I was gonna write a really meaningful reflection on 2011, but I realised that I didn’t really have anything that interesting to say. Well, if i did I probably already said it to Aaron the other night when we caught up over a few quiet drinks (which I hope you get to do before the year is out. I’m really glad we did it. Parties are cool, but a low-key session is important too)
So instead I present to you… a completely self-indulgent list of things I think are cool which I discovered throughout the year. Stop reading now if you are after some well-thought-out reflections.
Here are some things that brought joy into my life in 2011:
Eat & Drink:
- Sunday afternoon music at Cloudland. A light-filled fantasy garden sanctuary amidst the dark Fortitude Valley seedy-ness
- MoVeda Bar de Tapas, Melbourne CBD
- Babimpup at Hong Depot Korean BBQ in West End
- Kimono Sushi, Melbourne St, South Brisbane
- Swampdog: new gourmet Fish & Chips joint on Vulture St, South Brisbane
- The End, new-ish bar on Vulture St where Trash Video used to be, has their own amazing locally brewed beers
- Kerbside, a mishmash of used furniture and random stuff in a warehouse filled with the biggest collection of beers and wines in Brisbane Fortitude Valley, with very well-dressed staff
- Russian Market in Phnom Penh (also shopping)
- Doi Chang Coffee, Thailand, especially their cafe in Chiang Rai
- Kinyei Cafe, Battambang, Cambodia (http://www.kinyei.org/projects/kinyei-cafe)
- Brews Brothers, micro-brewery in Wooloongabba, make your own beer that’s actually guaranteed to taste awesome
- Soy Flat-White on a cup of ice @ Blackstar Coffee Roasters, especially when Alan pours it
Read, Listen, Watch:
- Everything Belongs, book by Richard Rohr
- In The Name Of Jesus, really short book Henry Nouwen (thanks to my dad)
- Mission Bell CD, by Amos Lee
- The Big Issue magazine
- Peppa Pig (Mali’s favourite cartoon on ABC iView)
- It Might Get Loud, a guitar doco with Jack White, The Edge and Tommy Page
- GOMA (Queensland Gallery of Modern Art), especially when The Quadratic Contingency performed live to Alfred Hitcock’s films
- Feet Teeth, post-jazz improv’s from Brisbane
- Jimmy Watts Band, soulful blues
- Dave Carter, gritty bluesman & recording/mastering engineer extraodinare responsible for UnConvention Brisbane
Other:
- Occupy Brisbane
- The awesome/troubled sincere daggy/funky people (like me) at St Andrew’s South Brisbane
- Cigar Heaven, Moorooka
- Community Orientation Course (Waiters Union, West End) – exploring how to live as Christ would amongst the marginalised in a local community in Brisbane
- Pants To Poverty briefs for men and ladies (New Internationalist Online Shop)
- Phil & Ted’s double decker pram
- Multi Track Song Recorder app for iPhone. Free 4-track recorder
- Servants, a group of people incarnating Christ by living with the poorest of the urban poor around the world (www.servantsasia.org)
- Wishbone Bike, buy your kid a trike when they are 2 and convert it into a pre-bike they can use until they’re 5
- Mali’s awesome Day Care called Kids @ West End
- Vein Shoes on Adelaide St, CBD
- Meeting Barry Peters (www.barrypeters.com.au) at a songwriting workshop at TEAR Victoria conference on Philip Island
- Mekong Minority Foundation, local hilltribe-run development NGO in Chiang Rai, Thailand
- Maton Guitars
Enough. I forgot to put my friends on the list, but you know who you are. None of the above actually means anything without people like you. Thank you. Have a lovely New Year filled with joyful moments! Would be fun to hear your list too, if you wanna share. Cheers
