52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 35

The beautiful art nouveau Métro entrance to Abbesses Station in the Montmartre district, Paris, France. In winter. Green and black Sharpies, opaque white Signo and watercolours on Mont Marte watercolour paper.

Week 35: Paris

Update:

In the style of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen's iconic poster for Rodolphe Salis' Le Chat Noir, here is my interpretation of le Chien Blanc, created in collage, black Sharpie, opaque white Signo and watercolours. Model: Jack Russell McLean.

Week 35: Paris II

My muse struck at about 10pm and I finally posted the pic after finishing at 2.30am and was too pumped to sleep. I hate it when my brain wants to keep being creative! In 1974, when studying French at high school, I used to wear a T-shirt with "le Chat Noir" printed on it, having originally bought it because it had French language on it, and having no idea how famous it was, nor its relevance to Montmartre! Last year, visiting Paris for the first time, the image was everywhere: in every Parisian gift store and souvenir shop and almost every cafe. Plus little white dogs (and dog poo) just as ubiquitous! Made me miss my Jack Russell so much seeing copies of him everywhere!

Is the tennis ball supposed to remind us of the "The French Open", aka in Paris as "Roland Garros"? Mais oui, but it is also there to hide a blemish in the background paper that was exaggerated by the scan. I came back from Paris last year all fired up with ideas for a story about a little white dog in Paris but, a few weeks later, my writer friend, Natalie Jane Prior, bought out her new picture book: of a little white dog in Paris (Pom Pom, where are you?).

L'escargot et la grenouille. Collage of painted watercolour paper, black Sharpie, coloured card and a downloadable, online, 3D menu:

Week 35: Paris III

I was trying to get the frog to look more shocked. But frogs are already so wide-eyed! The tiny print on the crumpled hors d'oeuvres menu actually lists both snails and frogs' legs. I found a free customizable menu template on the web! The sample already had a snails dish listed and I quickly altered the title of a different dish to include la cuisses de grenouille. (Just in case it's not "Paris" enough, it has an address card for the site of my cousin-in-law's first taste of snails. Much happier with it now. The shadows from the menu were all wrong last night, and I realised that the snail was seemingly falling off the table in the first version, but I'd stuck him down too firmly.)

Sushi irony

Goldfish tank in a sushi bar. No wonder the goldfish seemed nervous.

Sweet treat

Cakes, tortes and desserts cabinet, at Sittano's restaurant.

I went for the Hungarian "Choc Rock" dobos torte, with only minor regrets. It was an amazing dessert, but almost a meal in itself.

A new stage begins

First day back at school.

Not too long to wait now. A new school library will be built on the site of the old one!

Meanwhile, in Sydney's CBD, some of my old Star Trek pals' favourite haunts have been slated for demolition:



the Greater Union Pitt Centre cinemas, on Pitt Street, where we attended the premiere of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" - we came to call it "the pits centre" because we were disappointed that the oft-promised Greater Union Centre on George Street was still a deep hole in the ground, on the site of the beautiful old Paramount and Rapallo Theatres.



Next to the Pitt Centre was the former Mars Steakhouse, the upstairs left of this arrangement of shops, most recently an expansion of the Chinese restaurant on the other side of that level.



Further in, on the ground level, was the now long-lamented Fritzel's Schnitzels. Both restaurants hosted many a birthday function for Sydney Star Trek fans after a marathon of episodes at ANZAC House in the 80s.


Star Trek III: The Search for Spock premiere

Returning to "Superman Returns"

Superman rescues Kitty Kawolski in front of the fountain in Metropolis, "Superman Returns".


A homage to Superman's debut in "Action Comics" #1,
April 1938 (cover-dated June).

I get a little nostalgic when I wander through Metropolis - I mean, Martin Place, Sydney - and often think back to the night I stumbled onto a live filming set for "Superman Returns" in 2005. (It's secret working title was "Red Sun", but as Sydney's telephone booths were temporarily rebranded as being from Metropolis, and there were yellow New York-style taxis and police cars dotting the city, it was all a bit of a giveaway.) Most of the movie was filmed in soundstages at Fox Studios Australia, Sydney, but Tamworth doubled for Smallville and several key CBD locations doubled for Metroplis locales, including Wynyard Railway Station (for the hospital).

