Day 90 2015: Black, white, greyish...

Day 90: ...no colour is not all that bad (#nofilter)

The HWS. No, not a work thing but the hot water system. It has decided that thirty years service is sufficient for now. Timing. With the conference and research season ahead, indeed next month, it has meant a radical rethink of priorities. 

It has put a bit of a dampener on things, in more ways than one. 

Funnily enough, when I went to take a few pics today, apart from a couple of bees and a butterfly flying way too quickly to catch them, I realised at the end of the day's pics, all the colour had drained out of them (or me?). Well, no, not really but an overcast day and cumulus clouds...well...

Cloudy moment 1

Cloudy moment 2

Cloudy moment 3

...one of my favourite subjects. I enjoy watching the movement. 

And the delightful song of the butcher bird I captured, I focussed on the colour of the song and quite forgot about the black and white of the day. 

Song, sung, (not) blue

It's all in the way you want to see things I guess. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 70-300mm, 4.39pm-4.40pm, 5.12pm]

Day 89 2015: Early start, long day...

Day 89: ...turns into night

Week 5 of semester, week before the break...yes, dear reader, a week's break already. Not that we need it yet but it has to do with Easter holidays apparently. Mondays at the moment start at 4.00am, work through until about 4.30pm, back home for rehearsal, home again by about 11.00pm. Eight weeks of this to go, after next week. 

So on the way to the car park around 4.30pm, I stopped by the lake and wandered over to the other little pond where there on a branch was a white cormorant-type I hadn't seen before. Worth a look I thought.

New king of the pond

And there on the grass was a red dragonfly...adding nicely to my collection of dragonflies. 

Dragonfly favourites

Over by the lake, the birds were sitting on the water, looking like they were gliding across foil...

Gliding

and sharing a bit of we-time. 

Gliding, times two

Nice little community really, when you look. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 70-300mm, 4.39pm-4.49pm]

Day 88 2015: A day in the shadows...

Day 88: ...thinking about...thinking, and doing

Today started where I left off last night: reading and thinking about 'critical pedagogy' as a means to explore my Masters thesis in Education. I think I'm onto something. You know that moment you find a book, or an article, and it just clicks? That.

Along the way I arranged to go and see a film/fund-raising event about the artists and people of Vanuatu; timely given the recent cyclone there, inspiring in as much as it taught us how we can, if we want to, do much with little, very little. Thinking, thinking about my work all the time.

It made sense given my current work. When I went for a stroll and a think afterwards through South Bank, I really only noticed the shadows. I've been re-reading about the idea of Plato's Cave, how people who know only shadows think shadows are the reality. Which I guess they are, in a way; real, that is. 

I spent much of the rest of the day in the library, reading and thinking about ways to apply my work in a real and meaningful way. 

It's a bridge...really

These are posts...really

Mangrove roots (and their shadows)

And then some colour returned...

Which is the real shadow?

...and then I got to the bus stop.

Because colour can matter

Red. It'll be alright. Plus, I've wanted to photograph this structure for ages.

Bike update: I have a bike (to collect). Apparently my brother had one to spare. There you go. Bike reports soon. 


[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 1.21pm-1.24pm, 4.17pm, 4.48pm]

Day 87 2015: On yer bike...

Day 87: ...well, not quite

I think it is fair to say that the events of the week finally caught up with me this afternoon. As I started reading some material in preparation for various papers, articles, conferences etc (it never ends really) I may or may not have dozed off, at some point. Briefly. But not before I'd been out and about seeking a newish bicycle to resume the fine art of perambulating along the Manly foreshore (or similar) with a friend who has recently taken up the art. I think my knees will cope. 

Suffice to say, the morning's exertions weren't as successful as I might have hoped though I met some helpful people. I'd like to buy their bikes, but I don't think I can spend quite that much...I'd probably rather buy a camera lens (or two) for that price.

By the afternoon, I thought I'd try one or two other shops as the closing time approached, still without much luck. We're going to a movie tomorrow instead. 

So on the way home (yes, dear reader, of course I packed the camera), I stopped at the park down the road, just as the sun had dropped behind the high tree-line and not quite dark...just that middling light that is interesting to work with, photographically speaking.

I mostly opted for a high ISO for the settling ducks...

Settling in for the evening

...the gumnut blossoms...  

Low light, high colour

...the only white duck in the village...

Restless

And then finally, tonight's moon, in its half-state. Just because it was there. This was back to closer to standard ISO125 and 1/125 shutter. 

Half-moon in the half-light

I doubt I would ever doze off taking pics. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 70-300mm, 5.48pm-6.10pm]

Day 86 2015: Someone, or something, had to laugh...

Day 86: ...or play lorikeet monarch of the day

Given the way the day turned out, I'm lucky the local kookaburra gave me seven minutes and 62 photo opportunities at about 7.15am. It was completely accidental of course dear reader. Most All of my photos are...

Later this morning I was due to attend a Commission hearing in a matter concerning the university. The hearing began at 10.00am. I (foolishly) thought I would be required for about 2-3 hours and then on the way home I might try to capture some of those Queen St Mall pics I planned to do last week before I was distracted by...oh, yes, birds at Roma Street. 

