Xmas Party

A few lousy shots from my office Xmas party, same place as the Thanksgiving do we went to last week, and the same lousy weather...

Butterfly Club

We stopped by one of Melbourne's nuttier nightclubs, The Butterfly Club, for a tipple this evening:





It's in an old hotel, and each room is decorated differently. The main attraction is that have actual cabaret, though we have yet to see it.

Trivia

Big winners! We had an epic night at trivia tonight at the Cornish Arms - there were only four of us, but not only did we win first place ($50) for the second week in a row, we also won the $175 bonus question (they add $25 every week until someone gets it) by correctly answering these three questions:

• What chemical element has the lowest boiling point?


• What inappropriately-named land is known as Kalaallit Nunaat by its natives?


• With 89.5 million visitors, what country drew the most tourists last year?

Of course, it's all bar money, meaning we have to go back...

Crush

The morning crush outside Flinders Street Station:


The pedestrian walk signal gives pedestrians the whole intersection.

Thanksgiving

We just waddled home from an awesome Thanksgiving picnic thrown by Democrats Abroad. Melbourne's a good food town, but today all the dishes were cooked by Americans, who know how to do Thanksgiving right. Really great! We made a pecan pie that went over well. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures during, so here's Marjorie during our soggy walk home...

Food porn

The Japanese pancake from Wooden Spoon we ate last night:

Festival

The Johnston St Mexican Festival we wandered across while shopping yesterday:


We've attended on purpose in the past, but just did a run-through this time.

Coffee

The local cafe, where I fetch Marjorie a soy latte with honey every weekend morning:

Lecture

Lecture I went to last night:


Pretty good, but the parts I wasn't already familiar with seemed kind of speculative. I guess there's no alternative to glossing over when delivering a one-hour talk to the lay public.

Flinders

Flinders Street Station, where I take the train to every morning:


(One of the better shots I've taken with the iPhone camera, I must say.)

Trivia

Marjorie came along to trivia last night, and despite our inability to name supermodels, we took first place!

Fundraiser

Me today at Another Bloody Fundraiser at The Fox, down the road:

Station

Southern Cross Station:


It went millions over budget and years behind schedule. And I think it's ugly. Actually I think that about most of the modern buildings in Melbourne, though I like a lot of the older architecture...

Contests

Some newspaper clippings from my programming contest days:











Good times.

Lavalamps

These are the lights we use at work that come on automatically to tell us that someone has "broken the build" (i.e. added defective software to the group repository):


All three on is not good, but it is the last day of a sprint when everyone's trying to get their changes added.

I used to think of lava lamps as relaxing, before I started here...

Brekkie

Breakfast of champions:


This is my breakfast, more days than not: grilled salami and cheese sandwich with two or three glasses of OJ. I suppose there are healthier ways to go, but at least I have the four food groups covered!

Cockatoo

A great sighting while out on walkies today:


It's a yellow-tailed black-cockatoo, a species we had only previously seen from a distance. There were five of them. Once again, the iPhone camera fails to capture the majesty of Australia's largest cockatoo/parrot.

Cicada

Spotted this discarded cicada husk on a broomstick in our backyard:


Just above was its gorgeous former occupant:


They call them "green grocers" here. His software never booted up, though, apparently: he was dead.

Grocery

This is our little local grocery:


You can see two of the three aisles. Despite the small size they have a lot of interesting gourmet choices. I love having them just around the corner!

Trivia

Trivia night at the Cornish Arms:


The host there is a former star on Australia's biggest ever soap, Neighbors.