return of the tree pants

 

Well, actually these aren't returning they're new, and the tree never went anywhere, it's unable to do anything about this indignity. As mentioned, this is the third pair of pants I've seen here in a week. Will definitely be back tomorrow to see what develops. 

maribyrnong walk yesterday

Yesterday Perry and I went to an old favourite of ours, Afton Street Conservation Reserve. At least, we tried to. I overshot trying to find the way to the carpark across the river and when finally parked, was completely baffled by the extensive walk on the south side of the Maribyrnong to get there. We did finally get there but by that time there was almost no time, so most of our walk was walking there. Who cares right. We did get a chance to examine a few of the amazing houses (well really, the amazing gardens of the probably average houses) backing on to the river road (which I think is called Chifley Road). Here's one with what is probably not actually a peacock but a statue of a peacock, but tbh I'm still not entirely sure.  

I felt like every time I looked away from it it looked right at me, but that's probably proof of the illusion because why would a bird look right at you? That would be the moment it couldn't see you at all. 

So yes there does seem to be a tendency for animal statues in the gardens. But some are just big stretches of grass... 

This last one is just a bonus near where we parked. Pretty amazing. It seems to have very extensive open space underneath. 

no pants today

Today I hastened to what has become known as the pants tree to see what pants were on the tree today. Disappointingly, the pants choice represented today was nudism. 

Should I go back tomorrow? 

Meanwhile, I was moved to check my average steps: 

I went looking just then for an article in the Guardian about some guy in England who dealt with a breakup and I think he walked 15k steps a day, but I might be minimising the figure (which is why I wanted to find the article). Anyway I know that 10k is the reputedly healthy amount, to which I can only say, if I didn't walk this much on average how fucking unhealthy would I be?! Because I am not exactly bouncingly radiant right now (nor am I ill). 

Looks like November was my lowest walking month of the last 12, which is strange, it wasn't very hot or anything, I can't really understand why that would be the case. I wonder how it's calculating the second half of April? So many questions. 
 

warning gross adult content

This is not the adult content precisely though I suppose it depends on your adult imagination. Two things about this, which I saw this morning at I guess around 5:30 am, piss me off. One is that yesterday, there were a pair of women's track suit pants in this same place, and they have now been replaced by these trousers. I'm so irritated that I didn't photograph the pants yesterday. I am also annoyed that of course I will have to go back tomorrow morning to see what's there then. This by the way was in Gracie street North Melbourne - that's the dog park in the background. 

This was Perry last night in the doorway. 

This was him this morning when I got up. That's his water bowl. 

On Sunday we went to Solomon Heights to take pictures for a lecture I'm giving in a few weeks. In this one Perry's stance makes the background look fake - IMO. 

In this image, Melbourne just looks fake, off there in the distance. 

And this is whatever. I didn't look in the crate. 

Here's the gross thing. So, for my sins I follow Gyles Brandreth on facebook. Yes, I know he was a tory politician (but you know, Britain is right royally fucked whichever way you look at it) - I just find him very funny, I can't help it. 

Anyway for the last few days Gyles Brandreth's stories have been playing out in my fb feed, and he's obviously been hacked (or he's gone mad or something) and there's just this gross soft porn, it's been like that for days now. I would love an explanation, because I went to his page (tbh I didn't even remember I followed him until I started seeing this stuff) and at least one person has left a comment telling him he's been hacked. But it's been days now, and he hasn't done anything about it (or perhaps his password's been changed so he can't?). Anyway, I don't really care, but I suppose I should unfriend him because despite me just saying I don't really care actually this bugs me. 

another mystery

 

I have often wondered about the casque atop 304 Racecourse Road, Flemington, but usually I only wonder about it for the time it takes for me to cross the road from Cheaper Buy Miles/KFL (two of my common weekly shopping stops) to the tram stop, then there are other things to think about. Well I am not really in a position to say anything more than that. A hundred years ago this building was a real estate agent (V. J. Rawsthorn acting on behalf of Sydney, Arnold, Best & Co; in 1929 SAB sold the business to Rawsthorn), but the structure in question looks more than a hundred years old. I think (they changed the numbering sometime in the early 20th century) that even in 1900 it was an estate agent - A. D. Langridge - but I wouldn't swear to that. 

Anyway I just want to know what's in it and why it's there, not even in that order.  

dryburgh

Here's a dull observation. I noticed this morning that there is a sign in the Gardiner Reserve (around the corner from this house) which designates a path in the park as part of Dryburgh St. I found this a bit stupid then I realised in fact that probably is official Dryburgh St as council (or someone) has taken a long wide street/avenue, and turned one lane into a path and expanded (or maybe just maintained) the central park space as an extension of Gardiner Reserve. You can see in the 1966 map below that it narrowed at this point even then but whoever was doing the colour was careful to denote that the space to the left of the road was not park. I wonder if there were ever other buildings? It's possible. Also, I wonder about the continuation of O'Shannassy St through the park. That was meaningless. 

glenroy/broady

Had to go to Broady yesterday for reasons I am not yet ready to share, and went on the train, so took some paths not so travelled lately, it was sort of interesting. 

A couple of benches. The top one is, I suspect, a local handiperson's handiwork, and it's nicely done. The next is I imagine a council construction that some clever clogs has seen fit to burn, presumably on purpose. I mean these are never used, were never used before one of them was made unusable, as far as I know. 

I often have the experience of knowing something's gone but not knowing what it was, so this patch of grass intrigued me not a little because I was very certain that there was once a building of some sort here, but what the hell could it have been? Apart from anything else, clearly (not in the pictures, but in real life) access was very limited. Anyway, here I present my picture of an empty space.