UPDATE: We have received photos of the mayhem in Civic last night and this morning via email from an anonymous photographer. They’ve been added to the above gallery. If the photographer would like credit, please contact us.
UPDATE 2: Some more photos have been added to this gallery, some of which are.. not safe for work, involving nudity (male, sorry guys) and gratuitous snow-angel activity.
Seen in Civic this morning while surveying the hail damage, one of the Mario Brothers, possibly Luigi.
Canberra’s week of bizarre tropical weather, with thunderstorms every night for a week and green grass threatening to erupt even on our front dirt patch, reached its climax tonight with a hail storm of epic proportions. Back in 2005 I posted some pictures of a weird hail storm here in Canberra. Tonight’s effort beats that one hands down, if not in the intricacy of the shaping of the stones, then definitely in its ferocity and duration and the volume of material that was left behind.
21/05/05
Hi P-
It is Saturday. You wouldn’t believe who came & visited me today. K-! Yeah! You should have seen the look on my face. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I said ‘What are you doing here, woman? What do you want?’ She said ‘I just found out, from Dad, that you were here. He asked me to come & see how you were.’
We sat & talked for about an hour. Mum is getting remarried (to one of K-’s ex-boyfriends) & P- has disappeared somewhere in QLD. No-one has heard from him in months. K- thinks he may be in gaol up there. Even J- (his girlfriend) doesn’t know where he is. He might have been tapped because (as K- says) he has gotten into crystal meth & owes a lot of money to some pretty bad guys (couldn’t be that lucky).
This article has nothing at all to do with the ‘withdrawal’ method of contraception.
Dick Cheney, when asked whether Australia pulling its troops out of Iraq, as per Labor Party policy, would damage Australia’s relationship with America, replied ‘I don’t see any prospect of damage to the alliance‘. Did he mean that it’d be OK if we pulled our troops out, or that he doesn’t think we’d be so silly?
Regardless, and playing to the Teledemographic audience, Kevin Rudd is overjoyed. Meanwhile John Howard struggles to reinterpret it as a bit of diplomatic cuteness on Cheney’s behalf. The unspoken inference is that if he doesn’t follow his instructions to the letter, Dick will kick his arse, all our arses, to Kingdom Come. But how much truth is there in that?
Is America really such a bully that they would punish an ally, a mature democratic capitalist nation, for a policy difference on an issue which is already the site of much contention in US domestic politics?
Present: John Griffiths, Jim Boots, Gertrude
Absent: Kandy A (squash)
This week we have the pleasure of meeting Harii Bandhu and his musical accomplices, Jason (bass) and Charlotte (cello). They record four tracks live (track list below). Also present is Vladimir who video-documents proceedings.
Today we bear the sad news that Ali Parraga, pictured above dancing to Cicilia Kemezys’ flute, passed away yesterday morning. Many will recall Ali as the ‘Silver Man’ who busked in Civic for many a year. Attendees at January’s Backyard Backanalia will recall his performance with greater poignancy I’m sure, knowing, as we now do, that it was his last.
With a name like the Coffee Club you would want to make a good coffee; which they do with tables on the battlements, the Canberra Centre and, yes, ashtrays. The place has a commercial fitout that is daggy but reminiscent of early espresso bars in Canberra which saves it. Don’t be fooled by the humble barista, this coffee is wicked. Coffee Bitch tried hard to find fault with the brew, and remains defeated. Strong character, fresh, and gentle on the milk. Maybe I could catch them on an off day.
The old galleries of music pictures have been re-installed in the new gallery format and can be accessed from here along with a totally new gallery (#4).
Click to see Bandpics #4
Hullo,
What an interesting week I had. As you already know I have been attending many different places and meeting the most amazing people. One of the places I attended was the court house and believes you me this encounter was the scariest. At the court there was lots of people who had employed different tactics in order to appease the judge who I think was a very nice man. I tried very unsuccessfully to mention my viewpoint and as a result I think the onus of responsibility was not shared with anyone else and as a result I have to live as a saint for the next two years.
Here is Senator Garry Humphries’ office in downtown Canberra yesterday. Looks pretty normal. But wait, what is that sign in the bottom right-hand corner?
Dear Loadedog,
Thank you for your email to Senator Stott Despoja, and this invitation.
Unfortunately, the Senator is not in a position to take part in your
podcast show in the near future.
Kind regards,
R- H-
Media Adviser
19/05/05
G’day M-
How are things with you? Have you gotten over the flu yet? How is T-? Give her a pat for me, will you, please. So, four weeks have gone by and I’m feeling better now. I was a little distraught the first few weeks but since P-, M-, S-, G- & S-’s son – K- came to visit last weekend I have a new lease on life.
I am onto my eighth cellmate now after I moved cells with another bloke. His name is D-. He is one of my better cellies. He has an I.Q. higher than his shoe size (which is 11). It’s good to actually talk to someone, in here, without explaining what I am talking about. Anyway, P- has probably told you (or letter you read) about my last three weeks so I won’t go into detail about any of that.
Subtitle: Ten unconnected and possibly contradictory paragraphs about Tropfest ’07.
Tropfest again, and again with the bigger and the brighter and the more glamorous sponsors and the further that the authorities will go to pander to an event that has eaten itself, a monstrous giant with an audience demographic averaging 25 years of age, many with an interest in new technology such as Sony makes.
