Author: awmalloyadmin

This is how every Sunday should be. Coffee and cooked breakfast, a read of the paper, a walk around an old area of town taking photos, washing the car in the sunshine while listening on the radio to the Canucks win, lunch outside, a nurse of the boy as he falls asleep, a short nap for myself, afternoon tea outside and now to get a little work done before family comes over for a roast lamb dinner.

Now if only it was a long weekend and I didn’t have to get up to go to work tomorrow morning it would be truly perfect.

If you live in Australia Veronica Mars is quite possibly the best show you will never get to see. We’ve just watched the premier episode of the second season and have no idea why this hasn’t been picked up here yet. I guess the 25 words or less “school girl detective solves crime in her spare time” description would send most people running but the last time a show with such rich characters, witty writing, complex (and daring) story lines and with a strong young female lead was screened it was largely ignored too. Which is a shame, ’cause Veronica Mars could end up being better than Buffy and I can pay a television show no higher compliment.

If you’re in Aus move heaven and earth to get a copy of season 1, there is no way you will be disappointed.

For the past 16 months Jane Gazzo has hosted the night shift on 6 Music and I’ve listened every morning at work. Tonight was her final show so, as a semi-regular emailer, I had to send one last mail to say bye. I got a lovely email back from her but the biggest surprise was as she was saying goodbye to people. Just before she couldn’t go on any further there was “Tony, from Melbourne”.

Bye Jane, I’m really gonna miss you and your show. Mornings just won’t be the same.

I mentioned a while ago I want to go and take photographs of Shepparton before all my childhood memories are torn down and replaced by concrete slabbed office blocks. An article in The Age on Melbourne’s inner west industrial architecture reminded me I have a lot snaps to take around here too. This summer may be a summer of recording, and I should start with the great signs on the side of the Rising Sun in Footscray this weekend. There are also some fantastic factories around Scienceworks which is just up the road and on a weekend the streets are deserted. I think I’ll be getting my money’s worth out of Flickr over the next year.

Vale Don Adams.

He’ll be missed (by that much…)

The following email was sent to the Astor‘s mailing list by its proprietor.

To All Our Loyal Patrons,

You may have read or heard in the media recently of plans to change ownership of The Astor Theatre. This has been somewhat misrepresented as us “closing down”.

This is far from the case.

We are looking to find an entity to take over the running of The Astor as well as purchase the freehold. This would give the freedom to invest further capital into the venture, to re-generate what is a unique and original theatre, and to re-launch it with a fresh, new outlook.

My involvement has seen the culmination and fruition of a life-long dream – and a labour of love. It has been very gratifying that well over one and a half million patrons have passed through our doors in the years since we opened in our current format. That so many identified with this “real-cinema experience” is deeply appreciated – it re-inforced my firm belief that the Astor needed to be saved and preserved as a living museum to cinema-going at its grandest.

May I take this opportunity to thank all our patrons, staff, suppliers and friends for their support, and remind you that without your support The Astor would not exist.

We will keep you updated with developments as they happen.

Yours Sincerely,

George Florence
Proprietor

I guess that’s good news and we can still look forward to seeing you in our fair city then Star?

For most people the year ends on December 31st and starts on Jan 1. For the tragics of this household the year begins in late March and ends on the last Saturday in September (some cruel people would say it ended a lot earlier for both of us this year, but that’s just being nasty).

We had or annual Grand Final BBQ (how may years do we have it before we can claim it’s traditional?) yesterday. While the game was a classic with the Swannies fighting out a magnificent 4 point victory and the Tigers managed to finally win something in September when Brett Dilidio won the half time sprint the highlight, as always, was the presentation of The World’s Ugliest Trophy.

This year Rob managed to see off a late season charge by Marita to claim the urn. You can see the elation on Rob’s face, and the reluctance on Daniel’s as he has to say goodbye.

