Weekender

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday March 12, 2011

eatBloodwoodThis funky bar and casual diner has been going strong since it splashed onto Newtown's dining scene almost a year ago. And no wonder. Owners Jo Ward, Mitchell Grady and Claire Van Vuuren have matched their culinary pedigrees - the trio worked together at Woollahra fine diner Claude's - with clever design to create a vibrant local eatery. Stop by for a cocktail or tuck into a menu of small dishes designed for sharing: polenta chips with a piquant gorgonzola dipping sauce; crisply fried bean curd rolls stuffed with prawn and pork; or socca, a pizza-like chickpea pancake, with herbs, zucchini, pumpkin and Persian feta. bloodwood, 416 king street, newtown; (02) 9557 7699; blood woodnewtown.com. App of the weekCan't name that tune? Shazam (free) uses an inbuilt tagging system to identify almost any song you play it, wherever you are - nightclub, shop or restaurant.Fad watch Seen an orange glow in your neighbour's lounge room? Could be they've been, ahem, switched on to the health benefits of Himalayan salt lamps. This mineral-rich salt is a source of negative ions, which reputedly clean the air of pollen, dust and electromagnetic pollution. The lamps can be used with a bulb or a candle. Available from alternative lifestyle shops everywhere.go see��...Lovers of Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel Never Let Me Go will be nervously anticipating its big-screen adaptation, which opens here on March 31. Still, with its dazzling storyline and cast (including, from left, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan), there's nothing for it, we reckon, but to be first in line.Object of desireUnlike its pool of tinny competitors, this most elegant of docking stations can be wall-mounted to fill your home with clarity and depth of sound. Audiophiles need to know that Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound 8 has a five-inch woofer. Apple nuts need to know it will work with their iPad, iPhone or iPod. Designer types need to know it comes in black or white with aluminium details and that, for an extra $75, they can add spot colour with the help of fabric covers in lavender blue, purple, yellow and green. $1490; bang-olufsen.com.Read��...Franklin & Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage is that rarest of books: a political biography you just can't leave alone. Hazel Rowley tells the story of Franklin D. Roosevelt's epic four-term presidency, while painting an intimate picture of his marriage to his cousin Eleanor. The passages that describe his struggle with an illness that left him paralysed from the waist down at the age of 39 - unbeknown to the American public - are particularly moving. You'll be reading into the wee hours.franklin & eleanor: an extraordinary marriage, by hazel rowley (melbourne university press, $37), is out now.