The Jamjar

Parma - the final frontier

I finally had a chicken parmigiana so the jaw dropping, incredulous looks can stop. I have now consumed - or at least put a dent into - Australian's favourite pub meal. It wasn't much of a dent though - that fillet was not small. I tried though - and it wasn't bad.

More than the chicken or the beer, the company was spot on. Conversation is an awesome thing, isn't it? Thanks Barto and Co. I had a great time!

PS: I still don't understand ordering gravy with chips though - that's just too hard-core Aussie for me.

Monday Brunch

Pikelets

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 tablespoon castor sugar
• pinch of salt
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 egg
• butter

1. Mix flour, sugar and a pinch of salt together in a bowl.
2. Make a "well" in the dry mixture.
3. Add the ¾ cup of milk and one egg.
4. Mix with whisk: first combining the wet ingredients in the well of the bowl, gradually mixing in the dry ingredients until you have a thickened, smooth batter.
5. Heat flat pan, brush pan with a small amount of butter.
6. Drop dessert-spoons-full of batter in to the pan.
7. Cook until both sides of the pikelet are golden brown.
8. Serve with butter and jam.

Sunday Horizon

In other news:

Um.. . I'm not sayin' anything... yet.

Saturday Breakfast

Water and Grass: Chef

I had already walked half a block past the laneway before I turned back to capture what I had seen. I had glanced at a man deep inside a dark alley; crouched low and alone in the last light of the day. I thought it was a good composition so I raised the camera to my eye I took a photo from the path. I heard the slow shutter and knew the photo would be blurry.

I walked down the laneway, thinking I might stand a better chance of a clear photo if I was closer - he didn't notice me until I spoke to him - I asked if I could take his photo. He was surprised, at my presence and my request. The man turned out to be the Chef from Water and Grass, the restaurant's back door opened onto the laneway and he was taking his break.

Another man appeared and introduced himself as the Chef's manager. I seemed to have misplaced my sense of timing and humour-detection and didn't pick up immediately that the manager was suggesting there was a fee to photograph his Chef. After I finally understood the joke, I took my photos. The Manager asked to see them on the back of my camera - they always look good on the small screen, don't they - and gave me his card, asking if I would email the photos to him. I don't think he's gonna be so impressed with the blurry, full sized results.

Ah well - I don't mind blurry - sometimes being focused on something all the time can just make a person weary.

Moonlight Cinema: Zoolander

Movie: Juno

This is a movie of soft surprises and gorgeous nudges.
This is a movie about not being quite as smart as you think you are.
This is a movie made with love - it shows in every frame, every scene, each line.
The characters are woven together with ties that bind - generously, purely, wonderfully, rarely, unconditionally.

We should all be so lucky.

Go and see this movie.

The Commoner

A little place on Johnson Street - quirky, interesting service - but good enough. The almonds and olives were a wonderful shared starter which lead beautifully into my main choice of (Special special of the day) Pork chop and fresh tomatoes with basil and dill dressing, accompanied by a cheeky little sav blanc from New Zealand. I finished with an uncharacteristic order of dessert - buttermilk pudding with black and raspberries, and a recommended sticky that was all just delicious.

My companions didn't fare so well in their meals - the snapper was a "salad" - shredded and mayonnaised as a strange, cold offering on a dinner menu. It was left mostly on the plate. The dessert of strawberries was also disappointing for them.

The irony of the restaurant's name came with the size of the account.

May not visit again.

Movie: Cloverfield

On our way to pick up our tickets, we overheard a group of 4 young men coming down the escalator from the upper movie floors at Hoyts in Melbourne Central "We have to tell everyone" they were saying "Do not to see this movie!" they raised their voices "People need to be warned!" I chuckled and wondered to Fox if they were referring to Cloverfield.

Standing on the "Red Carpet" to pick up our tickets, we heard them again, this time the comments were seeded with the name of the film "I KNEW you were talking about Cloverfield!" I pointed hard at them, catching their eye. They came over to us "Are you here for Cloverfield?" "Do NOT see this movie!!" they were quite enthusiastic and implored us not to see 27 Dresses instead.
"It's the worst film I've ever seen!" one of them explained.
"C'mon.. how bad can it be?" we asked.
The tallest young man said "Look, put it this way: do you *like* movies??"
I suggested it could hardly be the "worst movie" he'd ever seen, had he not seen Phantom of the Opera.
One of the young men thought a moment and then said "Ok, Cloverfield isn't' *that* bad."

And it wasn't that bad.

If you've been following the viral trail Cloverfield has been tracking over the internets, you too will have been hanging out for today and to see the film in cinemas.

I suppose the thing that surprised me most about this movie was it's lack of answers. It is not the culmination of the viral campaign, it is part of it. It's another, albeit big, clue in the Cloverfield puzzle.

While I am not sure this movie will go down in history as one of cinema's great achievements, I do think it's going to be a great big smash hit and a shining example of how to blend media (communication channels? technologies? streams?) to create a movie experience that bleeds well and truly off the edges of the cinema screen.

For Old Times Sake

Federation Square: Great Wall of Books

Today I was pulled inside a story.

It was a magical story but there were no goblins, no hobbits, no polar bears. There was, however, a panda bear. A panda bear who discovered his taste for life and proceeded to eat everything in the whole world.

After he had eaten everything in the world, he found a woman and fell in love. That woman was me. He held my hand and spoke quietly - only I heard what he said.

After the story had finished I was safely returned to the world while most of the audience wandered away. Someone who lingered said "You were such a good lover for Max."

Such an unexpected, magical adventure for a Monday.

The Great Wall of Books