Absinthe

The first thing you might think of when 'absinthe' comes to mind is a one-off shot of blue and a nasty burning of the throat. Brandished as one of the strongest of alcohol drinks, it is often a tacky bubblegum gulp that is drunk then forgotten. In some places, it has even warranted an outright ban and a bad reputation from people abusing its high alcohol content.

But for alcohol of any sort to get onto this semi-foodie, creative blog, it must be something good right? Absinthe (pronounced ab-sant), actually has a cultured way of appreciation. In fact, a ritual of sorts that parallels the Japanese tea ceremony in preparation and the dainty decadence of high tea. A Google search reveals that even Auckland might have such a bar, Cartel Bar in Mt Eden, that observes absinthe's poignant traditions. Staying classy, Auckland. I wonder if they still provide this service?

So the ritual of absinthe goes, a serving of absinthe is given in a glass, then with a porous spoon, a sugar cube (properly one would use a French 'a la perruche' sugar cube) is placed directly underneath a water dispenser. Then slowly, water is dripped onto the sugar so that it dissolves into the liquer, allowing it to 'louch', reacting and going cloudy. Once the drink clears, one can sip it in good company at a leisurely pace. Sounds good to me.

The elegance of it really struck my preconceptions of absinthe, and it is wonderful traditions such as this that really lift our tastebud experiences to finer heights.

For more info about the absinthe experience and its alarmingly dramatic history (poison of choice for Picasso, Oscar Wilde and other creatives then banned for good measure) visit The Internet Chef's experience at an Australian absinthe salon.

Streetless2

Wander

The Auckland Art Gallery complex seems to be shaping up nicely, right on time for its debut to the public on the 3rd September. I had a very productive day out and about in the city - I had coffee with an international Architecture for Humanity director, Nathaniel Corum, and met various other architecture people, splurged at the Borders in its last throes and even found what I think will be a favourite cafe.

I have met Nathaniel on various occasions in the past but it always feels like something special because people like him ooze with inspiration. From the Architecture for Humanity headquarters in San Francisco, I've met three of their leading people: Cameron Sinclair (CEO aka 'chief eternal optimist'), Eric Cesal (leading AFH's role in Haiti's reconstruction) and Nathaniel, who we went sailing with on his last venture to these parts. NZ definitely needs this kind of stimulation, as being fairly isolated, it's easy to get mired in a single way of thinking.

At dinner with the AFH crew I met Robin, who created Earthsong. Thought I'd just mention it as it is very much a green project and renown in the architecture community. And Albert Park Cafe is possibly a new place for me to hang out, good art, lovely people and right next to the park and Art Precinct. Walking into a cafe, you know when it's a bit of a good spot when all the oldies, creative laptoppers and sophisticated suits are patrons, you can't really go wrong.

For those out of the loop, Borders is closing down left right and centre! (There's only 3 stores..) More accurately, it is now a part of Whitcoulls, the rip off enterprise that we all suck up to. More to the point, the Borders that has lined the front of the IMAX complex is having its living daylights sucked out from within. Having faced more than a few issues (serious flooding comes to mind), this institution to our youth and book-loving leisure is shutting down. A bit sad really. So there are sales - most of the good books are gone, but some of the more obscure creative books are still left with prices slashed down, so do have a look!

One

One Tree Hill against the morning sun.

Swimming

Auckland central is a weird place in that in the middle of towering buildings or bustling streets, there would be a park. Not a tiny 'reserve' found like an obnoxious weed throughout suburbs, but actual nicely matured parks. Albert Park being probably the largest ones, Myers Park bordered by K Road, the dark and damp, countless parks as transitional areas - there's always somewhere to lay on the grass and have a picnic even against the city air trapped with toxic gases.

The other day, I found this one on a vintage lamppost in a park near Auckland University. A really pleasant park really, my park of choice on the way down to Parnell. 'NO SWIMMING' strikes me, as I look onward to yet more urban majesty, reminding me of the sea, summer, the beach behind it. Funny how a small piece of street 'art' such as this can take me away to so far.

Mini

As the more dense cities/countries run out of fresh new space for well meaning development, that leaves little wriggle room for anyone designing a house. There is basically no equivalent here in NZ where the wide majority of houses are all so sparsely situated that with house shifted to one side, we could probably fit two more residences in the same plot of land.

This is not the case in Tokyo, for instance. It's just you and the footpath. As with all restrictions, this spurs some interesting innovation with space use that we can all learn from. Yasuhiro Yamashita has done just that, it is tailor made to the site and client (if your car was any bigger it wouldn't work. Reflection of a Mineral is a superb little house, outshining the conventional suburban rubber stamp design right next to it. Miniscule as the site may be, it offers a much richer residential experience that any of its neighbours.

The coalface is I'm really over how houses in NZ are obsessed with having a huge amount of space for often neglected gardens. "Award winning" architecture in NZ does the same, we are all stranded in excessive area of polished floors and extravagant glass panes to the "view". Instead of building communities, we isolate ourselves in a mass suburbia. It is down to culture and lifestyle, both of which does not seem to be changing any time soon.

Real

When you first look at the painting above, what do you think? Do you see the real life 3D person there posing? Alexa Meade's hyper-realistic acrylic body painting plays with making real life people into the realm of painterly expression. There are amazing possibilities for this technique - reportedly Meade wants to experiment more with video and other media. I can't wait to see where this experimentation will take her! I can't imagine she would get much income from this work in terms of selling art work - the works are more akin to installations/performance art.