary traditions with impulses from abroad.

Thorsten Schmidt is part of the vanguard of these New Nordic cuisine chefs and he’s in Melbourne at the moment for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. His restaurant in Aarhus, Malling & Schmidt (named after his wife and himself) follows the same principles of only using local, seasonal ingredients.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a reception for Thorsten hosted by Denmark House, which has been bringing Nordic chefs to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival for the last 3 years. Over delicious and beautifully presented Nordic-inspired canapes by Denmark House’s DANSK restaurant, Thorsten said a few words about his food philosophy.

When he first wanted to start a fine dining restaurant he found it really difficult to construct a menu which did not include traditional fine-dining ingredients (and inevitably of French origin) – red wine, black olives, foie gras, truffles. But Thorsten said that with the restrictions of the manifesto blossomed a great creativity. Now his staff literally go out to forage for ingredients, he uses 184 local herbs (and is always searching and experimenting) and he uses all life cycles of a plant for different textures and flavours, from the leaves to the root to the fruit to the stalk.

Further, he feels that using Nordic ingredients is an important part of maintaining the region’s cultural heritage. He describes his food as providing a ‘frame for stories’ -  the flavours and aromas of his food has the ability to transport diners back to childhood memories and enable friends and family to share past experiences.

Thorsten will be appearing as part of the Langham Melbourne Masterclass this Saturday and Sunday. Sadly, his segment is already sold out :–(

If you want to sample some New Nordic cuisine without getting on a plane, the chef of DANSK restaurant, Bente Grysbæk, subscribes to the principles of the manifesto in developing the breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. I’m keen to try their Saturday traditional smorgasbord which is held on the first Saturday of every month and costs $48. I’ve also been told that the breakfast porridge is so good it’ll make you cry!

• Thorsten Schmidt event, Denmark House, Level 3, 428 Little Bourke St, Melbourne +61 3 9600 4477
  

How much chocolate can I eat in one sitting?

Quite a lot it seems.

On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights, Fitzroy chocolatier Shocolate holds a chocolate appreciation session for chocolate lovers. Thanks to Scoopon I was able to sate my chocolate appetite for $35 rather than the usual $80 and I spent an hour tasting, drinking, sniffing and learning the art of chocolate appreciation.

On arrival, Damien the French chocolatier, greeted me with a glass of wine (though not for this pregnant lady). After a brief introduction about the origins and the processing of chocolate, we got down to business. Hot chocolate shots! From left to right – white chocolate flavoured with vanilla bean, milk chocolate with coconut (Malibu with the alcohol burned off) and dark chocolate. Being a dark chocolate lover, I found the first two options too sweet for me and definitely preferred the dark version – but others in my group discovered the opposite preference. Just goes to show that chocolate can make anyone happy!

Then a segment of light-as-air vanilla mousse layering chocolate and feuilletine (thin crispy flakes made from crepes). A delicate dessert that didn’t overwhelm with its sweetness.

While the others sampled a shot of French liquer and a chocolate cocktail, I was offered a snifter ofpink milkshake consisting of strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants and laced with chocolate. You know what I liked about this drink the most? The straw was threaded through the curlew of Belgian chocolate. A small but neat detail.

Next up, a tasting plate of Shocolate‘s handmade chocolates – a very sweet passionfruit ganache truffle, dark chocolate enrobing a gorgeous pistachio and feuilletine centre, a moulded white chocolate of basil ganache, a chocolate with coconut ganache made from a mix of coconut powder and chocolate – and in the centre, half of a Vegemite chocolate! Not being a Vegemite fan I did not like this last offering, but I can see why the salty combination would work so well with the thin sweet chocolate coating.

The other thing to note is that Damien prides himself on using fresh ingredients in his chocolates and not essence – hence the basil chocolate (as well as the menthe chocolate) uses something like 60g of fresh basil or mint leaves to make about 350g of ganache. The freshness also means that the chocolates only have a shelf life of about 5 days. And Damien advised us to never, ever put chocolates in the fridge – the humidity affects the texture and flavour.

Then into some serious stuff – a little dab of 100% cocoa (ugh bitter) and a chaser of 67% single origin dark chocolate.

To end the night, we were each given a little box of chocolates (walnut marzipan and French tea) and an opportunity to buy any other products at 15% off. I could not go past the Shocolate praline sphere which I’ve written about before – basically a giant Ferroro Rocher with crispy praline covering a hazelnut heart handrolled with roasted almonds and dark chocolate ($4).

To hear more from Damien about the Chocolate Appreciation Nights, check out this video.

• Shocolate, 3/296 Brunswick St, Fitzroy +61 3 9415 6556

There are more than 60 sites to visit, including bowls clubs, banks, residential buildings, libraries and rooftop gardens. It’s an amazingly popular event so to make the most of it take Melbourne Open House’s advice:

-          Plan your day

-          Know building opening times (they do vary) and if a building is running tours – click here

-          Be prepared for queues

-          Have a contingency plan and be flexible

For instance, I had wanted to check out the normally closed upper levels of Block Arcade, but all the upcoming tours were full so I ended up at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library and Origin Roof Garden instead.

The Melbourne Athenaeum Library is normally open only to subscription members and is the city’s oldest public institution, with the library’s collection starting in 1840. The densely packed dark wood bookshelves overlook the grand facades of the Regent Theatre and Melbourne Theosophical Society, and the library is a step back in time amongst the CBD bustle.

Every visitor is given a self-guided tour briefly explaining various items of interest, from paintings to a metal book press. My favourites were the classical lift façade (from 1930) and the beautiful Art Nouveau bronze lamp holders.

The Origin Roof Garden was a very different space. Designed by famous TV landscape designer Jamie Durie, the 458 square metre balcony garden is for Origin employees to meet, relax and eat lunch. There’s barbecue and cooking facilities, outdoor seating covered in artificial turf and the most distinctive feature, an open-ended cylinder covered in turf. The garden has been designed using sustainable, recycled timber products, artificial turf and drought tolerant and allergy-free plants.

Lucky Origin employees!

Get your walking shoes on! Melbourne Open House finishes today 25 July. Check out all the properties and opening hours here.

One really great way Melbourne embraces its winters is to hold special exhibitions dubbed ‘Melbourne Winter Masterpieces‘. Over the years they have had some wonderful shows, but I think nabbing the Tim Burton exhibition from the Museum of Modern Art in New York is pretty high on the wow list.

I can’t say that Tim Burton is one of my favourite directors. But he does have an interesting body of work ranging from gothic stop animation to Hollywood blockbusters, which means that I’ve seen about 50% of his films. This retrospective is not just for film buffs or Tim Burton aficionados – it’s a comprehensive, multi-modal show for adults and children which charts the course of a very creative mind and gives a behind-the-scenes look at the film-making process.

No photographs are allowed inside the exhibition but here are my highlights:

• The first showcase as you walk down the stairs, a replica of the topiary deer from Edward Scissorhands;
• Burton’s early cartoons when he worked as an animator at the Disney studios and his funny drawing of ‘Mothera’ (his take on Mothra, the Godzilla arch-enemy). You can already see a fascination with exaggerated forms, the theme of ‘otherness’ and being an outsider, and a keen sense of humour;
• the teeny-tiny catsuit worn by Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in Batman Returns;
• the film Hansel and Gretel, which was only aired once as it was deemed too scary and grotesque for middle America. It’s extremely entertaining and well worth a 30 minute sit-down;
• the puppets used in The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride;
• the Mad Hatter’s intricate costume from Alice in Wonderland, complete with an ammo belt made from spools of thread; and
• the Tim Burton Carousel, introduced by a black tunnel lit with flourescent creatures and complete with creepy music from long-time collaborator Danny Elfman.

I spent about 2 hours in the exhibition and you could easily spend a lot more time there, inspecting all the details of his early drawings and watching every single film reel (apparently there are over 700 works on display). One of our party purchased the audioguide as well but said that he didn’t feel that the guide gave any more interesting insights than what you could already see and read. If you’re well prepared you can download the guide for free here.

