Irreverently irrelevant.
Sysadmin, developer, web dude in a science research organisation. WordPress, Japan, planes, trains, Arduino, Raspberry Pi/Pico, puns, dad jokes, etc
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Puff Piece
Melbourne is supposed to be a foodies’ paradise, but what would be open on Good Friday? We walk along the south bank of the Yarra from our hotel until the Princes Bridge. Past the casino and the celebrity chef restaurants that exist outside our price range. Crossing the Yarra, we head to Federation Square where…
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City views
I gripped the steering wheel tightly and swore. “I told you I didn’t want to drive in the city, but you guys insisted!” I’ve just missed the turn to the hotel, after previously being stuck on parts of the motorway that the November 2021 GPS update doesn’t know and now I have to go on…
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Barwon Heads
I’ll be sad to leave Barwon Heads tomorrow. I feel like I could stay here a lot longer. Doing very little and enjoying it. We take a long walk down the main street, past beach houses old and new and wooden churches with large gardens stopping by shops run by ladies with posh sophisticated accents…
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Ozone layers
The city across the bay is so far away it might be another world, as unreachable as your past. Yet here I am reliving a childhood of escaping that city for the peace of Bellarine. I’m not certain I ever visited Portarlington, but it is now part of our story. We are back to buy…
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A study in grey
The distant skyscrapers of Melbourne city float like ghostly silhouettes against a pale grey sky over the dark grey waters of Port Phillip Bay, an even darker line at the horizon separating sea and sky. A fast catamaran ferry cuts through the water, heading from the Portarlington jetty, where we stand, to the city, a…
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Church bells, jelly slices and ice cream
Dong. Dong. Dong. And four more. St Paul’s Church across the road provides a Sunday morning wake up alarm whether we like it or not. For me, not. I had a headachy night with weird dreams. First thing I do when I get up is take a covid rapid antigen test (negative). Eight chimes and…
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South Easter
The Hume Highway is far too familiar now. After Jetstar cancelled our Easter school holiday flights to Japan (the country has not yet reopened to tourists) we eventually chose just to drive south. For the third time this year, under grey showery skies, I drive the Mazda 6 down along the M5 and on to…
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John Williams Birthday Bash Part 3
After a good night’s sleep it is time to head back to Sydney and home. It’s already a quarter to ten by the time I exit the hotel and carpark. I set the music to John Williams’ complete score to the original three Star Wars movies. Being a Sunday, the traffic is relatively light and…
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John Williams Birthday Bash Part 2
There is something about the summer air in Victoria, especially in the mornings. Fresh and invigorating without the mind sapping humidity of the north. I am in no great rush to leave Beechworth as my hotel in Melbourne would not be ready until the afternoon. I visit the bakery for more snacks and the grocer…
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John Williams Birthday Bash Part 1
This week marked film composer John Williams’ 90th birthday. You know him from the music to Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET and much, much more, including the Olympics and the nightly news. It seems like every Australian state capital – but Sydney – is marking the occasion with a concert. I had…