My New Life In The Off-World Colonies

Out To Sea

2012-01-12T21:12:00.001+10:00

Out To Sea, originally uploaded by scotartt.

O.P.

2012-01-12T21:10:00.003+10:00

O.P., originally uploaded by scotartt.

O.P.

2012-01-12T21:10:00.001+10:00

O.P., originally uploaded by scotartt.

Fort Lytton Sky

2012-01-12T21:09:00.001+10:00

Fort Lytton Sky, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Brutus, Antony, Marc, Caesar, Julius

2012-01-12T21:08:00.001+10:00

Brutus, Antony, Marc, Caesar, Julius, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Lisa, Backlit 7/9

2012-01-12T21:07:00.001+10:00

Lisa, Backlit 7/9, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Clifftop Beach Path

2012-01-12T21:05:00.001+10:00

Clifftop Beach Path, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Lisa, Backlit 6/9

2011-12-25T13:21:00.001+10:00

Lisa, Backlit 6/9, originally uploaded by scotartt.

On the rocks at Port Macquarie.

The Shadow Knows

2011-12-23T23:05:00.001+10:00

The Shadow Knows, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Paddle

2011-05-27T23:51:00.001+10:00

Paddle, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Property Of

2011-05-27T23:50:00.001+10:00

Property Of, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Blue Skimmer Dragonfly IV

2011-04-01T19:25:00.001+10:00

Blue Skimmer Dragonfly IV, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Dragon

2011-04-01T19:24:00.001+10:00

Dragon, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Getting a new perspective

2011-04-01T19:09:00.001+10:00

Getting a new perspective, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Brisbane street scape

2011-04-01T19:08:00.001+10:00

Brisbane street scape, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Spider Hitch

2011-04-01T19:07:00.001+10:00

Spider Hitch, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)

2011-04-01T19:06:00.001+10:00

Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes), originally uploaded by scotartt.

Magpie Female (Cracticus tibicen)

2011-03-05T18:16:00.003+10:00

Magpie Female (Cracticus tibicen), originally uploaded by scotartt.

06:30 Auchenflower Bird Action. Taken with Minolta 70-210mm f4 "beercan" .. this is "Mrs Magpie" she's come early for a snack to take to her babies in the nest. With all the rain I've got no idea how they will have survived recently.

Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis)

2011-03-05T18:16:00.001+10:00

Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis), originally uploaded by scotartt.

06:30 Auchenflower Bird Action. Taken with Minolta 70-210mm f4 "beercan" .. one of a gang of Bluefaced Honeyeaters that hang about our backyard. I think this is either a young one or a female, based on the greyish nature of the "black" bib on the throat.

back to the beach

2011-03-05T18:14:00.001+10:00

back to the beach, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Lisa, Evan's Head. Looking south along the beach.

coffee morning

2011-03-05T18:13:00.001+10:00

coffee morning, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Lisa, in a cafe in Manuka, ACT

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis), Yarrangobilly.

2011-03-05T18:10:00.001+10:00

Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis), Yarrangobilly., originally uploaded by scotartt.

December 2010 - January 2011 driving holiday through NSW to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains. Yarangobilly caves.

Me @ Kirra Beach

2011-03-05T18:09:00.001+10:00

Me @ Kirra Beach, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Lisa in shadows

2011-03-05T18:08:00.001+10:00

Lisa, originally uploaded by scotartt.

On the way up Mt. Kosciuszko.

2011-03-05T18:07:00.001+10:00

On the way up Mt. Kosciuszko., originally uploaded by scotartt.

Stencil Head

2010-03-16T21:56:00.001+10:00

Stencil Head, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Auchenflower rail underpass, August 2009.

It's ghost month

2010-02-12T13:24:00.001+10:00

It's ghost month, originally uploaded by scotartt.

