a disappointing 'fizzer'....

my brother came for a visit yesterday, so we thought we'd 'mosey' on down and check out the fitzroy street fiesta...

this is how it was advertised...

Celebrate the new look Fitzroy Street on 4 October at the Fitzroy Street Fiesta.

We're closing off the beach end of Fitzroy Street for the Fitzroy Street Fiesta.

Fitzroy Street has been refurbished as part of the Foreshore Connections project.

There'll be something for everyone including:

Circa Nica - circus performances
Roller Derby demonstrations
Food
Live dj's
Special menus from some of Melbourne's leading restaurants
Rock Climbing
Mini Golf
Kids Art
Roving Entertainment

sounds like a lot happening - but it was on a very small scale... the roving entertainment we saw consisted of 2 stilt walkers... circus was a couple of jugglers...mini-golf was miniscule... food was barbecued dead animal sausages cooked right in front of the one and only dj we saw... rock climbing - well don't know where that was happening... kids art - saw a few piñatas hanging in a tree... and melbourne's leading restaurants were just the standard fitzroy street restaurants and cafes selling their normal food at mostly inflated prices...

the roller derby demonstration by the young womyn was interesting... it must have been really difficult skating on rough bitumen - it would have hurt like hell if they'd fallen over - not like the surface they'd be used to skating on... regular readers would know i was into the roller derby decades ago - i wrote about it in my post 'a bit of a 60s reminisce' ... it's become a really 'empowering' activity these days for young womyn, with teams such as THE DEAD RINGER ROSIES and the TOXIC AVENGERS...

drew barrymore has made her 'directorial debut' with a movie called 'whip it' about a young womon's search for her niche and finding her place within a roller derby team - here's a trailer - it's released this week in australia if you're interested...

anyway, unimpressed as we were with the so-called 'fiesta', we walked on around and checked out the esplanade market, and then went and got a yummy (but expensive) mediterranean pizza to share... i guess at least it was tasty - even basic pizzas can be 'hit'n'miss' these days!!!!

a bit of a 60s reminisce...

I was watching a television show tonight - Roller Derby Dolls - and it took me back to the 60s...

I used to go to Festival Hall in the mid-late 60s and early 70s with my brother to watch the Roller Derby - who could forget Adeline Hocker and Ralphie Valaderez (Valladeres) of the LA T'birds... I loved it!!!!

Australian Action 1966
Ann Calvello assists Adeline Hocker of the T-Birds to score on the Detroit Devils' Midge "Toughie' Brasuhn and Jan Vallow

ahhh, some good old gratuitous violence... entertainment for the masses... it was grouse... they were so skillful, graceful and downright dirty and nasty on skates - I was enthralled - I wanted to be able to skate like that...

but it was never going to happen with the mass produced, crappy, dangerous 'adjustable' skates that were available at the time, and that working class families could afford... but to have a pair of the boot style skates... how you could 'fly' around the rink in those (of course, the nice smooth rink probably made a difference too... footpaths and uneven school playgrounds weren't really conducive to skating well - hence my broken arm!!!)... and now they're even more streamlined... the evolution of skates!!! (Check out the first picture below of 'skating wheels' from 1870 Germany - if you're interested you can click on the pic and read the 'history' of roller skating!!!)

This was exciting entertainment and women were proving they were good at contact sports - they could 'give it and take it'... they were sassy, strong women and strong role models!!!

There's been a 'resurgence' in the last few years - here's a video trailer of the Roller Derby Dolls programme... young women searching for empowerment and identity - the right to be themselves - that age-old dilemma... enjoy...

If you want to watch the whole programme you can view it at ABC iView until September 24th (it takes a lot of bandwidth though!!!)

and Festival Hall - what a 'dive' it was... and it was the 'premier' live entertainment venue at the time...

It was used in the 1956 Olympics for gymnastics and wrestling, it also became the venue for the World Championship Wrestling (and I went to a lot of wrestling matches with my brother too!!!! so sad... but it was fun!!!) The Beatles played here in 1964... we didn't have a lot in the way of large venues in the 60s!!!!

I remember the streets surrounding the hall on any live venue night in the late 60s and 70s being totally jam packed with people... it was an amazing sight and the atmosphere was electric - my how times have changed and I've aged!!!! Dare I say "ahh, they were the good old days"!!!!

more 60s 'stuff' to come soon... (but I'm on holidays for a couple of weeks and I'm going to Malmsbury to stay with a friend for a few days !!)