hi, my name is leisa franklin and i've been 178 days swinging

so far this week i've danced each night. monday was brunswick lindy, tuesday was balboa in richmond and then last night at spenserslive in the city - lindy and blues. on the way into the venue i noticed this poster, my sister had obviously snuck into melbourne without telling me (and formed a band). :)

off to the cbd tonight for some more swing action.

who ever invented umbrellas, i thank you.

there was a chance on saturday that i could've been washed away. i was out on a walking tour of melbourne's moderne buildings from the 30s and 40s and it rained. and rained. and rained. if this sort of thing continues there will be a pair of bright wellington boots purchased. but even with the rain and the cold (i was told the temperature reached a high 9 degrees C) i loved it. and of course there were many pictures taken.

this first shot is of the gorgeous mcphersons building. it used to be a hardware showroom and now the ground floor is all cafes. from the outside it reminds me of what a food automat would've been.

can you see the lights inside collins hill house? they remind me of frankenstein lights - you know that contraption hanging over the bed when the monster is brought to life "it's alive... alive".

and we struggled bravely through the elements.


me trying to be a little arty.



how fantastic is the alkira building? need to get back there for more pics when the weather is a little clearer.



robin related an urban myth that the flagpole on this building was taken from a german submarine. no evidence, but it's a good story.

this isn't deco but it's pretty fabulous. inside the anz bank on collins. shocking photo but the reflection off the wet glass wasn't helpful. another one to get back to and hopefully inside with camera.

these next few photos are from mitchell house on lonsdale street. it used to be the site of a cobb & co stables. this gorgeous moderne building was completed in 1937. i love it.







the tour ended at mitchell so i walked back to the bourke street mall to wander through the stores.

sunday was another art deco-ish morning. i had an film showing by the art deco society at the sun theatre in yarraville. oh...my...goodness. it is a beautiful complex. originally opened in 1938, it had one screen and seats for 1050 people. it was in disrepair for a long time until the current owners bought it in 1995. it now houses 6 screens and they have renovated and remodelled the building gloriously. the film that was showing was miss pettigrew lives for a day, light entertainment, beautifully deco.

this theatre can be seen from the carpark of the sun. another gorgeous building needing some tlc.


and in other news, larissa and her team won their first netball game on the weekend. i'd better be a better aunt and ask her what position she plays. :)

at weekend's end

there were movies and wanderings and large coats with scarves. hot chocolate and pasta. popped down to camberwell flea market this morning, found a great women's weekly mag from 1940. moved onto st kilda for a late breakfast. bought myself a "fat mama's" bag from the st kilda markets - gail will be proud. :)

love the old trams.

hullabaloo and beyond....

flew back to perth this past weekend for hullabaloo. perth's swing dancing extravaganza, full of social dancing and workshops. i didn't catch up with too many of my non-swing pals, not enough time since i was on the dance floor for most of the visit. also didn't take that many photos but i did manage to sneak a few via facebook from the other attendees, so you'll get the gist of how bloody fabulous the weekend was.

managed to catch up with my nan most days, she's at the respite in mt lawley til they get her back to kalg. she's looking really well, so yah to that. also snaffled time with all my mad aunts, chris was in from alice springs and heather from kalg (they're in the photo with me, mom and nan). then mom's brother peter dropped by, so it rounded out the duca side of the family.

friday night was the mustang bar... i'm the one in the red shirt in a couple of the pics. the last one in this series has inga and myself in it.





and then onto the claremont sideshow.

saturday before workshops i had my little brother sean's christening to attend, and i am now his fairy godmother. heaven help him. he also turned 10 on april 29. time sure does flies.

saturday night was the masquerade ball at the magnificent midland town hall - with the windy city jazzmen band.

sunday, another few hours of workshops, followed by a talk by peter (our u.s. teacher) who has a great love of dance history. could've listened to his stories for hours, days even. the photo below is of the group at the end of the sunday workshops, i'm in there somewhere.

then onto the hullabaloo hop at the perth town hall and the oz big band. completely spoiled dancing to live music. this was my favourite night of all. picture below is of peter and mia (u.s. teachers).

no pictures of me in my finery though. none even of my friends, definitely next time. i'm now suffering withdrawals from not dancing the last couple of days. but i'm on the floor tomorrow night. phew!

a big thankyou to gail for putting me up and putting up with me over this mad weekend of lindy.