Celebrity watch

One of the things about living in a big city is that you occasionally see celebrities wandering about town. For the most part, the ones I have spotted have mostly been D-listers (former game show hosts, reality tv contestants). That was until yesterday when I nearly ran into an actor going into a yum cha restaurant. I tried to be discrete and refrained from gawping. Nathan was behind me talking to our friend, Pales, who is a big Winners and Losers fan. They were too engrossed in their conversation and didn't realise what had just happened.

Me: Did you see who we just walked past?
Pales: Who?
Me: The pretty girl from Winners and Losers.
Nathan: Really?
Pales: No way, I have my phone. Let's go. I want to take a picture.
Me: No...we are not going to stalk her now. Do you know how hard it is to get a table here?

The hot Chilean

Ok, so I have to say something about the very attractive Chilean man who was also at dinner last night. Oh. My. God.

The moment he walked into the restaurant, I turned to my friend and the following quick word were exchanged...

Me: "He is very attractive."
She: "I know. Unfortunately, he is gay. My friends thought you were single and were trying to get him to sit next to you but I told her you already had a partner."
Me: "What a pity, I was thinking more for you".
She: "Yeah...the cute ones are always gay dammit".

We both spent the evening trying not to stare. The guy oozes sex appeal. What is it about South Americans? Sexy. Warm. Charismatic. Actually, I have yet to meet an ugly Chilean (Does such a person even exist?). Luckily the food was very spicy so my friend and I could blame our flushed faces on the sichaun pepper and chilli oil.

Sichuan with Mexicans

I just came back from a wonderful evening with a bunch of Latin Americans, many of whom I had never met before. I was my friend's 'plus one' for the evening and the dinner was, to my surprise, at a Sichuan restaurant in the city. Sichuan is a province in China famous for being home to the iconic giant panda. For those unfamiliar with Sichuan cuisine, it is renown for being intensely spicy. All the dishes came either smothered in chilli flakes or swimming in chilli oil. Despite my chinese heritage, I felt completely out of my depth. Fortunately, my new friends knew the restaurant well and selected some amazingly fiery and delicious dishes. What a surreal night...unfamiliar chinese food with (mostly) Mexicans. What an amazing country we live in.

Black vs white

I did something very unusual the other evening. I actually went out...on a week night!

I went to see an aboriginal activist talk about black sovereignty. What a depressing talk that ended up being. The man was just so angry (and, unfortunately, I think he will be angry for the rest of his life). He sees himself as a victim. He spoke about genocide and oppression by white people and white people's laws (I felt so profoundly sorry for all the white people sitting in the audience).

I later spoke to one of my gallery friends who has spent decades working directly with senior indigenous artist and she tells me that the aboriginal elders she got to know were such joyful, gracious people that were intent on moving forward (despite being directly touched by the protectionist and assimilation laws that saw their displacement from traditional lands and the creation of the stolen generations). In those people, she never saw or felt any resentment whatsoever.

So...the contrast...the bitter urban activist and the joyful desert-dwelling elders.

The $5.2 million Madonna

Went to see this on Thursday:

Evidently, according to newspaper reports, the purchase price of $5.2 million was a real bargain. I then spent the rest of my time gawping at a very attractive art teacher who was chaperoning a group of students through the early european paintings.

National costume wtf?

Sadly, this is NOT a costume for next year's mardi gras. Nope. This is actually the outfit that is suppose to represent our national costume for the Miss Universe pagent. Isn't it hideous (the dress, not the girl)?
The bra looks like it has been constructed from several yellow jockstraps and the dress seems to be made from a bunch of over-stetched used condoms/balloons/granny undies.

London burning

Hmmm...all this civil unrest in London reminds me of William Golding's classic book The Lord of the Flies. It's amazing how easily things can degenerate.