Other than that, my only piece of advice is to get there early or to pre-purchase tickets online. We arrived at the opening time of 10am on Saturday and still had to line up (though not much). Once a certain number of people enter, you have to wait until the next 30 minute time slot, which is pretty frustrating if you’ve already had to wait in line to buy your ticket. By the time we left at around midday, the number of people inside meant that you kind of had to look at everything as part of a conveyor belt of people, and the ticket queue snaked out into the blasting cold of Federation Square.

The Tim Burton exhibition is accompanied by a program of talks, films and events. I’ll probably be going back for a screening of what many consider to be Burton’s masterpiece, Edward Scissorhands, which I haven’t seen since it was released in 1990.

NB I’ve found a blog post which actually contains photos of the exhibits! Check out Sea of Ghosts. Oh, and the Monster Mouth and all the other monster-y displays around the exhibition were made by Melbourne company BiGfiSh, impressive.

• Tim Burton:  The Exhibition, ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne. From Thursday 24 June – Sunday 10 October 2010

I have a bulging email folder called ‘Newsletters’ which contains all the contents of the million mailing lists to which I subscribe. It’s an unmanageable beast (just like my Google Reader, currently at 1000+ unread items) but hey, I like to keep in the know.

Out of this mass of emails, a recent newsletter from The Agenda (Melbourne version, they do a Sydney version too) caught my eye  – a design lecture series at Coco Republic. Great…until I kept on scrolling and read that Lucy Feagins aka Melbourne blogger extraordinaire of The Design Files, was presenting. ARGH! I quickly reserved a place for myself and another long-time admirer of Lucy, Miss Kish. Who also actually works in design, unlike myself, a pure blogger groupie.

Droolworthy furniture store Coco Republic is hosting this 3 part series to bring together influential speakers from design, property and arts industries. On a cold Wednesday evening and comforted considerably by the gorgeous surroundings (I have a real thing for clocks and lamps), the flutes of Cloudy Bay Pelorus sparkling wine and rounds of crustless chicken sandwiches, about 150 people gathered to hear Gerald Delany from real estate agents Kay & Burton and of course Lucy speak in the second of the lectures.

I’m sort of in the market to buy my first home and Gerald basically gave me the fright of my life. Prices for inner city Melbourne apartments are high, and will remain high, although the market is currently ‘calming’. No, what I want to hear is that there will be a 50%  ‘correction’ in the market! No chance. Oh, and apparently more property is sold at public auction in Melbourne than any other city in the world. Grumble, I do not enjoy auctions.

Lucy then presented on her journey as a blogger, from her start in 2008, the turning point when she went from 500 to 7000 visitors in one day thanks to a mention in uber-blog Design*Sponge, and where she’s going now with her 10,000 daily readers, five days a week. As a result of the blog she’s been offered writing and styling work with magazines such as Inside Out and has just been asked to contribute a design column in The Age’s Melbourne Magazine, and she earns some money from advertising. Along the way she’s met many amazing well-known and unknown creative talents and she now receives somewhere between 20-100 submissions a week for mention in her blog. For someone with that much clout she’s very down to earth, friendly and relaxed and her blog ‘voice’ really is how she is in person! I like Lucy’s blog a lot and now that I’ve met her in real life I’m even more impressed.

The last of the series will be on Thursday 1 July, with William Mora of William Mora Galleries and Amanda Henderson from Gloss Creatives presenting. RSVP to info@cocorepublic.com.au or phone 1300 785 039.

• Coco Republic Lifestyle Lecture Series, 500 Church St, Richmond 1300 785 039

Karishma, tell me a bit more about your background in design and how you started Miss Kish?

I was actually always intimidated by art – especially when I moved to New Zealand in 2000. It was only because a friend saw my doodles and told me that I should try graphic design that I decided to take my distraction in physics and chemistry classes to another level!

Since then, it’s been a Bachelor in Art & Design at Auckland University of Technology, a semester on exchange at University of Creative Arts in the UK and a Masters in Art & Design at Monash University in Melbourne.

I started my design company Miss Kish in 2008. It was just after the recession had hit – and I had found myself miserable in a brand new job. I was terrified of quitting – and I knew how hard it would be to find a new job within Melbourne’s tightly knit design community.

I don’t know why – but my husband V kept saying “Just quit and everything will work out – you can do it on your own.”

And so one day I had a full time job, secure income – absolute minimal satisfaction. The next day I had no job, was terrified because I couldn’t see ahead – but for some reason, I was deliriously happy.

I also had an epic mentor – Ross – from Floate Design Partners – who would get my annoying progress updates and always managed to respond supportively.

What’s a typical work day for you?

I’m going to use yesterday!

7am – check emails, toast with marmite & avocado with chai

9am – get to the office, flip through books on identity design which leads me to work on the branding for a company which retails snowboarding products.

10:30am – check accounts and reply through emails.

11am – around this time I start to get a bit overactive on Twitter, so today I’ve caught up with Rach from the Nutritious Catering Company to discuss her website and current promotional collateral.

12pm – I get hungry at 11:45. Often I’ll have a homemade lunch, but when things are crazy at work, I keep some Pitango soup – the Leek & Spinach is my favourite.

During my lunch break – I catch up on blogs; Sea of Shoes, Brand New, Eye Blog, Garance Doré and of course MEL: HOT OR NOT.

1pm – back to the grind. I worked on wedding invitations for a sweet couple who wanted something simple and gorgeous.

2pm – collating files and organising chunks of text for an extensive website for a multinational company which sells fertilizers to the Australian market.

4:30pm – popped out to Readings for a break. I love to browse through their books, feel tempted, then walk through to the back and have an iced coffee with V.

7pm– catch up with Jess for dinner at a cool place we found online. Which of course, I then proceed to blog about!

10:30pm – pack in a bit of Sherlock Holmes Volume 1 before collapse.

What are some of the most interesting or challenging projects that you’ve worked on?

I’m a vegetarian and I was asked by Top Cut Meats to work on them with their promotional collateral. Looking at what they initially started with (lots and lots of meat imagery – straight from the butcher) and where their collateral is now at, you can see an extensive difference. It was a fun series of briefs where I would have to ask stupid questions like “why is it called sausage kransky?” and try and convince my client to try mock meat. Epic.

Kristina Holdorf from Urban Fresh is working on Forest Stewardship Council certified wrapping paper. Last year she requested me to start working on a series of wraps which customers can also purchase as art pieces. Being more a fine art brief involving graphic design technicalities – I was super excited. It was a very, very open brief and after much research and discussion – I showed Kristina the first series and she loved it.

What are your next plans for Miss Kish?

Urgent Plans:
Hire a junior! [NOW DONE! YAY]

Long Term Plans:

Make Miss Kish carbon neutral and offer this option for client’s print work

Have a small studio with high ceilings and designed interiors and 5-6 lovely people who hang out for drinks after work on Friday because they want to.

What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

Follow your gut – not everyone else’s.

Always have a theme song. Mine is ‘Shine’ – I know it’s very cheesy, but it works.

Hold on tightly to those who don’t doubt you.

Where do you turn for design advice and inspiration?

Design advice – friends (V, Piper, Greer, Sash), + mentors. My hugest mentors are V and my Dad. Both are business men – something I never wanted to be, and they both give me the realistic perspective that a designer needs every now. Other great mentors have been Floate Design Partners, Ros Lawson Design and Intense Design.

I’m a huge fan of art galleries, RSS feeds, whatever I see on the streets. I also love finding new music (the one place MySpace still holds merit) and so often when I find that new song and hook it on repeat, I find the design comes smooth and fast.

Finally, what are your tips for what’s HOT in Melbourne?

Creative Women’s Circle – fantastic talks with real people.

Readings – usually I’m a huge fan of interiors – but Readings on Glenferrie Rd (701 Glenferrie Road) now feels like home to me – and they have these lovely fig muffin thingees that V & I fight over.

DOC (295 Drummond St, Carlton). They do these amazing rolls called Rotolo (Joyce….. I hope I’ve got it right) – with bocconcini and tomato and basil. Once we were really cheeky and ask them to do a takeaway and they happily obliged.

I also subscribe to the White Hat Newsletter – which I think is the hottest thing as far as markets and events go. They are super thorough and have a way of describing the events, so I can tell if it’s a Kish event or not!

Kid Sam – a Melbourne band I like muchly.

You can contact Karishma at Miss Kish, 22A Liddiard St. Hawthorn + 61 4 2274 2304

For more HOT Chats with interesting Melburnians, click here.

After two wine tastings and a gallery viewing, we were all about ready for lunch.

To my delight, the lunch venue was the lovely Healesville Hotel. Not only is this the grand dame of pub dining rooms in the area, but Healesville was one of the towns affected by the tragic Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. With our  lunch I felt like I was doing a little bit to support and rebuild the local community.

Our meal was medium-cooked steaks with creamy mashed potatoes, a slice of lemon tart with cream and of course another glass of wine. The food was pretty good but not really to my taste if I’d been given a choice. I’m not generally a steak person and RM in particular likes his steak rare so found the meat a bit chewy.

The lemon tart was beautifully silken but marred slightly by a too-thick crust. However, it’s a bit harsh to judge a venue on mass-produced fare it needs to cook for 30 people at the same time, so don’t let my so-so assessment put you off eating there.

After a post-lunch stroll on the main street of Healesville, which revealed pretty food and homewares stores, we hopped back on the bus for a snooze on the drive back to Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Although not strictly in the Yarra Valley, it made sense to visit the gallery as it’s enroute back to Melbourne. The museum is also currently showing ‘Cubism & Australian Art’ until 8 April, the first exhibition of its kind in Australia.

We visited the main gallery in Heide III before moving to Heide II. In Heide III, these works stood out for me:

• Indigenous artist Gordon Bennett’s self portrait. Against a background of digitised Aboriginal dot paintings, Bennett has taken the African masks that Picasso effectively misappropriated in his first painting Les demoiselles d’Avignon and used them to cover his own face. This symbol makes a political statement about Western culture misappropriating and hiding Aboriginal culture over the centuries and provides an opportunity for him reclaim that culture in his own work.
• Banner by Rosalie Gascoigne. The artist had taken road signs and floral blue linoleum to evoke the atmosphere of the Australian landscape, with the red slashes of paint on the signs giving an almost violent, ‘Wild West’ aspect to the work.
• ‘Untitled’ by Jacky Redgate. A cubist still life with flat plans converted back into three dimensions to give a solid form to the empty space between three household items – a glass, a wine bottle and a bowl and saucer – to create a unified whole.
• ‘The Football Match’ by Roy de Maistre. While the work itself, of footballers playing a game, didn’t really strike me, I was impressed that Patrick White dedicated his first book Happy Valley to de Maistre  and his Figure in a Garden (The Aunt) was used as the cover of White’s The Aunt’s Story.

On my way out I strolled around the fabulous gift shop (looove gallery shops) and bought a jar of honey harvested on site by Heide’s bee keeper Vincent Testa ($7.50) – all proceeds go back to the gallery. And then it was time to take our happy and tired selves home.

I thought that the NGV Artbus was a really enjoyable day out for only $75 ($80 for non members). We were ferried all around the Yarra Valley and spent a beautiful sunny day being culturally educated, wine educated and well fed. I really hope that the NGV continues to run the tours on the weekends to other locations so that us nine-to-fivers have the opportunity to travel with them again.

• Healesville Hotel, 256 Maroondah Highway, Healesville +61 3 5962 4002
• Heide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen +61 3 9852 2346

Our second stop was the winery TarraWarra Estate, with its famous TarraWarra Museum of Art – the first significant privately funded, public art gallery in Australia. We started off with more wine tasting on the lawn, looking out over the neat downhill rows of vines, before going inside the gallery for a guided tour for their current exhibition on George Baldessin.

The 30 minute tour was very informative and interesting, particularly as I confess I’d never heard of George Baldessin even though apparently his work is in most major private and public collections in Australia.

Printmaker and sculptor Baldessin emigrated from Italy when he was a young boy and settled in Melbourne with his family. He was young bright flame in the 70s but his life and career were cut short in a motorbike accident when he was 39. His etching studio is still open for creative use in St Andrews, on the outskirts of Melbourne.

The works on display at TarraWarra Museum of Art were quite comprehensive of his output in his short life. I particularly liked:

• The large silver prints he made for the Sao Paolo Bienal as Australia’s representative. Apparently silver etching is a particularly painstaking medium, as there is only a success rate of 1 in 5.
• A sculpture of a female nude with one arm, a bouquet of flowers in place of her face and a Baldessin recurring theme of circus stripes wrapping around her torso. The flowers have been interpreted in various ways, including a representation of the fading of female beauty with time or not providing a woman with a mouth to speak but giving her only decorative importance. There’s also a rather mundane explanation of why she only has one arm; apparently the model they used got too hot under the plaster cast and it needed to be removed quickly  and in their haste they broke an arm.
• A reclining figure which looked heavy but in fact the exhibition’s most delicate work because it’s made of wire covered in plaster and bronze paint – such was the life of a poor artist struggling to find money for materials.

The Last Pear Version. The monumental bronze pears are famous because they rest at the entrance of the Australian National Gallery in Canberra. In the 60 and 70s serving pears at a dinner party was apparently the height of sophistication and of course pears reference a woman’s body. There are only eleven pears in reference to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus – a play on the last perversion.

Click here for the last stops of the NGV Artbus Tour of the Yarra Valley, lunch at the Healesville Hotel and the Heide Museum of Modern Art.

• TarraWarra Estate, 311 Healesville-Yarra Glen Road Tarrawarra +61 3 5962 3311
• TarraWarra Museum of Art, 311 Healesville-Yarra Glen Road Tarrawarra +61 3 5957 3100

After some inclement weather during the week, we could not have asked for a better day for a full day’s tour of the Yarra Valley – sparkling bright blue skies with a cool breeze. The faultless weather even made up for the 8:30am departure time and I couldn’t wait to get out of the city and into the far-reaching landscape of grape vines.

First stop was the first winery established in Victoria, Yering Station. After a quick morning tea in the carpark, RM and I wandered around the expansive grounds capturing the contrast between the sky, the well-tended grass lawn, the still views opening out from the balcony and the cool stone buildings.

At 10am we were promptly led to the tasting area of the cellar door, where we were provided with several tastings of Yering Station wines – the Yering Station 2009 Fume Blanc (good for salads, white fish and seafood), the Yering Station 2008 Pinot Noir Rose (perfect with fish and chips), the Yering Station 2008 Pinot Noir (for light meats such as pork and duck as well as mushrooms) and the Yarrabank Cuvee 2004 (paired with pancakes, berries and marscapone). Later on RM also tasted the Yering Station 2005 Sangiovese and we bought a bottle of it take home.

The tasting area also doubles as an art gallery with rotating exhibitions of artwork (hence its stop on the Artbus). I can’t recall much about Heide Lang’s African-inspired silk screen prints other than not liking them very much.

Not being much of a wine connoisseur and not particularly scintillated by the artwork, I gravitated instead to the produce store filled with delicious things. If you get excited by relish like me, this is the place to go.

I stocked up on my storecupboard essential Cunliffe & Waters onion jam (great on sandwiches and for puff pastry tarts) and inspired by my recent dinner at Charcoal Lane, I bought a presentation box of native herbs and recipes for my foodie friends who were living overseas and getting married.

Come back tomorrow for the second stop on the NGV Artbus Tour of the Yarra Valley, TarraWarra Estate.

• Yering Station, 38 Melba Highway, Yarra Glen +61 3 9730 0100

Fitzroy/Collingwood seems to be the hotbed of social enterprise businesses in Melbourne (see my review of restaurant Charcoal Lane), and in late 2009 another one opened around the corner from me – The Social Studio.

The Social Studio is a non-profit fashion studio space staffed by approximately 20 young members of Melbourne’s refugee community and overseen by the lovely artist Grace McQuilten. I think the value and purpose of The Social Studio is best articulated on their website:

The main barriers faced by newly arrived members of the community are unemployment, isolation and difficulties accessing education and training. The Social Studio addresses these problems in four ways: creating jobs; providing education; encouraging community engagement and social inclusion.

