tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59500540265975605662024-03-05T22:07:58.471-08:00An Scenic WorldAn Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-43749773255003447922013-05-22T15:00:00.000-07:002013-05-22T15:00:30.368-07:00When things don't feel right<div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="500" height="305" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MH6Ed4V3tpo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<p> I don't think I need to jump up and down shouting to tell you that this blog hasn't quite worked out how I'd hoped. My posts are uninspired, unoriginal and wholly lacking in character. I'm not documenting my adventures, which was my intention, and the basic act of brainstorming is giving me headaches. Put simply, I want to blog, but I don't want to blog like <em>this</em>.</p>
<p>So I'm starting completely afresh. I know you're not meant to do that, it disorientates people, etc etc, but this is all wrong. I'm moving to Wordpress, first of all, and I'm changing formats to a photo-a-day (I hope!) with comments deal; short and sweet. I mean, writing these posts, while distracting, sure, is ultimately a chore for me. And if it's boring <em>me</em>, God knows how I'm meant to find the motivation and entertain <em>you</em>. Not to say that I'm unhappy with what I've produced here... I just think my "dedication" to ASW speaks for itself. </p>
<p>I've been trying to blog like other people, people I admire who inspired me to blog in the first place, and -- surprise, surprise -- it hasn't worked. So I'm going to try something else, see if that's better; I'm actually going to try and blog like myself. And you know, it feels good. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">So why not have a look at</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://adventuresetcetera.wordpress.com/" target="_blank" title="">Adventures Etc.</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">With more self-deprication and less rambling.</p>
<p> I may even have the guts to tell my relatives about this one. </p>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-89030695553389014742013-05-11T03:33:00.000-07:002013-05-11T03:33:00.134-07:00I ate all your bees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AdCq3MIK-4s/UYQ7dGydTkI/AAAAAAAAAZs/dSKKDf_G8qI/s1024/2013%25252011%25253A16%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AdCq3MIK-4s/UYQ7dGydTkI/AAAAAAAAAZs/dSKKDf_G8qI/s500/2013%25252011%25253A16%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367620600641.2458" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"> Looking back, <em><a href="http://blackbookscaps.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" title="">Black Books</a></em> was a terrible choice for early-teen inspiration. Bernard Black, protagonist extraordinaire, is arrogant, cruel, crooked -- a real bastard. Not the stuff for impressionable youth to subscribe to. We have Kate Moss for that.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDoNKiajDjDkEZ_aqGNa8T2OeMR0JwwYH4VNKvF13u23-hLS2XbyNKmeq193U1YfNaZ9ZzmwTXsoMCjLIyzb1Vq8aIAR79L8SA6qo329cqMAU68ToOghUsWoqFMRsC1SwmTdj5yWKSGVU/s500/2013%25252011%25253A09%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDoNKiajDjDkEZ_aqGNa8T2OeMR0JwwYH4VNKvF13u23-hLS2XbyNKmeq193U1YfNaZ9ZzmwTXsoMCjLIyzb1Vq8aIAR79L8SA6qo329cqMAU68ToOghUsWoqFMRsC1SwmTdj5yWKSGVU/s500/2013%25252011%25253A09%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367620600566.0386" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="312"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IuUSD6Iv1Ng/UYQ7ggooZRI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/7_rr-8LO30k/s624/2013%25252011%25253A10%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IuUSD6Iv1Ng/UYQ7ggooZRI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/7_rr-8LO30k/s500/2013%25252011%25253A10%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367620600572.6272" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="624"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"> But, <em>Black Books </em>is the greatest show in the history of the earth, and the exterior location is just round the corner from me<em> </em>(I <em>wish</em>). Still, it's close enough for a day trip -- insomuch as it's about twenty minutes away. Did I go? What do you think?</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">Despite an apparent inability to open my eyes I was thrilled. M and I went and made an afternoon of it, which included actually entering the store (it's a lot smaller than the set) and learning that the majority of <em>Black Books </em>tourists are Czech. It must translate well, like Shakespeare into German. I even took a souvenir: the delightfully meta 1948 <em>Book Handbook</em>.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1V7wlT0O2Vkzj_KDBBphGoxF-lO5_L8EcSfT1STK5PRl6bYgXVhOVt09ZQEn1kxP4DbQTAiYbffhZ3QGW_gAv40E2hWLLc5Ga-DRLaa2CzpNoQiBZQRpVuu-RIjeGJp0jNcWl0qbf2A/s2048/2013%2525201%25253A16%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1V7wlT0O2Vkzj_KDBBphGoxF-lO5_L8EcSfT1STK5PRl6bYgXVhOVt09ZQEn1kxP4DbQTAiYbffhZ3QGW_gAv40E2hWLLc5Ga-DRLaa2CzpNoQiBZQRpVuu-RIjeGJp0jNcWl0qbf2A/s500/2013%2525201%25253A16%252520AM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367620600638.1213" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"> M and Nifty Gifty. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YrOt8ONO4ww/UYQ76RKY_lI/AAAAAAAAAaU/LZfJs4XYNjM/s2048/2013%2525201%25253A15%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YrOt8ONO4ww/UYQ76RKY_lI/AAAAAAAAAaU/LZfJs4XYNjM/s500/2013%2525201%25253A15%252520AM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367620600590.394" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"> There were even wine bottles out on the doorstep, just like there should be; although rubbish bags full of them would be preferable.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4910tBpGG_m2s4qYPMkPwPmFRdr6aKCEfHjKbAIrvHgoeeF28sne_IXxz3mwFtTo8tHFNfCvSjdtBLkdao4hte-fwqtNv4BsRtr8M6Ahrrs5yU72ZNn9_9Vx7lGMjTo8UhAC7mrR06xM/s624/2013%25252011%25253A03%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4910tBpGG_m2s4qYPMkPwPmFRdr6aKCEfHjKbAIrvHgoeeF28sne_IXxz3mwFtTo8tHFNfCvSjdtBLkdao4hte-fwqtNv4BsRtr8M6Ahrrs5yU72ZNn9_9Vx7lGMjTo8UhAC7mrR06xM/s500/2013%25252011%25253A03%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367620600586.9192" class="alignnone" width="500" height="624" alt=""></a></div>
<p style="text-align: center;"> Black Books, or <strong>Collinge & Clark</strong>, is at</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>13 Leigh Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1H 9EW</em></p>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-7086832836816734792013-05-07T04:21:00.000-07:002013-05-07T04:21:00.554-07:00Lovely London: One Month In<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdH-8MhOFk2PUDxhC4vxvBqGleCkFhaPoIFAE1-yeDHIGkvvRpyPYSkhCIpFhmrx87GCso8VhPVTfITXYQI9QNZdqhMIj8ncq3kljb8MhlHB_hsmHeRKbzpEg7w90ZSS2xi-AKV9-oV4/s640/2013%25252012%25253A15%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdH-8MhOFk2PUDxhC4vxvBqGleCkFhaPoIFAE1-yeDHIGkvvRpyPYSkhCIpFhmrx87GCso8VhPVTfITXYQI9QNZdqhMIj8ncq3kljb8MhlHB_hsmHeRKbzpEg7w90ZSS2xi-AKV9-oV4/s500/2013%25252012%25253A15%252520AM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367536968675.1826" class="alignnone" width="474" height="640" alt=""></a></div>
<p> As always, via <a href="http://pinterest.com/anscenicworld" target="_blank" title="">Pinterest</a></p>
<p><strong>The pigeons are so amiable. </strong>I've never been more charmed. You'll be paying attention to a squirrel, or even just walking along, and then a few dozen pigeons'll decide they want to be where you are. Not in a pushy, busy way; they mind their own business. If you want to poke at them with your foot, that's cool. Crumbs'd be nice, man, but only if you've them on you. Don't sweat it. We're all about the journey.</p>
<p><strong>Londoners are pathological jaywalkers. </strong>There are these cute little figures on most corners. They alternate: sometimes there's a little green man and other times a red one. As far as I can discern, they exist for purely decorative purposes.)</p>
<p><strong>Do not ask for stockings based on their opacity</strong>. This is not the town to bring up 1D in. And on that note...</p>
<p><strong>You're going to learn about One Direction</strong>. Liam is afraid of spoons. Harry has four nipples. There are five people in the band. I can't remember when or how this information made its way into my head but it makes me uncomfortable to know it's forced something useful out. </p>
<p><strong>Hey, that train you wanted? </strong>It isn't coming. Because your line splits into two and the side you need is down.</p>
<p><strong>The Mormons are plucky. </strong>Piccadilly Circus is plastered with posters. They aren't pushy or annoying or anything remotely along those lines; they're nice stories about family men and lawyers who triumphed over adversity. These people are also Mormons. The part that I like is that Piccadilly Circus is where you go on the tube if you want to see <em>Book of Mormon</em> on the West End.</p>
<p><strong>You're suppose to stand on the right side of the escalator. </strong>And for God's <em>sake</em>, do as you're told. Tourists! </p>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-44628738155767491192013-05-02T16:11:00.001-07:002013-05-02T16:12:42.481-07:00Holm sweet holm<p> I'm not going to say a word about how ashamed I am for never blogging. </p>
<p>Going to do a decent post on what's been happenin' lately, but for now I just want to let on about my exciting news: I'm going to Stockholm! (You know, as in Stockholm Syndrome.) I know, I know, I'm doing my supermassive European romp in... well, July, but I couldn't wait that long and got my act together for the first week of June. Stockholm has kind of been my dream utopia since I learnt that Sweden, land of fika, is importing garbage from Eastern Europe as they need more to fuel their (relatively) clean energy source. Badarse. Also, it's hard to follow along with <a href="http://elsa.elle.se/" target="_blank" title="">Elsa Billgren</a> and <a href="http://www.emmasvintage.se/" target="_blank" title="">Emma Sundh</a> and not feel inspired. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87Hws3FHA78sbzaZO45xsa3CstUhcQRdDBuwFBSx6lUbJr9F1bZvKNm0OfvYY8R4kFB1HntLpsxnIENGBsFfp4vV7NWtOFpsaOwwLdSkob2tXzTJLacvSwBHn981Ywyi_4ao_BP5kzyY/s600/2013%25252011%25253A51%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87Hws3FHA78sbzaZO45xsa3CstUhcQRdDBuwFBSx6lUbJr9F1bZvKNm0OfvYY8R4kFB1HntLpsxnIENGBsFfp4vV7NWtOFpsaOwwLdSkob2tXzTJLacvSwBHn981Ywyi_4ao_BP5kzyY/s500/2013%25252011%25253A51%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1367536342052.438" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
<p> Omg.</p>
