north melbourne to north carlton

Perry and I had an errand to run this morning so we walked to North Carlton via the cemetery. We also picked up rubbish along the way, achieving over 100 items. It was ridiculously clean in North Melbourne and we had almost nothing, and Royal Park had very little too, but North Carlton delivered the goods, including a stash of glass bottles - were they soda water bottles? - hidden in the grass at the front of the Greek Orthodox church. 

It was a stupidly hot morning by the time we were coming back and Perry I think got really pissed off about it, even though I made sure to favour shady spots. I didn't like it either much, to be honest. But we got in 15 000 steps so we can feel adequately exercised, if that's a consolation. Now here is a question for you:

What went round the boardroom table at Bushells when they decided to market something called instant tea, and similarly, what went round when they decided they were going to stop marketing something called instant tea? Also, what the hell is instant tea? I think of tea as being more or less instant, I suppose you have to leave it a short while to 'draw', but who wants their tea right now? 

Third question: is there no requirement of advertisers to remove painted 'billboards' like this? So in fact the only way it ever goes, is if someone else buys/rents the space and reuses it? 

kew and ivanhoe walks

I must have really enjoyed the walks I had with Perry last Wednesday and Thursday as I barely took any pictures (you'll be upset to hear). Well, I did feel the need to record the above, just for future analysis.  

There are really nice places to walk along the Yarra there even if you're constantly confronted by stupid things like freeway bridges and big pipes that might have oil in them or something? Christ knows what they have in them, they seem important. 

This house either got a bit burnt or someone just started smashing it up, don't know. Or is it 'burned'? I can never remember, and the unrememberingness is getting worse. 

Then yesterday we walked in Ivanhoe, looking for Albert Genser houses, I might tell you about that sometime, particularly if I ever get around to it. This isn't one of those it's just a block of flats that took my fancy, I can't remember why. The only other thing I photographed is a block of units but I can't remember why and don't know how to care. I like Ivanhoe though. Going to go back soon. Hold your breath. 

let the two grow together

I've spent a lot of today going through old photographs looking for bits and pieces that might be relevant to this chapter I'm writing. I've photographed a lot of material in my time and not necessarily been that great at cataloguing it, but text is searchable, so, you know. Anyway I found these odd letters in the Frank Heath collection which are talking about different kinds of garden villages that could be established. Then this... 

The pen portrait of Susie is not included by the way which is a shame. I assume by Order they mean a religious order? or just an Order of Susies? Anyway I hope they got what they wanted. 

According to Sands and McDougall for 1940, 9 Park St was occupied by J. V. Reilly. I don't understand any of this but I am a bit dazed by all the things I've seen today. 
 

hundred items of rubbish a day

Perry and I have a new activity called picking up 100 items of rubbish a day. How long do you think we'll stick at it? Thanks for your support. Anyway, the idea is any bit of rubbish, as small as a cigarette butt or as big as a detergent bottle. Or bigger. You'll laugh when I tell you about the big wodge of sticky tape I picked up all tangled up in twigs. Hilarious. There's a lot of rubbish out there, but don't go picking it up please, we want to do it. 

yeterday it rained

intensely silly but satisfying

Got to hate-love those neat shows where people have special skills in a kind of superhero kind of way, and they win at everything but they're also troubled. I mean that's why I liked Pinwheel so much (I actually can't remember what the show was called. But I will) and of course The Mentalist. This show is called Unforgettable* and it is about a woman with a medical condition that means she remembers absolutely everything that ever happened, to the degree that she can go back to any moment in her life and do a 360 degree scan of everything and look at it all. SO SILLY. Anyway what made me like this show in particular was that in this scene, above, in a diner, they are playing 'Buy Nothing Day' by the Go! Team, from my favourite Go! Team album, the name of which I also don't remember. Perhaps it is called Pinwheel. 

By the way, the show I meant was Poker Face. The album is Rolling Blackouts. 

* and it's old, like, ten years old if not more

a few days ago in altona

Last Wednesday Perry and I went to the Altona Coastal Park, as recently mentioned. I recommend it. 

I was really, really confused about what this big building was on the horizon. 

So this is a remnant, apparently, of the Williamstown Racecourse which burned down in the 1940s. I don't know why the ruins remain 80 years later. Seems silly. Actually (see below) it will be exactly 80 years in about three months. We should have a party. I hate racing. 

Melbourne Argus 30 January 1947 p. 1

I actually found it quite difficult to place where the buildings were. The clipping above makes the whole complex seem pretty grand. 

We went as far as the sea but we didn't go in. 

It was a strangely cool morning, and the city was partially in fog.