Up on a Tightrope

I am back in Houston, but I don't have any good images taken here yet. So here is a picture of the tightroper statue in the square on South Bank next to Stanleys - the best big brekky in Brisbane - from last weekend (I can't publish this without mentioning that I faked the cable under him and removed the guy wires holding him up). The unicyclist was put back up in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the World Expo. They were known as the white statues and there were a number of them up during Expo.

In Houston, they don't know how to make hot milk for a cappuccino. At Starbucks, the barista brought me another one this morning after I had started drinking the first. To her credit, she did this because she said the steamer wasn't working right and she couldn't serve a coffee less than her best. I was a bit surprised because I thought the milk on the first one was pretty good for Starbucks - the foam was smooth and silky - like stirred paint as Teresa says, andTeresa has a barista certificate. The second cup the Starbucks barista brought me had huge bubbles in it like they always do at Starbucks. Anyway, she let me keep both of them, but I enjoyed the first one the most.

David says I am a food snob. It's not true. I just like my cappuccino foam smooth and silky like latex paint.

Magpie

The Magpie, Miner Bird, and Rainbow Lorikeet are among my favorite Australian birds. The Magpie is handsome and has a beautiful voice. The Miner Bird is everywhere and is a bit of a clown. Rainbow Lorikeets are raucous and incredibly colorful.

The Story Bridge

The Story Bridge from yet another viewpoint and time of day...

The Noisy Miner Bird

Miner birds are curious, always fooling around together, and constantly stirring things up. At least one will pose for me as I go through the park about anytime I'd like it to.

Wilwinpa

The Wilwinpa is the newest City Cat in Brisbane.

Comalco Place

The blue building at the bottom of the picture is Comalco Place - a place I know pretty well since I have been working there for the past 15 months or so. I will miss my view of the river and the walk through the park every morning...

The Buddha

This door panel with the Buddha in it is located in the temple over on South Bank that was built for World Expo '88. It was built by traditional methods and while from a moderate distance it is very fine and appears almost flawless, close up you can see many imperfections. I like that. There are many details on it and maybe someday I'll photograph them.

Brisbane Arcade

Long before there were malls there were arcades. They are basically streets with a roof, normally with glass. There are quite a few of them in London and you find them here in Australia too. For some reason, they seem to have either real high ends goods, touristy type things, or both. This one is off Queen Street in Brisbane.

Brisbane Seafood

Several types of seafood are popular in Brisbane - oysters, barramundi, and "bugs". First, bugs... Bugs are the critters lying on the ice in the center of the photo. They look like flattened lobsters without claws. Oysters are in the sack at middle top. The fish on the far left just past the flounder is a barramndi.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of bugs and barramundi although both are OK. The bugs taste like lobster, but don't have as good a texture in my opinion. They have lobsters here, so I don't know why the bugs seem to be the first choice. Barramundi is a nice white fish, but again with the texture, and I don't think it is always super fresh. But the oysters are very, very good.

Brisbane CBD

This is the Brisbane CBD along the river as seen from the Story Bridge. The river front is prime property and the apartments are arranged for the view.

White Faced Herons

There were a pair of herons catching breakfast on the rocks by the river below the apartment this morning.

Pacific Black Duck Stretching

Have you ever noticed how much a dog seems to enjoy a good stretch? This duck stretched out one foot and wing (see his webbed toes stretching out below the wing?) and then the other while standing on one foot. Must have felt good....

Remnant Rain Forest

This is a remnant of sub-tropical rain forest just north of Brisbane. That is a waterfall down in the lower right hand corner. At one time, this area was pretty much covered in rain forest. European settlers cut most of it down in a relatively short period and today there are only pockets of it left. Because they are unconnected, it leaves the wildlife very exposed to fire, flood, disease, or other misfortune.

Fortunately, there were people who saved portions for us today like this one. Old growth forest really should be conserved and not just little islands. Guess I've become a tree hugger, but then shouldn't everyone?

XXXX Brewery Pub on a Friday Night

This is the Castlemaine Perkins XXXX Brewery Pub down in Milton on a Friday night. Milton is only about a 30 minute walk from the apartment through South Bank and across the river. We had just taken the brewery tour. I've now visited at least one brewery in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. I have South America and Africa left to go. I'll probably skip Africa, although I did drive by the one in Lagos once.

How Many Toes on an Eastern Water Dragon?

Answer: 5

Am I getting Smarter?

Am I getting smarter? I don’t think so. In fact, what would even cause me to ask?

I picked up a copy of Scientific American on the flight back to Brisbane this time. I use to be a regular reader and even a subscriber. But it has been quite a few years since I have picked it up.

