I've never been here before and I'm going to snap some photos and share them here and share thoughts and do what I normally would do in a diary but I'm going to do it here with my voice so I'll probably keep it as a closed conversation so I can keep it as my voice thread and then at some point I probably will open it when it done but I just wanted to include you in this experience so I hope you enjoy it and I will be back soon
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:15
I snapped this just around an hour before we landed. The sun was rising. So I left 1030 at night from Los Angeles and I went towards the sun. And the sun greeted me out the window
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:27
So this is a beautiful little street near where we're staying for the next ten days, and it is an area called Merrickville. And the little houses are all really different, but the nature is so even in this urban setting, you see really abundant flowers and palm trees and jacarandas, and it's moody. In terms of the weather right now, it's pretty gorgeous. So I'm going to probably tuck in for a couple of hours because we're having dinner tonight
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:56
One more thing I want to say about the first day here with reference to nature and trees. And I'm seeing a lot of palm trees here, but I stopped and saw one that had this incredible design on each of the little pieces of bark. And if someone knows what kind of tree this is, please resell this particular link or copy it and start a new swell. And tell me what kind of tree this is, because it's so amazing
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:37
Yeah, no, I'm getting that. I'm getting that because it's just a little grapefruit and the vibrant really cool. There's about six or seven people here. It's got a nice chill in the air. Larry and our wonderful host, Alastair, are just kind of talking a little bit. Let's listen in. Let's see what they're saying. She's going to chime in from that. It's like the plane came overhead and dropped a bunch of petrol on it
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:43
So Adam and Francesca work here, and I was just talking to Adam about these really cool straws, and I'm gonna have him hold the straws, and then I'm going to have them talk about the straws, because you don't think about straws, but they're a big essential part of a drink experience, and they're not regular straws. Can you tell us about these straws? So these straws are one water grass straws, and they're from a company called Green Straws
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:19
I hope you're enjoying this, this play by play. And I'll come back here when we're at the sculpture area by the sea. I also have to say we look like a bunch of geeks wearing hats on the bus. We're kind of sticking out a bit. Do you hear the sounds? This is the sound of the bus on a street in Markville Alice. So I'm recording this. Tell me something, how often do you take public transport as a resident here?
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:51
So where are we? So we're at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park South. Or actually Hyde Park. Yeah, Hyde Park South. Built in the early thirty s. And it's Anzac. Stands for australia. New Zealand Army Corps. Australia and New Zealand often banded together when we fought in overseas wars. And this, this is built for World War I. It's very much around the horror of war. We're about to enter the hall of Contemplation. There's a pool of reflection
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:13
I'm just trying to think about what kind of image I could shoot for you to see this, but it's just like nothing I've ever seen. And I live by the water in La. So I've seen water, but I've never seen these sculptures. And they're all different. There's about 100 of them that go towards Bondi Beach. So we're going to be bondi beach. So we're going to be walking from here to Bondi Beach
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:14
Even the sculptures need to be kept up because of the salt from the sea. So I just spotted this guy cleaning the windows, or not the windows, the mirror, except one of these sculptures. So I want you to give you a shot of that. It's quite amazing
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:56
Oh, my God. These are so beautiful. They're, you know, bending backwards, falling forwards, twisting, turning. They're inside these little wire kind of meshy boxes and it's just stunning. I don't even know what to say about these. So I wanted you to just capture them. They're by an artist named hold on. Let me tell you what her name is. It's on the website I just posted. Barbara Leica, or Licha, I think Licha
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:29
I'm probably going to have to just not even try to get all these. There's so many, many, many. But this one in particular is so beautiful. And different perspectives. When you walk around it, you see different aspects of the sculpture. But the way he's just broken apart the narrative is so deep. Right? It's amazing. I love it. The weary trap color. Anyway, I hope this picture does it justice
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 3:38
And every sculpture has its context and there's so many choices to make. Where do you start? You have trees, you have the sea, you have the panel. Yeah, absolutely. So there's often ones that will just, you know, where they're going to sit straight away. If you go to the Bruno Catalano, for example, you know, that's the view that it should have always had. Right
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:49
Anyway, this is the vibe I'm trying to bring you into my environment. I'll give you a few minutes to hear the motor and the wind and the kids and all the accents
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:48
I am sitting on the coast and there are these two Kooka borrows. Kookaburras. Kookaburra. Kookaburra. Say it again. Kookaburra. Tell me about the bird. Cookaburra sits in the old gum tree. He mary, mary, king of the bushes. He laughabara, laugh how gay your life must be. They are icons of the Australian bush and have the most amazing laughing call. I'll try and do it quietly so I don't scare them. They go like that
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:26
And it was an epic battle. And, yeah, this guy's, yeah, he's big, friendly, was like literally a foot for me. I can't wait to see more of these. Maybe I'll see a kangaroo. I don't know. But this is why we travel, right? To be challenged and to see stuff that we don't normally see. I wasn't scared. I was just curious. And I thought it was a crocodile or something
