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July 20th, 2005
04:52 pm - Holy meaningless subject headings, Batman!
Whee! It's amazing what an almost full night's sleep will do! ^_^ I say almost, because I actually had to be at work by 8:30am, which sort of negates the meaning of a full night's sleep because I didn't get to sleep in, but I DID get to go to bed early, and thus get more sleep than I have been for the last week.
Also! I FINALLY managed to get over to Videos Direct 2 U, which is this MASSIVE dvd warehouse on the other side of the city, and they had Nsync dvds! *sniffles with happiness* I bought Nsync: Live From Madison Square Garden, and Nsync: Popodyssey Live. So exciting! I can't wait to watch them! *ignores scorn and jeers from every single person on her flist that isn't into Popslash - ie everyone but one* You're all just jealous! I have pretty boys dancing around in a synchronised fashion and you don't! So :p
Anyhoodle. As I promised,
Alrighty! This is me and ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) nigeltde at the Keswick train station in Adelaide, about to depart on our journey! It is an ungodly hour in the morning, and my mum took the photo cos she was showing us how to use her digital camera and also she wanted a pic of us leaving. Always killing two birds with one stone is my mum ^_^
I took this as we were going over the Murray Bridge. As the train rattled across, all these birds took flight and kept pass with us for a spell - it looked really cool, and I was lucky to nab a pic or two of it ^_^
This is Murry Bridge after we've gone over it. Nothing terribly exciting, I was just taking pictures of everything with my shiny newly acquired camera , and this one turned out okay so I kept it. Incidentally, all the pictures I'm about to post? About a third of what I took. Yeah, I was a little camera happy *g*
Aaah, Bordertown. Many a time I have passed through your merry streets, yet never have I stayed. I took this picture because I think the background behind the sign suits the town remarkably *eg* Hehehe seriously, nice town, pity we didn't stop there.
Our one and only sunset *g* Isn't it pretty? All other times the sun set we were indoors and didnt see it. Also, if you look closely, you can see me and my camera in the reflection on the glass *g*
Okay, the first night we arrived in Melbourne, we were told that our room at the hostel wasn't ready for us. Ack! we thought, but it turned out alright - they gave us another room with the promise that ours would be ready the next day. This was the room; we had three beds, but luckily we didn't have to share the third with anyone. The middle photo is photographic evidence that there was a huge GAP inbetween our room and the one next to us, through which we could clearly hear other people's converstations. Luckily for both us and them, the people in question weren't speaking English, but still. Weirdest thing ever. (By the way, the first two are blury because nigeltde couldn't seem to get the hang of the camera. I am allowed to give her flack for this because it was her own fault that we didn't bring one she COULD use *eg*)
My absolutely BEAUTIFUL photo of the Flinders St station, taken the first night we were in Melbourne. I am so chuffed with the way this came out, it looks way cool :D
The State Library, taken the same night. This photo was really dark when I took it, but I've fiddled around with it in photoshop, and it kinda looks alright now, right? Right?
Oh! This is so cool, outside the Crown Casino, there were these HUGE pillars, about 7 or 8 of them, and they would just shoot flames into the sky! Random patterns of fire that were almost too bright to look at, and incredibly hot to stand near. It was really pretty, so I took a number of photos :D That last one shows you how bright it was.
This is a sculpture outside the State Library that we took a photo of the next day. Isn't it cool? I want one :D I didn't retake my previous State Library photo because there was this big white marque out the front, and I thought it looked stupid :p I was slightly disappointed that we never got a chance to check out the inside of the library, but we simply never had the time. Ah well.
Me and jiffy_spiffy! I put both photos up cos I look like a goob in one, and Meagan looks like a goob in the other *bg* I couldn't decide which one! So I thought we could both be gooby together XD jiffy_spiffy was as lovely as always, and even if she couldn't tell us in which direction anything was and has never been to her OWN markets, she was lots of fun and incredibly adorable, so nigeltde and I both forgave her immediately ^_^
Look, look! We're in Starbucks! I was so excited! We don't have any Starbucks here in Adelaide, so I dragged Jessie and Meagan along with me to share in my very first Starbucks experience. After ordering our coffee, we toddled upstairs, where I felt the need to mark the occasion by taking a picture of the downstairs *g*
This is me enjoying my very first Starbucks coffee, a grande caramel latte with 2 sugars! *beams* You can't really see it in this picture, but they wrote my name on the cup! How cool is that?
