Underwater Doorway Girl

Another offering tucked away in a quiet road by street artist Barek.

Writer's block at Urban Rowing

Breeze in

 This is one of many building sites along the river in West End. A few years ago this was an industrial area. Today, it is unrecognisable. There is a feeling of impending doom among the community as the market gets more and more saturated with luxury apartments with names like Breeze, Light and Co, Vida and Virtuoso. There have been petitions, protests and numerous submissions to council to reduce the amount of development so that it is sustainable but it largely has fallen on deaf ears.

Kate Tempest at Avid Reader last night.

Australia is being treated to a book tour by London rapper, poet and novelist Kate Tempest. Last night she was being interviewed at my local bookshop, Avid Reader. She's promoting her novel, some of which she performed from memory with the same rhythm and intensity that she gives her poetry. It gets you deep down.

No Parking On The Grassed Areas

Tinpan Orange play on my mate Kirsty's deck.

Bands that would normally play festivals and big venues are playing mini gigs in people's houses all around Australia thanks to this mob called Parlour. It's such a great idea. You pay for your ticket (much cheaper than an official venue) and you get the relaxed setting with friends and neighbours, up close and personal with the band.  Last night about 50 of us relaxed on to my friend Kirsty's deck for a gig by the fabulous Tinpan Orange. With BYO drinks -and for a gold coin donation curry and a cake- it really doesn't get better than that!

 

Barek

I love the little characters this artist paints. This is stuck on the side of one of those little telephone exchange boxes. It's just a few centimetres wide.

See more here.

Dog Food Cake With Brain Icing

We had a bit of a neighbourhood party on Sunday - which co-incided with one of the local dog's 10th birthday. We told the kids it was a dog food cake with brain icing. In the end their curiosity got the better of them!

The Writing's On The Wall

The changing face of graffiti...

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. 

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..

West End Notice Board

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.

#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.

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.

She alright!

The sun came out and shone this morning on what was a very swollen, muddy, fast moving river. But the great thing for us in West End is that it just lapped the edges of the park - a lot less than we had been preparing for.  We saw some logs and bits of pontoons go past at speed but thankfully not all the debris and boats and household goods we saw during the flood 2 years ago...

My thoughts are with the people further north in the state, particularly Bundaberg. They've had a real battering with high speed water up to the eaves of their houses, having to be rescued by helicopter from their roofs. I don't envy them the task ahead but if the folk up north are anything like they are down south, there will be lots of support, plenty of laughter through the tears and new friends to be made along the way.

Swimming Carnival

Viet strikes again...

 

One of Brisbane's more interesting taggers is Viet. This is high up on a fence on Boundary Street in West End. It's the third one I've spotted - all within about a kilometre of eachother. If you notice any more, give me a yell.

 

Other two here and here.

Kurilpa Derby 2012

Every year, the residents of West End close off the main road, dress up and get on their bikes, scooters, prams, beds, office chairs, wheelie bins or whatever else they can put on wheels for a big party. There's a big parade followed by a series of whacky races. There's plenty of music, dancing and laughs to be had....

 

 

 

 The squid relay is disgusting but strangely mesmorising. Teams have to run with and transfer a squid to their team-mates using their mouths only. My thanks to Pete for these two fab photos below. I was standing right next to him at the first transfer point, camera poised, ready for action, when my camera suddenly stopped working. Aaargh! The memory card had filled up - what a schoolgirl error. I am still kicking myself. Anyway you can check more of his photos out here.