concrete emu in parkes on the weekend

trip to glebe on the 'tram' last sunday

australia day

I wanted to make some snide comment about Aust Day and how much I despise its lies, and then I thought god I've probably whinged about Aust Day every year now for X [however long I've been doing this blog] years and so I wandered back to see what I'd said in the past, because I know I do repeat myself. And guess what. It appears I have ignored it each year.*

And so I should.

* Except here

greg and a tree

Here is the tree that fell on Stephen and Fran's studio. Everyone got out alright. I included Greg for scale but then realised you probably can't see him because his stripes blend right in.

mascot

Hi I'm at Sydney Airport about to catch a flight out of um Sydney after a four day event. I am having a second go at my second coffee at the day, the first was at The Hub in Bathurst and I drank about half of it but then the bus came and thought nah I can't do it. I shouldn't do it now (it's late in the day) but I tell you I'm that frazzled. I got the flight time wrong thought it was earlier than it was but it wasn't, so I took a 'tram' (which is what they call their trams here in Sydney, but they're not) to Glebe and walked up Glebe Point Road and had some udon or as they called it in the restaurant U-Don, which wasn't bad but I really felt like it was far too hot, i don't mean the food was too hot, I mean I got very hot eating that U-Don.

Anyway I am about to catch my plane, so if it crashes let's just remember the good times alright. There have been plenty of them and you will have many more, unless my plane crashes into you.

* NB next day note: the plane didn't crash. I sat next to a tall young American man who did some stupid 'logic' puzzles in a little book all the way - I call them stupid because I couldn't work out what on earth they were about - and his young chinless Australian partner. The only time he wasn't doing his logic puzzles was when the two of them were discussing the news which was being shown in the little screens on the seat backs and he was quizzing her about state and federal governors, which he seemed to be confusing with state premiers and prime ministers, and she wasn't helping much, though she did know Quentin Bryce's name, but she also thought Christina Kenneally was the premier of Queensland.

sexy chick i saw hanging round the ice cream van

RIP steve and harvey

vacant block

This block has been vacant in our street as long as we have lived here. Vaguely in my memory I seem to recall at the beginning I thought, the house that was there has only recently been demolished, but it has been vacant at least since 2004. It is pretty extraordinary to think that someone has been 'sitting on' this empty block for close to 7 years now, if not longer, even if it's the Office of Housing. The stop-start construction of four units on a similarly sized block is going on just up the road, though actually come to think of it it's more stop than start. I have no more to say about this presently.

21st century issue

crimson on clover

Any tips on what this red stuff is that someone has sprayed on vegetation down at the Jacana Reserve?

graham kennedy

Just finishing up reading Graeme Blundell's very fine biography of Graham Kennedy. Hot on the heels of the excellent more recent bio of Gordon Barton (not by Blundell btw). Are all media celebrity successes completely bizarre? And where on earth does this come from, it's extraordinary:

three terrors

Charlie, Barry and Kenzie at Altona dog beach today



We went to Altona Ice but it was closed!!! Till Tuesday, bastards.

2011

A happy new year to all my regular readers and of course also those who only visit briefly as part of a broad sweep to find answers to universal questions usually of a sexual nature. 2010 was not a really marvelous year, dominated as it was for me with deaths of friends and family. I hope this is not a state of affairs I will have to get used to, at least, not at such level in the near future.

But of course I continue to be lucky, relatively comfortable and able to do a lot of the things I want to, other than fly unaided and stop war. Some things on the bright side: the long-term project of the Community: Building Modern Australia book finally came forth and there are more books and other publications in the offing, which feels good to me. Having Barry around is also a big plus, even if (news flash) his predilection for biting/mouthing is morphing subtly into a tendency to nip. In 2011 I expect to travel a bit this year – something I have mixed feelings about, but which I know will be worth it. I am not yet sure whether I will be flying unaided or stopping war like Julian Assange does.

The above was not the sum total of taking stock, by the way. I don’t have to take stock on my blog (or anywhere actually) if I don’t want to.