Max ventured out of the jungle recently to walk 'The Hermitage Foreshore Walking Track' from Rose Bay to Neilson Park in Valucluse, about 10 kilometers east of the Sydney CBD. Half way to Neilson Park near Hermit Bay, I came across a big fat Blue Tongue Lizard, his name was Steve. A little exposed was Steve, having found a nice sunny patch of the concrete pavement to warm his cold blood.
Max wasn't hungry and Steve didn't want to be eaten, but I pondered the question:
If I wanted to eat Steve am I allowed to? Is there a law against eating local wildlife?
There are an extimated 20,000 bats making their home in the Royal Botanic Gardens. They're interesting to look at hanging in the trees and it's poetic watching them leave each dusk silhouetted against the city skyline, harbour and setting sun. But they're a pest - ask anyone who has parked under a tree and found guano (bat faeces) caking their car. One current effort to get rid of them is to play construction noises through speakers.
So - can we eat them?
I suggest butterfly fillet on a BBQ hot plate, remove the wings and deep-fry for a crispy entre. My dipping sauce of choice would be garlic aioli.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Precious Cargo - on the QM2
The Queen Mary 2 cruise ship is now docked at Woolloomoolloo (archived post - February 2011).
In the movie Gladiator, when first approaching the colosseum, Juba says to Maximus - "I didn't know men could build such things."
That Gladiator scene came to mind when Max was looking over the QM2 from Emarkation Park in Potts Point, perhaps also because Russell Crowe's Sydney residnece is apparently in 'The Finger Wharf,' parallel to the docked ships.
It's no surprise to me it has been built, so the Gladiator analogy dies at this point, nonetheless its impressive.
There are a couple of Navy Frigates (Parramatta and Ballarat) and two Guided Missile Frigates (Melbourne and Sydney) docked in front of the QM2.
A woman in Navy fatigues approached, walking along Cowper Wharf Road. She had a "Griggs" badge on her front and "HMAS Sydney" on her sleave, so I asked, "what brings you and your ship 'Sydney', back to Sydney? She said matter of factly - "we're escorts of the QM2 in Australian and International waters until the next Navy of a Commonwealth country takes over."
"Interesting," I said.
"You have no idea," she replied. "Lets just say if the precious cargo got in the wrong hands it would cause a few more problems than cashed-up retirees and wealthy industralists loose in Sydney." She gestured to cover her mouth, "I've said too much, and I have a squash game at 1830 hours, better go."
The mind boggles what the QM2 could be used for as top secret transport requiring 4 frigates as escorts, 2 of the guided missile variety no less! Gold bullion, plutonium, WMD's, biological specimens of alien species. Ponder the possibilities.
In the movie Gladiator, when first approaching the colosseum, Juba says to Maximus - "I didn't know men could build such things."
That Gladiator scene came to mind when Max was looking over the QM2 from Emarkation Park in Potts Point, perhaps also because Russell Crowe's Sydney residnece is apparently in 'The Finger Wharf,' parallel to the docked ships.
It's no surprise to me it has been built, so the Gladiator analogy dies at this point, nonetheless its impressive.
There are a couple of Navy Frigates (Parramatta and Ballarat) and two Guided Missile Frigates (Melbourne and Sydney) docked in front of the QM2.
A woman in Navy fatigues approached, walking along Cowper Wharf Road. She had a "Griggs" badge on her front and "HMAS Sydney" on her sleave, so I asked, "what brings you and your ship 'Sydney', back to Sydney? She said matter of factly - "we're escorts of the QM2 in Australian and International waters until the next Navy of a Commonwealth country takes over."
"Interesting," I said.
"You have no idea," she replied. "Lets just say if the precious cargo got in the wrong hands it would cause a few more problems than cashed-up retirees and wealthy industralists loose in Sydney." She gestured to cover her mouth, "I've said too much, and I have a squash game at 1830 hours, better go."
The mind boggles what the QM2 could be used for as top secret transport requiring 4 frigates as escorts, 2 of the guided missile variety no less! Gold bullion, plutonium, WMD's, biological specimens of alien species. Ponder the possibilities.
'Urban-Sublime' in Potts Point
Max was introduced to the concept of 'the sublime' many years ago.
I've always been captured by panoramic views of nature and cities with their sprawling suburbs. Several years ago I was looking over the hills and rooftops of Manly from a highrise beachside apartment. The feeling of powerlessness compared to the vastness that I saw, thanks to my well-versed companion, I now had a name for - the 'urban sublime.'
'The sublime,' I came to understand, was a feeling artists such as romantic painters in the 19th century, tried to capture in vistas of imposing landscapes and violent seas. It's an uneasy feeling people get when looking at grand, powerful views of nature. Immanuel Kant said the sublime is limitless and our minds in the presence of it, attempting to imagine what we cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.
As a person we feel small and vulnerable in the awesome presence of 'the sublime', perhaps fearful and yet at the same time our mind is excited.
And so it is looking looking over the east-side of the Sydney CBD and inner suburbs from Horderns Stairs Potts Point that a sublime feeling creeps on. The view is engaging, yet seems too much to understand in a mind-sized chunk - the history, buildings, people, action.
Max is embarking on a mission for what seems impossible - making sense of the vastness - experiencing the pain of failure and pleasure in the pursuit.
I've always been captured by panoramic views of nature and cities with their sprawling suburbs. Several years ago I was looking over the hills and rooftops of Manly from a highrise beachside apartment. The feeling of powerlessness compared to the vastness that I saw, thanks to my well-versed companion, I now had a name for - the 'urban sublime.'
'The sublime,' I came to understand, was a feeling artists such as romantic painters in the 19th century, tried to capture in vistas of imposing landscapes and violent seas. It's an uneasy feeling people get when looking at grand, powerful views of nature. Immanuel Kant said the sublime is limitless and our minds in the presence of it, attempting to imagine what we cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.
As a person we feel small and vulnerable in the awesome presence of 'the sublime', perhaps fearful and yet at the same time our mind is excited.
And so it is looking looking over the east-side of the Sydney CBD and inner suburbs from Horderns Stairs Potts Point that a sublime feeling creeps on. The view is engaging, yet seems too much to understand in a mind-sized chunk - the history, buildings, people, action.
Max is embarking on a mission for what seems impossible - making sense of the vastness - experiencing the pain of failure and pleasure in the pursuit.
Welcome to Max Franklin's Sydney Jungle
Max lives in the urban-jungle of Sydney's east. Max invites you to explore the living, breathing ecology of Sydney with him and the people he meets along the way.
Max likes to speak in the 3rd person. I am Max and this is my world - for your interest and entertainment.
My world is a jungle.
From above the jungle looks in harmony - all seems to be entwined in a balanced circle of life. Look below the surface and a drive for power generates movement, change and action. Social, economic and political games create defeat and victory, deceit and satisfaction.
The mystery of this ecology: with it's moving parts of people, places, history, culture and stories - is explored within >>>
Max likes to speak in the 3rd person. I am Max and this is my world - for your interest and entertainment.
My world is a jungle.
From above the jungle looks in harmony - all seems to be entwined in a balanced circle of life. Look below the surface and a drive for power generates movement, change and action. Social, economic and political games create defeat and victory, deceit and satisfaction.
The mystery of this ecology: with it's moving parts of people, places, history, culture and stories - is explored within >>>
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