This morning when I came into work, I found that all teh way down the footpath someone had written a story along the black strip of tiles that line the inside edge. Unfortunately I was walking the story in reverse so I couldn't read it fully, but it was something about living and growing up in Taiwan - as it mentioned the 1999 earthquake and was obviously referencing other elements of Chinese culture, as here in this small snippet.

Flower Fingers

2009-08-30T11:55:00.001+10:00

Flower Fingers, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Green metal blowout

2009-08-13T19:03:00.001+10:00

Green metal blowout, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Reflective dark mood

2009-08-09T23:44:00.001+10:00

Reflective dark mood, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Sitting alone and thinking thinking things over.

Morning on the front porch

2009-07-29T11:02:00.001+10:00

Morning on the front porch with a St Andrew's Cross Spider (macro) V, originally uploaded by scotartt.

This is a St Andrew's Cross orb weaver spider that's set up shop on our front porch.

Bush Stone Curlew @ USQ Springfield campus

2009-07-28T15:11:00.001+10:00

Bush Stone Curlew @ USQ Springfield campus, originally uploaded by scotartt.

This little fellow was hanging out at USQ Springfield Campus near the student cafeteria. There's a whole Bunch of them at UQ St Lucia but this guy was all by himself - there's plenty of bushland nearby though.

Mars The Avenger

2009-07-25T11:41:00.001+10:00

Mars, originally uploaded by scotartt.

The left hand would have balanced on a shield, and the right held a spear. This is a votive statuette of Mars Ultor.

J. Paul Getty's collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, housed at the Getty Villa near Malibu. The Getty Villa itself is modelled on a first century Roman villa, the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum.

water flora

2009-07-25T11:38:00.001+10:00

water flora, originally uploaded by scotartt.

This is shot in J. Paul Getty's villa near Malibu. His collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, is housed there. The Getty Villa itself is modelled on a first century Roman villa, the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum.

Optimismmm

2009-07-25T11:36:00.001+10:00

Optimismmm, originally uploaded by scotartt.

D.W. Griffith as shopping centre architect, who'da thunk it? Hollywood - the embodiment of optimism.

This shopping centre in the super-touristy part of Hollywood Blvd, on the corner of Hollywood and Highland, is modelled after the monumental set of Babylon in D.W. Griffith's film "Intolerance".

Windmill

2009-06-14T20:42:00.001+10:00

Windmill, originally uploaded by scotartt.

This was shot on the backroad down from Toowoomba to Withcot. Beautiful clear winter afternoon air.

Chiaroscuro

2009-06-02T22:31:00.001+10:00

DSC05402, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Old and new

2009-05-28T22:55:00.001+10:00

Old and new, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Brisbane is the master of this stuff. Shiny glass abutting something built a hundred years ago.

Albert St Uniting Church and Suncorp Plaza

2009-05-28T22:54:00.001+10:00

Albert St Uniting Church and Suncorp Plaza, originally uploaded by scotartt.

In Brisbane city.

Small water dragon

2009-01-24T19:29:00.001+10:00

Small water dragon, originally uploaded by scotartt.

Eastern Water Dragon in the UQ Lakes area. This little fellow is about a foot long - they grow up to a metre.

at the bar

2009-01-11T15:30:00.001+10:00

at the bar, originally uploaded by scotartt.

This picture of Lisa was taken 10 Jan 2009 at "Hot Buttered Soul", a Motown-Stax Soul and Funk night I helped organise.

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2008-10-17T20:57:00.000+10:00

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nature nature

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2008-10-17T20:56:00.000+10:00

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trip to singapore nature

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2008-10-17T20:55:00.001+10:00

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Trip to Sydney for Charlotte's 40th Birthday Party Fountain and
Architecture

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2008-10-17T20:54:00.001+10:00

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Upgrade, part of Next Level Festival QUT Kelvin Grove, 27 Oct 2007.
Architectural Forms. architecture victor xray music gig

Volume @ V&A and trip home - 42

2008-10-17T20:52:00.002+10:00

Volume @ V&A and trip home - 42
'Volume', a multimedia work in the Victoria&Albert museum, London,
plus the trip home, European trip 2006 architecture

