Snapper Snapped!

One of my new year's resolutions was to take more candid street photos. I took this one as part of a series where I had the camera lens at its widest angle, shooting from the hip. I didn't view the results until I got home. It was an interesting project. This one was my favourite.

Fig.1

When you live in Brisbane you see big Moreton Bay fig trees all over the place but the tiny fruit they produce is loved and eaten mostly by birds and fruit bats. I've never seen proper figs growing so I don't know for sure but it looks pretty figgy to me.

Merivale Street From Melbourne Street

The hexagonal mesh on the windows of the CityGlider bus is great for taking pictures through.

People Watching, Adelaide Street

Earth Hour 2011

The candles were lit and the lights turned off last night at 8.30pm as we attempted another Earth Hour. It was a bit of a failure as the kids were watching Mamma Mia and constructing some robot thingy and they needed light... BUT we turned off most of the lights and gathered four families in one place  and cooked using a BBQ so that's got to be green and energy efficient...right?

Bus Reflections

 South Brisbane on the City Glider.

Today I've decided to post as part of Weekend Reflections which is hosted by Newtown Area Photo.

Rays Beating Down

 

The normal temperature for this time of year is about 25˚C but this week it's been more like 30˚-35˚. Stinking! I chose a day in the mid thirties to take a leisurely stroll across the Green Bridge (green because no cars allowed only buses and bikes and walkers... otherwise more a steely concrete grey colour) and nearly passed out it was so boiling hot. Next time I'll try not to be so taken with the view and walk under the canopy.

Skywatch Friday

Uni Days

Busy corridors surround the University of Queensland Great Court. Visiting there almost made me want to be a student again. Hanging out on the grass in the shade... drinking freshly blended ice cold juices, eating at cafes and chatting.

Actually it seemed like it was a lot more civilised than my Uni days but we won't go into that.

Feeding the ducks at UQ

It's all downhill from here...

Cyclists regroup after the uphill slog, preparing to tear down Dornoch terrace in a peloton, the wind zipping past their Lycra-clad bodies and hairless legs. What is it with men of a certain age and lycra? Is it just Brisbane?

Hurray!

Recent followers of this blog may be familiar with my local shop  a.k.a."The Billy Tea Shop" which has been through the wars recently suffering first a car crash which took out the awning and then a flood which went halfway up the walls. This place also went under all the way up to the roof in the '74 floods. I don't have any shots of that one unfortunately but here's what it looked like in October after the crash...

And then in January...

Well this weekend the little place re-opened. Not much fanfare... just a few balloons but was a small but significant step in the re-building of our little pocket of West End.

Now then: five bucks for 2 litres of milk? Daylight robbery! I'm off to Coles.

Spiderweb in the drizzle

Looks like another grey day today in Brisbane. Even the spiders have disappeared.

Tim Minchin and the Queensland Pops Orchestra

Here's a shot from last night's fabulous concert at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

 If you like ginger pacifist athiest comedians who express themselves through song , this is the man for you. And the orchestra were amazing too.  

Here's one of the numbers he played last night.

Copycat Cloud Skywatch

 

It struck me that the wispy cloud looked a bit like this part of the tree. That's a Norfolk Pine (I think) in Pelican Park at Redcliffe.

Today I am part of Skywatch Friday.

The Next Generation

 

There's second generation Irish all over the place. I'm one of them - and so's this beautiful boy who I am proud to say I helped into this world (by screaming at his mother) about 16 months ago.

Happy Paddy's Day to you!

Early Morning, Highgate Hill

There is only a very slight shift in seasons in Brisbane but if you live here for a few years you start to recognise them. For example it's Autumn now which means that if you go for a walk after 7am you won't work up a sweat before you leave the house.

Traffic Stopping Art (number 53)

 

At Last! I've found it!

I really like this signal box design. It's tucked away on Waterworks Road at The Gap - not very visible from the road which is why it's called The Lost Traffic Signal Box.  The artist is John Ledingham. Read more about this box and much more about the ongoing project to spruce-up our signal boxes here.

Red Scooter at St. John's Cathedral

Hanging Out At Redcliffe

Cat in a Hot Tin Roof

There were reports of Miaoowing at work the past few days. There was some confusion. We are a TV station at the top of Mount Coot-tha with no houses for miles and plenty of bushland in between. Not a very convenient place for a domestic cat to get stuck. At first we thought someone was editing a tv show starring a very upset cat... but then we would hear it in the engineering area, in the canteen, near the manager's office, in the toilets. Well... it turns out it was a domestic cat. How did it get here?? Who knows!

She was de-sexed, well looked after but didn't have a chip. Surely she couldn't have come all the way up the mountain?? I didn't meet her in person (thanks to Dave for the photos) but all reports are she had a beautiful calm nature despite her ordeal. One of the editors has taken her home to be looked after properly. If this is your cat and you want her back, get in touch!

Gecko Embrace

Perhaps I should have looked the other way.... but it was so pretty!

Morning on Boundary Street

Traffic Stopping Art (Number 52)

It's been a while since I've posted one... but here is another one of Brisbane's painted traffic signal boxes. They adorn every corner that has traffic lights and are painted by a huge range of Brisbane residents. Anyone who lives here can apply to paint one and they are repainted every few years. Check it out here.

This one is by Alicia Lane and is called "Crows of West End" and is on the corner of Boundary and Vulture Streets in West End. She painted the previous box in this spot too.

Nose Ache

 If you head down to West End Citycat terminal, it's a pretty sad sight. There's nothing left of the walkway or the pontoon with the exception of the two vertical posts sticking out of the water. A couple of steel drums stop you from falling into the muddy mangroves. You can do the outdoor equivalent of pressing your nose up against the window by looking across the river to St. Lucia and seeing the Citycats in their temporary new terminus.

>sigh<

Orange and polka dots are in this season...

A lovely ladybird in my garden yesterday. And if you were thinking to yourself "Wow that's an extremely healthy looking plant" well it's all new foliage on my flowering ginger which was under 5 feet of hazardous river water not so long ago. It's powering along now!

Clean Up Australia Day

 

Today is Clean Up Australia Day.

It's a day when people all over the country volunteer to clean up a public area. Our local park has mangroves growing the length of it and all sorts of stuff had been caught in the roots there during the floods... it was awful to look at. This morning people got in there in their boots and gloves and pulled out all sorts of stuff. There were plastic bags, broken glass, polystyrene and plastic water bottles. Syringes, straws, cigarette butts, chocolate bar wrappers, clothing, toys..... Yuck!

Good Weather for the Flicks

Rainbow Wheel

Green Olive and Tomato Soup.

This was the river a few weeks ago just after the floods died down... contrasting nicely with the bikeway. Today, the colour is much the same. I wonder how long it will take to get back to its normal, less vivid, shade of brown.

35 and humid yesterday...

March Theme Day: Your Favourite Part of Town

It's the first of the month already! Last month I completely forgot about the theme day things were still very upside down. This month I'm a bit more with it. "Your favourite part of town" is the theme and I choose anywhere in West End.

Boundary Street (pictured). The individual shops (that aren't in a mall) and the bars, restaurants and buskers. The casual atmosphere, sense of community, interesting and engaging residents (myself included, but of course). The fact that you actually see Aboriginal people... and people from other backgrounds that aren't white. That people walk or cycle around the streets instead of driving everywhere all the time. Oh the list goes on even more than I do. It's a great part of town.
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