Sunday, February 9

[]

A sodium lamp in the sky at dusk
its colour merges gracefully
suspended in a bleeding gradation, hovering without effort
anchored by a stem of steel
it mocks the falling sun, holding earth in half-light
or perhaps expresses sympathy
in a pale imitation of something more luminous
a reminder of times gone by.

A passenger jet climbs above the clouds one morning
its course set for the sun, finds an early revelation:
a white sea lies beneath an orange sky
its waters tempestuous, translucent
closer inspection reveals static waves
on which nothing will float, in which nothing can drown.
Just as night smothers the street lamp
a rising star disposes of this fleeting world.

posted by pete at 3:24 PM .......

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Friday, February 7

[Red and green]

Strawberries and fresh basil. As unlikely as this combination would seem, it is surprisingly good. Who would have known, without the educative prowess of one ABC Delicious – Wicked cookbook? Very fresh-tasting, kind of like a peppermint substitute or something, obviously nothing minty about it though. Erk, I think I'm rambling.

posted by pete at 9:49 AM .......

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Thursday, February 6

[Rox on]

Haven't the Roxy Squad been out in force lately? They've made their presence known on the streets with an indelible mark of bright pink. These young girls get dressed up to the nines in their matching Roxy hotpants and striped Roxy shirts, maybe completing the outfit with a Roxy military-style jacket with sewn on badges of the Roxy logo and other Paul Frank-like Roxy creations. Let's not forget the head-scarves.

I loved spotting them at the Big Day Out; their blaze of tangerine, lime green and matching sunglasses was redolent of the fruits of Summer. "Shouldn't you be in school?", I wondered pensively. Oh, if only all of life could be as simple as Roxy's season of identity marking and youth uniting clothes for the fun and zany young girls of our times.

posted by pete at 12:17 PM .......

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Wednesday, February 5

[Two tone]

I'm still reeling from the explosion of richness that was Trish's white chocolate cheesecake. Verily it was an assimilation of ample white chocolate, mascarpone and other dairy delights all supported on a very worthy base of crushed Digestives. Over and above it all cascaded the requisite river of chocolate ganache. How delicious.

The white chocolate content recalls the muffin which sustained me on my flight home from Melbourne this morning. It was a raspberry and white chocolate variety, and in an increasingly rare display of quality, it truly was delicious. Did I detect some almond meal? Perhaps.

We have been witnessing the degradation of the muffin in recent years, particularly because of the tendency to produce them in industrial proportions. The result is an enlarged, artificially shaped cake, with very few muffin-like qualities whatsoever.

I would argue that muffins need not be enormous, and should have a very 'rough and ready' texture and appearance. Seriously, the mixture should only be stirred about twice; none of this hyper-production thankyou very much. If I wanted a cake I would order a huge big wedge.

posted by pete at 10:00 PM .......

[Corporate]

You could have been forgiven for thinking it was a festival of middle-aged suits on the plane this morning. I avoided all eye content while trying to stay alive by forcing myself to breathe the soupy cologne-drenched air (which was further polluted by the stench of conformist boredom). Mind you don't spill anything on my patent leather shoes. I could tell that the man sitting next to me was a talker, and I'm sorry but at 8:15am in an airborne version of Wall Street I'm just not interested. It was the last straw when I overheard him going on about conspiracy theories with another passenger. Luckily I slept most of the way.

posted by pete at 9:57 PM .......

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Tuesday, February 4

[Stitch]

The lunchtime 30+ male shirtless jogger: might it be a phenomenon all the world over? What do they think they are doing? Jogging around town in loose parachute shorts and if you're lucky a singlet, but more often than not bare chested with nipples bouncing up and down on a sea of post-peak flab. Bald spots on the back of their heads mirror the sheen from the shoulders, like the collector point atop an array of solar reflectors. Huge sweat patches gradually spread like a tectonic drift, and reddened faces gasp for air that doesn't flow quickly enough.

All a bit offputting if you ask me.

I particularly love seeing all the Corporate Cup participants, and recognising my place in such an event. There are the uniformed ones out the front who run with grim determination, and have probably been in training for the last four months. That's not me. There are the ones who are into the idea of health and jog intermittently as best they can, with short bursts followed by quick breaks. That's not me. There are the event-oriented ones who want to encourage teamwork and who wouldn't dream of letting the side down. "Come on Jennifer, we're nearly there! That's the spirit Gary!" they shout, as correctly completed sponsorship forms fly from their hands like a flock of paper cranes. That's not me. Then there are those who just walk in their office wear, avoiding the sun as much as possible and generally just enjoying the opportunity to get out of the office and have a good chat. That's nearly me, but not quite.

No, the ones who most approximate me are those who quickly duck down a side street when nobody's looking and dash into the nearest air-conditioned coffee shop to spend the hour with caffeine, perhaps a bit of light lunch and comfort. That's me.

Oh, last night I attended a lesbian pool competition. I was half of the two-person cheer-squad for my friend. Windows into other lives... so interesting. I think I'll publish my blog now.

posted by pete at 1:21 PM .......

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Monday, February 3

[Melbourne]

Being a stickler for consistency, I'm going to write about Melbourne in the travel section, even though I practically live here.

posted by pete at 11:59 AM .......

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