Avid Listeners

Last night in our local bookshop Avid Reader, some of our local community gathered to tell our flood stories. It was a great night with plenty of funny and quirky stories. The atmosphere was buoyant and there were a lot of laughs. Some people jumped up on stage to say their bit while others just joined in from the audience. I finally got to meet another local blogger, Steve, who had organised the whole thing. He effortlessly steered the evening along, sharing the time out and sugueing between story-tellers like a pro. I brought along a few snaps from this blog to show people. There was even a familiar-sounding song to round the evening up - the chorus of which we picked up fairly quickly... 

Am I ever gonna see my place again?

No way! It's flooded! Mud off! 

And a top night was had by all!

Awaiting Squiggly Bits

"Inspired by an algorithm based on the way plants grow towards the light"

That's how the fancy website for Brisbane's next big tower are plugging it. Right now, it still looks pretty similar to many of the other glass and steel towers in the City. They're going to put some squiggly bits on it that I think will be representative of fig tree roots and should hopefully set it apart a little bit.

Gallery Closing

In the Gallery of Modern Art there is a big neon display at the top of the escalators. Tall animated figures walk through it all day long, striding on and off the screen with a sense of purpose. When the gallery closes at the end of the day, real people join them on their march, shoulder to hip, filing past, heading towards the way out.

Evening Stroll

Squelch!

Paw prints in the mangrove mud, down by the river in Orleigh Park.

Meet Me At Hungry Jack's

For anyone outside Australia, Hungry Jack's is Burger King. I think there was some sort of Burger King out here already in Adelaide when the American hamburger chain made their move down under... so they had to change their name. The outlet on Queen Street Mall is a bit of a landmark and a popular meeting place for people (mostly under 20). Once they've met up, they then might hang out outside the Hungry Jack's. It's riveting stuff.

Through The Window

through the window
through the passionfruit vine curtain
the early morning eastern sun
peeps over our building
warming the tops of the trees
green with a hint of orange

through the boughs of the scant jacaranda
the african tulip is exploding with flowers
crows find something to shout about
then lose interest and mutter under their breath instead
rainbow lorikeets chatter excitedly like kids in a playground
except noisier

time to wake up
the distant sound of the Citycat on the river
and the buses at the terminus
purring and chugging
in readiness for the day
and those other, more muted, early birds

Don't Stop A-Boppin'

April Theme Day: Edges

Today is the monthly theme day for City Daily Photo bloggers and this month the theme is Edges. I've chosen to show you the edges of the Brisbane river two months on from when they became a bit blurred and we all got a bit wet.  Things are still in repair mode with ferry stops and pontoons out of action. It makes me wonder. If it takes months for a city to clean up after a few feet of relatively tame water, how long for Japan?


 Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

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.