Our last day: Cinecitta. Not bad. Checked out the set of Rome and Gangs of New York, saw some costumes and assorted filmmaking goodies. Worth a visit if you’re interested, ...
Our last day:
Cinecitta. Not bad. Checked out the set of Rome and Gangs of New York, saw some costumes and assorted filmmaking goodies. Worth a visit if you’re interested, but certainly not a must see attraction. Worth it for Marthese and I who have been watching Rome quite recently. Its unclear when tours start, so there are some annoyances involved in a visit.
Nice lunch at a place we like, La Segrete. We’ll be returning to Dar Poeta for a final pizza feast tonight.
I returned to the Pantheon – was a week ago I last went in, and I felt like I’ve learnt so much about Rome since I wanted to visit it again. Also its free, easy to get to, and I hadn’t yet done the Rick Steve’s audio guide. Once again he was insightful and I even learnt a few new things (about Victor Emmanuel and his descendants). A great way to cap off our tri
Note: the last two photos below include a smurf in the roof on the outside of the Pantheon.
Some reflections:
Food:
Marthese and I agree that the Tuscan region was the best for food. Rome has been nice, but Florence left it for dead. Also I’ve asked for a “recommendation” at a few restaurants here and twice been given plain lamb chops. Not so exciting.
We were only in Naples briefly, but the food there was outstanding. And we shouldn’t forget at least two incredible meals we had in Verona.
Favourite restaurant:
Elias – Osteria Pepo in Florence
Marthese – Dar Poeta in Rome (edges over due to nutella & ricotta pizza)
Best coffee:
San Eustachio in Rome for the Grand Cafe with Sugar.
Worth mentioning is Cafe Toto (sp?) in the Jewish quarter in Rome.
Actually, now that I think about it, Rome wins the Coffee race!
Favourite sight:
Pompeii for both of us!
And thats it from me. May I never blog again. Ciao.
The Dreamers of 2011 graduated at Tranby Aboriginal College on 11 December 2011. Everyone who began the program graduated – an amazing achievement! We are super proud of them! Here ...
The Dreamers of 2011 graduated at Tranby Aboriginal College on 11 December 2011.
Everyone who began the program graduated – an amazing achievement !
We are super proud of them! Here they are on graduation day with the HBaYD Team.
Dreamers Graduating – December 2011
You can immerse yourself in the joy of graduation here:
What did they get up to during their year with us?
Here’s a roll call of each Dreamer’s journey with us over 2011.
Georgia Addison
Georgia made a show reel of acting scenes with a professional acting coach. The idea is to produce a reel of scenes showing what Georgia can do in different moods, portraying different characters and showing her acting range.
Check out what she produced, with the coaching of the wonderful Kate Box, a professional actor, here:
Luwana (Micky) Cunningham
Micky decided on a deadly project late in the year. She joined Tonika and Chloe’s project to research, plan and lead a trip back to country.
A complicated thing to do! But with the right support from family and the HBaYD Team, Micky headed to Tumut in south-western New South Wales, and to the mission outside Tumut called Brungle.
She met up with aunts and cousins and learned more about where she comes from. She interviewed her family members, brought news of her nan and just hung out learning more about what makes Brungle tick.
She wrote about it – a lot! You can read the blog that she produced with the help of Rosie Pearson and Jada Alberts here:
Chantelle produced drawings, and more drawings and then more still. She wasn’t happy with much of her work – she sets high standards! But she was drawn to make an animation with the talented Vinh Nguyen to explore some of the complexity of her imagination.
She describes her project as “a small animation about how life can be brutal and horrifying. How sometimes you try to juggle so much that you can’t handle it anymore.”
Watch it here:
Blake Clark
Blake began designing a computer game with three challenging levels. It played with the idea of being an Aboriginal superhero in three time periods – before the arrival of European colonisers; the early times of colonisation; and today, in the schoolyard.
Blake found it pretty challenging, even though he was working with Stephen Beeson, a games developer who worked on the ground-breaking game, LA Noire .
So Blake changed direction and made a TV talk-back/comedy show called The Wombat Show . Blake hosted and wrote most of the gags. He worked with Tyrone Saunders and Chris Petrella-Smith to make The Wombat Show . It explores questions on young people’s minds and doesn’t shy away from asking the hard questions!
