5/31/2014

A baby wild pig

We went to a rave tonight which was actually kind of dull - stayed for about 30 minutes and then left (I don't think I am built for these things). The venue was the old Bradmill factory in Yarraville (hence why we went - five minute drive away and I've always wanted to see what an abandoned cotton factory looks like*) so that aspect of it was cool. The only parts left were the old industrial weaving facility, a chemical store and a boilerhouse, which I think are in development limbo but will eventually become townhouses/apartments. 

It was also strange leaving the house for something unrelated to uni or coffee at this point in semester. I am looking forward to Monday evening when most of my assignments are due. I will be happy to focus solely on my thesis 

*Less emphasis on 'abandoned', more on 'cotton factory'. I like manufacturing a lot and it was nice to stand in a giant warehouse knowing it once contained giant looms. This photo of cotton dye is pretty cool


Those lights are the West Gate Fwy
My car in the rain 
This was less blurry on my phone 
Walking home the other night
Fantastic Friday sunset

Was at uni around 1 in the morning, some time a few days ago, not good 
Mystery Frank Tate shower basement

A pile of discarded bluestone opposite where I parked my car on the day it got broken into - an omen? Anyway, what a waste


5/25/2014

My poor car

My pride and joy - in better times - next to a concrete silo. I have been told it is the "car of architects" but I am no architect so make of that what you will
I planned to do something fun or interesting today but a group member not pulling their weight led me to go into uni and do some last-minute assignment things with the other group member (who is obviously super dedicated, judging by their willingness to go to uni on a Sunday). I'm not a fan of evening public transport and had to do grocery shopping anyway so I drove into uni and parked in Cardigan Street near the VicRoads, which in retrospect was really dumb, because my car got broken into. They pulled out the driver's side lock barrel completely and obviously attempted to look for valuable items (of which I have none, because I am poor) which resulted in them just throwing random items into the passenger side footwell before legging it (I assume they didn't casually saunter away although they might have depending on how cocky they were). I can imagine how frustrated they would've been, after all that effort, to find the centre console of my car contains a tea towel, a keychain with a green fish on it, 10 Euro cents and a broken hair tie.

I went to the North Melbourne police station afterwards and reported it, and the police officer there mentioned that it was the second break-in reported that afternoon, with the first one taking place in the same general vicinity on Cardigan Street. Apparently it was the same modus operandi too. Unfortunately, the other person whose car was broken into lost a substantial amount of stuff, so that resulted in the construction of a crime scene and the taking of fingerprints. I am pretty glad I keep nothing of value in my car. I can't help but wonder if the fact that my car is a Saab stopped them from doing anything worse: if they planned to hotwire it, they'd have to specialise in Nordic vehicles which situate the ignition beneath the handbrake and have a clamshell bonnet which opens outwards/downwards as opposed to the more typical flip-right-up kind of thing 99.99% of cars have.

I called my mother afterwards and her response was something along the lines of "I bet it was those housing commission types" and I wanted to remind her we lived in public housing for 20 years. I am mostly just surprised that nobody in the relatively dense and well-used street noticed, since there were two huge house parties raging nearby and a lot of students roaming about, undoubtedly celebrating the end of semester. The other part that bothers me is that I've lived in Sunshine, Newport, St. Albans East, and Footscray, yet my car gets broken into in Carlton.

This, combined with the fact that I have 5 assignments due in the next week, plus the migraine incident, makes me feel like I could do a pretty convincing reenactment of Falling Down (as in, the film, if you haven't seen it then please do). Oh well. I guess it's also funny in that the people who broke into my car most likely have more money than me given I only have $16 to my name right now*. Next time I should put a little sign up that says "Don't rob me, we are not all that different. In some ways, I am much like you"

*Edited to say that this is all the more relevant given the part they broke in order to gain access costs $900. I thought the police officer was joking when he asked me to estimate the damage to the key barrel and I said "I don't know, I'm no car parts expert" and he said "I reckon it'd be around $1000". 