<p>I'm a little beside myself, especially since I fee I've really earnt this. The adjustment to London hasn't been an easy one, nor is it resolving itself easily. But walking home from work through Trafalgar Square in golden hour, when everything was so neat and crisp and Georgian and grand, just feels so <em>right</em>. Even if the work is hard, even if self-motivation is tough. I'm feeling good. </p>
<p><em><font size="1"> Credit where <a href="http://stormybburns.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/first-to-arrive-in-stockholm-after-saul.html" target="_blank" title="">credit is due</a>. </font></em></p>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-88574411698797243252013-04-18T04:00:00.000-07:002013-04-18T04:00:01.860-07:00I love you til the ocean takes us all<p> In my last post, I mentioned I was feeling seasick (that is, homesick for the sea; aren't I just punderful?). I'm going to show you the last thing I saw before I left Melbourne (well, close to it) and I'm sure you'll understand me. Ladies and gentlemen: <a href="http://www.visitmelbourne.com/Regions/Great-Ocean-Road.aspx" target="_blank" title="">the Great Ocean Road</a>.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dOqFA0Tp5Zo/UWtfB1eviXI/AAAAAAAAAYM/l5tGnwaAd7Y/s2048/2013%2525205%25253A54%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dOqFA0Tp5Zo/UWtfB1eviXI/AAAAAAAAAYM/l5tGnwaAd7Y/s500/2013%2525205%25253A54%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1365991642390.4702" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXCABa-FLwFGkKPS-IxF3ihFZwkojyO_WlnB1qFWEyhKRt3Ng0xF9r6B3VBtmrNP31YNoDDyHgXi5DLUqRmHTh9ZZINiY1LaUJWCeQYjpsOAmWKeOU8pnZPdUimBQn65KWKC3LiMcy3c/s2048/2013%2525205%25253A54%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXCABa-FLwFGkKPS-IxF3ihFZwkojyO_WlnB1qFWEyhKRt3Ng0xF9r6B3VBtmrNP31YNoDDyHgXi5DLUqRmHTh9ZZINiY1LaUJWCeQYjpsOAmWKeOU8pnZPdUimBQn65KWKC3LiMcy3c/s500/2013%2525205%25253A54%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1365991642402.4795" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7DVVcm0FKRQ/UWtf8hrxBpI/AAAAAAAAAYc/EC4PQaoC0rI/s2048/2013%2525205%25253A56%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7DVVcm0FKRQ/UWtf8hrxBpI/AAAAAAAAAYc/EC4PQaoC0rI/s500/2013%2525205%25253A56%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1365991642372.4802" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9l-rTjLow94/UWtgNkVb9eI/AAAAAAAAAYk/4epSHUw7GbY/s2048/2013%2525205%25253A56%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9l-rTjLow94/UWtgNkVb9eI/AAAAAAAAAYk/4epSHUw7GbY/s500/2013%2525205%25253A56%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1365991642380.397" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg018uNXORSW4ruMRyyGAV3vIxpdLYR3OUOajGipF99lrBHPNy4VHRfour-J2KWPVFfjJ_BdDjLHEgVDBYJy8etgf8cPtD_CagR4elYiTDvpwhZRQ1vkl1gJbbIoae2nm9-_kKbfgMKnhY/s2048/2013%2525203%25253A14%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg018uNXORSW4ruMRyyGAV3vIxpdLYR3OUOajGipF99lrBHPNy4VHRfour-J2KWPVFfjJ_BdDjLHEgVDBYJy8etgf8cPtD_CagR4elYiTDvpwhZRQ1vkl1gJbbIoae2nm9-_kKbfgMKnhY/s500/2013%2525203%25253A14%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1365991642454.66" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGlJRZj0KIBYcNRDuXjOr7qsCJ-Bk3FuNPjFu7IqgqaovbBjJx8xwu8bQRnc-ENvtlhS_pLUzxhcxkYCrIlckVAg2LLz6SNq8AMd1XI5JDodO9Gx7mJaHW1O71SXiuX42jsnexZTtGNk/s2048/2013%2525203%25253A14%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGlJRZj0KIBYcNRDuXjOr7qsCJ-Bk3FuNPjFu7IqgqaovbBjJx8xwu8bQRnc-ENvtlhS_pLUzxhcxkYCrIlckVAg2LLz6SNq8AMd1XI5JDodO9Gx7mJaHW1O71SXiuX42jsnexZTtGNk/s500/2013%2525203%25253A14%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1365991642400.9692" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">You know, I didn't even realise how much it's in my blood. Mountains and oceans and Europe and Australia; good luck to me. </div>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-78503276256404425242013-04-14T18:53:00.001-07:002013-04-14T18:57:05.995-07:00In the city and the country<p> Hello! So I'm settling in. I moved into a room and it's <em>lovely</em>, even if I don't know where they keep the ironing board. I know it isn't strictly what V.W. was talking about, but to have a room of one's own at long last is a dream. I bought a teapot. I bought throw pillows. I'm just so <em>happy</em>.</p>
<p>The thing I love best about my new place (apart from the 24-hour Tesco at the bottom of the street that has a perennial sale on the bagels I like) is the 210 bus. In London? Go to Brent Cross station and then catch it towards Finchley (and away from Tesco, I'm afraid). It takes you past sprawling mansions, through Highgate (the closest thing you're going to get to a village in these parts) and even on a real, proper hill. The best part, though, is the proximity to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampstead_Heath" target="_blank" title="">Hampstead Heath</a>, otherwise known as a bleeding great wood at the top of the metropolis. I go there nearly every day. (On a vaguely related note: is anyone aware of folks hiring? Hah!) If you've looked out the window or, to my dearly beloved Southern Hemispherians, crawled out from that sunny rock you're basking on, you'll know Spring has been hesitant. I wandered down to get the starkest shots I could, but did notice that leaves are beginning to bud. I always forget how fond I am of Spring, but it really is so refreshing. </p>
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<p> I <em>do</em> like Winter's contrast. </p>
<p>There are things I miss about home. People, places, the <em>ocean</em>... I didn't even realise how I felt about the latter until I saw it in an episode of <em>Jonathan Creek</em> (which I really <a href="http://anscenicworld.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/get-your-act-together-please.html?m=0" target="_blank" title="">shouldn't have been watching</a>). I miss coming out of the station, walking down past the hospital and the milk bar that sells individual cigarettes to high schoolers, and seeing it, that reliable streak of blue. I didn't appreciate it. I should've. And so, much like affordable San Pelligrino's and Netflix, I'll enjoy the Heath while I've got it. </p>
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<p> Spring <em>is</em> trying. </p>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-50152822059091811842013-03-24T11:48:00.001-07:002013-03-24T11:53:21.984-07:00Lovely London: First Impressions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJ5U7ruiOgy26VYWUVndFE7RoEGPXNQc7o0O-BLtfslm6mPjQ3-5U_UKtfPnZspJD_0mUVlmuQQABGJZrzRhI_T4GqijmMNyPnPL7DICklhdX2HQCDna2WdsdccMt0Qh0idMXmjvyO_U/s534/2013%2525206%25253A44%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJ5U7ruiOgy26VYWUVndFE7RoEGPXNQc7o0O-BLtfslm6mPjQ3-5U_UKtfPnZspJD_0mUVlmuQQABGJZrzRhI_T4GqijmMNyPnPL7DICklhdX2HQCDna2WdsdccMt0Qh0idMXmjvyO_U/s500/2013%2525206%25253A44%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1364151177596.3003" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="400" height="534"></a></div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Everyone hates the weather. </strong>It snowed! Sure, it's March. Sure, the last time these people saw sunshine we were all still pondering the likelihood of the Mayan end of days looking anything like this great new film 2012. Sure, sure. But you're <em>Londoners</em>. It's in your blood to cope with this kind of weather. You're meant to relish it, and then come to my country and <a href="http://cheezburger.com/6304683520" target="_blank" title="">complain about <em>our</em> weather</a>. </li>
<li><strong>That's just the way the Tube smells. </strong>You know that sour, old milk kind of odour? Apparently, there isn't a choice about that. </li>
<li><strong>There's less obsession with royalty... </strong>Unless you make the rookie mistake of seeing a magazine stand and learning than the royal baby is now the size of an apricot or an eggplant or what-have-you.</li>
<li><strong>...and more with James McAvoy. </strong>Him! Mr. Tumnus! The guy who played the guy with muscular dystrophy! Goddamn <em>Gnomeo! </em>He's a big shot action hero now and, it would seem, London's favourite stepson. In the past four days, seventeen action films in which he holds a gun aggressively on the poster have been released. He is acting in MacBeth, Hamlet and the Tempest, all at once. I think I saw a cologne in Boots. Now, I don't have a problem with any of this, and he seems like a pretty nice bloke from his Wikipedia article, but all I can say is that I didn't see it coming. </li>
</ul>
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<p style="text-align: left;"> I guess I should've paid better attention to Wanted. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Squirrels are great and nobody cares. </strong>Have people been desensitied here? I don't get it. Can't they see the <em>little hands</em>? </li>
<li><strong>There are dead celebrities everywhere. </strong>William Blake is a bit of a hero to me. His poetry is outstanding. The effect he had on his contemporaries, and indeed on English literature, is rivalled only by the greatest writers in human history. His work is poignant, captivating, political and proud. Oh, right, and he's buried to your left there. </li>
<li><strong>You must make your peace with limb loss. </strong>Have you been caught in those train doors? I have. <em>Ouch.</em></li>
<li><strong>Food is better than Jamie Oliver told me it would be. </strong>I mean, really. I expected to find legions of pasty, miserable people lolling in the gutters since, once they tipped onto their backs, they were incapable of righting themselves again, WALL-E-style. If not that, I was waiting for some poor anaemic to pass out on me. Well now, I haven't seen any school dinners so perhaps I can't talk, but has J.O. not been in central Londom recently? PRET A MANGER IS EVERYWHERE. And I can't move for the number of Whole Foods. I know it can't be all this glorious but I'm still waiting to see a queue go out the door at Macca's.</li>
</ul>
<p> <em>First image sourced from <a href="http://printpattern.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-11-10T08:00:00Z&max-results=15" target="_blank" title="">here</a>. </em></p>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-88728157739909434512013-03-07T17:46:00.001-08:002013-03-07T17:46:20.277-08:00Long night, White NightMelbourne threw its own <em>Nuit Blanche. </em>I think this whole world's most liveable city affair has kind of gone to its head. Australian culture dictates that a night out must must must involve booze, lest it be labelled a waste and gay. My charming countrypeople! So what started out as a bright evening of culture and <em>jazz</em> dissolved, by about 3 or so AM, into a distopian day-night with tumbleweeds of empty vodka bottles, Pie Face wrappers and abandoned shoes. I wish I'd taken a picture of the bottle-o because it was empty. I mean it; spirits gone, two little miniature bottles of bourbon arranged thoughtfully on the middle shelf.
