On ‘The Stream’, confronting #danielgate

Following on from my #Danielgate post on this blog, and several comments on Twitter, the producers of Al Jazeera English’s program ‘The Stream’ invited me to submit a video comment for their episode, ‘Moroccans confront child sex tourism’.

You can see a video of the episode here (please note it might be blocked for US readers). My comment related to the Moroccan Minister for Tourism’s denial that sex tourism exists in the country. I appear in the first 10 minutes, but I encourage you to watch the whole episode (30 minutes).

The Stream website 'Moroccans confront child sex tourism'
The Stream website ‘Moroccans confront child sex tourism’

My five favourite things: Hobart

Hobart, the capital of the ‘Apple Isle’ Tasmania, is also home to good friends of mine, so I’ve been lucky to be a frequent visitor. Here are my five favourite things from Australia’s postcode 7000:

1. Fresh air and attitude: The minute you arrive at the airport, everything is more chilled – both in attitude, and probably temperature too. The air is fresh, the surrounds are quieter, and less traffic and rushing just makes for a great wind-down. Slow food, not fast food, is popular so why not pick up some local goods as Salamanca Market, and then enjoy it in Saint Davids Park nearby, before wandering the old streets and get some fresh air into your lungs.

2. Pigeon Hole: Known as ‘Pidge’ to my friends, as the real name suggests, it does not have the largest floor plan, but the food is delicious, the menu reliable, and the feel very neighbourly. Each time I’ve been here, the baked eggs with taleggio cheese, preserved lemon and parsley have been impossible to go past. A good spot for coffee or quick brunch (or a takeaway tasty cake). All bread is made by ‘Pidge’ at their offsite bakery (and the bread you are served at many a local restaurant is probably from Pigeon Hole).

3. Tip shops: You read right. It is a shop full of things salvaged from the tip. In line with Tasmania’s reputation for having a strong environmental conscience, you can find books, homewares, old electrical goods, pre-loved porcelain, window frames, doors and baths from/for renovations, kids toys and clothes. Go to the tip shops to find a bargain, pick up a pre-loved trinket, or just remind yourself how much good stuff we often throw away.

4. Garagistes restaurant/Sidecar bar: I’m not someone who regularly eats in fancy restaurants but I do appreciate great chef and menu, and I’ve been to this restaurant twice. Garagistes is all about local food and produce, on a set menu, with a Scandinavian influence (the owner worked at the famed Noma in Denmark for a little while). However, I do regularly eat dessert, and their dish featuring basil meringue and honeycomb, among other delicious ingredients, is still my all-time favourite. There are no reservations, but it opens early for dinner so get there early. If you can’t get a seat straight away, you can wait around the corner at their cosy bar, Sidecar.

5. Mona: The the Museum of Old and New Art is contemporary hotspot that made Hobart a magnet for the mainland, and into the Lonely Planet Top 10 Cities. Owned by the very wealthy David Walsh, this museum is filled with his private, eclectic, and at times a little weird, art collection. There are famous names, not so famous names, and a few things you might need to explain to the kids. What there isn’t: labels on the wall next to the art, because you will be given an iPod that will GPS track where you are in the museum, and tell you what you a looking at. Mona also runs a festival, ‘Mona Foma’ in January, which has hosted acts including PJ Harvey and Amanda Palmer, and regularly has concerts on the grounds. Good art needs to enlight all of the senses, so on site is also a restaurant, brewery, winery, cafe, boutique hotel and you can even arrange to make it your final resting place. And don’t worry about finding your way there — there are special Mona ferry and bus services from the centre of the city. The best bit? Entrance is free for Tasmanians, so Mona is making art accessible to more people than ever.

Salamanca Market
Across the water
Looking out from Pigeon Hole Cafe
Good things come in small packages
Renovation supplies
Books and more
Preloved porcelain
Recycled art
My glass and vase from the tip shop
Saturday night at the bar
X marks the spot
Waterfall art
Inside Mona
Amanda Palmer does Violent Femmes at Mona Foma festival
Mona Foma festival
Cat Power at Mona

Washington D.C.