Second edit: being poor isn't so bad when you are related to a car enthusiast/typical wog. My brother just came over and opened up the driver's side door to find the plastic ring which holds the barrel in place - not broken, just a little loose, which to me demonstrates that the perpetrator must be familiar with this activity

5/24/2014

Being unwell = I draw

I haven't had much time to draw lately but feeling drowsy post-migraine means I can't really write, so this is the only other way to spend my time semi-productively. I would like to call this one "Imaginary Place with Some Internal Reserves" (with some mistakes but I'm not going to point those out...). Bad quality because I don't have a scanner but does anyone really mind? I hope not. If I do more of these in the future I may invest in one



5/23/2014

Migraine world

It's nice to know that despite cats being relatively selfish animals (compared to dogs at least) they still have some sense of empathy. I had a really horrible migraine start yesterday which was tolerable at first but completely unbearable by this morning so I stayed in bed and managed to sleep for about 15 hours until now. At some point the wind blew the balcony door open and amazingly the kitten stayed in bed with me rather than running outside to chase a leaf, which is nice because I don't think she has theory of mind. I guess she's just ensuring her food-giver is alive and well enough to open canned food

10 hours later I return to posting this with the good news that I have slept for a total of 28 hours since yesterday morning, with a 2 hour break where the home doctor visited (what a modern service) and gave me a shot of maxolon because my brain refused to keep down any water or food, which made me even sleepier, but at least I could drink water. All humans should sleep this much at least once in their lives

5/20/2014

In which I talk about mould and heritage planning

I think it is common knowledge by now that I live in a tyre factory (that's a simplification of it, it's just the admin wing). I guess that's fitting, given my interest in urban history and manufacturing industries. The building was designed by J. Raymond Robinson, who happened to be Frank Beaurepaire's brother-in-law. His work still stands across the west (including remnant sections of the Sunshine Harvester factory complex). 

This is an old photo from when the factory was still in use. The garden in the foreground is now a bike path. Photo from the Conservation Management Plan
Another one from the CMP, I like this and the cars in it look much cooler than modern cars
The house he designed for himself on Sun Crescent happens to be the ballet studio I attended for 8 or so years, which is a weird coincidence (obviously it became a ballet studio after he died). I remember starting ballet classes just before I turned 3 and being completely terrified by the sheer size of the house, and the wood panel motifs present in every room. It was unlike any home I'd ever seen before: there was an elaborate wood carved divider in the main studio (what would've been a formal lounge in the past) and an ornate bar with crystal-paned liquor cabinets and mirrors. We and most of our family friends lived in housing commission, so my idea of fancy was a working heater and a mould-free bathroom (this is relevant for later), not a California bungalow on steroids. Obviously my fear of the house turned into appreciation - I still drive past it sometimes and can't help but marvel at it, although it's been renovated since and someone tore down the lilac-covered fence and removed most of the trees.

Sorry about the poor quality image
Back to the tyre factory: living here is good. However, external factors of topography and ventilation mean we have a recurring mould problem. The lobby constantly smells stale, especially after heavy rain or during a particularly humid spell. My sense of smell doesn't function 9 out of 10 times so that doesn't concern me too much. However, after getting dinner tonight, we got home and noticed the mould smell moved out of the lobby and into our home. Turns out it has taken hold in the bedroom, which is exactly where it happened during Mould Incident 2013 after a rainy few weeks of winter. Having 5768435 of those plastic boxes with dehumidifying spheres helped a lot this time and it was only surface mould under the bed but it's still annoying to spend an evening scrubbing away with a mixture of tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide and some orange oil carpet spray. Last time this happened, we got in touch with the builder who denied any rising damp problems and blamed the issue on a spilt bottle of water (plausible but I want to know the logistics of how one spills a bottle of water under a bed).

A quick search for more information has disproved that theory anyway. I found a Conservation Management Plan concerning the building, which notes the high possibility of rising damp if the site were to be redeveloped - would've been nice to know about prior to Mould Incident 2013. I don't think the fact that downpipes have been directed adjacent to the wall helps. The way the ground slopes means also that the bathroom and half of the bedroom have less than 30 cm of clearance from wet clay soil, so that explains the soft floor next to the bathroom door and under the bed. The original vents were also closed up and new ones created which are infinitely less efficient by virtue of their size and placement.