<p> </p>
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<p>Aiie, but I am being negative. My own White Night was... multi-faceted. That has to be the word. Highlight of highlights: I saw <em>Cent une tueries de zombies </em>(<a href="http://vimeo.com/60031760" target="_blank" title="">have a look</a> if you don't mind the gore). 101 zombie deaths cleverly edited into 40-something glorious minutes. Not for the faint of heart. (They even included <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dI17_Se1Bs" target="_blank" title="">my favourite zombie death,</a> but be warned: this video is graphic.) I also got to see <a href="http://www.flap.net.au/" target="_blank" title="">Flap!</a>, the very best live outfit in Melbourne, perform, which was excellent as always. They have this way with an audience; it's hard to describe. Every time I've seen them (and I admit, there have been a few) it takes about three songs for them to win the crowd completely over. You know the kind of person you don't actually know, but feel close to and want to buy a pony for? That's this band. They're good value folks. </p>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">After the zombies and the music it was getting towards that eerie stage I told you about. I'd said goodbye to <a href="http://anscenicworld.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/in-this-edition-of-kinfolk.html" target="_blank" title="">J</a> and IMJ (soft!) and just sort of wandered. Things get very strange for me when I'm low on sleep. I don't remember much, but I have distinct memories of trying to walk toe-heel instead of heel-toe. What can I say? In the immortal words of Honey Boo Boo Child, girl's gotta get her beauty sleep.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">I resurfaced at 6am, ate too much breakfast (cold scrambled eggs, bleagh) and went home, then to work. Probably should have had a lie-down beforehand; probably shouldn't have drunk six espresso shots in half an hour. Was it all worth it? You know, I think so.</div>
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<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-73161569579879059902013-03-07T04:05:00.000-08:002013-03-07T04:05:00.441-08:00Eternal Brunchtime of the Constant Dine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-AMQ2unhBAh0/UThANFU7I-I/AAAAAAAAAWU/6NKYb5Aihzw/s482/2013%2525206%25253A07%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-AMQ2unhBAh0/UThANFU7I-I/AAAAAAAAAWU/6NKYb5Aihzw/s482/2013%2525206%25253A07%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1362640950513.7495" class="aligncenter" width="318" height="482" alt=""></a></div>
<p> I figured that, after quitting my jobs (oh joy! oh bliss!) I'd have time to do all sorts of things I used to enjoy; you know, sleeping and smiling and breathing. But -- my God, and I never thought I'd say this -- being a Lady Who Lunches (my ultimate career goal, no lies) is <em>damn hard work</em>. Not only have I had to brush my hair, but I've been flat out, going from one cafe to the next. In the last week, I've had more flat whites than I've seen in a season. </p>
<p>It's been so lovely to see everyone. I didn't realise I had so many sensational people in my life until I started saying goodbye to them. I didn't realise how much I'm leaving behind, really. It must be that cliche of leaving and appreciation and lack thereof. </p>
<p>It still doesn't feel real. I suppose it will when I'm being rained on in Hyde Park -- ooh, actually, writing that gave me a bit of a chill -- or being rained on at Portobello rd, or even being rained on in BHS as I try to piece a life's worth of linen together. </p>
<p>Thanks to the magic of scheduling, it's exactly (<em>exactly</em>) a week until I leave. And once I'm over there, I'll have lots of exciting things to say. How thrilling! See you then, if not sooner. </p>
<p> <em><font size="2"><a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Illenberger" target="_blank" title="">Sarah Illenberger</a>'s watermelon </font></em></p>
<p> </p>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-53019504380726669322013-02-23T04:00:00.000-08:002013-02-23T04:00:03.735-08:00Collins Quarter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449654780" target="_blank" style=""><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8097/8449654780_7b87e1101a.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812938.5918" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8448534863" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8184/8448534863_a121b95324.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812901.2063" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8448536089" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8448536089_9d7a8a3647.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812914.338" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449625696" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8364/8449625696_99249c1555.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812928.7017" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8448544669" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8236/8448544669_6c456d2d99.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812866.9705" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449640268" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8449640268_1b84a7d11a.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812915.3071" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449646984" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8449646984_6c8a90171d.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812877.2527" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449648334" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8232/8449648334_e1aa534981.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812921.8489" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449641460" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8078/8449641460_24ddb8f8e2.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812954.9966" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449635116" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8083/8449635116_ea7b8c75e6.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812881.2388" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8448565513" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8332/8448565513_ec3f11425a.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812963.5203" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8448570889" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8448570889_600187a60f_c.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812888.2236" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8448568571" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8216/8448568571_40c36c68fb.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812924.8481" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8449615088" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8449615088_e5f1dff977.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798812962.9229" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-85338885857493272032013-02-18T04:00:00.000-08:002013-02-18T04:00:15.140-08:00For everything else there's MasterCard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://instagr.am/p/VEFmaNOTst/" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://distilleryimage1.s3.amazonaws.com/5910531269fc11e28e2022000a1cdd10_7.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798149467.8997" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="500"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: center;"> via <a href="http://instagram.com/anscenicworld" target="_blank" title="">Instagram</a></p>
My UK visa's been approved! Now there's nothing between me and London (except a month or so and Abu Dhabi). <br/><br/>In celebration, I think it's time to tell you all about my fortnight-long love affair with England, in May last year. Much like<em> The Bridges of Madison County</em>, it was passionate and intense, will last me the rest of my life and resulted in a dress I never wear. Unlike <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em>The Bridges of Madison County</em><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">, <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">it wasn't God-awful drivel. I was in London and Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford and had such a lovely time that even thinking about it makes me giddy. </span></span></span><br/><br/><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">I'll start at the beginning. Throughout my senior years at high school, my teacher (and, later, my friend) M (or Ms S, depending on the year) coaxed me into public speaking competitions; you know, stand up, cue cards, disproportionate amounts of passion. It's an awfully good thing she got me into it, though, because it turned out that I wasn't actually rubbish. In fact, I was doing rather well for a while. My crowning glory was the Plain English Speaking Competition: I won the state final and went on to represent Victoria at Nationals in Sydeny, where I met some excellent people and was interviewed by a hero of mine. Anyway, the impromptu topic was a dream and the judges took a shine to my laissez faire attitude towards presentation, and suddenly I'd won the competition and was going on to represent Australia in London. Needless to say, that was pretty exciting. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br/><br/><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">May rolled around and off I went. There were a little more than fifty countries represented and we spent our time frolicking about Westminster and the equally noble Queen's Ice and Bowl (turns out Bohemian Rhapsody is known in all corners of the globe). I didn't come anywhere near the title, but that was hardly the point of it all. A week in London enough.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br/><br/><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">And I could go into how great that week was, but you don't want to read that many paragraphs. Just conjure up all those glorious cliches about eyes opening and friendships forging; you get it.</span><br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1Aq3Q76lF08/URwhGxj8a7I/AAAAAAAAAV4/Pz1oFIzEzFU/s2048/2013%25252010%25253A11%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; " title=""><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1Aq3Q76lF08/URwhGxj8a7I/AAAAAAAAAV4/Pz1oFIzEzFU/s500/2013%25252010%25253A11%252520AM.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798149550.9597" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="332"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><em>That's me in the centre, casually throttling the future President of Mexico. </em></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><br>
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br/><br/><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); ">The weather was hilariously good (how often is English weather preferable to Australian?) and my little family took off to go exploring. I mean, goddamn, there were <em>bumblebees</em>; real ones, all fat and fuzzy and slow and wholly unlike those miserable speedy bastards we have here. Our time in Bath was enough to make me want to relocate. Everything matched! It was great! Oxford was equally stunning. We spent a couple of days at a haunted house, too, where we'd stayed for Christmas a very long time ago. (No ghosts, but not for lack of trying. Did see a rabbit though.) The only let-down was the Roman ruins we visited, but I think the lesson -- plan your ruin visits ahead because some are underwhelming -- was enough. And the fields and fields of canola... I understand the hullabaloo everyone makes about the English countryside in spring now.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br/><br/><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">London struck me as a sort of huge, limey Melbourne. Everyone always said the cities were similiar and now I see it. Lots of bluestone. So, by that logic, London is a bigger Melbourne with better public transport and £30 flights to Stockholm. I once announced to my parents (at the height of my then-infatuation with New York) that they mustn't ever let me move to England; they must absolutely talk me out of it if I tried, too. Clearly, that didn't work out.</span><br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFjDXTap5usSCuXfmpPHpARXV-BAjM7kJHJNf4CPeabO8yaBXBwXrMlEK0XAi6wQym3H2Mzt-SVLFRW0B97Y0uP180dmd766XYDoPgOCKmtEQqKBps40SUuBD9Y8PHC624gnOxBR1Us0/s640/2013%25252010%25253A08%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFjDXTap5usSCuXfmpPHpARXV-BAjM7kJHJNf4CPeabO8yaBXBwXrMlEK0XAi6wQym3H2Mzt-SVLFRW0B97Y0uP180dmd766XYDoPgOCKmtEQqKBps40SUuBD9Y8PHC624gnOxBR1Us0/s500/2013%25252010%25253A08%252520AM.jpg" id="blogsy-1360798149524.3723" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="280"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: center;"> <em>Hurr, skurrl.</em></p>
