Get those jazz hands ready

Friday night is the premiere of my sister’s very own high school musical.  I’m sure it will be a great night and that everyone will be wowed by the sheer musical genius of the chorus. 

Good Luck!

Banana cinnamon pancakes

Sounds good right?  I decided to make these pancakes the other day not because I had some fantastic recipe but because I had some rapidly ripening bananas that I had to use before they turned to mush.  So here’s the recipe.

• 1 cup SR flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1-2 tbspns cinnamon
• 2-3 tbspns sugar
• dash salt

pancake ingredients

In a bowl combine flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon.  To this mix add milk and egg.  Whisk till combined.  Add mashed bananas and stir till combined thoroughly.  Mixture is ready to cook up in frying pan.

mmmmm... pancakes

I found this mixture made 7 large pancakes but would make a lot more pikelet sized ones if necessary.  The pancakes were tasty (especially with some maple syrup).

More Southbank images

I took more pictures of Southbank during my trip to Brisbane for the Game On exhibition.  Here’s a few of the other good ones.  It was a beautiful day to be out and about.

Surely every large city has one of these by now?

The wheel is right by the river, conveniently situated right near the tour bus drop off point.

Brisbane river with citycat and central library in view

I like being in cities with a river flowing through them (even if it is an interesting shade of brown).  The central library is the partly blue building hiding behind the bridge and flyovers.

The older Queensland Art Gallery

We also now have a Gallery of Modern Art nearby but I don’t have picture of that building yet.  This is the one I grew up visiting.  Some of the artworks are so familiar it can throw me off when they get moved (as galleries tend to do with their collections from time to time).

Protest over markets continue

Following on from my post over Easter about the changes afoot at the Green Flea market in West End, the protests over the change in management are ongoing, with other community organisations revealing they also had tenders knocked back.  The protest has made it’s way to City Hall, but Council are standing firm on their decision to appoint Blue Sky Events as new management for the markets.  ABC news has posted an article about the decision with interviews with market founder Peta Hackworth and some of the stallholders.

By hook or by crook…

… is the name of book about English that I’ve recently finished reading.  Written by linguist and author David Crystal it is a rambling exploration of words, placenames and the ever changing state of English.  Researched during his travels for the BBC series Voices, he examines the languages, accents and places he comes across.  The book is subtitled A journey in search of English, but it possibly should have been subtitled A journey in search of Welsh.  Crystal focuses very much on the Welsh language during his travels through Wales and the surrounding English countryside. 

It’s a good read, full of anecdotes and interesting tidbits, and I learnt more about the Welsh language.  I was interested in the sections relating to Anglo Saxon and Celtic languages and how they have influenced modern English and English placenames.  I’m aware from other books about English I’ve read that the influence of these language diminished somewhat in the face of incoming Germanic influence (which can be seen in the very basis of English as a Germanic language).  I’d like to read more about Anglo Saxon and Celtic loan words in English. David Crystal also has a blog which can be accessed here.

More rainbow cupcakes

These ones aren’t so blindingly colourful as the last lot but they are quite cute.

Surfers Paradise (but is it really?)

In the time I’ve lived on the Coast I’ve visited the tourist hotspot known as Surfers Paradise a handful of times.  I tend to avoid it because it is very touristy, often crowded and I generally think of it as a bit tacky.  And when I refer to Surfers I do tend to focus on the area surrounding Cavill Ave which is the most commercial.  When I was younger and visited the Coast for holidays it wasn’t so bad, Cavill Mall was relatively new and home to Grundy’s which was very exciting in the eighties.  It fortunes have waxed and waned over years and it does appear to be on an upswing again but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s mostly for visitors.

In an effort to acquaint myself with this part of world a bit more I decided to go and have a wander around Surfers and really have a better look at what’s on offer.  I travelled in for late lunch which was just as well because thanks to continual roadworks and traffic from ever present day trippers the drive there always takes longer than it should even on a Sunday.  I walked through newly developed areas I hadn’t been in before and through older areas to see what had changed.  The shops didn’t do much for me, lots of clothes and knickknacks. I had a lady stop me and ask where she could find a bookstore and the only one I could think of was in Cavill Mall which was nowhere near where we were at the time (I’ll admit the fact I don’t go there often did contribute to my lax local knowledge).

