ajft

A snippet via Digg, I don't normally like Flash, and I think it could be done as a plain graphic anyway, but here's a map that shows just how little of the world I've seen.

• [http://www.travbuddy.com//flash/countries_map.swf?id=4707]

[2007-12-31] Ugly, and it seems to break my publishing stream, so I've removed it “for now”.

So what else is new?

A day at the maze.

• [http://www.goatbeer.com.au/]

Several years ago Jo and I joked about needing to do a weekly audit of the shops — and especially the cafés and restaurants — along Bridge road in Richmond. You would think that you knew what was where, but a new place would appear and all of a sudden we found we couldn't remember what was there previously. Now that we don't live so close and only see a smaller set of the shops less frequently, it seems even more changeable. Tonight a pre-dinner walk from Church street to Burnley street showed changes we knew, and some we didn't!

There are old favourites that seem to be a permanent part of the landscape, and there are newcomers that seem to open, struggle on for a few weeks or months then close. On the other hand, there are old favourites that suddenly vanish, leaving a sadness and a hole and the nagging feeling that we wish we knew where they'd gone, or why, whether they've moved or closed....

Starting at the corner of Church street and Bridge road with a ceremonial beer in the Vine, then off to take notes, mental notes at least.... Vietnam Town still there, check, even if the sign-writing does make it look as though it says Vietnam Tour. The crap local photo-processor who stuffed up my films from the 2001 trip still there, check. Blue Heaven still there, although we've no idea what happened to Rainer who used to own, run and manage the place.... Silvio's still there (phew! not sure what I'd do if it closed, definitely my favourite pizza). Oh, the clothes shop next door down has emptied; Bar Humbug is now Plan B but otherwise looks unchanged, Rainbow Silence Heart still as oddly empty and uncomfortable looking as always; then on and on....

Richmond Continental has a new name but doesn't look much different, only two customers and they don't look real happy, it looks as though the kiss of death has visited. I think there really are too many restaurants along here.

Mr Tandoor has vanished, a month or so ago it seemed to be shut on a Thursday night, then we saw it was shut on the following Thursday, this week there's a new Indian restaurant in its spot with different staff... maybe I should go in and ask them if they know anything about their predecessor, which some friends of mine say they can remember visiting back in the 1980's.

The Dover Hotel Richmond has had a major rebuild; no longer a casual scruffy corner pub, they've gone all up-market, polished timber and bright lights, gasto-pub meets wine-bar sadly it now reminds me of the Bridge, the Vine or Spargos. The regulars all seem to have moved up the road to the Spreadeagle.

Saragossa has closed too; that was definitely a favourite, a restaurant that when it opened sometime around 2000 I thought would never last — wrong side of Bridge road, I thought. Excellent food and fond memories of the waiter who suggested one night we try a Pedro Ximinez as an appropriate drink after the desert. Mr Tandoor had started these thoughts turning around, it was seeing Saragossa closed that prompted me to write all this, I guess I should keep reading through the restaurant sections of the newspaper and see whether there's mention of staff from one place opening another.

Discovered an amazing thing this week from a software vendor who is currently changing all their documentation and website to the American spelling of English from the English that is used in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc, etc. Apparently their market research has shown them that if people from non-American English places see American spelling they just think “Oh, that's American spelling”. The Americans, on the other hand, see non-American English spelling and simply think “That's wrong, these guys can't spell!”. Bloody typical!

One cold-chisel, one hammer, two hours, Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin in the background, and the strength of ten because my heart is pure... or something like that.

End result is two very sore hands; one aching from holding the hammer, the other aching from being hit by the hammer, not once, but several times, and a water meter free of its illegal concrete embrace. South East Water can now come and replace the damn thing at their convenience. Now if only I could get hold of the concreter who did this in the first place....

An odd letter appeared in the mail yesterday, two very brief paragraphs:

I refer to your recent enquiry to South East Water regarding your account for the above property.

My what? I've no idea what they're on about, the other paragraph merely asks me to telephone between 1pm and 5:30pm Monday to Friday. Unless....

Of course, how stupid of me! My recent enquiry was the telephone call I made to South East Water in May, six months ago reporting that I thought the water meter was faulty!

