Category Archives: Perth

Music, Perth, Popular Culture

The Smokin’ Eldorados at The Hydey

6 Comments

The Hyde Park Hotel – known locally as “The Hydey” – is one of the last character pubs left in Perth catering for original rock bands that haven’t broken through to widespread commercial success.

There was once a thriving Perth indie circuit, with roots going back to the 70s. The Vic Hotel, Steve’s, the Shents, the Fitzgerald, the legendary Hernando’s Hideaway (Perth’s own short-lived CBGB’s, home to The Victims and other first-wave Perth punk bands) – all once great alternative band haunts – have been turned into samey faggoty glass-and-chrome hotel-cum-eatery-cum-café yuppie joints, or have been demolished in the advance of ‘progress’. Perth’s good at that. Anything with character is targeted and eradicated. What a shiny little city we have here. Perpetually just-unwrapped.

Anyway, I popped into the Hydey for the first time in a while a couple of Saturdays ago. Roddy Radalj had invited me to check out his new band, The Smokin’ Eldorados. Continue reading The Smokin’ Eldorados at The Hydey →

Perth, Society

Take Out The Trash

Leave a comment

Coming back from a walk one evening recently, we had to jump out of the way of a 4WD (what else?) as the driver backed out of his driveway like a maniac.

It was bad enough that we had to take evasive action because this bozo didn’t even think to check whether the footpath behind him was clear. But not only did the prick not apologise – he glared and mouthed off at us before he roared off.

How I yearned to belt off after him and slag on his windscreen when he stopped at the corner to turn. And to have smacked his face around with open-handed relish if he’d gotten out to protest.

But alas, I’ve never been physically aggro. Besides, violence is ethically unsupportable as far as I’m concerned, except in self-defence, or in defence of some bully’s victim. But if I abhor violence in life, I certainly allow it a place in art.

Which brings me to my latest T-shirt design. Don’t say you’ve never felt like this:
© Ross Buncle 2007, All rights reserved
© Ross Buncle 2007, All rights reserved Continue reading Take Out The Trash →

Blogging & Internet, Perth, Popular Culture

Perth PodCamp 07 – Straight From The Cerebral Hard Drive

1 Comment

As promised, here’s a roundup of last weekend’s “PodCamp Community Unconference” from the perspective of a non-Geek.

Why “unconference”? Probably partly to emphasise the informal nature of proceedings and partly out of a slightly precious sense of perversity. This was a Web 2.0 gathering, remember. And Web 2.0 is synonymous with community, where centralisation of organisation is minimised and power is really disseminated amongst the community (eg: Wikipedia). Web 2.0 might just be the purest form of democracy ever realised in practice. Continue reading Perth PodCamp 07 – Straight From The Cerebral Hard Drive →