When Irish eyes are smoiling...

Something to warm the cockles of my heart...
Whilst catching the train home from the city today, I watched a group of Irish backpackers sitting across from me. I was bemused by their incomprehensible Cork accents. When the driver announced over the loud speaker "Next stop Kings Cross" they all cheered, anticipating their big night out. At this moment I realised, my neighbourhood is like a Disneyland for drunks...

Strummer.

It's strange how the world works. I would have never picked J. Strummer as one of my fashion icons. I like the Clash as much as the next guy, and appreciate his political stance but he's never been a huge guiding light in my life...until I came across this mural in the East Village. I realised at this moment that my hair and sun-glass choice (which haven't changed since the early 90's) is completely derivative of him or perhaps the guy he copied it off. My Kasbah was rocked.

nIce Berg.

Holy Shit. Look at this. Str8 of PSFK.com comes...A giant inflatable $9,000 ice berg! This has absolutely nothing to do with the vague "themes" of this blog but man alive, look at this!

Black Flag!

A furore is developing down under. The organisers of the country's biggest music festival, The Big Day Out, have banned the display of Australian flags at their upcoming Sydney concert. This has created outrage from both sides of politics and has led to bills outlawing restrictions on displaying the flag and desecration. The rock concert organisers took this step after last years race riots at Cronulla beach in Sydney's south, where 1000's of young Australians with Anglo-Celtic heritage picketed the suburb to prevent other young Australians of Middle Eastern background from visiting the beach. This triggered days of revenge attacks and a huge national embarrassment. Many of the people at the beach that day prominently displayed Australian flags and paraphernalia(see photo) as if to say "We are Australians, you are not". There has been a subtle but growing sense of nationalism amongst Australia's young which certainly wasn't around when I was a teenager. It's getting a little scary. This is in part due to a very conservative government and events like the Bali bombing.
I'm proud to be Australian but as a Republican (anti Monarchy not Pro Bush) am not a fan of a flag that has a large Union Jack in the corner. Strangely I would never think to take any flag to a concert, a sporting event perhaps but a concert? Unless of course the said concert was a Kiss concert then perhaps a Kiss army flag would be appropriate. Perhaps...

A Slice, my kingdom for a Slice!

Sydney in summer is a beautiful place. One thing is missing. A simple slice of Pizza, found on nearly every corner in Manhattan. My favourite, hands down is Di Fara Pizza. Food explorers Joel and Mitch (pictured with random girl) took me out to this hidden gem in deepest darkest Brooklyn a couple of years ago. For 40 years this place has been pumping out great Pizza. We of course got several full pies. They place fresh herbs, grown on the window sill, right onto their pies. Majestic. Sydney just doesn't do good simple Pizza, and Pizza by the slice is a total rarity. Why? Australia invented Penicillin and the black box flight recorder. How hard is it to build or even import an oven big enough to produce NYC style pizza?

DiFara Pizza
1424 Ave. J, Brooklyn, NY 11230
at E. 15th St.
718-258-1367

Cross roads and spirit boundries.

A controversy has been brewing in Sydney's Bondi. The area, which features an odd mix of backpackers, professional party people and Orthodox Jewry, is debating whether or not to install motion sensor lights so that Orthodox Jewish people can cross roads safely on the Sabbath and not contradict halacha law by pushing the cross button. The Jewish community, are themselves, debating whether or not activating a motion sensor is just as bad as pushing a button. meanwhile the Anti-Semites are up in arms. "My taxes going to this etc etc."

This kind of controversy is not new. A similar storm in a tea cup raged with the local council granting permission to build a "Spirit Wall" or Eruv around this area. The wall, made up of existing walls, power lines etc is an invisible boundary in which Orthodox Jews are allowed to practise activities on the Sabbath that they normally wouldn't be able to do.An Eruv is simply a practical method of denoting the area within which carrying objects and pushing strollers & wheelchairs is permitted on Shabbat.

Interestingly the White House is enclosed in a D.C Eruv. More ammo for the conspiracists/racists.

One group that is sure to love auto crossing lights is Bondi's oft forgotten OCD population, rejoicing that they don't have to touch another germ infested cross walk button.