And let’s not forget those who didn’t win. After last years ‘gift’ of wooden spoons from Veronica and Steve for Rob and I it was our pleasure to be able to return the sentiment this year.

UPDATE

Apparently this isn’t The World’s Ugliest Trophy – It only comes in 5th on Google for The World’s Ugliest Trophy. I may have to create a special page for the trophy to get it its rightful dues.

520 days of waiting finished today, my Canucks finally returned to the ice after a locked out season. It was only a pre-season game without our top 5 or 6 players, and we lost in a shoot-out, but I could have cried tears of joy to hear Shorty and Tom calling a game again.

The next game coincides with our Grand Final BBQ so I’ll be recording it to put on the pod for later listening. It features the return of Nazzy, Bert and Trev and when I hear Tom once more say “Oh captain, my captain” as Nazzy lasers home the winning goal I’ll know my ‘nucks and hockey are back for real.

I was sad to read today that the Astor, as we know it, will probably close soon.

It’s sad that such a wonderful experience will be lost on future cinema goers. No more plush lobby, no more piano music, no more spectacular light show as the curtain rises, no more Astor choc tops, no more dreadfully uncomfortable seats that gave you a back ache if you stay for the entire double feature. I guess the writing was on the wall when they recently stopped sending out their famous calendar. It is comforting to know that archaeologists digging up Melbourne in the centuries to come will probably wonder why all these tiny rooms were thickly covered in theses strange posters. Sigh.

I guess though we, and people like us, are part of the reason we will have to say goodbye. We have a young family, we have a great home theatre set up, we’re watching our budget and a DVD of the films we want to watch now costs less than two tickets, two choc tops, some lollies and something to drink. Sometimes a lot less. If we watch at home we don’t have to worry about baby sitters, parking, cold nights, people who don’t turn their phones off and those seat induced back aches. Of course we miss the wonderful atmosphere, but these days, we are happy with the trade off.

And that’s almost as sad as losing The Astor.

Well, here’s a first for Between Coffees – a guest blogger.

It’s Grand Final week so that means we’re preparing for our annual Grand Final BBQ, the highlight of which is the presentation to the winner of this year’s footy tipping competition. The lucky winner gets to keep The World’s Ugliest Trophy for a whole 12 months so I’ve asked my mate, and blogger-before-blogging-was-blogging, Daniel Bowen to reflect on his all too brief time with his trophy.

Over to you Daniel….

2004 was a golden year for me, at least in terms of footy-tipping. I entered both the competition at work, and Tony’s competition. To my surprise, I came equal first in the work competition, netting several hundred dollars in prize money. But that was nothing compared to the joy at discovering I had won Tony’s competition, and thus earned my right to the perpetual trophy.

The trophy is a prized object. Don’t listen to Tony when he says he got it unwanted a couple of years ago, and that it sat in his garden catching leaks from the gutter. It’s actually an item of great value. Originally made by convicts in Van Diemens Land around 1810, it was a decoration in the house of a Dr K.W.Smith of Hobart. Smith passed it down to his grandson, who took it with him when he moved to Melbourne around 1855, where it fell into the hands of Tom Wills. Wills used it as a prize for the winning team of the very first football game, which started on August 7th 1868 at the MCG, concluding on September 4th of that year.

Just how this prized trophy got into Tony’s hands is unclear. There are rumours of a late-night poker game, and O-Week prank and large amounts of alcohol being involved.

In 2003, Miss Marita Cullen won the competition and held the prize. In 2004 it was me, and for the past year, I have had the privilege of having it in my house, displayed prominently. Many visitors in the last twelve months have remarked upon its beauty.

Alas this year, my footy tipping performance has been somewhat less spectacular.

Effing awful, in fact. I am saddened by its departure from my home. But life goes on. And hey, at least my team made it into the finals, before beginning its inevitable downward spiral.

And so this Saturday, I will regretfully hand it back, so it can be awarded to this year’s winner.