El Loco in the House

There's only one more week till the end of the Australia Day long weekend, the end of January and the end of the Sydney Festival. Did you manage to do everything on your bucket list this summer? 

Is there anything that needs to be done before reality slaps you in the face and you realise it's already one-twelfth of the way through 2013!?

We certainly have a few things to check off this weekend and have decided to pick up the languid pace, now that the mercury has dropped back to below 100! Here's one at the top of the list :

El Loco Mexican food down by the water at the Opera House forecourt, open from 10am till 10pm : Its going to be hot, hazy and humid on the weekend - we say you'd be mad not to add some tacos and tequila to the mix!

Bought to us by the hot-as-tabasco Merivale Group, El Loco at the House offers a reasonable $6 to $10 menu, including breakfast tacos, hot dogs and the famous 'secret taco'. Drinks include slushie margaritas and other cocktail combos from south-of-the-border... .......aye carrumba!

on yer bike - cycling workshops

Summer is definitely here and with the Sydney Festival in full swing what better way to get around this glorious city than cycling? Dodge the crowds and park for free by following the bike lanes to art galleries, concerts, parks and restaurants.

If you're keen to get rolling  but a bit hesitant, why don't you try out the free summer bike courses at Sydney Park?

The popular half-day classes are open to kids, adults, seniors, rookies or regular bikers and have all the safety tips and traffic skills people of all ages need to get from A to B safely.

Cycling in the City lessons help regular riders increase their confidence and make the most of the growing bike network.

People of all ages and fitness levels are invited to learn how to keep their two-wheeled mounts in mint condition with the Bike Care and Maintenance course.

There's a new parent-friendly school holiday course teaching mums and dads and carers how to ride with kids, with skills and drills for two age groups, children aged seven to nine, and older kids 10-12.


Courses at the Sydney Park Cycling Centre and Green Square are free, but spaces fill up fast...

Bike Care and Maintenance: Monday and Wednesday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays;
Cycling in the City: Saturdays and Sundays; and
Parent and Child: Tuesday 22 January.
For more information or to book : sydneycycleways.net

images via pinterest

Microwave Jenny

The great thing about Woodford Festival is the unexpected, delightful discoveries that keep unfolding.... sure you can have a mission and a list of things to do, or you can go with the flow, keep your nose to the ground and come across some exciting new talent that makes your toes tap, your hips sway and puts a smile on your face.

MICROWAVE JENNY would have to be darn near the top of my Woodford discovery list [along with Swamp Thing, Rosewater + Vodka Slushies, the Secret Service and chocolate-filled organic doughnuts - but more on those awesomes later]

I love Tess' style - it's kinda Billy Holiday  meets Bjork

A self-described Pop-Folk-Love duo, Microwave Jenny are a supremely talented real-life couple who's easy onstage banter is as smooth as their lyrical harmonies. The songs! the style! the happiness! I was seriously blown away - Tess and Brendon deserve to be successful and famous and feted.

I'm not the only one to think this: I observed their legion of young fans mobbing them for autographs after the show and the Festival store sold out of their CD (boo-hoo for me).

Their song mash-up at the end of the show was sooooo good...I cant find a copy of the Woodford gig, but here's an example of what they did....





they sing other people's songs extremely well [not so easy to do, when the song is already a hit]





and then there's this cover....





but they write their own songs as well....




and here's an earlier song...



and if you're interested in hearing some more check this out... its around half an hour long but I guarantee you will be doing some toe tapping and smiling by the time its finished.




You would have to agree....these guys deserve a lot more recognition. I hope they're available when we are booking acts for the Kings Cross Festival, later this year!

The name MICROWAVE JENNY is a  nod to that classic Aussie movie The Castle, so you love them already, right?

WOODFORD FESTIVAL

Happy 2013! It's back to work week here at Sydney 2011, but with the current weather conditions as they are,  it's a definite EASE back to work week... which is totally in keeping with my holiday break destination - WOODFORDIA, home to the Woodford Folk Festival.

I'm not really so sure how it is that the Woodford Folk Festival has managed to escape my radar for so long, being as I am a very big fan of folk music, chai lattes, free hugs, the great outdoors, organic food, intelligent conversation, hippie clothing, alternative ideas and cute boys with tattoos...

Like, seriously guys, where have you been all my life!!!?? Well, okay, at least for the past 25 years which, as it happens, is the life-span of Woodford...

What is this place? Where did it come from? And why am I here?

I can't answer all of those questions but I can possibly give a subjective overview of the WOODFORD EXPERIENCE...

Rewind: one week before Xmas and my journalist buddy R calls me to say "I'm writing a story on Woodford Folk Festival, there's a tent with your name on it, book a flight, we leave on the 27th December, we'll be there for a week".........

SERIOUSLY!? WELL OKAY, I'M UP FOR AN ADVENTURE, LET'S GO!

On the plane : R is being very journalistic and researchy, with pens and circles, and I'm just stressing about my Maglight which I may or may not have left behind and wondering if I can do everything I need to do in the dark, and then randomly wondering if VIRGIN gives us food (a resounding no to both).

On arrival at Brisbane Airport there is a lot of waiting round for buses, drivers and other sundry passengers and FOUR FREAKING HOURS later I have managed to peruse the Woodford guide, which is a couple of centimetres thick with a ZILLION things going on and I'm feeling woefully under-prepared and the Maglight thing is looming.

But it's all  okay right? R is here write a nice story. It's a stress-free zone, RIGHT!?  well, that is until the PRIME MINISTER decides to come to Woodford and it all gets a bit crazy......

The PM? at a hippie-fest? YES and it gets better for not just one, but TWO Prime Ministers (past and present) come along, as Bob Hawke has been a regular for years and Woodford is much, much more than a hippie-fest.

The Festival is a non-stop action packed event with official activities from 8am till around 1am (later on some nights) and something to look at and be amazed by 24 hrs each and every day.

You couldn't possibly see and do everything, as there are around 20 venues [official venues] with overlapping performances covering musical genres like folk, rock, soul, blues, world, traditional. There are dancers, dancing troupes and circus + vaudeville performances. There are workshops in circus skills, dance, pottery, visual arts, glass beads, weaving, drawing. There are street performances and food markets. There are talks on subjects as varied as folk medicine, gardening, Antarctic exploration, sexuality, childbirth, mythology, sustainability and China (Bob Hawke's chosen talk).

There is a lot of laughing and sometimes, some crying too.

There is wide open space and grass to lie on, stars to look at, inspiration to be had, plans to hatch and dreams to be made.

Nobody cares about your piercings, your tattoos, your clothes (or lack of), whether you have fairy wings or antlers.......

It's magical and I'm already planning next year....

photos Lorraine Lock. Woodford Folk Festival .  Lachlan Gardiner. Enright Photography.