First, I happened to notice that Martin Place seemed rather crowded for a Wednesday evening. There were lots of people dressed up rather elegantly, waiting behind a roped off area to enter the new restaurant that had been set up on the podium in Martin Place.

"Hey, hang on a minute? Since when was there a restaurant in the middle of Martin Place?"

A few metres in front of the restaurant, a car was poised, rather precariously, as if it was about to launch itself into the restaurant. Around the corner, on the back of a flatop truck, was a smashed-in version of the same make of car.


Martin Place steps, today.


Kitty's car runs amok, heading for diners in an outdoor restaurant in Metropolis
(actually Martin Place, in the Sydney CBD, Australia), "Superman Returns".


Martin Place podium, today - and essentially as it was
before being changed into a temporary restaurant in 2005.


View from Kitty's amok car, heading for startled diners, "Superman Returns".

Design features

Pattern close-up of my doona cover. 11 January, 2010.


Large wall sculpture of Silver Spur restaurant logo. 12 January, 2010.

Breath of a hog?

Dinner at "Hog's Breath Cafe", Penrith Plaza.

Of moths, givers and takers

I waited a few days before posting this, because I've been so angry and I wanted to see if a few days to process the events would help. They haven't really, so here it is a week later, and I've backdated the date so it sits in the right place in my chronology of events.

Last night I was invited to join six other people, all aged between 30s and 40s, equal numbers of male and female to a Japanese Teppenyaki restaurant in the city. as it turned out, I only knew one person (from my Star Trek Meetup Group) but via the unfolding discussions there was another person with whom I shared several mutual friends. Also was going quite well, although it wasn't the best Teppenyaki I've been to - you know the idea behind Teppenyaki, where the chef is in close quarters and does an elaborate performance with the food and cooking implements as he goes? - and after the bill was settled, six of us retired to a nearby wine bar.

Now, the only early inkling that the evening was doomed to swirl into an oblivion of anger and frustration was when one woman mentioned her ex-husbands (plural), and then wanted to know if Star Trek Meetups was "where we picked up our women".

???

Anyway, at the wine bar, the host ordered a bottle of white wine, which a waitress efficiently divided across six glasses. the conversations began to flow again, and it seemed as if people were barely pausing for breath, let along sips of wine. John and I had just finished a conversation about the upcoming Star Trek movie (I think) and the aforementioned woman, who shall continue to remain nameless, leaned forward and said, "So, you guys have moths in your wallets?"

Huh?

It took more than a few seconds for me to realise I'd actually heard her correctly. I looked down at the low table and realised that our host had ordered a second bottle of wine.

Now, the bill at the restaurant had been split evenly, as far as I knew - if the wine accompanying the meal was BYO that others had already paid for, I still have no idea. Nothing was said, apart from splitting the bill and everyone seemed happy. Perhaps due to the wine buzz that had already set in - after several reds at the restaurant, and now the glass of white at the bar - I still have no comprehension of where the woman's comment was coming from. I asked her, politely, I believe, if she thought I was planning to let our host foot the entire bill?

"The world is full of Givers and Takers," she proclaimed loudly. "Richard, here," indicating our host, "is one of the world's Givers. And you two are Takers."

I say again, "?????"

And so endeth all sensible conversation for the evening. I was eventually able to make sure Richard would accept my contribution towards the wine, which had now taken on quite a bitter taste. If the woman's intention was to make John and I decide it was way past our bedtimes, and time to head back out to the Western Suburbs (where she obviously felt we belonged), I guess it worked. John asked if I wanted a lift home, I accepted and we were out of there, and now she had the only other male in the group all to herself.

I can't say I'm in too much of a hurry to meet up with her again. How can people be so deliberately insulting to people they've only just met, and could quite possibly become people they will be seeing quite often in their social circle? I find myself wondering if she truly found my behaviour to be rude and miserly, or if it was just a ploy of some kind, to eliminate some competition, or test our mettles?

And I didn't realise the whole event would be treated by someone as some kind of blind date or game.

I ate at the Aviator

Today's most excellent gathering of bloggers - in Albion Park, near Wollongong - was so enjoyable. Two Canberrans traveled up and six Sydneysiders traveled down to rendezvous at the (highly recommended) Aviator Lounge for a meeting of Aussie Bloggers.

Tim & Carmen, whom I know from my two bloggers' Meetup groups, were joined by myself, plus Snoskred & The Admin, AndrewBoyd, Ian from Canberra and Gemisht (to whom I must say a big thank you for driving me down).

