GLAMOUR and GRIT

Brisbane Pod has just returned from two weeks in Bangkok. The two images here of the market scene are typical - browse the markets in air conditioned comfort or stroll the streets and alleys in brutal humidity. No matter what choice one makes the experience of both worlds in this teeming city in every aspect is unforgettable. Anything imported is ultra expensive. The import tax is 120%. Local product is of the cheap and cheerful kind but you find wonderful handcraft work of every description. It is surprising the number of luxury hotels in Bangkok and there are something like 21 more on the drawing boards. The city attracts comers from all corners of the world- Americans and Germans are by far the largest of the westerners. Without a doubt Bangkok is confronting in terms of wealth and poverty - glamour and grit - an experience that begs one to return.

CHRISTMAS 2007

JOY TO THE WORLD AND PEACE ON EARTH

ART

THINGS REMEMBERED

This post takes Brisbane Pod off the beaten track to London. The reason for this is an exhibition, "A Dream Deferred", taking place thereright now through 8 August at Haunch of Venison. Jamie Shovlin, is an artist of extraordinary talent. For readers of the baby boomer generation his ouvre is deja vu.

This new exhibition is an exploration of American history, politics and culture of the 1960's which has been fused with family history, taking as a framework his parents record collections of that time.

"A Dream Deferred", through paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture and filmed interviews with his parents is a mix of his family's history and with the history of real life events. In sum, "A Dream Deferred" presents a narrative of hope and disillusion.

Shovllin's title points to the ways in which the idealism of the 1960's has been alternately compromised, delayed and abandoned; suggesting that the American Dream has soured and given ground to darker forces.

It is a look back not in anger but in mouring for the promise of all things bright and beautiful which that generation dreamed.

A timely exhibition indeed!

FOOD

AN ENGLISH DELIGHT

At the risk of sounding rather like Noel Coward who claimed he was known as an English Delight in Turkey, Turkish Delight has had its affeciandos in England since it was introduced around the middle of the 19th Century. And, of course, us antipodean cousins are fans too. Interestingly enough, Turkish Delight is not well known in North America.

In its native lingo Turkish Delight is known as Lokam. And in this native setting it is served fresh and still slightly warm off the stove. Fresh Turkish Deight is like no other - brushed with sugar, the outer edges of the candy squares are tender and the insides yield to the bite and dissolve in your mouth with melting gooeyness.

Turkish Delight first appeared in Turkey in the late 18th Century. Considered the perfect accompaniment to Turkish coffee, Brisbane Sponge has found that Turkish Delight is even better with tea. When we find the perfect tea we are on the hunt for it will even be better.

Napoleon, Chuchill and Picasso all had an addiction to Turkish Delight. And it is the addictive confection to which Edmund Pevensie succumbs in C.S.Lewis's 1950 book, "The Lion, The Witch And the Wardrobe."

If making your own fresh Turkish Deight sounds all too difficult, seek out the Sultan brand - it is the best of the commercial offerings. Metling gooeyness it is not but it is not bad. Try some!

FLOWERS

A WHITER SHADE OF PALE

The coming winter is herald by the appearance of the Cyclamen persicum cultivars. Our favourite colour is white flowers which are a perfect foil for the long petioled foliage - rich green leaves with amazing silvery grey patterns and marbling on the top surface of the leaves.

The Cyclamen genus is native to the Mediterranean countries and islands. By the 1600's the native plants were taken to Europe to grow as ornamental plants in royal gardens, particularly in France, Netherlands and Germany.

In the mid-19th century the breeding of the cultivars was seriously undertaken in England and the Netherlands. The result was cultivars with much larger flowers than their Mediterranean cousins.

White flowering Cyclamens in simple greyish terracotta pots will bring a spot of joy to wintery days in traditional or contemporary settings.

TEA

TEA FOR TWO

Brisbane Pod has been on the hunt for the perfect breakfast since the recent visit to the tea house. Lo and behold there was great excitement when T2 caught my eye in a French deli. I spied on the box that it was Sri Lankan - top marks for that in my book.

The charming French proprietor stepped in to inform me that the English Breakfast was excellent. How could I not but take his word for it. After all, the French virtually made tea drinking fashionable during the 17th and 18th centuries. $10.95 for 100g hardly seemed expensive after his recommendation.

Later, in a quiet moment, I found myself studying what was on the back of the box and wondering if it indeed had been such a great buy. Sadly, I was to be disappointed. It was a blended tea and very black in the cold light of day. Then the word "coppery" to describe the colour of the brew sent a warning bell ringing that suggested to me that this was, besides being blended, a low altitude tea.

The quest for an unblended high altitude breakfast tea containing compounds known as theaflavins and thearubigens which offer the same health benefits as those attributed to green tea will continue.

Stay tuned!

FOOD

HIGH SOCIETEA

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to go to Alice in Wonderland's tea party. A vist to the very pretty high societea tea house in Clayfield will truly satisfy your curiosity.

Brisbane Pod has visited high societea tea house in Wayne, New Jersey. It is quaint and Victorian dull. Both tea houses have an identical theme, tea house plus gift shop and prix fixe menu serving delicate, dainty and delicious food.

The tea house experience is one to be enjoyed at a relaxed pace. You wont find any hustle and bustle here. Beginning in both England and America in the late 1880's, the finer hotels began offering tea service in Tea Rooms. It was in these tea rooms that ladies would meet gentlemen for tea and conversation. Many of the tea rooms became cultural enclaves for their patrons.

high societea in Clayfield is definitely the domain of the girls, socialising with their friends, enjoying the pretty and dainty setting and eating just as dainty and delicious food. Oh, I am sure, the gossip is equally delicious!!!!!!

