31 March 2009

Nightcliff



Just the name is kind of exotic to me, or at least mysterious... It is somehow rumoured to be associated with one of the Beagle trips. Darwin is pretty small but it is only recently that I started to enjoy the Northern suburb of Nightcliff. It has a long footpath along its foreshore that is used for walking and cycling and it is particularly busy in the evenings after work. Along the footpath there is Nightcliff Jetty, Nightcliff Beach and Nightcliff Swimming Pool. All are very pleasants places to wander around.

30 March 2009

Record of the Week: Felice Brothers 'Yonder is the Clock'



Even though I definitely dislike the way the USA saturate the world with their manufactured mass produced bland and tasteless music there are always a few bands and artists escaping the mould. They represent the real America and they deserve much more exposure. Take Calexico, American Music Club or David Bazan. The Felice Brothers can also be added to this list. They are composed of three brothers Ian, Simone and James Felice, their friend Christmas, previously a traveling dice player, and, most recently, Farley, a washboard player and fiddler. Their new album is out soon and you should definitely check their MySpace page to listen to some tracks or their website for info and updates.

29 March 2009

Rapid Creek Market



The market season is approaching with the famous Mindil Beach Sunset market soon to reopen as it seasonally does every year in late April. In the meantime you can enjoy a few markets in Darwin, especially on weekends. Yesterday, we went to the Parap Market which is pretty small and a bit hippie but still enjoyable. Today, we were in search of organic fresh fruits and vegetables so we headed to the famous Rapid Creek market. It has a strong Asian influence. Coincidentally, a few people have been questioning me on Darwin's legendary Asian influences lately and I have to admit that I kind of see them less obvious here than in Sydney for exemple. But in between Thai massages, Indian spices and Vietnamese food stalls you could be mistaken for thinking you are somewhere in Asia.

28 March 2009

A dragon fly can tell a lie on early Dry



The above was a title of the local newspaper (NT Newspaper) at the beginning of the month. It is true that the Dry season is not supposed to have officially arrived before mid-April. But it has been quite beautiful and dry since the beginning of March (to the exception of a couple of flash storms). I have also noticed that the reed beds in the mangroves are starting to lose their bright green wet colours in favour of dry browns. for the locals, one thing is for sure, the en masse arrival of the dragonflies clearly marks the end of the Wet (even if they can tell a lie). The one above was flirting with some others above my fish pond.

27 March 2009

Saltie



Not a day in the Northern Territory without its croc story. And crocodile catching is a full time job for a wildlife ranger team in the area. Your typical newspaper front-page always carries one their sighting experiences. It was amazing to read that 58 crocodiles have been trapped in the area since the beginning of the year including three on this very day. If I have my statistic correct and if we continue with that trend it will make an average 250 crocs caught in the year. If I remember correctly it is more or less the figure that was also reported for the whole year in 2008. What happen to these crocs? They are sent to the crocodile farm with the nicest specimen kept in captivity and the rest probably end up in handbags, shoes or barbecue skewers.

26 March 2009

Hand cream



It might be the result of too much swimming but my hands have pretty dry lately. Therefore, to keep them moist I have started to use my favourite cream once more. I do not want to sound like a walking advertisement when I talk about the products I use but I believe I would not hesitate to criticize loudly all the same if I were to be disappointed with something. That said, I am generally of a positive nature so these occasions might be pretty rare.

25 March 2009

Evening at the Esplanade



This was actually taken yesterday evening from the same place as the thunder at the Esplanade. The picture has not been edited from its original content (except cropped). Sunsets can be fantastic in Darwin, and if there is no sunset you can get scary colours before the evening thunderstorm!

24 March 2009

Thunder Lightning



Back in the Northern Territory after an absolutely gorgeous week-end in New South Wales. And I am back in what Darwin is famous for: thunderstorms. After a beautiful day, the sky suddenly turned balck by 6pm tonight and the wind started to blow. It is very usual up here but not all the storms are spectacular and they more often than not disappear after a few minutes. I have never experienced such beautiful lightnings as what I was given to witness tonight. Spectacular! I parked the car on the Esplanade and joined the crowds trying to capture it on picture but it is far from being an easy task. At least 50 black or white pictures...

23 March 2009

Record of the Week: Sore Eros ‘Second Chants’



Another contender for the title of Record of Year. 2009 is promising to be a nice year for music after a rather dull 2008. After Telepathe and The Phantom Band, this week brings the debut album from Sore Eros from ‘a field’ somewhere in Connecticut. This record is a bit hazy but very lush and grows and grows on you after each listening session. Robert Robinson, the main player in this project has previously been working with Ariel Pink and Gary War in a musical spectrum that was ignored until the issue of the new Animal Collective album that everyone is raving about this year. The sound is somewhere up there in between the latter, Panda Bear (a childhood friend), Mount Eerie or Woods. It is out on the current label to watch shdwply and is dead limited to 500 vinyl copies as any of their releases. Grab a copy while you can at the ever wonderful Piccadilly Records and listen to some snippets and watch some videos at their MySpace page. And for once you can download the digital version here since I understand that shdwply believe sharing downloads can bring people to purchase the physical format. The future of music is now so spread the word and purchase the vinyl!

