Shane.Blamer's blogspot

Bundoora Park (Day 17) NYE with H in Reservoir. Her dark mofo friends were down from Sydney. We played their combined playlist of mostly metal, had beers and vegan snacks, and stayed up very late like 4am. I met her greyhounds finally. When i arrived they were very curious, and pleasingly quiet and gentle. What also surprised me was how well behaved they were with all the food out on the table (the 8 or so of us were sitting around). They stood at a relaxed distance, looking, sniffing a little bit. They sort out attention from us all throughout the night. If i was patting one then the other would squeeze in between us. After a bit they would get bored of the attention and wander off to go lie down - on their giant square mat. Curled up like inside an egg.

Astor Theatre (Day 16) Blade Runner double-feature with L. We saw the Final Cut edition, followed by the sequel called Blade Runner 2049. The original film was much better than I remember; whereas the sequel much worse. I felt the villian in 2049 was too cartoonish - although the film's visuals are still impressive & some sequences are very classy. Beforehand, we had Japanese for dinner in Chapel Street. It was casual on-the-street dining, which is my favourite. And the most delicious Japanese dishes i've eaten. Pricey, but worth it. I lent her The Island of Doctor Moreau, which she will take to read in Sri Lanka. I thought it was interesting enough, inventive but not great.

Forager's Drop  (Day 15) Mitcham bar. This is not my book - although it could be. You can imagine my surprise to find it. I've been taking photos for my Adventures of Hi-Vis Duck  project for more than 2 years. A little yellow duck rides around in my jeans change-pocket every day. I take photos wherever i am and upload them to that tumblr website. However, mine doesn't wear a Santa hat. Unlike this book i found, i don't try to think of puns to accompany my duck photographs. That's intentional because for my earlier similar project ( Hi-Vis Man ) the finding of puns became a limiting factor. I took many photos of him i didn't use because i couldn't come up with a clever pun. I'm not planning on making my Adventure photos into a physical book. Although, i have done  a previous mini photography project  that has ended up in book form . Since these little yellow ducks have become a bit too common, i've decided to launch  Hi-Vis Frog 🐸 In t...

Box Hill  (Day 14) Wurundjeri Walk Trail, Orchard Grove Reserve. I picked a coffee shop for breakfast "sight unseen" by looking at google maps. It was close to a green wedge that I wanted to walk and explore. Just me by myself. Somewhat surprisely, the café was inside a bookstore - which i've seen done elsewhere. My coffee was put on my table with a Bible quote. I noticed the titles of the books were things like Learning Evolution With Jesus. (That title i've made up but you get the idea.) About then I felt relieved that i hadn't brought a date. But the coffee and vegetarian quiche were quite good. My walk was nice enough and i took a few photos. I expect i won't go back to that trail often. I was hoping to see more bird species than i saw. Then i went on a mission to find the Box Hill house where my Dad's parents lived (the house he grew up in). And the Blackburn house where my Mum's parents lived (where she grew up). I had been meaning to...

Edinborough Castle Hotel  (Day 13) Sydney Rd, Brunswick. For C's birthday, everybody was in a good mood. The older folks were on a long table inside. They were supposed to leave after dinner and before the "younger" generation (the 40 year-olds) started arriving - at various levels of inebriation.  Lots of familiar faces. Mostly musicians that i've seen play many times. I wrote down the names of some recommended Celiac restaurants. I was complemented on what i was wearing: A denim vest worn over a black longsleeve (black flared jeans, cowboy boots). Happy to see James Tiger too. At the outdoor tables, I heard war stories from teachers (Irish musicians) about "kids these days", their phones, and being online all the time. I'm not a parent, but i'm pretty sure these digital kids will be fine. I met C's friend-for-the-longest-time L, who shares the same name as my sister. And the same job description. And some other biographical coincidences too. Sh...