shopkins-fossick

Nature strip

2012-01-26T12:41:00.002+11:00

. . . _ _ _ . . .

2011-11-27T10:12:00.001+11:00

Who would not give their eye teeth to get their hands on this Morse Code set?

As a child I would have loved this kit. As an adult I am equally enthralled. What an impossibly romantic notion for a space station to use such a simple technology as morse code. Or is it? I think I've seen enough Sci-Fi movies to know that when the electronics panel catches on fire and all sophisticated communication devices fail, someone can wire together a device like this and save the universe!

But I digress....this particular kit buzzes, flashes and is battery operated. Plus, as an added bonus, there's an old bandaid stuck on the connecting wire. It was probably used to tape the wire to the bedroom wall, so as not to get tangled in the vaccum. I imagine that in the midst of the excitement of receiving this kit there was no time to waste looking for standard adhesive tape.

Thanks Suey for this lovely gift xx

The Tin

2011-10-29T09:07:00.000+11:00

While fossicking around the hard rubbish piles in Melbourne's Eastern suburbs, I spotted a metal cigarette tin that had been overpainted to resemble some sort of flag. Curious. Picking it up I could feel there was something inside the tin. By now my spidey senses were tingling. Just to prolong that feeling I thought I'd open it when I got home.

Later in the day, upon opening the tin I found.....THIS!

Ok, that's a cash box envelope, but more importantly, that biro pen scrawl seems to indicate a National Australia Bank box number. Could it be? Looking inside the envelope I found this.....

OMG it's a KEY! I have no idea what to do about this. Please advise.

Tah Dada!

2011-09-11T17:19:00.001+10:00

Hard rubbish....proving the act of putting out the trash is accidentally artful. Never mind that you can't draw, get yer Dada's out!

Hound Dog

2011-09-11T17:16:00.000+10:00

So....I just couldn't go past this sooky, slate eyed hound dog in the op shop. Bought for just $2 (half price!) at the RSPCA op shop, all my heart strings were plucked. Also, my funny bone was tickled.

Compare & contrast

2011-09-02T19:05:00.000+10:00

Get faxed

2011-08-20T16:34:00.004+10:00

This t-shirt managed to worm its way into an opp shop...probably through some sort of space-time vortex.

2011-08-10T22:29:00.004+10:00

Vampire Robot House (Melbourne)

Say It With Fish

2011-07-19T19:30:00.005+10:00

Because fish are the new flowers.

Ex-Library

2011-06-18T15:12:00.020+10:00

I woke up with a bad cold, then convinced myself that a trip to the local Scout Hall for the annual sale of decommissioned library books might help clear my head. Well, I was wrong. I found this charming book in the junior non-fiction section.

It looks a bit like a cookbook, but don't be fooled kiddies. In Chapter 1/ Dissection : A Fun Way to Learn About Life, it is suggested "Perhaps the only thing you will not like about dissection is the clean up after you are done." I can think of a couple of other things...

Chapter 3/ Where To Get Specimens recommends "Slaughterhouses. You can find one by looking under "Abottoir" in the Yellow Pages. If there are no local slaughterhouses, you could visit one when you travel during vacations in the summertime. The parts can be frozen until you want to dissect them". Ahhh c'mon kids, what better way to while away a lazy summer holiday than visiting the abbatoirs, huh? I'll pack the esky!

There is also an entire chapter on eyeball dissection..."If you want a surprise, look at the calf eye cornea and squeeze the eyeball hard." This book may force me to re-think commonly accepted theories on violence in video games. And lastly there is a project "Tying a Knot in a Chicken Bone". See, they told you dissection was fun! However, tying knots in bones is not a traditionally accepted practice of dissection...that belongs in the "Art With Carcasses" project book.

To Your Health

2011-05-30T11:37:00.005+10:00

Breakfast is served. Bread, frankfurters, tinned & fresh pineapple, decorative parsley, cognac oh, and of course....

...a pack of smokes. Menthol cigarettes, no less! Ahh, the 70's...those cats sure were out to lunch!

Going Slow

2011-04-26T08:17:00.004+10:00

Fat Chance

2011-04-17T17:36:00.003+10:00

Genuine Vulcanizer

2011-04-10T09:28:00.004+10:00

I have absolutely no idea what a genuine vulcanizer is, or why it's better than an imitation vulcanizer. It does look quite useful though, it sounds wonderful and it's certainly pretty. This ticks all the boxes. Found in the hard rubbish, of course!

Sheets Apart

2011-03-17T00:13:00.001+11:00

Abandoned mattresses [details]

During my ongoing abandoned mattress documentation quest, two burly local council workers pulled their collection truck over to ask me why I was taking photographs. Luckily they weren't threatening to fine me, they were simply bewildered. However, they seemed concerned I was going to file some sort of health report/complaint over the condition of the hard rubbish, specifically the mattresses. Could it be the rubbish guys were worried their jobs might be in jeopardy because the rubbish could be, err, a bit germy, stained or even have curly metal springs sticky out of it? It is, after all, an OH&S mad world, and they don't make or collect rubbish like they used to. Anyway, they seemed quite satisfied with my vague "art project" explanation, waving and smiling every time we crossed paths for the rest of the afternoon (which was often). All in all, a pleasant day whiled away in the 'burbs. And for future reference, if someone asks me a difficult question or I find myself in a spot of bother, I'll just mutter something about an art project and point at my camera. Who would have thought that could be such a fine pacifier...

The Taming of the Zebra

2011-03-12T13:57:00.016+11:00

In the year 1898, in one of the many mews just off Cromwell Road, Kensington, lived Mr Hardy, who was a noted horserider & trainer, being one of the three men who had succeeded in riding the "French Rocking Horse". This was a device used by the French Cavalry. It had every possible movement of a wild horse not in the best of tempers.

Leopold de Rothschild, who knew of Hardy's ability, was talking to friends of this achievement and said that he was willing to make a stake on his ability to train any animal resembling a horse. One of his friends took up this boast, and a stake was made that Hardy could not train a team of zebras to pull a coach through London.

When after much trouble, the necessary beasts were obtained, Rothschild went to Hardy and told him the conditions of the wager. Hardy agreed to train them.

The zebras were taken to Kensington and after 2 years hard work, Hardy informed Rothschild that his task was completed and that the team were ready for the road.

At six o'clock one morning a strange sight was seen in London when, for the first time, a team of zebras were seen pulling a coach through London.

The Misaligned World

2011-02-28T16:41:00.005+11:00

Embedded

Faded

Misaligned

The Book of Riddles

2011-02-14T08:40:00.001+11:00

Kaleidoscope World

2011-02-09T19:57:00.000+11:00

Sometimes you find something so very cool & wonderful, but you know it's not meant to be yours. This little gem of a book 'The Art of Sewing : The Classic Techniques', published by Time-Life in 1974, is the perfect gift for my friend Amy. She is an avid crafter & has a crafty blog, you can check it out here ...Le Tigre Papillon. But oh my goodness, let's just take another look at the possibilities of craft as seen in this kaleidoscopic masterpiece....and that's only Chapter One! Praise Be The Craft!

Post Pac-Man

2011-01-03T16:38:00.000+11:00

If the post box fits, paint it! Here's Inky, the blue ghost from Pac-man, spotted today. Nice work, but I hope they come back to finish painting the base in that characteristic wavy drip.

Shopping Trolley

2011-01-01T21:17:00.000+11:00

This seems like an appropriate marker for the end of the Christmas season...a shopping trolley, rusting in the ocean. May your New Year be, on the whole, buoyant.

Vintage Christmas

2010-12-26T10:20:00.000+11:00

Christmas cards circa 1973

Starfish Syndrome

2010-12-14T19:20:00.000+11:00

I have noticed while rock-pooling (another favourite pastime) that I can look into dozens of rock pools and not see anything especially fabulous. Until suddenly I see a starfish. Then, I notice dozens of them, including in the pools I had already looked in. I guess my eye just tunes in. I call this Starfish Syndrome. This condition has enabled me to find the smallest starfish in the world with ease!

Too cute! Anyway, I have recently become obsessed with abandoned band-aids and am using the methodologies of Starfish Syndrome to locate them. So now I see them everywhere. Something about fleshy band-aids* on concrete footpaths^ is working especially well for me...these are just a few of my recent finds.

* = plasters

^ = sidewalk

Shady lanes

2010-12-07T23:45:00.000+11:00

Lurking in laneways sounds pretty dodgy. But they are great places to chance upon quiet beauties like this rope 'drawing' with its accidental lyricism, or the half brick totem with its essence of machismo.

A few pegs

2010-11-15T19:33:00.001+11:00

I took a forensic stroll through the local alleys and laneways this afternoon. A theme soon emerged.....plastic pegs. Since people's backyards flank the alleys, the abundance of pegs came as no great surprise. These pegs and peg fragments are faded and incredibly brittle, just picking them up caused many to crumble in my fingers. Others are rusted shut. Exposure to the elements has rendered them unusable. Engaging in this sort of urban archeology is strangely rewarding. Unfortunately it tends to unsettle the neighbours.

Talking rubbish

2010-11-10T21:54:00.000+11:00

Never, in all my years of perusing the hard rubbish, have I been threatened with legal action...until last weekend. Two men in light blue shirts informed me that the penalty for removing hard rubbish is $500 PER ITEM. Gee, that adds up pretty quickly. Does each dinner plate count as a single item or is a complete set one item? Do I get a discount because it's a bit dirty? Where can I get a refund if this record player is faulty? Yes, even our own rubbish has been privatised. But I ask the question...landfill or loungeroom? Case dismissed.

Not Sandals

2010-11-07T19:58:00.001+11:00

What's

inside

the sky chief hard rubbish case?

Nothing but the simple packing list of a very light traveller.

Forget about gadgets. Remember a book.

Bon Ami, Mi Amore

2010-11-01T11:53:00.000+11:00

Iconic design, complete with the kitchen sink. With Vinium* That must be the magical compound that cleans vinyl! There's still a bit left in the container, I shall sprinkle it liberally over my floors and wait for a 1950's housewife to appear to do the rest.

*I googled Vinium, it's so magical I can't find any information on it at all.

Everybody loves string

2010-10-19T21:35:00.001+11:00

Strung out in the park.

Bin so long

2010-10-09T19:57:00.002+11:00

Why oh why would anyone throw out such a magnificent modernist bin? When I unearthed this bin in the hard rubbish it contained a large glass bottle full of some hazardous chemical (the name of which I've forgotten, being so distracted by the beauty of the bin). Council hard rubbish workers do not collect such chemicals. I advise people not to hide dodgy things inside attractive containers - such containers will definitely be coming home with me, thereby exposing their simple subterfuge.

Protection, etc.

2010-10-05T16:59:00.000+11:00

Images taken at Cockatoo Island. If you like industrial decay, it's more than worth the short ferry trip from Sydney's Circular Quay. Thanks Wendy for lending me your camera!

Warm Hard Truths

2010-09-28T22:07:00.000+10:00

The absurd

tragic

undeniable

narrative poetry

of hard rubbish

is everywhere

I look

Mission - brown

2010-09-20T22:08:00.001+10:00

I an attempt to erase tagging and reinstate the glory that is 'mission brown' ( a colour parents of the 70's loved a little too well) this brick wall gets a half-hearted touch up. Fascinatingly hideous.

Lay me down

2010-09-20T09:07:00.000+10:00

I have become a little obsessed with photographing abandoned mattresses.These tired old beds and the stories they could tell....out in the rain, slumped against trees, I can feel their pain!

There are sorts of design styles, but mattress fabrics are dominated by floral motifs. Presumably we all want to lie down in a bed of roses or a field of gold. The mattress below was a highlight, quite radiant, almost lyrical. My camera insisted I take this shot in 'sunset' mode. Who am I to argue?

So convincing was this scene, a hopeful bee landed to gather pollen from the flowers. Poor little sucker.

Blue-ish

2010-09-13T18:27:00.000+10:00

Some blue things from the Hard Rubbish trawl this afternoon, compliments of the City of Monash. The 'chiller' fridge tray design rivals the 'meatkeeper' find from March this year.

Beds In Space

2010-09-13T11:21:00.001+10:00

Mattress size lozenges, launching into the Hard Rubbish zone (HR according to Paul and his cousins).

Street-combing

2010-08-27T17:47:00.000+10:00

A little walk around the block, finding flotsam on the footpath.

Awwww...still not cool!

2010-08-09T12:16:00.000+10:00

Firstly, rubbishing the planet is uncool! Secondly, don't these bags look like cute fluffy white rabbits nibbling away at the grass?

Hanging onto the telephone

2010-07-25T14:34:00.000+10:00

iPhone? Who needs an iPhone? Certainly not this lady. She's more than happy with her beige handset, although the yellow kimono (dressing gown?) might also be lifting her mood. This poster was found bundled with rolls of silverfish-nibbled wallpaper in an op-shop barrel. No, you can't buy it from me.

Phone bills a little high? Why not time them? You can even cook an egg at the same time. This was one of today's Camberwell Market trinkets, and a nice counterpoint to the above poster.

Worst-case scenario

2010-06-18T19:49:00.000+10:00

I've always had an uneasy feeling that I may end up becoming a bag lady. Well at least I'll have some nice bags...

(suitcase linings)

Student's World

2010-06-17T20:00:00.000+10:00

Yet more op shop books bought solely for their covers...will I ever learn?

(L > R; Volume 8 - Early Development of Australia, Volume 1 - First Steps in Learning, Volume 10 - Manufacturing Industry & National Traditions)

Avant-lard

2010-06-17T19:09:00.000+10:00

A relic from the old days, pre-cholesterol concerns, when animal fat was stored & used for toast, fry-ups & pastries . These days some people seem far more afraid of fat than drugs. C'mon folks, try some experiments with lard!

Don't Go Changing

2010-05-17T17:15:00.000+10:00

Some things change, like the weather and fashion. Some things persist, like wallpaper, clinging on through the decades. It’s always Autumn inside my mum’s neighbours house, where these scenic backdrops have survived the taunts of dismissive citizens for over 35 years. Yes sir, and it's not going anywhere! This reminds me of a unwound clock, which will always be right twice a day, whereas a slow or fast clock never hits the mark. The neighbours have found an moment they want to live in, and I applaud their choice.

Pulling Teeth

2010-04-26T19:14:00.000+10:00

Hard rubbish wombling in the dark is only for the intrepid and very foolish. Putting my hand inside an enormous, sagging, soggy cardboard box wasn’t without considerable risk….and some kind of reward. The box was crammed full of smaller boxes containing plaster casts of teeth. Many of these casts captured mouths in medievally horrific condition - I certainly felt sorry for this dentist's victims. In any case, it was a very surreal moment to pull out these teeth under the full moonlight. The large box was impossibly heavy so I only managed to stagger home with a dozen sets. I also found the small x-ray, sandwiched between some teeth. File this find under 'Freaky'.

Dainty Ankles

2010-04-11T11:54:00.000+10:00

The Winners of Sydney's Daintiest Ankle Competition, 1928.

Brought to you by Prestige, the quality hose manufacturer.

"The fashionable trend in stockings has been carefully considered by Prestige designers, who have raised the skill of manufacture into an art."

It's My Party

2010-04-03T12:32:00.000+11:00

A few snippets from this book, published in 1977.

"Giving a party should be fun - fun for the giver and fun for the guests. But it is not always so. When your guests have gone home, you could be left thinking: "Where did it all go wrong?" If so, it is very likely that it went wrong when you said: "Let's have a party!"

"Did you think what you were going to do? Did you plan? Or did you hope that it would work out? The best parties are planned parties. But only you should know all the work that goes into them."

"Don't talk about the party in front of too many people. Never, never use the telephone. Many parties come to an end because of that danger of dangers, the gatecrasher."

"Ask a friend to help you by giving people a welcome drink and keeping the record player going, while you help new guests with their things."

"All too soon the party is over. As you close the door on the last guest, and look around, you will see it: your room - the place you took so long to make nice. Ashtrays full to the top...glasses and dirty plates everywhere...chairs pushed here and there. This is the time when you find a drink, put on a lively record and then turn to with a will. Lot's of hard work - Yes! But now you know you can give a party - a good party. So here's to the next!"

Stay cool

2010-03-27T13:35:00.000+11:00

And then they had to ruin it all with advertising....

TV (or not TV). That's analogue.

2010-03-22T15:13:00.000+11:00

With the phasing out of analogue television and the introduction of the digital kind looming, the nature strips are inundated with abandoned tv sets, often found in clusters, as if commiserating their plight. Many of these tv’s could still operate if hooked up to a set-top box, but it seems our consumerist ways crave a shiny new all-in-one device. Another reading of this scenario is that everyone is sick of tv and is simply getting rid of them to spend time doing something more interesting.

Science by design

2010-03-15T00:01:00.000+11:00

They just don't design science books like they did in the 1950's, do they? I believe this cover is by Robert Jonas, an American illustrator (1907 - 1997). The genetics modesty panel is inspired!

Ruminations on Rubbish

2010-03-12T21:06:00.000+11:00

For the uninitiated, a nature strip is the grassy zone between the road and footpath, often punctuated with a tree. This is where residents can place hard rubbish for council collection, which usually occurs once a year. Few things in life give me more joy than cruising the hard rubbish. This is not only about plucking treasures from the debris, but the whole ceremony and psychology encompassing it. There’s a lot you can tell (or imagine) about a person, a household, and a neighbourhood by their rubbish. And it’s much more fun than spying on what goods someone is buying at the supermarket. Some people don’t like their rubbish being viewed or taken, others want to give you things and tell you stories – either about an item or about themselves. Some piles are OCD neat, others like a frenzied crime scene. People scurry on foot, pretending not to be checking out their neighbours detritus. Others are overtly searching, whether dealers in their vans and trailers or folk like me. There is a polite competitiveness amongst those cruising in vehicles. If someone pulls over to check out a pile, there's an unspoken rule not to sidle up beside them. Some are methodical in their searching style, following a map, marking off streets. I prefer the intuitive approach (ie; I’m disorganised). My most recent swoop of the hard rubbish went like this…. as usual, I’m on my way somewhere when the allure of the junk waylays me. Pulls me in like an ocean riptide. My first stop involved the application of Hard Waste Forensics.

Exhibit A – the dead lawn patches indicate not only that someone found a couple of great items (probably heavy & cumbersome) but that they had been on the strip for days. DAYS! Admittedly the goods probably wouldn’t have fit in my car, but still. I’m thinking a 50’s kitchen cabinet with cool linoleum lining. Feeling unlucky and despondent, I continued the drive-by and chanced upon…. a roulette wheel!

Made of Duralite (TM). (Is that an Australian rip-off of Bakelite?) My luck had turned…. sure enough these old petrol price numbers awaited me, featuring a far more attractive font than the compressed modern ones, and nicer colour combo too.

And to top it all off, these trays from an old fridge. Fancy.

I’m smitten with the meatkeeper.

The Master Key

2010-03-01T10:25:00.000+11:00

The Master Key by John Fleming Wilson

A thrilling story of mystery and romance

Universal Moving Pictures

Fifteen weeks Thirty reels

I hazard a guess this metal key was distributed as a promotional tool for the movie? Or did you receive it when you bought the book? Did it give you free entry to the movie? If anyone knows the truth about this mystery please let me know!

Survival with vinyl

2010-02-24T11:00:00.000+11:00

Problem - a day off work sick with the flu, unable to function normally.

Solution - spin some rescued $1 vinyl and don't fight it!

I have determined the record 'Golden Mexican Hits for Dancing Vol. 6' is especially good for the hallucinatory aspects of the flu, while Francoise Hardy helps when your brain simply can't operate in English mode anymore & suddenly, miraculously, can understand French. Also, Roberta Flack is good in the bath.

Shabby Sheik (yes, really!)

2010-02-23T19:18:00.000+11:00

"Lassie survives a fierce Australian dust storm, only to have her life threatened by a dangerous criminal"

Choice cuts

2010-02-22T20:43:00.001+11:00

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure I know where the 'butt' & 'jowl' stickers really belong on this pig.

1, 2, 3, GO!

2010-02-21T21:30:00.000+11:00

Monophonic and hopelessly outmoded, its white keys have yellowed with the years like teeth. Cheesy preset rhythms + gorgeous warm chord keys = hours of fun... plus, it can be tuned with a screwdriver! We remember 1983 for the Casio PT-50, and bless those country op shops.

The Wedding Present

2010-02-11T22:36:00.000+11:00

For some, there may come a time in life when you can peacefully place the wedding present your deceased mother gave you in the council hard rubbish collection. This is the story of this ceramic jug. As I was marvelling at its pristine condition an elderly gent came outside his house to ensure I had found it and recounted its provenance, replete with an English wedding. As he is now retired and moving interstate with his wife, he decided to dispose of many of his possessions. (Even so, the wedding present your mother gave you?) I admire and am confused by this outlook, which seems both evolved and just a little bit too practical. At this moment I side with the ancient Egyptians, in the sense I’d like to carry significant objects with me in case I collide with the afterlife. Besides which, a sizeable pyramid would come in handy for containing all my booty.

Antique snails

2010-01-20T17:13:00.001+11:00

Sunday morning, Camberwell Market, just another box of odds & ends. A gentle shake of this match box felt oddly light. Inside I discovered nine snails shells collected from Lord Howe island in 1928, collected by 'Stone', according to the inked tag. Antique snails! Vintage gastropods! In order not to draw attention to my stupendous scientific find, I nonchalantly offered the seller 20 cents. This event is now referred to as The Great Snail Swindle.

2010-01-18T20:02:00.000+11:00

...just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water.

2010 - Welcoming the Oneders

2010-01-01T12:58:00.000+11:00

A splendid hard rubbish find as the new decade hovers and beckons. May yours be full of delights and treasures, or at least be recyclable.

On the Island

2009-12-31T18:01:00.000+11:00

There is no police presence on French Island. That is why at the end of the pier you will find rows of rusted, dented, unregistered, number plate-less vehicles. Interestingly, many of these salted wrecks have locks on their bonnets and fuel doors...and one car is adorned in astroturf. Island Law, I am assured, runs smoothly.

Favourites

2009-12-06T18:47:00.000+11:00

One of my all time favourite op-shop treasures – a red light globe filled with 140 matches with the metaphorical tag ‘Light Up!’ I keep that close, on the discarded hall table that serves as a computer station. And another, a relic from the Darebin Resource Recovery Centre (aka Darebin tip). This was before they built the soulless tin shed, tripled their prices and ditched half of their staff. I found this collage on a piece of rough hewn corrugated board, lost amongst the paperbacks, and took it to the counter for pricing. They said I could have it for free. I walked away feeling like I’d found a Pollock in an op-shop for a song. I like to imagine the Nonna that pieced it together from devotional cards kept from homeland churches, cutting down a fruit box with the blunt scissors she stored in the kitchen drawer. Many of my friends just find this creepy.

Are We Not Human?

2009-12-05T09:05:00.000+11:00

I may have to start a band called 'The Human Body', just to use this as the cover art for the debut self-titled EP. Typophiles, please enjoy the 'O' and the 'D', and that snug little 'Y'.

Mug shots

2009-11-19T20:07:00.000+11:00

The above mug has been charged with crimes against taste. It was whiling away the hours in the ‘please-take-me’ box of a country garage sale, until it got a second chance in the city. Below are some other mugs I have taken under my wing. A bit of tough love with a drill bit & they are now fully rehabilitated.

You say Potato, I say Dear God!

2009-11-01T22:01:00.001+11:00

Above left, an old postcard. Above right, true horror, Freddy Krueger style. I took that photo 7 miles east of Fredrickton, New Brunswick, on the Trans Canadian Highway. So it seems Australians don’t have a monopoly on unsettling monolithic sculptures. Speaking of which, look at this splendid lobster, found somewhere in South Australia, a feverish childhood memory, circa 1980's family road trip. Which sculpture is scarier? Discuss.

Getting there / being there

2009-10-18T14:10:00.000+11:00

I'm allergic to bees but I like honey. I spotted this one at the tram stop on the weekend. My last encounter with a bee involved it stinging me on the top of my head and going to Emergency at 3 AM with a brain crushing migraine and lymph nodes strung like a bunch of grapes around my neck. Encouraged by the prospect of trawling the hard rubbish on the streets of Malvern I was fearless. Last year I scored in this council zone, but this year was a bit disappointing. It seems the GFC has effected the quality of hard rubbish in this rather affluent suburb. Yes, it's that serious! There was plenty of actual rubble, not the haphazard piles of promising miscellanea I affectionately refer to as rubble. And countless bundles of foliage (yawn). This mattress below was perhaps the nicest thing I saw. The strangest thing was 4 half empty bottles of Cinzano. At least that's what the labels said, it was a bit too early for sampling. I left them for wayward children. I hope they are not too busy playing on the computer to rummage and pilfer. Kids these days....

Food Therapy (continued)

2009-10-12T13:19:00.000+11:00

Look what I found in my mailbox today.... a flyer from the Chinese Food Therapy Restaurant! (see post from Sep 13th, 2009) The good news is fried chicken cures everything. I plan to take my 'unable treated disease' there soon. I'll be sure to avoid the Lotus Seed Soup...

First aid, second hand

2009-10-11T18:18:00.001+11:00

Every body hurts. Prepare yourself.

Tree Vs Coke

2009-10-11T09:05:00.000+11:00

Sharks eat metal and so do trees. (At least trees in Italy do.) And so begins Nature's Great Revenge...

iSnack on Oz mite (v.3.0)?

2009-10-05T11:28:00.000+11:00

Oz Mite....then again Oz Mite not. Are the marketing team from Kraft getting all their ideas from 2nd hand knock-off badges from Camberwell Market? Probably!

Do my wheels look big in this?

2009-09-27T19:54:00.002+10:00

No honey, you look great, it really suits you.

Spring hoarding

2009-09-21T20:56:00.000+10:00

Today’s op-shop booty will encourage me to practice my hospital corners, dry my dishes, apply sterile dressings to wounds, play chess, learn the mandolin and rescue my touring maps from being trampled to shreds on the floor of my car.

Look no further

2009-09-14T10:31:00.001+10:00

...and that should just about cover it

(High St, Thornbury)

Under the house

2009-09-11T23:35:00.000+10:00

It pays to look under your mum's house. Not only because you've secretly stored things there that won't fit in your own flat / house / teepee. Of course, you'll have to brave the thought of spiders and rats as you crawl under the ducted heating anacondas, but if you do, you may discover a charming rusty Marx truck like this one! Then you can put it on the shelf to remind yourself how brave you were as a teenager.

Mystery item

2009-09-11T22:54:00.000+10:00

Every day is hard rubbish day on my flat lined street. This is mostly ugly but sometimes rewarding. I recently noticed a plastic bag on the nature strip, bulging with promise. Inside I found a bunch of obsolete phone chargers, a pair of scissors and this.....

What is this mystery object? Turns out it is an old acoustic guitar pick-up. Yes, it fits, it works, and now I can grunge-ify any ol’ folk song I choose. Or I can just amplify the dulcet tones of my parlour size guitar. I’m afraid I’m halfway to being that busker that mystifies you on the way home from work.

'Shrooms

2009-09-11T20:49:00.000+10:00

For the princely sum of $2.50 I invested in this piece of op-shop-mod-art. 'Shroomadelic! Is this an original design? That dumpy one on the left looks wrong enough to be the unique creation of a slightly bent mind.

Deranged puppets, 1971

2009-09-09T22:32:00.000+10:00

The best 5 cents I've ever spent...