I guess this is the price one pays for living in a building with some semblance of culture and history. Of course, it doesn't compare to mildew-covered ceilings of our old HCV house in St. Albans, and we were able to clean it (which makes it slightly better in the grand scheme of mouldy things) but it still provides a strong case for not being lazy when redeveloping old buildings. At least now you know 

I also came across these buildings while looking for information about the tyre factory and I forgot how much I liked these two:

"Wimmera Stock Bazaar", photo credit goes to DoI
Essendon Technical School, now a TAFE. This one is courtesy of SLV
On a completely unrelated note, we are watching Fargo, as in the TV show, and it is mildly jarring. Film/TV equivalent of uncanny valley? I am pretending it is different to the film. Regardless, I like it when things are set in Minnesota because the characters always have ski boots and hats. That's enough from me tonight

5/14/2014

Regular blog post

I listened to Kid A and OK Computer today for the first time in 6 years - I had Morning Bell stuck in my head for ages and thought nah I'm not going to revert back to my 18 year old self by listening to Radiohead how droll etc. but it was alright. I think the thing bugging me out most is the fact that 6 years passed that quickly. 

I also walked into the city tonight after class/on my way home instead of catching the 401 bus, and it was a very jarring experience. I don't know if the problem is me (being intolerant), or the city (being terrible), but either way I'm going to make a point of avoiding it for now (probably the least constructive way of dealing with the issue) (and what kind of person even makes an issue of this? Me I guess). I am struggling to muster up the enthusiasm for anything as of late so maybe the city is just a victim of this mood. On the train home this evening, the kid sitting next to me kept eating tissues while sitting in a stroller and their younger sibling (the one who actually needed the stroller) decided to lie prone on the floor of the carriage for most of the trip, which I can completely relate to

I gave the kitten a chicken thigh (leg?) last night as a treat and she just dragged it onto the carpet and rolled it around until it was completely covered in carpet fluff and lint




I like this but I don't know why anyone would ever draw it on a desk in white-out

5/13/2014

Too tired for a good title sorry

Someone is hiding 

Huh 

Gordon St bridge - now featuring a stupid crossing that just makes walking/cycling even more difficult 




Still broken 







It was cute but then I took it away from her and the entire corner of the exercise book was soggy.

5/06/2014

Grass 2 ways and a broken cat

No photos of neat hospital architecture this time because Sunshine Hospital is actually kind of boring (well, there's one nice building but I didn't have time to stop and take a photo). I was also too tired to care - I got there ten minutes before my 8:30 am appointment, ended up seeing the specialist at 11:15 am, and left at 12:45 pm. After 2 hours of waiting I went to ask the receptionist how much longer I'd have to wait, and she assumed I was at the clinic with a grandparent or something, which was funny but also kind of sad (apart from me, the next youngest person there was in their 60s). 

The visit wasn't as productive as I hoped it would be because both specialists (including the head of endocrinology) admitted they were out of their depth (re: ICR jaw problem) and that the referral should've actually gone to the rheumatology department instead. Oh well. The good news is that now a grand total of 6 specialists now think I have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome as an underlying cause of this condyle thing (but 6 "this definitely appears to be Ehlers-Danlos" isn't at all equivalent to an actual diagnosis) . 

I got a DEXA scan done too and the woman operating the machine thought I was lying on an angle until she realised, after 3 scans, that my spine is crooked - not me. Which is good, in that my ability to lie down in a straight 'line' is yet to be compromised.


I'm editing this to specify that none of the above is really that bad (to me at least) and the thing which bugged me most today was seeing someone walking and eating a salad at the same time. This kind of behaviour shouldn't be condoned, and must be considered alongside similar food-related faux pas which I can't think of right now but would definitely be irritated by if I happened to witness such a thing

In the waiting room: a weird homage to the basalt plains grassland on which the hospital stands

Camouflaged footpath

This is what red eye removal does to an angry kitten

5/02/2014

How is it the second of May already

Is it lazy of me to compensate for a lack of content with old photos? Most likely. Anyway, these hark from an era where film wasn't entirely dead - when Vanbar had a store around the corner from uni, and a develop + scan to CD combo would rarely cost more than $10. The last film processing place in Footscray just closed down which is a shame because I have at least a dozen rolls to develop, including photos from Europe (2012) and possibly even earlier.

I don't remember what camera I took these with but I primarily used a Yashica 35-ME and a Praktica Nova. The latter is the most boxy and mechanical camera I've ever owned - the shutter closing sounds like a tiny guillotine crossed with a can being crushed all condensed into 1/100th of a second (in less kind terms, it's actually quite shoddy). Still does the job though. Onwards:


This is the former gatekeeper cottage thing at the tyre factory where I now live. It is directly behind my car space.

Another strange thing: my brother lives in this building now (so, in other words, next door) 


























Charles at home in St. Albans