George Street

Someone on my bus home from work yesterday smelled like fresh-cut salami. It was quite pleasant, actually, just unexpected.

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The new house has meant a new bus route, which in turn means a different view of the city. This time I'm getting a look along George Street as I leave the CBD. A lot has changed there since I last looked, and a lot is in the process of changing. There's so much construction going on along there! Where The Majestic Hotel once stood there's an enormous building project going on. I looked at the promotional boarding wrapped around it as I passed, but was none the wiser when I'd finished. They're all the same, aren't they, building project promotions? Arty pictures of young, slender whities engaged in their "lifestyle", and copy that says something vacuous like "The most fashionable address in the city" or "Your lifestyle begins here". What a waste of ink. This kind of tripe tells you nothing. Is the building retail? Residential? Offices? Will it house The Ponds Institute? NASA? The World Health Organisation? Will I be able to go there for an after-work cocktail?

I'm sure these questions will be answered in the fullness of time, long after The George cinema has closed its doors. The George, currently operated by Dendy, show their last reel this weekend. I recall going to The George as a kid (I think it was to see a stage production, but I couldn't be sure), and then again as a teenager. It's not that I have any particular fondness for the place. The seats are stuffed with can openers and bowling balls, so an extended feature can render a patron paraplegic. But I like the 1960's tiling in the bathroom, and the vaguely spooky and totally silly Roman figure in the foyer. It's no Her Majesty's and never was, but it's yet another piece of my town that will no doubt be bulldozed, built over and forgotten. It just makes me sad.