Phyllis fun

Ok, I don't want to make it hard for young lovers or maybe they are truly just great friends who sleep in the same bed and natter away constantly. I will call the friend of Phyllis, Kosov because it is close to his name but sounds a bit old Eastern European, thus disguising his south Indian identity. Putting my firm foot down with a hard hand and before my goat gets up my nose, did not work. Kosov is beguiling and it was difficult to say no to him when he asked if he could stay a third night this weekend past. I am quite happy for him to stay, but that wasn't the agreement I entered into with Phyllis. It is all about fairness.

I have decided if Kosov stays the night, the cost each night will be $20. I've also told him he can stay one night a week. The cost to me is minimal, a little extra hot water when he showers, (actually rather a lot of hot water when he showers. He must be a very dirty boi). I have a suspicion that some of his clothes have been washed here too. But just his presence here has an impact, as they are both in the kitchen cooking away and chatting to each other while I am a couple of metres away here at my desk and trying to concentrate.

Kosov spent over half an hour sitting on the floor grinding spices with a mortar and pestle. Why? There are shops to buy such things already ground. But he was clearly enjoying himself as he ground away with great enthusiasm. I asked him if I could take this photo. The photo is 'not available', sorry.

Phyllis has asked me if I could take him to Point Ormond. The car park was just over our five kilometre Covid lockdown exercise limit, and so we did breach the limit about once a week. Post lock down, Ray and I visited and walked up to the trig point or whatever it is. Phyllis wants Instagrammable sunset photos at Point Ormond. Sunset is now 18.09. That means driving in evening peak traffic. Maybe he will forget about it. I've travelled there by public transport. Perhaps I should steer him in that direction. 

A friend of Phyllis is returning to Nepal. He has been invited to stay with her for two nights and party, so he is away. I will guess he will only stay one night. He hasn't paid this fortnight's board money. I hope I don't have to remind him. 

In some ways, 21 year old Phyllis is very clever, but without puffing myself up, he doesn't have life experience and I have to tell him and show him things.

"Andrew, can you stop saying, thank you"

"Phyllis, it is my culture".

I had to learn hugs in my older years. I still struggle with hugging. I wasn't brung up to be a hugging person.

"Aw, thanks, Andrew". And then Phyllis gives me a big hug in thanks.  

Now he is away and not 0.1 metres away, it is my opportunity to change my Grindr profile to something innocuous and see if he is on Grindr when he returns and is 0.1 metres away.

A hexabition

Tolarno Gallery sounds a bit posh, but I can pretend to be posh and visit. I put on my best singlet (English word, vest). shorts and flip-flops and walked a distance to get there. But there was no need to dress up as I was the only person there to visit these bright sculptures. 

I quote Tolarno, 'The gallery spotlights cutting edge contemporary art in a variety of media'. 

Well, the works were bright and pretty and not a total waste of my time. But is it art?

The kiddies are upset and behaving badly

There is some kind of arms exhibition in Melbourne this week. Ok, I looked here. We were not told of this in advance, though the planning would have begun at least two years ago, which is the timeline of booking the Exhibition Centre. Weapons of war, including tanks, were brought in with the cover of darkness.

The kiddies against war and the killings were somewhat upset and protested as the event opened yesterday. Hey, even old gay men can be against war and killings. I thoroughly approve of their protests, trying to block entrances for attendees, making lots of noise, moving around the large venue, splitting up into groups and reassembling. Screaming the words 'child killers' at visitors to the exhibition is fine with me. That's what weapons do.

Things became tense between the protestors and the police. Tram routes were shut down, a major road or two was closed down as the crowd of protestors grew. The kiddies got a bit antsy as the police pushed them back and began throwing things. Among the rotten tomatoes, some quite more heavy things were thrown. That is bad form, kiddies. The cops are doing their job as ordered. 

The police responded with force. Tear gas, rubber bullets and what I had to Google, flashbangs.  What on earth are they? It is a classic case of naming something quite serious into something sounding more mild. You may have heard of them as stun grenades, with a big flash of light that upsets your vision and a loud bang that upsets the fluid in your ears and, consequently your hearing and balance. The effect is temporary in theory. I wonder. But the protestors went well beyond the pale too.

I am sure our very respected Bushmasters, of which we have sent many to Ukraine, were featured. They are fighting off Putin's invasion. While I hate war and killings, countries need weapons to defend themselves. But if there were fewer arms and less war technology, might we not be a bit better off? I dunno. I think a phrase has already been invented, the arms race. 

Protests will continue tomorrow and probably the next day.

The old and the new

Remember this photo not so long ago, showing Heartbreak Hill in Sydney, which is New South Head Road. The photo would have been taken in the late 1950s. I used the photo before a friend who made the City2Surf run. 

I thought I would take a look on Street View. And having travelled on the road by bus during our last Sydney visit in March, I correctly guessed the location.

 

So this is the best I could do with how the road looks now, sans trams. You can see the steps up to a house on the left are still much the same. The wrought iron railings look to be the same. 

P

PS, this should be posted tomorrow, Australian time. The US date system got me again. 

Tipsy or ???

This clip amused me. 'Medical authorities warn that excessive drinking of alcohol can be injurious to your health'.

Surprisingly to me, I've never fallen into a hedge. 

However, not alcohol but affected by something I fell into the gutter outside The Peel Hotel. I think someone had spiked my drink...you believe me, hey. 

Ray, with much solicitousness for my welfare remarked something like, 'Leave the slag in the gutter where she belongs'. Then, 'For god's sake, get up'. 

As I pressed myself into the gutter in the opposite direction to where I should be heading, I precisely and carefully replied, 'All I need you to do is direct me to which way is up'. I think he may have hauled me to my feet at that point and I was fine then. Seriously, it was a great night out, in spite me ending up in a gutter. The door bitch/guard, the straight and heavy set strong man was loved by most who visited The Peel, Abdul, looked on with amusement but did not intervene. We were with friends.A younger and very attractive guy earlier hit on to then 35 year old me and Ray said, 'He is gorgeous, go for it'. Common sense prevailed. He was after free drinks for the night with much promise and flirtation, and then he would just leave. 

And then somewhere down the track within a few years, I became a boring and conservative (not political voting) older person. 

Monday Mural

Along with Sami, I am participating in Monday Mural. What can I find in my mural folder this week? Last week's was cracker, you generally thought, so I might ease off this week to use up a lesser mural photo. Ok, I will clear the deck of mural photos taken in 2021. You can perhaps note why they have hung around unused for so long.

Sunday Selections

I am joining with Elephant's Child, River and others for Sunday Selections. I am back to randomness after last Sunday's focus. 

Once the Royal Mint, now the Hellenic Museum. I am not sure what the silvery sculptures are about but they look pretty. 

Lovely buildings at the western end of Collins Street. I can't be bothered working out which one is which. Rialto, Olderfleet, Winfield, Record Chambers and New Zealand Chambers, says Wikpedia.

Effective advertising? I don't know. 

Ready, set, GO. Somewhere in the US. My god, do Americans have big and threatening beasts.

We looked after Sister's dog Fuzzy Cocoa many times, named by Jo, and she stayed here a couple of times. Fuzzy died like The Queen and Mother, simply of old age, and in Fuzzy's case, the care of the hand of a vet. 

When staying at Sister's and looking after you, you loved to sleep with Ray on his bed, but one night for some strange reason, you preferred my company and slept on my bed. You were a fortunate girl, Fuzzy. You were so loved for over 14 years.