<br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-82866413781532416052013-02-13T14:48:00.001-08:002013-02-13T14:48:49.683-08:00Get your act together, please<div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="500" height="305" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2ThzywBwVRk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
Well, it's a month exactly today. And not even a good, long month; February, the Tuesday of the year. Sort of eerie to think that, at almost exactly now in a month, I'll be twitching about, sleepless and anxious, chasing up the thousand loose ends that will doubtless appear the moment before I <em>move to London. </em>Damn, the closer it gets the more I'm sure something unexpected with eventuate and it'll all collapse and never <em>happen</em>. It seems like too big a thing to happen to me. <br/><br/>What's been going on in the interim?, I hear you shout. Well, stunningly little. Hate my job. If I didn't know I was quitting so soon I'd quit. (They don't know I'm leaving, by the way. Terrible me!) Honestly, the sight of anything in the bread bin at home makes me very uncomfortable. A bakery has to be the worst place for a person terrified of burns and disgusted by mornings to work. <br/><br/>With most of my Serious Travel Things (visa, flights, job, home) taken care of, I'm happy to procrastinate through the rest and spend my off-time watching TV. We don't even have Netflix in Australia, you know, so I'm at the mercy of whatever's on. Sometimes this is great (Bargin Hunt, QI, Poirot) and sometimes this is dreadful (My Kitchen Rules). All this QI, incidentally, hasn't been helping my Alan Davies stress dreams. (They're awful. I wake up in a panic because I don't have enough money to buy that wretched farm in Kent he pushed on me, or because I've forgotten to fill in that form he needed. It's bizarre. I must associate him with England or something.) <br/><br/>All this rambling, aside from beng demonstrative of my current state of mind, is my way of announcing that I'm back. I'm back, and I'm getting my act together (maybe). <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-252084263240458252013-01-22T03:11:00.001-08:002013-01-22T03:12:51.331-08:00A quiet moment <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">Dropping in (to my own blog, hm) to let you know that I'm going to take a moment off from blogging. I know that this is such a scummy thing to do -- not to mention atrocious timing seeing as my blog is, well, basically brand new -- but I just don't have the energy or content. I don't want to create rubbish for you; I want to write quality, and if I can't then I see no point in continuing. Recently, I've been working two jobs, trying to sort out my visa, university, the old, uh, move 20,000-odd kms away... It's taxing. I hope to be back by mid-Feb at the <em>latest</em> with more WitW (do you actually like that?), moving to London things, photographs of buildings and maybe even <em>nnneeeewwww cccooonnttteeeennttt </em>(substitute in your own wiggly fingers and ghost accent). In the meantime, here are pictures of great actresses with ravens from my <a href="http://pinterest.com/anscenicworld/" target="_blank" title="">Pinterest</a>. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RhJhwtzVttI/UP50KCIvevI/AAAAAAAAAVY/7HjE06_WuKw/s607/2013%25252010%25253A00%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RhJhwtzVttI/UP50KCIvevI/AAAAAAAAAVY/7HjE06_WuKw/s500/2013%25252010%25253A00%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358853170631.7378" class="alignnone" alt="" width="480" height="607"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SGo-nPUObIw/UP50LxErcOI/AAAAAAAAAVg/VF437InhBpo/s532/2013%2525209%25253A59%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SGo-nPUObIw/UP50LxErcOI/AAAAAAAAAVg/VF437InhBpo/s500/2013%2525209%25253A59%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358853170628.5574" class="alignnone" width="500" height="532" alt=""></a></div>
See you soon!<br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-60498921190032208222013-01-21T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-21T04:00:08.291-08:00Rolling stone<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8372053095" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8073/8372053095_9ae864760e.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416343.7551" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8372046671" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8372046671_615a7fdddf.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416305.7876" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8373107434" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8373107434_ddc103f1bc.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416298.3289" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8372023799" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8509/8372023799_7c64a3fde6.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416336.5732" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8372031501" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8501/8372031501_09300e851b.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416353.4863" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8373084434" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8504/8373084434_d615234962.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416281.3557" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8372011321" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8081/8372011321_939256118b.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416358.1428" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8372005111" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8323/8372005111_1255369834.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333416288.1091" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><br/><br/> And just as it turned an impossible shade of salmon, my battery died. Of <em>course</em>.<br/><br/>Life has been quiet and easy. I've been working a lot; I have two jobs now, both in food retail at train stations. My spare time is spent on typing and flyer delivery, as well as Poirot and Die Hard. I save and I buy dirndls. But the funny thing is that I'm happy. Despite my innate laziness, I don't like to gather moss. (I like money too, I admit.)<br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-64491771985899618542013-01-19T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-19T04:00:04.899-08:00The city of Melbourne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8368818301" target="_blank" style=""><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8226/8368818301_248d6097d7.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392356.3357" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
Last week may very well have been one of the worst times to run errands in the history of the world. The heat was so bad that the <strike>Beaureau</strike> <strike>Beurau</strike> Bureau of Meteorology (in all my life I have never been able to spell that word) had to i<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2013/jan/08/australia-bush-fires-heatwave-temperature-scale" target="_blank" title="">nvent a new colour</a> for it. My original plans to go visiting some rural cities and take snaps for y'all have been on hold since -- well. I was going to make a joke about bushfires just now, but that's something you just don't do here. Actually, it's always so strange for me to see the English-speaking Internet explode with excitement for Black Friday, when here it's synonymous with a day of fires so bad that we still remember them, a good 70 years later. <br/><br/>I'm being morose. Here's a picture of my dog looking gorgeous. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY_bAsaEHVW7mPp37d2kUbsFzQA_VHTyn2YpT6araqpkw0i0li-dqA9asuWR8y75pz-m8y-srXjYnpn5kFW1_0agI8rrEfqzqhkwq09BPtSwvgKNWXXk2MAtgye5C9LpVe3hJ-jyK9UI/s2048/2013%2525205%25253A47%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY_bAsaEHVW7mPp37d2kUbsFzQA_VHTyn2YpT6araqpkw0i0li-dqA9asuWR8y75pz-m8y-srXjYnpn5kFW1_0agI8rrEfqzqhkwq09BPtSwvgKNWXXk2MAtgye5C9LpVe3hJ-jyK9UI/s500/2013%2525205%25253A47%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392433.7705" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
Friday! I had birthday presents to hunt down and an interview at a bakery to DESTROY and sangria to inhale. But most of all, I wanted to show you around my city. So here it is.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8368831027" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8368831027_b643c6d5ab.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392346.5066" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8368843611" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8493/8368843611_0763cf0376_c.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392352.9932" class="alignnone" width="500" height="667" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8368827575" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8335/8368827575_c2a9120680.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392403.2515" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8369888306" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8497/8369888306_1ff2caf2cb_c.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392440.7832" class="alignnone" width="500" height="667" alt=""></a><br/><br/> Bit of a perv on Lt. Collins' Yule House. Is it possible to have a crush on a building?<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8368817141" target="_blank" style=""><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8368817141_c3f9de4810.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392437.8982" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8368813737" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8493/8368813737_7a963b20ee.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392423.7324" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8369876174" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8376/8369876174_968412b447.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392450.92" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8369875182" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8369875182_aa59a968cb_c.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392445.4712" class="alignnone" width="500" height="667" alt=""></a></div>
Whoever let a tree (a <em>tree!</em>) grow in front of these sensational buildings needs to take a long, hard look at themselves. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8369873498" target="_blank" style=""><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8516/8369873498_4c74355bda.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392369.5566" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/89250889@N04/8368804651" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8218/8368804651_5016825426.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392419.7043" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
(Here's hoping all these pictures show up, huh?)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81hKFqHDCBMjT7Na2Y7yKpBNtASsTcShdB_Urrnrjibqe52oFrUExuKxMudDnU4sH3Ntb7DhUITnzVZiQmwBH_wpwbLoenIQv-czbx74R1DQW_uZ87zNYve5AyERwLo05ZRi4VyarKvM/s1936/2013%2525206%25253A02%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81hKFqHDCBMjT7Na2Y7yKpBNtASsTcShdB_Urrnrjibqe52oFrUExuKxMudDnU4sH3Ntb7DhUITnzVZiQmwBH_wpwbLoenIQv-czbx74R1DQW_uZ87zNYve5AyERwLo05ZRi4VyarKvM/s500/2013%2525206%25253A02%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333392385.128" class="alignnone" width="500" height="500" alt=""></a><br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-54467424175943263152013-01-16T16:45:00.000-08:002013-01-16T16:45:00.797-08:00Ain't that a kick in the head<div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="500" height="305" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/huKSm0tAvhs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