Phoning in her attendance from distant Townsville, Queensland, was the envious Anonymum, who was determined to be part of the action - via speaker phone - from the moment I clambered into Gemisht's car. She also checked up on us during dessert and encouraged several attendees to partake of the decadent Deep Fried Mars Bar. As for myself, I can heartily recommend the White Chocolate Cheesecake.

The only brief lulls in conversation were when all eight of us happened to be swallowing mouthfuls of food at the same time. It was great to put faces - and actual names - to some Internet identities I've gotten to know quite well over the last six months. I'm really looking forward to catching up with them again.

Sunday's magic number: 93.6 - Wow! That's amazing! I don't feel like I've done that many different things to recent weeks, and yet this week I'm two kgs lighter? Today, I celebrated!

Summers past

Based on our enjoyment of the wonderful teachers' preview of "Bateaux Jouets: toy boats from Paris 1850-1950" of a few weeks ago, last night I forfeited my regular race-through-the-CBD, collecting my comics and books, to attend, with a work colleague and her teacher sister, the opening of two more exciting exhibits at the Australian National Maritime Museum, "Summers Past: Golden days in the sun 1950-1970" and "The River: Life on the Murray-Darling". Both exhibits have just returned from successful national tours.

What a great way to soak up some great Australian nostalgia! I'm not sure what else to say other than, if you're in Sydney when these exhibits are still running, then go see them! They are well worth a lingering look.

My colleagues and I then wandered across to The Little Snail French restaurant, Pyrmont, where we enjoyed an impromptu meal. In fact, we'd been secretly desiring a visit to that restaurant ever since the manager had promoted it at the previous "Bateaux Jouets" night. Last time I was at "The Little Snail", it was absurdly decorated with palm trees, monkeys and surfboards (courtesy of previous owners of the space "The Little Snail" moved into). I'm happy to report that the food is as delectable as ever!

So how weird is that? "The Little Snail" serves French food and promoted itself at an exhibition of French toys, but it used to have a beach theme for its decor. But we didn't get there until we saw a beach-themed museum exhibit, by which time the restaurant had a more French decor again.

And how weird that I gave up Kings Comics and Galaxy Bookshop for a week, just to eat French cuisine! Mind you, my left big toe has only just started to resemble a toe again, so the close proximity of "The Little Snail" to the museum was most welcome.

Hey, today's the last day of the school term. I made it!

Computer says, "Blog!"

There's nothing more embarrassing than booking a table for fifteen people at a popular restaurant, and finding that everyone who RSVPs to your Meetup will only commit to a "Maybe", and then only four or five turn up. Been there, done that, bribed the waiter.

However, I'm thrilled to report that, for last night's inaugural meeting of Bloggers of Sydney, we were expecting twelve people (one had stated he was doubtful, but I had removed the pesky "Maybe" option) and ended up with thirteen! Not bad for a group that's only been around for a few weeks. It was a friendly, chatty, supportive group. I thouroughly enjoyed myself and I can't wait to explore all the new members' blogs.

Due to my zeal in volunteering my services to the other blogging Meetup group, there are two February meetings:

Bloggers of Sydney Meetup Group. For more details, please see the full listing: http://blog.meetup.com/408/calendar/7184749/
When: Thursday, February 14, at 7:00 PM (Valentine's Day)
Where: Old Vienna Coffee House, QVB, Sydney CBD.

Sydney Weblogger Meetup Group. For more details, please see the full listing: http://blog.meetup.com/371/calendar/7185298/
When: Thursday, February 21, 7:00 PM
Where: ArtHouse Hotel, Sydney CBD. Please keep in mind that the ArtHouse bouncers impose a dress code - smart casual.

So, at the moment, I'm balancing two groups. To keep them a bit distinctive, I've suggested that the newly-formed Bloggers group might prove more attractive to hobby bloggers, while the more-established (but inactive since July 2007) Webloggers group maintains its emphasis on people who blog as part of their job, or for some kind of remuneration. The Data Miners spun off into their own Meetup group in 2007.

I'll aim for a balance between coffee vs alcohol venues. If you join up one of the groups, please do suggest friendly venues that promote opportunities for people to mill around and establish new conversations. And feel free to promote both groups on your own blogs.



