Opera from the Bridge

Alright! Here it is. The obligatory photo of the Sydney Opera House. This was taken from the harbour bridge. We wanted to take a picture that was further down the bridge, where you would have gotten a better profile shot. Unfortunately, when you get to the middle of the bridge, fencing blocks the view. A huge, thick fence runs from the cement to right above you, making it feel like you are walking through a tunnel. I guess it's meant to keep people from jumping. They even have security guards that walk the length of the bridge. They must be a deterrant for jumpers too. Seems like a lot of people want to jump. I think, if so many people want to jump off the bridge, they should set up a bungee jumping program for the emotionally unstable. They could call it: "Jump to Happiness - Jump Down and Turn That Frown Upside Down."

Art of Picasso

This is my attempt at being artistic. We went to Melbourne in July and saw Fiddler on the Roof, with Topol, who played the lead in the film. While we were there the art gallery had a collection of Picasso's works on display. It was too expensive to get in, so I took this photo instead. The windows of the Gallery have water streaming down them, giving this weird reflection of the outside sign.

We enjoyed our time in Melbourne, it's a great city. The play was wonderful. We sat in the 5th and 6th rows, those were the only seats left and they weren't together. Luckily, they were the same seat numbers. So being the gentleman I am, I let edith sit in the 5th row, while I peered over her head from the sixth row. The seating arrangement wasn't ideal, but we will remember it forever becasue of our seats and the great play. 

Bowerbird Blue

This is another picture from our weekend on the farm. I have made many attempts to put this pic online. I kept having trouble figuring how to explain what this picture is of. Well... I will try again. Only this time I am clipping the explanation from Wikipedia, just because I think it is so interesting and thought you would like to read it too.

The U-shaped grass in this pic is called a bower. A bird called a Bowerbird uses it for attracting females. In fact, the little blue objects littered around the bower are a part of the mating process. The bird will spend hours carefully sorting and arranging each blue object, with each thing in a specific place. If an object is moved while the bowerbird is away he will put it back in its place. No two bowers are the same, and the collection of objects reflects the personal taste of each bird and its capability to procure unusual and rare items (going as far as stealing them from neighboring bowers). At mating time, the female will go from bower to bower, watching as the male owner conducts an often elaborate mating ritual, and inspecting the quality of the bower.

The best bower will attract the most females. If I built this bower, I would probably add some neon lights, racing stripes, and maybe some flames down the side. 

The emblem of their land

"This here's a wattle. The emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle. You can hold it in your hand..."

This wattle hasn't bloomed yet, but when it does the little flowers will be a nice golden yellow. Australia gets its national colours, which are gold and green, from this shrub. Well... not this exact shrub. You know what I mean.

This is another photo from our stay on the farm in Yarramalong. I have to say it again, we had such a great time while we were there. 

Ollie's Ball

We spent the weekend in Yarramalong on a small farm, with about 22 acres and 3 horses and 3 dogs, with our friend, Lisa, and her parents.

This is Ollie. She loved chasing her blue rubber ball. You could throw her the ball, then she would chase after it, bring it back to you, drop it at your feet and then wait patiently, just like this, until you threw it again; hence, the photo.

We really enjoyed ourselves that weekend. It was nice to be away from the suburbs and spend some time in the country. Plus, our hosts were very nice and made us feel at home. 

Post number

Here is the number of post that the previous photo is from. You know... just in case you want to go to East Gresford one day and see it for yourself.

Textures of an old post

I am back. I haven't been online for months, since I started looking for work. I finally found a job and I start on monday. I am so relieved and now I can start posting some pictures again.

This is a picture of an old post. At least, I think it was a fence post. I took the photo in a small town called East Gresford. And it really is a small town. It consisted of a Hotel (which is a pub), an IGA grocery store and some other small businesses, and that is it. I went there with a committee member from Catchfire Press. We were invited to give a talk to the local book club about the publishing house and our next publication, which will be called Through The Valley. It will be an anthology of writings about life in the Hunter Valley, where Newcastle is located. You can look at the website if you want to see their other publications.