Me and Syddo pt. 1

So yeah, about a month ago I was in Sydney. Here's a picture (credit Alasdair Nichol) of me playing at the Impermanent Audio event at The Frequency Lab aka Knot Gallery, #107 level 1 Hibernian House, 342 Elizabeth Street, Surrey Hills, Sydney NSW Australia. It's near Central Station, at the base of Surrey Hills. It's a huge building on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Kippax Street, the two forming an acute angle. You can see it quite easily using Google Earth, if you search for "sydney, australia" and scroll to 33deg 53'04.92" S 151deg 12'29.14" E.

You can also see quite clearly the large bottle which has nearly been emptied of its super-size-me serving of Dirty Bitch Bloody Mary. Hence my calm expression. Doctor's orders, y'see. It was for me nerves. After I'd finished that off I got stuck into the free wine.

It's a lovely space to play in; lots of nice lighting and comfy cushions and old wooden furniture and a very good PA. Unfortunately not much of the space is visible in this shot.

That night was particularly boozy; after the gig was over, about 2am, we all upped and went and spent the proceeds on a banquet at a Chinese restaurant. I'm not denying that I was in an appropriate condition to feel so, but I'm sure it was the best Chinese food I've eaten in my life.

Pictured are our charming hosts Caleb K. and Mark, looking for all the world as if the excesses of the evening have already caught up with them. That is an accurate representation of the interior of the restaurant, too; the walls were this peculiar luminous orange/green tone which truly seemed to vibrate. (Actually it could have just been my head).

Earlier in the day a bunch of us hung out in Hyde Park (coords 33deg 52'34.60" S 151deg 12'36.70" E) for a bit, checking out the incredibly, prehistorically ugly ibis birds (Threskiornis molucca). I constructed a makeshift hide from debris I discovered nearby and set about luring one of the birds with appetizing tidbits of days-old fried rice. When one finally came near enough I took 'is picture.

The bird life in Sydney was immediately and spectacularly new to me. As well as these fascinating ornithological throwbacks, I was also enchanted by the large black birds, not-quite identifiable (some said crow, others claimed raven) which cruised about overhead emitting a call that I can only compare to that of a baby dying a slow, disgusting, horribly-painful death. And the tree full of cockatoos in the suburbs (Alt Street, Ashfield: 33deg 53'04.90" S 151deg 07'25.10" E) which, as I approached on an apartment balcony only inches away, all briefly stopped gorging themselves on the huge sweet nuts they were holding with one foot to regard me curiously, and then carried right on gorging.

The best were easily the revolting, scrap-scavenging ibises though; I propose that Australia adopt them immediately as their national emblem.