Photos from an organised day tour to Washington D.C. More photos can be seen on Flickr.

En route to Washington D.C.
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My five favourite things: Flatiron District

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I’ve been lucky enough to stay in the Flatiron District a couple of times now and am a big fan of the area. Right in the centre of things, surrounded by buildings, business, parks and shopping, here are my five favourite things in the neighbourhood:

1. Grand buildings – the reason the area has its name: the Flatiron Building. Built by merchant Amos Eno, this Daniel Burnham & Co. design is pretty special, and for a long time was the tallest in Manhattan. Not as big as its Empire and Chrysler sisters, it is has as many people stop for a photo and stare. Keeping the Flatiron company, just across the park, are the Metlife Building and New York Life Building.

2. Eataly – if you are not in Italy, and it is Italian food and produce you want, this is your happy place. Opened by Oscar Farinetti, there is coffee, cheese, chocolate, gelato, fresh meat, fish and pasta, fruit and vegetables, wine, beer, bakery, cookbooks, Alessi overload, sit down or stand up restaurants (yes, stand up – a trend that was started here), and rooftop to sample some of Eataly’s own brews. It is hectic, it is busy, and there is plenty of Italian tourists dropping in, so if that isn’t an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

3. Homewares shopping — There are great shops all over New York, but there are two special gems worth mentioning in this area: Marimekko — the Finnish design company; and ABC Carpet & Home — 10 floors of gorgeous things for the home, that has been around since 1897. Both are in the historic ‘Ladies Mile’ area, where women of the 1800s used to flock to to shop (I recall from a tour, without a reference, that it wasn’t named so just because of the shopping, it is because it was an area that women had permission to walk without a man/or that men weren’t meant to be without a woman — I’ll check and update this post when I have the facts).

4. Madison Square Park – ‘Mad Square’, in summer, is lush and green and has lots of seating for some time out as there is always something going on here. There is a dog park if your four-legged friend needs a run, a Shake Shack for beverages, lawns for a picnic, and maybe a spot of public art.

5. Bleu Sur Bleu — This might seem a little random, but if you have ever tried to find a new doctor, dentist or hairdresser in a new town or city, you will appreciate the needle-in-haystack experience finding a new place for a cut can be. I was lucky to find Bleu Sur Bleu’s Flatiron salon, and have success with the results, so I’m sharing my find. Great colour from Iliana, cut and style from Jose, and shampooing from Carmen (Don’t forget to tip everyone at the end!).

Flatiron District
Flatiron District
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Summer rooftop dining: lamb chops on roasted artichokes with pesto sauce.
Flatiron District

Are you a phubber?

Phubber: Someone who engages in phubbing. 

Phubbing: The act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention to them. 

‘Stop Phubbing’ is a campaign against bad mobile etiquette developed by a Melbourne university student while on work experience, and it is slowly making its way around the world.

With some help from his work experience employer McCann, 23-year-old Alex Haigh developed a (humourous) website to bring attention to these bad manners which, let’s admit it, annoy us all (and we’ve probably been guilty of doing at least once).

The website has some fun ‘facts’ (’97 per cent of people claim their food tasted worse while being a victim of phubbing’), and suggestions for curing people of the affliction (‘stage an intervention’). Alex has also created posters for cafes and restaurants, and some handy downloads (my favourite is the wedding place card reminding people to enjoy the moment).

Alex told Melbourne’s Herald Sun “It has exploded, I’ve spoken to the BBC, people in Shanghai are making contact…the BBC was receiving ten tweets a minute on the topic yesterday morning.”

As to why it has been such a success? “I never expected this in the slightest. It’s one of those things that regardless of where you are, everyone has experienced it.”

The campaign is proof that a simple idea can go a long way if people connect with it, and it helps to solve a problem; in this case, drawing attention to the newest of bad manners.

Now all Alex needs it for ‘phubbing’ to be made official, and politely make its way into the Oxford Dictionary.

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