A lovely profile picture of jiffy_spiffy, which would have been a lovely normal picture but she turned away at the last second :p So instead I'll pretend I did it on purpose and call it arty *g*
The SBS building; the second picture is of this giant screen out the front where they broadcast the channel 24/7. SUCH an awesome idea.
nigeltde thinks she's being sneaky by taking a photo of me and jiffy_spiffy as I show her this cool thingy nearby. It's a direct camera and audio linkup to some random town in Sweden, and we could just talk to random people on the street! It was really cool, but night time while we were there, so no one was around that we could chat with. Plus we probably wouldn't have understood each other anyway. But still, great idea, isn't it? Oh! The bag in my hand contains a fluffy orangutan that I bought for jtph_jo, because she collects them ^_^
Jessie's turn to take a photo of Flinders St Station! Actually, this one turned out really well too. I wonder if it's possible to take a bad photo of that station? *muses*
A horse carriage that went trotting past us (we saw at least 5 different ones during our stay, so cool!). I should have listened to Jessie and zoomed in more *rolls eyes at self*
This was the room we were meant to be staying in, that we got moved into on Friday. It has a window! And a fridge! I took a photo of the view out the window, but it wasn't very interesting, so I deleted it *g*
And on the third day, the girls were stupid and forgot their map of Melbourne in their room. And lo! They were even dumber! for they caught the tram anyways! not knowing where they were going! And behold, for upon the comencement of construction of something or other, the tram did not go where it was meant to, and the girls found themselves aground. Fear not! they cried to each other, for we can walk the rest of the way! Little did they realise they were walking in completely the wrong direction, and in the end caught a cab to the right place. Somewhere during this ordeal, the girls passed the Salvation Army Headquarters and took a picture of it ^_^
Alrighty! The convention itself! This is the first panel we went to, which was called Evolution of the Fictional Vampire: From Lord Ruthven to Saint-German. It was really interesting, but there is no one famous there (unless you count Kristy, who is second from the left, and was head of the committee for the convention. She was WAY cool).
Straight after the vampire panel was a sort of game show called Blankety Blanks for the modern fan and writer. Based on some old tv show, the host would read out a setence (in this case, all from scifi shows or books) but leave a word out and replaced it with 'blank'. Two chosen contestants out of the audience had to say what they thought the panelists (shown here) would say in it's place. Basically, it's like Warren from GNW. It was HILARIOUS! Much fun was had by all ^_^ Second from the right is Fiona Mackintosh, a fantasy author who I found out lives in my very hometown, and second from the left is Danny Oz - continuum is his brain child.
Yet another blury photo taken by nigeltde *eg* This is me and Simone, a girl we met at the con. We're taking a break in between panels ^_^
Me and Jessie! Isn't this a great photo? We're waiting for....um, something....*thinks* The Opening Ceremony? I think that's what it was. I have a lollipop! XD
The Great Debate! This was SO funny! I nearly split my sides, and my cheeks were sore for hours afterwards I was laughing so hard! The moderator in the middle is Jack Dodd, an American fantasy author. First photo, from right to left is Neil Gaiman, Robin Hobb, and Russell Kirkpatrick. Second photo from left to right is Kim Wilkins, Richard Harland, and the incredibly adorable Poppy Z. Brite. The topic was that 'Humans are unnatural'. I honestly can't remember who won, but it was great fun to watch *g*
As we were getting off the tram on Flinders St the next day, we spotted this guy feeding pigeons, and I snapped a few shots. The birds were going mental! Swarming would have been an understatement; it was a seething mass of beaks and feathers, and you could walk right by them and they wouldn't so much as look at you. I've never seen anything like it.
Some artist I don't know put together these awesome statues to hold up programs for the Continuum. There was one outside each ballroom. Movie buffs may recognise the second one from the movie A Dark Crystal, which I must have watched about a billion times as a child ^_^ It's blury because Jessie took the photo *eg*
From the Moving out of the Genre World into the Real World panel. Poppy was sitting right in the spotlight and so had to wear sunnies, and the other two said they wanted to be cool and put ones on too *bg* Neil was running late, so they were killing time.
