20110930

Southern Cross


Southern Cross ehk Lõuna Rist on Melbourne´is sama tähtis nagu tallinlasele Balti jaam: tegemist on Melbourne'i CBD (ing.k. keskne äri kvartal) ühe suurema jaamaga Centrali ja Flindersi kõrval. Wikipedia andmetel astub siin sõidukile või maha päevas ligi 50 000 inimest. Hommikuse tipptunni ajal on siin pintsakute ja ülikondade meri. Siit on võimalik istuda maakonna rongile (V-Line) või (Metro) linnametroole, taksost-bussist rääkimata. 
Southern Cross Station is as important gateway in Melbourne as is the Victoria Station in London: it is the third largest station in Melbourne by the passangers boarding/unboarding (by Wikipedia it is almost 50.000 people daily). During the morning rush hour it is an ocean of business shirts and pinstripe suites. From here it is possible to take a V-Line or a Metro train, not to mention buses and taxis. 



Southern Crossiga on ühendatud põhja küljes ka korralik kaubakeskus aga viclink pole sellele ilmselt meelega oma infotulbal vihjanud. Infograafika on igaljuhul korralik.
Southern Cross is connected with a proper shopping centre. Viclink has not hinted about the precinct on their information signage probably with a reason. Anyway, information graphics is decent. 



Kuigi mikrotasanditel toimuv on suhteliselt tagasihoidilik, korvab selle suursugune katus - vaieldamatu lemmik. Meistriklassi näitab Grimshaw Architects.
Although the architecture layed out on the micro levels is humble, the roof/ceiling of the building is just aristocratic. Undoubtedly favorite. Mastery of Grimshaw Architects.

Piletid. Tickets

Kontorid. Offices


 V-Line


20110925

Goldie - loomine läbi purustamise

Goldie - creation through destruction


Täna varahommikul tegi vanameister Goldie pimestavalt hea trummi ja bassi set´i Hi-Fi´s. Nädal tagasi 46. sünnipäeva tähistanud Jamaika-Šoti juurtega mees on 20 tegutsemisaasta jooksul vaid tugevust kogunud, ja sära tuleb aina juurde.Täpselt 2 tunnine set sisaldas enamuses Metalheadz´i viimase aja kraami, sekka paari aasta taguseid. Kaks viimast lugu olid (loomulikult) Goldie esimese albumi pealt Timeless (esmaväljalase 1995, kokku välja antud 15 korda). Positiivse irooniaga võttes ongi see album timeless (inglise k ajatu, aegumatu). Seejärel keerati volüüm nulli ja Goldie tänas isiklikult kõiki kuulajaid ja oli sõnas, et on tõsiselt õnnelik, et nii vana mehena saab d´n´b valdkonnas aktiivselt tegutseda.
Pärast CBDst Richmondi koju jalutades olid tänavad täiesti tühjad: ühtki inimest ega autot. Isegi opossumid olid  parkidest kadunud. Vaid paar kollast taksot vilksas CBD servatänavatel kauguses ühest tänavast välja ja teisest sisse. Richmondis väiksematel tänavatel polnud neidki - tundus nagu jalutaksin üksi epideemiast laastatud linnamaastikus. Kummituslik. 
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Täna ärgates sain aru, miks mulle siiani rohkem House-muusika peod istuvad: üldvolüüm on veidi nõrgem ja ei eelda kuulmekilede eelnevat aastatepikkust treenimist paksuseni, mis on võrreldav tallanahaga. Siiani on osad sagedused ära lõigatud ja asendatud ühtlase vilinaga kõrvus.
Ilmselt olen ma piisavalt vanaks saanud, sest mulle tundub, et tegemist oli taas üks-kord-elus kogemusega, nagu oli seda ka Vormel 1.


