Pie Report. Four for Harry.

What Pie Report would be complete without mentioning an offering from the infamous Harry's Café de Wheels? It's no wonder they're so popular, the pies are great. I chose a peppery beef with a generous dollop of mashed potato (not Deb this time) sans peas. Why ruin a pie with those bland little pellets? On all fronts this pie scored a four. Terrific flavour, crispy pastry, decent meat chunks. It was so good I could have gone for second, but considering the growth of my waistline, I declined.

Beef & mash

4.00 Pastry
4.00 Filling
4.00 Tastiness
4.00 Structure
4.00 Value

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED | 4.00

Roaming. Reliably unreliable.

It's c'est la via to my cherished car and bonjour to CityRFail. For those outside of Sydney, CityFail is our Metro, Underground, Subway etc. CityFail stretches to Newcastle - two hours away by car or three hours in a train carriage coloured to resemble the insides of someone's nose. To say CityFail has trouble with regularity is quite an understatement. CityFail is incapable of running trains on time - my train tally has discovered that about 55% of trains are late while 3% never arrive, and that's just in a three week period. Considering that trains are two hours apart in some cases, you wonder how they can manage to be so late. There was recently a long weekend, so reliably CityFail took the trains off the tracks and did some maintenance. Elsewhere in the world, train operators can manage to run trains every two minutes and maintain the tracks without closing down lines for days at a time.

Art Martha. Janet Meaney.

Canberra based Janet Meaney is soon to exhibit work for her PhD. Janet's performative works are eye-opening, with the audience feeling just a little uneasy watching on from the sidelines. I've been witness to several of Janet's works including a memorable piece where she fixed an ox tongue to her own and proceeded to sweep the floor of a local pub that was hosting opening drinks. I loved it, and judging by the looks on people's faces, few knew how to react. And that's Janet's charm really, how do we deal with the absurd?

Doodler. Ronald & Nancy.

Many years ago my old friend Hexx went travelling to America from where she sent me this card. Dabbling in artistry, Hexx gave Ronald a Phil Oakey do and Nancy fetching lip liner a la Hexx. Hexx's hand is evident through the Yaz badge too, with Hexx herself Yazoo's biggest fan.

Doodler. Domestic Slattern.

I'm not sure I know what a domestic slattern is, but this poor woman was used to illustrate a short piece about 'time-and-effort-saving kitchen gadgets' in an issue of Eve magazine. Some of the gadgets included a special rice cooker, and handheld liquidiser and a Chiller Jug pitcher for ice tea and Pimm's. Of all the images in this particular issue, the Doodler was only to draw on this.

Roaming. Idiots, Kombis & Car Window Discussions.

For many years Newcastle has been in decline with the once bustling city centre a virtual ghost town. But things are changing thanks to projects like Renew Newcastle whose aim is to revitalise the city centre by offering cheap space to quirky business pursuits and artists. When I moved to Newcastle a few months ago I decided that I would consider the experience as if it were a residency. So with fresh eyes I am exploring the city and its environs. So far I have noticed lots of 'idiot' graffiti, a rather large proportion of Kombi vans and that people quite like to converse with each other from the comfort of their cars.

Popcorn. King Street Vistas.

The View From King Street is Wayne Mullen's fun and informative blog all about Newcastle's seemingly many wonders. It's my first port of call when I want to see what's going down in the town best known for its former steel industry. From cock clocks to golden arses, and art to experiential photos this is the best tourist site a city could ever hope to have. I love Wayne's picture (above).

Pie Report. Hungover.

Thankfully, it's been a while since I've had a hangover. My foolproof hangover cure is either a big bowl of soupy noodles, fried noodles loaded with vegetables or a hamburger with the lot. So with limited time and choices I had to make do with a 'homemade' beef pie, which looked much better in the bain-marie than it does above. The results are not good, bland at best but to its credit it hit the spot.

Beef & Vegetable

2.00 Pastry
2.00 Filling
2.00 Tastiness
2.00 Structure
2.00 Value

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED | 2.00

Spin. This is Happening.

I'm late to it, but I love it! Purchased at the same time as Gloss Drop, This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem is rockin' my boat. I'm the first to admit that Drunk Girls didn't get me in at first, and still it's not a stand out track - at least for me. I'd heard Home a few times when I was forced to listen to Triple J, or Bogan FM as I like to refer to it now, and was excited about the album. Now that I've finally bought a copy I agree that it's terrific and worthy of the consistent four star plus ratings it has received. Lyrically inspiring and musically melancholic This Is Happening sounds like music I was listening to in the 1980s, but not too. Is James teasing? Is it the final hurrah? All I want... More. Zero (the higher the number, the worse the album).