Diversionary Daily

A reasonable likeness

I brought my trusty travel etch-a-sketch into the office last week.

We're already being etch-a-sketch-bullied by our new officemates (who obviously have way too much time on their hands).

FYI, that's me on the left.

Posted on Monday, November 28, 2005 | Work | 3 Comments

November so far

A busy month means a bullet-list highlights reel towards the end of the month.

• Was my holiday really just six weeks ago? It feels like months ago. I've still got a stack of photos to post. Like, say, this one. It's definitely not from around Perth.
• Designing and building a site showcasing the entries for the new performing arts centre in Perth was fascinating work for someone who really digs architecture.
• Going through boxes of stuff from high school the other weekend brought back a stack of memories. In related news, if I see the phrase "don't ever change!" scrawled in pen one more time, I'm going to go postal.
• Going through a bunch of photos from high school makes me feel old. Well, at least old-er.
• Moving our office real close to a coffee shop will be my undoing.

Posted on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 | Melbourne 2005 | 1 Comments

Max Brenner: Hot Chocolate I Have Known (Pt 2)

I left Melbourne a little over a month ago and already it feels like an age since my holiday.

I mention that because this hot chocolate review is a little late and may be a little sketchy on the details.

Max Brenner. Where to start. If you were slightly giddy at the option of either Hot Chocolate or Italian Hot Chocolate on the menu at L'Aperitivo or Brunetti, you'll pass out when you see the menu at this hot chocolateria (okay, so I made that up).

Page after page after drool-soaked-page of different types of hot chocolate.

Going from sketchy chocolate-fuelled memory, we're talking at least five pages of different types of hot chocolate. Five. I'll wait for you to contemplate that a moment longer.

Right.

They've got your traditional liquid-state hot chocolate, mixed with a variety of amazing-sounding flavours (that photo's blurred because I'm about to chug some dark-chocolate-and-orange flavoured goo). These are served in the hug-mug, which is "specially-designed for the chocolate drinking ceremony."

Yes, they said ceremony. They take it that seriously. If Mr Brenner starts a religion, I know a lot of people who'd join.

They've also got a decidedly elaborate DIY option called Suckao, which involves an egg-shaped mug with a tealight candle underneath being brought to the table along with some freshly-mined blocks of chocolate and a small jug of milk. You're then free to mix up your own hot chocolate, which is drunk through a metal straw-spoon.

I've left that option for next time I happen to be in Melbourne. Or Sydney. They're in several convenient locations in either city. Just not in Perth.

Posted on Monday, November 21, 2005 | Melbourne 2005 | 9 Comments

Baci-isms

Wisdom from inside a Baci chocolate the other night:

"Treat your friends as you would your paintings and show them in their best light"

I was going to make a predictable joke about what it means if you don't have any paintings, but then I remembered I've got two paintings by April on my wall.

But what does it mean if you lie about the number of paintings you have? (Also, according to the translations on the Baci note, the German for 'treat' appears to be "behandle" - I like this language already!).

Posted on Saturday, November 19, 2005 | Life | 1 Comments

Lest we forget

Statues beside the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne.

Posted on Friday, November 11, 2005 | Melbourne 2005 | No Comments Yet

etc

It's busy at work. Say no more. Some projects I can tell you about right now (I'll be dropping by the Gloucester Park Super Special Stage at some point this weekend, if I get a chance I'll be out at one of the country stages too). Some are hush-hush and will have to wait till next week.

Incidentally, that's a photo of some graffiti in Richmond from the trip.

Posted on Thursday, November 10, 2005 | Work | No Comments Yet