Flooded Widgelli



The rising Mirrool Creek burst its banks weeks ago and has been over the road this week.

With more rain forecast for today, I hope not to be forced to take a detour on the way home from work.

Below is a video taken the following morning but facing the opposite direction to show the Creek spilling through the vines.

Asbestos tests

The buildings I work in have asbestos and we had an inspection last week. 



I was fascinated to hear the testing undertaken with a tap to identify the denser asbestos panels from the lighter masonite ones. The former have a higher pitch than the latter.

The bloke testing them described the asbestos panels as "sharp" while the masonite panels were "flat" and this got me thinking about musical terms.

It's not really accurate description unless panels have a consistent key but did convey the audible differences.

Aussie bands covered by Springsteen



That thing where you follow a series of related videos on Youtube? I did that with Bruce Springsteen covers this week.

I'm not normally a fan of 'The Boss' but was intrigued after he sang with U2 a little while back.

There are enough Springsteen fans in my social media networks that I was aware he's been in the country and there were many positive remarks seen.

These covers of The Easybeats and INXS are really great. Love that shot of the back-up singers and percussionist swaying in unison.

Bingo is going

While I feel I've been commenting on Facebook's use of scantily-clad women to drive my engagement with their website, my partner has accused me of being sexist in my observation.

So, as much as I've enjoyed wondering why comely young women are being suggested to become my "friends," it is time to move on from sharing their photos.



Before I do though -- and here you can feel free to think I'm arguing my case too much -- here are more winners of the People You May Know Bingo game I recently invented.


Liam says love doesn't hurt

Via FB

Bingo!



Yay! Looks like I've won another round of People You May Know Bingo.

Think again

Recently this advert for a nearby university has started appearing on my Facebook.



It's entertaining for me as more than a decade ago I worked in marketing at this university and I'd heard my manager propose this tagline "Think again" back then.

I thought it was a beaut line because it spoke to me of the intellectual invigoration I've enjoyed while studying.

But I think the realisation of the idea in this advert is terrible.

One thing that was reinforced during my time marketing education was the value of smiling faces. During my undergraduate studies they described the process of hailing a viewer and a smiling face can be very engaging and create a positive predisposition for marketing messages.

So the back of the head seems particularly counter-intuitive. I mean, I can understand that she may be an "everywoman" but the connotation could be that she's turned her back on the viewer or, worse, the university is keen to see the back of her.

The Photoshopped style of combining the back of the head with the vineyard also seems lacking. My partner suggest that she's looking at greener pastures but I'd guess it's meant to reflect that one can study wine-making at this university.

For me this advert reminds me of my time as both a marketer and student at this university and the change of attitude that accompanied moving from one role to the other.

I'd embraced promoting education because I believe it is an opportunity to improve one's self and career.

Then I'd decided to educate myself and found discrepancies began to appear everywhere I looked. One of the courses was ridiculously difficult with one subject alone requiring writing more than 12,000 words over two essays and an extended exam; while in the other course the lecturers didn't set readings and didn't correct typos or grammar in written assignments.

Anyway, it's been interesting to revisit these experiences because it contributed to my disillusionment with education and factory-like process of molding people for so-called careers. It's still fascinating to me how many people end up in jobs they didn't anticipate working, especially as casualisation takes pace and the roles for robots in workplaces increase.

Toasted ham, cheese, olive and broccoli sandwich



My son has become the first guest in my toasted sandwich segment.

Back to school

Elaine Swatridge undertook her teacher's practice placement at Wumbulgal School in 1963, where her brother George Clay taught from '63 - '65. 

Recently she revisited the School, which has been a part of Griffith Pioneer Park Museum for decades. Elaine said it brought back two memories: heat and the sound of blowflies.

George Clay acted in local productions and went on to study art in Sydney before teaching the teaching students in Armidale, where one of his paintings is held by the regional gallery.

Everything is subtext

"Every lived moment of human life is a multilayered event taking place at a number of different levels – interpersonal, internal, societal, institutional. Story, then, is the sea in which all of us swim, and dramatists, screenwriters and novelists create “story” with the boring bits of life cut out. In story nothing moves forward except through conflict, and stories are metaphors for life – because to be alive is to be in perpetual conflict."

People You May Know Bingo

Facebook keeps suggesting comely people that it thinks I may know, so I've made a game about it.

The idea is to post three hotties in a row from the people I don't know.

And, on the chance you're reading this, I'd really love to get India!

Pennywise from It for Book Week

My son wanted to wear a clown mask for Book Week and both my partner and I were quick to suggest he could be Pennywise from Stephen King's It.
 
Pennywise is terrifying in the book and, while I haven't seen an adaptation, we watched this music video for an It theme.

Hopefully my son won't give a teacher the impression that he's watched the film.

This photo achieves a dramatic effect with a faux fish-eye lens and an LED torch, as well as saturated colour.

I also used the torch to add a reflection to the real eye in this picture.

Remarkable sandwiches



Last week I edited a short video about a remarkable sandwich.

It's been popular. Four friends shared it and my friend Anny posted this photo showing she'd tried the combination of mushroom and leek on my recommendation.

So I've put together a video to promote a daring new combination. It had me lost for words.

Masks by Anna Coleman Ladd



He took a face from the ancient gallery. And he walked on down the hall


Via Hyperallergic.com

Flower Power



Griffith Regional Art Gallery have run an annual exhibition of community art during spring for over a decade now.

Flower Power is a visual delight because of the colourful theme and the opportunity to compare and contrast the styles and techniques of local artists.

This year I've entered the video embedded above and it was gratifying that mine was the first entry for 2016. It shows bees attracted to the narrow-leaf hop-bush in my backyard.

The song is called 'Nah Yeah' as it's an update of 'Yeah Nah' with extra instrumentation.

Love is needed by an unknown artist

This picture appeared at work this week and I think it's amazing.




Visit to Old Griffith Police Station

In the next week the Old Griffith Police Station will be handed over to the Local Lands Council.
It was apparent that the building is still in use and I was amused to find a bong in one of the newer cells.



You can see colourful specks of paint on the walls, this was throughout the building and might've been from a game of paintball.

An old fingerprinting desk. Apparently they scan hands these days.
This graffiti is provocative in most settings but is possibly a comment on the building being transferred to an Aboriginal organisation.


These are the newer cells.
 These are the older cells.

I like this variation on chess that was etched into the concrete seating in the newer cells.

This might be the male exercise yard. The water was a few inches deep.

G Town

It might've been a Tuesday night in Griffith but there was plenty of life to be seen.

No Parking

Seen some weird shit

I think this detail from one of Lisa Taliano's paintings currently exhibiting at Griffith Regional Theatre might come from Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie's excellent graphic novel Lost Girls.

Father's Day



My daughter offered these delightful handmade gift for Father's Day, as well as a set of "world best dad" golf tees.

This coupon book offers her services for a range of activities. My eldest son tried to add the last one, which reads "1 free whale".

Kylie and me



When I was in year seven I had a Kylie Minogue poster on my wall and I still like a lot of her sweet music.

Anyway, this is why I'm sharing a couple of beaut Kylie covers here.