From the same panel. From left to right: Jack Dodd, Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite, and Fiona Mackintosh.
Neil Gaiman's Guest of Honour speech. I took many, many photos *g* I only put up one or two though. The man really doesn't photograph well at all - he's actually incredibly hot! You can't really tell from my pictures though :( Plus his eyes are coal black, so every photo I took they turned red *rolls eyes* His speech included a couple of chapters from his new book (it sounds AWESOME) and a preview of Mirrormask, which everyone is trying to get screened in Australia.
Me and Neil! <333 This was at the signing about an hour after his speech. Once again, Jessie sucks with my mum's camera :p Still, I'm chuffed, and that's all that matters ^_^
Robin Hobb at HER guest of honour speech. She read the first chapter from her new book (which I immediately borrowed from my library!), and gave a bit of a talk on what it was like being both a parent and author.
Poppy! Poppy was quite possibly the cutest thing to walk on two legs. She was just adorable! She's about five foot nothing with short, straight brown hair, and she was just the nicest person ever when we got to talk to her at her signings. This is her being really small and actually SITTING on the desk rather than talk at the podium - which she could hardly see over. Poppy's guest of honour speech included a short story from one of her books, and a whole bunch of questions from the audience ^_^
The panel from Research Nightmares and Methology From left to right: Ian Irvine, Karen Miller, Poppy Z. Brite, some medieval expert, and some author I didn't know. Very serious panel, was this one *g* Interesting though ^_^
And finally, the closing ceremony, with all three of my fav authors sitting next to each other! <333 Kinda blury, but it's the only one I have with the three of them, I think.
Phew! Okay, don't click the link unless you have major bandwith - the pics aren't HUGE, but they're still quite big, and there are a lot of them. This isn't all of the pics I took though; if you're interested in copies of everything I photographed, email me and I'll send them on ^_^ Also was much more organised than me, and actually took notes during each panel, which she has promised me will lead to an indepth discussion of each topic *g* So if you're interested in all the stuff we got to hear about, go check out her livejournal.
Current Mood:  bouncy
Current Music: Fairly Odd Parents Theme Song
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![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/19450151/280059) | | From: | c4c |
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| Date: | July 20th, 2005 01:15 pm (UTC) |
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Why is everyone on LJ prettier than me? IT'S NOT ON, I tell you. Stop being pretty. *sulk*
I like the photo where Meagan's looking at you like she wants to eat your brains. :-P
Melbourne buildings appear to kick serious arse. I want to pull faces at talk to strangers in Sweden. The profile shot of Meagan is really good, incidentally. Also, I am jealous of almost everyone's hair. Why doesn't my hair do that? Not fair. :-(
Am I still allowed to stalk you when I'm in Adelaide in October? Huh? Huh? Am I? *poke* Because even if we don't get a team I'm still going because I'm going to be a rep coach, I'm so proud. :-D Also coaches don't have to pay as much, but that's beside the point. *g* lol! I like the one where Meagan looks like she might eat my brains too! *bg*
Of course you can stalk me! I'd be offended if you didn't! ^_^ So you're coming in October? So exciting! There's not much to show you in Adelaide, because there's not much here, but I'll be more than happy to show you what little we have! XD | | From: | c4c |
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| Date: | July 21st, 2005 12:47 am (UTC) |
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I'll be there from October 1-9, so exciting OMG. You must come and watch me play netball. I'll pick an easy game for you to watch so you see us win. *g*
What does Adelaide have? It can't be much worse than Brisbane.... lol! I'd love to come and watch you play!
