Notes on a few trips

And so that will be it for a while from this site... The next update (assuming I get there) will be from http://paulinlondon.blogspot.com

I am flying somewhere over south Asia as I update this. Boeing have developed internet access for the 747s and is rolling it out on selected flights. So after a few red wines to get me over the air turbulence I thought I could list some of the things (in no particular order) that I will miss about Brisbane: Three words: Meat-O-Rama. Anyone for a barbeque with monster steaks and sausages? Persian Fetta Cheese salads. You soak purple onion and tomatoes in a little lemon juice and add some lettuce and then add some Persian Fetta and drizzle a little oil that it sits in on top. Its rather nice The space. There is plenty of it.

I have set myself up in a lounge at Singapore Airport to pass the six hours between flights... So far I have managed to have a shower that rivals the gym I used in Brisbane for lowest standards of hygene (although the gym I used still is the winner in that category with the band-aid on the shower partition for three days) and managed to nap on the comfy chairs. I also have had a few cups of coffee to try to stay awake as well... Since the lounge also has wi-fi I have connected to the world as well... I flew out of Brisbane in a slightly bright pink and green and yellow and blue striped Ralph Lauren polo. The customs official commented that that it was the brightest thing he had seen all evening. I asked him if I get a prize but he didn't say anything else... He was the sort of dull fellow that would do that sort of dull job of stamping your passport and making you fill out unneccessary paperwork such as how long you plan to be out of the country so that was enough personality from

Scenes from Wellington Point Tuesday 19:56 - I am not sure what this is all about, but these illuminated Christmas things moved their heads and were slightly hypnotic when one was waiting for an order of fish and chips... 

And as it so happens I have left Brisbane and now am returning back to London. So here are some things I won't miss about Brisbane (in no particular priority): The heat. Shops shut at 9pm The heat. Legacy of tall ugly buildings Did I mention the heat? Smelly people on public transport. Convoluted process of leaving the country. Did I mention the heat? No really! Merlo's Breakfast Panini - it wasn't worth waiting for after two years afterall, and neither was their coffee. Oh and there was the heat as well... Things I might miss I will write later

Scenes from Fortitude Valley Tuesday 00:19. It is Boxing Day night and it is hot so nobody is out. Most people are at home either watching highlights of the day's test match or making amphetamines... Now where did I put all that Sudafed 

Scenes from a Marvellous Party Saturday 23:33 - One should try and cut down a little on the smokes... 

Scenes from a Christmas Party Saturday 18:43 - Christmas parties are a chance to wear shirts made from old curtain fabric... Or just plain ghastly ones to frighten your friends... 

Scenes from a New Farm supermarket Saturday 17:08 - When it is over 30 degrees outside eight bags of party ice can be put to a variety of different uses... Mostly in vodka based drinks... 

Scenes from Brisbane Friday 11:25pm - Pubs with places to dance are very popular in Brisbane. This one was almost busy with more than 20 people in it... 

Scenes from a Brisbane Cab Friday 11:15. Cabs (or taxi as they are known here) in Brisbane have air conditioning but the drivers are either too cheap to put it on or they prefer to use their cab to keep their lunchtime pizza warm. This driver was doing the latter...

Scenes from the Brisbane River CBD Monday 18:17. Jogging is popular pasttime in Brisbane. So is eating until you are morbidly obese, but I try not to photograph fat people as nobody needs to see that on their computer... 

Scenes from New Farm Park Saturday 18:48 - Summer sunset

Scenes from Melbourne Thursday 11:02 - Melbourne has some fabulous exhibitions, and this is part of a Kubrick exhibition at Federation Square - a recreation of one of the props from "A Clockwork Orange". Original costumes, sketches and models made up the exhibition, but the tinsel muff I thought was rather novel...

Scenes from St Kilda Wednesday 11.28 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Just another day at the beach really...

Scenes from Parliament House Monday 17.32 , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Meanwhile at the public carpark, all is quiet...

Location: Melbourne , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Melbourne has the best looking buildings of all the capital cities, and it is an awfully civilised design-minded city... And its peoples are far nicer and more sophistimicated than Sydneysiders (who currently seem more inclined to riot on shitty beaches)...

Scenes from Parliament House , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Our Nation's parliament could do with a clean...

Scenes from a Sunday BBQ , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Aka "meat-o-rama"

Location: Canberra , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . I found myself in Canberra yesterday. You don't want to be going to Canberra without a reason - the city timezone wise is an hour ahead of Brisbane but I felt I was going back in time by at least 10 years... And they have such interesting public art...

Scenes from a Brisbane Transport Bus Thursday 07:53. Tinsel vomit - the display of cheap Christmas decorations without any regard to style or taste - is a common occurance in Brisbane over the festive period, but somebody thought it would be a good idea to inflict public transport users with it. It would have been slightly cute if this attrocity was the creation of small children but alas no, it was the workers at the bus depot who did this.  