Whale Tail?

Whilst delving into Robin's mysterious Jean under suit case (see below) I came across a ref to a phrase that was foreign to me. WHALE TAIL. This may be a regional anomaly as the word has not yet come to Australia, but never the less, it is intruiging... Wikipedia writes-

"Whale tail is a derogatory phrase that many people have referred to since the late 1990s when thongs became trendy in fashion. The reference is used when the appearance of the waistband of a thong or g-string above the waistline of low-rise pants, shorts, or a skirt creating a shape resembling a whale's tail. It should be noted that the appearance of a whale tail is not always unintentional.
The word was selected by American Dialect Society (a group of linguists, editors and academics) in January 2006 as the "most creative word" of 2005 (beating out "muffin top", the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rise jeans.)"

Recently, Australia was exposed to the phrase "turkey slapping" ( Slapping someone on the head with your flaccid penis) when two male contestants on Australian Big Brother T.S'd a female contestant who later filed Sexual Harassment charges and lead to the Australian Prime Minister calling for the show to be banned ( apparently he wanted it replaced by continuos showings of Nazi Propaganda films.)

Denim Detective needed....

Robin from the East Village N.Y.C, a loyal reader of F.S.T ( And Buddy), has sent me an interesting photo and quandary. He writes-
"Hey Seb, As I read your blog, I've come to think of you as a resident expert on social oddities around town. This summer I had a peculiar experience I was hoping you might be able to explain. On the walk to work one warm morning, I was following a perfectly normal looking chap (i.e. not homeless or crazy) who was wearing a normal business outfit of dress pants, collared shirt and jacket. Except that i noticed what appeared to be jeans sticking out of the bottom of his dress pants. Could it be that he's wearing ratty old jeans UNDER his nice dress pants? Why would someone do such a thing? Could it be more comfortable than it looks? I ended up following him for 3 blocks out of my way before I could take this photo for future investigation. Have I stumbled upon some sort of social anomaly? Or should I start thinking of doubling up my wardrobe as well?"
thx.
Robin

I'm going to open this case up to you, dear readers and compile solutions to this riddle. First of all, we can rule out warmth as an explanation, as Robin stated that this phenomenon occurred "This Summer" and on a "warm morning". Secondly, the subject is carrying a bag, which rules out that he didn't have anywhere to carry the offending jeans. Perhaps he has some form of Vestiphobia- Fear of clothing. He can't handle the feel of suits against his skin and has to wear denim underneath as a buffer. perhaps he also has a secret fetish towards denim A.K.A Jeans fetishism. Wikipedia has an article on J.F that states that "J.F is a sexual fetish relating to jeans or denim, particularly worn by women but also by men. It can also involve printed or electronic material with jeans being worn". Or lastly he works a boring corp job and wears these babies underneath to remind him that he is still a rock god and just working for the man until his big break comes along...Intriguing, thanks Robin. Readers?

Smoko Bro? No? Art Deco decanter perhaps?

The bottom end of Roslyn street Kings Cross was, a year ago, a wasteland patrolled by pot dealers and the destitute. Now, this mini area is undergoing a boom. There are currently 3 little antique stores, a health consultancy, a funky hairdresser and the ever present Piccolo Bar (since 1950!). These shops were nearly all vacant. Good to see. It's not rivalling Sydney's Antique strip of Queen street just yet but it is a positive development to a forgotten little corner. The public space facing these shops is also being used for monthly tango nights. Of Course, the bums are still there, as are the dealers. At least now they have something to look at.

Junk in the trunk? Nein Danke!

When driving through the streets of Paddington I always check out the street treasures disposed on the side of the road. This haul was a massive disappointment. (1) Ergonomic chair/stool and (1) mid Nineties CD tower. My how the IPOD has put those towers out of biz. Who needs to show off their massive "Simple Minds" collection anymore? As for the ergo chair, these babies were never going to stand the test of time. Finding these two obsolete articles together was a score. The picture would have been complete with the presence of an Ab-Roller, a copy of the Atkins diet book and club lock....