Volume @ V&A and trip home - 9

2008-10-17T20:52:00.001+10:00

Volume @ V&A and trip home - 9
'Volume', a multimedia work in the Victoria&Albert museum, London,
plus the trip home, European trip 2006 architecture

England, European trip 2006 - 88 copy

2008-10-17T20:51:00.001+10:00

England, European trip 2006 - 88 copy
Around the Midlands and London, European trip 2006

2008-03-31T23:38:00.001+10:00

2008-03-31T23:35:00.001+10:00

2008-03-31T11:35:00.000+10:00

2008-03-30T17:32:00.000+10:00

Backyard Golden Orb Weaver

2008-03-30T12:59:00.002+10:00

Sydney by night

2008-03-29T19:46:00.002+10:00

Looking west from Kent St Haymarket, May 2007.

Governor Phillip Fountain, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.

2008-03-29T18:41:00.003+10:00

Governor Philip Fountain

Possums!

2008-03-29T02:10:00.000+10:00

Here is a brush tail possum

Natural Forms

2007-06-24T23:17:00.003+10:00

Natural Forms

Girraween 2007

2007-06-24T23:14:00.001+10:00

Girraween 2007

Nam June Piak, "Video Garden"

2006-11-25T03:44:00.001+10:00

The following photographs are of Nam June Piak's "Video Garden" in the K21 Kunstsammlung Dusseldorf. These are taken with a camera phone, so they are not the greatest of quality. Wish I had a video of the installation, with sound, it is absolute magic.

Another great work in the K21 is "Mann und Maus" by Katharina Fritsch. There is a picture of this work and another work ("Monk, Doctor, Dealer") that I found here - http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/1c620a/

PS Beuys is shit. Indescribably shit.

Please also see the gallery of photos we took of the work "Volume" that we saw at the V&A in Dec 2006;

Volume at V&A

Dusseldorf, Germany

2006-11-25T01:30:00.001+10:00

Museum fur Sepulkralkultur, Kassel.

2006-11-22T21:42:00.001+10:00

Schloss Wilhelmshohe and grounds and Castle Lowenburg, Kassel.

2006-11-22T21:38:00.001+10:00

Kassel sunset

2006-11-21T21:33:00.001+10:00

Kassel

2006-11-21T21:27:00.003+10:00

Berlin - Brandenberg Gate, Reichstag, Holocaust victims memorial

2006-11-19T19:36:00.001+10:00

Gordon, Pamela, Lisa and Scot in Berlin

2006-11-19T19:31:00.001+10:00

Berlin, Germany

2006-11-19T19:25:00.001+10:00

Grüsse von Berlin

2006-11-18T09:22:00.001+10:00

Our first night in Berlin started with a visit to our friend Steve G and Melanie and their new baby Sam. Steve took us to a nice little local cafe where I had the sausage bread (like a thinly sliced piece of meatloaf) and sauerkraut. Delicious mustard! I forgot that the Euros like to smoke a shitload even in restaurants (the Finns sensible ban this!) and this does slightly detract from the meal.

The next day while Gordon went and fetched Pamela from the airport, Lisa and I checked out the Berliner Dom, with its fantastic crypt of nearly all the Electors of Brandenburg (Kaisers of Prussia). Then we headed out with Gordon and Pamela to check out the Brandenburger Tor and the Potzdamer Platz. Potsdamer as a shopping destination was highly disappointing. The most surprising thing around the Brandenburg gate was the very simple Memorial to the Holocaust Victims. A grid of square concrete blocks of varying heights. Sounds uninspiring but a very delightful piece of public sculpture.

Berlin is a city of interesting small bars! Around the back streets of Mitte and Prenzlauerberg you can wander around and stumble into some quite interesting bars. Last night we started with some wine at Weineire, a wine bar with a buffet dinner that charges 1 euro for a glass, and a selection of wines. After you drink (and maybe eat), you pay into a jar what you think what you just drank/ate was worth (we paid about 12 euro).