Have a listen to my "things are going really rather well at the moment for me" song (catchy title, I know!). I only ever remember it when I'm feeling truly happy, and I'm a thousand times thrilled to say that I'm like that at the moment. <br/><br/>Two reasons. The first isn't even assured yet, but I'm feeling confident; that is, I've begun the process towards getting my visa to the UK. I'm going on a Youth Mobility Visa (I highly recommend the Aussie Nomad's <a href="http://www.theaussienomad.com/travel-thoughts/applying-for-uk-youth-mobility-visa/" target="_blank" title="">post on the subject</a>), which means that because I'm a youth I can be mobile. It's available to anyone under 30 and above 18 in the Commonwealth (regretting that revolution now, United States?) and Japan, oddly enough, and lets you galavant around England and co. for up to 24 months. Best part is that you're allowed to leave, too, and take advantage of that 90 day visa-free period in the EU. To ensure job and home security I've enlisted (read: paid for) the help of <a href="http://www.ccusa.com.au/ProgramsOffered/WorkExchangeUK.aspx" target="_blank" title="">CCUSA</a>, who operate out of every country known to man. If you fancy a working holiday they're well worth looking at. I mean, if I weren't so afraid of children I'd be on the Russian summer camp like <em>that</em>.<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaFe1Z4wMPSdOInQ-ss7Nmuxt8y4IuE0QfpKryNXIQ7aG_1MUdIvNuAgrcPR9lOnC9iqCyokzlUxyBPPHemN6eMkT6lKIbLFbDcnlwGhR6aArmpU7rpX92NQg_6iRJZxsihySCCiXQZ8/s650/2013%2525203%25253A47%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaFe1Z4wMPSdOInQ-ss7Nmuxt8y4IuE0QfpKryNXIQ7aG_1MUdIvNuAgrcPR9lOnC9iqCyokzlUxyBPPHemN6eMkT6lKIbLFbDcnlwGhR6aArmpU7rpX92NQg_6iRJZxsihySCCiXQZ8/s500/2013%2525203%25253A47%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333732976.7126" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="231"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="text-align: center;clear: both; "><em>Look at them! What a great time they must be having in their matching bucket hats.</em></div>
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The second is equally life-changing and pivotal and exciting. My university place came out and (drumroll, please)...<br/><br/><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YGrlgLPRfog/UPaFRQZIlnI/AAAAAAAAAUw/eJkee-7kqco/s1024/2005%2525203%25253A13%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YGrlgLPRfog/UPaFRQZIlnI/AAAAAAAAAUw/eJkee-7kqco/s500/2005%2525203%25253A13%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333732960.985" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><br/><br/>Bachelor of International and Global Studies at the University of Sydney! I'm going to major in European Studies (and something else; Literature, probably) and learn German or French or Spanish or Russian. And I'm going to go on exchange and I'm going to join a heap of obscure societies and I'm going to eat Chinese food out of little boxes like everyone seems to do in films. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--k8DsB9ZO8Q/UPaFUtAUQpI/AAAAAAAAAU4/CJVWAm2IjAQ/s500/2013%2525209%25253A38%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--k8DsB9ZO8Q/UPaFUtAUQpI/AAAAAAAAAU4/CJVWAm2IjAQ/s500/2013%2525209%25253A38%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358333732997.3247" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
Their motto is <em>Sidere mens eadem mutato: </em>Although the constellations change the mind is universal. Isn't that just <em>lovely</em>? Oh my <em>goodness</em>! <br/><br/>So that's me until 2018. If this is just the beginning, my life is going to be <em>beautiful</em>.<br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-75497462549581569532013-01-16T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-16T04:00:17.358-08:00WitW: Graz, Austria Graz! Hallowed birthplace of Governator extraordinaire, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Europe's Cultural Capital of 2003. (I like my Capitals of Culture, don't I?) It's actually Austria's second largest city, but that's still less than 300,000 people, so I'll beg an indulgence from you all. <br/><br/> Now, I think Graz is truly very nice, but I have a serious bone to pick with town planning. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rN-IwjZjoiQ/UPTrjRm1QTI/AAAAAAAAAT4/5b1nw18oTkE/s2048/2013%2525208%25253A23%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rN-IwjZjoiQ/UPTrjRm1QTI/AAAAAAAAAT4/5b1nw18oTkE/s500/2013%2525208%25253A23%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358228396510.553" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><em>This is not okay.</em> I mean, I like experimental architecture as much as the next, but this is what we keep Iceland for. That said, this so-called Friendly Alien (nicknamed by its creators, hm!) is a very excellent temporary art gallery, or Kunsthaus. Graz is actually a permanent UNESCO City of Design, which translates into an inordinate amount of chamber music and art installations. The place has more than twenty different museums and galleries, including -- but not limited to -- museums of contemporary photography, trams and locks. (The largest collection of locks and keys in the world!) Graz, in essence, likes its culture. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf595qJdmEbqnk_HM_EOPEmBGqFPk2SPkErG3GI3oNIbug8Zh5M9Wy6WF40Ty3zeBr4frEtF9iiaZ9fis1tw0-mwjai385Dk6z01IALc-QoLNJUUWaDRGr2pw8pqsZ_oSE56YQS-Jl9Zc/s520/2013%2525204%25253A23%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf595qJdmEbqnk_HM_EOPEmBGqFPk2SPkErG3GI3oNIbug8Zh5M9Wy6WF40Ty3zeBr4frEtF9iiaZ9fis1tw0-mwjai385Dk6z01IALc-QoLNJUUWaDRGr2pw8pqsZ_oSE56YQS-Jl9Zc/s500/2013%2525204%25253A23%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358228396510" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="322"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="text-align: center;clear: both; "><em>You saw it here first!</em></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">As if being a City of Art Things wasn't enough, Graz is also Austria's self-appointed (...) Capital of Culinary Delights. They have a Gormet Spectacular (and what I wouldn't give to hear that phrase in German) and spend a whole evening every so often eating all together at a really long table. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKaYvERWSgEKWU2NClIbWKrwaZz3VSDSa4OA7P5JZkcrpqOeXib78cqXibJbEBLCAPiLwogzTKK-IiOx9RnAjDQ7J_AyyC-zRcFiehWBaHmu1QEUpS2TNet0W0tCTi6ZRHwpWm6mn4_E/s460/2012%2525208%25253A33%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKaYvERWSgEKWU2NClIbWKrwaZz3VSDSa4OA7P5JZkcrpqOeXib78cqXibJbEBLCAPiLwogzTKK-IiOx9RnAjDQ7J_AyyC-zRcFiehWBaHmu1QEUpS2TNet0W0tCTi6ZRHwpWm6mn4_E/s460/2012%2525208%25253A33%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358228396591.4912" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="282"></a></div>
Did I mention that Graz is also home to Austria's largest cave system?<br/><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7zyXmaWvmbcLQdhI49EHHgK6WFHaa83_QxubXWgA2x07Y1leFO3GGy3VsnO5gq09_TL6-eJvjiwBW2AIWKnvmjDk0SslTuAQZti4MsnOnnfjj3bXOooqYZM6WuW05_6BvyvNxQ81N1Y/s800/2013%2525204%25253A34%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7zyXmaWvmbcLQdhI49EHHgK6WFHaa83_QxubXWgA2x07Y1leFO3GGy3VsnO5gq09_TL6-eJvjiwBW2AIWKnvmjDk0SslTuAQZti4MsnOnnfjj3bXOooqYZM6WuW05_6BvyvNxQ81N1Y/s500/2013%2525204%25253A34%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1358228396513.798" class="alignnone" width="500" height="312" alt=""></a><br/><br/> This little city is a busy place.<br/><br/></div><p>All credit to my sources: <a href="http://www.graz.at/EN" target="_blank" title="">Graz</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graz" target="_blank" title="">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="http://www.graz-cityofdesign.at/en/graz-design/graz---city-of-design" target="_blank" title="">Graz UNESCO City of Design</a>, <a href="http://www.graztourismus.at/cms/ziel/2865539/EN" target="_blank" title="">Graz Tourism</a>, <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.kultur.graz.at/&langpair=de|en" target="_blank" title="">Culture Graz</a>, <a href="http://www.schell-collection.com/index.php?&L=1" target="_blank" title="">Hanns Schell Collection</a>, <a href="http://www.thomahan.at/kultur.html" target="_blank" title="">Thomahan Culture</a></p>
<em>Where in the Wednesday is my weekly excuse to trawl through Google Images. It's a profile of a place I wish I was in and an attempt to draw my eye away from classic travel destinations; I hope that you'll enjoy reading about all these places as much as I love learning and writing about them. Anywhere you think I ought to write about, from the obscure little town in your area to that place you visited in 1989? I'm at anscenicworld@gmail.com.</em><br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-71523754235831793942013-01-13T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-13T04:00:08.714-08:00The Party Tree The park I went to <a href="http://anscenicworld.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/another-year-of-not-being-dead.html?m=0" target="_blank" title="">on my birthday</a> is a little too beautiful to resist. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bUExyoAS4WM/UOqobxMIEgI/AAAAAAAAAOg/PnigxlJoiX8/s2048/2013%2525207%25253A18%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bUExyoAS4WM/UOqobxMIEgI/AAAAAAAAAOg/PnigxlJoiX8/s500/2013%2525207%25253A18%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357889517686.3867" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhCmpiENu-gvNASmeHRTWIwVXBpVW5vQkcNGtyevkdq_sx2Izd2jucrD126kH7FPUDjWqHIy5nR0nsxtD8s44G8DH9-XfeXwXko1BW6PgoOumNWLYot45t7h6cgBAO7ZRk1X0jVpLLOA/s2048/2013%2525207%25253A18%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhCmpiENu-gvNASmeHRTWIwVXBpVW5vQkcNGtyevkdq_sx2Izd2jucrD126kH7FPUDjWqHIy5nR0nsxtD8s44G8DH9-XfeXwXko1BW6PgoOumNWLYot45t7h6cgBAO7ZRk1X0jVpLLOA/s500/2013%2525207%25253A18%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357889517745.4795" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU0osWaaNn3C42sHWh8ofBrfK4PJyKv4wyoYyw3IdvhzGYPl9qRbuQP3ID5gEHAoq6qyx-V43ajuFCuL9MwTKd8vEBFee7jsJAqFtgTXUOOorSTka0y14gepO1AN-S2QAD7IvdtrOjwQ/s2048/2013%2525207%25253A19%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU0osWaaNn3C42sHWh8ofBrfK4PJyKv4wyoYyw3IdvhzGYPl9qRbuQP3ID5gEHAoq6qyx-V43ajuFCuL9MwTKd8vEBFee7jsJAqFtgTXUOOorSTka0y14gepO1AN-S2QAD7IvdtrOjwQ/s500/2013%2525207%25253A19%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357889517766.268" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
Honestly, I doubt I'll ever see a tree that perfect again.<br/><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplVVzmCERZEhJM3w9xrUdrr7yLL_68a-4Atg9-Pt6Nf2ScTT8c_0Cff5PC09KTluZ2C_Lduv9RuDhCCqzsPC_woyTgxA1YQf9ZKt8bjfQ3KB4zFfAnt3erSNMJv4kn8YNdMkVPqzAcSU/s2048/2013%2525207%25253A22%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhplVVzmCERZEhJM3w9xrUdrr7yLL_68a-4Atg9-Pt6Nf2ScTT8c_0Cff5PC09KTluZ2C_Lduv9RuDhCCqzsPC_woyTgxA1YQf9ZKt8bjfQ3KB4zFfAnt3erSNMJv4kn8YNdMkVPqzAcSU/s500/2013%2525207%25253A22%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357889517729.909" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a><br/><br/>It was the perfect time of day, just as the sun was beginning to slide, and all the birds were hassling the blossoms and being tremendously noisy. The temperature was gorgeous -- just too warm for a cardigan -- and the wind was pushing the leaves together, making them rustle and sigh.<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinh_ilEzTHv64G9uXsNJlqlwCv_v1iBvsYPaa77Gozc4RoOBKqlN-YaiIkRg0EeW2ZWw-dL7vw88TWR_fJj4CmCpZ-oUG85U-kS5odqzhQuOJNp0RZcPpG0hHh1DJ8X8l2LjD3Lrxu8h4/s2048/2013%2525207%25253A25%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinh_ilEzTHv64G9uXsNJlqlwCv_v1iBvsYPaa77Gozc4RoOBKqlN-YaiIkRg0EeW2ZWw-dL7vw88TWR_fJj4CmCpZ-oUG85U-kS5odqzhQuOJNp0RZcPpG0hHh1DJ8X8l2LjD3Lrxu8h4/s500/2013%2525207%25253A25%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357889517774.2517" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfaFKe-7Q-Rv-HnoExbesjuWO_tdHbEC4jliQaBhhkopLOLrpSQKqn-RkTwXSk0tRYkPJMUq0utCTnlKp3LnwtDyVUQs8p4LvcrFXvSWDJ-s1BdB1wj2I3NwBIGkVFECb626FLrFV-JA/s2048/2013%2525207%25253A34%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfaFKe-7Q-Rv-HnoExbesjuWO_tdHbEC4jliQaBhhkopLOLrpSQKqn-RkTwXSk0tRYkPJMUq0utCTnlKp3LnwtDyVUQs8p4LvcrFXvSWDJ-s1BdB1wj2I3NwBIGkVFECb626FLrFV-JA/s500/2013%2525207%25253A34%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357889517755.7942" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
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Not a particularly heavy post today. I had a lazy one, avoiding stag's head-related purchases (I've got to fall out of love with that motif), submitting the application for my working holiday programme in London, eating party leftovers and printing out 207 copies of my résumé. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmJYPPAI-AXPB6JBZ00vculOzLSHdK0Z8dWTNJYqfwZ5rJxZPvG8F754fT74lOOzUYiP0W2HLefoaJyD05tAjgkmM_uqax5TSbm6LH_LnZlbNGsZEzJboDb0FdNBBfStqrk1TFicBfjg/s2048/2013%2525207%25253A38%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmJYPPAI-AXPB6JBZ00vculOzLSHdK0Z8dWTNJYqfwZ5rJxZPvG8F754fT74lOOzUYiP0W2HLefoaJyD05tAjgkmM_uqax5TSbm6LH_LnZlbNGsZEzJboDb0FdNBBfStqrk1TFicBfjg/s500/2013%2525207%25253A38%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357889517750.3484" class="alignnone" width="500" height="375" alt=""></a></div>
