The Writing's On The Wall

The changing face of graffiti...

Cane Toad Trap

Floating around in the beautiful back lake at Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens are a few of these things:

They're floating cane toadlet and tadpole traps! Apparently there are loads of cane toads breeding in this lake but these traps are proving to be very effective. They've only been in for a couple of months but they've already been able to remove 45,000 of them. They contain a pheromone lure derived from the toad that draws them in and then they can't get out. They need to manufacture a garden pond version.

Real Australians Say Welcome

I thought in the light of the closure of the refugee detention centre on Manus Island and yesterday's horror story from Nauru, it might be worth letting you know that not all of us agree with our immigration minister Mr Dutton. 

Skate Arena Paint Job

It's been a while since I've been past the old Skate Arena in Red Hill. The building has been lying dormant for years after a fire and is slowly surrendering to the elements. Some photographers have managed to get inside and take some beautiful shots but I'm not that brave. The artist who painted the outside wall here is called Drapl - he also painted the latest rail support in South Brisbane which I posted about recently here.

Signs on Boundary St.

Fenced In Cows

The old ABSOE building in Boundary Street, West End, has hosted some great weekend markets, a couple of music venues, bars and art studios for the past couple of years but all that has come to an end now as developers move in to bulldoze the current buildings and build 1350 luxury flats spread over seven 15-storey towers. Much of the local community is against the development.

It was an unceremonious end to the last markets on Friday night. The developers were worried the community would start protesting so they cancelled the event, erected some fencing and employed some security.

Then they had to put a fence in front of the original fence which is causing more controversy...

The artist, Stewart, is back again today to do some repainting. He's going over the cows with native birds. We'll see how that one pans out..

Melbourne Ska Orchestra @ The Triffid

  If I wasn't so busy dancing and cheering I would have been able to stand still enough to take a non-blurry photo. If you like ska music and get the chance to see these guys play live, do yourself a favour and check them out. How they managed to fit 24? 25? musicians and their instruments on that small stage I have no idea. What a crazy, energy-charged, hilarious, infectious bunch of lunatics.

Today's Catch

Fishing for bream off the jetty at Rocks Riverside Park.

West End Notice Board

A Subtle Shift

It seems that Brisbane is full of people that dislike boiling hot weather yet that's what we get here for at least 6 months of the year. The rest of the year it ranges from quite hot to pretty warm. Being from a much more changeable climate, it took me a few years to tune into Brisbane's seasons. We've just ticked over from 'boiling hot' into 'quite hot' (i.e. Autumn) in the last week or so. We don't get leaves turning orange and falling from the trees or cold gusty winds or anything quite so obvious. It's a barely detectable change in temperature - perhaps 2 degrees c. lower than a couple of weeks ago - with a drop in humidity. But it makes all the difference to important stuff like sleeping comfortably or being able to touch the steering wheel of your car without receiving third degree burns.

Becky

I'm waiting for a really amusing response to this graffiti - which has been up there on a wall on Montague Road all week. Council are dragging their heels with this one. They've painted over far less offensive and much more thought provoking stuff a lot quicker.

Living With The Enemy

After a while you start to look like one another...

#1 Suspect

I think this ring-tailed possum might be have a fondness for the new growth on my potted lemon tree. I put a net over it the other day and the next morning there was a hole in the net and the leaves beneath were munched! Cheeky bugger.

Carts Blanched

Picking up on my series from..er... years ago, I couldn't go past these abandoned shopping trolleys without a quick snap. Standing (and lying) on the side of the bike path at Toombul,  they look like they've been fished out of Kedron Brook which runs nearby. It makes me wonder who took the trouble to fish them out and why they left them there.
Apologies for bad title pun.

Brighton Rock

Looking out into Moreton Bay this morning from Decker Park in Brighton. That's Woody Point just sticking out there in the top right. Not too shabby!

Epicurious

Epicurious is the name of the edible garden in South Bank. It's great to see what grows well in our city - so much, apparently! - although as a struggling vegetable gardener it makes me feel a bit inadequate. Volunteers are here every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings 7-11.30am to hand out gardening advice and hand out the harvest too - free! Yes, I'll have to set my alarm and bring a bag next time.
By the way those are a couple of Segway riders in the background. You can now hire them and tear along the path by the river scaring the wits out of the tourists. Alternatively you can just watch people riding them and laugh. Either way - great fun!

Support The Arts

Queensland Rail has commissioned several artists over the past year to paint murals on the concrete supports that hold up the elevated railway line in South Brisbane. Today I came across the latest one which was in the process of being painted - deffo a photo opportuinity! Pity I only had my phone camera but you get the general idea. The artist is Brisbane-based graffiti artist Drapl.

The photo he was working from is of a local musician called James 'Laneous' Lane who is in a band called Laneous and The Family Yah. Triple J describes it as "Mutant Soul and Croon Punk" - what a description! When it's finished, the words will read "Raise The Vibration".

Here it is in context near the south side of the Go Between Bridge. Drapl said he's just painted the outside of the old skate arena in Red Hill. I posted a couple of pics from there a few years ago - it was attracting artists back then too -  so I'll have to re-visit and give you an update.

Say your prayers...

Check this little beauty out! I think it's a praying mantis. I nearly ran over her (?) with my bike as she was sunning herself on the bike path. I didn't want to put anything near her for scale as I was afraid she'd take off but I reckon she was about 20-30cm long.  I think she may have posed for the camera.

And now to a developing storey....

It's been a long time in between drinks but here I am again. Hurray! I've been feeling for a while that it's time for a comeback. Doing this blog makes me feel more connected to where I live and what is happening around me. And there's a lot happening around me in my neighbourhood of West End. What has historically been an industrial area - probably due to the high flood risk - has in the last few years had a huge amount of development applications approved. The projected population of our area is set to double in the next few years. That's just in West End. Across the river in Toowong the same thing is happening. Infact, throughout the inner city, if a house gets knocked down, you can expect a block of units to rise in its place.

The case for development is that the greater city's footprint is sprawling - roughly the size of London but with a fraction of the population. Traditionally, people from Brisbane have lived in single-level high-set houses on big blocks. But if the city is to prosper and grow, this type of housing - particularly so close to the centre of town - is unsustainable and a waste of valuable space.

The case against the current developments is that thousands of new residents are moving into the area (with thousands of cars). I read somewhere that the population density between the river and Montague Road will be similar to Hong Kong yet there is apparently no planning for new schools/infrastructure/parks/public transport. There will be high towers (some 15 stories or more) close together, creating dark, windy streets. There is no allowance for affordable housing - all the apartments being built are "luxury".  And everything is being built on an area that was under several feet of river water in 2011 during the flood. Local residents aren't anti-development - just anti-bad development. (Can you tell which side I'm on?)

See here for a related post back in 2012.