Crystallized Ginger

We've had some much needed rain over the past few days and the garden has suddenly started to perk up.

This is one of the few gardening successes that I have enjoyed recently. It's a Costus Barbatus or Spiral Ginger and presumably thrives with limited attention... my speciality.

299 And Counting

A different type of remembrance for today...

At the start of this year, the Queensland government and police service set the target of the state's annual road death-toll to below 299 in 2009. Unfortunately, according to the police, the number is set to pass 299 in the next few days.

In recognition of this and to try and raise awareness, yesterday 299 people converged in 6 different locations across the state and stood in silence for a minute at 1pm. This photo was taken just after that in King George Square.

Cheers to my colleague Mark Johnstone who went out and took this picture for me while I was at work.

Mary Steps Out

It's 100 years since Mary MacKillop died and to celebrate, there was a re-enactment performance in City Hall on Sunday. She arrived in an old Cobb and Co. coach and stepped out into the King George Square sunshine.
Did you know she's on her way to being Australia's first saint? Read all about her saintly ways here.
Thanks to MaryAnne Bland for the photo.

Kurilpa Bridge at night

Here's Brisbane's newest bridge in all it's glory. Some say it's like ships' masts bobbing in the breeze, others say it's ugly and far too busy. Personally, I'm a fan. Not just from an architectural point of view but also because it provides a car-less link between West End and the city.... with plenty of pit-stops along the way to admire the view.

Caro Mio

If you like a high tea or a clairvoyant reading...or perhaps a combination of both.. then this is the cafe for you. Caro Mio in Stanley Street Woolloongabba. It's got some really nice art deco fixtures including a grandfather clock and little fanned wall lights... but this lamp by the cash register was my favourite. Fantastic.

William Jolly Projections (2)

There are a range of different patterns set up to project onto the William Jolly Bridge. This one is some sort of crest but I can't make it out... any ideas?
Here's another...

We Were Robbed! Skywatch

One of the things that is most exciting about Brisbane weather is the storms. Last night, at home, we had the Bureau of Meteorology website up with the radar showing 2 approaching storms, one from the north and one from the west. They merged into one front at around 5.30pm and headed towards Brisbane. I grabbed my tripod and headed to Kurilpa bridge hoping to bag one of those really impressive lightning fork shots but the storm just sort of fizzled out.
What an anticlimax! We did eventually get some very bright lightning and loud thunder but it wasn't the biblical maelstrom I was hoping for.
I suppose I should be careful what I wish for... Out west, they had 7cm hail. Ouch!

This was taken from Kurilpa Bridge looking east at Victoria Bridge.
Check out more skies worldwide at Skywatch Friday.

Parklife

Orleigh Park sizzles at the end of another hot day... yes, that is onions you can smell drifting over from barbeque on the right hand side... and that hiss is an ice cold beer...

Traffic Stopping Art (number 33)

Did you pick a winner? I think mine's still running.
Yesterday was Melbourne Cup day when people all over Australia go a bit hose-racing mad and drink their weight in champagne. In Melbourne it's even a public holiday. We don't have that luxury here in Brisbane but there's still some of that holiday atmosphere going on. Eagle Farm racecourse has a big meeting and thousands take the day off to attend. Those of us who have to work still manage to watch the race, with many workplaces dishing out food, drinks and the ubiquitous sweep-stake.
This is the traffic signal box outside Doomben racecourse in Ascot - painted by Justin Mcleod.

For other painted signal boxes, click on the TSBs label below.

Ultimate Troopers

It was about 26 degrees on Saturday - an average mid-spring day by Brisbane's sub-tropical standards - but for some reason, It was absolutely baking hot down at The Gap where a charity Ultimate Frisbee tournament was under way. For those not in the know it's a 2-team, 7-a-side game where the aim of the game is to pass the frisbee from one end of the field to the other, with a team member catching it in the end zone. These teams played game after game all day from 9am until 6pm. I was sweating just watching a little part of it.

Come up to the lab and see what's on the slab...

Halloween night in Caro Mio cafe in Woolloongabba attracted an assorted bag of Rocky Horror fans for a night of tapas and tranny-appreciation. Despite it being a good few years since I'd seen the movie, I still knew most of the words and had a brilliant night. This group were among the best dressed with Mark (I hope I've got his name right), second from left, getting a bottle of champagne on the house for his Frank'n'furter efforts.

November Theme: Doorways

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Happy Halloween!

I know it's a bit grainy but you have to factor in that a) I'm a Londoner and don't have full control of my faculties when I encounter any kind of large insect in this country and b) there was a small child holding open the lid of the dustbin who was sort of in a hurry to get it back on.
It's a big huntsman spider mama and all her little babies living on the inside of a rarely used garbage can.

Flame Tree Skywatch

Oh the flame trees will blind the weary driver
And there's nothing else could set fire to this town

- That's from the song "Flame Trees" by Aussie band Cold Chisel. It's a great song and also has been covered beautifully by Sarah Blasko. I think my favourite version is by the Sacred Heart School as heard in the film Little Fish... it's just gorgeous.

Blue skies have returned after a couple of days of much needed rain here in Brisbane easing the fire restrictions... and the flame trees are exploding into a riot of crimson.

Light up your life today with other skies posted at Skywatch Friday.

Forme Del Mito

This is Forme Del Mito (Forms of Myth), an artwork by Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro consisting of four bronze sculptures, each symbolizing a character and force within the Ancient Greek play Agamemnon. This pyramid-shaped one represents Agamemnon and Power. And the one in the background that looks a bit like an upside-down ice-cream cone with millions of little legs is really Clytemnestra and Ambition. (Or a gold Dalek).

You'll find them guarding the bottom of Jacob's Ladder on Turbot Street. Pretty imposing!

Traffic Stopping Art (number 32)

I've featured Alicia Lane's signal boxes before I think they're great. This one is on Melbourne Street at the junction with the busway and underneath the train line.

"The interlocking multilayered shapes are intended to reflect the physical forms of people and machines, the technology involved and the spiritual resonance of all of the lives that pass through this point on a daily basis."

There you have it!

Brisbane has art on every corner. Click on the TSBs label below for the others in the series or go to the Artforce Website for a more comprehensive look.

350 frisbees

On Saturday people from 181 countries all came together for an International Day of Climate Action. The idea behind it is that we will have a lot healthier and more sustainable world if we reduce the amount of CO2 in the air to 350 parts per million (it's about 390 now). Which is where the "350" bit comes in. Read all about it and see pictures from actions all over the world here. In one Brisbane event at the West End Markets, people threw 350 frisbees into the air to the beat of 350 drums (approximately, perhaps). I was at work so I missed it but luckily today's photo is kindly donated by MaryAnne Bland. Thanks MaryAnne!

Degroot Wall

This is a wall in West End is painted by Simon Degroot - who has also painted a huge number of traffic signal boxes here in Brizzy - here's one.

Beautiful Brick Balloon

I found this on the wall of the Joshua Levi Galleries in Woolloongabba. There are lots of little things on the walls in there. People who might otherwise be arrested for public acts of art can get some practice in here... And then go out and get arrested!

Sandgate Pace

As the harsh mid-day sun subsides, kids zoom home on their bikes from school, people walk their dogs on the beach... and way out to sea (sorry - really must get a big lens), kite-surfers flit from wave to wave. It's all....very.....relaaaaxed....

Shorncliffe Pier Skywatch

Shorncliffe pier was built in 1872 and is reminiscent of many piers in England from the same era. This area was once a seaside town but as Brisbane's footprint continues to expand it has become an outer suburb. You can tell as you walk around that the people in charge have tried to retain the character of the place with all sorts of historical buildings and street furniture - like these great Victorian-looking lamp posts.
That's the southern tip of Moreton Island in the distance - one of the worst-affected areas of the horrific oil-tanker disaster in March. Thankfully after months of hard work and millions of dollars, the mess has been cleaned up.

