I attended a business awards function last night in South Brisbane. Many of the folks who helped set us up here in Brisbane were sponsors, recipients, or attendess. It was held in the arts district in town, which is jsut across the river from the downtown in an area called South Bank. The function was held in the Gallery of Modern Art, which was just opened to the public late last year. It's a pretty building, not an architectural wonder, but a fine public building. There are some interesting pieces of late 20th Century modern art from around the world, and a really interesting video installation. As with most buildings in Brisbane, there is an exterior deck; in this case, quite large. This one faces the river and the State Library, which is next door. Overhanging the deck is a huge roof. Someone, perhaps the architects, designed a light installation under an old growth tree between the building and the river, which shines up through the leaves. And this photo is the result of that light installation, when seen at night. A beautiful pattern of light, ,shadow, and color played out on a huge flat white surface.
Friday, 31 August 2007
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Saturday, 25 August 2007
Day 7 of the Deluge
Today marks the seventh day in a row of rain in Brisbane. The photo is the facade of the old Grand Central Station in Brisbane. It has a clock tower (cut off in this photo). From the architecture, I'd guess it's an old-time building in Brisbane.
We got 93mm of rain yesterday. The main reservoir (called a catchment here), Wivenhoe, is now at 16.77% of capacity. In a week of rain, the amount of water behind the dam has risen 0.3%. This translates to just a few weeks of water for the area. Not very much.
It's predicted that we'll have less than 6% of capacity this time next year. This is some kind of drought. It's all about geography. California is blessed with a huge, high mountain range to the East of an ocean. California manages to catch all the moisture coming from the Pacific and turn it into precipitation. The East coast of Australia isn't so lucky. The mountains aren't nearly as high. That's because the continent is so old compared to the Sierra Nevada. And, we're on the Western Slope of the mountain range, so we don't catch the moisture from the westerlies.
On the Eastern slope of the Great Dividing Range that runs down the East coast of Australia, there is a huge artesian basin. Lots of water there, though it's mostly underground and under a layer of hard rock. Brisbane, and southeast Queensland (SEQ to the locals), is really in a tough spot, geologically and geographically.
We're all very grateful for what wet we do get.
My workmates and I had lunch at a local restaurant this afternoon. It was raining fairly hard. Not a cold rain, but steady, and wet. Quite abnormal. I didn't mind at all. It was nice to get rained on and get my head and face wet for a change. It will be dry again all too soon.
We got 93mm of rain yesterday. The main reservoir (called a catchment here), Wivenhoe, is now at 16.77% of capacity. In a week of rain, the amount of water behind the dam has risen 0.3%. This translates to just a few weeks of water for the area. Not very much.
It's predicted that we'll have less than 6% of capacity this time next year. This is some kind of drought. It's all about geography. California is blessed with a huge, high mountain range to the East of an ocean. California manages to catch all the moisture coming from the Pacific and turn it into precipitation. The East coast of Australia isn't so lucky. The mountains aren't nearly as high. That's because the continent is so old compared to the Sierra Nevada. And, we're on the Western Slope of the mountain range, so we don't catch the moisture from the westerlies.
On the Eastern slope of the Great Dividing Range that runs down the East coast of Australia, there is a huge artesian basin. Lots of water there, though it's mostly underground and under a layer of hard rock. Brisbane, and southeast Queensland (SEQ to the locals), is really in a tough spot, geologically and geographically.
We're all very grateful for what wet we do get.
My workmates and I had lunch at a local restaurant this afternoon. It was raining fairly hard. Not a cold rain, but steady, and wet. Quite abnormal. I didn't mind at all. It was nice to get rained on and get my head and face wet for a change. It will be dry again all too soon.
Thursday, 23 August 2007
Train at Central
In keeping with the train theme, here's a fairly common car. I take the train to work most days, and use them for most long distance travel. Here's what they look like.
Queensland Rail's colors are maroon and yellow.
Queensland Rail's colors are maroon and yellow.
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
On the Train
I usually ride to work on the local trains. It's a couple of stops from Central Station to my suburb. It's never this empty on a workday morning. I took this shot on the way back into town from one of my Sunday morning bike rides. Bikers are supposed to ride in the last car on the train, and since I was also riding from the end of the line, there weren't many others on the train at the time. More than that, it was raining this past Sunday, so ridership was even less than normal.
