Berries

Red

Caterpillar

Bud

Roots

This is yesterday's pic

Gate

State of denial

So, you are asking yourself, why so little blogging lately?

Well, several reasons. One is that I am in some sort of denial about the impending trip to Israel. It's not that I'm totally in denial, actually I'm quite looking forward to it. It's just the time-frame that I'm not grasping very well. First it was "in a few months", then "another 6 weeks or so", and yesterday it was "about a month" until I checked my diary and saw that it's in fact less than 3 weeks. That was a shocker.

The other reason is that I'm frantically trying to get a whole bunch of things done before we go. I have a paper to write, quite a lot of research work to do and a huge report to write. And when I finally get my laptop I will have to install everything and make sure all is working. And I want to make sure I have everything working and ready to go so that I can hit the ground running when I start to work at the uni in Israel. Hubby is also scrambling to get a lot done, so that means less time for both of us for doing home-related work.

Also, since we switched to daylight savings a couple of weeks ago, Junior has been jet lagged for that one hour. This means he only goes to sleep around 9:00 instead of 8:00 like he used to. This leaves me very little time in the evening to do any blogging before I collapse in an exhausted heap on the couch at the end of the day.

Lights

Shower pics

If that doesn't get some traffic to the site, then I don't know what will.

Bird

Sculpture by the Sea

Plenty of uncovered meat at the beach in Tamarama. This sculpture is called Unveiled.

Holey tree

Gumboots

Today was cold and wintery. It should be summer! Where's that global warming everyone keeps promising?

Fan

Let's see how this Blogger beta works. In the meantime, here is a fan.

Window

Still on a U2 high

I'm still buzzing from the U2 concert.
It was awesome!! I have waited more than half my life to see them live and now I finally got the chance, and it was everything I hoped it would be.
The tickets said that no photographic equipment would be allowed, and like an idiot, I left my camera in the car. Of course nobody checked. I took some photos and videos on my mobile phone until the battery died.
We were way up in the nosebleed section, which we managed to climb without supplemental oxygen. It turned out that my friend is afraid of heights, and she nearly got a heart attack just getting to our seats. But we got there in the end. Sitting comfortably and watching all the people in the pit crowding, I thought to myself: I'm glad I'm not down there in the crowd since morning!
Then the show started.
All I could think was: OMG I want to be down there by the stage!!
But I enjoyed the show from the wuthering heights instead.
The band were great. The show was amazing. The crowd went nuts and sang along to every word. I was so excited, I cried during "Where the streets have no name", which was very emotional not just for me. At the end of the song Bono said, "Wow. What was that?! Whatever it was, I want more!". The energy in the stadium was palpable.
The show ended with Bono flying a kite tied to some balloons over the audience. For some reason he dedicated the song (Kite) to Cate Blanchett.
The show was over way too soon, I couldn't believe when I looked at my watch and saw that it had been about 2.5 hours...
I used to be totally nuts about U2. Now I am a bit older, maybe wiser, definitely more cynical. And still, at the show I felt like I was 16 again.

The Dalek Tree

Whenever I pass this tree I am reminded of a Dalek.

For now, photos

The U2 concert was amazing.
Unfortunately I don't have any time to write about it now.
In the meantime, here are today's and yesterday's photos. Both from the car.
A teacup and the Anzac Bridge.

Kangaroo Paws and a Butterfly

I suspected that

Australia in top five livable countries

Norway, Iceland, Australia, Ireland and Sweden rank as the best five countries to live in...

...and of these 5, I reckon Australia is the only country I'd actually want to live in.

The United States was ranked in eighth place, after Canada and Japan, in the report that rates not only per-capita income but also educational levels, health care and life expectancy in measuring a nation's well-being.

Go ahead, entertain me

One more day till the U2 concert.
Their first Sydney concert is tonight. I'm going tomorrow.

Oh my, Bono looks older, especially with that haircut.

Take a look at the set! It's HUGE!

"I'm very happy to be here, I'm excited," Bono says.

You're excited?!

U2 reunited in the studio last month to record a new song, Window in the Skies. It's one of two bonus tracks on a compilation album, U218, which they're releasing this month.

