I understand that it’s not just Melbourne but unfortunately the abundance of poor behaviour is too easily accepted these days in our society.
We love Melbourne to the core and autumn is such a great time to take in footy, the arts and the accompanying atmosphere that the city brings with it.
Now that we live in the country, a trip to Melbourne is well organised and feels like something we would do overseas. Even more exciting when we get to see my eldest daughter who we met at Flinders Street Station.
After catching up ‘under the clocks’ we headed to the NGV to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibition. It’s comprehensive, spanning a seventy year career and nothing short of spectacular. On until 21/4.
https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/yayoi-kusama/
Some wandering the alleyways of the city followed then a tram to Carlton to see a screening of the documentary Ange and The Boss.
This locally made story is about former Hungarian soccer star Ferenc Puskas, one of international football’s greatest ever players who lobbed into Melbourne for a couple of years and coached South Melbourne Hellas to a championship.
This isn’t really a sports film, more a fabulous human story about a unique, humble character whose love for the game and people, compares to anything he ever achieved in the game. It’s a beautiful film and has been getting more showings around the country.
We then walked back to the CBD to grab a bite before our next show. This is where things go awry.
To get to Southbank from the Princes Bridge you have to walk down some steep stairs that are virtually in front of Hamer Hall. We could see an agitated young woman at the bottom of the stairs and she started walking up so we moved to the left with Lynda a few steps ahead of me.
The woman, who looked utterly bedraggled, suddenly jumped across the width of the stairs and punched Lynda in the face. I reached down to grab the woman but she was off. Barefoot, she sprinted down the stairs and headed east under the Princes Bridge. She was 50m away from me before I got to the bottom of the stairs.
Clearly affected by ice, I could see her in the distance talking to someone imaginary and I doubt she would even remember what she did. Most importantly Lynda is a school teacher from Heidelberg, so other than some shock she is tough and insisted I left the woman to her own devices and didn’t seek retribution.
Dinner at PJ O’Briens and Lynda was keen to keep going rather than head home so we walked to The Arts Centre to see one of our favourite comedians, Paul Foot.
This is the third time we have seen Paul and it was his best. He is a surrealist by nature but in his new show Dissolve he has built in a poignant story of personal redemption which we didn’t expect. It’s heart-warming, intelligent and hilarious. Just what we needed.
https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2025/comedy/paul-foot
So it’s a late train home and we shared the train with happy Dogs and disillusioned Blues supporters.
The train was packed and we were pushed into a corner near a door with others. To add to the claustrophobia, it’s hot and the train is delayed due to a body found on the tracks near Deer Park.
Forty minutes later around 11.15pm we move but the entire time a group of a dozen or so drunken youths shout as though they are the only ones present.
The language is appalling. I’m no angel but I must have missed the meeting where it was considered acceptable to yell the ‘f’ and ‘c’ words in public.
My mum made it to ninety one and dad to eighty five. Throughout their entire lives I never swore in front of them once.
Finally down the line after a few passengers got off, we found a seat and then it started. What began as pathetic, pseudo New York gangster trash talk, became a brawl.
One half of the warring party got off at Melton where PSO’s tried unsuccessfully to apprehend them so they kept running back in, punch on for a couple of more minutes, leave, jump back in, throw a few more punches and get off.
It was like the Keystone Cops. All we wanted was to get home but these dickheads had zero regard for anyone. Where’s a water cannon when you need one?
What made it worse was that one of these idiots had a wife and two little kids who were all screaming and crying. I felt so sorry for these poor kids. The entitlement of all these clowns just taints our collective unconscious.
The lack of respect I witness these days whether it’s the profanity or watching my partner getting assaulted in the afternoon doesn’t deter us from going about our lives. It’s just sad and disappointing when we live in a country with so much to be grateful for.
April is our favourite time in Melbourne. Don’t let this story stop you from having a great time in our wonderful city.
On a much happier note, we went to a stunning pub in Creswick, The Leavers Hotel and saw Dave Warner and Tony Durant play the following night. Of course I’ve always thought Suburban Boy was an anthem for my hometown Kwinana in WA, so when my friend Steve mentioned to Dave that I was from Kwinana, Dave suggested that the audience ensure their cars were locked. Nice one.
A terrific night of spoken word and music was had and getting to have a chat with Dave was great after all these years.
Finally home to watch the replay of The Saints crushing The Tigers capped off a weekend of quality art, awesome performances with liberal amounts of unnecessary violence.