Thereafter we were figuring out where to eat when Lisa found Imbiss (translated 'Lunch') - a place we had read about previously with an upside down McDonalds sign for a logo. Beautiful vegetarian restaurant. I had the Quessidilla which was delicious, 4 meals, 2 beers, an apple spritzer cost us 30 euro. This restaurant is highly recommended!

Based on a recommendation from Rick B., we walked up into Prenzlauerberg through a quite dark and gloomy bit a bit to locate the bar "Dr Pong". This is a small and smoky bar with the central feature of a ping-pong table that players walk around in a circle and play ping-pong. Its hard to explain but a simple and brilliant concept once you see it. Very dingy and unrenovated. The music is soul, funk and hip hop via a highly informal collection of old stereo speakers. Props to Rick Bull for the recommendation.

On the way home we decided to try a bar called 'Yesterday' This is a 60s/70s bar on Schoenhauseralle. Jagermeister shots and a strange soundtrack resembling a triple-M playlist from 1984 interspresed with the occasionally weird oddity. Evocative decor and only a short drunken stumble to the 4th floor apartment we have rented!

Last day in Helsinki

2006-11-17T19:22:00.001+10:00

The old town of Tallinn, Estonia

2006-11-17T19:17:00.001+10:00

The island fortress of Suomenlinna, Finland

2006-11-17T19:11:00.001+10:00

Scot in Helsinki

2006-11-17T19:08:00.001+10:00

Lisa in Helsinki

2006-11-17T19:03:00.001+10:00

Seen in Helsinki

2006-11-17T19:00:00.001+10:00

Helsinki, Finland

2006-11-17T18:54:00.001+10:00

Helsinki, Finland

2006-11-17T18:53:00.001+10:00

Helsinki!

2006-11-15T09:17:00.001+10:00

Helsinki is cold and beautiful. Yesterday it was snowing. Finns however have the attitude, "this is nothing, it's not even winter!", and refuse to yet wear hats that cover their ears. Its bloody freezing especially when the cold wind blows in off the Gulf Of Finland. Today it wasn't snowing, there was some sun, even, but its still cold (1 degrees). We went out to the island fortress Suomenlinna which is an old mostly Russian-built fortress from the 19th century which guards the seaward passage to Helsinki. Extremely bleak and foreboding, just how I love it. After that we ended up in a Czech beer place drinking the famous "billy goat" (Kozel), one of my favourite beers of all time. This bar is just around the corner from the apartment we are staying in Katajanokka district of Helsinki. our apartment is a one BR apartment with a private sauna (pron saa-ooh-nah no saw-nah) and a fast broadband connection.

Katajanokka is a small connected island down by the waterfront and by all accounts, has the most expensive real estate in Finland, very Potts Point, posh, trendy and old fashioned all at the same time. There are a huge number of beautiful apartment blocks around here, they've got a very distinctive Finnish decorative style similar to art-noveau, if any of you philistines know what that is. I don't know whether art-noveau ripped off Finnish art or vice-versa though.

Sunrise is at 9am and sunset is at 4pm, takes some getting used to!

Wandering around the city you quickly realise how beautiful it really is. Lots of early 18th century architecture with statues of Russian Tsars. Finland only won its independence from Russia in 1918 after the revolution and was quickly mired in a civil war of "whites" against the "reds". The Whites (Tories) won. There is an ambivalent attitude here towards the Russians. During WW2 the Finns fought against both the Russians and briefly, the Germans, and officially they were on the losing side of the war. After the war they had to concede territory to the Russians and pay war reparations, which oddly enough, managed to set up their economy as an advanced industrialised economy (from a basically agrarian base). The Russian attempt to garnish reparations effectively created their shipbuilding and other industrial economy. Today nearly all Finns under the age of 50 speak English very well -- which is great because Finnish (Suomi) has no resemblance to any other European language and every basic words like yes, no, hello, good-bye, thank-you, sound totally foreign to other Europeans.