So it is fair to say the cam was out on the table for me to pack...After a bit of a chuckle, the kooka ended up perched on the birdbath, and obliged.

Do you see what I see...

Heh, *not* a worm...

Try again...

So here we go...

But that leaf? I suspect it was kooka hamming it up for the long lens. 

And then the loris turned to the neighbours' flowering palm, they've done this before and it is always fascinating to see how they jump around and seek the prime position. 

Thank you, I must be going...

Mwhahaha...a horse, a horse, my kingdom...etc and so forth

I'll keep an eye on them for now.

I ended up in the city for a lot longer than anticipated. Legal matters...


[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 70-300mm, 7.18-7.23am]

Day 85 2015: After the rain...

Day 85: ...the sun (and other things)

There was one heck of a storm last night. Thunder, lightning, rocking the house. Thirty-three millimetres in the end. That meant on getting up and about, that there was likely to be a few raindrops around.

First up though, the loris came in quite close. Unusual. It wasn't raining. I'd finished my tai chi set (which they like to mimic, no really, dear reader, they do). Ah, wait. Seed. Of course.

Who is looking at you then?

And then to the raindrops, no matter which way you look at it. There's just something quite artful and serene. 

Raindrops in balance

A few more raindrops : on pine needles

That's what I was thinking as I got myself ready to hit the highway for a long day at work. It's nice to know there'll be raindrops to ponder, after the rain. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 70-300mm, 6.43am-6.49pm]

Day 84 2015: The egret on the fly...

Day 84: ...and the dragonfly then landed

I had a moment before I headed back down the highway for another class; the last class in this current module. It is interesting to be doing another postgraduate degree in the present university climate. Always interesting to see how different generations of students, exposed to different education cultures, approach postgraduate education now. We've sold out our educational culture really...I'm glad I did my undergraduate study when I did.

Anyway, I knew I'd be unlikely to get pics later in the day. I was leaving a bit later than planned which would mean arriving just in time for class. Lucky for us, dear reader, our friendly egret proffered a pose for us at the lake by the car park, just as I was leaving. What else was I to do then?

The egret watches the ibis

Alert...

We were quite minding our own respective business until some people came past. They sort of frightened the egret, but selfishly enough, I thought it an opportunity for more birds in flight shots.

People you know?

. 

I'm out of here...

But if you look closely...

Really...(near the tip of the wing)

I think there is, in the background, one of these...

Holding on for dear life in a very strong wind, nearby

Meanwhile, 30 pics and 10 minutes later, it was time for me to make haste too. So I did. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 70-300mm, 2.41pm-2.48pm]

*This post is dedicated to Jinko Hashimoto, best Japanese friend and snapper-partner here and there (though she was team Nikon, I'm team Canon, a standing jibe). I've posted some of her pics in earlier posts. Friend and kindly mentor of all things Japanese since 1984. Cancer. Vale. 

Day 83 2015: Not laughing...

Day 83: ...yawning, but not for long...

Today was one of those days where my community engagement work was going to take me well into overtime. One of the politics interest groups I'm involved in was scheduled to hold its post-election analysis panel. It was going to be in Parliament House but events including the opening of the new session of parliament meant we were going to be moved over to the grounds of QUT.

It also meant that, in order to avoid traffic issues later in the day, I opted to work at home today...and there is plenty to do: lecture writing, class prep, assignments to consider, conference papers to read, write, think. deliver...so on and so forth. 

It was probably going to be the case that pics earlier in the day were a safer bet than perhaps later in the evening given all the work that had to be done. 

Early on today, the kookas were about. How did we know? The noisy miners told us so. A few of them hung around for a while, looked a bit bored...

Haha...er, no.

...and then took off...I don't think I've managed to get a kooka in full flight before...so here it is: 

Here we go, here we go, here we go

My bromeliads are beginning to show their true colours too. I'm very excited. You'll be seeing a few of these...

Colourful riches

And then there was the rose...

Spider and Rose

...and a spider, if you look closely. Made me think of Spider and Rose. I'm pretty sure it was a movie I saw once. 

I'm not one for yawning in my backyard, there's never a dull moment. 

And the panel you ask? Brilliant, utterly brilliant. It's why I love doing what I do...no, really. I'm very lucky.

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 70-300mm, 7.17am-7.57am]

Day 82 2015: Stillness and ripples...

Day 82: ...oh, and return of a dragonfly

So at the end of a long work day, I was just waiting for a friend to finish up before we hit the long road back to Brisbane. I decided to opt for some more fading light pics but this time at a different body of water at the university. Unlike the lake which has been part of the landscape for almost as long at the university has been around, this feature, closer to the buildings, is much newer. In fact, it was constructed just last year. 

Some call it a water reticulation project, some call it a duck pond, some call it the Vice Chancellor's wa...; no, let's not go there dear reader, money and budgets are sensitive issues at work at the moment; something for the 'other' blog.

