Lesley Truffle - Writer

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The Bees Knees

July 15, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  If you’ve ever been stung by a bee you probably got the impression that bees are quite hardy creatures.  I accidentally trod on an unsuspecting bee, in bare feet, when I was a kid and his sting was excruciatingly painful. The adults in charge couldn’t seem to decide how best to handle the situation. … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown Tagged: bees, Bonaparte, cocktails, golden bees, honey, Lesley Truffle, Mayfair Hotel, Napoleon Bonaparte, The Urban Beehive, VIcky Brown

The Mad Boy

April 20, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  Lord Gerald Berners was a talented musician and painter. He also wrote for the stage and his impressionistic paintings continue to sell well today (that’s Gerald in the photograph above). He converted Faringdon House, in Oxfordshire England, into a luxurious country mansion that soon had England’s fashion set vying for a weekend invitation. Exquisite … [Read more…]

Posted in: animals, art/theatre event, books, Mavericks & Renegades Tagged: Cecil Beaton, Gerald Berners, Lesley Truffle, Lord Berners, Robert Heber Percy, Sofka Zinovieff

The Dangers of Fancy Cooking

February 22, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  When I was a child I couldn’t understand why a large part of the world lacked essential food and clean water – and were frequently starving – while the rest of the world were either dieting like fiends or noshing on exotic food stuffs in fancy expensive restaurants. Not much has changed. I find … [Read more…]

Posted in: cakes and cooking, Melbourne, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: AA Gill, Anthony Bourdain, Celebrity Chefs, Cuisine, Food, Lesley Truffle, Richard Cornish

The Perils of Television

February 9, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  I no longer own a television. I only ever used my TV to watch DVD movies and most of the time I preferred watching movies at the cinema. I love the occasion of going out to the cinema with friends and being part of an audience. I sold my television some time back when … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: David Attenborough, Farenheit 451, Lesley Truffle, Ray Bradbury, reality television, Television, TV

Murder on the Orient Express

November 16, 2017 by Lesley Truffle

  I made a discovery the other day – new born babies don’t enjoy going to the movies. I’d dropped by my local cinema to catch Kenneth Branagh’s, Murder on the Orient Express and didn’t realize that I was attending a ‘Babes in Arms’ movie session. It finally dawned on me – when I stumbled … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot, Kenneth Branagh, Lesley Truffle, Murder on the Orient Express, Poirot

Loving Vincent

November 8, 2017 by Lesley Truffle

  When Vincent van Gogh committed suicide in July 1890, aged 37, he’d only been painting for about a decade. He was immensely productive, despite suffering acute nervous attacks and paralysing depression. Vincent willingly spent money on art materials but he ate poorly and had lost most of his teeth by the time he was … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: animated film, Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Lesley Truffle, Loving Vincent, painted film, Starry Night, Van Gogh, Vincent Van Gogh

Urban Cowboys

September 15, 2017 by Lesley Truffle

  Melbourne’s Deakin Edge is a strange venue. The whole construction slopes precariously down to the hardwood stage area. Vertigo was apparent on the faces of those pioneering their way down to the front rows during the 2017 Melbourne Writers Festival. Rock icon, Tex Perkins (born Gregory Stephen Perkins), was onstage being interviewed by radio … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Mavericks & Renegades, Melbourne, Observations, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown, writers & creatives, Writers & Readers Events Tagged: Elizabeth McCarthy, Gin-ger Sea cocktail, Gregory Stephen Perkins, JimB's studio, Lava Lounge, lesleytruffle, Melbourne, Sergio Leone, TEX, Tex Perkins, The Deakin Edge, Thoreau, Urban Cowboys

Melbourne Trams in Autumn

June 23, 2017 by Lesley Truffle

    It’s been a particularly lovely Melbourne autumn this year but now the days are getting shorter and we are heading into winter. Taking the city bound tram and heading off early to work on golden autumn mornings has been fabulous. The late nineteenth century trees that line both sides of St Kilda Road … [Read more…]

Posted in: Melbourne, Observations, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown Tagged: Autumn, Elm trees, Environmental impact, Lesley Truffle, Melbourne, Melbourne Trams, Metro Tunnel Project, Plane trees, St Kilda Road

Let them eat cake

March 29, 2017 by Lesley Truffle

Antonin Carême In my second novel, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, I acknowledge Ian Kelly’s wonderful non-fiction book, Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême , the First Celebrity Chef (Walker & Company, New York). After her grandfather gifts her several leather-bound copies of Carême’s cookbooks, Sasha Torte – the fictitious, future Tasmanian … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, cakes and cooking, Social Comment Tagged: Antonin Careme, cake, Chefs, Cooking for Kings, croquembouche, French Revolution, Ian Kelly, Lesley Truffle, Let them eat cake, Marie Antoinette, pâtissier, pâtissière, Tasmania, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte

It’s Raining in Space

November 17, 2016 by Lesley Truffle

  Terry Virts – US Air Force Colonel and retired NASA Astronaut – was in town last night at a School of Life event, talking about his three spacewalks and 200 days in space. Virts has been the Commander of the International Space Station (ISS), piloted the NASA space shuttle and flown on the Russian … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: International Space Station, Lesley Truffle, NASA Astronaut, space photography, Terry Virts