22 March 2009

Pearl Beach



We left Sydney yesterday by lunchtime to head up North to Pearl Beach, a 100km drive away. Some friends rented a house by the beach and we are enjoying the tranquility, the beauty and the amazing weather of the place. It is a wonderful week-end, spent in good company. A good break. Above is the view from the balcony while waking up this morning. Lovely.

21 March 2009

Yayoi Kusama



It is not so often that we have the opportunity to witness an exhibition featuring a wide range of works from the ever fascinating Yayoi Kusama. It is amazing to think she now is 80 but continues to be on such a creative and groundbreaking roll. But that said, she now has been this way for decades. Obsessed with dots, repetition, pattern and aggregation. It came as a shock a few months back while visiting a gallery in Darwin when I discovered the work of a 'modern' aboriginal artist using dots in her painting entitled Hail Storm in practically the same way Yayoi is in works like The Moment of Regeneration. From aboriginal Art, to New York through Japan and back to Australia. And it is unlikely these two Artists are even aware of each other's work. In the meantime, you still have time to go to Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art since the exhibition entitled Yayoi Kusama: Mirrored Years still runs until the 8th of June. A very rare opportunity.

20 March 2009

Off



Today I am taking things back up where I had left them a couple of days ago. My last picture was about flight tracking this one will be about travelling. . I have been 'off' the internet for a couple of days due to lack of time. Busy, busy, busy I was... And tonight I am 'off' to Sydney for an extended week-end. It is good to take a break from time to time, isn't it? The only thing is the notion of distances here in Australia which is pretty different from the notion we have back in Europe. Where would I be if I were to fly in between 4 to 5 hours away from Paris? Cairo? Moscow? Nouakchott? Here, if I fly for that duration I am still in Australia...

17 March 2009

Flight Tracking



When not for me it is for someone I am expecting, but I am quite familiar with any flight tracking system. They all are different though. My favourite actually is the one from the Melbourne airport that tracks all the flights in real time on a map. As a result you know exactly where the planes are. But this morning I had to track flight SQ231 landing in Sydney at 1105 and Kingsford Smith Airport is unfortunately not offering this service. Anyway, being Singapore Airlines and being Australia the plane landed exactly on time (OK, I admit, it is not always the case but sometimes… which remind me by the way that on a flight between Cairns and Darwin I arrived 50 minutes early a couple of weeks ago! That had to be my personal record for a commercial short haul).
http://www.melbourneairport.com.au/flight_radar/

16 March 2009

Record of the Week: An Horse 'Rearrange Beds'



Is it a coincidence that when my record of the week is not from Manchester it usually is from somewhere in Australia? I discovered this band from Brisbane on Triple J that’s for sure and I suppose it was on Home & Hosed but I do not exactly recall that fact. It was sometimes late last year with the amazing track Postcards that definitely deserves to be a hit – and that unfortunately might remain obscure like many quality tracks unless their current US tour sees them hit the jackpot which is yet another possibility. They just had to cancel two of their dates since they were invited to perform on the Late Show with David Letterman a couple of days ago!!! I really liked their story of having worked together in a tiny indie Brissie record store that gradually saw its opening hours getting shorter while the vendors (Kate & Damon) were actually spending more and more time practising and trying to perfect their sound. Let’s wish them all the best and please buy their record. You might find it difficult to lay your hands on a physical release (you can try Valve Records) but for once I will encourage you to grab a copy through iTunes where it is easily ‘downloadable’ (I got mine through the French Store).

And check their website for more or the usual MySpace to listen to some tracks or anywhere else on the WorldWideWeb to understand the reason behind the strange name.

15 March 2009

The Old Berry



I must have been getting this one for over 4 years now. They were not that common by then but the old beast now is completely outdated but still very reliable so I am in no mood for a change! It is amazing that it has been keeping me company all those years on an absolutely daily basis. From my very start of the day (waking me up to the sound of its vibration) to the moment I close my eyes (the last thing I am doing – come to think of it – must be checking if there are any important messages before I go to bed). Modern technologies are addictive and we are lost without them. It is only recently – while in PNG – that this personal friend refused to connect to any local gprs signal. It was the first time ever and it really made me feel the isolation! I was suddenly no longer connected to the rest of the world.