Meanwhile, you can keep pace with the Australian blogging scene online at the wonderful, new Aussie Bloggers web site and its very active Forum. It's one of the most user-friendly BBS sites I've used! Very impressive network, which only launched last Monday and is off to a great start.

Happy Junk Food Day to me

Yesterday had to be declared an emergency Junk Food Day due to the timing of the staff Christmas luncheon at school - yummo - and my birthday dinner at Victoria's BYO restaurant in Warrimoo in the lower Blue Mountains last night.

At school we do a Good Taste/Bad Taste Kris Kringle gift exchange - two raffle tickets at the door upon entry. I did rather well: a package of body massage creme and other pampering goodies for my Good Taste gift, and a "music of the 70s" Karaoke DVD for Bad Taste. A colleague had no need for her Bad Taste gift of pooper scooper and doggy poo bags, so Jack scored well too.

I've been to Victoria's twice before for staff dinners: once when it was sub-leased as a French restaurant, for a short while and again when it reverted to Italian with the return of the original owners. They run a birthday scheme at Victoria's, whereby on your birthday you're invited to take $25 off your meal. A deal too good to ignore, I reckon. Last night was a cosy group of four friends celebrating my last year in the fourth decade. I had the chicken pancake and the veal, with some BYO Pieroth red. Superb! (I understand they do weekend breakfasts in the summer months. I'm very tempted.)

I hope too much damage hasn't been done to my waistline. I shall know tomorrow. That's when I'm also planning to devour the huge piece of leftover pavlova I was bequeathed from the Christmas luncheon. 'Tis the season to be greedy.

Brazilian banquet, Vanguard euphoria, Cookie Puffs - and new boots to boot!

What a fun, full weekend! (Full in more ways than one.)

Even though the trains were out (for trackwork, between Blacktown and Strathfield) I made my way into the city last night to join some friends for the amazing Brazilian Churrasco Banquet at A Taste of Brazil in Pyrmont. Yummo! (And unique garlic bread rolls, made with a mayonnaise filling.) Oh wow!

I stayed overnight at Nate's for a marathon of early "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episodes, although after all the Merlot at dinner, we all dozed through most of them, usually waking in time to see end credits flashing by for each episode.

This morning we had brunch at one of Nate's favourite breakfast cafes, and then I ventured off alone into the city where I finally located, at Politix, the most amazing grey farmed-crocodile-skin zip boots to go with my newly-arrived, screen-used Andorian costume. (I knew I'd seen them somewhere, but the last few weeks of looking around was drawing a blank.) The boots were $100 off and really look wonderful. Now I can't wait to organise a proper full-dress photo shoot. (After I find someone to help me put the boots on when the skin-tight Andorian leggings won't permit bending, that is!)

On the bus-and-train home from the city, I finished reading David Mack's "Star Trek: Vanguard" novel, "Reap the Whirlwind". A lot of fun, but because I've been rather busy, I've had to read it in numerous one-hour chunks over many weeks now.

I was caught by surprise as I'd completely forgotten the author had put a Minipedia in the back - I'd restrained myself from reading it when I bought the book - so about three pages before the end of the narrative, the book flicked open to reveal that I was really only three pages from the end of the current story! (Reminds me of the good ol' days when some ST novels had a surprise excerpt of an upcoming "giant" Star Trek mass market paperback in the back.)

I'd also accidentally seen comments on TrekBBS about big surprises at the end, so I'd avoided all the details and responses. While reading this morning, all the details started being revealed, and I was very pleased.

The series has great characters who are revealing their complexities over each instalment; [i]two[/i] Caitians, at least three Andorians in this one - how cool is that? And journalist Tim Pennington continues to be a great character, redeeming himself over previous indiscretions.

Fan writer/editor (and New Zealander) Lana Pennington-Brown is a very good friend of mine (and is the Pennington the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" writers had in mind when they made canonical reference to the Pennington School in the TV series), so even though Tim started out in "Vanguard: Harbinger" as an untrustworthy love rat, he's already becoming a better man than he used to be (as he mentioned himself in the chapters of "Reap the Whirlwind" I read today), and so I enjoy rooting for one of Lana's descendants. Makes the "Vanguard" novels even more fun!

I'm off now to read up on all the online posts about the book before I delve into a new "Tale of the Lost Era", "Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Buried Age" by Christopher L Bennett.

