Dullsville Dramas
31/10/2011 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaIzzie is one zonked old serpent. Way too much excitement in the last week and today was crash time.
Was an early bird out the door on Saturday morning. Had the grand plan to slink over to City Farm’s cafe and gardens to do some last minute plotting and planning before pottering back to the city for the Big Aussie BBQ
But then got to thinking that it would all be a bit rushed and while the cafe will be there next week, the big barbecue will not. So decided to lurk around the parks instead and do some reading and spot if there would be a single kosher sausage for sale at the event.
The organizers obviously had grand plans. There must have been about ten BBQ clusters - each with about ten barbies bedecked with sizzling sausages and bags of crappy plastic white bread. Guessing that the main reason for not using buns was less being nasty little profit seeking cheapskates but simply the lack of space. The logistics for this event must have been a nightmare
It was ever so amusing to see that it was sponsored by Coles and Bunnings - both known for crappy customer service and rubbish products
Most of the folks on the stands were volunteers and the proceeds were going to an assortment of charities
Each cluster had chalk lines drawn in the sand like they were expecting such enormous queues that each line had to be specially demarcated
The grub on offer was basically one sausage with a slice of white bread, an assortment of sauces and big bins filled with ice and cans of carbonated high fructose corn syrup masquerading as liquid refreshments along with bottles of Mount Franklin water for the more health conscious. The more dollar conscious such as a certain serpent noticed that there were numerous water fountains around this park offering much better tasting H2O for free
Just out of plain curiosity, did seek and find one of the two stands serving kosher sausages. Got to thinking that they probably had more meat in them than the normal versions
Also got to thinking that they really should have had a Commonwealth Corner with alternative munchies on offer like at some of the other event sites. Most folks would rather pay 5 silver sickles for a half decent satay, sushi, mie goreng, nasi lemak or nachos than 2 for a crappy sausage in a piece of plastic bread
But most folks did not come for the food. The smart ones brought their own. The real reason most folks had come apart from the party was to see the Queen
One silly bugger asked if she was going to walk around the park to which he got the reply along the lines - of course not. For God’s sake, the poor woman is 85 years old. Give her a break.
Izzie was there for the party and to watch the royal watchers. Certainly not for the sausages. The grand plan was to slink around the park near Victoria Street as that would be where the black range rover coming down and turning to do the grand tour before the whole meet and greet ritual over at the Esplanade.
A ten minute walk would then get the Izzie over to the Esplanade where the serious business would be going on.
That was the theory. The reality was that there were fences erected all around the park with police and security guards all over the place preventing folks from crossing the road. The more agile folks could climb over but would probably get arrested on the spot - such were the draconian security rules in force.
Once the royals had passed the end of the street, they didn’t enforce the barricades so got to the esplanade around 11.30. But it too was fenced and no one else was allowed in due to the crowds. The cops said the best view would be on the big screens dotted everywhere
What was most amusing aside from certain folks of the “I did but see her passing by” persuasion who treat her like a Goddess or at least a pop star, was the large numbers of Chinese in the crowds. Some students, some tourists and some families living here but it really seemed to be a source of total amusement and fascination for them. Lots had not just the obligatory iPhones but big digital cameras with zoom lenses
After watching the black range rover depart for the last time, slinked up to Stirling Gardens to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet and to wait for most of the crowds to move on. Had to go back through the barbecue territories to get to the train station and at this stage they were offering two sausages with a slice of bread or just walking around with aluminium trays of the things just giving them away.
Izzie declined but got offered a free bottle of Mt Franklin instead. It wasn’t too bad when it was cold. At that stage most of the ice had been tipped in heaps on the grass. But as it warmed up it was completely stale and tasteless. The tap water in the fountains that was also warm was much sweeter and nicer and most importantly of all it did not taste like plastic.
