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Melbourne Ugly? No!

December 8th 2008 12:55
Are you sick of the endless Melbourne vs. Sydney comparisons?

Australia's coporate hub (Sydney) and its arts capital (Melbs) are locked in perpetual battle, with Sydney characterised as sunny, bright, clean, wealthy and mainstream; full of peppy 'young professionals' with spray tans and good bodies. It's Australia's fresh-faced cheerleader.

Melbourne, on the other hand, is the ugly creature with the great personality. The one you marry in your thirties when you've grown up and stopped being shallow.

Cold, grey, wet and dingy, they say, with boho bars and cafes where you sit on crates. Lots of freaks in the streets.


BUT there's a great arts and music scene, and the people have character. Thank God for that.

If you ask me, the Melbourne bashers are way off base. Have you looked in the nooks and crannies of the city? That's what Melbourne is about: hidden delights. The bashers are the ones who fly in for a day: they'll visit the Telstra dome for a football game, wait in the rain outside Flinders St station, get accosted by a sermonising eccentric, visit the cheap part of Swanston St for a bit off shopping, then fly out.

There's a lot more to Melbourne than that. Here's my pictorial tribute to Melbourne the Beautiful.



Federation Square



Ferris Wheel at nighttime


Flinders Street Station


Old Architecture Meets New


St Patricks Cathedral


Treasury Gardens




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For Melbourne jazz afficionados there's no going past Bennetts Lane.

This dive (I say that with total affection) was one of the first places I visited when I moved here. Bennetts Lane itself (that is, Bennetts Lane the lane) is off Little Lonsdale St (here's their map) between Russell and Exhibition. You'll think you took a wrong turn but don't be fooled. Everything about the place is low key; a couple of lights at the end of the laneway signal the presence of a jazz institution. Cats dart between the cars and pillars outside


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THE WHITE ELF OF MELBOURNE

June 17th 2008 06:30
The beauty of big cities is the diversity of buskers.
Here in Melbourne, we are blessed with so many permit and illegal street performers despite the unpredictable weather.

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THE SECRET CAROUSEL

June 16th 2008 06:14
It was a Carousel that made me stop on my tracks while I was leaving Freshwater Place.

Melbourne Carousel
Up and Down... Up and Down it goes...

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YOU KEEP HITTING MY NUTS!

May 29th 2008 01:01
AndIamnotlying.com reports of a Fight-Club-esque event in Union Square way up in Manhattan a few days back.

fight club in Union Square
Fight Club in Union Square

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I’m one of those sad people who love junk mail.

Crammed in my mailbox, I take delight in flicking through them on my back stoop, with a cup of tea


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BE A MODEL...

May 13th 2008 23:28
Here’s a little tip if you need to have your hair done…
Be a hair model for the upcoming winter seminars.

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MISS USA 2008 WHOOPSIES!

April 29th 2008 03:33
This is what I’ve been going on and on about last week to friends– The Miss USA 2008 pageant!
I was recovering from an allergy test gone wrong last week and had the privilege to stay home, curled up in my doona and snub off Dr Phil in favour of the pageant.
I’ve never found anything so hilariously amusing!

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The new Collette Dinnigan lingerie line for Target range came out today. The website screams "Worth Collecting". I think not.

COLLETTE DINNIGAN for Target
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There are a few things I love to do in Melbourne come lunch time.
That precious one hour sandwiched between a long a day at work is my only respite and I hold it close to my heart.

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