31.1.11

black & white







Hi, now you didn't think I was going to go to the new State Theatre and only put up a photo of Heath Ledger's Oscar did you? Of course not. I have loads of pics to share but its going to take time to sort them all... because I took lots (errr... over 200 actually...). If you can't wait, I've put a few up on flickr (go here).

I've been excited about this building opening, because I just think the design is stunning. I've posted about that before, so won't bore you again. Having been inside, I still think its a stunning design. I love the colours - gold, black, white, brown - perhaps a bit bland for some, but calming and lovely to me. I love the use of a stacked bond. I like concrete and wood. I think its going to look lovely at night, all lit up. I thought it was a great idea to have an open day, and it all seemed to go very well, the staff were all super friendly and seemed excited to be there. But if I have to be a bit critical, I was pretty surprised at the standard of workmanship. From a distance it all looked fine, but once you looked close at finishes, joins, details... it was all a bit, err, not very well done. Edges didn't meet, straight things were wobbly and crooked, bits were falling off already. I hate to be so critical, because I do think its a great building to have in Perth, but I have to ask - was it built as some kind of tafe project?? Details people, details!! Build it to last, not on the cheap!

Anyway, more pics to come over the next few days, both here and flickr... and no more ranting. I promise.

H.

30.1.11

gold



Heath Ledger's Academy award for his role in Batman... hmmm, shiny! With the Joker costume behind. On display at the State Theatre Centre, which had an open day today.

29.1.11

brown











Its too hot for writing many words, so here's some pictures to look at. Today was 41 degrees, and then it rained. The air is like soup, and there is a the tail end of a cyclone due to hit Perth tomorrow, so the weather is set to stay like this until then.... hmm, great! I took these last Sunday in the vicinity of the GPO and the new "Globe Court" (corner William and Wellington Streets).

26.1.11

red, white & blue


Happy Australia Day peeps. Hope if you are having the day off you're having a nice time, doing what you like. I am just hanging out, relaxing, looking at some old photos, enjoying the Hottest 100 on Triple J. Loads and loads of great tunes in a row... excellent. Gave the dog a bath, so she's happy too!

23.1.11

yellow, black & grey









Went into town today to do a bit of shopping. Didn't really get what I needed... but I did take 170 photos. Oops. Really disappointed to see the Grand Lane mural has been vandalized (see my last post about it here). Someone has taken something sharp and run it the whole way down, through the key parts, like the owls' faces. You can see it a bit in the top photo. Won't put other pics up because its too depressing.

I guess that's just part of the deal when you put art out where people can touch it, as opposed to keeping it in a gallery behind a rope. Not everyone is going to like it. Some people are going to express their dislike by vandalizing it. Or perhaps it wasn't even that well thought through, just a random act of dumbness. Whatever. Not much you can do about it. Would rather have murals than grey concrete walls, and over time they are going to fade, flake, get damaged, and eventually get replaced, its just part of it. Kind of a shame this one only lasted intact for a matter of weeks.

H.

black & red


These swans remind me of the gargoyles in Ghostbusters. The city is possessed by ghosts on the loose, and the swans climb off their lamp posts and run around chasing people with their beady red eyes. Swans are mean in real life, imagine how scary they'd be in a zombie flick. Maybe its because I just saw that movie Black Swan, she was a bit scary towards the end there when her eyes turned red and she had developed a taste for carnage. City of Perth killer zombie swans... somebody make the movie please. I'll go see it.

17.1.11

black & white







Recent randoms that were black and white: Vietnamese for lunch on Saturday (I had laksa); new signage at the (almost complete) State Theatre; smiling wall, Newcastle Street; Vietnamese lemon drink; pizza dough that worked really well.

H.

16.1.11

pink & orange



Spotted these lanterns when I was walking past the Brass Monkey. I love the colours. So summer-y.

blue & yellow







This was one of the things I had on my holiday to do list, finish this quilt. I started it forever ago (see the post where I had the idea here) and predictably enough as these things go, I got distracted by other things and it sat half done for ages. Months. It was always going to be the way, so it didn't bother me. But for some reason, kind of illogically considering the hot weather, I decided to just damn well get it done over the holidays. Its just one of those things where you have a brilliant idea, you start, then it seems like a terrible idea but you're half way through so you carry on... hating every minute. Then as soon as its done and it looks great, you're like what a brilliant idea, I'm going to do it again! I want a pink one!