I rang and was told “we have tried to contact you,” when I asked how and when, they changed the subject. I asked again, and was ignored. Apparently I have to make an appointment with the meter replacement crew since it was reported that “access is difficult.” No idea what that is for since the meter is a metre from the footpath, and anyone except the fattest of aussie tradesmen should be able to walk between the car and the fence. Then I asked if it was likely that I would have to move the car so that they could jackhammer the old meter out of the driveway, that was when the problem started ... you see it's forbidden by law to concrete it in, apparently, so along with all the other idiot things that happened to the house before we bought it, concreting the meter in was one of them.

I am now expected to un-concrete the meter and then arrange an appointment with the meter replacement crew. When I asked how, I was told it's not their problem....

So I get to jack-hammer a water meter out of a concrete slab, and if I break the water pipes I get to pay for the damages and for the emergency call out, not to mention paying for the jack-hammer!

Last week the gas meter was replaced, this week they want to do the water meter, maybe next week we'll get the trifecta and the electricity company will call....

Third gig in less than a week; Mark Seymour tonight. Not sure what it is about the Spiegeltent as a venue but the artists always seem to be in a great mood and very light-hearted. Amazingly, there were no CDs for sale, an oversight that I'm sure had Mr Seymour kicking himself with the happy mood the punters were in as they left!

A cold grey dismal day. A public holiday across Melbourne, most of the rest of Australia is either on leave or slacking off and not doing much either. Everyone is either at home or gone to the races to see the Melbourne Cup. Traffic this morning is non-existant, cold drizzle as I ride to work. Blah, grey day and a grey mood. Listening my way through old favourites and the last two day's new purchases. Music reminding me of past times, reminding me of travelling, reminding me of being outside and not stuck in a half-empty office on a cold, wet, miserable day.

Woops! One of the CDs bought last night was a duplicate, the cover looked familiar, but not familiar enough obviously! Anyone want an unopend copy of Anythings, Sure Things, Other Things?

Sometimes amidst all the spam and trash something happens to remind you that this Internet-thing has its good points, that information sharing can work. Today was one of those days.

A student in New York who's involved in creating an online bulletin of monitor lizards found one of my photos from last year's central Australia trip and pointed out to me that it isn't a fairly common Lace monitor, but a relatively uncommon Perentie, Varanus giganteus, Australia's largest lizard.

Dredging through my memory I answered a few questions on where and when I'd seen it, and what it was doing, the photo and a brief blurb may appear in their monitor lizard bulletin sometime in the future.

Two CD launches in two nights, some kind of a record I guess.... Tonight Mick Thomas and the Sure Thing launch Paddock Buddy.... Its the first time I've been to the Spanish Club since it decided to become “a venue” and start booking bands, been meaning to get there for ages, but Fitzroy always seems so hard to get to.

A curious mix of a crowd, lots of old Weddoes fans with bald patches reliving their youth. As for the venue; I'm not sure what the room is normally like but the tables for the dinner show seemed to take up two thirds of the space, leaving the rest of the crowd crammed in standing up at the back. The sound system was pretty poor too, or maybe it was the guy on the mixer, muffled booming bass overpowering everything else and making the vocals almost indistinguishable. After a few songs they seemed to work it out and it improved a little, but was almost drowned out by selfish idiots in the crowd around me — I don't expect a reverent church-like silence, but gabbing away non-stop to your mates like an old ladies' sewing circle is a little bloody rude. Rude enough that one of the guys in front of us turned around and asked one of the offending groups if they could move into the front bar for a chat and let the rest of us listen to the band. He should of guessed the reaction — if they're rude enough to gabble away over the band, they're probably rude enough to tell him to go get f@Q#$fed, then proceed to harass him for the rest of the night!

Two CD launches in two days, two new CDs per day. This could be a busy week for the music library! Paddock Buddy has joined the library, together with an older disk — Anythings, Sure Things, Other Things — from the back catalogue.

It felt odd driving back from Lorne to Melbourne in daylight — normally we don't leave until after dinner — today was not normal. An early evening CD launch for Phil Moriarty and the Paris Brests in the Spiegeltent. Phil, ex. of the Gadflys, has a voice and a style that I've loved for years, the new band played well. Mikelangelo of Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen a guest appearance on guitar, clarinet and repartee.

Songs I knew, songs I remembered, songs I half-remembered, and songs in a distinctive style so even if I haven't heard them before I thought I had... not surprisingly, we left the CD launch with the new CD!