In the studio Grace and her team teach the basics of design, sewing, cutting, pattern-making and fitting using excess fabrics gathered from local industry. The studies are accredited towards TAFE certificate training in clothing production and design, plus the students’ one-off products – from dresses to tops to bags to jewellery – are on sale at the front of the colourful store (notice the eco-friendly name-stamped cardboard coathangers) and online via Etsy.

The Social Studio also offers regular events and workshops. On Saturdays they hold a Re-Mixed workshop where for only $30 you can learn to rework an existing garment from 10am-1pm. On Wednesday evenings they conduct talks called The Quick Unpick ($10 for first talk, $5 thereafter, includes a drink) where you can hear a leading designer discuss their work, ideas and background.

On your visit also take the time to check out the cosy cafe at the back of the studio that serves a pared down breakfast/lunch menu and Social Roasting Company‘s fair trade coffee, the product of another social enterprise business focusing on the long-term unemployed.

On Grace’s recommendation I tried the French toast with fruit and honey, a modest description for a generous pile of soft eggy Turkish bread (I’ve never had French toast done using Turkish bread before – delicious!), peach slices and dried apricots, all drizzled with honey. It was sweet and filling and a bargain for $8.

Having volunteered in refugee organisations before and being exposed to some harrowing stories, I strongly believe that any business that encourages refugees in Australia (particularly young people) to learn, participate, engage, dream and work should be supported. Remember that all the revenue raised from the sale of the clothing, workshops, events and cafe go back into funding the primary project – so get yourself and your friends down to the The Social Studio soon.

• The Social Studio, 128 Smith St, Collingwood +61 3 9417 2143

Did you know that Melbourne is the world’s second UNESCO City of Literature, part of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network?

So it’s fitting that the city has created a space such as The Wheeler Centre (named after Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet), a centre for books, writing and ideas which launched just a few weeks ago.

What’s particularly fabulous about The Wheeler Centre is the series of reading and book related events in its public program – and it’s almost all free! As a result, lots of events book out quickly so you need to keep an eye on the diary to make sure you don’t miss out.

One of the first events to sell out was Jennifer Byrne, host of the popular ABC program The Book Show, in conversation with one of my favourite Australian authors Helen Garner. I love Jennifer – she’s so warm and personable in her interviews that it feels like a fireside chat, but she’s a consummate professional so that the discussion is steered with a steady, focused hand (unlike the audience Q&A sessions – sorry, but 5 minutes later, what’s your actual question??).

I first encountered Helen Garner’s work via Joe Cinque’s Consolation, her non-fiction work about the murder case against young law student Anu Singh. I was drawn to her writing by her ability to delve into the dark areas of people’s psyche and her spare yet vivid and powerful writing style. She also strikes me as someone who calls a spade a spade and is tough and straightforward in her everyday life – apparently she’s often described as ‘unflinching’.

Over the course of the hour, Jennifer and Helen discussed the writing process, the ‘personal emergency’ and urgency that drives Helen to put pen to paper and how often her characters come barging into her head, fully present. Helen said that every one of her books is a continuation of the last book, so that all her works are just one great big long book which describe what she makes of the world and her life as she’s lived it. Helen also writes every day in her diary, partly as a record of her daily events and feelings but also to practice the discipline of articulating fleeting things.

They also discussed Helen’s particular fascination with the courts and how the judicial system provides a disciplined and organised framework to present the worst that people can do to each other. Helen’s next book will be a non-fiction work about Robert Farquharson, a 40 year old man who drove his three children into a dam on Father’s Day 2005, so they spent some time talking about why Helen chooses to delve into the blackest, maddest corners of humanity, and why she finds it particularly interesting to write stories exploring how people’s capacity to reason can threaten to give way to the first steps towards horror. You can watch the interview here.

If you like reading, I’d highly recommend checking out the program at The Wheeler Centre – it’s like having a writers festival in the city all year round.

• In conversation with Jennifer Byrne: Helen Garner, The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne +61 3 9094 7800

Today’s HOT Chat is with Matt Hurst, the owner of bike rental service The Humble Vintage and writer and designer of a new quarterly guide called Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists, issue #1. Thanks Matt!

Matt, tell me a bit more about your background and the story behind your bike hire business The Humble Vintage?

Well, after a couple of years of full time work as a publicist for some major arts venues, I headed off for a month overseas. As with my many other trips abroad, I went hunting for bikes to rent in each major city. Getting home, it was a bit of a ‘what now’ scenario, and my idle mind wondered what bike rental options were available to the traveler who visited Melbourne.

I looked around and couldn’t see what myself or my friends would have wanted from a bike rental on offer – then realised that even when I was overseas I wasn’t finding that bike rental was being done in an interesting way.

So I thought I’d start my own. The idea felt good, and for once, I had the time.

You’ve just launched a very cool map called Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists. What was your inspiration for designing and printing this map?

It was surprising how many people would ask “so what should we do today?” when renting… and while I spent a lot of time drawing on people’s maps I quickly saw how doing my own would be a great extension of The Humble Vintage offer. Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists is a hand-drawn map with three suggested riding routes for summer and on the other side it contains little snippets of places to go, things to do and some quirky reading.

People have suggested I take guided tours, but I think of the bikes as an enjoyable way to get from A to B more so than a tourist attraction. As I’m a writer more than a talker, the map and guide is my way of doing the guided tour. So the idea behind the map and guide is that you get a nice old bike, get the map, stuff it in your pocket and off you go.

Have you faced any challenges getting the map project off the ground? In general, what advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

I’m sure as anyone who has attempted would agree, drawing a map of Melbourne from scratch was a bit of a black hole time-wise! Even though it doesn’t have side streets it still took a lot of work. But once I got started, I got a bit addicted too, and likewise with writing the guide.

Funding the printing was a challenge, as the first run of 300 disappeared in a few days, and I had no money from it to print more. Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists will always be free with rentals, but I’ve done another run which are available at a few bookshops for a gold coin donation, and I’ve almost run out again.

Advice to people starting a small business is tough; if anyone saw how I was running mine they would say that I needed advice!

What are your next plans for the map and The Humble Vintage?

The main aim is to see the guide become a well followed quarterly publication, to make it an interesting read to anyone in Melbourne with a bike, or even without a bike in fact. It’s definitely not just for people who rent bikes from me.

I’m currently looking at getting a well known chef to pen a food-related ride; it might be the ‘ultimate progressive lunch’ for example. There are a lot of ideas, I could go on and on!

For the bikes, I’m currently in the process of lining up a few more pick up points, and trying to accumulate enough bikes to be able to sell a couple here and there as well. I’m always getting asked if I can sell the rentals.

Why do you like cycling, and particularly in Melbourne?

You see more, you take in more, you become more aware of your surroundings and neighbourhood. I still notice new things when riding through these streets I ride around daily. In Melbourne its more often than not the fastest way to get around too, especially if you’re going across town, not into town.

Finally, what are your tips for other HOT places in Melbourne that aren’t in the guide?

A little Japanese run café and store called Cibi in Collingwood. I am in love with the ‘sandwich style’ Japanese potato salad.

Maybe it’s because it’s so hard to get a table, but whenever I’m at Movida Next door I do find myself glad that I am (1 Hosier Ln, Melbourne +61 3 9663 3038).

More often than not it’s a few drinks and snacks in the park which is on the agenda, and Lawson Grove is great as it’s right by the Botanic Gardens and it has supplies to take away as well (1 Lawson Grove, South Yarra +61 3 9866 3640).

It’s in the guide but I really do like what Captains of Industry are doing, their atelier / shoe maker / barber / café collaboration is quite unique (Level 1, 2 Somerset Place, Melbourne).

And I will never say no to a bolognaise at Tiamo in Lygon Street (303 Lygon Street, Carlton +61 3 9347 5759).

Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists, issue #1 is available for $2 at Metropolis, The Paperback, Eco Innovators Showcase, Readings Acland Street and 1000 £ Bend or you can get a copy in the mail by sending a few stamps to Matt at The Humble Vintage, PO Box 361, East Melbourne VIC 8002.

The centre of Melbourne, with its many alleyways and riverside walkways, is a place which is best explored by foot.

