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Monthly Archives: March 2012

I am always thinking about my blog and excited about any new photos I may take or find. Unfortunately my health is extremely poor at the moment. I have been finding it hard to read other blogs lately, let alone post on mine, so it is time for a formal break until things improve. I hope I will be well enough to get back on task again very soon.

Meanwhile this recent pic, taken when on my way to visit yet another specialist, pretty well sums up how I am feeling about stopping the blog.  I am lucky, as I can still get a lot out of my limited energy, thus this series of pics doesn’t sum up how I feel about my life, which despite everything, is exciting and interesting in its own unique way.

The new “do” requires some explanation. After having taken three years to grow out the last one, I swore I would never get a dye-job again.

Last week, Mum decided I needed a haircut (as mums do) and, as I couldn’t be fagged making the appointment, she lined one up and sent me off. The situation of being in thrall to my mother’s opinion about my “coiff”, is as much a symptom of my infirmity as due to the fact that I HATE hairdressers. I swore black and blue that I would return with a light trim almost indistinguishable from the shag I was sporting. However as I have no defences against flattery, and NO sales resistance whatsoever, I was wooed into accepting the above style. Hmmm.

AFTER the dye was on, the owner, who had been the force behind the obsequious fawning that lead to my being held prisoner to the chemicals for three hours, came over and threw in the following statement for good measure, “That grey hair was doing you no favours. It was making you look so old”. In front of 6 pensioners, I loudly told him that if he had said that before the process had begun, I would have told him to fuck off. Ahhh, how he laughed! How strange of him to think I was joking…

On the day of the event, I posted on Facebook the Photocabine series you can see above. I did so, as much as anything, because my friend Marcelle told me to!  I was overwhelmed by all the comments from my, hitherto undeclared, legions of admirers. I was especially thrilled by the comment of my brother -in-law, Timo, who is now my favourite person in the multiverse. He thought I looked younger than when we first met 14 years ago. Yes, I am a true sucker for a compliment!

Hasta luego a todos. I will be back asap with more pics and ramblings.

PS The hair was only straightened temporarily. I am way too fond of my monstrous mop-head to farewell it for long.

27 July 1997, Luna Park, Melbourne

Rosie, the daughter of my friends Del and Linds of London, came to visit me in Australia just before her 17th birthday.

Adjectives to describe Ros –

  • beautiful
  • intelligent
  • sensitive
  • compassionate
  • quirky
  • funny
  • articulate
  • exasperating
  • loveable
  • gorgeous
  • messy
  • loyal
  • messy
  • adorable
  • messy

With reference to the repeated appearance of the word messy to describe my adopted sister, I was still finding jelly tots in odd places in the room in which Rosie slept, three months after her departure.

This strip is part of the series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here.

photobooth30:06:1997

30 June 1997, Flinders Street Station, Melbourne

On my way to the Performing Arts Museum at the Melbourne Arts Centre. It is now called the Performing Arts Collection, as the museum, which was established in 1979, no longer has a permanent exhibition space.

Some of the collection is available to view online. Particularly interesting is the almost 7000 photographs that document the history of the performing arts in Melbourne.

I still have the swing-coat I am wearing in this two shot colour photobooth photo. I made it while working at Liberty in London. It is incredibly luxurious, hand-woven Irish boucle wool. It is barely cold enough in Australia to wear very often, but I love it so much and did such a fine job of it, I think I will keep it forever.

3 May 1997, Spencer Street Station, Melbourne

These booth photos were taken on the way to meet friends to do a short cycling holiday from Daylesford to Castlemaine, with stops planned at picturesque campsites along the way. My partner Garth was one of the troupe. We caught the train part of the way and then started pedalling. It rained the whole time we were away. Camping in such wet conditions, was out of the question as far as I was concerned. I had no problem riding for hours each day in the rain, so long as I could be dry, clean and warm each evening. Cheap accommodation in the region isn’t hard to get, as normal, sensible tourists tend to stay at home when it is bucketing down!

The bizarre white thing on my head is what passed for a safety helmet in those days.

Original size

There are many of these unusual format photos listed online as photobooth photos but I am still unsure as to whether that description is entirely correct. I cannot imagine an automatic photobooth this size. On page 125 of  Näkki Goranin’s book American Photobooth, there is an example of this type of photo illustrated, leading me to believe that they must have existed somewhere, at sometime. However, I can find no mention of this type of booth in the text of the book.

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photobooth25-01-1997Edited

25 January 1997, Flinders Street Station, Melbourne

On the way to meet friends at a favourite Japanese restaurant in Melbourne, Kunis.

I was introduced to Japanese food in the early 1980s by a school friend’s much older, extremely sophisticated (in my eyes) boyfriend. At the time there were only two authentic Japanese restaurants in Melbourne. Now there are dozens.

Kunis was the first Japanese restaurant I went to and is  Melbourne’s oldest having opened in 1978. It is a special event to go there even now.

This strip is part of the series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here.

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