It’s main redeeming feature is the increasing number of restaurants and food outlets.  The sheer number of kebab shops and pubs within a small area points towards a very healthy party scene.  But it’s the other restaurants and cafes that make Surfers worth visiting. There are delicious Korean, Chinese, Thai and Japanese restaurants tucked down dodgy arcades.  I caught sight of few bubble tea shops too, of which I am a fan.  Newer areas such as Chevron Renaissance and Circle on Cavill are also home to some swish restaurants and cafes. 

chicken and noodles

 On Sunday I visited Uno’s which is a Korean restaurant, barbeque and bar at Circle on Cavill.  The food was delicious (though I was fighting the wind to eat my food before it got cold).  Korean fried dumplings are the best.  Even though I was eating by myself I ordered a starter (the delicious dumplings) as well as a stir fried noodles and chicken set.  The sets came with a side of soy bean soup (like miso) and two other side dishes (the kimchi was crunchy and a little spicy and the other non-spicy, starchy and mashed potato like).  The dumplings also came with two choices of dipping sauce - one spicy, the other not.  I was very full by the time I was done but it was worth it.  A few weeks ago I had dinner with friends at a Korean restaurant in the Centre Arcade (didn’t catch the name) and the food there was also excellent.  Again, the dumplings were a winner.

I'd already eaten two dumplings by the time I thought to take a photo

I took a few photos by the beach but it was too much glare (as always) for them to turn out well.  I also took some shots of a massive bigscreen at Circle on Cavill that was set up for kids to play Nintendo Wii on, but the strobing from the massive screen means those photos were no good either.

all the little side dishes

I finished of my trip to Surfers by relaxing with a coffee and some trashy magazines in one of the many coffee shops in the area.  Remind me not to support the corporate megalith by buying Starbucks coffee ever again.  I know I bought a latte but it tasted kind of bland.  I don’t know if it was the milk to coffee ratio or the actual taste of whatever coffee beans they were using but I wouldn’t buy there again.  It should have been a bit of a tip off when I stirred in my sugar and the foam stayed very pale and white.  After reading Starbucked last year I should have known better.

Garnished but not Tarnished

On Saturday night I took a trip into Brisbane with some friends to see Garnished, the newest extravaganza from La La Parlour (I link but their site has some issues).  I’d seen their show Tarnished on two previous occasions and it’s a riot of circus, burlesque and very amusing mayhem.  Garnished saw two of the La La Parlour performers, Tigerlil and Kellie Vella, teaming up with two male performers Mark Winmill and Rudi Mineur.  A number of the La La Parlour members have performed on the now defunct ABC show The Sideshow, as well as at various festivals around the world (including most recently the Adelaide Fringe).

the entertaining foursome

 The show itself was great.  It was very funny, entertaining, slightly risque and very tongue in cheek.  The aerial, acrobatic and circus feats need to seen to believed.  The show was set to a great array of music and featured a few choice wigs (the mulleted strong man was par excellence).  Costuming was as beautiful (and as saucy) as ever.  If any of the shows come your way you should definitely go see them!

High in the hills…(in Vietnam)

And just for a change of scenery, here are some pics of my trip to Vietnam last year.  Most of these are from the trip north to Sapa where we went on an overnight hike and stayed in a homestay where much rice wine was consumed.

view from below - we'd been at the top just minutes earlier

terraced rice paddies near Sapa

curious local kids at the window

river flowing through a village close to Sapa

Vietnam was beautiful, my pictures don’t really do the scenery justice (though they’re not to bad by my standards).

Presidential picture book

I don’t know what your thoughts may be on the current American president but he does have good taste in children’s books.  Check out Obama reading the classic “Where the Wild Things are“. 

And if you’re on of the sad sacks who haven’t watched the movie trailer yet, check it out on youtube.  I’m still not sure about the clip but it won’t stop me seeing the movie in the end because I love the book so much.