Hear

Help us. What is the sound of spring in Melbourne? The most obvious one is the footy. The sound of the siren is evocative any time of year but doesn’t it seem louder and livelier, almost joyful in September? Almost like it’s celebrating the great local game and the arrival of spring. The strains of rollicking crowds, barrackers and melodramatic commentators rise up into a thumping crescendo before exploding into the club song of the new premiers…played over and over by the two brass-blowing buskers outside the ground.

And then what can you hear that’s specific to spring? The excited chirping of birds, rivers resounding to the kinking of bell miners, the whistle and wail of Puffing Billy as it stirs the bush from its wintry stillness?

Become a walking billboard for slow with one of these unique and extremely limited brooches or necklaces, constant reminders to you and anybody that checks you out to live more and fret less. We made them to help ingratiate ourselves with the media but decided – mercenary marketing types we are – that they were too good to just give away. So contribute to this website with a useful comment, email with an idea for a thread, or just share something suitably slow and you'll go into the running (or should that be cantering?) for one of the 10 pieces we'll give away at random over the next couple of weeks. There are also fabulous blackboards, which we'd be very happy to keep all to ourselves. But we could probably be persuaded to part with a few if asked nicely.

Smell

Spring uncovers the joy of Jasmine in Melbourne. This forgotten backyard inhabitant holds old fences together, covers the shed and provides an organic wildness to an otherwise manicured world. But in Spring, Jasmine with it's heady white fragrance up lifts with the promise of warmer days to come. What's the eau du October in your neighbourhood? (From Melinda.)

Walks

Anyone wanting to reshape their views of Melbourne should do a walking tour of the city with Dean Stewart from Koorie Heritage Trust. The tours are absolutely brilliant and definitely succeed in "stripping back the layers" of Melbourne, as Dean says he aims to do. Starting along the Yarra River opposite Crown, Dean paints truly vivid pictures of what Melbourne would have been like before, and at the point of, first European contact. You can imagine the local Aboriginal people camping along the banks of the river, crossing the river at the sacred waterfall that once crossed the Yarra, and gathering food stuffs amongst the reeds. Tours end near Fed Square, where I learnt for the first time that the MCG actually sits on a traditional corroborree spot where clans used to meet for entertainment - not much has changed in that department! The whole experience is both educational and entertaining, and Dean is a rivetting and passionate personality. Completely changed my views of Melbourne and gave me a new appreciation for what lies beneath our busy and noisy city!! For more info, visit www.koorieheritagetrust.com/education The website says the tours are only for groups of 15 or more, but I'm assured there are opportunities for individuals and I'll update this post when I get more info. (From Emma.)

After a year of not living nearly slowly enough, getting pent up about the proper use of semi-colons and the like, worrying about the cost of printing in Australia and stressing about the thousands of things it takes to put books together, we’re happy…nay, relieved to say The Slow Guide to Melbourne and The Slow Guide to Sydney will be published from 1 October and will cost $29.95 each. Quite unexpectedly on time. See slow guides (top right) for the hard sell because, right now, we’re going back to smell the roses. Oh, and if you find mistakes, do let us know. But not until AFTER CHRISTMAS!

Taste

A green revolution has sprouted here in recent years, with fabulous farmers’ markets countering supermarket bland and delivering tasty and local produce to a growing brigade of mindful Melburnians. They provide great opportunity to meet growers, talk food, shop seasonally and engage. Compare the spring in your step as you leave a farmers’ market laden with wholesome flavours to the drudge from your local supermarket. There’s a great farmers’ market somewhere in Melbourne every Saturday. See your book for reviews and listings, but here’s a quick guide:

First Saturday of the month: Veg Out in St Kilda, Kingston Farmers’ Market
Second Saturday: Collingwood Children’s Farm
Third Saturday: Gasworks in Albert Park, Boroondara in Hawthorn East
Fourth Saturday: Slow Food at Abbotsford Convent
Every Saturday & Wed: Ceres in Brunswick

Technology promised us more time for leisure, but instead strapped us to computers, mobile phones, Black berries and other gadgets that constantly remind us of the time and the fact that we don’t have enough of it. We’ve become enslaved by the clock, an overlord from which we can’t escape – unless, of course, we actually decide to.

Is time a force we’re constantly pushing against, to be more productive, competitive or happy? Or is it the wondrous cycle of the natural world? Does time sound like ‘tick-tock’ and ‘beep-beep’, or the dawn chorus of birds singing and nocturnal creatures scurrying? Does it have a little-hand and a big-hand, or does it look like the changing light as the sun comes up, moves across the sky, and goes back down again?

