Part I
Another fantastic weekend in Brisbane has just passed by. Another swag of photos dumped on my hard drive. Another disappointing browse as I find that half the pics haven't turned out because the camera doesn't like taking night pictures even though it has a flash. This is soooooooooo frustrating. I can see that
I'm going to have to buy a much better camera. While this one is good for day pics, poor quality video with sound, as a
web cam and even a motion sensor, as soon as you try and make it function in less than good light,
visibility drops dramatically. Bummer dude.
I should quit with the photo taking for a while though. I must be getting pretty annoying with my constant happy-snapping of everything that appeals to me. I'm probably secretly known as the Caucasian Asian or something.
Friday night was grood (great and good for all you non-TGS
fans) even though I was running late by about an hour and a half by the time I
got to Brisbane. A busy day was the cause. Mostly I just can't say no if someone
needs my help on something. Even if I am already late or being late will be a
consequence of me helping someone out. So long as I'm not late for work, my
wedding and the birth of any of my children, if the latter two ever happen, I
guess I'll be ok. I hope :-/.
I
picked up some funky artwork at my first port of call in Brisbane. The artist's
(Jamie Brown) house was FULL of awesome works that he seems to have recently
completed. I almost felt like I was buying the dregs of the lot as I was shown
around his house to check out all of his creations. Mine obviously didn't have
as much thought put into it as the rest of the stuff there, hence the cheaper
price tag. He had all kinds of psychedelic images around the place. Some
inspired by real-life history and some by H.R Geiger. All were painted by brush
and spray can with bright, vibrant colours. It's great to see him making some
moolah from his art instead of being hauled into the local magistrates court for
putting it on the side of a train carriage. I spotted my piece in Fat Boy's,
next to Ric's in the Valley Mall where he still has some pieces displayed
upstairs. He told me there was a gallery showing coming up soon and assured that
he would let me know of the details as soon as they were concrete. I'll pass
them on when I find out about it. You all should check his work out, one way or
another.
Then I was off to Magnum
on Ann Street, Fortitude Valley for some eats and socialising. The eats were
crapola but the drinks were well priced ($5.50 Boags anyone?) and the company
was fantastic. The atmosphere was pretty good too, aided by the fact that
swinging jazz band "The Brand New Sweeties" were playing downstairs. I
had assumed by the name of the place that it would be another repulsive American
Sports Bar. Not long after walking through the door, I realised I was wrong.
Only the food sucked. Teegs and Varns
had organised this little get-together, but I suggested that we try for some
Karaoke after dinner. So began the adventure....
With a big list of venues
in hand, we set off to try and entertain ourselves. And try we did. Most places
we attempted to go to were actually karaoke booths and we wanted total strangers
laughing and ridiculing us as we sang. Not just our friends. We tried The
Shamrock on the Five Ways as a last resort but quickly ejected ourselves due to
us all being under the apparent 'unspoken' age limit of 40 and the mass amounts
of cigarette smoke in the air. It was then decided to try for a gig. Epicure
were playing for free at Ric's
so we tried there. No luck. Packed like a tin of sardines. How about settling
for coffee at Fat Boy's next door? NO WORRIES! Crazy loud stoner chick was there
again as usual, serving coffee. I managed to totally avoid her this time. She
managed to notice Natho though. She thinks he's the beat-boxing guy from
Australian Idol and has to be reminded every time we see her that he's not. Got
to love the short-term memory of a stoner. The night started with about 6
people, but we left Fat Boy's with about 12, and apart from the ordinary food
and Rocco's car being broken in to, it was all good.
Continued...