17 January 2010

Wedding, Scottie and Tess

Last week, I went to a wedding. I didn't actually know the people getting married, but was invited as Rosie's partner. Weird? A little. But I was more than happy to go along for the ride. Turns out Hugh and Caroline (the happy couple) are friends with lots of my friends. The Hotham Street Ladies did a sterling job on the cake.



The ceremony was at St. Pauls Cathedral in the city, which is the big grand church right on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets. Then the reception was at the Fitzroy Town Hall, the big grand building opposite the Napier.



We all wrote messages of goodwill on little cards and tied them to helium filled balloons. This is Lyndal, on of the Hotham Street Ladies in question.



Rosie wrote on one for both of us.



Then we all let our balloons float away. It was quite a beautiful sight.



While I was eating some delicious food or drinking a beer, I noticed this bag looked like a face.



Here's Sean and Caroline Anderson. Caroline is headed off to the south island of NZ soon, so she can write a book!



Rosie, Felicity, Sarah and Roopa on the dancefloor, which I graced with my self-conscious skills for several minutes.



Something was going on with my camera when I was shooting this portrait of Riley looking quizzically at the houses made from invitations for the wedding, which he drew with his very own hand. I'll spare you the other two similarly blurry takes.



The next morning, wait, the morning after that, Tess tore her claw out jumping through the window. Luckily, she had a prior appointment at the vet to get her vaccination, so we took care of it straight away. Here she is with her bandage, piling it on thick.



Not fifteen minutes later, she walked in from outside and came to look at me. For a minute, I thought she had something in her mouth, but then I realised her face had swollen up like a football! Those of you with children of your own will understand the horrible panic that engulfed me at this moment. We hightailed it back to the vet, turns out she was allergic to her vaccination and had to get another injection. Lucky I had stuck around checking emails or she could have died from anaphylactic shock!



To celebrate, we went over to watch Scottie sort through his monumental amounts of stuff in preparation for leaving our fair shores.



I looked on as him and Shona discussed the relative merits of xmas presents from years gone by, ridiculously expensive fashion items, super 8 cameras and the like. Bargain hunters would do well to check out the op-shops in the Coburg area, particularly if they're a size small.



Aside from winning the rights to 'look after' some of Scottie's sweet stuff, the visit allowed me a rare window into the earlier days of skateboard Scottie. Here's a shot from his old stomping grounds 'the Shed' and a kickflip with a startling sideways cap.



Up top he's winning a trophy for hair care, while below he's chillin' in California with his old mates Elissa Steamer and Tony Da Silva.



Here's a fridge photo, the nosegrind down a decent rail.



In a brief interlude from doing not much, I delivered a pair of jeans to a friendly banker on the 49th floor of a building on Collins Street. Quite the view from there.



And on Friday night, Scottie had farewell drinks at Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment.



Here's Scottie having a bright idea, as per usual.



Adam was along for a ride, as well as Jason, who was as sober as a judge.



Family shot of the Cameron's.



Here's Scottie with his mum and step-dad. Hang on, what the hell is going on? Is Joey muscling in on Scottie's family action?



Me and my really good mate Scottie.



Me and my really good mate Joey, and my really, really good mate Rosie.



Needless to say, things got a bit wild towards the end. Here's Scottie doing some behind the counter, very orange DJing.



Tender Australian dancing.



Handsome Steve.



And that was that! He's gone, he's even in New York now. Good luck Scottie! Things won't be the same around here without you. Rosie and I went to Coburg market today, and this scene caught my eye. While I was taking the photo, the man whose stall it was had a go at me. 'I'm trying to sell this stuff, not take photos of it', he said. Scottie would have turned that scene into a hilarious one, somehow showing the guy up as the over-serious fool he was, while acknowledging his ownership of the head, the bag and the saw, ending in good natured laughs all round. I just apologised and stalked off, muttering angrily to myself.

5 January 2010

09-10

New years eve brought a frighteningly hot day followed by a crazy storm.



We were at the classy Baker ranch in Somers, overlooking the ocean.



Rick and Annie



Soon to be lost to the mean streets of NYC, Scottie handled the bbq with aplomb, with the storm coming in just as he was winding up proceedings.



Shona, Marc and the rest of us watched on in horror as he consumed a thousand beers.



Here he is, on his way down to the beach looking for more beers, I mean seeing in the new year.



Bang! It was 2010.

Funnily enough, the KLF were filming their new video down on the beach.



We went back to the manor and things were starting to get sort of wild. Then we all went to bed, because it was getting a bit late.



Marc very kindly gave us his room, resplendent in fitting artwork.



Unbeknownst to me, Marc had consumed a million beers and was extremely hungover the next morning. We bid our farewells and got the hell out of there.



Tess was loving it in the back of the beetle.



Then we arrived at our very own beach house! Just kidding, it's that famous one in Dromana.



We decided to catch the ferry over to the other side from Sorrento. Driving up, we were naively fumbling for change to pay, only to discover it cost $70! Outraged, we sped away, but then decided not to let the MAN ruin our holiday and went back.



A couple of hours later, we were at Johanna beach! Such a beautiful spot.



It's the type of ocean that reminds you that you're a land creature.



Sadly, Tess lost two of her legs in the back of the beetle. Didn't stop her from having the best holiday ever, though.



Rosie and our humble abode. Finally, I get to use the tent!



Tess found a good prop for a Groucho Marx impression, which had us nearly crying with laughter.



We did a lot of nothing, but also went walking.



So pretty.



Exploring caves



Slightly dangerous scaling around corners along the coastline making our way back.



We're back now. Keen to go on any camping expeditions on offer.