Fish and Chips at Sandgate

Sandgate is in the far north of Brisbane and takes about half an hour on the train. As it is still part of the bay, there's not much in the way of sandy beaches (by the Australia's standards) but the sea front is a great place for walks or exploring rock pools... or scoffing down fish and chips which is exactly what I did. Very nice, it was... even if I did ignore the Londoner in me who was screaming for malt vinegar and some mushy peas. Lemon? I ask you.

Parched Again

So far spring in this part of the world has been pretty much bone-dry with hot, windy conditions; perfect for bushfires. Friends to the south of us in Lamington last week saw fires from their house but they've since died down. Now the danger has moved north up the coast to Rockhampton where it threatens houses. Brisbane has been lucky so far but we still have a total fire ban.

Sunday Lunch at the MCF

Roma Street Parklands was full of food tents and music stages on Sunday for the annual Multcultural Festival. It was a warm one, so our little group hung out under the banyan fig trees with full bellies listening to Latin American gooves. Excellente!
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A Head For Heights

West End has been earmarked by the council for a massive development plan.

It's an amazing inner-city oasis full of interesting people from all over the world. It is vibrant, friendly, creative and has a village atmosphere where people stop and chat on the street. It is not the development itself but the enormous scale of the plan - with buildings up to 30 storeys high - that had people protesting on the streets on Saturday.

Read about it, fight the towers (and the powers) here.

The Jac Stack's Back!

Here we are with the third of three Jacaranda-themed posts.

You are looking at "The Jacaranda Gas Chamber" by Joshua Levi currently exhibiting in his own fabulous Joshua Levi Galleries on Ipswich Road. That guy in the coffin is Brisbane's Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, who is the man ultimately responsible to the tunnel and its chimneys.

Purple Haze

If you squint really really hard (maybe so hard that your eyes close) you can just make out that this giant ventilation stack in Woolloongabba is supposed to be a jacaranda tree (see yesterday's post for comparison). It's one of two enormous monoliths (the other one a red "poinciana-inspired" number in Bowen Hills) that dominate their respective skylines. Each is the height of about a 15 storey building. The tunnel between the two stacks is 4.8 kms with 2 lanes each way and is set to carry 100,000 cars a day. As the stacks don't have any filters, (?? I know) the council have set up 4 air-quality testing stations so they can monitor just how much filth and pollution they will pump into the air next year when the tunnel opens.
Both chimneys are close to large hospitals. (Can you tell I'm not a big fan?).
More info including an aerial photo of the poinciana stack here.

The irony of a giant man-made tree pumping exhaust fumes over our city is not lost on an artist called Joshua Levi. Visit again tomorrow for his take on it.

Jacaranda Tree Skywatch

Brisbane's many beautiful jacaranda trees are in full blossom right now and every year I have been here I have been surprised at just how many of them are around. For most of the year they just seem to blend in. Now (and for the next month), everywhere you look there are little splodges of colour.

The white dusty skies of earlier in the week have finally given way to the trademark blue ones although there is still the ominous smell of smoke in the air and haze on the horizon from bushfires around Brisbane. Had this tree been shot against one of those white skies, the colour of the blossom would be much paler - something like this text. In this pic, the early evening light adds a red tint which I also quite like!


Check out other skies around the world at Skywatch Friday

Where's Your Head At?

You can't really call this graffiti but I don't have a tag for public art so it goes under art and graffiti. This piece is a collaboration of 2 artists. They've done eachother's heads in if you know what I mean.

See more of their style and judge for yourself who did which bit... Andy Harwood or Shida?

See more art on the walls outside Box Vintage here, here and here.

Brisbane Square Market

It was only set up a few months ago but Brisbane Square Farmers' Market is flourishing. Don't go there with an empty stomach!

Doggett Street Studio

I took this picture at a group exhibition opening on Friday night in Newstead. It's a detail from a piece called Rivir (52x42cm) which is made out of little lead seals by local artist Rachael Lee.
The exhibition is on for a couple more weeks and you can see who else is exhibiting at Doggett Street Studio here.