Monday, 31 January 2011
Georgia's first train ride
On Friday we thought we'd attempt an excursion into the city, haircuts and Medicare, with Georgia. She only grizzled a bit while I was in the Medicare office and the guy serving offered to do the paper work for me so I could go. Nice one Georgia.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Souvenir Pope's beer
The oldies went to Germany for Christmas to spend time with Ben and Sonja and brought me back beer. Good oldies. This is a special beer from a village in Bavaria called Marktl. Marktl is the hometown of Pope Emperor Palpatine the Nazi Benedict. Being Bavarian they've brewed a beer in his honour. Good 'ol mum and dad brought me back a bottle of this holy water and a souvenir stein. Typical Bavarian Beer. Not the best from that part of the world but better than some. I didn't burst into flames when I drank it so it can't have been blessed.
Papst Bier means Pope's beer by the way.
I still haven't been able to source a souvenir Pope-on-a-rope though.
Thanks Ma and Pop.
Papst Bier means Pope's beer by the way.
I still haven't been able to source a souvenir Pope-on-a-rope though.
Thanks Ma and Pop.
Friday, 28 January 2011
Grinderman at the Enmore Theatre
This is the first gig I've been to PG. Post Georgia that is. She has only been in the world for four weeks so it hasn't been that much of a drought. I did have to ditch the Big Day Out two days ago though because it wouldn't have been seemly to leave Michelle and Georgia home alone for 12 hours with Georgia only being four weeks old n'all. Most of the bands at this year's BDO I'd put in the nice to see bracket anyway. Except, that is, for Grinderman. They're in the I've been champing at the bit for a couple of years to see them bracket.
Grinderman is Nick Cave's other band. They did a show or two a couple of years ago at All Tomorrow's Parties at Mt Bulla but not at the Sydney show so I missed them then. I got a ticket to this show just in case of the off chance I'd miss them at the Big Day Out this year. And I did. Miss the BDO. So lucky eh? Almost didn't make it to this show though. Georgia wasn't settling before I left and it was only when she started to feed and Michelle was happy I was comfortable enough to leave. As it was I only missed the first 4 or 5 songs.
What I did see was pretty bloody good. Grinderman are definitely not Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds even if there are a couple of familiar faces in both line-ups. Most notably Nick Cave, the strutting rock god himself, and Warren "Rasputin" Ellis. When I say definitely not I mean that is a good thing. Nick Cave at ATP was just about the best gig I've ever been to. That is a hard act to follow. Grinderman was almost as good though. They are still in a class of their own. They're brilliant. The worst thing about the show? I missed the first 4 or 5 songs. The second worst thing? I missed the support act. Ed Kuepper. Dammit. I like Ed too. Georgia if you're reading this in years to come it wasn't your fault daddy missed some of the show tonight. He would've given up the whole show if you needed him. Thankfully that wasn't the case and I was treated to something special.
Setlist here. Or there will be a soon as somebody who isn't me updates it.
Gig of the year? Possibly according to fasterlouder.com.au. Click here for review.
Lots of photos below. Click 'em to embiggen 'em.
Here's a little video taster of the gig. Palaces of Montezuma. Currently one of my very favourite songs. The sound in the video is very very distorted though.
Grinderman is Nick Cave's other band. They did a show or two a couple of years ago at All Tomorrow's Parties at Mt Bulla but not at the Sydney show so I missed them then. I got a ticket to this show just in case of the off chance I'd miss them at the Big Day Out this year. And I did. Miss the BDO. So lucky eh? Almost didn't make it to this show though. Georgia wasn't settling before I left and it was only when she started to feed and Michelle was happy I was comfortable enough to leave. As it was I only missed the first 4 or 5 songs.
What I did see was pretty bloody good. Grinderman are definitely not Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds even if there are a couple of familiar faces in both line-ups. Most notably Nick Cave, the strutting rock god himself, and Warren "Rasputin" Ellis. When I say definitely not I mean that is a good thing. Nick Cave at ATP was just about the best gig I've ever been to. That is a hard act to follow. Grinderman was almost as good though. They are still in a class of their own. They're brilliant. The worst thing about the show? I missed the first 4 or 5 songs. The second worst thing? I missed the support act. Ed Kuepper. Dammit. I like Ed too. Georgia if you're reading this in years to come it wasn't your fault daddy missed some of the show tonight. He would've given up the whole show if you needed him. Thankfully that wasn't the case and I was treated to something special.