DESIGN

HOMMAGE TO BAROQUE

The majority of architecturally designed new homes in Brisbane are contemporary. Taking a peek inside any one of these contemporary homes, it is not hard to understand that uber-minimal appears to be the only design option for decoration.

The contemporary take on wood furniture is the perfect foil to the static contours of contemporary homes. There is no doubt the big design trend is the retrospective decorative in contemporary furniture design - classic baroque design elements with contemporary finishes and contemporary textiles.

Such pieces of furniture fit beautifully into the large open spaces of contemporary homes and sit comfortably with pieces of polycarbonate Kartell, for example. Baroque touches of extravagance shoud be seen as jewellery for the home and this holds true also for quite masculine interiors.

These jewel-like pieces have "human dimensions" and bring warmth and intimacy to the space, rather than a frigid caven of super-sleek machine-made furniture that many a contemporary interior ends up.

When contemporary architecture and contemporary design with elements of the past are melded the result is a stunning visual delight. You can be sure that this result will not be something that has been spotted in a magazine.

The wonderful armchair seen here references the decorative past in adopting elements of baroque design. The French beechwood armchair becomes ultra stylish with the sage and cream Spanish cotton upholstery. One of a pair, the chairs have been married-up with a Pierro Lissoni chocolate leather and polished stainless 3-seater sofa.

Perfecto!

GARDEN

THE ART OF HARMONY

A Chinese Juniper in a Tokoname sea green Koban pot. The sculptured tree and pot forms a harmonious whole in shape, texture and colour.

The Japanese Bonsai, translates as "tray planting", and more commonly describes the art of emulating nature with trees that have been dwarfed by shaping and root pruning.

Tokoname pottery is a wonderful example of fine garden art. Tokoname has a 900-year history of exceptional pottery making. Generations of potters have worked their craft in this region using the special iron oxide clay which is far superior to other clays.

For bonsai enthusiasts the most prized pots are from these old kilns of Tokoname.

GARDENS

VASES d'ANDUZE

Now that Brisbane gardens have been all but decimated by the long dry spell and with no end in sight, perhaps it is time for us to re-think our approach to our garden.

Instead of mass plantings, charm can be instilled into garden spaces with the use of spectactular garden staturary and pots. Borrowing some ideas from the French, historically some of the best garden designers, is a good place to start.

Brisbane Pod has a special fondness for Anduze pottery which first appeared in southern France in the 16th Century. The design of this handmade pottery which has endured to this day was inspired by the Italian Medicis. The traditional design includes Emblem, Lion, Angel, Fleur de Lys and Croix du Landoc within a garland.

King Louis XVI first used them in his glasshouses at Versailles for his citron and organge trees. For the next two hundred years or so they were to be found only in the gardens of the landed gentry. However, by the early years of the 19th Century wealthy families of local silk merchants in the Anduze region began to plant elaborate gardens and adopted the prized orange tree in their garden design. The Vases d'Anduze were used for the orange trees because they needed to be brought inside during winter to escape the frost.

And, so to this very day, Anduze pottery, faithful to its ancestors, can be found in the gardens of city dwellers the world over. Vases d'Anduze are expensive but as they say: "It's the real thing."

All it takes is a suitable spot in your garden, two 80cm tall Vases d'Anduze, add your favourite trees, cover the ground with some slate pavers, and finally add a Lutyen garden seat that has weathered to a silvery grey. Voila!

EASTER GREETINGS

ALLELUIA TRUMPETS

Easter Lillies, the flowering symbol of the Easter season, full of beauty and grace, with a collar of philodendron leaves sit in a blue ceramic vase with relief decoration applied by hand before firing by Italian design luminary, Paolo Lenti.

DESIGN

CAKE OF PEACE

Afternoon tea will be like no other with this cakestand as the centrepiece from Royal Tichelaar Makkum, a grand old porcelain company in the Netherlands.

RTM has re-invented itsef with the introduction, amongest others, of the extraordinarily beautiful Biscuit range designed by the Netherlands design duo, Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel.

The Biscuit range is plates and centrepieces, all in white bisque porcelain with fantasy relief design. However, the CAKE OF PEACE relief work leaves nothing to the imagination.

To add to this amazing centrepiece - avant-garde cakes from Pierre Herme cake couture boutiques in Paris!

GARDENING

TAKE A BOUGH

Across Brisbane right now many gardens will have one variety or another of a gumbut tree that has come into full bloom. They are spectactular in full bloom and we quickly forget how unappealing they are when not in season.It is times like that that Brisbane Sponge feels rather like Mrs Snake in "The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie." Mrs Snake's sole purpose in life was to destroy the gumnut tree population. But the fleeting pink beauty of the gumnut flowers are to be savoured as they bloom forth from their pods.

ART

"BIRD OF PARADISE"

1980

Brisbane Sponge loves this stunning image. This is a limited edition print by the American artist Lowell Nesbitt. This is just one of a series of more than 400 works he created using the flower theme.

Lowell Nesbitt's paintings, drawings and prints can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery of Fine Art in Washington, D.C. These collections are just a few of the many prestigious collections in which his work is included.

GARDENING

THROUGH THE DRACINA GLASS

What a wonderful sight - the architectural form of the Pencil Pines seen through the foliage of languid Dracinas - a quirky contrast of forms.

THE UNUSUAL

LUXE

You will find this rather unusual sight right on Brisbane's doorstep. As a world-weary traveller as Brisbane Pod is, I have never seen a top-drawer brand name down in the dumps as this one woud appear to be.

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