The Brunswick Trugo Club

The sign on the gate says it all: Elderly Citizens. A recent article in the Age Good Weekend described Trugo as “Seniors Game on”, however it seems a great game for children. Certainly on the fine Sunday afternoon when I attended a social event at the Brunswick Trugo Club, the children were revelling in the lush green grass of the pitch and enjoying hitting the rubber wheel and generally making up their own rules. 

Retail Therapy

Yesterday I was feeling quite blue so I went for a walk around my usual circuit: Lygon Street to Glenlyon or further and then through the back streets. However, I was prompted to take not only my camera but also my entire purse, including credit card. Walking staunchly past the icecream shop without stopping for consolation, I headed for Paul’s bookshop. Resisting the urge to buy a $10 copy of “The German Spirit” by Watson, I headed further north past the bright lights of Mirabella showrooms.

Graffiti and signage

Where to start? In this densely built-up environment, there is visual communication, in the form of writing or pictures, everywhere. Recently I read the book: “Characters: Cultural stories revealed through typography” by Stephen Banham, who I believe is also a Brunswick resident. (There is a great article on the book and part of an interview at this link to TheDesign Files blog.) Reading Banham’s book and admiring the photographs reinforced my view that it is not only what is written, but how it is written, that is fascinating and revelatory.

Often, the revelations are just in the eye of the beholder. Where one finds a scribble, a sign. What one has been thinking about, what one is looking for. Here are some examples:

Bohemian Brunswick: of course it did not take me long to discover this piece of commissioned graffiti art in a laneway along Sydney Road.

Lygon Street bookshops

“What can one do with old encyclopedias?” I asked Paul, proprietor of the Red Wheelbarrow bookshop. He confirmed my fears that they go to pulp. It seems such a waste: all that stored carbon in the paper and all that accumulated knowledge and information in the contents. Not to mention the historical snapshot that some of the writing styles and biases capture. In the end, an old set of Britannica became the stumps that ensured that my furniture stored in the garage of my old house did not get waterlogged when water came through the garage after a heavy downpour. Their sheer physical bulk was their only remaining use.

Break from Brunswick: Hobart

I grew up in Tasmania, on the North West Coast, in a small town called Penguin. Then we moved to Hobart, where I attended Hobart Matriculation College for one year and then went to University of Tasmania in 1972. I completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in German and Political Science and then did an Honours year in German. Then I left.
Re-visiting Hobart is like exploring past times, both my own and those of the island.

Glew Street recycling

I happened to have my camera when I came across this most recent example of Brunswick style recycling. The grand old armchair had clearly seen better days. There were alarming bulges in the seat, and the wood, although solid, was battered. The attached sign read: “Free to good home. Speculation for accumulation. Invest a few dollars and then resell at a profit.” Obviously, the message had resonated: a young man was already loading it into his truck, with help from the former owner. “It went like that”, said the older man, clicking his fingers.

Lygon Street East Brunswick shopping precinct: Gelobar

Amarena, Anguria, Malaga, Torrone, Fragola, Lampone…. These are not exotic destinations, but just some of the flavours of the icecream available at the Gelobar on Lygon Street. I like to call in there when I go for a walk, and just get a kiddy cone for $2. I still haven’t worked my way through even half of the varieties. On a hot day, there are queues waiting to buy the delicious gelati, and the tables on the sidewalk and in the cool interior are packed. In the colder months, the beautifully crafted cakes are probably more popular. They are a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds. Their website is also a feast.