Oops.<br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-51465200000402664392013-01-09T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-09T04:00:08.035-08:00WitW: Arrowtown, New Zealand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NzbCdcwQc9Q/UOq-BHkgh5I/AAAAAAAAAQA/agSuKuUbp3s/s920/2013%25252010%25253A15%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NzbCdcwQc9Q/UOq-BHkgh5I/AAAAAAAAAQA/agSuKuUbp3s/s500/2013%25252010%25253A15%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357562701117.9631" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="209"></a></div>
Welcome to Arrowtown; so charming it's frightening. <br/><br/>A long, long time ago, the Arrow Basin was carved out by glaciers and the Arrow River formed, "flowing like silver threads through the blackened scrub-clothed plains", on the banks of which Arrowtown sprung up in due fashion. It pattered along for a good few years until a shearer named Jack happened upon some gold and, well, you know how these things go. <br/><br/>These days, Arrowtown cashes in on its natural beauty, which you can sort of understand. I mean, this place has a week-long Autumn Festival just to celebrate how ridiculously pretty it is. They have a scarecrow competition and something called 'Bikes 4 Fun' and I am sure it's an absolute blast<em>.</em><br/><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyHJLdUPRyWqJdwMRa8xbSoGwwOMi0E_xN0ONZyNi37Pj2rl9AwwjtMnQrNws3Ss-Ukchsr47WDayYFLYovxErNVEAnnpZV_Gt4E8YOmn6W1ds2jAMhivWFY4LEMQ4o_TKt6_JHvOZ1k/s800/2013%25252010%25253A46%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyHJLdUPRyWqJdwMRa8xbSoGwwOMi0E_xN0ONZyNi37Pj2rl9AwwjtMnQrNws3Ss-Ukchsr47WDayYFLYovxErNVEAnnpZV_Gt4E8YOmn6W1ds2jAMhivWFY4LEMQ4o_TKt6_JHvOZ1k/s500/2013%25252010%25253A46%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357562701143.9504" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="333"></a><br/><br/> <em>And</em> they have a tiny little cinema. I mean, come on, Arrowtown. We know miniature is cute. You're killing us. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfdhNCmtL7gcX3RagVqTDLha2GxUgi7GF0QIsCxagGKx5T7ggOHZiEe4xDOcFrRY4KsBnuY9lSOd2ij84TZMsFaOfabaVoQtLbi_dnLu9KDpuwGAYb2lsXaD6ADe1sapq8niU9GaZhIk/s480/2013%25252010%25253A53%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfdhNCmtL7gcX3RagVqTDLha2GxUgi7GF0QIsCxagGKx5T7ggOHZiEe4xDOcFrRY4KsBnuY9lSOd2ij84TZMsFaOfabaVoQtLbi_dnLu9KDpuwGAYb2lsXaD6ADe1sapq8niU9GaZhIk/s480/2013%25252010%25253A53%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357562701124.9385" class="alignnone" alt="" width="480" height="360"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"> Of course, since 98% of New Zealand was used to film The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and subsequently the Hobbits, oh my goodness), Arrowtown's surroundings feature as the Fords of Bruinen, better known as the "if you want him, come and claim him" river. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zzOLz9Kz15o/UOrDS6iE8rI/AAAAAAAAARI/_FLmcU4oYQA/s640/2013%25252011%25253A13%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zzOLz9Kz15o/UOrDS6iE8rI/AAAAAAAAARI/_FLmcU4oYQA/s500/2013%25252011%25253A13%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357562701131.783" class="alignnone" width="500" height="266" alt=""></a><a href="assets-library://asset/asset.JPG?id=A8F93FD8-5BB1-45BF-B3A6-7DD55E12F516&ext=JPG" target="_blank"><img src="file://localhost/private/var/mobile/Applications/AC7199B5-2919-470A-8AFF-F79AF0814BE6/tmp/offline_image_A8F93FD8-5BB1-45BF-B3A6-7DD55E12F516.jpg" id="blogsy-1357562701163.3804" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"> It's probably more fun in summer.</div>
<br/><br/>All credit to my sources: <a href="http://www.arrowtown.com/" target="_blank" title="">Discover Arrowtown</a>, <a href="http://www.arrowtownautumnfestival.org.nz/" target="_blank" title="">Arrowtown Autumn Festival</a>, <a href="http://www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au/destinations/escape-to-the-true-colours-of-autumn-in-queenstown.html" target="_blank" title="">eGlobal</a>, <a href="http://blog.privatefleet.com.au/home/good-times-across-the-tasman/" target="_blank" title="">Private Fleet</a>, <a href="http://www.dorothybrowns.com/index.php" target="_blank" title="">Dorothy Brown's</a>, <a href="http://www.nzgirl.co.nz/places/our-favourite-kiwi-town-to-visit/" target="_blank" title="">NZ Girl</a>, <a href="http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/542153" target="_blank" title="">Travel Blo</a>g<br/><br/><em>Where in the Wednesday is my weekly excuse to trawl through Google Images. It's a profile of the place I wish I was in and an attempt to draw my eye away from classic travel destinations. I write in the hope that you'll enjoy reading about all these places as much as I love learning and writing about them. Anywhere you think I ought to write about, from the obscure little town in your state to that place you visited in 1989? I'm at anscenicworld@gmail.com</em><br/><br/> <br/><br/><br>
<br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-42817127971486104082013-01-07T02:37:00.001-08:002013-01-07T02:37:13.627-08:00Another year of not being dead I turned 18. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C6BZpXEaAO4/UOqklteY1yI/AAAAAAAAANk/p83O2oOrrYI/s684/2013%2525201%25253A09%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C6BZpXEaAO4/UOqklteY1yI/AAAAAAAAANk/p83O2oOrrYI/s500/2013%2525201%25253A09%252520AM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030149.1968" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="500"></a></div>
Kind of a big deal since everything happens at 18 here. Drinking, driving (not at the same time, you terrible people), <em>voting</em> (!!!), booking aeroplane seats... The whole box and dice. Above, you see me at 12.01 AEST on 5th January with an unrealistically delicious margarita. It was still well above 30 then, so here I am, sweating like some kind of farm animal. (D'you like my sunburnt nose?) <br/><br/><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LRcvGd0RON4/UOqkuAmWfRI/AAAAAAAAANs/FRrNkxrZCaE/s2048/2013%25252012%25253A15%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LRcvGd0RON4/UOqkuAmWfRI/AAAAAAAAANs/FRrNkxrZCaE/s500/2013%25252012%25253A15%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030162.2542" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><br>
<br/><br/>Things improved rather dramatically with the arrival of my birthday present about eight hours later. Naturally, my birthday outfit featured my beautiful birthday earrings (care of G, who took the picture at midnight and who is going to be the world's fiercest criminal law barrister) (not barista, let's get that straight) and the kimono I got in London (of course! Not Japan!). <br/><br/>Anyway, this is the camera you remember from my resolutions post. I think it takes a nice picture; but what do I know? I'm still trying to figure out how to turn my ISOs on. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GoJpQR4nN3A/UOqk6dKCH-I/AAAAAAAAAN0/H9l6oZ0o-cA/s2048/2013%25252012%25253A53%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GoJpQR4nN3A/UOqk6dKCH-I/AAAAAAAAAN0/H9l6oZ0o-cA/s500/2013%25252012%25253A53%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030183.98" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
The day was picnic-perfect! My 'burb has some lovely botanic gardens so we set up under the <strike>mallorn</strike> <strike>Party Tree</strike> golden elm, my favourite of all trees (fun fact!) to spend a solid five hours counting Daniels and eating an inordinate amount of rice paper wraps. I don't think I could have asked for a better group (maybe a few much-missed additions!). These girls are so intelligent and thoughtful and <em>hilarious,</em> and I'm so thrilled that they were there to celebrate with me. They deserve -- I don't know -- individual opal mines. Profitable ones. That and more. <br/><br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_y9wUVNUA8j_Iywiv3sJZcMI7oMmxQvPax_TLgQKcpi4gkb2dzmRMU9w8K867-L1pkjnpKS-L0TG05tS-m49eel-cdsqEi1FyY5ZVJRE2YIc_W3Nlhmxga7i_oo1neFeWwYzytFMb5k/s2048/2013%2525201%25253A25%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_y9wUVNUA8j_Iywiv3sJZcMI7oMmxQvPax_TLgQKcpi4gkb2dzmRMU9w8K867-L1pkjnpKS-L0TG05tS-m49eel-cdsqEi1FyY5ZVJRE2YIc_W3Nlhmxga7i_oo1neFeWwYzytFMb5k/s500/2013%2525201%25253A25%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030119.8745" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">We invested some serious time in making faces... (as usual)...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKc6mkkty3xPrM7TDSOox82ET4S87UdbdQLh4CufQ2lL6o6Hn1J1csr2yjGjuT-5UyfQSi2P4FSJ6PlzP1iVQ5GJ8h8vV4npu1_0rTX2_Zc69fgr2hjF41eITv7_0KhQxTZbXNG371A0/s2048/2013%2525201%25253A34%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKc6mkkty3xPrM7TDSOox82ET4S87UdbdQLh4CufQ2lL6o6Hn1J1csr2yjGjuT-5UyfQSi2P4FSJ6PlzP1iVQ5GJ8h8vV4npu1_0rTX2_Zc69fgr2hjF41eITv7_0KhQxTZbXNG371A0/s500/2013%2525201%25253A34%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030146.2432" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a><a href="assets-library://asset/asset.JPG?id=49800F63-1795-4517-BAE9-61AAC78967B4&ext=JPG" target="_blank"><img src="file://localhost/private/var/mobile/Applications/AC7199B5-2919-470A-8AFF-F79AF0814BE6/tmp/offline_image_49800F63-1795-4517-BAE9-61AAC78967B4.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030115.6462" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="assets-library://asset/asset.JPG?id=B9D88A02-5CAD-4833-9A5C-60D963FE9E97&ext=JPG" target="_blank"><img src="file://localhost/private/var/mobile/Applications/AC7199B5-2919-470A-8AFF-F79AF0814BE6/tmp/offline_image_B9D88A02-5CAD-4833-9A5C-60D963FE9E97.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030173.0872" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a><a href="assets-library://asset/asset.JPG?id=084CD31B-0669-4479-9982-8CB892B01781&ext=JPG" target="_blank"><img src="file://localhost/private/var/mobile/Applications/AC7199B5-2919-470A-8AFF-F79AF0814BE6/tmp/offline_image_084CD31B-0669-4479-9982-8CB892B01781.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030151.7979" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="375"></a></div>
Eventually, though, we headed off. I spent my time inhaling a Pine-Lime Splice (God's gift to the world of frozen dairy products) and lying face-down on my bed, asleep, to recharge for dinner at Dig a Pony. It managed to fulfil my Beatles and Latino quotas. I'm very impressed. <br/><br/> Plus, it's in Yarraville, which is like Williamstown's cool older cousin. Remember the one you had who you considered murdering for her hair crimper? Yarraville. Had Zoolander on VHS? Yarraville. Inflatable clear-blue plastic couch? <em>Yarraville</em>.<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUW6wgA8ZIcOn3crCUh1DYNJhYt3spX6QV7HH6ek3HJ9ZICMUeMMVW2Yivr9shQks0Ird5LqIdWkprV2LE6k34U210S0C8ctBLd5BGye1oj89ugTwA1G4u5sCPoWwOd70L6sJKlUobIo4/s1326/2013%2525209%25253A26%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUW6wgA8ZIcOn3crCUh1DYNJhYt3spX6QV7HH6ek3HJ9ZICMUeMMVW2Yivr9shQks0Ird5LqIdWkprV2LE6k34U210S0C8ctBLd5BGye1oj89ugTwA1G4u5sCPoWwOd70L6sJKlUobIo4/s500/2013%2525209%25253A26%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030204.879" class="alignnone" width="500" height="672" alt=""></a><a href="assets-library://asset/asset.JPG?id=C303C40F-9EBA-4269-B188-4184F4000322&ext=JPG" target="_blank"><img src="file://localhost/private/var/mobile/Applications/AC7199B5-2919-470A-8AFF-F79AF0814BE6/tmp/offline_image_C303C40F-9EBA-4269-B188-4184F4000322.jpg" id="blogsy-1357555030150.5962" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="373"></a></div>
I was a bit busy with merry-making and mishearing dishes (those things above are <em>not</em> called "Fish Parts", as it turns out) to take anything much, but rest assured that I had a beautiful evening to cap off a gorgeous day. And I'm not sad it's over, because now I get to do lots of fun things like getting a pentagram tattooed on my forehead. Adult life is looking good.<br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-58577399786653063102013-01-04T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-04T04:00:10.816-08:00Resolve<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUf88eDEsji4MZdlIeSESqfZQvMHfU7NxwQf4jwLq2S9MbWzBqYqZxGmIG_MNSW-MG8e6xO6FAtDIzMSBzgq5CkG6b7NDNdMjScl8tBD7ZI3ov3drNvNBOxVKHLmI0W9kJiH_6WZhPVY/s650/2013%25252012%25253A14%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUf88eDEsji4MZdlIeSESqfZQvMHfU7NxwQf4jwLq2S9MbWzBqYqZxGmIG_MNSW-MG8e6xO6FAtDIzMSBzgq5CkG6b7NDNdMjScl8tBD7ZI3ov3drNvNBOxVKHLmI0W9kJiH_6WZhPVY/s500/2013%25252012%25253A14%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357176773517.7793" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="781"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><em>Links to this and every other picture on <a href="http://pinterest.com/anscenicworld/" target="_blank" title="">my Pinterest</a> </em></span></p>