Still, on the way into town, I've been asked for my ticket every time I've come back into town on this line. I find this interesting because these are the only times I've been asked by Queensland Rail police for my ticket on the train. Oh, sure, it's expected to show a ticket coming and going in downtown train stations, but I've only ever had my ticket checked inbound on these trains. Oddly, this past Sunday, the QR folks found someone without a ticket.
QR runs electric lines for their CityTrain. Fairly quiet, they run on time and run frequently.
Still, on the way into town, I've been asked for my ticket every time I've come back into town on this line. I find this interesting because these are the only times I've been asked by Queensland Rail police for my ticket on the train. Oh, sure, it's expected to show a ticket coming and going in downtown train stations, but I've only ever had my ticket checked inbound on these trains. Oddly, this past Sunday, the QR folks found someone without a ticket.
QR runs electric lines for their CityTrain. Fairly quiet, they run on time and run frequently.
Three Days of Rain
Today marks the third day in a row of rain in Brisbane. This isn't a remarkable figure for most readers, but three days of rain makes this the wettest August in five years. We've gotten perhaps 60mm of rain, maybe a bit more, which isn't a lot. But for the driest continent on Earth, in the grip of a decade-long drought, this is welcome relief.
Sunday, 19 August 2007
My Building, Part 3
Here's a photo of the front side of my apartment building. It's known as the Aurora Tower. It's the tallest building in Brisbane for now. I live on the far side of the building from where this shot was taken, and about two thirds of the way up the tower. The building was opened just over a year ago, so it's quite new. I took this shot some time ago, but realized I'm not sure if I'd posted a shot of my building. It's memorable.
I don't think I'll be staying here past the end of my lease. I enjoy living down town, but it's noisy. I don't really enjoy having to get into a lift to go anywhere. My flat has more than enough room for me. I have no complaints about that. I'd much rather be in a quieter neighborhood.
I don't think I'll be staying here past the end of my lease. I enjoy living down town, but it's noisy. I don't really enjoy having to get into a lift to go anywhere. My flat has more than enough room for me. I have no complaints about that. I'd much rather be in a quieter neighborhood.
In the Hard Rain, an Oasis for Man and Dog, Part 2
The ride from Woody Point back to Shorncliffe was really hard. I was riding in to a good headwind the entire time. It started raining harder and harder. I was in the middle gears the entire time, getting wetter and wetter. Finally, I got back to the Shorncliffe promenade. When it got to the point where the rain drops were making bubbles in the the puddles, I decided to find some shelter and wait it out for a bit. I found a picnic shelter and took a break.
One of the things that I found interesting was a water fountain that also had a bowl at the bottom for dogs. The design is ingenious. The fountain is all metal. The drain for the bowl is a tube that leads down through the metal post and out to the other side. Just under the outlet is a metal basin at the bottom of the post. It catches the water and is just the right height for dogs to have a sip. Water conservation, dog friendly, and an good looking fountain. Nice!
One of the things that I found interesting was a water fountain that also had a bowl at the bottom for dogs. The design is ingenious. The fountain is all metal. The drain for the bowl is a tube that leads down through the metal post and out to the other side. Just under the outlet is a metal basin at the bottom of the post. It catches the water and is just the right height for dogs to have a sip. Water conservation, dog friendly, and an good looking fountain. Nice!
Ride to Redcliff, Part 1
I took a train from Central Station out to the end of one of the lines. I went to a town known as Shorncliffe. The train station out there isn't very large, the big stops are at Boondal and Sandgate. It's charming in an odd little way to take the train to the end of the line.
Shorncliffe is a town on Moreton Bay. Not much of a beach, but there are inlets. It reminds me of the Georgia and Florida coast, with docks and fishing boats popping up in the oddest places due to the channels cut inland. There is a beautiful promenade that I've discovered, wide enough for five people to walk abreast, running around a point and along the seashore for quite a way. It's relatively flat and leads to a bridge that goes across the bay. It goes through the towns of Sandgate and Brighton.
