Tim Goldsmith

Like 4 million other Aussies, I was glued to my screen on Sunday evening as Adam (who, may I brag, I picked as my winner about a month ago) came up trumps against Callum. Most often I like to pretend that I am above this popular stuff. After all, I must be cool enough to watch shows that haven’t even been created yet, right? This series I have been hook-line-sinker. Last year I couldn’t watch the final. It felt a little too contrived & I get particularly frustrated by the sophmoric ways they try & build tension through endless repetition & the competitors commentating on their own actions, like they are somehow living the moment & watching the moment at the same time, but this year I thought the final was well weighted, different enough to keep me interested & (despite my early prediction) had enough “real” tension for me to ignore the way channel 10 insulted me with their child-like production.

Today though, I thought I heard an interesting question while listening to ABC radio. Richard Glover asked “do you really think the show will change food habits, or is this just the perfect thing for people to watch while eating fast food?”

I have to admit, I’ve eaten large servings of ice cream while watching “The Biggest Loser“, and on more than one occasion, I have eaten dodgy comfort food (though, mum, if you’re reading, you’ll be happy to hear we rarely if ever eat fast food these days) while watching Masterchef. Have I attempted any of these high-falutin’ recipies? No. Has it changed my attitude to food? Yes, I still think it has. It is exciting to see how far things can be taken. It’s great to see people with basic ingredients delivering amazing meals. It’s a nice challenge to make me ask whether I am being more thoughtful with my food? And who knows, maybe one day I will even have a decent crack at a recipe or two.

What do you think? Has Masterchef changed the way you look at food?

(To my American friends, particularly foodies like Megan, if you still read my blog, you can follow the link to Masterchef & watch full episodes online. Not only would it be fun to watch Australian TV, but man, there is some great food in this show!)

OK, so here is my theory.

“Movies” are those things that run for about two hours. Their chief purpose is to make lots of money for the people who make them. At the same time, they hope that they might manage to tell some kind of worthwhile story.

“Cinema” are those pieces of art that run for about two hours. When someone makes a piece of cinematic art, their intention is usually to share a story. At the same time, they are usually hoping that their piece of cinema also makes some money. (Of course, in a modern world where everything has to be economically rationalised, this kind of cinema is becoming rarer. Usually it is only the talented, famous, or established who have the chance to go for “cinematic art” because they are likely to have an “economic guarantee” because of their name. )

Do you have examples of each? What movies do you think manage to achieve being both?

Discuss!

I went & photographed Shannyn & the Gheevatron’s wedding on Saturday (Geeve doesn’t even have an “H” in it, but it “Gheevatron” just looks better). It was my first wedding in a while, I was solo & I really felt the pressure.

I wont post any more pictures, cause I feel like they should look at them first. This is usually my fave of any wedding anyway. All the dresses, suits, cars, bomboniere, flittering people and impressive speeches melt away next to a simple gesture as two people join together and become one. Everything else is a bit foreign on the day. We’ve all seen weddings but (hopefully) this is the first time we’re in one. Yet in all that is so different, what a lovely thing to see two hands together & feel a sense of familiarity that transcends it all!

Well there you go.

My computing Guru Chris has switched me over to “moveable type” and the hope is that this will sort out the issues we’ve been having with comments.

Only one way to find out if it’s true people!

So, there seems to be a general freeze in the blogosphere, so I figured now’s the time to fire something off myself.

Three year!

It certainly has gone quickly.

I guess it’s only Four years since we met, so that’s not a huge amount of time in the scheme of things. But they have been the best years of my life.

A beautiful wife, a lovely daughter, another on the way… it doesn’t get much better.

We got to celebrate by heading into the city for a night by ourselves for the first time since “Pumpkin” was born. I can’t say enough nice things about the Shangri-la. The view from our room was awesome, the room itself was comfy, the cocktail bar (a free cocktail was included with our stay! Woo Hoo!) was awesome, and it was close to all the fun stuff in the city!

So, sanctity of our marriage, I’ll avoid posting pics of my beloved without permission, but I will include some of the the sights & sounds of the evening.

We loved the view from our room. It was pretty during the day & stunning at night!!

This little puppy is called “A Pear of Sidecars” and was awesome. It felt sophisticated to start the evening with a complimentary cocktail. Even better, the non-alcoholic one that Shona got was just as tasty as mine! That’s always a good sign.

Oh man, Red Oak in the city was the most awesome surprise of the evening! I’d heard of this micro-brewery, but this was the first time I had been there. What you see above is a meat tasting plate. From top to bottom it is

1. Prosciutto, bocconcini and baby rocquette salad accompanied by a tasting size of their award winning bitter
2. Chicken and shitake mushroom croquette with tomato confit accompanied by organic pale ale.
3. Pork, duck and walnut terrine with pickled eggplant accompanied by Irish red ale, and finally
4. Baltic Porter and Swiss brown mushroom moussakka accompanied by an oatmeal stout, possibly the nicest stout I’ve ever had.

For mains we shared a Chicken with a parsley & bacon farce braised baby cos lettuce, crushed potato preserved lemon and a spinach and pear relish, as well as Limestone Coast Lamb Sausages, with Oatmeal Stout, garlic, black pepper and parsley, served on a herb mashed potato with Oatmeal Stout jus.

The dessert was the thing I was waiting for, keen to try icecream or chocolates made with beer, but we were so full that I had to hold off!

The “Fraimboise Froment” Raspberry beer was pretty darn amazing too.

We decided to walk off some of our food, cruising down to the harbour. Of course, by the time we had walked for a bit, we found ourselves ready for dessert & the Guylian store.

The Passionfruit & chocolate torte was TDF!

So there we go. It was great to have a little time off & even better to have a food & foto night! Good times had by all!