On the streets for the day - street art photoblog

Again, I ventured out onto the streets alone for the day seeking street art and amazing sights. I wandered for a bit, trying to find good graffiti, finally stumbled upon the mother load: May Lane. I walked back and forth in awe. Gawking as much as snapping photos, only half conscious that I was blocking traffic as I crouched in the road to get the shots I wanted.







































After I got everything I could find, I've dropped in to the St. Peters train station to catch a ride into the city and hopefully board a ferry across the harbor to the city of Manly.

Got off in downtown Sydney where I walked around looking for things to do before I jumped on the boat. First I had a quick look around Hyde Park then walked across the street to the Catholic Cathederal. A chill overtook me as I stepped in the door; I probably should have run away screaming, but instead I pushed on. High arches carved of stone framed stained glass murals depicting bible myths. The lighting was bad, but the glow from flat screen-tvs on almost every ancient massive pillar made up for the lamps. Sculptures and paintings of famous xtian heroes filled out the rest of the space. Clergy stood huddled in corners, whispering to one another. A few people sat in the pews mumbling to themselves but most everyone there was taking pictures. I joined the photogs. There was an underground crypt, but it cost $5, and I didn't want to give any money to the Catholics, so I continued my journey.


Hyde Park









Walking out of the massive doors I was facing the "Australian Museum" went to take a look but I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of time there, since the main plan for the day was to go to Manly. It cost $12 for admission, figured I'd go a different day and devote more time to it.

Next stop was the "Sydney Barracks" a building that was built by and housed Australias first white settlers, the convincts of 'the first fleet'. I went through the free section of the museum, buy stopped at the point where I would have had to pay $10... Perhaps I'm just cheap.

I walked past the New South Wales parliament building and thought, "Hell, why not pay the government a visit, tell them hello". So I strolled in the door and was directed to the metal detector. I put my camera bag and phone through the Xray machine and marched confidently through the metal detector. BUZZZZZ!!! Red lights went off and the whole deal. They asked if i had anything in my pockets. "A few coins, or maybe my belt."

"no it wouldn't be your belt, or just a few coins, do you have any other metal on you? Maybe those boots are steel-capped?"

I poked my soft-toe with my finger "Nope, they're not and that's all I have"

"Oh, weird, ok, never mind, go ahead."

I stared at the guy... Did I really just buzz a metal detector going into the parliament building for the whole state and was passed through by saying I didn't have anything on me that should set off the thing?

I asked if I should go through again, he declined and said have a nice day. I was floored.






some other fancy building I went into but got bored by.

After touring the parliament bulding, I made my way down to the harbor where I paid $12 for a round trip ferry ride to Manly... Next thing you know; I'm on a boat!









I'm stunned by the amazing views of Sydney and the harbor along the way. Then we pulled into Manly. I got off the ferry and was taken aback by how expensive and touristy the city looked immediately. I made my way to the Manly Art Gallery which was free, but incredibly small. Saw some good art then made my way back out on the town. I tried to find the fairy penguins which breed on Manly Beach but they were nowhere to be seen. I figured they're off duty for the winter. (it is winter here you fucking Yanks) The beach was nice, I tried to make my way to the bluffs but got a little confused and just went back to the downtown area. What I found there was a tourist trap of epic proportions so I quickly fled back to the ferry after just 2 and a half hours in the city. I decided Sydney was definitely more my speed.




Manly Beach


The boat ride back was nice, I made friends with a lady from China who was travelling Australia for a bit. She was very sweet, we talked about her dreams to send her daughter to the US for college and my work - job and art, both.



Off the boat I caught a train back to the Figure Eight Warehouse where I prepared a sushi feast for the whole house, and stuffed myself with the delicious goodness.

Exploring the City

After a horrible headache kept me out of commission for part of the day, I went out last night to see what the city had in store after dark. Mounted on bikes, helmets on, lights affixed, saftey orange reflective vest fastened... I was taken on a tour of the city's refuse. The urban treasure chests provided quite a haul for the local freegans - enough fuel to run their bodies for days. We were the heroes of the house when we came back with two overflowing bikes worth of delicious goodies: ahh, to live off the fat of the land...

Today I woke up to a kings breakfast and joined up with another traveler, a Kiwi jungle producer who I went to explore the town with. He knew where the alleys with the good street art were, and I knew where the train stations where he could record samples of all kinds of interesting urban sounds. It was a good mix. We wandered the city for a bit, recording and taking pictures and finally made our way to the main street where we decided to stop for a cup of coffee. I knew the cafe where one of our house mates worked, so we went off in search of it. Turns out I needed a bit of a refresher, but we did successfully find the place and came in for a cup of joe.

A cup of coffee in Australia is nothing like coffee in America. There is no drip coffee, just espresso and cappuccino: basically, the fancy stuff. I had a black shot, as I do, and my Kiwi friend had one 'white' - with cream.

Our working mate got off before long at all, and we mysteriously found ourselves walking into a nearby pub. We had been joined by another local and found ourselves enjoying a few rounds of beers. I've now established which local beers I like - or, at least which ones are dark; my preference.

Back to the warehouse for some home made dinner, and a quick jaunt online. Who knows what the rest of the night has in store.

Eugene Photoblog:

at the co-ops:

cement art


communist fiddlers


art:









my favourite mural just about ever:

An Arcata Photoblog plus a few.

many of these were taken on my cell phone's camera:

here's my new nephew:


and arcata street art:




sushi shack:


arcata natural history museum.

the days are short, but our adventure's huge.

Clients shipped out, it took us way too long to pack up, finally a little poolside time at our luxury resort, then I was finally on my way for LA. I was going to visit old friends and live it up on the town.

picked up a buddy from the train station. made a stop by the liquor store for whiskey and stout, then by the speakeasy to with The Skipper a happy birthday. A surprise drop-in then we whisked off to Roscoe's Chicken and Motherfuckin Waffles. After a dinner of the dankness, i took off with 2 of the crew to go spot sweet Graff in LA. We found the famous Ninjas and Chickens.

As we were thinking about heading home, we saw the Griffith Observatory on the hillside and figured we'd better check it out. A run up to the big telescope and a view of Saturn, then we were off again, back to the speakeasy.

quite a few people showed up for The Skipper's party throughout the night. Bran blessed us with some music, whiskey and stout finished the trick.

woke up early and got my stuff together. drove Hays to the train station, but decided we should stop and get a coffee first. found some more sweet graff, but the first place we saw to get a cop of joe turned out to be - the LA Pow Wow.

We explored the festivities and picked up a few cool books. dropped off hays, and hit the road...