bouncing off clouds

a bright sun reluctantly setting on the end of a long summer day in lyneham. view from our back courtyard.

knitting nazis

or rebels or renegades or something like that. a friend of mine does this kind of carry-on down in hobart. nice to know there are similar crazies in the nation's capital. i took a big detour on my ride from work this morning to take this photo. i was late to work. oh well. happy birthday jen :)

extra ordinary

this is a lovely bit of stenciled street art on a fusebox cover down at my local shops in lyneham. it's of aviatrix, nancy walton-bird. she was australia's first female commercial pilot - and a fully qualified pilot by the time she was 19, no mean feat given she was a female born in 1915. hooray for australian feminist pioneers.

creepy religious stories abound

i don't remember the name of this dark gothic cathedral in the streets behind the old town square in prague, however the recollection of the horror at having a shriveled old human hand which was proudly pointed out, by our walking tour guide, hanging on a chain from the ceiling as evidence of a religious miracle is still crystal clear in my mind. allegedly it is the hand of a thief who came to steal a statue from the church and the statue came to life (the religious miracle) and grabbed hold of the thief's wrist - so he cut off his hand to make an escape. creepy.

perhaps i just like the quiet

the irony is not lost on me at all that despite harbouring a well-developed suspicion and deep loathing of religion, that i do love the architecture of churches and am fascinated in their history. please don't mistake fascination for admiration - i am also fascinated by world war II history. this photo is taken of the inside of st stephen's cathedral in vienna. amazing catacombs lie beneath, entombing the skeletons of thousands of plague victims. the stuff of horror movies.

the curtain was raised

and the wonders of the east were revealed. night sights and sounds in praha's old town square. simply exquisite. we were walking back to our hotel after an evening in a basement pub sinking czech beer then going to watch an extremely kitsch but highly amusing don giovanni puppet show.

i never used to like wicker

but i really love this ceiling lamp encased in the stuff. funny how your tastes change as you get older. funny how i like taking photos of lamps too. this is the fourth one for this blog that i can think of.

tongue & groove

a carpentry joint term. but also a canberra bar. to be honest it is a venue probably a little too sydney-esque and flash for the likes of me personally, with its too-cool-for-school-and-to-be-bothered-serving-you staff. it has a fancy false ceiling layered with about twenty large lamps (some of which are featured in this shot) which is lowered about five metres as the sun sets. not sure what that's about but it's the only thing i like about the place.