Sunday, January 28, 2018

Plants, plants, plants

Clearly indoor plants have become a 'thing'.

I was wandering around Collingwood yesterday and saw a young lady with two big pot plants under each arm. Less than a block away, three people were walking along the street, each carrying a plant.

I later made my way to the Fitzroy nursery on Brunswick Street and I've never seen it so busy. I could barely move inside the shop.

And it seems that this obsession with plants, driven by young hipster types, has led to plant shops stocking all kinds of rare and wonderful plants that I had previously only ever seen in specialty nurseries. Needing a Nepenthes? Pining for a Pilea? Or desiring a Dischidia? Not a problem. All are available at the local nursery.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Banksias for Australia Day

A nod to Australia Day. Some lovely banksias for the dining table.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Train in the heat

It reached the low 40s late last week. Our rail system doesn't cope too well at those temperatures and trains are required to run at a reduced speed due. I was catching a train back into the city in the afternoon and it was moving at a glacial pace. And then it suddenly stopped. There was a signalling fault and the driver announced that he had no idea how long we'd have to wait.

Hmmm...should I stay in the air conditioned carriage or try to figure out another way to get home. I opted for the latter. The crowd waiting at the nearby tram stop ruled out the tram option. I decided to walk to the next station, which is a major stop for several train lines.

It was a hot walk in the searing heat. I was thinking about that poor gay American tourist who passed away on the Larapinta Trail earlier this month. People actually die at these temperatures. I decided to walk in the shade. Of course, several hundred meters from the next train stop, I see the signalling fault must have been fixed as my train slowly passed.  Dammit.

I eventually reached the next station. Getting back inside another air conditioned carriage was the best feeling in the world!

Monday, January 22, 2018

Cost benefit analysis

I came across this headline on a news website.
I'm thinking no big deal. I'd put up with a tapeworm if it means getting to eat sushi everyday.

Sunday, January 21, 2018

The scary dumpling experience

Nathan and I went to a dumpling restaurant with some of his work colleagues last night.

The food was ok; nothing to rave about. Anyhow, as we were tucking into our meal, there was suddenly a great deal of commotion coming from the kitchen counter. There was loud shouting and banging of kitchen benches. One of the waiters and a chef was having a massive argument.  The waiter was being held back by a colleague to stop him from punching the chef.

All the diners were staring.

I intuitively started looking for the nearest exit...just in case someone decided to grab a meat cleaver (it does happen from time to time).

National Gallery of Victoria

I went to the National Gallery of Victoria at Fed Square yesterday to check out a couple of new exhibitions.

One of the giant paper sculptures in the Louise Paramor exhibition. I really love her work. They were colourful, fun and meandering around the giant sculptures made me feel like a kid.
 I also spent some time at the Del Kathryn Barton exhibition. This exhibition came with a graphic content warning (There were lots of breasts and penises on display).






Sunday, January 14, 2018

Mantis shrimp

I went to the Queen Vic markets yesterday with the intention of getting some seafood.

To my surprise, one of the vendors had these for sale (albeit a less colourful variety than the one in the picture):
The creatures are called mantis shrimp, so named because they have appendages that resemble the arms of the praying mantis. They use these appendages to strike at their prey (such as crabs) with such force that mantis shrimp are even capable of smashing glass. Disconcertingly, they are also known by another name: 'thumb splitter'.

Needless to say, I couldn't resit the temptation of giving the thumb splitters a try and bought a few to cook up for my Saturday lunch. They were super tasty.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

More fluoro flowers

This week's addition to the dining table...