the birm*

“When everything is said and done

There’ll be nothing left to say or do”

Roger McGough

I love this quote by Carrie Cash (Johnny Cash’s mum), it’s cute and profound at the same time…

“God is the Father of Mother Nature”

45ft…

I was coming down from the hospital through Jeso park yesterday (after visiting a student who has snapped his femur badly landing a 6m double on a quad) and showed a mate the huge double that is built on top of the ridge (the committing, over the broken tree, ramp take off one). The track after it has been extended with more right angled burms and smaller (still quite committing) doubles. 2 blokes were there with their full face helmets and SERIOUS downhill bikes (the bloke I spoke to had a huge KONA with more travel than a sales rep). They were working on a drop: the launch pad was flat and just went horizontal. There as a 10-15m gap and then the landing area (which was being worked on). The vertical drop was only 3-4 m but it was soooooo long. There’s some serious work going on in there! I look forward to seeing some riders ride this track from top to bottom…

Memories are all we have…

People grow old and die, buildings fade and crumble. The modern, sterile and wonderful replaces the historical, meaningful and beautiful.

In answer to your question, Moj, the Regal, that old neighbourhood cinema in the birm with its small theatre, old rickety seats, pre-war décor, velvet curtains and friendly projectionist, will be no more at the end of this year. The lease has run out, renovations need to be made…the usual story. While the “owner” (or at least the faithful man who ran the place for the last 100 years) would love to see it stay open, developers have other plans. As always, money is the issue. It’s a pity that this neighbourhood, or even city, icon where movies were cheap and often classic, foreign or straight out weird, may be soon but a memory. The birm and the birm* (along with anyone who ever set foot there) will be forever missing something…

Gone for good.

Well I know I wrote a post called the boar is no more but it has now been taken away for good. I finally got through to the people who crashed into me and got some details. They do not have insurance, so my company took care of it. A guy came round, looked at the car, asked me if I wanted to keep it (to which I said I didn’t) and then told me it was a write off. The result is that they gave me market value for it: $1250, which is what I paid for it. So it all worked out well in the end, except that I am now car-less…

Please don’t get me wrong!

I love reading your comments and I love commenting on other people’s blogs. But bum! Due to the server or the firewall or something I can’t access comments. I do, however, still read your blogs and love reading your feedback (which I get emailed to me). sorry about the lack of replies for now…

They still had morals in the 50’s…

Well Adski was in town (briefly) last night to finish packing his stuff and cleaning his room up. I rode in to town, admired God’s amazing artwork (the sun setting, storm clouds over wild seas, millions of colours, sounds, the wind…) and met up with him (Adski) at the Royal Exchange. We watched an old Italian movie from the 50’s “I Vitelloni” by Federico Fellini. I thought twas great. It all seemed so fast (due to the Italian) but it wasn’t hard to follow and the story was pretty good (kind of expected, but relevant). Moj, if you’re reading this, go see it (I imagine you already have…). Adam then caught a bus to Jeso and I rode home (the fastest I’ve ridden home from town, ever!). Catch ya in Sydney next time Adam…for hopefully a bit longer!

Is it just a problem with mine or have everyone else’s blogs not been able to put up photos lately?

It’s all relative…

Isn’t it weird how the price of things dictates what a good deal is and what is not. Toilet paper for example. For years, in Australia, we’ve been able to get good stuff (not the best, but definitely good quality tough and soft stuff) for an average of 50c a roll. There is no way that I will pay more than 50c a roll, since I know it’s “the going rate” (this is ok cause the good stuff is always on sale for that price). The thing is, if toilet paper had always been 75c a roll, then anything above that I would consider expensive…and so it goes for many products.

Juice has to be less than $1/L, milk about $1/L, pizzas $5, chocolate $2/250g, “rich tea biscuits” $1.29/packet and so on. It’s all relative and the rule is: you can’t compare between products or between bargains (especially between “staple” type items and “luxury” type ones)…

“What is this guy on?” I hear you asking…well this whole post sprouted from a thought that hit me when I realised that the current toilet paper we’re using is higher quality than what we’ve been used to (but it was on sale at less than 50c/roll, which is why we bought it) and that I’d actually consider paying retail and getting out the extra few cents/roll cause it has been a pleasure to use and has lasted longer than usual…

Terrifying.

I looked at the radar before leaving school and it was red and black: very heavy storm, coming our way. I pedalled home as quick as possible. When I got home I got Cam’s washing off the line and there was this weird rushing sound. It lasted about 4 minutes and got louder and louder. I went to get a banana ice cream out of the freezer and went to observe on the front step. The rushing sound turned into a clanging, banging sound. It was deafening.

Suddenly golf-ball size ice blocks were hitting roofs, cars and concrete with an amazing smashing noise. I had to retreat inside, as the powerful and violent smashing of ice was sending shrapnel all over the shop (including my way). My car was getting shredded (which is cool) and so were all my neighbours’ new cars. I hoped anyone walking had shelter, as there would have been casualties…

This was truly the most amazing hail storm I have ever witnessed. The sheer size, power, danger, speed, force and violence was terrifying. I kept some of the golf balls in the freezer for kicks and put one in Doorbell’s soda water that night. Tasty!