Anyway we are having a great time here. About to go to a fancy restaurant ('Nokka') now for dinner.

Thursday we are going to Tallinn, Estonia, and Friday we depart for a four day bender with Gordon in Berlin.

The John Steel Singers

2006-01-09T09:18:00.000+10:00

This is 3/5ths of 'The John Steel Singers' playing their first gig last night at Ric's in Brunswick St Fortitude Valley. They play tight melodic indie pop with drums, 2 keyboards, guitar, bass, trombone and a trumpet (the last two are played by the keyboard players). For a band that was playing their first gig they were very tight and had a short set of well written originals in their arsenal. They were big hits with the crowd at Ric's. There's a page at myspace with a (very rough and very short) demo song.

Xmas Party Season Is Upon Us

2005-11-27T21:13:00.000+10:00

I give you ... the Xmas party booze-pool for the RAVE street press party in Brisbane last Friday night. The Beer was Brazilian 'Brahma' brand and the coloured bottles were Smirnoff vodka-flavoured things.

Emily and Lisa with John Cusack autographed book about Johnny Cash

This band is called Sekedin. They played fast, loud and tight punk power-pop. The drummer is the actual star of the band as far as I could ascertain.

Finally, a selection of incriminating evidence.

Auchenflower sunset

2005-11-17T08:48:00.000+10:00

Hot Buttered Soul

2005-11-07T21:14:00.000+10:00

The following pictures were taken Friday night last, in the downstairs room of the Alibi cafe during the progression of 'Hot Buttered Soul'. A most excellent night was had by all. Revellers pictured not identified to protect the guilty, and the instigators of the guilty.

And no, I did not play the 16 minute Isaac Hayes version of 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix' that appears on his album 'Hot Buttered Soul'. I played another track.

Poker Machine Art II

2005-10-31T21:30:00.000+10:00

More poker machine art, from the County Clare Hotel Sydney.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Sunset

2005-10-31T21:16:00.000+10:00

What I've left behind; Sunset while crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Winter 2004.

Lichens

2005-10-30T21:39:00.000+10:00

Lichen on rocks, NSW south coast.

Poker machine art

2005-10-30T21:26:00.000+10:00

Poker machine art, County Clare Hotel, Broadway, Sydney.

Tent Spider

2005-10-29T13:55:00.000+10:00

This is probably a tent spider (as close as I can tell from the Qld Museum spider website). We've got quite a colony of these in one of the plants in the backyard. This is a medium sized one. They are very pretty, coloured, stripey spiders.

Kookaburra

2005-10-29T10:24:00.000+10:00

This is 'Cookie' a member of the kookaburra family whose territory includes our backyard. Cookie's mate likes to show off his hunting prowess by flying up to a tree and visibly parading his latest catch for us to admire. We once saw him with a blue tongue lizard, nearly the size of himself. I love the way that kookaburras wait silently for up to an hour, patiently watching for the signs of a lizard betraying itself with its movements on the ground.

Golden Orb Weaver

2005-10-28T08:12:00.000+10:00

This Golden Orb Weaver spider set up residence on our back deck a couple of weeks ago. The other day it caught a large beetle and ate it in only a few hours - now it's much fatter than pictured here. Don't worry, these spiders are common and harmless.

Update: After she got fat on the beetle, a small male turned up and spent the next week in the web with her (the male is tiny compared to the female). Last night (Sun 6th Nov) she started climbing around our balcony - we were very curious what she was doing and thought she was looking to move to a new location. But this morning we found still in her web - much skinnier, even skinnier than pictured here! She had laid a marvellous big golden webb'd eggsack up underneath the gutter. Baby spiders on the way! Lets hope she catches another big beetle to make her fat again.