What do we have? Ummm....well, there's the Central Markets. Rundal Mall, obviously, the museum and library, maybe? I think I might have to scrounge around for some touristy maps! *can't really think of anything else* | | From: | c4c |
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| Date: | July 21st, 2005 04:09 am (UTC) |
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I will probably want to make a pilgrimage to Adelaide Oval. Any place where cricket is played is fine by me. *g* I like museums and libraries! No matter what you show me it'll be better than last time I showed an out-of-towner around Brisbane. I was so desperate for interesting things to show this person that I ended up pointing out especially exciting derros and bums in the city centre that I hadn't seen before. :-P Trust me, there's absolutely no point in going to our museum :-D The art gallery has some pretty nice works, though. Aawww, I dont know. I like to look at all the pretty bones ^_^ On the other hand, I haven't been to the museum since I was in primary school, so I think it's more than likely different to what I remember :p I went last Wednesay with the kids and MY GOD. The bones out front are cool, and some of the Indigenous Australian/PNG/Pacific Islander artefacts are great, but on the whole, GET ME OUT OF THERE! Really? Well that's kind of discouraging. Not even the dinosaur bones are cool anymore? I remember loving those when I was little. Do they still have that giant T-rex bone thing? *tries to remember what else she liked* And all those stuffed animals? Although they were kind of creepy, now that I think about it....
Ah well, I'm sure I can come up with SOMETHING by October *g* Adelaide can't be THAT bad. Right? Right?! You know, I remember stuff like that too, but the fossil section is pretty pathetic now. The have a lot of stuff for things like plesiosaurs, and tons of ammonites etc, but nothing else. There's a great allosaurus skeleton as you walk in, and the sperm whale and dolphins, but that's about it. The stuffed animals gallery I used to love but it is seriously creepy going through it now! Like something out of a choose-your-own-adventure book I used to have. And we had just been to the zoo so that made it worse. lol! Very exciting, I'm sure *g* I have to admit I've never been to Adelaide Oval, but I vaguely know where it is. Should be no problem getting there ^_^ Hah hah, you are so mean to me. After I knocked off the wine guy for you and everything. | From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | July 21st, 2005 12:42 am (UTC) |
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Still waiting on Queensland Transport though! :-P | | From: | c4c |
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| Date: | July 21st, 2005 12:43 am (UTC) |
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Yay, I forgot to log in! Why do I need to do anything when you've done such a great summary? Yay photos! I am such a shitty photographer.
PS: The dude's name is Jack Dann! *g* lol! Oops. I meant Dann, I did :p Ah well. See what happens when you go by memory and not mini pocket timetables? Bah. PS! Note my new possession of boyband dvds! You have to come over and watch them with me! :D :-D :-D :-D
They will be watched! Oh yes, they will be watched. Ha! Did you want to do it this weekend? I'm working late shift tonight and all day tomorrow, and uni starts next week, so it's probably the best time? Sat moring/arvo or Sunday? Either is good for me, going from memory. Preferably not morning though, cos I want to sleep in *g* Ok I am good for saturday night now! Ohh, lovely! Except for the ones where it ... damnit, it really DOES look like I want to eat your brains. I couldn't look more shifty! Well, apart from the me, it's lovely. I think you should sell your Flinders St one to some sort of postcard making company because, let's face it, Melbourne will never tire of Flinders St. postcards. lol! Awww, you look beautiful! *pinches your cheeks* And I'm really glad I got one of the two of us! ^_^
Hehehe, I'm sure they've already got a much better pic of the station than the one I took. Plus if I did sell it, people would go 'Omg! You totally didn't take that photo, I've seen it on a postcard!' *nods matter of factly* OH MY GAWWWWWD!!!! YOU GOT TO MEET NEIL GAIMAN [ Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<i.and</i>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.] OH MY GAWWWWWD!!!! YOU GOT TO MEET NEIL GAIMAN <i.AND</i> POPPY Z. BRITE!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO DIIIIIIIIEEIEEEIIIEIEIEIEIEIEIEEE! Lainy, you do realize you're taking me next time to the next fabulous celebrity hook-up. lol! Outside of Australian basketballers and comedians, this was my first famous person hookup! Should I ever plan to do it again, I will let you know though *g* ^^ yay! I <3 Poppy Z. Brite (I'm currently in worship of her Love In Vein), and Neil Gaiman. Wow. That sounds like such great fun! Neil Gaiman was really the nicest, most gracious person ever. I was very impressed with him. Me too! He was just so lovely, and funny. Even if I hadn't loved his work before, I was an instant fangirl *g* |
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