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:46
Okay? I just opened the window and this massive spider just fell down. Massive orange. Gross. I don't know. Three inch by three inch thing, and it's just sitting there staring at me, and I don't know what it is. This is the part I don't like. This is not me. I'm not like a spider girl. Oh, my God. It's so gross. I'll take a photo of it. I'm going to leave now
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:43
It's not going to bite you. It's a beautiful room. Very friendly. I'm going to try to spell this now. So sulfur. S-U-L-C-H-U-R. I'm always spelling this wrong. Here, let me type it for you guys
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:52
Anyway, and it was quite beautiful. I'm going to link you to the Wiki page so you can learn about this area because it's just gorgeous. And I'm going to include a snap that Larry took. I didn't bring my phone, but just gorgeous. Like epically beautiful views. And there is a plant that I fell in love with called the grass tree. And tree grass grass tree or tree grass? Grass tree. It's called the grass tree
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:50
And at the top there's a guy standing there who's cleaning it, of course. So I'm going to get a shot of the whole perspective I see it in now. And I'll put the link here so we can all learn about this history. Okay, this might be bad for this, but I want to read what on Placard here. Welcome to land. Sydney Opera House stands on the land of the Gadigal clan. Sorry, I'm butchering that
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:59
Let me just stop this here and then give you the map just so you can get a little sense of how they do this. It's so beautiful. It's really crazy. It's like the wackiest shape. Pictures don't do adjustments. It's just remarkable
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:49
Here's another perspective, just kind of head on. This is just here it is. Boom. And those guys on the way top are doing something. I'm not sure what. I want to go up there and say hi, but I probably would fall anyway. This is the opera house Allen Florie, and it's super exciting. 50 guys down there with some scaffolding. Not sure what they're doing, but very busy
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:11
It has many light projections onto this building, and one of them was of his version of the opera house, which I just snapped a picture of, but it's now turning into a bunch of other images. I will link you to his work. It's very pastelish, very vibrant, and it's a really cool small gallery in what's called The Rock, which is an old district in downtown Sydney. And I feel like I'm walking in almost like a wine cave
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:20
I mean, his legacy really, really beautiful. His work has been everywhere from skateboards to automobiles to obviously, garments. And I had no idea how much his legacy has shaped these individual industries. And I didn't know he was even in the space of skateboards. But then you look at what he started, which was the classic trunk and the trunks across the ocean. It's so beautiful. Just going to walk through here
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:30
I'm the blob on the left. It's basically censoring my heat so beautiful, I'm walking out into the obligatory gift shop. They pack a lot in this little square cubicle. Anyway, I'll leave the link here so you can check out what they're doing. It's beautiful
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:12
So I don't need to give you the URL because just look at this art and put your phone to it. And the little QR codes are in the front of the building and you can see what this exists about. So I'll just post it
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:02
Boxes and trucks are passing by, but I'm in a kind of cage, so it's okay. And there are plenty of people doing this, so I'm not crazy, but it's awesome. And we're going to end up in a different part of town as bridges connect to land masses. Okay, here's the shot from where I'm standing
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:00
The Powerhouse Museum. Here I am. It's a bit quieter now than it was in the bridge yesterday, and I've taken the time to be here. I have a couple hours. And the first part of the exhibit is textile. Chakra and karga are taken as a symbol for of different reading techniques in India
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:30
It was instrumental in the building and operating of the first railway, which ran from Sydney to Paramatta. After only 20 years of service, locomotive Number One was donated to the museum, where it remains one of our most iconic objects. And they acquired it for its technological significance at the time when railway construction was at its height. And now it also has historical value, as it is extremely rare for any state, as I mentioned, to have their own locomotive
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:03
Going through archival footage, one of the most striking things to me is seeing the mass participation and collective experience of the audience and that these bands are the conduits for those experiences. There are no phones and hardly any cameras. They put you in a different energy space and allow you to really be present with other people in the moment. And this archival is a perfect time capsule of a moment where that happened, where the experience was truly shared
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:52
This is basically about what makes pistons being able to to lift weight. So the difference in the air pressure above and below the piston. Low air pressure is inside the cylinder. And then it's pushing down the surrounding air, and then the weight rises. It makes sense, right? Let's all try this at home
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:50
Okay. I'm such a small child today. Like, I'm hanging out, doing things that are making me absolutely giggle. So the image you're looking at now is me interacting with the art. And it's all about kinetics, right? So we saw steam engines, we saw the loom. Hope you hear that. That's me touching the little white sticks and making new shapes. So this is all about how art is influenced by movement and by how we move
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:44
So I'm going to just leave you the URL of this incredible museum. There's so much more that I'm hoping to see before I leave, but it's closing in 45 minutes. But here's a shot of one of their clay ceramic art pieces that are so cool and fun. And it's made by a Japanese artist torch. You know, it's so beautiful and it's in the context of this big space. And to the right of it is this huge airplane
