Let's take a walk...

It was such a glorious day in Melbourne on Sunday I decided to take the camera with me when I went for a walk to the supermarket.

So, out the door and I couldn't resist the roses in our front garden.

About half-way down our street the council has renovated the playground.

It's so much nicer than it was. It's funny but you don't actually see a lot of kids in the area, although I'm sure they're there. Maybe it's because we're only just coming into summer now and the weather's a bit better. Dunno.

Anyway, we're not far from the station, and I had to stop at the level crossing when a train came out of the station.

I actually had to stop on the way back from the supermarket for a train heading in the other direction too.

Our street is lined with beautiful Jacaranda trees and almost all of them are now in bloom - such purple gorgeousness!!

The thing that surprises me somewhat is the proliferation of olive trees in the area - they're starting to fruit now and I think they'll be picked in about April of next year.

And then back home.

There but for the grace of god ...

(or whomever your chosen deity is), go I.

My partner declares that the world's gone mad (again), and I think she's right. With the goings on this week in Mumbai and Bangkok, and the ongoing dramas in Zimbabwe, I'm incredibly grateful that I live in Australia.

We complain about having to go through checkpoints at the airport and the stadium, but these are necessarily 'evils' put in place to try and protect the nation of Australia, and each person who can claim citizenship, residential status, or happens to be here on holiday.

I don't complain - I understand that a small inconvenience now and then will, hopefully, prevent a much more serious disruption. I'm not naive enough to think that terrorist attacks aren't possible in Australia, but the small things we can do to try and stay safe shouldn't be dismissed as being a nuisance or inconvenience.

And while we may not all agree with the decisions made by politicians, we have the opportunity to protest, or to remove them at the next election. And we know that the election will be fair and the result a true reflection of the will of the people.

I can't imagine the pain, both physical and emotional, being suffered by those in Mumbai in Zimbabwe. And I don't pretend to understand the reasons behind the extraordinary protests in Bangkok. But I do know that what we have in Australia is special and should be protected as much as possible, so long as human rights are not trampled upon.

Enough doom and gloom, except for one small in-memoriam. I heard on the news today that this man died:

Who is he? You may not recognise his face, but you may know his name, and you definitely know his work:

Yes, Joern Utzon, the dead-set legend that designed the Sydney Opera House has died at the ripe old age of 90. It's too much of a long story to talk about how the NSW government of the time totally screwed him to the wall and bastardised his plans for the interior of the House, but it's a travesty that his grand plans were never totally fulfilled.

I'm honoured to be able to say that I've performed at the House - both in the Opera Theatre and on the amazing Concert Hall stage. It's a magical place and today I take my metaphoric hat off to Joern for his vision and for giving Sydney, the nation and the world one of the most recognisable and amazing buildings we'll ever see.

Something to talk about

So it's been an eternity since I last posted.

I've just been soooo busy after moving interstate, and getting back to Uni and blah blah blah.

I copped a serve from a Ravelry friend about my lack of blog action, so now that I have something to mention I will.

Sunday just gone (19th), the missus and couple of close friends went off and did the Melbourne City Romp which was an absolute hoot! We finished way back in 935th place (out of 2000), but the point wasn't to win, 'cause that was soooo not likely, but just to have a noice day out and explore Melbourne a bit.

Here's the happy crew just before we enjoyed a quiet bevvy after the big day

We're already considering our strategy for Romp '09....

Moving makes you sick

They say that moving house is right up there with death and marriage as far as stressful events go.

Oh yeah!

Making the move to Melbourne is absolutely huge on the stress-o-meter. As it turns out, it's so stressful that it gave me mumps.

Yep, at the age of 40, I get so stressed and run down that I manage to pick up mumps from god-knows-where.

Normally I just shrug illness off after taking a couple of nurofen - not this time. I went down like a sack of spuds, and my face blew up like a balloon. I seriously looked like John Travolta in Hairspray, or Aunt Marge in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - seriously puffy.

So I've ended up with 6 days off work - I think that's the same as the total number of days I've had off work in the past 2 years!

But the good news is that all the balls have finally dropped.

My job.

The missus' job.

The removalist's been booked.

And we finally have a house in Preston.

Yay!

Long time, no post

So it's been, like, two months since I last posted; and there's been waaay too much going on to catch up - so here's the heavily edited highlights.

The missus and I spent two weeks in Melbourne over Christmas/New Year for a holiday and reconnaisance for the big move which is coming just after Easter.

We had a great time - with one of the highlights going to Carols by Candlelight at the Myer Music Bowl - mainly 'cause these guys were performing:

Yep - it's the Choir of Hard Knocks - after an amazing year including a Platinum album, sold out concerts at the Melbourne Town Hall and Sydney Opera House, they get to sing to thousands of people on national television. Awesome!

I've been accepted into La Trobe University to continue my law degree, so I'll pick that up in 2nd semester once we've settled in our new abode (yet to be finalised).

And over the Australia Day weekend we spent a couple of days in Canberra to witness this event:

Ladies and gents, I give you Australia's Local Hero for 2008, Jonathon Welch. It was a fantastic weekend - one of the most emotional of my life. Not only being present at the Australia Day Awards, but then attending a citizenship ceremony was a fantastic way to spend our national holiday.

Now, the focus is totally on getting moved to Melbourne - it's looming very large on the horizon and things are starting to fall into place nicely. The missus remarked that it's a bit like a really huge game of Tetris. Yep, and it's starting to feel like the pieces are falling REALLY quickly!