There's only one way to cap off a near-perfect Sunday and that was dinner at Silvio's. Piping hot pizza, excellent pizza, pizza on your table so quickly you start to wonder how it happens. Friendly staff and a glass or two of red wine and a good coffee. Simple, quick, perfect.

An early rise — most unusual for me — and out and onto the bike for some much-needed hill climbing. Shivering in the cool air I was regretting leaving my warm jersey back at home, definitely not a morning for the short sleeves! An eye watering descent down Richardson boulevard to the main coast road, over the river and commence climbing up the Dean's Marsh road.

It always seems to take me about half an hour to climb the hill to Benwerrin, sometimes a little more. I'd forgotton that the Edge GPS doesn't like the forests and so it kept losing signal and cutting out — 24 minutes to the top is much faster than I've ever done and way above my current fitness! I hadn't even glanced at the ordinary clock either, not wanting to know just how early it really was.

From Benwherrin its a left turn onto the dirt road, then follow it along through the forest about ten kilometres rising and falling and watching out for wallabies that come crashing out of the bush. Another right turn and south for a few kilometres, then rejoin the bitumen at Erskine falls for a screaming ten kilometre descent down through the forest back into Lorne. A great ride, and at this time of the day hardly any traffic at all — only three idiots on the road, all 4WDs, all came flying around blind bends head-on at me on the wrong side of the road....

Lorne seemed nearly deserted when I got back to the main street, it was bizarre to see it so empty of cars, a dozen motorbikes outside the Arab, riders with coffees sitting around at the tables. I kept going around to Kafe Kaos for a table and a coffee of my own, enjoyed it so much that I had another, sitting in the morning sun and feeling gently tired in the legs. While I was sitting there between coffees Jo rode past, the early morning cycling bug must have bitten her as well, she was out for a gentle ride to Wye river to shake off her cold and give her mountain bike possibly its first ride since the winter.

Coffees over, I decided to loop out to the pier before facing the hill back up to the house, once at the pier I just kept on going along the Great Ocean Road... at first I was just going to go around to the river, then I decided to keep going until I met Jo on her way back. The wind had picked up and it was surprisingly strong and straight in my face on all the little climbs. A few motorbikes went howling past, hired campervans lumbering along as well. At one of the many lookouts I finally took a photo of the roadsign that has been making me laugh for the last few months; “Drive on Left in Australia” — a few too many overseas tourists stop to admire the view then get confused when they get back in their cars! I caught up with Jo just as she'd decided that the wind made up for the distance as she turned around a few km short of Wye river.

The ride back to town was much quicker than the ride out! That wind blows straight in off the Southern Ocean, its hardly surprising there are so many shipwrecks along here!

Lining up for a free feed on the balcony, out of the forest they came!

Woken by strange sounds overhead — yes, it is rain. With so little rain in the last few months there's no way I'm going to complain that I might get wet on the way to work! As it was, a half hour lull arrived at just the right time. Just over twenty millimetres of rain between about eight a.m. and six p.m. — that's four times the rainfall we had for all of October!

While the rain may make the garden grow, it certainly doesn't do much for the building industry. One sign of precipitation and no sign of work. The under-construction boxes next door sat unattended all day, while across the road a semi-trailer load of scaffolding was unloaded in preparation for refurbishing one of the empty buildings. Heading out the door I was offered a day's labouring work putting up scaffolding because the labourers didn't turn up due to the bad weather!

Some days you just have to escape at lunchtime and get away. Normal lunch breaks are far too frequently spent at my desk, or not very far away. The better lunch breaks are spent sitting under a tree on the lawns, or walking around the grounds of Monash or the streets nearby. Today was one of the better ones — no wind, warm sun, get away from the screens and the hum and walk down to the pond under the trees at the north-east corner of campus. I nearly lost count of the number of birds around me; Magpies, Mudlarks, Noisy Miners, a Butcherbird and a White-faced heron, a pair of Little grebes diving in the dam, a pair of Ravens stalking around in the bushes, and half a dozen Black ducks paddling about, one with half a dozen ducklings.

With so little rainfall the water level is falling, but what remains is very clear. I lost myself for ten minutes or so watching at the ducklings chase each other around in the shallows.