Weddings, (street) parties, everything

It has been over a week since my last post, and I'm afraid this one is unlikely to make up the gap either. I have been in Melbourne since late last week, for my sister Lindy's wedding, and now to catch up with my good mate Terry, who is out from the UK visiting the colonies. Its been a mad few days to say the least, although sitting on my arse for the last 5 hours at my parents house has restored my energy levels a little before I drive back to Canberra tomorrow.

The wedding was great, and put to rest a lot of stresses leading up to the big day. From a personal perspective, my role as "chief pray book hander-outer" at St Bridget's in Healesville, and MC at the reception (also in Healesville) both went without incident (well, none that proved enough to ruin the wedding anyway). I must admit, I was pretty nervous about the MC gig. These days, I can pretty happily stand up in front of an audience and talk without too much stress, but with two sets of extended family in attendance for an emotion-charged wedding like this one, it felt more like I was speaking at the opening ceremony of the commonwealth games than a wedding (the only difference being the larger numbers in attendance at the wedding). However, once I got the formalities out of the way, I quickly settled into the much more familiar role of getting quietly sloshed with a few catchup glasses of red. It was a fun night.

Some photo's, and perhaps a more detailed report will appear soon, though this may well be at my own peril.

Since then its been a lot quieter. Sunday afternoon was spent in Brunswick for the Sydney rd festival (aka Brunswick music festival). Aff and I were joined by our friends Mel, Derek and Mick (Mel and Mick live in Brunswick). I have to say, it is festivals like this one that really pull the "I miss Melbourne" heart strings. You certainly would not find this sort of thing in Canberra, and while I cannot speak with authority on this, I suspect you would struggle to find this mish-mash of culture and music anywhere else in Australia. I spent most of the time in awe of the shear numbers of people wandering up and down Sydney rd. Lots of dancing in the streets, and yes, a fair bit of intoxicated exuberance on display as well. But the mood was jovial, and everyone was having a great time. The music, the food and the people make this one of my favourite Melbourne festivals. Unlike the St Kilda and Lygon st festivals, the Brunswick festival appears to have largely maintained its non-commercial roots. It feels like a community event, and it sure does look like one. No where else would you find a death-metal band playing at full volume on the street side, next to two dear old ladies selling hand crafted sandals - but that's Brunswick in a nutshell, and I do miss it.

Monday morning I spent in the city, catching up with my old school friend Cassie, as well as running a few erands around town. The city is clearly in Commonwealth games mode. The banners are up, the flowers are blooming and the volunteers are relentlessly trying to make sure you know where you're going. It seems to me that the easiest thing to assist volunteers is for the Victorian state government to issue all Melburnian's who wish one, a "I live here" badge so the volunteers know who not to worry about. I do admire their efforts though - I just hope people do turn up for the games.

Anyway, its back to Canberra tomorrow having spent the last couple of days visiting some old stomping grounds with one of my best mates Terry. Its rare enough that I spend significant lengths of time out in The Basin, but its even rarer still that I actually get a chance to drive and walk around the area. The last two days have been spent doing exactly that with T, as well as hearing his news from London. Yes Londoners, I know everything now! From what I can gather, things in London can best be summed up as:

beer-work-beer-travel-beer-snog

Blog ya later.