Hot stuff

Its going to be 38 this weekend, which is a long weekend. Oh de life... 

Ketchup anyone?

Another blast from the past. This is a shot from when we went out for a meal with John and Doug on one of their many adventures to the big schmoke. Also I wanted to see if I could alter the colors on Picassa, googles new digital imaging software. Its pretty good: http://picasa.google.com.au/ 

Best cake EVER!!!

This is the birthday cake that Jane made for me 2 years ago. It was the best cake I think I have ever had. It was a GIANT chocolate rice-crispies cake. YUM! 

Another blast from the past

Here is a shot of Jane and Doug doing some light modeling on the way back from some pub in Dublin at night time. No idea why we were all wearing shades. 

Pachelbels greatest hit...

Here is an old one from a gig we did a few months ago. A friend of Owen Kelly's (2nd violin here, rock star, does all his own stunts) was getting married last summer. Good shot of the lads John and Doug too. Coincidentally, I'm wearing the exact same clothes at work today (except for the shoes)

High risk work......

Not a job I would fancy. This guy sailed past the office a few minutes ago. 20th floor and half way up the building! 

Tim Tam Slams

Right. For those of you who have been to Oz, these will be a familiar sight. They are pretty much the same as penguin bars except not wrapped individually. They come in about 8 flavors (all variations of chocolate) and are delicious.

The tim tam slam ( a local delicacy) is when you nibble off opposite corners, dunk it in a cup of tea/coffee/cointreaux/port/wine/vodka/mintuu/rum and suck the drink up into it. Once the drink hits your lips you consume the now chocolaty and liquid filled biscuit.

It comes highly recommended! 

Sunsets in Oz

Taken on a phone-camera in a moving car, not the best quality but still a pretty amazing sunset. Something to do with the lattitude of where Perth is makes all the sunsets fantastic! 

Spot of rain...

Check this out. A view east from my office, its 39 degrees today and this storm just came out of nowhere! Its like one big wall of rain and thunder! Amazing! It rained pretty heavily at lunchtime and when it stopped it took about 2 mins for it all to evaporate off the road, you wouldnt even think it had been wet! 

Healthy Lunch....

Here is Trevor Spring and I "Dining with Colonel Harland Sanders". Yes, the 10 piece deal in KFC's on a tuesday afternoon sure is "finger lickin' good"! 

Costa del Pachelbel....

Hi guys, guess where I gigged at the weekend. It was a 2 hour outdoor marriage and reception, the ceremony took about 20 mins, we played at 3 points, start middle and end, and the reception followed which was about an hour and a half.

It was pretty hot (in the 30's I think) but we kept in the shade and there was a nice easterly breeze which kept us cool but blew the pages all over the place. If I had my boat (or Connors double bass) we could have paddled home!

Makes a big change to a 1pm Honan gig! 

Jedi Jane

Another old photo from a year ago. I got a replica lightsabre from www.iwantoneofthose.com and we all got fueled up on beer and whisky (and the force) and came back to the gaff for some Jedi modeling. 

Getting in tune...

Heres a photo I found on my camera last night from the Stephens night gig we did in cork. Tomás is doing a sterling job of getting Fin in tune. Too bad it was AFTER the gig.... 

Australian news update

Well, quite a lot to report this morning. We went to the “ballet at the quarry", last night. It is an old quarry converted into an amphitheatre where the gig is at 8pm and everyone is there from 6pm having wine and picnics and enjoying the sunset (all of which are spectacular over here) then the show starts. Last night was 4 performances, one classical, two contemporary (weird) and one neo-classical (cool). All were performed under some stage lighting but mainly moonlight as it was a clear night.

While we were there my phone was off, when I turned it on there were a few messages conveying the following:

* Granted 4 year working VISA
* Granted mortgage approval by the bank
* Our offer on the new house had been accepted

All pretty exciting stuff! The new house has 2 bedrooms, a lounge, a bar! a new chefs kitchen with ample eating area, gleaming timber floors, a really nice bar, large outdoor alfresco area, its own bar, a water feature in the back garden, white picket fence in the front garden, a bar, a utility room, study and did i mention it had its own bar?

Not sure how long this link will last so get it while its going: http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&s=wa&c=750222&tm=1140045973&id=102963356&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&snf=rbs&ag=&cu=&fmt=&header=

Well, that all happened very fast!

So anyone who feels like visiting, the guest room is right next to the bar and there will be plenty of cool ones in the chiller (as a result of the crippling mortgage we wont be spending much time in the actual pub...) ;)

If I was on southpark...

Says it all................. 

The Ozzie lifestyle

Well, this pretty much sums it up. Taking it easy in the shade is what Australia is all about. These guys are in no hurry anywhere! 

Express beer..

OK guys, I know your not going to believe this. In Australia, not only do they have drive through off licence's (bottle shops) but this one has an express lane AND a browsing lane, for the driver who is not sure just exactly how thirsty he is and who is also too lazy to step out of the car!

Another day another dolla.....BEER

Well, this is a snapshot of my desk. All a working Irishman in Perth needs. A phone, a PC, a map of Western Australia and a bottle of beer. All in a days work. Have a great weekend everybody, im outtahere! 

Cycling route part 2

OK. This is a view from the revolving resterant at the top of my building, and the red circle is highlighting the foodbridge which you can see in in the middle of this photo on a previous thread: http://violacharlie.blogspot.com/2006/01/my-cycling-route-in-mornings.html So its pretty cool, I can see my house from my desk. All i need now is a cable-car system and I'm sorted! 

Lunchtime....

I found this building around the corner from where I work. Its called the Swan Bells, because it look s like a swan (after Perth’s main river the Swan river) and its also a bell tower containing bells from St Martin in the Fields in London dating back to the 15th century. I had lunch in an Indian place right behind it, where you can have as much food as you like and afterwards you don’t pay, you "donate" whatever you feel the food was worth. Fantastic concept, I guess they have never met the bottomless pit of a belly that is Paul Frost! 

Johnnie Walker Classic

Did a gig last night for the Johnnie Walker Classic golf tour which is on in Perth this week. Nice gig, just the usual background stuff. Apologies for the photo quality, its a picture of a picture taken on a cameraphone. Also, this gig was 2 buildings away from where I work making it the shortest distance I have had to travel to get to a gig after work by about 50 yards. 

Kangaroo hunt continues

I have yet to see the real thing as I have not left the city since i arrived really, but I did find this trio of bouncing dudes yesterday on the way to my gig. 

A rough idea of scale...

For all the folk who are thinking about travelling around Australia, here is a rough idea of the sheer size of the place. Perth is a few hundred km south of dingle here, and sydney is over there by Kiev in Ukraine, which works out as a 4100km 48 hour drive or a 5 hour flight! 

Culinary Investigations part 2.....

Went gigging for the weekend with these people http://www.tresclassique.com.au/ All trio work over here, very few quartet gigs so I was DEMOTED from viola to violin for the weekend. After Sundays wedding fair they took Jane and I out for food. This intestine porridge was one of the specials....... To be safe, I just had the chicken again. Note its name is chew long? Coincidence? 

Polly wants a cracke...eh...BEER

A regular sight on the streets of Perth, a wandering pale white Irishman, bottle of wine over the shoulder, in search of fine food (dont have to look very far in Perth!)