Les Tambours de Feu

October 7, 2016 by Lesley Truffle

  The Devil’s soldier drummers are increasing the beats. Their faces sinister with heavy black brows, masks of white makeup and strange white horns. We’re all hoping something wicked is coming our way. The Devil is now amongst us. He towers over everyone in his huge headdress of ram’s horns, beaked snout and flaming slashed … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown Tagged: Cesar Arroyo, Deabru Beltzak, Garbitxu, Les Tambours de Feu, Lesley Truffle, Melbourne Festival, Oscar Castano, The Devil, Zuggarramurdi

A Cat called Oscar and Bellingen NSW

June 20, 2016 by Lesley Truffle
Ginger cat called Oscar waking from nap

Bellingen is everything that I always hope an Australian country town will be. It’s situated riverside in New South Wales, in the lovely Bellinger Valley, between the coast and the Dorrigo Plateau. Bellingen is also in close proximity to the Dorrigo World Heritage rainforest and some stunning beaches running from Urunga to Woolgoolga. I was … [Read more…]

Posted in: animals, Observations, Writers & Readers Events Tagged: Australia, Beaches, Bellingen, Bellingen Brewery & Co., Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival, Dorrigo rainforest, Lesley Truffle, New South Wales, Oscar, Wisteria Cottage

FOTOGRAFIEN Sven Marquardt exhibition

May 21, 2016 by Lesley Truffle

When I saw Sven Marquardt’s Melbourne exhibition I wanted to run away to Berlin. Marquardt’s transgressive black and white photographs capture the dark gothic splendour of Berlin after dark. He grew up in East Berlin before the wall came down, and by his own admission, ‘I have always been a man who polarised people.’ (Kultur, Edition … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown Tagged: analogue camera, art photography, Berlin, emulsion film, exhibition, Lesley Truffle, photography, Substation Melbourne, Sven Marquardt

Melbourne Trams In Summer

March 28, 2016 by Lesley Truffle
HEAT

The tram lurches away from the tram stop at the top end of Swanston Street. We can hear the aircon but can’t feel it. All the windows are hermetically sealed. When the doors whisper open a blast of hot northerly wind enters and stirs up the city aroma of petrol fumes, stale perfumes, body odour … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown Tagged: Flinders Street Station, Heat, Lesley Truffle, Melbourne, Summer, Swanston Street, trams

The Four Elements: Earth, Air, Fire & Water

March 8, 2016 by Lesley Truffle

Last night David Suzuki, Naomi Oreskes and Tim Flannery filled the huge Melbourne Town Hall to capacity when they presented, For Thought: Hope for the Planet. David Suzuki – Canadian author, scientist, environmentalist & broadcaster delivered a powerful opening address that cut straight to the heart of the matter. He recalled that decades earlier he’d … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations, Social Comment Tagged: David Suzuki, Hope for the Planet, Lesley Truffle, Melbourne, Naomi Oreskes, the four essential elements, Tim Flannery

Postcard from Zeehan Tasmania

January 23, 2016 by Lesley Truffle
Gaiety theatre poster magician

Zeehan was dead quiet when I turned into Main Street around ten am. There was nobody about, so I stood in the middle of the road taking photographs of the marvellous 1800’s and 1900’s era buildings. For during the silver boom Zeehan had been widely known as  the Silver City. The Rescue Shop was open. … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations, Social Comment Tagged: Lesley Truffle, Tasmania, west coast, Westcoast Heritage Centre, Zeehan

Postcard from West Coast Tasmania

January 23, 2016 by Lesley Truffle

Driving up north from Zeehan yesterday morning, the bushfire smoke got so dense that I had to turn my headlights on. Winding around the sharp hairpin bends became increasingly surreal as visibility diminished, yet the bloody roadkill of the previous night remained starkly visible. So many furry wilderness animals. Gone. A local bloke told me … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations Tagged: bush fires, Lesley Truffle, rainforest, Tasmania, west coast Tasmania, wilderness

‘Tommy’s Story’ bronze sculpture by Bill Perrin

January 16, 2016 by Lesley Truffle
Photograph of Tommy's Story sculpture by Bill Perrin

This bronze sculpture is titled: Tommy’s Story and it’s situated on the sea wall, in Melbourne’s bayside suburb of Middle Park. I frequently pass it on my way to St Kilda and sometimes I see kids trying to lever the cap or the boots off the wall. Tourists reverently touch the bronze clothing and then … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations, Social Comment Tagged: Bill Perrin, Margins Memories and Markers, Middle Park, St Kilda, Tommy's Story

Melbourne Trams in Winter

January 8, 2016 by Lesley Truffle
Skyline Swanston Street early morning

  It’s still dark but we’re all off to work. St Kilda road is gloomy but the tram is now trundling past the National Gallery and the bare trees are festive with colored lights. City buildings are silhouetted against a sky that is slowly lightening. The tram is past its prime and the brakes are … [Read more…]

Posted in: Observations Tagged: Lesley Truffle, Melbourne Trams
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