Look, it looks like a pond, sounds like a pond, must be a pond, of sorts. (Eventually some ducks arrived.) But I guess the pond life is taking its time to grow accustomed to it. That's not to say there weren't some interesting things going on there, if you looked.

Some stillness (no, dear reader, not 'stagnant'...), some ripples...

Disturbing the surface

Return of the tombo (dragonfly)

The moon in the reeds

But quite a magnificent way to end the day. Quite a few of us on social media remarked about the end of this day...

End of the day greets the night

...a little more intensely

Some days, everything else fades to grey in comparison. 



[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 6.09pm-6.23pm]

Day 81 2015: Raindrops keep falling...

Day 81: ...on my head, in the bucket, on the flowers...

When we don't have rain, we tend to complain. When we do have rain, we tend to complain. Too much, too little, ne'er a Goldilocks moment. There must be an optimal amount of rain but I never seem to find it. Or, it rains at the wrong time. Today, it poured just as I had to venture across town for another concert. It meant going through Rocklea, perhaps one of the most flash-flood prone suburbs in Brisbane. 

Anyway, I made it in the end. A fraction late for the top and tail rehearsal, but I preferred to take it steady through the weather, rather than...well, drive like all the other idiots on the road. What is it about the rain and stupid...but I digress, dear reader, this is really about rain, concerts and favourite things. It is Sunday after all.

One of the pieces we played, a Burt Bacharach medley, included 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head', most appropriate. It was good fun. 

All that rain at the venue though, and during the return trip home, limited the pic ops today. Until I got home. I'm quite enjoying the silhouette effect of the pigeons and the aerial...I'm imagining them as an 'arty' B&W series (when actually, they are neither)...you'll probably see a few of these...

Rain, flight, silhouette

...and then there was the rain, buckets-full...

Small bucket floats in large bucket

...and of course, raindrops keep falling on my frangipanis.

Presently the *only* frangipani in the garden

Raindrops work well for photos. No complaints from me.

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 5.24pm-5.29pm]

Day 80 2015: Wicked weather...

Day 80: ...wicked day turns to night

Wicked. It is a word with so many meanings. Once upon a time, it was a character trait of people at the 'not pleasant' end of the scale, like, say, a witch...no, wait, more of that shortly. 

Saturday, play day today. The 7 Stages of Grieving. Written by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman, its 20th Anniversary production. It is strong and highly recommended. Thoughtful. A monologue performed by Chenoa Deemal, fast becoming one of my favourite people to see on stage. 

The staging, the production, the set, all contributed to the incredible atmosphere of the play. The light and sound was magic. The thunder and rain sounded so...real. But wait, in fact, that part was. As we watched on, outside was turning into a flash flood moment. So flash and so flood that we were unable the leave the theatre via the foyer, but had to exit via the fire doors. Sheesh. 

So that called for a tea break nearby with friends. The rain didn't really stop. We had an idea about going to purchase tickets for the musical Wicked presently being staged in Brisbane...long story short (tl:dr) via lottery system, we ended up seeing it this evening, albeit in 'sight restricted' seats for a very discounted price. A compleat change of plan.

QPAC green and foreboding clouds

Greenness, rainness, jobs to be done

I kind of understand why everything around QPAC is looking green at the moment, right down to green drinks. And while green to me was always the colour of 'envy', it seems the young people have appropriated it to mean 'Wicked'. 

There was this...

And in the very modern manner of the movable meanings of words, I guess it means 'fantastic' now, that word wicked, for wicked was the musical. 

I hope 'Grease' is ne'er similarly appropriated though. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 5.45pm, 5.50pm, 7.47pm (before the show started)]

Day 79 2015: The planned unplanning...

Day 79: ...the serendipitous spontaneity

...of a (brief) walk in the park. But that wasn't what was supposed to happen today dear reader. Plan A was to trek up the highway to work. When I realised I'd actually get more done by staying at home, I stayed at home: Plan B. Then I realised I had an appointment across town (which I would have missed had I jumped in the car as per Plan A). 

So suddenly before 10.00am, I was already up to Plan C, which was to do some work revising and rewriting lecture material before taking off across town. Which I did, dragging my camera behind me. Well, in my bag. Since I was on public transport, I figured I might stop and take something in the city as I traversed the Queen Street Mall, all the way home. 

I was thinking a half a dozen shots at three minute intervals at a certain spot...but not really because of course, as you know dear reader, these pics are all about the unplanned, the spontaneous, the serendipitous...non?

On the return journey back through the city, I opted, for no real reason, just to get off at Roma Street train station. It's there or Central, the walk to my bus stop is about the same. It was then I realised: Roma Street Parklands...of course! Whereupon, serendipity took over...

Wall of water...we felt the heat today

Haiku in waiting I

Lotus leaf as moon crater with water feature

Who is watching the watchers...

...while they surf...we all felt the heat today

Haiku in waiting II

...all in about thirty minutes. It's enough to make me want to go back, soon. If for no other reason than to see the ibis...

...what style. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 4.22pm-4.57pm]