Doing the cats' dirty work

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Time to fess up. I had to do Max and Sam's dirty work last week.

Max (above left) brought home some very lively wildlife one morning before I left for work. Squeaking wildlife. Whether baby rat or giant mouse has not been minuted.

He deposited it in the Perfectly Clean and Ordered House ready for Peter's arrival. And it took off, making its way into the farthest reaches of rolled drawings.

So I invited neighbour cat Sam in, figuring that between Max and Sam, they would speedily despatch of the little critter with teamwork.

The pair of them were Entirely Useless in the manner of cartoon cats. At one point Sam prodded the Critter, it screeched and jumped in the air (in the shower stall at this stage) and then the Critter ran to hide between Sam and the tiled wall. Sam flinched. More prodding and squeaking.

I had to put a plastic container on top of Critter and then enlist human aid to extract Critter from my place. All I'm saying is that it is now buried in the herb garden along with its relatives in the Critter Graveyard.

We've got great herbs. If you've ever had my pesto, you know this to be true.

Seeing stars

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Venus, Uranus, a flying seagull... Peter and I saw them all last night at the Sydney Observatory when we went stargazing. No moon to view, but the 'Teapot of Sagittarius' (Sag looks more like a teapot than a centaur if you join the dots) and of course, that old fave, Scorpio, were writ large in the night sky.

And you get a yummy view of the Bridge.

It's a brilliant night out - and all for $15. Gotta love that. And the seagulls are fun, unlike the common koels, which are dreary. Yes sydhappyguy, if those birds had a late liquor licence, we'd never get a wink of shuteye!

Koel driving us crazy

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Last night, the koel was unstoppable. It hooted half the night and there was much inserting of earplugs and cursing.

It's still at it - now it's lunchtime - and when I went down to the corner shop before I could hear it down there.

Must be keeping an awful lot of people awake.

Curing the Common Koel

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To my enormous joy and hilarity, I found the call of the offending bird (see left and also yesterday's post) on the www. Turn up your speakers for the full 4am effect. Repeat for three hours.

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/images/audio/eudynamys-scolopacea.mp3

What we have here is the Common Koel. A kind of cuckoo - lays its egg in someone else's nest, then when the chick hatches, boots the other eggs out.

What a business! Not even a 'nice bird' waking up Darlinghurst.

I've had the common cold this week. Now I've got the Common Koel.

Wanna know more? Read all about it:

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=54

What bird is that?

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For about a week, at something like 4 in the morning, a bird has started calling from a neighbour's tree. And I mean calling. It's pretty relentless for the next three hours. And the feathered friend is back in the evening - with the same plaintive cry.

It's so loud, it's unbelievable. So loud, it's comical.

A neighbour and I were falling about with laughter tonight about the outrageously penetrating nature of its call. As part of my quest to find the culprit, I had the binoculars out on Sunday and it looked like a big black bird with a dash of red on the side of its head, way up high in a flame tree.

It has a hooting kind of call - with something like seven to 10 hoots in a row. Then it rests. Then it hoots again. I don't have much of an ear for music, so I can't work out if it's going up or down the scale, but the hoots seem to change.

I'm going to find out what it is. Needless to say, I've joked with Max about how he could solve the sleeping problems of the neighbourhood. Me-ow!

Hoots mon! Bring on the earplugs. Nature is calling.

Jiggery pokery

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I have always found the expression "jiggery pokery" hilarious.

I share this amusement with a friend; so made him this card when I found this headline. An oldie, but a goodie.

The best I can muster as I deal with the First Head Cold of Spring.

To spare you trying to make out the handwritten addition at the bottom, it is: "and all of them are grubby".

Chocolate box kittens

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By way of thanks for the birthday wishes, I've located a picture of Max and his brothers when they were kittens (from left, Jason. Jeffrey and Max) from the family archives.

If they were any sweeter, they would be on the front of a chocolate box.

It's Max's birthday

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Seven years ago on September 19, Max the Duster, King of Darlinghurst, was born in the bottom of a wardrobe to Elvis, a teen mother.

He has gone on to rule the kingdom.

He looks forward to graduating to long pants now he's big. No doubt he will enjoy the birthday singing too.

The ceiling at the ngv

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Ha!

As per yesterday's post, I can now bring you my deliberately blurry ceiling of the NGV.

And to clarify, the ceiling is my old friend - not its maker, Leonard French. I did not mean to mislead.

The ceiling itself is like an old friend - something I see when I am in Melbourne. It was only filming it as a moving image that made me realise its potential as a still. I moved the camera around at speed as I shot a still. Voila!

The stained glass ceiling

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I visited my old friend, Leonard French's stained glass ceiling at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Shooting moving footage of it made me see it in a completely different way, so I photographed it, swinging the camera around wildly.

Maybe it's my dodgy broadband, but I can't upload the extraordinary result. So here's a picture of four candles instead!

Talk about frustrating...

Dumpling & bling

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Back from Melbourne and my old haunt (but in its swanky new-ish location), the Dragon Boat Palace. You have to admire a place with a chandelier in the shape of a dragon boat.

Dragon Boat Palace is the home of many a delicacy-laden yumcha trolley. And even the things people accidentally leave behind are special. (Mum found a silver skull cufflink on the floor.)

You have to love it: Dumplings on the trolley, bling on the floor.

Lack of broadband

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Lack of broadband means lack of posts!

At left you can see why I am having problems.

Dirty mechanic: "Harry, can you just try the wire in that battery?"

I am polishing up my ear trumpet now and will hang out of the window later dangling a coathanger with a cat toy tied to it. Should work as an aerial, surely?

The first day of spring

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The first day of spring is, undeniably, a day loaded with excitement and promise.

The King of Darlinghurst embraced the early morning with a marvellous bout of yodelling. He got up on the roof and let it rip.