I am not a very technical sewing person. I have a nice machine, which makes it easier, and I have been doing it since I was a kid. But I am bad at following instructions or learning new things. And I am impatient. So I'm more of a "sew what you feel like" person. If you were a technical person you would see how warped and lumpy this quilt is, the lack of straight lines etc, but not only have I craftily hidden them from the photo, I don't really care about them. If I cared about being technical, I would never sew anything.

This is my second quilt (pics of the first one here). The main tip I would give to fellow slack crafters like me who want to take a stab at quilting is - use fabrics that are all the same weight, so they don't pull each other around and stretch as you go. I think that's what craft fabric is about, its all the same. If you try to use a vintage curtain and a dress you liked but that has a hole in it and some velvet that was on sale, it will end up all distorted and mis-shapen. That's by no means the end of the world. Its just annoying as you are trying to sew and things are gathering up into strange shapes. And start small - the first quilt I did ended up queen bed size (not really on purpose, it just grew) and it was such an effort to haul it through the machine, and it took up a rediculous amount of space on the floor when I was pinning it together.

The other thing I learned from this is how hard it is to artfully arrange a quilt to have its photo taken. Geez. Hats off to the crew in the craft mags who do that.

yellow & grey





Well the week just gone was pretty full on, back to work after three fantastic weeks off, a job interview, floods in most parts of Australia dominating the news and people's conversations. I am really exhausted and feeling out of sorts, but kind of in a good way, I guess because its a new year and I am feeling clearer about things in general. Really starting to realize I am not suited to the life of a cubicle dwelling battery hen... but maybe its just because I wish I was on holidays all the time! Got some time today to catch up on some pics I've taken in the last week or so. Its going to be a bit random. Starting with these, images of a car park in Northbridge in one of those new alley ways.

H.

11.1.11

winner!


And the winner... drawn from the lucky colander... is Nat! Good one. I'll send you an email to arrange delivery. Thanks to everyone who entered. Next time, it'll be bigger and better!

9.1.11

red & black




Roast tomatoes, before and after. Got so many tomatoes at the moment, roasting them is one way to use some up. You just need to drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, cook on a low temp for about half an hour and then you can do all sorts of things with them - these ones were for cous cous.

Today is the last day of my holidays. The idea of now having to spend 8 hours a day at work is frankly bizarre. The idea of a desk and a cubicle is completely surreal. I had a great holiday, got so much done, as well as spending time just relaxing and hanging out doing nothing. I got to catch up with my family who were over for xmas. Finished a few projects, read some books, made some interesting contacts, caught up with friends, ate good things, took loads and loads of photos. So yeh, the idea of trekking off to work and spending a whole day there is weird to me now. A whole day sitting in one place! Doing... work! Not having fun and doing things I enjoy. Yikes!

H.

7.1.11

red








Also seen in Northbridge the other day, this deluxe car. If you're into cars, its badge on the end said it was a Dart GT. Seriously nice. Don't forget about the giveaway - go here for more info. There's a few entrants already, but you have until Monday night to enter. Did you know you can also follow using your Twitter account if you have one?

brown







I took these while wandering around Northbridge with a friend yesterday. She got a new camera, and I was showing her a few things about how to use it. At one stage we stopped for refreshments at a newish small bar that shall remain nameless. I asked the guy behind the bar if it was ok if we took photos, as I was trying to show my friend how to shoot in low light, and the guy rolled his eyes and said "I guess so... as long as its not for some blog". Ha!

At the time I was kind of like, whatever, no big deal, but I found myself thinking about it and I still can't quite get it. What, you have a problem with free publicity? You don't want pictures of your bar circulating and informing people of its presence? You don't want word to get out on the internets that you run a business? Weird. For the record, I did take a few pics in there but they didn't work out very well. I don't think my heart was in it. I didn't try hard to take nice photos because I knew I wouldn't be able to share them. So rest assured bar guy, pictures of your establishment are not going to be posted on some blog today!

H.


1) outside Rechabites Hall 2) foyer of the old Chung Wah building 3) laneway, Aberdeen St 4) laneway behind Rechabites Hall 5) off Roe St behind Red Stripe Clothing.