14 March 2009

Sound Relief



The show has been going on for nearly 10 hours now at both Sydney and Melbourne Cricket Ground. It is relayed on TV through Max and on the radio through Triple J. I have not been watching it all day but I saw a good part of it and heard another on the radio while driving. Sound Relief has been put together as a support for the terrible bushfires that took place a few weeks ago in Victoria. It features many great Australian performers. I am not particularly fond of some of them but I have to admit they have nothing to envy from their Brit or American counterparts. The local scene has produced (half the acts playing today are from the 80s) and continues to produce a good array of talents. I particularly enjoyed Split Enz, Josh Pyke, Kings of Leon and Augie March. I am now waiting for Liam Finn which will probably be one of the highlights of the day; the other two highlights have been the Coldplay / John Farnham duo and most importantly the ever amazing Little Birdy. And as any Australian main event we had some nice didgeridoo moments.

13 March 2009

Life in the Top End



I have never been to the N.T. General Store but I drove past many times. It seems to actually store Army surplus supplies, boots, tents and that kind of things. It is located on Cavenagh Street, one of the three main streets forming Darwin’s tiny city centre. Like many stores they close early on weekdays and most of them are closed on week-ends. It is to keep with the Northern Territory pace which is not really a consumerist market. People prefer the outdoor. People prefer to go fishing. People do not like to waste time shopping and are not stressed about earning lots of money. They are happy as long as they have time for themselves. A nice philosophy of life if you ask me. A bit of a caricature of life in the Top End but a true observation nevertheless.

12 March 2009

In my fridge



My fridge is always always filled with yoghurts. I just love them. In France you can have two or three full rows of yoghurt products in the shops. I do not actually recall having seen as many brands and types anywhere else in the world but when it comes to quality, Australian Jalna yoghurts are the best without any contest. I have tried the whole range by now but nothing comes as close when it comes to creamy texture and taste as the Vanilla one. I used to love the coffee flavoured one but I have not seen it for a few years now. Their claim is that many yoghurts are mass produced using gelatine, starches and food acids. But Jalna is different. Indeed.

11 March 2009

Good for You, Good for the Environment…



That’s what the label says. For some time now there have been many incentive to encourage people to eat kangaroo meat. I admit that I am not a big carnivore but over the past 4 months my red meat consumption is probably split as is: 60% Kangaroo, 30% Lamb and 20% beef (the latter mainly being the Boeuf Bourguignon I ate in France). For once I will cut/copy/paste word by word what is written on the sticker that accompanies kangaroo products here as it is self explanatory: Kangaroo’s need less food than sheep or cattle, are better adapted to drought and are far less damaging to the fragile topsoil than their sharply-hooved sheep & cattle counterparts. Australia’s sheep and cattle produce huge amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas – but kangaroos do not. (…) Kangaroo meat is 98% fat free, high in protein, iron, zinc and also contains conjugated linoleic acid, which reduces blood pressure. So if after that you’re not convinced… The only thing is that it is valid only if you live in a country where kangaroos are grown (erm… I mean Australia). If not, if you have to airfreight the meat, there are no benefits for the environment, really!

10 March 2009

Grow Your Own



Flix in the Wet continue to amaze me with their program. It has to be the first time ever that I have heard about only one movie out of the whole selection. The person(s) selecting the films went to great length to dig deep into the best of the recent world production without being too indie neither. Yesterday evening brought another fine couple of alternatively moving and funny hours. Grow Your Own was touching for its depiction of real suburban characters perturbed by the influence of foreigners on the little piece of England they call the Allotment somewhere around Liverpool. But you quickly realise they all have their own past and present personal stories, some of them very tragic, others quite touching. Not highly philosophical but not dumb neither. Just a sweet, genuine and warming comedy. Oh and I forgot to mention it was out on Warp films, the movie division of the ever groundbreaking Warp Records.

09 March 2009

Record of the Week: Single Cell Collective 'Six Rivers'



It cannot come any better than this. It is from Manchester, it is eclectic, it is free, it is new and it is fresh! I am talking about Manchester's new label Single Cell. As best described on their website Single Cell is a collective of musicians and artists based in Manchester, UK. They make music, play gigs and take part in larger projects... Imagine, the Durutti Column mixed by some brilliant minds out of Various Production out on a Freestyle and Twisted Nerve joint venture and you get this amazing record full of experimentations and showing the way forward. I particularly like the compositions from Caulbearers, Broken Bow and Invertor. What else? The CD is lovingly packaged and the cover is perfectly designed. It is limited to 200 copies and is available for 8GBP only through their website. I could only recommend you press the 'order' button before they disappear and if you can't wait for your shipment to arrive you can download the whole CD for free. If you've gone all digital you can still make a donation on their website while you legally grab your free copy.