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">I've never been particularly dedicated to these things. I suppose I'm not alone. But I've always been a goal-setter; needless to say, the clash with my laissez faire attitude to execution has caused some problems. But I set them, and for once I think I'm actually going to take steps to make these happen.</span><br/><br/><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">I think I'm particularly motivated this year because my 2012 was not sensational. Had some excellent times (I mean, I visited London for the first time in my waking memory), but still not great. Most of the year was soaked up by constant stresses -- mostly assessment-related. Actually, on a side note, I'm thrilled to say that I got a score that was much higher than I honestly expected (no modesty, truly; just an English course structure that suited me to a t and an <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/history-transformed-in-vce-exam-20121114-29ce7.html" target="_blank" title="">History of Revolutions exam</a> that didn't ask awkward questions about the Russian Civil War) and ought to be getting some good news when university offers come out. I'll keep you posted.</span><br/><br/> What I'm trying to say is that 2012 changed me. Significantly. I'm a lot more mature than I was this time last year and I'm beginning to figure out the kind of person I want to be. I've been looking forward to 2013 for a good long time now and can honestly say that <em>this </em>is a year of change. And I look forward to it, although it scares unnameable things out of me.<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-BwBNuxcJDd8/UOTfuJDoEHI/AAAAAAAAANI/AkzfPK8ehrY/s597/2013%25252012%25253A17%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-BwBNuxcJDd8/UOTfuJDoEHI/AAAAAAAAANI/AkzfPK8ehrY/s500/2013%25252012%25253A17%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357176773601.45" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="702"></a></div>
Enough of this cheesiness. I'm going to write up my resolutions (a few days late, I admit) for all the world to see. This time next year I can look back on them and see which I kept, which I didn't and how I fared overall. Which actually brings me to my first goal...<br/><br/><strong>Keep blogging over 2013. </strong>This is a big one. Writing is my passion, and it's what I want to do for a living. What's the point of having that dream if I can't keep a blog alive? (I guess we'll never know if I don't make it to a review of the year that was.) This is my way to breaking into the kind of community I want to be in; it's my portfolio and my scratchboard and my ego inflator. I get the feeling I wouldn't be thrilled with myself if I didn't continue. So, quite simply, I will.<br/><br/><strong>Learn to use your lovely birthday camera. </strong>A nonsensically long time ago, a friend mentioned that I should try photography because I'd probably have a pretty decent eye.<strong> </strong>I've wanted to be a (hobbyist) photographer ever since. Writing is beautiful, and I love to take pictures with words -- I love the way you can twist them and double them back upon themselves. But my chief high school regret is not taking Photography. (It was a really popular class so I shunned it. <em>Honestly, </em>self of 2009.) So now that I'm in possession of what photography forums generously refer to as "a DSLR for the photographically retarded" (their words, not mine) it's time to get serious. I will know what those weird little switches do and I will figure out what bokeh actually is.<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Lv1swXGrwrU/UOTfwe08DnI/AAAAAAAAANQ/23cQSsiTO_c/s831/2013%25252012%25253A22%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Lv1swXGrwrU/UOTfwe08DnI/AAAAAAAAANQ/23cQSsiTO_c/s500/2013%25252012%25253A22%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1357176773568.1064" class="alignnone" width="500" height="750" alt=""></a></div>
<strong>Read (and understand) the backs of packets. </strong>On a <em>completely</em> different tangent, I'm sick of ingesting things that bleach floors. This was brought on by a co-worker filling me charmingly in on what goes into delicious things like Hershey's Cookies and Cream bars. Not to mention the metal-infused oil of Reese's Pieces. O! to be introduced to wonders of US produce, only to have it cruelly snatched away! That said, I'm still going to treat myself; I'm hardly going to turn into one of those weird women with hair in unexpected places, burning effigies of Thickening Agent 749e. Now that shopping for myself looms on the horizon, I'm making a serious effort to avoid, you know, mercury. <br/><br/><strong>Dress like your wardrobe implies you do. </strong>And now for the really scary one. Did you know, dear readers, that I own (amongst other things) an orange kimono, two 1940s skirt-suits and plum lipstick? Of course you don't, because these things are languishing in my closet. I buy them because they are lovely and then never wear them because it's hard to break a mould. And the hats! And the gloves! And the pearls! I read so many inspirational blogs and see so many fashionable ladies, but I can't bring myself to do it. No more! After a <a href="http://www.haremofpeacocks.com/?m=0" target="_blank" title="">Harem of Peacocks</a>/<a href="http://brightyoungtwins.blogspot.com.au/?m=0" target="_blank" title="">Bright Young Twins</a> binge, I feel inspired. This is going to be the hardest, but I have little doubt that it will also be the most rewarding.<br/><br/>Enough of this emotional nonsense. Hello, 2013; may you be only good things! <br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-50347059777182838382013-01-02T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-02T18:52:36.498-08:00WitW: Turku, FinlandIntroducing Finland's one-time capital, Turku. In 2011, along with Tallinn, it was the European Capital of Culture and, in 1996, (sit down if you aren't already) became Finland's official Christmas city. (Actually, that's kind of a big deal since northern Finland is basically Father Christmas' stomping ground.) <br />
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Turku doesn't have an enormous population: 170,000 people, give or take. However, thanks to its location (down at the bottom of Finland... the warm part, I guess) about a million folks pass through it to take a ferry. <br />
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In a word, Turku is adorable. It has adorable architecture, adorable boat bars (boats moored in a general vicinity that are bars; I knew you'd get it) and an adorably dorky medieval festival. <br />
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They even had a visit to their adorable music festival by <a href="http://www.apocalyptica.com/us/home" target="_blank" title="">Apocalyptica</a>, who I would call adorable as well if I weren't a little bit afraid of them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGMFBdvPHUYbCtdrbnJjT9QiMXQJPDj_D0Jc0UTw3BFwg46g9RjyB37WjCx1KNEwJCIPfhV8cbHY4M-65PUZbugqQpAjqHRynlhnix1BT8meYe03fanwVJdn5NLWJSvYg32QP_h_1kiM/s500/2013%2525204%25253A19%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="alignnone" height="333" id="blogsy-1357020440673.8857" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGMFBdvPHUYbCtdrbnJjT9QiMXQJPDj_D0Jc0UTw3BFwg46g9RjyB37WjCx1KNEwJCIPfhV8cbHY4M-65PUZbugqQpAjqHRynlhnix1BT8meYe03fanwVJdn5NLWJSvYg32QP_h_1kiM/s500/2013%2525204%25253A19%252520PM.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Less adorable is the public toilet re-imagined as bar. But Turku makes up for that with the bank that's been turned into a bar and is, by all accounts, quite grand. If you're looking for something in the middle, the old Swedish school -- which, needless to say, is also a bar these days -- might suit you. <br />
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Contrary to the portrait I've painted, Turku is not a fog-swamped harbour town consisting wholly of pubs. (Athough there is an ex-kindergarten bar. I'm done.) Turku Castle hosts a collection of appropriately old artefacts from Turku's glory days as capital. You know: lots of lovely rugs and goblets and things. <br />
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See what I mean? But, more than anything else, Turku seems to be a place to wander in. Let's be honest with ourselves: you don't visit this place for its (seemingly endless) stream of maritime museums. You visit to walk around and say, "UGH! So beautiful! Too beautiful! Too charming!"</div>
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Because, quite simply, it is. </div>
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All credit to my sources: <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Tourism-g189949-Turku_Western_Finland-Vacations.html" target="_blank" title="">TripAdvisor</a>, <a href="http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Finland/Laensi_Suomi/Turku-228521/Nightlife-Turku-TG-C-2.html" target="_blank" title="">Virtual Tourist</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku" target="_blank" title="">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="http://en.keskiaikaisetmarkkinat.fi/info/instructions-for-visitors/" target="_blank" title="">Medieval Market</a>, <a href="http://www.turunlinna.fi/en/exhibitions.html" target="_blank" title="">Turku Castle</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/nov/27/turku-finland-city-of-culture" target="_blank" title="">the Guardian</a>, <a href="http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/finland/images/581277/title/turku-photo" target="_blank" title="">FanPop</a>, <a href="http://www.willgoto.com/1/145836/liens.aspx" target="_blank" title="">Will Go To</a>, <a href="http://www.getintravel.com/turku-finland/beautiful-wooden-colorful-houses-near-water-in-turku-finland-at-sunset/" target="_blank" title="">Get In Travel</a>.<br />
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<em>Where in the Wednesday is my weekly excuse to trawl through Google Images. It's a profile of the place I wish I was in and an attempt to draw my eye away from classic travel destinations. I write in the hope that you'll enjoy reading about all these places as much as I love learning and writing about them. Anywhere you think I ought to write about, from the obscure little town in your state to that place you visited in 1989? I'm at anscenicworld@gmail.com</em>. <br />
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<br />An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-80347686667881576772012-12-26T05:05:00.001-08:002012-12-26T05:05:10.771-08:00Where in the Wednesday: Who are you and what are you doing?A few points of interest:<br/><br/><div><ul>
<li>I have some exciting news! I've had this idea for a weekly post going for a little while now, but I'm finally getting my act together and doing something about it. It won't surprise you to know that this feature is called Where in the Wednesday (or WitW, because I am lazy). Every Wednesday (more shocks!) I'll profile a place that has struck my interest. The rules: no capital/main cities; no landmarks. Sorry, Machu Pichu. **</li>
<li>I saw the Hobbit! Asdfghjkl, etc. Oh, what can I say? I cried through the opening credits I was so happy. </li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="http://instagr.am/p/Trr7wZuTur/" target="_blank" style=""><img src="http://distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws.com/0449d1e24f0211e2a2ce22000a1fa411_7.jpg" id="blogsy-1356527108490.5642" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="500"></a></div>
<p style="text-align: center;"> (Yes, I'm in Instagram! anscenicworld, of course.)</p>
</div><p> Was it the best film I've ever seen in my life? No, not really. Peter Jackson is not the world's most cunning director. The 3D was iffy and the colours cartoonish and Hugo Weaving as goddamn creepy as ever. But it made me the happiest I've ever been from a film. Martin Freeman (<em>not Morgan, not Morgan</em>) was great as an anxious wreck, as always, and, despite Elijah cropping up like a rash that won't quit, Pete managed to stay on track and not deviate more than was expected. I'll even forgive Radagast the Brown. </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEnykQKokkETkI-19FpcTTEMnG2niOOIlyudR2Y-4XQLjYw8Pjryx8GsXV2WyL89hSwe5Ys8J6aV_YL2NZKJaA3a0J2gghswactcduECOS0cMAt8wtN4I4VXZrAlDXp-D9rsS_kY2YvM/s814/2012%25252011%25253A28%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEnykQKokkETkI-19FpcTTEMnG2niOOIlyudR2Y-4XQLjYw8Pjryx8GsXV2WyL89hSwe5Ys8J6aV_YL2NZKJaA3a0J2gghswactcduECOS0cMAt8wtN4I4VXZrAlDXp-D9rsS_kY2YvM/s500/2012%25252011%25253A28%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356527108526.4763" class="alignnone" width="500" height="740" alt=""></a></div>