Melbourne By Foot is a recently-launched walking tour run by Dave Carswell. For $25 per person he takes small groups through a three hour stroll through the city sprinkling factoids along the way. The route is still in development but for the moment it covers Federation Square, up towards the Melbourne Cricket Ground, drops into the laneway art around Flinders Lane, through the arcades, up to the Mitre Tavern, along seedy King Street, across to Crown Casino, across the Sandridge Bridge then back along the Yarra to finish up at Federation Square. Phew.

Here are some of my highlights.

Federation Square is the heart of city gatherings now but at the time of construction it was wrought with controversy – running late and over budget and with the choppy design by LAB attracting much criticism. The ground of the square actually covers one giant trampoline. Four thousand springs sit underneath the Kimberley sandstone tiles to cushion the sound of the train lines which run beneath the square.

If you look closely at parts of the square you’ll notice that some of them have words on them. The boxes dotted around nine sites in the square from a piece of artwork designed by Paul Carter called ‘Nearamnew‘ and include text relating the history of Victoria and federation. In addition, there’s a giant swirling pattern in the middle of the 10,000 capacity amphitheatre, and this represents the flooding of the Yarra river that used to occur.

The architect’s brief  stated that the structure of Federation Square must increase the city’s connection to the river and thus the site segues seamlessly into Birrarung Marr. This area celebrates the original Aboriginal inhabitants of this area, which span back approximately 40,000 years and 1600 generations. Dave described the tribal structure of the indigenous population and their interactions with the first white settlers who took the land with boxes of axes and blankets.

I love the backdrop of skyscrapers on the Federation Bells, which ring daily with specially composed pieces by Australian composers.  From that location Dave talked about the importance of sport on the Australian culture, particularly in Melbourne. The Melbourne Cricket Ground was the site of the first test cricket match in the 1877 between Australia and England and the birthplace of the Australian Rules Football.

From there we crossed the tramlines at Flinders St, the route for the first cable tram in Melbourne. Did you know that the Melbourne has the largest tram network in an English speaking country (29 routes with 500 trams)? And Elton John liked trams so much when he visited Melbourne that he bought a W class tram and has installed it in the grounds of his Windsor mansion?

Next stop, ACDC Lane, named after the famous Australian band ACDC who filmed their video clip ‘It’s a long way to the top’ on a flatbed truck down Swanston Street. Here’s a picture of us doing our best air guitar impersonation.

Melbourne celebrates its street art culture even though it is strictly illegal. The councils tolerates the graffiti because they realise it adds character and colour to the cityscape, particularly in otherwise-dingy back alleys. One of the best examples of Melbourne’s ever-changing scenery of street art is found in Hosier Lane, where you’ll find stencils by Blek le rat and Ha-Ha.

After that we strolled through buzzing Centre Place, Block Arcade and the Causeway before settling down to a refreshing drink at Cafe Solarino in Howey Place.

In the last hour we covered a lot of ground – and in fact, I felt that there was a lot of walking with not a lot of pay-off relative to the earlier part of the tour, as there were long segments were there was nothing to see or talk about. I did pick up some interesting factoids:

• the Mitre Tavern in Bank Place is Melbourne’s oldest pub. The owners of hardware chain Mitre 10 actually came up with the name while having a pint at the Mitre (they just thought the number 10 had a nice ring to it).
• Tucket under the Sandridge Bridge (immigration bridge) is a small artwork called Ecophene. This small water wall commerates a long gone waterfall which separated the Yarra’s fresh and salt water segment. It was destroyed in 1883 and this changed the river’s ecology forever. The waterfall’s loss is also symbolic of the loss of a way of life for the indigenous population in Melbourne.

The Eureka Tower is the tallest residential building in Melbourne. The gold at the top of the tower is 24 carat and of course represents the gold rush which brought much wealth to Victoria but was also the scene for the Eureka Stockade, after which is the tower is named.  The red stripe represents the blood shed during that rebellion while the blue and white facade evokes the colours of the Eureka flag.

All in all, the tour is definitely worthwhile for visitors. For me, it provided an interesting insight into my home town and opened my eyes to features I pass every day which I’d never noticed. Dave is very knowledgeable about the city and my only criticism is that the finalised route would benefit from more talking and less walking, particularly if you’re taking tourists around in the heat of summer.

• Melbourne By Foot, every day 9am and 1pm at the Visitors Centre, Federation Square.

Hi Dave, tell me a little bit about your background and the story behind Melbourne By Foot?

Hi Joyce! I studied business and worked in a variety of industries including hospitality and tourism. Having spent a few good years aimlessly wandering the globe I often found myself telling strangers how great Melbourne is. Inspired by the almost compulsory nature of walking tours in European cities I wanted to share a similar experience with visitors to our city.  It’s no secret that the best parts of Melbourne are hidden. When you arrive in any foreign city the best thing you can do is grab a local and get them to show you around.

What can a person expect when they come on a walking tour with Melbourne By Foot?

At Melbourne By Foot we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We want you to walk away (pardon the pun) with a knowledge of how Melbourne was and how Melbourne is. Guests on the tour can expect a healthy dose of early history blended with Marvellous Melbourne’s modern elements including public art, music and sporting culture. It’s a great introduction for first time visitors who will no doubt find places they will want to return to on their visit.

Melburnians however, shouldn’t feel left out. Sure, you know where to get a good coffee and know which rooftop the hipsters are frequenting this summer. But! Do you know anything about our founding fathers Batman & (Robin) Fawkner? Did you know Melbourne was once called Bearbrass?

Why do you think Melbourne is best explored by foot?

Have you tried using the bus or bike lane in Centre Place? By nature, Melbourne’s famed alleyways make for a nice stroll and we like to take you to some places that you can’t access by bike, bus or tram. Walking is also healthy for the heart and the environment – you don’t have to feel so guilty about the carrot cake consumed en route.

What are your next plans for Melbourne By Foot?

Perhaps taking one or two tours out of the city. There is some great history in places like St Kilda and Fitzroy.  Visitors will definitely experience more of the ‘real’ Melbourne if they venture out of the bounds of the CBD. Does Frankston By Foot have a nice ring?

What advice would you give to other people who are starting their own business?

Go for it! Do as much research as possible. Look at competitors and see how your product/service differs from theirs. Business Victoria (www.business.vic.gov.au) is a good place to start. There is a wealth of information on starting your own business which includes grants, licenses, workshops, tax etc.

Finally, what are your tips for what’s HOT in Melbourne?

Mountain Goat Brewery (Corner North St & Clarke St Richmond +61 3 9428 1180) In an age of micro brewery madness this Richmond staple stills serve up a healthy splattering of tasty brews. Mountain Goat Brewery open their warehouse/brewery to the public on Wednesday and Friday nights for beer tastings, tours and delicious pizza. Dave and Cam (the brewers) are often testing out one off beer batches on the Goat crowd so you may find yourself tasting the next big thing. Beer can’t get any fresher! Our summer pick is the Indian Pale Ale.

Georgia Fields at Pure Pop Records (221 Barkly St, St Kilda +61 3 9525 5220) Melbourne songstress Georgia Fields has been the darling of the local pop/indie scene for the past few years. Her infectious songs marry mature lyrics with quirky instrument arrangements and draw inspiration from the likes of Angie Hart, Clare Bowditch and Imogen Heap. With an album due for release shortly, you can catch her each Sunday in January at Pure Pop Records in St Kilda (the only licensed record store in the world). She’s onstage in the courtyard at 6pm and this may be one of the last times you will see her in an intimate venue like this!

Federation Square street theatre – Although their shows are quite identical in content, I would challenge anyone not be entertained by the performers who take up a residency each weekend outside the Melbourne Visitors Centre. The main event (their show) is nothing on the street theatre they use to build a crowd. There is lots of crowd interaction and jokes played on unsuspecting passer bys. Be careful not to get caught out yourself! Donations welcome.

Thanks to Melbourne By Foot, I’ve been invited to go for a walk around town with Dave, Batman and Robin. You can read all about my experience next week.

The Hive closed off 2009 with a bang as  Tony Wheeler addressed over 200 eager listeners with the story of his journey and his passions as one of the founders of Lonely Planet. In fact, interest was so huge that the event had to be moved to bigger premises at Collins Quarter.