Took advantage of the free trains and buses to go down to Mandurah. The train line has been there just short of four years but still not managed to get down there yet. Mainly due to the cost. Why pay nine silver sickles for a day trip there when there’s plenty of nicer and nearer places that cost half as much to get there and back
Even around 2pm the trains were still pretty full. Took 40 minutes to get to the destination. It has a nice foreshore but did not see any pelicans like last time some ten years ago. Most of the shops seem to be closed up and the place is a bit of a wasteland.
The local foreshore is much prettier with lovely views of the city especially at night. It was the location for a free concert on Sunday. It was a gorgeous place for a concert. But turned out that Dan Sultan, the one act this serpent wanted to see was not going to turn up after all. He’d got stranded over in Melbourne due to the latest Qantas drama.
There’s been a lot of pissed off travelers. Especially amusing was how so many tin pot dictators and their entourage got stuck here in delightful Dursleyville. They’d already hogged the best hotels at taxpayers expense so the other stranded travelers were left with no places to stay
Qantas is the new Garuda. It’s probably run by goblins. These days all the airlines are in trouble with the increasing price of fuel and all those broke folks who cannot afford to go on overseas holidays anymore
Had quite a nice time sitting under the paperbark trees listening to Capercaille and even the completely kitsch Bombay Royale. Did not bring a picnic or other munchies but sat peeking through our little nano notebook jotting down ideas and underlining the most promising ones already written as well as flicking through the deck of cards in search of inspiration
Today was supposed to be dedicated to such activities but ended up crashing and being rather brain dead. Nothing like hordes of pesky flies to fry the brain and to make an Izzie most grumpy and cranky indeed.
Even the gorgeous old lunatic asylum was not immune from their pestilent presence.
Did get to peek on board the replica sailing ship “The Endeavour’ on its second last day open to the public but that is for another post. But it will provide inspiration for the boat that used to be in Memorial Park before the insurance zombies insisted on getting rid of it due to public liability issues.
Now it is time to slink off into the darkness and sharpen the quill for 30 days of squiggling craziness. No more lurking online until the daily quota of 2,000 words is reached. That is Izzie’s trick for staying on target. Lurking in Cyberia will now be reserved as a special treat for good behaviour. It’s much more motivating than packets of dark chocolate Tim Tams.
Was an early bird out the door on Saturday morning. Had the grand plan to slink over to City Farm’s cafe and gardens to do some last minute plotting and planning before pottering back to the city for the Big Aussie BBQ
But then got to thinking that it would all be a bit rushed and while the cafe will be there next week, the big barbecue will not. So decided to lurk around the parks instead and do some reading and spot if there would be a single kosher sausage for sale at the event.
The organizers obviously had grand plans. There must have been about ten BBQ clusters - each with about ten barbies bedecked with sizzling sausages and bags of crappy plastic white bread. Guessing that the main reason for not using buns was less being nasty little profit seeking cheapskates but simply the lack of space. The logistics for this event must have been a nightmare
It was ever so amusing to see that it was sponsored by Coles and Bunnings - both known for crappy customer service and rubbish products
Most of the folks on the stands were volunteers and the proceeds were going to an assortment of charities
Each cluster had chalk lines drawn in the sand like they were expecting such enormous queues that each line had to be specially demarcated
The grub on offer was basically one sausage with a slice of white bread, an assortment of sauces and big bins filled with ice and cans of carbonated high fructose corn syrup masquerading as liquid refreshments along with bottles of Mount Franklin water for the more health conscious. The more dollar conscious such as a certain serpent noticed that there were numerous water fountains around this park offering much better tasting H2O for free
Just out of plain curiosity, did seek and find one of the two stands serving kosher sausages. Got to thinking that they probably had more meat in them than the normal versions
Also got to thinking that they really should have had a Commonwealth Corner with alternative munchies on offer like at some of the other event sites. Most folks would rather pay 5 silver sickles for a half decent satay, sushi, mie goreng, nasi lemak or nachos than 2 for a crappy sausage in a piece of plastic bread
But most folks did not come for the food. The smart ones brought their own. The real reason most folks had come apart from the party was to see the Queen
One silly bugger asked if she was going to walk around the park to which he got the reply along the lines - of course not. For God’s sake, the poor woman is 85 years old. Give her a break.
