Wall Stuff

Roadside doodles. I like those little Lego men. The mechanical-looking crocodile is unmistakeably a Shida. When I was up in Woodford at the Planting Festival earlier on in the year,  Shida was there and someone asked him to paint one of his characters on the side of their campervan. It looked great. I rushed back to my tent to get my camera but by the time I got back there, he'd finished. I did manage to get one of a caravan he did... I'll post that one tomorrow. 

Moonlight Shadow

A partial lunar eclipse was visible from Brisbane over the weekend. The moon rose big and full on Saturday evening at around 7pm and by 9.30pm it was only about half there.

Piñata!

Kids' birthday party fun at the weekend. There's nothing quite like whacking something hard with a stick to release all that sugar energy. And when you've finished whacking it, you can eat all the sweet sugary things inside and go back to square one.

Ghana Go Through!

Quarter finals here we come!!!

Room With A View

A good place to sit and watch the world go by is upstairs at the Gallery of Modern Art. Here we have the Kurilpa footbridge over the Brisbane River. The bigger boat is a CityCat - part of the public transport system here and definitely the way to get about town if you like the wind in your hair and the sun on your face.

Undermined

Something pretty big happened in Australian politics yesterday; the prime minister Kevin Rudd was ousted from power in a bloodless coup that surprised pretty much everyone - even him. This was taken where I work during his emotional exit speech. He has to pause several times to regain his composure.

It's widely believed his proposed tax on mining profits was his downfall.

Bribie Island Deadwood Forest

A king tide washed across the whole of the narrow northern tip of Bribie Island in Moreton Bay last year, killing a lot of the vegetation and leaving this skeletal forest in it's wake.

About as bleak as Australia's World Cup hopes.

Happily, new vegetation is starting to spring up and as for the Socceroos.... NEXT time!

Stencilled Paper Cranes

Youth Reaction

Here's the back of another of Ron Mueck's sculptures called Youth. He is lifting his blood-stained t-shirt to reveal a stab wound.

Ron Mueck at the GoMA

Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art has a Ron Mueck exhibition on right now and through till August. It's a series of figures SO life-like it will blow you away. You can walk around them and see the astonishing detail with the hair and freckles and veins and skin imperfections.

This is Wild Man. His uncomfortable expression and body language were especially believable as he was surrounded by amazed onlookers scrutinising him, pointing and taking photos.

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!

We were lucky enough to know a bloke from Ghana (that's him in the middle with the vuvuzela, draped in the Ghanaian flag) who opened up his backyard last night and set up a big screen so that the neighbourhood could watch the Australia vs Ghana game. Kick off was at midnight so we all rugged up. Happily, Australia didn't lose (1-1) and so they remain in the competition - if only by the skin of their teeth. Come on you Aussies!

There were faces on the bridge last night...

Dubmarine at The Dreaming

It was The Dreaming indigenous arts festival up at Woodford (an hour north of Brisbane) last weekend - where this shot was taken. These two front the very excellent Brisbane band Dubmarine. See a clip of them at The Dreaming last year here. On Monday, after many months of fundraising, they flew to Europe.  Lucky Europe!

Thanks to Mouse for the great shot.

A Whole Different Ball Game

It's not a football or a Rugby ball so half of the population of Brisbane won't be interested in it right now but this is a giant ball of wool in Brisbane Square. It's part of the huge knitting project that has taken over Brisbane for the month of June, wrapping statues in their winter woolies and decorating some of the city's most recognisable icons in yarn. This ball is one of several in the square whose metallic surfaces normally look like this.

A Welcome Distraction

After Australia's painful 4-0 loss to Germany on Monday morning in the World Cup, it's nice to focus on something else for a day or two. Brisbane is gearing up for the State Of Origin Game 2 of 3. Incase you care, New South Wales need to win this game tonight to stop Queensland from a 5 series whitewash.

Tonight's game is at Suncorp Stadium (aka Lang Park), close to Caxton Street where all the hard core revellers will be heading. It's a great atmosphere with bars and restaurants brimming and the street closed to traffic. It might even make you want to like Rugby League a little bit. Maybe. This house is within spitting distance of the ground. The picture was taken last year at the start of game 3. Hopefully they'll set it up again tonight. As you can see, they built their own grandstand, big screen, signs and everything. A great effort, if you ask me! All they need is a nice heater.

The Devil In The Detail

I spotted this over a doorway in George Street. I think it refers to a Printer's Devil. Print apprentices used to get so black with ink they were referred to as devils.

No Spicy, No Fun!

Ripe and juicy bird's eye chillies in my garden at the moment. They grow with gusto round here.

Shopping at Inala Civic Centre

An Asian oasis. I recommend a visit - especially on a Saturday morning- for a real multicultural taste of Brisbane.

I heart BNE

This lovely knitted heart is attached to a tree in Elizabeth Street as part of the I Knit BNE installation that's happening here throughout June. Knitted stuff all over the place. 

 A couple of years ago, Brisbane City Council launched it's Green Heart Program which is all about getting Brisbane carbon-neutral by 2026. The logo is very similar to the "I heart NY" logo with the same font but a green heart. I wonder if that's what inspired this one...

Spray-on cloud skywatch

I really haven't done the amazing clouds that were about yesterday morning justice. Some were like rippling silk, some like torn cotton wool and others like they had been sponged onto the brilliant blue background.

Check out more skies around the world today at the brilliant Skywatch Friday.

William Jolly Bridge, Last Night

The William Jolly Bridge (aka The Grey Street Bridge) has two permanent lighthouses, built at the end of last year, set up to project slides onto it.

I'm sure I've eaten off plates with this pattern on them. 

Trendy Market Threads

Vintage clothing stall bathed in early morning sun at the West End Markets.

Rush Hour

Let Them Eat Cack!

Spotted at the children's cake competition at the West End State School Fiesta yesterday.

Traffic Stopping Art (number 47)

Welcome back to our meander through Brisbane and it's painted traffic signal boxes. We're up to 46 - wow my feet are killing me!  This one is on Adelaide Street near the junction of Albert Street and it's by artist Douglas Trudgeon.

Rogue Cosies

Decorated bollards on the south side of the Goodwill Bridge with thoughtfully designed holes at the top for the lights. Aaaaah.

Hand In Glove

Continuing from yesterday's post about these knitters who have gone in overnight and wrapped things up in their winter clothes... here's the hand sculpture on Eagle Street by Sebastian Di Mauro. Normally, the hand looks like this.

The project, which includes wrapped up lamp-posts, statues and bollards, a clothes line and a giant spider web, had over 800 contributors, knitting for months to make this all happen. Find out more here.

Want to visit all the sites yourself? See a map with the sites marked here.

I Knit Brisbane Project

To coincide with the first day of winter in Brisbane (June 1st), a bunch of rogue knitters have wrapped up parts of the city all nice and cosy in some fantastic woollies. I had a wander around town yesterday and found statues, bollards, lamp-posts and buildings that were all looking a bit cozier than usual. This statue of Thomas Joseph Ryan (premier of Queensland 1915-1919) looks very fetching with his bag and his shawl, don't you think?

More about this tomorrow!

Church Dangles Enticing Carrot:

June Theme Day: Funny Signs

This is an adult shop.
Forgive my teenage humour.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants