In memory of my father

 

My dad has died

 

I honour him

 

By committing his memory

 

To the virtual world

(where nothing is ever lost)

When computers were for sissies

Saw this Gemini spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Centre.

Humans went into space in these things back in the sixties.

The controls look like some old penny arcade game and

there's no room to move at all. Makes you realise how primitive

early technology was and the kinds of risks Armstrong and the like

were prepared to take in the name of science.

Head in the clouds

Ah, true love! Someone wrote their girlfriend's

name across the sky! Pity he didn't spell it right

(I bet Mabel was furious)

Flying high

What a sight to see a kite ...

Soaring through the sky ...

Thin and light, bold and bright ...

A giant sailing by ...

If I was light, just like a kite ...

I'd spread my wings and fly.

Fish food

When my wife worked for AIMS

(Australian Institute of Marine Science)

She took me out there one day to go fishing

What she didn't tell me was that these guys

like to go fishing for humans. Blimey!!

As soon as the bread hit the water, they were

all over it like piranhas on steroids.

Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water!

Give me a sign

We've snapped some exotic signs in our travels.

All kinds of critters in all kinds of places ...

And all kinds of climates.

But I think my favourite sign, apart from this one ...

Is this one, which makes me duck whenever I see it.

Ockeroo

Even the kangaroos are layback in Australia. I can just picture this guy with a beer, watching the footy and scratching his privates. Makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Little Man

We had a little man, who lived in our kitchen. We called him Little Man, but he may have been a Little Woman (very difficult to sex). He would watch us washing the dishes or stand in the bathroom looking up at us adoringly. I guess he thought the mountains moved and made noises like the adults in Charlie Brown (woomph, woomph, woomph).

One day (or early morning, actually) one of us (we each blame the other) got up to pee at 3am and, yes, you guessed it, Little Man was no more.

Perhaps he thought the gods were angry, or that the sky was falling, but either way, it would have been very quick (and heavy). We had a small service in the back yard and buried him in a matchbox (nah, I'm making that bit up).

RIP Little Man 19/06/12 - 21/06/12.

The past is fading fast

Another faded memory from my childhood. Dad bought us a go-kart from a local farmer, but it had an old motorbike engine in it and nearly became airborne when we test drove it, So dad found a tamer lawnmower engine and we spent our spare time (of which we had lots) racing round and round the wheat bins at the bottom of town.

This pic reminded me of how quickly photos fade (it was taken on one of those instamatics, where the picture slides out before your very eyes). If you have a box of old photos stored away somewhere, I would recommend you scan them all now, because they will fade away to nothing in no time (just like my youth).

Rock back the clock

On Rockwiz, they always ask the guests what was the first album they ever bought. Well, here's mine. Blackfeather's 'Boppin the Blues'.

I played the vinyl off it on my portable plastic record player and even made a cardboard top hat to wear.

The hole in my jeans was a designer look, in case you were wondering.

Let it snow

Took these shots when we were living in Ohio over winter.

It snowed for 40 days and 40 nights (well, it seemed like it)

Until everything was a**s deep and we couldn't even open our door.

Ya gotta have a dream

We visited Yanchep when we were in Western Australia and were treated to an exhibition of Aboriginal dreaming and dance.

Robert (that was his name) demonstrated how the kangaroo came to hop ...

How the emu came to run ...

And how the galah got his big yellow comb ...

Then, when the show was over, Robert got into his BMW and drove home. Ain't culture grand?

Chicken man

Came across these pics of our pilgrimage to the home of KFC.

The Colonel started broiling and frying chicken (brying?) in a humble kitchen in Corbin Kentucky in the early 1900's.

The actual kitchen was in a gas station on the other side of the highway, but I think they decided this was a better location for his shrine.

I wonder if he ever imagined that his chicken would one day be part of a fast food conglomerate that would eventually be sued for millions for paralysing someone with a zinger?

The eyes have it

Took this pic when we visited one of my wife's friends in the States a couple of years back. She keeps a lot of cats, which have their own room and everything. They were all lined up watching us when we arrived. Wasn't hard to spot the one with the wonky eye.

Step out of the car, son! (Oh, you already did)

Seems like the cops aren't just getting younger, they're getting shorter as well!

A new kind of hybrid

With fuel prices on the way up again, folks here in far north Queensland have started looking for more economical ways to travel. Snapped this guy filling up at the local servo. He told me he gets great mileage, but there's nowhere to plug in his iPod.

Beasts of burden

Snapped these rare pics of shopping trolleys in their natural habitat. This one is a grazer (very hard to catch).

This is an ocean-going species, often found stranded on beaches all over Australia. It bolted when it saw me, but it must have had an injured foot, because it kept veering off to the right. Aint nature grand?

Where did everyone go?

Just one of the many reasons I love my dad.

I see a tall dark stranger

My wife had an unnerving experience recently when driving home from work. We live in the country, so we're used to seeing wallabies wandering all over the roads, but never anything like this.

She was driving down the street, when she was aware of this tall, dark presence in her rear view mirror. She was travelling at about twenty miles an hour, so she figured it would have to be a pretty fit athlete to be keeping up with her.

Then, the next thing she knew, he OVERTOOK her and raced off into the bush! Not a curly-headed man in a track suit, but an emu out for his evening jog!

Now we've seen everything (or at least she has, because I wasn't there). Ain't nature grand?

We really enjoyed our holiday (I think)

Never ask a tour guide to take your photo!

(unforgettable memories of New Zealand)

Larry, Curly, Mo and the other guy

We have a band of feathery brothers (possibly sisters?) who descend on us every morning for a feed of raw kanga meat. They were all born around the same time and exhibit all the playful stupidity of normal youngsters. At least one of them seems to have imprinted on my wife and spends long moments perched on the table staring intently at her. When they were first born, they would line up with their mouths open, croaking impatiently and she would drop the food into each of their open beaks. Ah, the joys of parenthood (at least she didn't have to regurgitate it for them). No nappies to change either, they just do it right there on the verandah. We are pretty sure they haven't lost their hunting instincts though as we see them swooping on unsuspecting frogs and lizards in the garden from time to time. Soon they'll have young ones of their own and we'll be grandparents. Ain't nature grand?

Here there be monsters

Came across this less than flattering map of Australia.

The scary thing is, most of it is true! .

My brilliant career

Found this old photo of me when I used to play for the New Zealand All Blacks. Ah, those were the days!! Scaring the beejeebers out of the opposing team with a rousing haka. As you can see, my head was slightly out of proportion with the rest of my body in those days. It has grown a lot since then.

A Cinderella Story

Our illustrious leader, Julia Gillard, gets a rough trot in the press these days. The poor woman had to be rescued from an angry mob the other day and this is what some evil genius did with the pics on the internet.



Julia in a three-legged race ...



Julia playing mini golf ...



Julia ice skating ... and all with only one shoe.
I think she deserves a fairer go than that, so I promise not to post any more of these offensive images ...

Except for this ...

And this.