Weekend Update

So the Torah reading on Saturday morning went ok, especially given that the congregation never hears a reading with music. Luckily, although it was raining when I got up, it had stopped by the time I had to walk. ( Details )

The Australian Rules football match on Sunday was fun: I went with two people who are big footy fans (worldcon '99 chair Perry Middlemiss and a co-worker at Sun) so they could explain everything to me, plus when they wanted to talk about more esoteric and historical stuff, they had each other. It was a very close game, unlike the one I attended during my DUFF trip, which was a rout, plus one of the teams is one I sort of follow and they won. My co-worker gave me a team scarf to wear during the match to "tag" me.

Aussie Vocabulary Words of the Week: "dak" (to yank someone's pants down as a prank); "ocker" (an unsophisticated working class person)

Weekend Update

So the Torah reading on Saturday morning went ok, especially given that the congregation never hears a reading with music. Luckily, although it was raining when I got up, it had stopped by the time I had to walk. ( Details )

The Australian Rules football match on Sunday was fun: I went with two people who are big footy fans (worldcon '99 chair Perry Middlemiss and a co-worker at Sun) so they could explain everything to me, plus when they wanted to talk about more esoteric and historical stuff, they had each other. It was a very close game, unlike the one I attended during my DUFF trip, which was a rout, plus one of the teams is one I sort of follow and they won. My co-worker gave me a team scarf to wear during the match to "tag" me.

Aussie Vocabulary Words of the Week: "dak" (to yank someone's pants down as a prank); "ocker" (an unsophisticated working class person)

Dutch Masters

Just got back from the Dutch Masters exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria, on loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. There were many fewer Vermeers than I was hoping for but they tried for a comprehensive look at the period, covering interior studies (including the interior of the Portugese synagogue in Amsterdam from 1680), portraits (including a few Rembrandts), still lifes, landscapes (my favorite title: "Landscape With Enraged Ox"), silver pieces (including a Chanukah wall oil menorah from 1696 and a really cool octagonal plate with an elaborate biblical scene engraved in the circular center). The most unusual pieces to me were the windmill cups used in Dutch drinking games of the period!

Dutch Masters

Just got back from the Dutch Masters exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria, on loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. There were many fewer Vermeers than I was hoping for but they tried for a comprehensive look at the period, covering interior studies (including the interior of the Portugese synagogue in Amsterdam from 1680), portraits (including a few Rembrandts), still lifes, landscapes (my favorite title: "Landscape With Enraged Ox"), silver pieces (including a Chanukah wall oil menorah from 1696 and a really cool octagonal plate with an elaborate biblical scene engraved in the circular center). The most unusual pieces to me were the windmill cups used in Dutch drinking games of the period!