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:13
I am. Thank you so much. Little does she know that I'm just absolutely not a prepared to handle people in their stress. But I'll be okay. Anyway. We're going down this big stairway here. You can hear people's rollers. I think I'm hearing another language. What is that? I don't know. Let me get Larry's feet and going out to the tarmac. Because here in this airport you actually go outside and you've heard the plane
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:40
Yeah, there's this thing that you can't use your phone and you're on the tarmac, but then once you get on the plane, you can use it all you want. Now, I'm just joking. That one was like, don't be on your phone. Anyway, hours later, I am comfortable in my little space here in Melbourne. We are in a place called Ellwood, near the beach
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:32
It's like a weird combination. I don't know. And I think it differs from state to state, country to country. Australia had a really intense lockdown, a total of like 240 days, where you literally were not allowed to leave, except for like, five reasons. And I think they've all gone anyway
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 4:14
Premier's not there at the moment because they're all off site and getting ready for the election in a couple of weeks time. Yeah. Otherwise he'd be out here. I think he's up with the Shrine today. Right. Love him or hate him, he's very divisive at the moment. Most politicians are divided. I don't even know. I'm sometimes ashamed to see on my face, your politics is a crazy event. I know most of us don't quite understand it
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:05
He's wearing like a Keith Harris outfit and he was just walking by a mural. And I just love the vibe here. It's about, I don't know, a mile from the Parliament, and every single block is unique and has so many different little inlets that you could pop in and kind of disappear. There's little alleys as well and right across Business Park. It's just a gorgeous setting. And yeah, I'm just going to roam around here
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:28
I'm walking around Australia talking to people. How long have you been? I got here November 3, but I left November 1, as it happened, and I was in Sydney for a week and now another for a week in Tasmania and then back to Sydney. Yeah. You're welcome. Thank you. You're really enjoying it so far? Yes, very much so. I'm just sorry the weather's been a bit no, it's good. It keeps you going
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:32
Thank you for making us know that. Paper thin, that stuff. And then it flakes up. It's beautiful. They kind of bang it down and then it flattens out like I don't know. I don't know what it's like a creepy thing. It's gorgeous. They're busy working. I love when art cheese and all stuff like this is just showing you how. It's some of these recipes and these techniques are literally thousands of years old
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:54
It's so important to love the person you're with and then also want to see the world with them and through their eyes because that's what happens when you travel and also the people you bump into and the people you intentionally have connections with. It really reminds you of home is where the heart is, for sure. And that last night was definitely about that. Anyway, I want to pop this picture in here
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:37
I'm on a walk in Port Phillips and there's a beautiful statue of a dog near a dog park. And they always say you can judge a town or city or even a country by how they treat their dogs. And it's so adorable to see all these dogs running in the marina and this fierce looking statue with this dog watching over the dog park is adorable. So I had to take a shot of it
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 4:57
In terms of the score, when do you know you've won? Well, I know. Yeah. So this game has only just started and each side has 72 overs. Oh, wow. Okay. So the side that's batting down, but 72 overs. And then next Saturday that's lots of patience. It's a long game. It's a long game. It's like a long game of chess just with people wearing whites. That was fantastic. So I get to do this?
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 3:56
And I'd always heard of these Egyptian monastics who used to go out to the desert to befriend Death. I thought, what if we could let people have that kind of experience in the middle of the Mojave? And that became this kernel of an idea for what would be known as conservation burial using allowing for burial to take place in a way that could facilitate ecological restoration and perhaps landscape level conservation
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:08
Today's the last day, so it's from the Tate Modern in England, and they have it over here. And I'm so happy we got the last tickets. So I will take you into this experience. As much as I moved to, so I kind of want to be in it, and I also want to include you in it. Let's see how that goes. But I hope you love this image. It's just spectacular
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:54
It's really a cool technology that keeps you interactive, but it doesn't distract you, which I love because you know that later on you're going to be have time to indulge. So just wanted to capture a shot of this. It's really cool
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:03
This was a time when there was no light that was as artificial as we have now, but yet he kind of has this luminous force coming from the inside of the painting that you think is a light source. It's just so amazing. And I just love the juxtaposition of this with the modern lighting in the next room. It's really beautiful. And I'm whispering because I don't want to be weird. A weird American walking around talking to my phone
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:46
And now Jack to pose martin's approach with Monet's approach. And this particular painting was done with different lighting conditions. So this is just one of many versions. It's just a blowout compared to what we just saw off. And then next to him is John Brett called the channel scene from Dorchester's Eclipse. And it's also very pastelish with rays of light from the sky. Also very blown out. Same period, different approach