Tony was a self-effacing, down-to-earth media magnate if you consider the fact that he’s the co-founder of the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world.  In 2007, a 75% stake in Lonely Planet was sold to BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC). It’s been a 30 year climb for a company which started off with husband-and-wife team Tony and Maureen arriving in Australia with 27 cents in their pocket and deciding to self-publish one of the first backpacker’s guides ‘Across Asia on the cheap’.

Some interesting factoids for Lonely Planet fans:

• The company name comes from a lyric in ‘Space Captain’, a song by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. The actual words are ‘lovely planet’ but Tony misheard ‘lonely planet’ and liked it.
• Tony’s tips to entrepreneurs? Have fun! Sure, it’s great if you can make some money from your ventures – but even if you don’t, at least you’ve had fun.
• Tony’s been to approximately 140 countries and his next destination of choice  – Congo and Zaire. When asked to name his most inspirational travel experience, he explained that he finds the people that he meets the most inspiring part of travelling.
• Around 25% of Lonely Planet’s content is now sold online via downloads and iPhone apps.
• Tony and Maureen bought their first computer to do invoices, and then discovered the possibilities of…word processing! Back in the early 80s, Lonely Planet was the first company in Melbourne to have a computer for every employee.

After the session my companions (including Miss Kish, Sashaka Fernando and Tim Bull) discussed whether we could start up a potentially multi-million dollar company in this day and age if we were broke, naive but passionate. Frankly, I’m not sure that it’s possible, even if it’s just an internet start-up. Or maybe I’m just an old risk-adverse fuddy-duddy. What do you think?

If you missed the meeting, you can access the podcast feed through iTunes. You can also read the review of a previous event by The Hive, featuring Adioso.com, here. The next event will be held in February next year.

Finally, just a little plug – MEL: HOT OR NOT is now being syndicated on Lonely Planet’s Melbourne website!

• The Hive, Collins Quarter, 86A Collins St, Melbourne +61 3 9650 8500

• Tony Wheeler, the co-founder of Lonely Planet, is speaking at The Hive at The Order of Melbourne on Tuesday 24 November. Read my review of a previous The Hive event here;
• The Rockwiz Christmas special is coming to The Palais, St Kilda, on Wednesday 25 November;
• Preview screening of Steven Soderbergh’s political comedy The Informant! on Thursday 26 November;
• Going shopping from Williamstown through to Footscray with Melbourne Op Shop Tours on Saturday 28 November. Read an interview with Jessica from Melbourne Op Shop Tours here; and
• I’m going ‘In Search of the Perfect Gelati’ with Lin Tan from Trespass Mag on Sunday 29 November….
• …before popping into a street party to close the Bicycle Film Festival on the corner of Peel Street and Cambridge Street, Collingwood on Sunday 29 November 12-5pm.

Unfortunately there’s only one of me, which means I’ll be missing these other great events on this week:

• Suzuki Night Market opens at Queen Vic Markets on Wednesday 25 November;
• Magnolia Square pop-up market is open from 26-28 November at Malvern Town Hall. Check out my review of the previous Magnolia Square market here;
• Northside Makers Markets are open at Northside Uniting Church, 251 High Street from 10:30-3:30pm on Saturday 28 November.

Less than a month till Christmas!

• Free reader event to launch MoVida Rustica at Books for Cooks, 233 Gertrude St Fitzroy. We’ll be meeting author Richard Cornish (maybe even Frank Camorra?), taste dishes from the book and sample some Spanish wines. Tuesday 17 November 7pm. Book by calling 8415 1415.
• Breakfast at Cumulus Inc with my out-of-town friends. Madeleines or steamed pork buns?
• Sneak preview of The French Kissers at Palace Brighton Bay Cinema. Thursday 19 November. RSVP here.
• Marrugeku‘s production of dance theatre work Burning Daylight at Arts House, Meat Market North Melbourne. Friday 20 November.
• Food bloggers lunch at Charcoal Lane on Saturday 21 November, with maybe a stop off at the  Johnston Street Spanish Fiesta that night.
• If we’re feeling energetic on Sunday, the Order of Melbourne is holding their design market 2-5pm and at NGV Australia there’s a talk discussing the free photography exhibition Long Distance Vision at 3:30pm.

This week’s little slice of Melbourne comes courtesy of a Smith Street warehouse. Your profound thought of the day:

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Thursday – blank

Friday – blank

Of course not! This week I’m searching for Beethoven, time travelling with Eric Bana, discussing acoustic folk pop with Anita George, going on a blind date with my new blog crush Miss Kish, listening to some stimulating and interesting talks at TEDx Melbourne and saying hi to the lovely Thread Den ladies at the Thread Den Market.

This week’s little slice of Melbourne is this amusing graffiti that I spotted recently. Any idea where it’s located?

And finally, for those heading up north, you can now find out what’s HOT or NOT in Brisbane with BNE: HOT OR NOT. You’ll find some of the content from MEL: HOT OR NOT there, as well as all new Brisbane-based content from the funky CazM, along with a rotation of guest bloggers. Check it out and let us know what you think!

]]> http://www.melhotornot.com/hot-alert-week-9-november-2009/feed/ 0 http://www.melhotornot.com/hot-point-shoot-camera-basics-centre-adult-education-21-degraves-st-melbourne/ http://www.melhotornot.com/hot-point-shoot-camera-basics-centre-adult-education-21-degraves-st-melbourne/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:45:30 +0000 Jetsetting Joyce http://www.melhotornot.com/?p=3144

My trash TV confession – sitting through 12 cycles of America’s Next Top Model. But now it appears that all those hours have been time well spent! I’ve absorbed quite a bit of knowledge on photography and light while watching ‘fierce’ Tyra Banks and a bevy of model wannabes.

That’s not to say I didn’t learn an overwhelming amount of new information on my one-day Point & Shoot Camera Basics at the Centre for Adult Education. Photojournalist Debra Plueckhahn from InView Media started off the day with a meet-and-mingle exercise which highlighted the gaps in our knowledge: what are the main elements of a camera? what’s a depth of field? what’s the most essential ingredient in creating a photograph? Umm…..

Then it was onto the nitty-gritty, learning about the technical aspects of a camera and photography –  depth of field, f stops, shutter speeds, exposure and ISO. Some particularly interesting facts and tips:

• what is snapped on my point and shoot camera and what is seen is slightly different due to the position of the viewfinder;
• automatic light meters will average out the exposure to 18% middle grey (around skin tone) when setting shutter and aperture combinations, risking over-exposure for shots like forests, dusk and dawn and under-exposure for shots of beach or snow;
• I can half-press the button to lock in focus and exposure in order to compensate for the automatic light detection, helping with ‘dark face with light background’ shots and off-centre subjects;
• I only need to be familiar with three automatic camera modes – Portrait for minimising depth of field (sharp foreground, blurry background), Landscape to maximize depth of field (sharp foreground, sharp background) and Sports for freezing motion;
• don’t use a flash to photograph things at a distance, like trying to capture a game at the MCG at night;
• ‘forced/fill’ flash illuminates foreground subjects where the background is light and brightens up harsh shadows, useful for shooting a person outdoors on a bright sunny day or sitting in front of a sunny window;
• ‘slow synch’ flash is useful for low light situations where you needed to balance foreground and background light in order to capture mood and ambience, such as snapping friends in a dark bar; and
• the different qualities of natural and artificial light and why Automatic White Balance is not always the best, for instance  if you’re trying to capture the colours of dusk on a white building.

The other aspect of the class was learning about composition. The basic error of most amateur photographers is not getting in close and engaging the subject. For interesting photographs it’s important to fill the frame and leave out white space or extraneous detail and not centre objects. Consider where the lines converge, repetition of patterns, whether colours are discordant or harmonising and have a clear, single point of interest.

Now it’s time to get practicing….

• Point & Shoot Camera Basics, Centre for Adult Education, 21 Degraves St, Melbourne +61 3 9652 0611

Can you tell me a bit more about the story behind Melbourne Op Shop Tours?

