Notes on a few trips

230720071888 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Brisbane is home to the most ugliest tall buildings in Australia... After Sydney, The Gold Coast, and Perth... This one is a particular favourite. The angle doesn't give the penis er fin of the building on the top left justice, but captures the concrete bunker visuals quite well I think... Tall buildings in South East Queensland are all the rage. Even if doctors on work visas want to blow them up ( they don't but the story did sell the Sunday papers )... Mind you after visiting the Q1 tower the best thing for it would be to demolish it. Like everything else on the Gold Coast it's tall, big and looks pretty cheap. Word is that only aspirational flight attendants live in it as it makes them feel posh...

A major cyclone (Cyclone Shazza) and earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale hit Ipswich in the early hours of Friday with its Epicenter in Queen Street, Ipswich . Victims were seen wandering around aimlessly, muttering "Faaackinell". The hurricane decimated the area causing approximately $30.00 worth of damage... Three areas of historic burnt out cars were disturbed. Many locals were woken well before their Centrelink cheques arrived. The Ipswich Times reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered and were still trying to come to terms with the fact that something interesting had happened in Ipswich. The Australian Red Cross has so far managed to ship 4,000 crates of Bacardi-Breezers to the area to help the stricken locals. Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found large quantities of personal belongings, including Health Care Cards, Jewellery from Kmart , and Bone China from Big W. An appeal has been set up t...

A national obsession (for the last three weeks anyway) in Australia has ended. The Pasha Bulker has been freed. It is such a shame as the container ship that run aground near Newcastle is probably the most exciting thing that ever happened in that city. It has prompted loads of creative output on Youtube (as the movie below demonstrates) and had mothers with their babies queuing up to be photographed alongside it (wait a minute that's my sister)... Newcastle just won't be the same again...