12 September 2025 in Melbourne, supported by Striborg, ESP Mayhem and Drealm. This was a cassette launch for Your Mothers Disgusting Window, a doomy sludge three-piece. But I will get to that. The first act was Drealm who may have been my favourite of the night. They played multiple drone
I've just started re-reading John Higgs' excellent book The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned A Million Pounds (I am on a re-reading kick lately). I just finished the prologue which sets the book up as an attempt to understand what happened—why they burnt
Today I visited a vantage point that looks over the Loy Yang coal mine and associated power stations. Luckily, my camera visited too. The hole is big, like Super Pit big, except maybe not quite as deep as the Super Pit. Both make the trucks driving around inside look like
6 September 2025 in Melbourne, preceded by other activities. It was a special outing for our 11th wedding anniversary and rare foray into the inner south. The day began with coffee and self-administered anniversary tarot readings at Nan's Bakehouse (the local home of good vibes) before the train
29 August 2025 in Melbourne, supported by The World At A Glance, ESP Mayhem and R.U.B. Once again the seemingly bottomless Melbourne music scene delivers good times, this time at the Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar in North Melbourne. We began with punk band R.U.B
It's been longer than I would prefer between blog posts. The wheels are being reattached to the cart. Since the last post I've been to the cinema a few times, got a cold and missed a Chimers show (sniff! I love Chimers!), and the feet have
Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), 7-24 August 2025. I kind of hate MIFF. It can be a shitfight to get half-decent seats because it's very popular and a lot of presale tickets get snapped up by people with memberships. The memberships are too expensive to contemplate and the
A few weeks ago we had to get a birthday present for a small human and the suggestion was to get a Labubu. Neither ourselves nor the suggester were aware that Labubus have become a worldwide, celebrity-driven collectible craze, so it wasn't easy to find one but an
The other week the kitchen powerpoint where we boil the kettle broke. The plastic cracked and the switch no longer switched. This left us with one working power outlet in the kitchen including the one the fridge is plugged into. A suboptimal situation. After frying two power boards trying to
Ducks'—and I cannot stress this enough—bums.
About a month ago I watched Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds for the first time. Last weekend I saw Carlton beat Melbourne at the MCG. There are a lot of seagulls flying around the 'G. Beware ye who purchase chips especially. They really go for it and one
Readers will be keenly awaiting an update to my last post where I announced plans to knit one or more berets. The first one is done, as modelled in the image by my old friend Freddo Frog. I made the classic silhouette version of the Best Beret pattern, using 10-ply
Knitting
Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo Showgrounds, 17 July 2025. I had been disproportionately excited for this: a day trip to Bendigo to look at sheep, pick out some nice yarn and enjoy the finest agricultural attractions. I wasn't disappointed. It was a quick and easy drive
Food
We make ful medames at home every weekend, and often during the week too. It's delicious, healthy and cheap, and good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It has that staple quality where you really can't get sick of it. I love it. It's one
Music
5 July 2025 in Melbourne, with Kuntsquad, Strawberry Fist Cake, Beanflipper, Resistance, Blowhole, ADHD, Y Not, Knife and Wot Rot. It's time for a punk show. Punk and metal really, although judging from the sartorial settings on the day it was definitely a punk show. Mamma Chen'
Watercolour
A thing that bugs me about a lot of watercolour video tutorials is they only show the part where the brush hits the paper. That leaves more than half of the process out and too many unanswered questions, like what colours did they use, and how much water? What does
Personal
I have several shoeboxes full of photos, letters, cards and the like that I've kept for nearly my entire life. The letters and cards all were given to me, including birthday cards beginning at age six (I was given five of the same card, clearly the only option
Watercolour
I mentioned in an earlier post that I would be taking a watercolour class soon. I'm now part-way through the seven week class. During the last fortnight or so I have settled on a theme, which is posts in water with a one point perspective (vanishing to a
Personal
Lottie, 15 September 2010 - 11 May 2025 The day after I picked up the eight-week-old pointer puppy from Brisbane airport, the Mackay-based breeder laughed at me over the phone. "You're going to have fun with this one." She meant it as a warning. Lottie was
Music
1 June 2025 in Melbourne, supported by Rocket Science. Tucked deep up the back of Yarraville is an industrial area, copious roadworks and Kindred Studios and Bandroom. It's been years since I was last at this great little venue and I wish more bands I am interested in
Outdoors
When the vibes are off, it's more important than ever to remember: ducks' bums.
Outdoors
For the second year in a row I spent my birthday at Melbourne Zoo. It's just about the perfect day out when one also has evening plans: cute and weird animals to look at, fresh air, and not taxing on one's energy for socialising. Adrian gave
Outdoors
Yesterday I took a drive out to Mount Macedon to investigate the possible existence of weird fruiting fungi. I can now confirm it exists. It was a much-needed trip, a distraction from the very recent passing of our beloved Lottie and to make good use of my last week of
Watercolour
I completely forgot to mention I have started a new watercolour course. I am doing Open Studio Watercolour at The Art Room (TAR), which is for people who have progressed beyond beginner and want to focus on things like composition, creative goals, colour theory and so forth. It goes for