My business partners Jenny and Richmond and I have always been keen op shoppers and people would often ask us where the good op shops were, and how we found ‘wearable’ items. These questions led us to thinking that there was a need for a service that showed people where and how to op shop. However it wasn’t until we pitched this idea at an entrepreneur’s competition and won first prize, that we actually decided to do something about it. It took us about a year to develop our concept further, research and plan tour routes and design the website – we launched in September this year!

What can you expect on a typical day with Melbourne Op Shop Tours?

You will join your fellow op shoppers and your tour guide at a designated meeting point early (but not too early!) on a Saturday morning. This is the start of a whirlwind journey with your tour guide to discover 6 – 8 op shops along a carefully planned public transport route. Shop fast, with a plan of attack, as you will only have between 20 – 30 minutes in each store.

Your tour guide will double as your personal stylist – helping you to find items on your wish list and pointing out things that may look ordinary on the rack, but amazing on you! You’ll get the chance to show off your bargains at a lunch stop, where you can relax over a delicious meal and well-deserved coffee. This break will give you the energy you need to continue foraging for the rest of the day!

Popular items on our tours so far have been egg cups, records, books, cocktail shakers, teapots, leather shoes, bow ties, and of course, fabulous pieces of clothing.

What are your next plans for Melbourne Op Shop Tours?

We’re very excited to be expanding our tours to London, Sydney and Perth! We have ‘once-off’ tours planned in each of these cities for December 2009 and January 2010 and if the tours are received well, we’ll be looking to continue them on a regular basis.

Also, in response to customer feedback, we are introducing a new vintage tour option next year. This tour will visit some higher-end second hand stores, and include goodies like lunch and cupcakes along the way.

Why do you think people like shopping in op shops?

Personally, I’m a really indecisive person so I enjoy op shopping because things generally fall into the ‘amazing’ or ‘horrible’ category, which makes it much easier to decide what to buy! On top of this, I enjoy the excitement of never knowing what I will discover in an op shop, and that thrill you get when you spot something that looks divine. Op shopping sometimes requires a bit of creativity to work clothes into your wardrobe, but that’s all part of the fun. Of course, the feel good factor is an added bonus – you are shopping sustainably and your dollars are all going to a good cause.

What are you wearing at the moment?

High waisted tailored shorts, with a red silk Country Road top, belted by a thick black JAG belt. Teamed with black tights and pointy tan leather ankle boots. All op-shopped for under $30!

What advice would you give to others who are starting their own business?

Just go out and do it! We were slow getting off the ground because we were concerned with drawing up a business plan. But ultimately the most important thing is having a good team who are passionate about creating something of their own.

Finally, what are your tips for what’s HOT in Melbourne?

• The new luxurious Virgin Active gym on Bourke Street – they even have sleep pods! (138 Bourke St, Melbourne +61 3 9268 5300‎)
• locals-only haunt North Cafeteria (717 Rathdowne St, Carlton North +61  3 9348 1276)
• Collingwood Children’s Farm (St Heliers St, Abbotsford +61 3 9417 5806‎)
• The Op Stop, a charity op shop in a van!
• The Station Street Cafe and Wine Bar (26 Station St, Nunawading +61 3 9878 9383)
• Birdman Eating (238 Gertrude St, Fitzroy +61 3 9416 4747)
• The Rathdowne Street Food Store, where we have our Sunday morning meetings! (617 Rathdowne St, Carlton North +61 3 9347 4064)
• Grazings Plates & Platters (713 High St, Kew East +61 3 9859 3252‎)

Thanks to Melbourne Op Shop Tours, I’ve been invited to visit the op shops of Williamstown to Footscray on their tour of the Inner West on Saturday 28 November.  Click here to read all about it.

William Angliss run food-related short courses, including a series of Shop and Cook tours covering different cuisines, from Asian to Italian. I chose Lebanon to Morocco because Middle Eastern food is the cuisine that I cook the least, mainly because I know the least about it.

A balmy blue-sky day ushered ten students and the chef/teacher Lucinda Macdougall to Sydney Road. Sydney Road is Melbourne’s melting pot and one of my favourite places in Melbourne. I love its vibrant colours, eclectic smells, the pokey shops selling curious things and the ethnic diversity of its visitors and inhabitants. It’s the home of Melbourne’s Mediterranean community, from Lebanese to Italians to Turkish to French.

First stop was Hawat Pastry, a spick and span shop laden with piles of sticky Middle Eastern sweets and wafting a faint aroma of rosewater. The counter held slabs of baklava with walnuts, cashews, almonds and pistachios, fashioned into a plethora of shapes. In the window was a pile of caramelised pumpkin spiked with nuts and fruit, to be eaten with feta on pita bread. At the back was a large round of sweetened semolina filled with cheese and cream. The damage: $10 for 500g of baklava, innumerable calories (the only way to keep that filo pastry from flying away is to laden it with butter).

A1 Bakery is a must-go for any visit to Sydney Road. Our morning coffee break was accompanied by a selection of A1’s famous pizzas, including their famous zingy za’atar pizza (sesame seed, sumac, oregano, thyme, lemon) to the mysterious kishik, which we discovered was topped with dried yoghurt, crushed wheat, tomato, onion and sesame seeds. A tip is that you can actually buy the dough and take it home to make your own, or freeze for later. At A1 one of our classmates discovered a pile of Persian fairy floss for $5 a bag – this super-trendy dessert garnish sells for significantly more at gourmet food retailers like Simon Johnson. The damage: $1.50 for za’atar pizza, $4.50 kishik pizza, $10 for two packets of Persian fairy floss. More calories.

Next stop Yassino International Food Store for an education in rice (basmati has the highest amount of protein in a rice variety), mograbiah (Israeli couscous), pomegranate molasses (only buy Alwadi brand), hanging yoghurt to make labna and sanklish and faking cinnamon sticks with cassia bark (if the sticks are really hard, it’s cassia). The damage: 500g mograbiah $4.50, $2 mograbiah spices.

Istanbul Halal Meats is one of only three halal butchers in Melbourne and some of our classmates popped in to buy goat while I browsed the sausage selection and wondered at the unfamiliar cuts of meat. While I was there I also spotted a young elegant woman wearing a Louis Vuitton scarf on her head, which was held in place by a badge proclaiming ‘My life. My religion. My choice.’ She didn’t feel comfortable with me taking her picture, but whoever you were – I’m with you.

Final stop – Mediterranean Wholesalers! I got crazy every time I pass those sliding doors – all that salami! Pasta! Cheese! Damage: La Risera carnaroli $3.95, tinned tomatoes 2 x 59c, orechiette (my favourite pasta shape) $3.65, chorizo, two packets of fresh parpadelle and spinach tagliatelle,100g hot pancetta and the crowning glory – 100g San Daniele prosciutto $7.50.

Then it was back to the kitchens of William Angliss to prepare our Middle Eastern meal under the guidance of Lucinda, a chef of 35 years experience. The class divided into several workstations to make roasted chicken with pickled lemon and ras el hanout, rocket salad with oranges, olive and harissa dressing, burghul and pumpkin kibbeh, beetroot salad with feta, pomegranta molasses and walnuts, finished off with some labna (yoghurt) for dessert.  What a feast!

• William Angliss Institute of TAFE 555 La Trobe Street, Melbourne +61 3 9206 2111
• Hawat Pastry, 16 Sydney Rd Coburg +61 3 9384 0113
• A1 Bakery, 643 Sydney Road Brunswick +61 3 9386 0440
• Yassino – International Foods 623 Sydney Road Brunswick +9384 3337
• Istanbul Halal Meats, 609 Sydney Rd, Brunswick +61 3 9380 4895
• Mediterranean Wholesalers, 482 Sydney Rd, Brunswick +61 3 9380 4777

• Melbourne Fringe Festival #5 – Opening night of the drama She’s My Baby, billed as “Two Monologues, One Couple, Sixteen Years Apart” and showing at the Trades Hall on Tuesday 6 October;
• Melbourne Fringe Festival #6 Comedy show 21 – ‘Cause you’ll only turn it once (probably a good thing) at Northcote Town Hall on Wednesday 7 October;
• Melbourne Fringe Festival #7 Two man sketch show Metrosketchuals at The Glasshouse Hotel on Thursday 8 October; and
• Melbourne Fringe Festival #8 How could I resist a show called Songs from the 86 Tram– that’s the tram full of mentalists that takes me to my house. Playing at the Lithuanian Club on Friday 9 October.