Setlist here. Or there will be a soon as somebody who isn't me updates it.
Gig of the year? Possibly according to fasterlouder.com.au. Click here for review.
Lots of photos below. Click 'em to embiggen 'em.
Here's a little video taster of the gig. Palaces of Montezuma. Currently one of my very favourite songs. The sound in the video is very very distorted though.
Things you see in Redfern
Another Leigh Sales fan I see. I saw this posted on a wall in Redfern before Christmas. I don't know how long it had been there.
Click to embiggen.
Click to embiggen.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
First Easter Eggs for the year... and it is still frackin' January.
I think Easter may be my favourite holiday. The Easter Bunny was crucified so that we could enjoy delicious chocolatey treats. But the chocolatey goodness seems to be appearing earlier and earlier every year. It is still Summer for Flying Spaghetti Monster's sake. January. I bought these Easter Eggs in Woolworths in Redfern today. Awesome. There goes the diet.
But the record for the earliest appearance this year was a few days ago. The Easter Eggs below I spotted on the 21st of January in Coles in Redfern. This may have been the earliest release of Easter Eggs I've seen so far.
But the record for the earliest appearance this year was a few days ago. The Easter Eggs below I spotted on the 21st of January in Coles in Redfern. This may have been the earliest release of Easter Eggs I've seen so far.
Big Day Out 2011
Ticket to the Big Day Out. $155.
Big Day Out Android app downloaded to phone. Free.
Ear plugs. $2.
Spending the day with my new daughter instead of going to the Big Day Out. Priceless.
Looks like new daddy duties win out over day long music and booze fest.
Oh well. Maybe next year.
Big Day Out Android app downloaded to phone. Free.
Ear plugs. $2.
Spending the day with my new daughter instead of going to the Big Day Out. Priceless.
Looks like new daddy duties win out over day long music and booze fest.
Oh well. Maybe next year.
What did Michelle miss most while she was pregnant?
There are a number of foods not recommended for pregnant women one of which is sushi. Raw fish. Michelle loves sushi so it has been a struggle for Michelle to get through an entire 9 months without sushi. Michelle's favourite sushi in Australia is from Yoshii. Yoshii doesn't usually do take-away but yesterday he graciously made up a selection of sushi for us to take-away. I wanted to organise this for Michelle's birthday today but Yoshii is closed today (Australia Day) so we got it yesterday instead. Yoshii's sushi is the best sushi we've had outside of Japan and he would give some of their top Michelin starred sushi chefs a run for their money.
Happy birthday Michelle.
Happy birthday Michelle.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Les Cars Rouges - Paris
Four years ago we drove from Munich to Madrid in about 7 weeks. This was a little holiday we shouted ourselves after Ben and Sonja's wedding in Germany. Geez I'm a procrastinator though. After 4 years I've managed to finally get out 2 minutes of edited video. Well, that is, if you don't count Ben's fully edited wedding video. This is a start though, a speedy 2 minute tour of Paris on Les Cars Rouges. An open top double decker red bus. It is a great way to see any city. We even did it when the Kößers visited Sydney a couple of years ago.
I recommend the HD version of the video.
I recommend the HD version of the video.
Friday, 21 January 2011
Friday night in Redfern
On a quiet warm night in Redfern nothing much happens. It has been years since we saw a riot here. And by here I mean in the suburb. Not here in our quiet little street hundreds of metres away from where all the exciting stuff happens. Michelle did watch a little to-do once from the very window the photos below were taken from when some coppers, with guns drawn, pulled over a car load of alleged crims and ordered them from the car. When the cops announced that the "crims" were under arrest one of the arrestees replied "No shit sherlock".
Anyway that was in the daylight hours some time ago. Tonight's festivities were limited to a couple of cops pulling over a vehicle with a single occupant.
Click the photos to encopinate.
The female cop keeps an eye on the car's driver while the male cop calls in the details.