City life is controlled by mechanical time yet we humans are naturally governed by biological time. Research by Deakin University and Parks Victoria found that these competing clocks cause us to become tense, irritable and unfocused. To counter those negative effects, tune into the natural world more and ‘clear your head’. Take off your shoes, smell the jasmine, notice nesting birds, visit an island in the middle of the Yarra…

The Idler is a twice-yearly mook (half book-half magazine) from Britain that is dedicated to the lost art of loafing. Editor and purveyor of this whimsical, inspirational, hilarious and largely impractical philosophy for living is Tom Hodkginson. I crossed paths with Tom nearly two decades ago, when I was a work experience kid doing two weeks of getting in the way. Tom is also author of two great books, How to be Free and How to be Idle. Visit The Idler where, among other things, you’ll find this Freedom Manifesto:

BAKE BREAD
MUCK ABOUT
QUIT MOANING
STOP CONSUMING
START PRODUCING
BACK TO THE LAND
SMASH USURY
EMBRACE BEAUTY
IGNORE THE STATE
REFORM IS FUTILE
HAIL THE SPADE
HAIL THE QUILL
LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR
BE CREATIVE
DIG THE EARTH
MAKE COMPOST
DOWN WITH HEALTH
DOWN WITH SAFETY
DOWN WITH WORK
DOWN WITH PENSIONS
BE ALIVE
BE MERRY
Be Free!

Slow the rush of thoughts flooding your brain. You are visiting this website? Where are you, in the context of your surroundings? Are you comfortable? What can you hear?

Mindfulness is perhaps our greatest gift and the greatest gift we can give back to the planet. Think in the moment about what you’re doing. It will encourage you to slow down and enjoy what you’re doing, to get more out of life and feel in greater control. All you have to do is think about it. Drink a glass of water and remind yourself, “I am drinking a glass of water”. Think about the taste, the health benefits, the purifying goodness.

Just try and think about what you’re doing some more in your daily life, whether you’re walking, working or even stressing. Think about ‘what’ instead of ‘why’ or ‘when’. It will help you develop a quiet mind, the most powerful tool any of us can possess.

The new edition of Dumbo Feather, pass it on, comes out on 30 September. If you’re not already familiar with Dumbo Feather, you’re in for a treat. It’s a beautifully designed and lovingly produced quarterly magazine that focuses on the stories of five ordinary people who’ve done extraordinary things by following their dreams and believing in themselves.

Dumbo, you might remember, was a cartoon elephant ridiculed because of his unfeasibly large ears. His handicap was also his special power because he was able to fly. But he didn’t believe he could fly without a ‘magic feather’ given to him by his friend Timothy Mouse. If you’re waiting for your own magic feather, this could well be your inspiration. Visit the website www.dumbofeather.com to subscribe or pop along to your local newsagent.

Play

For the record, when we played Trugo while researching The Slow Guide to Melbourne I trounced photographer James Braund so bad that his dignity was down around his ankles. Trugo is perhaps the most Melbourne of sports, and as our host, Gerald Strachan of the Brunswick City Trugo club lamented, “it’s dying mate, it’s dying”.

Rail workers in Newport invented Trugo in 1924, to help them pass downtime in the yards. Some clever clog took a ring-shaped rubber buffer off a train, and tried to pelt it with a mallet through two cans at the other end of the carriage. “When the ring went through the posts”, says Gerald, “observers yelled ‘true go, that was a true go’ and hence the name”.

The game became more organised and grew in popularity among the rail workers of the western suburbs, and then beyond to the working classes throughout the city. Men and women play together, the gents swinging the mallet between their legs with their backs to goal, women swinging to the side.

Trugo, once the preserve of the over-65s, was opened to all-comers in the 1990s in the hope of preserving the game. Gerald’s 34-year-old son Patrick is his doubles partner and they’re the reigning doubles champions of…well, seeing as though the game is only played in Melbourne, they’re the Trugo doubles champions of the world! Tout le monde!!!

But the traditional player base is dying off and the young folk aren’t joining in sufficient numbers. This unique piece of local culture is endangered, its last legs about to be kicked out by an increasingly homogenised world. There are only six clubs left: Brunswick, Footscray, Yarraville, Port Melbourne, Ascot Vale and current champions Sandridge. And less than a hundred registered players.

The new season has just started. Games end with a “beer or two” in the local pub. “It’s all about having a bit of fun and being sociable. Anyone can come along for a hit”, says Gerald. So if you’re interested in enjoying yourself, connecting with the community, preserving local heritage and setting your own trend, give Gerald a call on 9386 6708, and he’ll put you in touch with your nearest club.