Enmore

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Photograph of purple knickers blown into a corner

For some reason, the purple knickers (which I wrote about last month and the other day) are now wedged in the side of a garage door.

Photograph of purple knickers after more time in the weather

Due to popular demand, here’s a new photo of the abandoned women’s knickers I wrote about last week.

As you can see, they’ve been swept to the side of the laneway by passing traffic and, perhaps, the wind. And they’ve started to intermingle with dried leaves and other detritus.

I took the photo this afternoon. I’ve declined Cassie ST’s suggestion that I wear them on my head.

Photograph of purple knickers discarded in an Enmore laneway

A pair of purple women’s knickers lies discarded in a laneway in Enmore, Sydney. “There you go,” I say. “Give ‘em a wash and you’re right!”

“Ewwww!” is the reply. But why? If the knickers are washed, then they’re clean. Can there possibly be anything worse on these “found” knickers that isn’t already in, say, a 3-year-old’s poo-filled pants — which likewise get washed and worn again? In with the rest of your washing, no less!

Photograph of tree fern from above

A few days of solid rain, and our tree fern is looking remarkably healthy. Even when photographed with the pimple-cam.

Photograph of Porsche 2400 Turbo hand dryer, with an image of a kangaroo and an emu drying their hands

This just has to be the classiest allusion to the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia ever, no?

This image is printed on the front of the Porsche 2400 Turbo hand dryer, as seen in the men’s toilet at the Cyprus Community Club here in Sydney. And it is truly beautiful, don’t you think?

The kangaroo holding out its paws to dry is such a subtle indication that (a) we’re looking at a hand dryer and (b) it’s made in Australia.

And the emu! Does it feel envious of the roo, unable to present hands at all? Or does it smirk in quiet self-satisfaction, happy in the knowledge that it has feathers?

Photograph of snails

I was shocked. Early this morning every single agapanthus plant in our back yard was covered in snails. They’d climbed up onto the leaves — and they were having sex.

Hundreds and hundreds of snails engaged in a filthy hermaphroditic bisexual snail orgy!

I raced inside to get a camera. I couldn’t find The Good Camera quickly enough, so I grabbed my phone.

But the forecast is for a 34C maximum today — in October! The sun was rising, and so was the temperature. The snails were retreating.

I only had time to grab a quick, blurry image of this pair (pictured), going their separate ways after a morning of debauchery. Sluts.

Close-up photograph of fabric pattern on flannelette shirtIt’s 8am, a crisp winter morning. 11C outside. I drag a battered flannelette shirt over my t-shirt — a shirt that’s now 12 years old, I remember.

I bought it at Gowings when I first came to Sydney, and it’s still wearable, more or less. Where will I buy everyday clothes now that Gowings is gone?

The shirt smells of smoke. Why is that?

It’s not the acrid stench of cigarette smoke, but the dusty odour of burnt wood. Eucalyptus. A bushfire? Ah, no, I remember now. Sitting by the open fireplace at The Duke Hotel… red wine… the memories flood back as the coffee kicks in…

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Spammer in the Works

Rebellious stencil art found yesterday afternoon in Pemell Lane, Enmore. “Don’t be a cog in the machine, be a spanner in the works.”

Sample image from Anywhere ChairsIt’s done! ’Pong has completed his short film Anywhere Chairs, which he made as part of the Sydney Songlines project. You have to put up with my narration, I’m afraid.

(I wrote about this project when he started it and when I found myself discussing the motivations of a chair. I should have also written about how all-consuming it’s been for the last few weeks!)

Interesting Geekfacts: The whole film was shot on a Nokia N90, one of the first Nseries “multimedia” phones (2 megapixels from a Carl Zeiss pimple-lens). Post-production was in iMovie HD 6 and GarageBand 3. It was converted to Flash Video for the web using ffmpegx.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my very great pleasure tonight to announce the recipient of the Inaugural Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Award for Language Mutilation.

Photo of real estate sign reading: Well appointed medium size studio apartment Situated in a quiet enclave in Enmore. This studio apartment offers a new canvass awning over the balcony, Chardonnay cool with a south-easterly view over terra cotta rooftops. Lounge and meals area, good size kitchen & bathroom

This award is named in honour of the late Paul Johnstone of Redbridge in England, who was cited by author Douglas Adams as writing the worst poetry in the entire universe. This award isn’t about poetry, however. It’s about Language. Language — and especially the abuse of language — in all its glory.

Of the many things which make us human, Language is one of the most important. Language binds our society together. Language, some even say, is what allows us to think rational thoughts.

Photograph of Claudia Mendez

So when people use Language badly, when Language is abused in order to mislead, to corrupt, to baffle or to sell a product, we shouldn’t ignore it. We should stand it on a pedestal, call up the author, point to them and say in a loud voice, “This person is destroying the very meaning of humanity.”

With this in mind, I’ve chosen as the recipient of the Inaugural Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Award a representative of a profession — if I may call it that — which is renown the world over for misleading language, namely, a real estate agent.

Ladies and gentlemen, would you please put your hands together for Claudia Mendez (pictured right), of Laing+Simmons, Newtown.

Now as Claudia is making her way to the stage, I’d like to say a few words about my choice, and take a look at her work…

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