The Athenaeum Library – Melbourne

First Floor, 188 Collins Street, Melbourne. Literally a Melbourne Institution, the Athenaeum Library is an oasis among the desert of commerce in the heart of Melbourne, a quiet place to sit, read, reflect.  More power to it!

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France Soir

December 16, 2014 | Posted by Lesley Jakobsen | LIFE, Restaurants, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

Google Maps suggested that we could walk to this restaurant from our Melbourne central hotel. Wrong. Luckily we chose to cab it through the leafy suburbs to this hole in the wall gem.  France Soir is a treat. The provincial French theme may not suit those hardy souls who prefer minimalism and modernity but it suited TVC right down to the butter (butter!) served with the bread. The garlic snails were too garlicky for words and the bouef bourginon was black and unctuous. Pommes frittes come with the main courses. We were invited to have another drink despite the diners…

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Jamie’s Italian – Adelaide (with a Minority Report)

December 9, 2014 | Posted by Lesley Jakobsen | LIFE, Restaurants, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

TVC ventured with friends L and M to Jamie Oliver’s eponymous restaurant in a restyled bank – an immense vault – on King William Street.  Having valiantly resited the Jamieabilia for sale in the lobby shop the diner is then assaulted by a tsumani of sound and the unappetising sight of a sea of cafe-like booths. However, the further end of the restaurant is slightly more impressive, with individual tables and banquettes, low lighting and  tall, bare windows.  The “marble” bar, hung with red peppers and sausage lights, is an imaginative (if not authentic) rendering of an Italian lunch counter.  People who…

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Ariadne & Theseus at the Mortlock Chamber

Picture courtesy of Dr Daniela Kaleva

To the Mortlock Chamber in the State Library of SA, to hear L’Arianna abbandonata e gloriosa and Lamento d’Arianna (1608), works reconstructed from Monteverdi’s fragmented scores, with solo voice and harpsichord, accompanied by the odd stage effect to evoke waves crashing on lonely Naxos, where (failed Argonaut) Theseus has parked Ariadne to show his gratitude for her help surviving the labyrinth on Minos. This paring away eschews the go-for-baroque approach that could overwhelm the purity of the harmonics, which are quite reminiscent of Purcell’s Dido pieces…

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The Phoney Chinese Box in Film

November 24, 2014 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | FILM, FOOD, LIFE, Ulalume |

L found one in New York!

Walk into any Chinatown in the world and you will struggle to find these. You can buy them online but they are not cheap.  Yet they seem to show up, unbilled, in every other film and television show.  Our list is below, suggested additions are welcome: Affliction AGL gas advertisement Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy The Bank Bewitched Big Bang Theory Bobby Borgen (Danish TV) Bugsy The Caretaker Catch Me if you Can Columbo Curb Your Enthusiasm Decoding Annie Parker Deconstructing Harry Dexter Election End of Days Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Family Guy A Few Good Men…

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