I once read that Scientific American was written to a level that any educated person could read and comprehend without a background in that scientific area. I guess I found that to be true although it was a pretty hard slog at times.

Anyway, there was an article on detecting photographs that had been altered and another on the ethics of climate change that looked interesting. Lo, and behold, the articles seemed easier to read than what I remembered. Still not on the level of USA Today, but I was reading fewer paragraphs twice.

How could this be? Had I gotten smarter in the last twenty years? Once again, I doubt it. But it does seem better written in some ways. The articles have a “Key Concepts” section out in the sidebar that help guide you a bit. The illustrations are well done. And maybe, they dumbed it down a bit. Anyway, I enjoyed it and maybe I’ll subscribe again.

Here were my favorite articles:

The Cosmic Origins of Time’s Arrow: Discussion of entropy and symmetry of time in the universe

The Ethics of Climate Change: Weighing the value of well being today versus money spent to prevent climate change

Opinion on Sustainable Development: Discourse on policy that favors biofuels and animal feed over grain for starving people

Every once in a while you should read something that might be a bit over your head and a tad more challenging than watching Scrubs on television. One more thing… There was an article in the neurobiology section on the therapeutic value of writing and in particularly blogging. It is thought that it might trigger dopamine release like running or looking at art. Neat, I’ll try to keep blogging.

Thanks to Stuart for my portrait.

View from the Balcony

Here is the view from the balcony this morning down towards South Bank. Just another day in paradise.

Erica Got Married

The big news for the week is that my niece Erica got married. Stuart and I took a LOT of pictures but here is one I particularly liked with Cody and Erica walking down the isle.

Texas Squirrel

I haven't been able to get a photo of a Texas possum yet, but here is a squirrel. The English brought a lot of their native wildlife with them when they went to Australia: foxes, rabbits, and apparently ferrets. They are all unwanted pests now. But no squirrels.

Possums in the Garbage

Maybe it is me, but I just don't see how there can be too many pictures of possums in the garbage. Aren't these three boys handsome as they grab a bite to eat in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens before going out for a night on the town?

Expo 20 Years After

Brisbane used to be a sleepy country town as I think I have reported before. Then they had the World Expo in 1988 that changed everything. Kind of. The South Bank was changed from a light industrial area to a popular tourist spot overnight.

This weekend was the 20th anniversary of the Expo and they had a celebration with fireworks and such. They also had various characters and shows from the period. I am not sure what kind of characters these two represent though...

Frank's Oysters

I've seen Frank selling his oysters down on South Bank a couple of times but I haven't tried them yet. In general, the oysters are good in Australia. I would imagine that Frank has better than most.

Buddha's Birthday

It's Buddha's Birthday again. Here are some pictures of the fireworks celebration from the balcony.

V=10,900

Balancing Rock

This large rock balances near the top of the first Pyramid in Girraween ("place of flowers") National Park in Queensland. The local area, also called the Granite Belt, is full of interesting rocks, outcrops, ridges, and other geological sights. It is still relatively wild and has a lot of native flora and fauna.

The Treasury, Brisbane

This is the old Treasury Building in Brisbane. Guess what it is now? Why a casino of course. Gambling is the only sure way of making money there is outside of printing it. At least for the house...

Barracks Arch, Perth

Last week I visited Perth on the West coast of Australia for the first time. There wasn't much time to see things but I did walk around the central part of the city a bit. This tower used to be an entrance to a barracks that housed guards for the convicts who built some of the original civil buildings in the city. It was still housing guards into the earliest part of the 20th century long after the shipment of convicts had stopped.

Perth is nice but I think I like Brisbane better. Once a Queenslander, always a Queenslander.

Pink Floyd

Sunday I saw a middle aged bald man in Brisbane with a beer belly wearing a Pink Floyd concert t-shirt that said "Wish you were here" on the back. That is pretty much equivalent to seeing a Deadhead sticker on a cadillac. Thirty years ago that would have been a pretty strange sight. He even looked like he could have been a school teacher - "Teacher! Leave those kids alone!"

This picture has nothing to do with Pink Floyd except that it has some pink and you can see South Bank where I sighted the gentleman with the t-shirt.

Bribie Island

Bribie Island is close to Brisbane and has nice sandy beaches.

Sunset at Noosa

This picture was taken from Noosa Park back towards the town of Noosa. It's a beautiful place with great views and a mix of coast, heath, coastal scrub, and rain forest all coming together.

South Bank 1885

Brisbane has a lot of buildings and houses from the colonial period and I like this one in South Bank that was apparently built in 1885. We walk down to South Bank most Saturday mornings and eat breakfast. My favorite spot is at Stanleys, named after the street, in the middle of the weekly market. This building is across the way and I took the picture as I ate my eggs and toast.