Yo yo the Grey Butcherbird

2005-10-28T07:59:00.000+10:00

This is one of the two Grey Butcherbirds that hang around in our back garden. We call them both "Yo-yo" after the various calls they make. One is shy and retiring and the other - seen here - is as bold as brass. From their colourings (more buff than grey), we think the two butcherbirds are juveniles. There are also some Pied Butcherbirds in the area, they sing absolutely beautifully in the early morning. However they keep their distance. Because of the butcherbirds though, we can't leave the budgerigars unattended in their cage out on the back deck - Butcherbirds are predators of nestlings (look at that big sharp hooked beak) and a captive budgie would make a tasty snack.

Urban Chicks

2005-10-28T07:54:00.000+10:00

Monday afternoon we found this chicken browsing by the side of street near our house in Auchenflower. She's a very cute chicken.

Hallelujah I'm a Bum!

2005-07-31T20:47:00.000+10:00

Last Saturday we stumbled across The temple of peace in Toowong Cemetery. Built by Richard Ramo, it's dedication was attended by thousands of socialists and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or Wobblies. Hallelujah bum again!

Who do we love now? HOVERBIKES!

2005-07-23T18:05:00.000+10:00

Something that we found is definitely good with Brisbane is the amount of cycleways in the city. There's a particularly good one that runs along the river from Toowong in the west to New Farm in the east.

So we bought new bikes this week I got a Scott Aspen and Lisa a Jamis Cross Country - We can recommend Epic Cycles for anyone looking at buying a bike in Brisbane.

I managed to stack mine the first day I had it. But beside that little mishap (my kneecaps rue that mistake), we've been having a great time biking around the city, clumps of slow moving and pretty dim-witted pedestrians that clog the entire width of shared tracks aside. It's a very refreshing change from inner-city Sydney!

birdie paradise

2005-07-15T16:56:00.000+10:00

The budgies love it up here although we put them on the balcony the other day and turned our backs for five minutes and there were two Butcherbirds (like a small Currawong) standing on the cage looking at the tasty snacks inside. So the budgies only go on the balcony when we are there to supervise now! The previous occupants must have fed the birds because on Sunday we had three Kookaburras perched on the balcony waiting for use to give some some food, which we obliged them. Its birdie paradise except for the abundance of crows - they are ubiquitous - even more than Currawongs in Sydney.

Chow Time

2005-07-10T08:23:00.000+10:00

On pleasant surprise in the colonies is the food here is of a pretty surprising quality. We have managed extra-vehicular activities to several food service establishments, all of which have proven to be excellent value-for-money and tasty to boot. An added bonus is the service staff. There just doesn't seem to be any of the "oh i'm sorry your acting career isn't taking you where you want to be right now, but I'd like my meal sometime this week?" attitude that there is back in the Home World.

A message to citizens of the colonies

2005-07-08T07:46:00.000+10:00

Premier Beattie assures Queenslanders that the terrible bombings in central London won't be occuring in the obviously next most important target - Brisbane. Citizens of the colonies - do not panic. The authorities here are on high alert.

A new life awaits you

2005-07-07T15:37:00.000+10:00

So here I am. 15.45 Thursday afternoon Eastern Standard Time, sitting in my new house in the Leafy Suburbs of the off world colonies. Books and equipment sit strewn around me, empty boxes and new ones still wanting my attention. A room full of junk to be sorted. My connection to the mothership is restored, for the time being, thanks to the wonders of radio-broadband, having been offline all week during transit time.

Here, on the planet Auchenflower, in the Brisbane system of Galaxy Queensland, time appears to run slowly, much more slowly than back on the HomeWorld. Space has been stretched to breaking, a cosmologist's dream come true; the open Universe's last moments on a locally observable scale. Everything is enlarged, lumbering, as if spacetime has been engorging itself on the souls of the strip-mall inhabitants, driving perplexed in circles around the oversize roundabouts. The city has a familiar look, but a slighty disembodied sheen - no a glare - appears to cover everything.