There's a bridge that crosses over the bay from Brighton to Clontarf. I discovered a nice little shortcut under one bridge that leads to another, much older bridge made of wooden planks. This one is falling down in places, with long sections fenced off. There's a serviceable but bumpy tarmac down the center. This bridge must be three or four kilometers long. It's quite a pedal from one side to the other. This bridge is for bikes and people only. It runs along side the more modern bridge that's been built for car and truck traffic.
At the other end is the town of Clontarf, home of Bells Beach. Another bike path leads all the way along the shore and ends at Woody Point, which is where I took this photo.
It seems everywhere in Queensland is another crane. This one is constructing an apartment block at the end of the point. I'm sure the views will be great.
It seems I picked a day to ride my bike on a rainy day. That's why the sky is so grey and the light so poor.
This marked the halfway point on my bike ride. It was really starting to rain hard, so I took a landmark photo , had a bite to eat, a drink of water, and turned around.
Shorncliffe is a town on Moreton Bay. Not much of a beach, but there are inlets. It reminds me of the Georgia and Florida coast, with docks and fishing boats popping up in the oddest places due to the channels cut inland. There is a beautiful promenade that I've discovered, wide enough for five people to walk abreast, running around a point and along the seashore for quite a way. It's relatively flat and leads to a bridge that goes across the bay. It goes through the towns of Sandgate and Brighton.
There's a bridge that crosses over the bay from Brighton to Clontarf. I discovered a nice little shortcut under one bridge that leads to another, much older bridge made of wooden planks. This one is falling down in places, with long sections fenced off. There's a serviceable but bumpy tarmac down the center. This bridge must be three or four kilometers long. It's quite a pedal from one side to the other. This bridge is for bikes and people only. It runs along side the more modern bridge that's been built for car and truck traffic.
At the other end is the town of Clontarf, home of Bells Beach. Another bike path leads all the way along the shore and ends at Woody Point, which is where I took this photo.
It seems everywhere in Queensland is another crane. This one is constructing an apartment block at the end of the point. I'm sure the views will be great.
It seems I picked a day to ride my bike on a rainy day. That's why the sky is so grey and the light so poor.
This marked the halfway point on my bike ride. It was really starting to rain hard, so I took a landmark photo , had a bite to eat, a drink of water, and turned around.
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Interview with a Blixe
Carol, this one's for you.
I was channel surfing this evening and wandered past a talking head interview that somehow caught my eye. After watching for a minute or two, I realized Blixe of Einsturzende Neubauten was giving an interview. He talked about the end of the band, the resurrection of the band, the projects they are working on, "sound", the logo, and quite a few other things. It's probably on the internet by now, but I saw it on a program called "fatbluesky" on Fuel TV here in Australia.
Blixe lives!
I was channel surfing this evening and wandered past a talking head interview that somehow caught my eye. After watching for a minute or two, I realized Blixe of Einsturzende Neubauten was giving an interview. He talked about the end of the band, the resurrection of the band, the projects they are working on, "sound", the logo, and quite a few other things. It's probably on the internet by now, but I saw it on a program called "fatbluesky" on Fuel TV here in Australia.
Blixe lives!
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
On the walk home
Here's a photo from the foot and bike path I use to get back and forth to work. I was walking back home and thought I'd snap a picture of one of the brdiges over the Brisbane River. This one is a railway bridge that connects a section of town called South Bank to another section known as Roma.
We're taking tomorrow off from work here in Brisbane, in celebration of Ekka. I've learned Ekka is short for Exhibition, as in the Royal Brisbane Exhibition. It seems like a combination of street fair, State Fair, fashion show and cultural event. Over the past few weeks, I've watched the rides go up from my balcony...and fireworks at 8PM for the last few days. I'll try to get a photo or two from the grounds.
We're taking tomorrow off from work here in Brisbane, in celebration of Ekka. I've learned Ekka is short for Exhibition, as in the Royal Brisbane Exhibition. It seems like a combination of street fair, State Fair, fashion show and cultural event. Over the past few weeks, I've watched the rides go up from my balcony...and fireworks at 8PM for the last few days. I'll try to get a photo or two from the grounds.
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