Get Active – Happy Harmony Day!

Today is Harmony Day in Australia! Harmony Day is a day when all Australians celebrate our cultural diversity and it gives people the opportunity to celebrate what makes each Australian unique and share what we have in common. The day is also the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The message for Harmony Day in 2012 is that Everyone Belongs, which means all Australians are a welcome part of our country, regardless of their background. It’s a time to reflect on where Australia has come from, recognising the traditional owners of this land. It’s also about community participation, inclusiveness and respect – celebrating the different cultures that make Australia a great place to live.

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Get Active – March’s Sunday in the Sun

On Sunday we had our second Sundays in the Sun, in glorious weather at Heritage Hill. It was a spectacular day, check out the photos below:

Up on the rose lawn, we had the wonderful Vardos playing their wild gypsy music.

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Get Active – Sundays in the Sun

Getting Active is about getting out and about, finding new places and seeing new things. So we thought part of our Get Active series should definitely focus on Sundays in the Sun! Sundays in the Sun are all about getting outside, bringing a picnic, watching some great live music and having a wander around our beautiful gardens.

This Sunday (March 11) has a spectular line up you’re not going to see anywhere else on the planet! Check it out:

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Get Active – Roller Derby with Ale Mary

Today we start our series of Gettin’ Active in a variety of interesting ways. We’re starting with a BANG, chatting to Ale Mary, one of the ladies in charge of the South Sea Roller Derby, a roller derby league from South East Melbourne.

Can you give us a quick overview of Roller Derby, it’s origins and what it is today?
Roller derby started as a women’s roller skating sport in America in the 1940s, and became very popular in the ’50s and ’60s. Over the past decade it’s had a world-wide revival, and now it’s the fastest growing women’s sport in Australia! It’s a very tactical and dynamic team sport, played in two-minute segments or “jams”. In each “jam”, a “jammer” or racer from each team lines up, along with four “blockers” from each team, to race around the oval track. The jammers win a point for every opposition player they pass – their teammate blockers try to help them through, and the opposition blockers do everything they can to stop them! Oh, did I mention it’s full contact? The results are spectacular, and frequently bruising!

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Get Active month

March is Get Active Greater Dandenong month!

Get Active Greater Dandenong is month of free activities within the City of Greater Dandenong and aims to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for the residents of the City of Greater Dandenong. It is open to all residents.  It will be held in March 2012/13.  This is one of several initiatives being implemented as part of a national project funded by the Australian Government. During this month, Council will showcase sport and recreation activities at a range of locations. This will be done on a “come and try” basis and will be free to encourage community participation.

How do you keep Active? Walking down the shops for milk instead of driving? walking to dog at nights or going for a jog in the morning? Walking around the block at lunch? Doing tai chi? Yoga? Play a sport on the weekends? There’s lots of ways to add a little more active into your week, and that’s what Get Active is all about.

For those of you outside Greater Dandenong, you can play along at home as all this month on the blog we’ll be looking at being active and healthy, some great recipes and we’ll be meeting a bunch of people who exercise in a variety of interesting ways. So stick around, and as always, let us know if you have something to contribute to our theme!

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What is your garden trying to say to you?

The iris is "Good News"

Languages can be found everywhere. We all know about books, magazines, the internet, street signs and shop names for the written word, and anytime you pass anyone in the street, chances are they’ll be using verbal language. There’s visual language, the way we read and interpret pictures, photos and art, but did you know that you can even read a garden?

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Home made games – Picara

Making things at home, as opposed to buying them in a store, really is fulfilling. Whether you’re crocheting a rug for a friend’s baby or creating chutney from a haul of tomatoes from the guy next door, whether you’re cooking a cake as a gift or taking cuttings from your garden for a friend, making it yourself is always super satisfying.

It’s important to teach this idea of home made to children too. So here’s a quick game you can make with your kids (Or they can make themselves) to play on a rainy or boring day.

It’s an ancient game called Picara, and it’s super simple to learn.

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2012 Sundays in the Sun at Heritage Hill – Muso Callout

This is breaking news! Next year Heritage Hill will be holding Sundays in the Sun, a relaxed afternoon of family friendly activities and entertainment to be hosted in the gardens on the 2nd Sunday of each month across Spring/Summer. As part of the entertainment, we want to be able to present emerging musicians playing original songs (with the occasional cover) to our picnickers.

Do you fit the bill? We’re looking for chilled out singers, 4 piece classical bands, solo guitarists, anything from relaxing to energetic. We want you to perform for our picnickers. Do you have mates who fit the bill? Let them know we’re looking for musos.

Send us your MySpace pages, website, Bandcamp site, a CD, tape or any other way we can listen to what you do.

Email us at Heritagehill@cgd.vic.gov.au, call us on 9793 4511 or send us your stuff to Heritage Hill, PO Box 200, Dandenong, Victoria, 3175. We can’t wait to hear what you’ve got.

Guitar image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/moosicorn/4533613452/

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When life gives you lemons part 3

On Saturday at the National Gallery of Victoria, visitors to Freeplay’s Game/Play exhibition at the NGV Studio found there is another use for lemons – Lemon Jousting, an ancient citric sport passed down to them by the UK’s Agency of Coney.

  Played with two wooden spoons and a lemon each, the rules are pretty simple (keep your lemon on your spoon, try to knock other people’s lemons off) but the execution is much tricker than you might think.

To see how it’s played, Check out this video, which includes some of the other games played:

Game collective Pop Up Playground will be running another free Playday at the NGV on the 29th of October from 10-6. Drop by if you’re in the area and come play! More details here: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/ngv-studio

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