The cops must've called for backup because another police car arrives with another couple of cops.
All four cops start checking the vehicle. But wait. There is a line in the classic 80s zombie film "Return Of The Living Dead", "Send more cops".
Now we have 7 or 8 cops interrogating the driver or thoroughly searching the car.
Of course a pat down is order.
You sit right down there son while we give your car the once over.
Mustn't forget the boot.
'Allo 'allo what have we here? A plastic bag of suspicious looking material. Funny, the suspicious package glows like the Mcguffin in Pulp Fiction.
Suspicious baggie of goods obviously not that suspicious on further inspection. It is your lucky day son. On your way.
And we are back to a quiet suburban street where really not much happens. Indeed, not much happened here this evening.
Anyway that was in the daylight hours some time ago. Tonight's festivities were limited to a couple of cops pulling over a vehicle with a single occupant.
Click the photos to encopinate.
The female cop keeps an eye on the car's driver while the male cop calls in the details.
The cops must've called for backup because another police car arrives with another couple of cops.
All four cops start checking the vehicle. But wait. There is a line in the classic 80s zombie film "Return Of The Living Dead", "Send more cops".
Now we have 7 or 8 cops interrogating the driver or thoroughly searching the car.
Of course a pat down is order.
You sit right down there son while we give your car the once over.
Mustn't forget the boot.
'Allo 'allo what have we here? A plastic bag of suspicious looking material. Funny, the suspicious package glows like the Mcguffin in Pulp Fiction.
Suspicious baggie of goods obviously not that suspicious on further inspection. It is your lucky day son. On your way.
And we are back to a quiet suburban street where really not much happens. Indeed, not much happened here this evening.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Saturday, 15 January 2011
New aerial photos of Barwidgee Creek house before and after the Black Saturday Bushfire of 2009
A company called NearMap have announced that they will have high resolution aerial photos of the recent Queensland flood disaster on their mapping service. That got me thinking about whether or not they had high resolution photos of our old place at Barwidgee Creek. Or at least to see if they look anything like the Google pictures. Near Map's photos are indeed high resolution. They're taken from planes so the photos are quite detailed. Google don't update their photos as often so the Google shot was taken some time before the Black Saturday Bushfires I've written about before. Near Map's photo was taken on 26th January 2010 - about a year after the fire. I've animated both shots to show the green before fire shot and the after fire devastated black landscape. The red circle is where our old place was.
The photo below is taken from Google Maps and shows the Barwidgee Creek place sometime before the Black Saturday fire. The photo is overly green but note how lush the bush is. The house is in the large clearing towards the middle of the photo. Behind the house, slightly down and to the right in the photo, is a large shed. The shed survived the fire. The house was completely destroyed.
Click the photo to see the high resolution version.
The photo below is from NearMap.com.au and shows the state of Barwidgee Creek about a year after the fire. The bush behind the house, to the right and below the house in the photo, was almost sterilised in the fire and has taken a couple of years to come back. Last time we were there, about 20 months after the fire, some green had taken root and the landscape wasn't quite so bleak looking. The shed is still there but only the barest outline in the dirt of where the house stood gives any indication that the ol' hacienda ever existed.
Click the photo to see the high resolution version.
Please note that we have not lived in the Barwidgee Creek house for about two decades. While it is very very sad to have lost our childhood home we can only imagine the heartache and devastation the current owners went through when they lost their home and belongings. We can only offer them our deepest sympathies for their loss.
The photo below is taken from Google Maps and shows the Barwidgee Creek place sometime before the Black Saturday fire. The photo is overly green but note how lush the bush is. The house is in the large clearing towards the middle of the photo. Behind the house, slightly down and to the right in the photo, is a large shed. The shed survived the fire. The house was completely destroyed.
Click the photo to see the high resolution version.
The photo below is from NearMap.com.au and shows the state of Barwidgee Creek about a year after the fire. The bush behind the house, to the right and below the house in the photo, was almost sterilised in the fire and has taken a couple of years to come back. Last time we were there, about 20 months after the fire, some green had taken root and the landscape wasn't quite so bleak looking. The shed is still there but only the barest outline in the dirt of where the house stood gives any indication that the ol' hacienda ever existed.