<p style="text-align: center;"> Original found <a href="http://www.slashfilm.com/posters-the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-gets-seventeen-character-onesheets-les-miserables-couples-cozy-up/kinopoisk-ru-26/" target="_blank" title="">here</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Best of all, I'm apparently not the only one <a href="http://www.hollywood.com/news/The_Hobbit_Hot_Dwarf_Kili_Aidan_Turner/46233510" target="_blank" title="">uncomfortably attracted to Kili</a>. Come on, like you weren't wondering what you were going to do without Viggo Mortensen to spy on. Oh, and t<a href="http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32529" target="_blank" title="">his fan service happened</a>. </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">As you can see, I'm just spilling over with Hobbit-related joy at the moment. </p>
<ul>
<li>And Christmas and New Year's and my birthday are all happening in a rush. This is the big one, you know. In nine short days I'll be eligable to vote (!!!) in next year's election! And adopt and marry and drink and get tattooed and book a flight and sign my own forms and get a library card and a boat licence. But most importantly: <em>vote</em>. (It's compulsory here anyway, you know. That doesn't change my excitement!)</li>
</ul>
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<p>**<em>My full and sincere apologies to anyone out there that has, or knows of, a similar structure. If you do know somebody with a weekly Where in the Wednesday, please let me know at anscenicworld@gmail.com so I can get in touch with them on the ASAP. If I've learnt anything about the Internet, it's this: transparency is essential and people love crappy puns. So while the pun is my own, I would be surprised if I was the first to exploit its supreme cheesiness. </em></p>
<br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-30423304692926747282012-12-23T21:53:00.001-08:002012-12-23T21:53:57.973-08:00Show me the mula Another thing. I think I've established by now that, despite all my very best intentions, I just can't escape my innate miseryguts... ness... and all I can do is accept it and try not to be too moany. I will never have a pastel-coloured, charming blog; nor will I be deep and significant. My doom is to be flippant and jaded. I'm just too goddamn Australian.<br/><br/>Which is why I'm unashamed to present the pinnacle of Western literature, the meeting-place of many great minds: the indescribably sensational and regrettably literal sh*thole that is the Flinders Str Station bathrooms. Known widely as the worst in the city, they're my only option at that lolly-shop job you're acquainted with; and, since I take at least four bathroom breaks a shift to segment the monotony, they're something I've had to come to terms with. Naturally, much like Lizzie for Mr. Darcy, my hatred turned to passionate love. I want to share the enlightening things I've read there for two reasons, the first being that they deserve it. They're masterpieces. The second is that I want you to <em>never have to go there yourselves</em>. These bathrooms are disgusting.<br/><br/>Here's a selection of the best to enjoy in the comfort of your (clean, sweet-smelling) home. Fair warning: some of these are reasonably unpleasant, which you can understand given the context.<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCOy5JIXmJLOYjFBH8SDE1zVByP10g-VCBOmuRpghct0KNGx5A8UpTYLqIAWCY16H9M77XtXg96mAwLNgKqeZVH2mptrXXXViK_FAr-87QBzrbmv29qi0fC7zT_fUK_e_4YbeoHK3Ba0/s2048/2012%2525204%25253A07%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCOy5JIXmJLOYjFBH8SDE1zVByP10g-VCBOmuRpghct0KNGx5A8UpTYLqIAWCY16H9M77XtXg96mAwLNgKqeZVH2mptrXXXViK_FAr-87QBzrbmv29qi0fC7zT_fUK_e_4YbeoHK3Ba0/s500/2012%2525204%25253A07%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356328436408.354" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">"'If high shcool's the best time of your life, I'm hanging myself with a jump-rope tonight' - Jackie-Onassis Kennedy" "Actually darling... it's 'Kennedy Onassis'." "Look closely... I added in the 'nassis Kennedy'. Her name isn't Jackie-Onassis. Darling." (Jackie-O is an Australian radio host that falls into the famous-for-being famous category.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sJ2r6GcTYBc/UNfthI5ECHI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Map6sdnrpdQ/s2048/2012%2525204%25253A10%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sJ2r6GcTYBc/UNfthI5ECHI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Map6sdnrpdQ/s500/2012%2525204%25253A10%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356328436448.333" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZuJWEqCLNEA/UNftoESjGkI/AAAAAAAAAK0/yqrx6JRlPzg/s2048/2012%2525204%25253A10%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZuJWEqCLNEA/UNftoESjGkI/AAAAAAAAAK0/yqrx6JRlPzg/s500/2012%2525204%25253A10%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356328436482.9778" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">"You forgot the apostrofy." "Apostraphe!" "Noobs!! It's <strong>Apostrophe</strong>!!!"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2Z6zmMXLzDEXGvjjoTS7Mozu8HLZGPvjpQpfG4spuULRB0X1E670Qc-JRIELXSNCKiIaP72uzxz1OF93Grn2Pa0EwBSlzozDZfZsjJbYZ2T548Gxw7ykYiYpitiEwFHT135k52IjpQw/s2048/2012%2525204%25253A13%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2Z6zmMXLzDEXGvjjoTS7Mozu8HLZGPvjpQpfG4spuULRB0X1E670Qc-JRIELXSNCKiIaP72uzxz1OF93Grn2Pa0EwBSlzozDZfZsjJbYZ2T548Gxw7ykYiYpitiEwFHT135k52IjpQw/s500/2012%2525204%25253A13%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356328436476.5842" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">"I don't hate you. I just lost all my respect for you."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz1YV8-Ub-Ciw9jFF4jF73khIgmba9ctFeozm-YQD-mSXTWNMJAx6yvCX_hKUE4DuRwxeTqJu9UGzJKc9c-5HLjLxJnL1m5lAnjMHT7dnJiu94Ovw9hJep809AGUaCEicLQY4wE_gEYE/s2048/2012%2525204%25253A09%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz1YV8-Ub-Ciw9jFF4jF73khIgmba9ctFeozm-YQD-mSXTWNMJAx6yvCX_hKUE4DuRwxeTqJu9UGzJKc9c-5HLjLxJnL1m5lAnjMHT7dnJiu94Ovw9hJep809AGUaCEicLQY4wE_gEYE/s500/2012%2525204%25253A09%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356328436468.09" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">"Show me the mula $$$" (My personal favourite.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuXhavIIAtK3ta6vs48m-mI3mEp94nCN8uzf2ZM-V0dtELJKW6vRWSUtx052J8mICesIW5TI0-kRc5FMJumu_HiP2hoNcDVYEI1r9RRWgyIppLNuCgD-lpl2OCotgVGRoBnVZCVzKMYE/s2048/2012%2525204%25253A08%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuXhavIIAtK3ta6vs48m-mI3mEp94nCN8uzf2ZM-V0dtELJKW6vRWSUtx052J8mICesIW5TI0-kRc5FMJumu_HiP2hoNcDVYEI1r9RRWgyIppLNuCgD-lpl2OCotgVGRoBnVZCVzKMYE/s500/2012%2525204%25253A08%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356328436430.987" class="alignnone" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">"Thank you all for the wonderful literature! you all make my purging much more entertaining and enlightening." (Despite the use of alliterated, double-superlatives, this little note is not courtesy of me. I'm engaged at the moment in a serious debate over if anyone truly cares about the various measaurements of a young man named Austin. I deemed it a little too inappropariate for here. I'm sure you'd agree.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;">Unfortunately, I just realised that this is my last post before Christmas. What timing! I hope you had/are having/will have a great non-denominational, general festive period.</div>
<br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5950054026597560566.post-74446999893749189622012-12-20T16:30:00.001-08:002012-12-20T16:30:18.257-08:00In this edition of Kinfolk...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PV3sNNhZ4rE/UNOs0EOGGGI/AAAAAAAAAJo/x91J_xm4qhw/s1321/2012%25252011%25253A25%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PV3sNNhZ4rE/UNOs0EOGGGI/AAAAAAAAAJo/x91J_xm4qhw/s500/2012%25252011%25253A25%252520AM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356049818388.2944" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="667"></a></div>
Maybe not. Actually, this <em>hilarity</em> is just a segue into tonight's adventure to the Open Air Cinema with the inconquerable J. I figure, since she's the first person I told about my blog, she ought to be the first to get a mention on it. <br/><br/>I begin by reiterating that it's summer where I am. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sapQnE4pWbE/UNOtMEkL4AI/AAAAAAAAAJw/N2DlLWS3-84/s2048/2012%2525207%25253A21%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sapQnE4pWbE/UNOtMEkL4AI/AAAAAAAAAJw/N2DlLWS3-84/s500/2012%2525207%25253A21%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356049818425.815" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
The Open Air Cinema is a fairly literal business. You bring a picnic rug or rent a deck chair and then spend an hour forty or so shifting about, trying to get the feeling back into your legs.<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qpnXIAnFtVE/UNOtTjxXKxI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/XVUbYGiixQI/s2048/2012%2525207%25253A21%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qpnXIAnFtVE/UNOtTjxXKxI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/XVUbYGiixQI/s500/2012%2525207%25253A21%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356049818454.0608" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
Hard life.<br/><br/>Ah, but who am I kidding? This was so much fun. I had my first Subway (verdict: satisfactory; doubt those meatballs were the epitome of eatin' fresh, but they did taste good), and then we saw a bongo drum orchestra. There was some kind of hippie night market -- you could buy fisherman's pants and those weird woven hats with the ear flaps -- and a man who, clearly at the end of his pride, was trying to flog the last of his stock as "strawberries for Christmas", "stawberries for your ice-cream" and "strawberries for you, sir".<br/><br/>St. Kilda is such a fun place, in spite of all the murders. It's sort of seedy and a last hippie outpost, but I guess that's the charm. It even has a Coney Island-esque amusement park; C I-esque in that it had its hey-day about seventy years ago and now is only really patroned by tourists, children's birthday parties and second-daters running out of ideas. It's a shame because the place is actually pretty nice, especialy when it's all lit up. It's the kids these days, with their "electronic mail" and "skateboards". <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOPjj4PxD9czRXDEVGI5ySCWxiE2TCigv4zVTcbZjyTjdFFprwH2cWwPIyP-HKa7UpabhULIMQkFxiC1TF5dQ0IVVXXr1gBxuyjMtCffCKsH2Nq1QgBuBpgYakVDCNfAQ9zSi1XMXYwo/s2048/2012%2525207%25253A36%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIOPjj4PxD9czRXDEVGI5ySCWxiE2TCigv4zVTcbZjyTjdFFprwH2cWwPIyP-HKa7UpabhULIMQkFxiC1TF5dQ0IVVXXr1gBxuyjMtCffCKsH2Nq1QgBuBpgYakVDCNfAQ9zSi1XMXYwo/s500/2012%2525207%25253A36%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356049818393.315" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
Right. The sun set at last and we headed to the place to see...<br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D9ctuBKZEUk/UNOtfF2L8TI/AAAAAAAAAKI/fuYBKezm-IY/s2048/2012%2525208%25253A09%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D9ctuBKZEUk/UNOtfF2L8TI/AAAAAAAAAKI/fuYBKezm-IY/s500/2012%2525208%25253A09%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356049818408.7388" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
...<em>Emilio Estevez</em>! What a film. We laughed; we cried; we fumbled and failed to take a picture of the opening tites and instead snapped a shot of the lead actor. <br/><br/>I admit to you now that this was my first ever viewing of <em>the Breakfast Club</em>. What can I say? I'm impressed, both by the film itself and by Estevez's cold, dead shark eyes. Apart from moments of frustration (ie: "Oh my God, leave Claire alone already, it's not her fault she's a ginger") it was sensational. I'm always in awe of a film that takes such hilariously rigid stereotypes and makes a decent picture. Plus! it had a montage (<em>a dance montage!!</em>) and a makeover and those are just my favourite things in a film. <br/><br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtO8uyXNr__BEsBH-LzBfCXeSxlsNgPqzWh-dZ4TWoQ2ifxCQwFkpfwhWntmfI-nC_CajvRQSLxRVpnLJL3Mw1v9Td5fyqyfiFeBFU4MC8d4bp3Wvp_99806KwMBotyBZ3YDSN1QnN8MY/s2048/2012%2525207%25253A22%252520PM.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtO8uyXNr__BEsBH-LzBfCXeSxlsNgPqzWh-dZ4TWoQ2ifxCQwFkpfwhWntmfI-nC_CajvRQSLxRVpnLJL3Mw1v9Td5fyqyfiFeBFU4MC8d4bp3Wvp_99806KwMBotyBZ3YDSN1QnN8MY/s500/2012%2525207%25253A22%252520PM.jpg" id="blogsy-1356049818435.7068" class="alignnone" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a></div>
And a highly unflattering selfie to end a sensational evening.<br/><br/> <br/><br/>An Scenic Worldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16595799453064572855noreply@blogger.com0