Scenes from a Brisbane Bus Monday 18:26 - Brisbane is one of the most livable cities in the world - if you are a lobster or like your fellow citizens to not wash much or wear deodourant. Take this gentlemen for instance. The bus is not airconditioned, it is nearly forty degrees, and this asshole was happy to just let his vapours waft through the cabin.  

This afternoon while waiting for a bus to New Farm I overheard one inbred youth say to another as they approached me, "What sort of poof would wear a pink shirt?" Since I was too busy trying to work out how many hours it would take for a bus to arrive, I didn't realise this quip was aimed at yours truly wearing a fabulous Abercrombie and Fitch polo. It really answered their question I suppose. But anyway, as they walked by (no doubt to the train station to get the train to Ipswich or Woodridge) I kept my eyes fixed on them. If they were going to cause trouble I was carrying two one litre glass bottles of San Pellegrino that surely could have been used as a defensive weapon…

Scenes from Queen Street Saturday 12:08 - Hobo in flip flops rummaging through bin on an overly bright and hot sunny day... 

Scenes from New Farm Friday 09:41. Door to door salesmen in Brisbane are agressive and vile and must be stopped by any means necessary.  

Scenes from James St Thursday 21:15. When they are not drinking rubbish Australian beer, Brisbane boys love to refresh themselves with pink grapefruit drink. It is very refreshing. And an interesting colour for the summer too... 

It is summertime in Australia which means that there is nothing but rubbish from America and game shows on television. But on Sunday night there was a Kath and Kim telemovie, so over two million Australians watched it. In keeping with summer television standards it too was rubbish.

Scenes from New Farm Sunday 17:37 - Storms are very popular in Brisbane during the summer with level two restrictions now only allowing pissing on your garden for watering (and it must be a hand-held hose). There was no hail so cars did not need to be hidden from view either... 

Scenes from the Powerhouse Turbine Hall Friday 22:56 - Something everyone can enjoy: a woman hanging upside down on elastic.  

Went to the Powerhouse on Thursday to see a collection of Australian short gay and lesbian films. They have been touring the country and it was Brisbane's turn to see them on Thursday and Friday last week. It was a pity they all lacked a basic ability to tell a story (and film it) but only a few were tediously long. Mercifully being short films the torture didn't last too long. Having had a few sensible drinks with P beforehand we ended up snickering through the boring ones anyway. In the short Oranges (which screened in London this year) one boy mentions after kissing another that he "tastes like oranges". It caused pause for reflection as to what one would taste like at any point in time. At that moment it was vodka and beer nuts…  

Man #1 : Sorry about that mate.. Man #2: Dahn't warry dahn't warry… Man #1 : Nah I'm sorry Man #2 : Nah dahn't warry. Traffic was muhhrder for moi too

Scenes from Brisbane Thursday 09:37. I waited over two years to have one of these. A breakfast panini - consisting of a panini bread, cheese, ham and a tomato and basil sauce - and it didn't taste as good as I remembered. Maybe you just can't go back. A few minutes after eating this there was some drama in the cafe when a lady ended up wearing all her coffee down her lovely white jacket. She didn't look very impressed. Then again there is a lesson to be learned here. In Brisbane during the summer one should not wear a jacket. 

Shabby Man : Now listen, listen, listen (grabbing woman) Husky whore : Stop following me and leave me alone…

Thongs , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Scenes from the New Farm Supermarket Sunday 10:29am. Thongs (known as flip flops in the rest of the world) are a popular choice of footwear when going out and about. These two gentlemen are wearing very cheap ones at that. The other popular choice is to go without shoes altogether, although so far I have only seen the local junkies do that...

17-11-05_2046s , originally uploaded by Pauly_ . Scenes from The Fringe Bar Thursday 20:46. Flexible men were part of the Thursday night scene at the Fringe Bar. They could do all sorts of tricks involving bending over backwards. Something to bring tears to the eyes anyway...

Scenes from the Pig and Whistle Riverside Tuesday 14:03. $12 for two beers (that's practically London prices) and they still have plastic hanging pots that they don't bother to remove the sticky bar code label from... 

Scenes from the New Farm Riverwalk Monday 17:13 - A series of hoax callers ground public transport to a halt yesterday so I took the walk home option from the city (in the background). Of course with public transport such rubbish in this city suspending it for an hour it was really hard to notice the difference. But the light and scenery was lovely... 

Scenes from Brunswick Street New Farm Monday 11:08 - You know you are in a special part of town where the locals plaster rainbow stickers all over the neighbourhood signs... The sticker partly covering the M also says "Honk if you're a homo"... Incidentally the building in the background is a popular walking spot for the street prostitutues. Being 11am however none were out and about... Later in the evening however they were out in full force. And the usual married men were trawling up and down Brunswick Street in their big suburban family cars complete with "baby on board" stickers...