Click the photo to see the high resolution version.
Please note that we have not lived in the Barwidgee Creek house for about two decades. While it is very very sad to have lost our childhood home we can only imagine the heartache and devastation the current owners went through when they lost their home and belongings. We can only offer them our deepest sympathies for their loss.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Two weeks in... a life time to go.
My how time flies. Or does it? The last two weeks have been a blur of nappy changes, feeding and nursing. Babies are vitality vampires. They suck up every little part of your life you have. Had! I looked out the window this morning and I saw something flutter by. It was the last vestige of our previous life. Life BG (before Georgia). But do you know what? Who cares. I wouldn't change our new life for the world. So long internet, reading, TV, movies, eating out and just plain old chill time. I'm going to miss you. Seriously though it isn't that bad. Consider this small blog post for example. I still had time to tap this out. Albeit because mummy was in the shower and didn't catch me goofing off on the intertoobs.
I get some respite. I can go out to shop. For food or baby stuff we didn't realise we needed until Georgia came along. Exciting stuff. At least I have work to look forward to. Um... until yesterday that is. My contract is up at the end of this week and won't be extended. Oh no, I no longer have a job to go to. I will have to stay home with Michelle and Georgia and bond with my baby daughter for longer than I expected.
Michelle has the short end of the stick. She is the one breast feeding after all. Breast feeding takes a long time. Sometimes 45 minute to an hour at a time then two hours later she has to do it all again. I'm getting a little bit of sleep at night but Michelle has to get up 2 or 3 times after midnight to feed Georgia. Sometimes Georgia has trouble attaching and screams like a raptor in frustration. Luckily for us she isn't a cry baby but when she does cry it's like the scream of a banshee with a blood curdling howl that I'm sure has opened the gates of hell just a little bit. If the demon spawn get through and the apocalypse happens don't say I didn't warn you but it was probably our little angel that woke them up.
As I said two weeks ago. Little Georgia is the best thing that has ever happened to us. Two weeks down and life time to look forward to. Just don't grow up too fast my little angel.
Two weeks and one day today.
More pictures here.
I get some respite. I can go out to shop. For food or baby stuff we didn't realise we needed until Georgia came along. Exciting stuff. At least I have work to look forward to. Um... until yesterday that is. My contract is up at the end of this week and won't be extended. Oh no, I no longer have a job to go to. I will have to stay home with Michelle and Georgia and bond with my baby daughter for longer than I expected.
Michelle has the short end of the stick. She is the one breast feeding after all. Breast feeding takes a long time. Sometimes 45 minute to an hour at a time then two hours later she has to do it all again. I'm getting a little bit of sleep at night but Michelle has to get up 2 or 3 times after midnight to feed Georgia. Sometimes Georgia has trouble attaching and screams like a raptor in frustration. Luckily for us she isn't a cry baby but when she does cry it's like the scream of a banshee with a blood curdling howl that I'm sure has opened the gates of hell just a little bit. If the demon spawn get through and the apocalypse happens don't say I didn't warn you but it was probably our little angel that woke them up.
As I said two weeks ago. Little Georgia is the best thing that has ever happened to us. Two weeks down and life time to look forward to. Just don't grow up too fast my little angel.
Two weeks and one day today.
More pictures here.
Friday, 7 January 2011
Dear Georgia Cate Nixon...
Dear Georgia Cate Nixon
Nine days ago you came into our lives. December 29 2010 was, and probably will be, the best day of our lives. You were that special gift that can never be surpassed. Our first child.
We want to do so much with you and for you. We can try to keep you happy, safe and healthy. We will always try to do our best. But there are two things we can give you. Our unconditional love and your name.
We love you Georgia Cate Nixon.
Your Mummy and Daddy.
XXX
Nine days ago you came into our lives. December 29 2010 was, and probably will be, the best day of our lives. You were that special gift that can never be surpassed. Our first child.
We want to do so much with you and for you. We can try to keep you happy, safe and healthy. We will always try to do our best. But there are two things we can give you. Our unconditional love and your name.
We love you Georgia Cate Nixon.
Your Mummy and Daddy.
XXX
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