A to Z 2015 - "X" Photos

We're at the hardest letter of the alphabet in the challenge - X!

The A-to-Z has three days to go including this one, so we're nearly there, people! But of course things can get seriously tough towards the end of the month each year. With the letter X, most people seem to cheat a little bit, and I'm no exception this year.

My X-theme is:

X-mas

   

  

  

Travel Series: MELBOURNE

First off, I want to apologise to those who might've stopped by expecting a guest post from Mina Lobo yesterday/today as part of her THAT FATAL KISS release celebrations. I was meant to post on the 24th for Mina's book release, but a combination of technological woes and flighty brains (mine) meant it didn't happen. The post has been rescheduled for THIS SUNDAY, the 29th, so if you guys stop by then you will see that post then. Thanks Mina for being so understanding and forgiving of my deficiencies. ;) *hug*

This month for Globetrotters I'll talk about (or, mostly, illustrate) the 4-day trip I took to Melbourne in 2008, for a work conference. I haven't quite finished with my 1998 world trip story yet, but I don't have access to the photos I need for that one, so Melbourne it is. Although my 2008 trip was for work, I did get to walk around the city admiring the sights. I also went to the MCG for a conference dinner, and saw a whole lot of seagulls (this coming Saturday my footy team is playing in the GRAND FINAL there, wooooo!!! So excited!). Anyway, from here on out I'll basically post a bunch of photos so you can experience a bit of Melbourne:

Walking by the Yarra.

The Yarra.

Flinders Street Station.

Photo exhibition.

It was near on Christmas time.

Gigantic Christmas tree in the mall where I went to see a movie.

Dizzying roof.

More Christmas decorations.

Me in my fancy hotel room.

The view from my hotel.

More Yarra.

Out-there sculpture by the river.

Salt n Pepa! Noice!

Casino.

In the Casino foyer type area.

More art by the river.

Great view from a river bridge.

Never been in there.

At the airport, the obligatory beer - and a Krispy Kreme. Don't remember it being all that shockingly amazing.

I always try to take aerial photos from planes.

Another one.

A-Z '13 - One in a Million

During April a bunch of bloggers are participating in the A-to-Z blogging challenge of 2013. My theme for 2013 is an A-to-Z list of classic Aussie tunes - either classic or just plain songs I like. Today we are up to "O" and my O-song is:

One in a Million - Bodyjar


Australia has a bit of a long-standing punk rock tradition, which you can read more about here. Bodyjar formed in 1994, and have been defunct since 2009, but have reformed a couple of times for special shows. My fave Bodyjar songs are "Not the Same", "Glossy Books" (about eating disorders) and "One in a Million", but I do also want to mention "Too Drunk to Drive" which features Adalita from Magic Dirt on vocals. Oh, and they do a mighty rockin' cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter". ;)



Honourable mentions:

• Off Cut by Incursion
• Old River by Abbe May
• Oh, Fuck! by the Decline
• Organ Hands by Effigy
• Out of Range by Decoder Ring
• Outside by the Black Ryder
• Outta My Head by Spiderbait
• Over the Edge by Fiona Horne (Def FX)

Another day missed

I was going to try and throw something together for my daily NaBloWriMo post last night, just before bedtime, but in the end I said..."Naaaaaaah." So there you have it. Anyway...because I seem to have a policy now that requires me to put an image in every blog post I do, I'm going to share this one:

This is a photo I took when in Melbourne (at the airport) in errr, 2008 I think. I had gone there for a professional conference (library stuff), but of course professional stuff doesn't preclude enjoying an icy cold beer at the airport. Which is precisely what I did!

I think this picture really sums up travelling for me.

In other news, I'm up to page 33 of my edit transfers. Slow going, but at least it's going at all!

I need need NEED to answer today's (or yesterday's...or the day before's, really) NaBloWriMo prompt, because it says this:

Given that Autumn is busting out all over, which is your favourite season and why? Alternately, which is your LEAST favourite season and, of course, why?

First off, we don't have autumn here right now. We have spring, going into summer. And to answer the second part, I abhor summer to the fibre of its very being, especially given how humid our summers are getting down here. I recently heard it summarised something like this: "Perth is becoming Melbourne, and Melbourne is becoming Hobart...and Hobart's becoming the Antarctic."

And to answer the first part, my favourite season is winter, autumn and spring, in that order.