Sydney fans may be among the first to hear the song performed live when U2 play tonight.

"Have you heard Window in the Skies?" Bono says. "Wow, that's a big song."

Woohoo!!

2 photos

because I forgot to post yesterday...
By the way, you can click on the photos to see the (slightly) larger versions.

U2 woohoo!!

In just a few more days I will finally get to see U2 in concert. Oh I am so excited....

You see, I have my tickets for this show for nearly a year now. It was supposed to be in March but it was postponed... and now the fab four are here in Sydney getting ready to entertain me.
When I was a wee lass I was totally, utterly nuts about U2. Absolutely insane about them. I hang onto every word that came out of Bono's mouth as if he was at least some prophet or something.

Now I'm a bit older... and a bit wiser... and I've changed quite a lot, I don't have quite as many hormones rushing through my veins, and I tend to look at the world in a slightly more mature, sometimes cynical way.

So I was really pleasantly surprised yesterday when I saw Bono being interviews by Andrew Denton (it's a weekly interview type TV show). I missed the beginning of it, but from what I saw I could tell that Bono is indeed more than just a dumb celebrity rock star. And I was quite happy and totally fine with the idea of him being one, just as long as he makes good music and gives a good show. But what I got from the interview is this: that he is smart, eloquent, educated, passionate, sincere, and very much grounded. He doesn't try to pretend that he isn't a millionaire rock star leading a millionaire rock star's life. He seemed a bit surprised that it turned out that way, but he embraced it fully. Which didn't stop him being an intelligent, hard-working, well-spoken person who is doing his best to do some good in this world.

Another band that I used to be completely nuts about in the 1990's is coming to town: Pearl Jam. I used to think that Eddie Vedder was the bee's knees when I was a teenager. But unlike U2, Pearl Jam don't seem to have changed much since then, not in their music and not in their politics. I feel I have changed so much and they have stayed the same. I take that back; their music used to be much better. Ten was an amazing album and every album the made since has been steadily worse than the one before it.

It's a pity. Eddie has a great voice and he makes for good eye candy. But I won't be going to their gig.

Horse Feathers

Today was Melbourne Cup Day, that yearly event that stops the nation for a few minutes as everyone tunes in to the big race. The entire country stops while the horses run.

Personally, I don't see the big deal. But that's probably because I wasn't born here.

Everyone bets something, whether it's $1 in the office sweepstakes or the really big bets made by people in expensive suits at the race.

It's also an important fashion event, especially for the women who strut around in spring dresses and big hats. The latest fashion is to have a few feathers instead of a hat.


I always find it amusing to watch them walking to the races at the nearby racecourse with their high heels in their hands because nobody can walk in those shoes anyway.

Here are some New Zealanders at the race.

From the Quad gates

TGiM

Thank goodness it's Monday...
Yes, it's been a hard weekend. I was actually waiting for Monday, all excited about going to work. It's not that there's anything particularly interesting at work, it's just that everyone there is an adult.
It rained the entire weekend and we were stuck at home going stir crazy. Lately I am not handling toddler situations very well and I tend to lose my temper. Also, last Friday hubby took care of things on the home front while I went out to the pub with my work mates. I had so much fun! I'm not normally the pub type of person, and I don't drink beer, but still: I had a great time just hanging out with friends.
It made me think that perhaps, sometimes, you know, I don't actually, you know, enjoy being a mum very much. It's not that I don't love my boy more than anything in the world. It's just that sometimes, it's hard.

Baby grapes

from the garden.

Bondi

The things we get used to.

A conversation I had with a PhD student as I was helping her out with some equipment:

MW: Let's first remove this sample so we can put your sample in.
PS: What is that?
MW: I think it's a rat's inner ear.
PS: Ewwwww!
MW: What? You've got a snail proboscis in a test tube.
PS: (thinks about this for a while). Yeah, you're right.

No Dogs

Kangaroo Paw

Yet another "springtime on campus" photo.

The oval

This is used to roll the grass flat in the centre of the oval for cricket games.

From the graffiti tunnel