Izzie was there for the party and to watch the royal watchers. Certainly not for the sausages. The grand plan was to slink around the park near Victoria Street as that would be where the black range rover coming down and turning to do the grand tour before the whole meet and greet ritual over at the Esplanade.
A ten minute walk would then get the Izzie over to the Esplanade where the serious business would be going on.
That was the theory. The reality was that there were fences erected all around the park with police and security guards all over the place preventing folks from crossing the road. The more agile folks could climb over but would probably get arrested on the spot - such were the draconian security rules in force.
Once the royals had passed the end of the street, they didn’t enforce the barricades so got to the esplanade around 11.30. But it too was fenced and no one else was allowed in due to the crowds. The cops said the best view would be on the big screens dotted everywhere
What was most amusing aside from certain folks of the “I did but see her passing by” persuasion who treat her like a Goddess or at least a pop star, was the large numbers of Chinese in the crowds. Some students, some tourists and some families living here but it really seemed to be a source of total amusement and fascination for them. Lots had not just the obligatory iPhones but big digital cameras with zoom lenses
After watching the black range rover depart for the last time, slinked up to Stirling Gardens to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet and to wait for most of the crowds to move on. Had to go back through the barbecue territories to get to the train station and at this stage they were offering two sausages with a slice of bread or just walking around with aluminium trays of the things just giving them away.
Izzie declined but got offered a free bottle of Mt Franklin instead. It wasn’t too bad when it was cold. At that stage most of the ice had been tipped in heaps on the grass. But as it warmed up it was completely stale and tasteless. The tap water in the fountains that was also warm was much sweeter and nicer and most importantly of all it did not taste like plastic.
Took advantage of the free trains and buses to go down to Mandurah. The train line has been there just short of four years but still not managed to get down there yet. Mainly due to the cost. Why pay nine silver sickles for a day trip there when there’s plenty of nicer and nearer places that cost half as much to get there and back
Even around 2pm the trains were still pretty full. Took 40 minutes to get to the destination. It has a nice foreshore but did not see any pelicans like last time some ten years ago. Most of the shops seem to be closed up and the place is a bit of a wasteland.
The local foreshore is much prettier with lovely views of the city especially at night. It was the location for a free concert on Sunday. It was a gorgeous place for a concert. But turned out that Dan Sultan, the one act this serpent wanted to see was not going to turn up after all. He’d got stranded over in Melbourne due to the latest Qantas drama.
There’s been a lot of pissed off travelers. Especially amusing was how so many tin pot dictators and their entourage got stuck here in delightful Dursleyville. They’d already hogged the best hotels at taxpayers expense so the other stranded travelers were left with no places to stay
Qantas is the new Garuda. It’s probably run by goblins. These days all the airlines are in trouble with the increasing price of fuel and all those broke folks who cannot afford to go on overseas holidays anymore
Had quite a nice time sitting under the paperbark trees listening to Capercaille and even the completely kitsch Bombay Royale. Did not bring a picnic or other munchies but sat peeking through our little nano notebook jotting down ideas and underlining the most promising ones already written as well as flicking through the deck of cards in search of inspiration
Today was supposed to be dedicated to such activities but ended up crashing and being rather brain dead. Nothing like hordes of pesky flies to fry the brain and to make an Izzie most grumpy and cranky indeed.
Even the gorgeous old lunatic asylum was not immune from their pestilent presence.
Did get to peek on board the replica sailing ship “The Endeavour’ on its second last day open to the public but that is for another post. But it will provide inspiration for the boat that used to be in Memorial Park before the insurance zombies insisted on getting rid of it due to public liability issues.
Now it is time to slink off into the darkness and sharpen the quill for 30 days of squiggling craziness. No more lurking online until the daily quota of 2,000 words is reached. That is Izzie’s trick for staying on target. Lurking in Cyberia will now be reserved as a special treat for good behaviour. It’s much more motivating than packets of dark chocolate Tim Tams.
