Category: Arts

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6 Lessons from Last Night

Last night I joined ’Pong at the launch of Mardi Gras: The Slide Show. Right now you can see some of his photos from before the Parade and during the Parade and the Mardi Gras Party projected onto the shopfront at 72 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. While doing this I learned 6 things.

  1. Snakebean, at 85 Oxford Street, is worth checking out, since the food they provided for the party was delightful.
  2. If the smiling waiter keeps topping up your champagne you can say, with complete truthfulness, “I only had one glass.”
  3. If the café you were planning to adjourn to is closed, there’s a dive selling alcohol just around the corner. It’s open late, even on Tuesdays.
  4. If you become engrossed in a conversation about military history with the heavily-built heavily-tattooed ex-biker, you will miss the barman calling “last drinks”.
  5. If the heavily-built heavily-tattooed ex-biker has local knowledge about another pub which is still open and which is only a short walk away, you should choose not to act upon this knowledge.
  6. No, you really should.
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Carriageworks: an industrial cathedral for contemporary arts

Better late than never: over the next week I’ll post material collected earlier this year — starting off with a visit to Sydney’s newest contemporary performance space, Carriageworks on 21 January.

Our link to the Eveleigh Railway Workshops is weird. ’Pong was arrested for taking photos there, though eventually the charges were dropped. But now toxic waste has been removed (so they say), and space which was once full of sweaty tradesmen rebuilding rollingstock is now full of arty types enjoying the acting and sipping wine.

I must admit, I was worried it was just a facade job…

Photo of Carriageworks facade

… but once inside you see what Director Sue Hunt describes as “an industrial cathedral”.

Photo of Carriageworks interior

As the sun shifts through the afternoon, swathes of light streaming through the skylights turn the interior into a giant sundial. These cameraphone snapshots don’t do it justice. I may post more soon, but for now see more at the Carriageworks website.