08 March 2009

Darwin from Fisherman's Wharf



This is a view of Darwin city centre from Fisherman's Wharf. This port is actually a nice place to come in the morning and get fresh fish (Barramundi of course), bugs or prawns directly from the boats. If you prefer to get your fresh seafood from a shop you can also pop in Mr Barra next door where they are quite passionate about freshness and quality.

07 March 2009

Blogging



The idea of this blog originally was to post a picture every day, mainly to 'reassure' and kind of keep in touch with my mother. This is the reason why I never went on with deep thoughts and long rents in the pictures comments. What is written within this blog might sometimes sound a bit shallow but I want to keep it that way. The original spirit was not even to write any comment actually. Also, even though each picture surely reflects what I have been doing that day or is taken in a place I have been to it might distort a bit the reality of things. For exemple, if you see the picture above you might think that I am spending the day at the beach. It might be true for 10 minutes but the rest of the day might also be spent working. As there is nothing interesting in boring my mum with my workday (and generally nothing really interesting to visually report about it anyway) you might think I am in constent holidays. I wish it were the truth but believe me it is not the case!

06 March 2009

Fruits of the season



Oh that is great! After the peach and apricot season this summer here come the grapes starting to pop up in every supermarket in the area. The Northern Territory does not grow any grapes and does not produce any wine as far as I know - and I might be wrong - but the Southern Autumn makes itself felt with the arrival of these seasonal 'fruits'. The weather seems to be a bit in transition here at the moment with dryer days, bluer skies but hotter temperatures as well. The temperatures should then hopefully drop a bit to leave the area under constent sun and no clouds. That's what I call winter!

05 March 2009

Road Signs



The Kangaroo and Crocodile road signs are famous Australian icons all around the world. If you actually see the kangaroo one on nearly every road all around the country, the crocodile sign is less frequent and I do not recall having seen the Cassowary sign before today even though I surely have seen a huge flock of emus in the wild in the past - but it was down in Victoria and there was no sign for them...

04 March 2009

Cairns



I left Papua this morning and I am back in Australia. My Port of entry is Cairns, only two hours by plane from Port Moresby. As there is no connection back to Darwin until 9 hours later I took a car to explore the coast up North. It is dotted with an incredible number of beautiful and 'wild' beaches. Dozens of them all the way up to Port Douglas and above. I ferried across the Daintree River to Cape Tribulation and came back to Cairns before the sunset. I did not stay long but I found the city to be pretty similar to Darwin but with a much more touristy feel, tons of backpackers (obviously using it as the gateway to the Great Coral Reef) and a funny but great idea - since it is virtually impossible to swim in the sea because of the usual box jellyfish, sharks and the rest - of having an open sea water pool in the middle of the city.

03 March 2009

Kokoda Trail



If I had not been to Papua New Guinea some long years back and was not living in Australia I might not have heard of the Kokoda Trail. It runs nearly a 100 kilometres overland through the Owen Stanley Range. The track is the most famous in PNG and is renowned as the location of the World War II battle between Japanese and Australian forces in 1942. The track ends here (or starts depending on how you want to walk it) at Owers Corner in Central Province, 50 kilometres east of Port Moresby, after having crossed rugged and isolated terrain culminating over 2000 metres high. It is constently ran by mobs of Australians but it does not have a reputation as being an easy track. High humidity, mud, insects, heavy rainfalls, cold nights make the task difficult and the track is rarely crossed in less than five days (it usually averages 10) except by the locals who are known to do it in less than three days. I would not mind giving it a try but it is unfortunately not the reason why I am here today so I have to satisfy myself with the memorial located here and the sign showing me the direction to follow...

02 March 2009

Record of the Week: The Temper Trap ‘Sweet Disposition’



Is it because I am Down Under or are Australian bands the flavour of the moment all around the world? Cut Copy, Empire Of The Sun, Little Birdy, The Presets, The Crayon Fields... Anyway, my record of the week goes to that Indie-pop band from Melbourne who is soon to release its first album proper. This first track has been out for over a couple of months now and comes in the form of a nice 12” with some interesting remixes. You can still even order a signed copy through JB Hi-Fi here in Australia. What about the sound? Well, it can be an easy analogy at a time when U2 have just revealed their new album but if you have the choice you should definitely invest in a good up and coming band rather than in a soulless old and tired band. Just watch the video here to be convinced.

01 March 2009

Port Moresby



Today I left the fine coastline of Queensland to fly up to Port Moresby for a few meetings. Last time I went there was 17 years ago on a stopover to the Huli tribes of the Highlands and the river villages of the Sepik. A wild and exotic experience. Unfortunately, the capital city is not as attractive as the rest of the country and there is not much to see and do. Still, you can enjoy the view of the stilt villages spread all around and you can have an idea from the picture above of how tiny the city is laying at the head of the point. I wish I could go back and explore some of the remote places of Papua instead of having to stay in the city.