Enter the crazy world of The Wombat Show here:
Jeremy Clark
Jeremy is a natural born entertainer, comic and actor. Like Georgia, he wanted to make a show reel of his acting ability to win acting work in the future.
He worked with a professional actor, the wonderful Kate Box, to produce this show reel:
Kimberley Brown
Kim has a wonderful photographic ability. She explored this talent with us, in collaboration with the very talented and award-winning photographer, Sarah Rhodes .
Kim explored The Block in Redfern as it was demolished before our eyes over the year, to make way for a redevelopment. She also did some portraiture work of other Dreamers. Kim photographed Taminya, Chloe and Tonika modelling make-up designs that Taminya developed with Amy Morgan .
You can see a gallery of Kim’s graduation exhibition here:
Taylor Chalmers
Taylor wants to perform, amongst other things. Like Jeremy and Georgia, she worked with professional actor, Kate Box, to produce a show reel so that she can showcase her acting abilities to casting agents.
You can watch it here:
Taylor didn’t stop there though. She also worked with the very wonderful Nadeena Dixon to write the lyrics and music to a haunting song about her personal journey in the year, Falling Like A Leaf. Listen to her track now:
Chloe, Tonika and Micky had a common mission – to explore their families’ histories, to return to country and to connect more strongly with their Aboriginal cultures.
It is a complicated thing to do well – but with family support and the support of the HBaYD Team, Chloe researched, planned and led a roadtrip back to Coonabarabran and Quirindi where her mum comes from.
Her maternal pop came along too. Jada Alberts, HBaYD Team, was there too.
Chloe wrote about what she learned and experienced on her trip to Coonabarabran and Quirindi. You can check out her blog here:
Tonika, like Chloe and Micky, decided to research, plan and lead a trip back to Kempsey and Taree where she is from. She also has mob in Narrandera, NSW.
Tonika enjoyed the company of Chloe and Micky on her trip, supervised by Jada Alberts of the HBaYD Team.
Kempsey was in flood when the girls were in town but it didn’t stop Tonika from meeting with family, including her nan, and elders with stories to share.
You can read Tonika’s reflections on her trip, and watch interviews that she recorded with family members and elders on her blog:
Amy dances everyday. We challenged her to choreograph and perform a dance piece that told a story that she wanted to tell, and that expressed some of her own feelings.
This is how Amy began – it is a dance piece that represents the pull between who we are, who we want to become and how we might get there.
Eric Avery , a dancer and dance film maker, then worked with Amy to develop her piece further and to understand better the potential of film medium. Look at the distance Amy travelled to make her final work:
Taminya Brown
Taminya battled to find a project that she could stick with – she began with the idea of being a journalist or presenter.
Like Taylor, she also worked with Nadeena Dixon to write an original song. She has a killer voice but didn’t make it to the recording studio – that’s for 2012 huh Taminya? We hope so!
Instead, Taminya landed on her feet by conceiving make-up designs that explore concepts of beauty over time and between cultures.
Taminya explains her project here:
Here is a showcase of Taminya’s designs modelled by Dreamers and Taminya herself.
Respect to Amy Morgan, a professional make-up designer and artist who worked with Taminya and inspired her enormously!
A love of hot and spicy cooking brought them together, now it’s their intolerance of others’ incompetence in the kitchen that keeps the spark alive.
If you, like me, have spent your life boiling rice on the stove, not realising your culinary faux pas, I recommend you stay tuned for the delightfully blunt cooking tips bought to you via Ama and Chan’s Kitchen Rescue.
Produced by Matta Media, this soon to be released 6 part series is the brain-child of Ama and Chan, Western Sydney’s most dynamic, loud and kooky married couple. A love of hot and spicy cooking brought them together, now it’s their intolerance of others’ incompetence in the kitchen that keeps the spark alive.
Having had a successful theatrical season of their self-titled show , Ama and Chan were inundated with fan requests for hot tips in the kitchen. Not wanting to disappoint their followers, Ama and Chan have decided to make a web series to rescue audiences everywhere from their cooking calamities.
The series will begin in February: like CuriousWorks on facebook to ensure you don’t miss a minute.
words by el winkler, producer and serial rice boiler