The last of the....

As seen on the streets of Kings X, a replica of the Police pursuit car from Mad Max(Road Warrior). Dr George Miller has his office in the Cross perhaps these guys were paying him a visit. Max Rockatansky must rank as one of the great hero names...

Secret garden

On the corner of Ward Ave and Bayswater Road in Kings X an eccentric local has fashioned a Japanese style garden using found objects from around the area. It reminds me of all those great community gardens in the L.E.S/East Village in NYC minus the Puerto Rican flags. If you live in Sydney check it out sometime.

A Dr in the House...

I may be getting ahead of myself or am hopelessly behind the times but I have noticed a sharp spike in sightings of CHERRY RED DOC'S in the last week. Three and counting. I have seen them around since the mid 90's demise, (usually on 40 year olds who never left uni), a fashion icon such as these never goes out of favour completely but is this a resurgence? I have seen Black Doc's popping up for a while but this is new. I'm sure that if I'm seeing them in Sydney then they've been popping up in NYC for about six months or so. Perhaps they have been and gone or I just missed them but...Fashion, you fickle whore.

One Blood Heart.

This is my friend Case from L.A. She is an aficionado of gang culture. Here she demonstrates the proper way to throw down the gang sign for BLOOD. Please note Case works as a Nanny and she has no known gang affiliations, she is demonstrating merely for educational purposes...Regardless, her face has been hidden to protect her identity.

MAZE-Y STAR

I'm going to do a few posts about secret spots in Sydney. This is a great little parquetry maze in Paddington. Featured is my friend Nush. She took four hours to complete it...

Page against the Machine.

Here are three examples of folks rallying against the Man with just a spray can in their hand...
The "Cops Sux" one is interesting. It is on the wall of the Kings X police station. Brazen. Not sure if Sucks is abbreviated to SUX anywhere but Australia. I am probably wrong about this but as with a lot of my theories, this is based on very slim evidence and a gut feeling...I've spent some time in Bondi recently and there seems to be a very consistent campaign to incapacitate parking meters, which is good because Bondi is saturated with them. Here is an example of a parking sign attack. In Australia if you get a ticket and anything is wrong with the sign you can get off. Lastly, STOP ME which I will...Now.

The Never ending (ZOO) story.

For the last month I've been working on an underground performance of Ed Albee's The Zoo Story in an old radiator repair shop in Bondi that's been transformed into a gallery/workshop place called the Brick Lane Worshop. The play is a two hander with Steve Kilbey (lead singer of the Church) They say you should never meet your idols but Steve's been great. We did our first preview and it went swell. The whole thing has been amazing. It's grungy theatre outside of the traditional black boxes. Had a funny experience last night. Steve and I were in the wings waiting to go on and for a moment I felt like a rock star. Steve was doing his Qi Gong relaxation exercises and every once in a while stopping to tell me a story about rock and roll excess. It was so cool. Steve also has a blog www.stevekilbey.blogspot.com it's loaded with his poetry and musings and is filled with comments from his devoted fans. We are doing two more performances and then looking at maybe taking the play down to Melbourne. Will keep you updated. This is also by way of explanation as to why the old posting machine has slowed down. Happy new year!

Hakoah Sham-rocks and rolls...

Jewish people excel in a wide variety of sports. However, Jews are not traditionally associated with Gaelic football or Hurling. This could all be about to change. Bondi beach's own HAKOAH club has started televising Setanta Sports the 24 hour sports network devoted to Irish sports. This bastion of Jewish Culture has apparently opened its doors to the throngs of thirsty Irish backpackers who fill Bondi these days. How long will it be before Bondi's young Hassidim embrace Gaelic sport? Also,
interesting in terms of the global war on terror, the Hakoah club was the site of a bombing in 1982. One of the few acts of terrorism in Australian history. No connection obviously, but interesting.

King Kong Ping Pong.

There is a petition floating around to build a concrete Table Tennis table in Surry Hills, right by the Police Centre. You can find a petition at the wall cafe or by e-mailing: pingpongpark@hotmail.com
This is a great idea. Would love one in the Cross too....