Sunday, September 6, 2009
Cold Water.
I've spoken at length - to anyone who would listen - about how much I don't like Northcote (the suburb, not the cycling club), but I rarely follow this vitriol with what perhaps is a paradoxical truth: I'm quite fond of Thornbury. Sitting in the appallingly named Tart N Round with Jen and Grant the other day, way up on High St I see a parade of punks drop by, which is always a good sign. Up a block or so further up are two punk / DIY venues in Loophole and El Joyero. Across Bell St, just a little into Preston, is La Panella bakery, which, like Tart N Round, is specifically vegetarian and vegan. Across from High St a bit, a few kilometres along Darebin Rd, is DISC, where I spend a lot of time these days. It's quiet, leafy and lacks the bohemian bourgeoisie that ruin Northcote. I'd move there, sure, but I have a longstanding selfmade rule that states I must live within walking distance of the city. Like most of my longstanding selfmade rules, the older I get the stupider this one seems.
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2 comments:
"Like most of my longstanding selfmade rules, the older I get the stupider this one seems."
What like having your laces threaded differently on each shoe or always setting your griptape up differently. Both of which i upheld for nearly 10 years for fear of bad luck while skateboarding? confidence in what you are doing is often key to commitment/success and neither of these actually hurt me or others.
Or not paying for TV, which i eventually broke in Canada when it came down to the choice between my internet coming packaged with cable tv or a home phone. At least with the TV i might use the service (albeit somewhat infrequently).
The key to self-made rules is independent review of them. What was true once, may not be true now. I refused to buy 'work specific' clothing until i realised that my leisure wear had differed sufficiently from my work wear that it wasnt reasonable to keep shopping in the one place ( so to speak). It was a good rule then and i'm glad i had it, but now i need to wear a better type of shirt.
Another example might be all those people who said/say 'death before derailleurs' or 'no chance i'll wear spandex'. at the time it doesnt suit their lives/approach and then something changes (longer rides?) and they re-evaluate that idea.
Thornbury didnt always have all those attractions and northcote wasnt always full of failed hippies ;)
saw this on a stupid site linked from sillybiketalk.com.au and thought of your opinion on the suburb...
Northcote
Northcote does not make sense. Positioned in the heartland of suburbia, a whopping nine stops away from the city (comparable to North Brighton, Ormond and Murrumbeena) it has somehow managed to defy geography and pass itself off as a gritty inner city urban wonderland. The brilliance of this suburb is only magnified when you go there and discover it’s mostly just a few kebab joints and a massive indoor shopping centre with Kmart, two Coles, Donut King and a fucking Bakers Delight. This is stuff the wrong white Melbournians like! I don’t know how, but Northcote has brainwashed Melbourne white people. Go there to experience genius.
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