Then we turn from Fringe to food, refugees and beginning of the other festival, the Melbourne International Arts Festival:

• Medicins Sans Frontieres have built a refugee camp in Treasury Gardens to highlight the plight of refugees fleeing their country. Saturday 3 October – Sunday 11 October;
• Lebanese cooking class and gourmet food tour thanks to Red Balloon on Saturday 10 October; and
• Opening night of Peter Greenaway’s multimedia version of Leonardo’s Last Supper showing at North Melbourne Town Hall on Saturday 10 October.

This week’s photo is from my archives of favourite Melbourne shots. A few years ago a flock of hot pink birds landed on Collins Street – perched against the backdrop of the Manchester Unity building, they were quite a sight.   

When I first arrived solo at The Order of Melbourne I was very unnerved. I’m normally pretty good at talking to strangers, but the approximately 50+ person crowd at the bar consisted of 90% men and it felt like everyone had come with someone else. I immediately retreated into a shy shell and sat sipping my drink, surveying the surroundings and trying to look approachable, until I finally decided that this was a completely useless strategy if I was going to meet anyone at all.

Fortunately, right near me I overheard a girl say ‘it’s my first time here’ so I immediately said ‘it’s my first time here too, what’s supposed to happen?’. So the owner/graphic designer of Alba Design, the Global Online Editor for Lonely Planet, the owner/PR consultant of Writeway PR and two lawyers formed a little island of females and we chatted about what it’s like to own a small business, our business ideas, our professional backgrounds and our interests. It’s not a bad night if you score four business cards in 20 minutes of conversation!

The guest speakers for the night were Tom Howard and Fern Bailey from Adioso.com, a flexible flight search engine startup (‘like Webjet but better’). They were your typical scruffy-looking web start up guys, two buddies with a great idea. They talked about overcoming hurdles, failing, receiving seed funding, making your business reflect your views and values and enjoying yourself. All good lessons and I left feeling encouraged by their main message – you just have to give it a go, even though there will be lots of people telling you it’ll fail (which it probably will, but hey at least you tried).

If you missed the meeting, you can access the podcast feed through iTunes. Time to diarise the next event!

You can also read my next trip to The Hive to hear Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet.

• The Hive, The Order of Melbourne, 401 Swanston St, Melbourne

My last event at the Melbourne Writers Festival was the sold out session with Chris Tsiolkas, the author of The Slap.

The book was discussed in my book club earlier in the year with lots of debate, so I was very interested to hear about the work from the author’s perspective.

Tsiolkas was extremely personable and generous with his personal anecdotes during the session. For instance, he works part time as a vet nurse in Northcote because even a successful author like himself can’t pay the bills by just writing!

I really enjoyed the discussion and felt that I should pick up the book again, as my first read was all about chasing the story instead of dwelling on the deeper messages that Tsiolkas was trying to convey. During the hour I took really extensive notes  as the tone moved from relaxed to sombre to earnest to humorous, so I’ve tried to group the discussion around a couple of key themes:

The Howard Years

It’s significant that the book was set in the Howard Years – in Tsiolkas’ view, this moral tale for the middle class could not have been told at any other time. In his earlier drafts he had toyed with the idea of writing a prologue set in the Tampa election and an epilogue set in the Rudd election. Later he removed these parts because he felt that these bookends weren’t needed – the story already contained  a sense of time and space.

Tsiolkas felt that the  newly middle-class, migrant experience was  not being represented in literature, and in the book he wanted to explore what it meant to be part of this aspirational group in terms of family, history, politics and class. In his view, the success of The Slap demonstrated a real hunger for contemporary stories.

The characters

Apparently one of the questions he is often asked is why all the characters are so unlikeable, and I thought his book had a distinctly negative and pessimistic tone. In response Tsiolkas believed that in the Howard years we all became quite unlikeable – selfish, insular and inward-looking.

Sally Warhaft then asked him about how he chose the eight characters that had their own chapter. Originally there were to be thirteen characters, but he found that it made the story unwieldy, so he whittled it down to eight. He initially thought that Ari would have his own chapter, but he found that the character took the reader away from the essential part of the book. He also originally didn’t have a chapter from the perspective of either of Hugo’s parents, which is interesting because I think Rosie was one of the most fascinating characters. When his editor told him that somewhere he needed to deal with the parents, he realised that he was running away from confronting those characters and their issues. In the end he decided to focus only on Rosie as he’d already previously written extensively about men and masculinity and because he was fascinated by the form and strength of female friendships. He also considered having a chapter from Hugo’s perspective, but considered it to be too artificial.

In hindsight he would have liked to give Bilal a chapter because he was a man who had discovered how to be a moral and ethical man through religion. Also Bilal represented an opportunity to discuss Australian’s colonial past.

Finally he said his favourite characters were the oldest and youngest characters. It was important to include their views because they were casting judgements on his generation of Gen Xers. The old man was particularly important because he also gave a migrant perspective. With Ricky, he wanted to write about a child who had been raised well by a single parent and had positive relationships with female characters that were not misogynistic. (As an aside, Tsiolkas threw a bomb out into the audience when he pronounced that ‘men have a misogynistic inner monologue that would be monstrous if they revealed’). He also pointed out that in fact there were two slaps in the book – the second one when Ricky’s mum slapped him. However, the second slap has attracted almost no attention, maybe because all readers understood that it had come from a place of love and she was not being abusive.

The inspiration

Most readers probably know that The Slap was inspired by a real-life incident involving Tsiolkas’ Greek mother. His parents were hosting a barbecue much like the one in The Slap, with different generations all gathered together.  A young child was creating a nuisance in the kitchen so Tsiolkas’ mother gave him a gentle slap on the bottom and told him to stop. The child wheeled around and declared ‘no one has the right to touch my body without my permission’.  His mother responded ‘you naughty, I hit you’ and all the adults laughed.

On the way home Tsiolkas realised that the small moment represented an enormous passage of change in culture, family, parenting and history from his mother’s peasant Greek upbringing to the child’s upbringing in contemporary Australia. Also, it was an example of the fractured relationship between children and adults in the West. Where once a whole community was responsible for nurturing and disciplining a child, now it was the sole responsibility of parents to protect the child and keep them almost separate from the adult world.

The migrant experience

‘If migrants could build a nation, they could conquer the world’. Tsiolkas believed that migrants were inherently people of hurt and suffering because they had been exiled from their origins, and he decried the fact that we treated migrants and refugees as a class of people who were stateless.

Tsiolkas grew up in Richmond, a very Greek part of Melbourne at that time. His parents worked the day shift and the night shift, so in his formative years he spoke only Greek and Italian because the milk bar owner was Italian. He told an amusing anecdote that as a child he had thought that all Australians spoke Greek and on his first day of school he was seated with the refugee kids because he couldn’t speak any English.

Tsiolkas believed that his distinct memory of a pre-English history was to his advantage in his writing because he had access to the different cadences and music of another language.

Sex

One thing I didn’t notice when I read the book was the liberal use of the word c**t. In fact, Tsiolkas said that he deliberately wanted every character to either say or think the word in order to challenge readers. He believed that that sort of language was part of our contemporary vernacular, and he wanted to present the idea that our distaste for certain words depended on the context and our feelings towards the characters. He also wanted to explore the minefield of sexual conflicts, pleasures and dangers because he was fascinated by our nakedness as sexual beings.

Hope

One of the themes that my book club agreed on was that there was a sense of hope at the end. In the last chapter, the best day of Ricky’s life was when he injected speed and went to the Big Day Out with his friends. Tsiolkas wanted to challenge readers with Ricky’s drug use, showing it as a source of happiness and joy, rather than of death and destruction, and in fact the scene was a direct reference to his own experience of taking speed as a teenager and going to gig. So did Tsiolkas express a sense of hope for the younger generation? He responded ‘Yes’.

• Chris Tsiolkas in conversation, Melbourne Writers Festival, BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne 3000