This morning grand master Goldie made a blindingly good drum'n'bass set at the Hi-Fi bar. The Jamaican and Scottish heritage man who celebrated his 46th birthday a week ago has only gained strength in the 20 years during which he has been active in the drum & bass scene. The set that was exactly 2 hours long consisted mainly of the latest Metalheadz releases as well some stuff from couple of years back. The last two tracks were (of course) form Goldie's first album Timeless (1995, released 15 times all together). Positively ironic as it is that album feels still up-to-date hence timeless. After that the volume was turned down and Goldie thanked all the listeners personally and said that it is pure happiness to be active in d'n'b scene at this age.
After Goldie had stepped away from the turn tables I left. Walking home at about 4am I discovered that there are no people nor cars on the streets. Even opossums had disappeared from the parks. Only couple of yellow  taxis were flickering in the distance. On the smaller streets in Richmond even the taxis were gone - it felt like walking in an epidemic-ridden city. Ghostly.
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Waking up this morning I reallised why I still like House music events more than D'n'b ones: the general sound volume is a bit lower and it does not require one to have developed eardrums that are thick as a sole skin. Still some of the frequencies are cut off and are replaced by constant whistling in my ears. 
Probably I've become too old, but it seems to be again one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences as it was with Formula 1

20110911

Õhtukohv

Evening coffee






Faisal kohvi kurnamas. Faisal draining the coffee

Mõned kuud tagasi oli mul au jagada elamist saudi-araablasest üliõpilasega, kes käis päeval käis koolis inglise keelt tudeerimas ja öösiti armastas koos sõpradega traditsioonilist teed või kohvi juua ja Saudi-Araabiast saadetud kuivatatud datleid süüa. 
Kord mai alguses koju tulles sattusin just siis uksest sisse astuma kui Faisal´il ja ta sõbral Abdu´l oli parajasti käsil araabia kohvi tegemine kardemoniga. 
Kutsusid siis mindki oma tuppa kohvi mekkima. Mõtlesin, et vahelduse mõttes ju täitsa tore korraks maha istuda ja kuulata, mis poistel pajatada. Sain vaevalt rätsepaistesse asutud, kui sõbrad saudid teatasid, et kurikuulus Osama on lõpuks tabatud. Olin veidi üllatunud, mitte asja sisu vaid pigem selle üle, mis kombel sellest teada sain. 
Kui täna 10 aastat tagasi NYCis lennukid majadesse kukkusid, siis mäletan täpselt, et olin kodus (Tallinnas) ja just trenni minemas. Helistasin veel E´le lauatelefonile üle, et mis teoksil ja kas ta ikka tuleb. Ta oli esimene, kellelt uudist kuulsin, ta kostis midagi säärast: "..ei tea mis sina teed, aga mina igaljuhul vaatan praegu telekast, kuidas lennukid USAs majadesse lendavad...". Olin kergelt hämmeldunud, läksin üksi trenni. 
--
Ei oleks eales arvanud, kus 10 aastat hiljem viibin ja millega tegelen. Samuti, lähtudes (super)riigi (super)võimetest, eeldasin, et maailma tagaotsituim mees tabatakse rutem, kui 10 aastaga. 
Maailm on väike ja täis üllatusi. 

A few months ago I had the honour to share an apartment with a Saudi Arabian student. He went to English lectures during the day and during the nights he loved to have some friends over and have traditional tea or coffee with some imported dried dates. 
On one of the early May evenings I came home and right at that moment Faisal and his friend Abdu were prepairing some arabic coffee with cardamom. 
They invited me to join them and sit down to have a cup of coffee. I thought that it wouldn´t hurt to sit down for a moment and hear what the boys have to say. I just took my seat on the floor as the Saudis anounced that at the very same day Osama had been captured. I was a bit suprised, not of the news, but just the way I got to know of them. 
When today 10 years ago airplanes were crashing into buildings I remember exactly that I was at home (in Tallinn) and prepairing to go to work out. I called E just to confirm that he is coming as well. He was the one from whom I heard the news first, it went something like this "..I don´t know what you are doing right now but I´m watching TV as the airplanes are flying into the buildings in the States...". I was a bit puzzled, but went and had my training session without E. 
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Never ever I would have thought where I would be or what I would be doing in 10 years time. Also, taking into consideration the (super)power of the (super)states, I assumed that the most wanted man of the world would be captured sooner than in 10 years. 
The World is a small place and full of surprises.