And, to celebrate my "Vanguard" euphoria...: I discovered today that Puffy Cookie Puffs have released a new flavour: chocolate Cookie Puffs! They are to die for! (Or is that "to diet for"?)


Puffy Cookie Puffs: now available with chocolate filling!


And, according to the official website, caramel cookie puff filling is due soon.

Curry in a hurry?

Briefly - tonight I'm off to explore the menu of a local Indian establishment: Tamleni Indian Restaurant. I'm not very brave with Indian food and I'm hoping there's plenty of milder offerings.

Wish me luck! Or perhaps a tall glass of icy cold milk.

Captain's log: Supplemental. The restaurant was most enjoyable. We didn't get too brave with the hot stuff, but the Pieroth BYO wines I took turned out to complement the food perfectly! A great night.

Happy First Contact Day

I didn't realise until tonight, but yesterday - the date of the Sydney Star Trek Meetup's overnight Star Trek Easter Marathon marks only 56 more years to go until First Contact Day. According to the movie, "Star Trek: First Contact", it will be 56 years filled with war, greed, and (per The Next Generation's premiere episode, "Encounter at Farpoint") the Post-Atomic Horror (famine, disease, pestilence, death, etc), but we hear it's worth the wait!

First stop was Galaxy Bookshop, followed by coffee in the Queen Victoria Building, and then dinner at the Meat & Wine Co. - I finally got to sample their famous "Chef's Skewer", which is truly a meat dish fit for any Klingon: large chunks of recently-stabbed meat, onion and capsicum, threaded onto a thick, hot, metal skewer and suspended from a skyhook, dripping rich barbeque sauce onto a tray of fries. Qapla!

Continuing from where we left off from the last viewing marathon, we watched the rest of Season One of TOS episodes, between drifting off for micro sleeps. Junk food, Easter eggs, alcohol, Coke Zero, "Star Trek Monopoly", hot cross buns, sourdough bread and brie, and the "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" episode of "Futurama", kept the ball rolling...

24 hours later and five members were still watching episodes and playing TNG Monopoly! Such stamina. (I came home to feed the dog.) A big thank you to Nate for letting us use his flat for the marathon. Great fun!

Captain's Log: Supplemental. Update via SMS: the intrepid five apparently went to bed at 4am on the morning of their second night of viewing, so they could catch some sleep b4 breakfast.

Talking shop

I just arrived back home after a wonderful meal at Springwood's Orient Hotel. It was a staff dinner. Several non-teaching partners of the staff had that half-bemused expression as the teachers did what they do so well: talked shop about students, classes and teaching methods. No matter how earnestly we promise it won't happen, it always does...

The restaurant seems to have become become a staff favourite over recent years. Although there are several cosy nooks inside, we usually end up in the large front area, which is a transparent plastic-curtained area (with gas heaters on poles). The looooong table made conversations a bit restricted, so there was plenty of chair-hopping during the night.

When there are lots of us, there is a cheaper, limited choice menu available but, last night, we ordred from the regular a la carte selection. The lamb dish sounded very tempting, but I'd eaten lamb only last Wednesday, so I went for a well-recommended barbecued chicken fillet dish, which was scrumptious.

Oh, by the way, I've recently stumbled across the blog of Ian MacLean, a student of Dearborn, Michigan (not far from Ann Arbor, where my penpal, Olivia, lives) in the USA: The Chronicles of Ian. I absolutely love his blog's motto: "... where I'm Ian, and you're wrong."

Yuck cha

Today I was invited to join fifteen other people, most only acquaintances and friends of friends to partake of their annual reunion lunch: this time at Chinese yum cha, in a restaurant in a major shopping centre.

I must restrain myself from naming the restaurant, just in case the problems were more related to me, and my wacky state of mind at the time, but there was absolutely nothing "yum" about this particular yum cha.

We arrived five minutes early, and the place was packed to the rafters! Men, women, children, young and old; screaming babies in strollers; both Asian groups and Westerner groups, some seated, eating and nattering away; and the rest crammed into the vestibule area, waiting anxiously for a table to be freed up. ah, but our hostess had made... a booking!

Surprisingly, and despite the crowds, my friend and I were escorted straight into the restaurant, passed waitresses pushing trolleys stacked with all manner of steaming goodies, towards where our group booking's table should have been. But there were no vacant tables. The female maitre d' shouted into her earpiece and we were told to "return in ten minutes".

After about 20 minutes browsing the shops, we returned. The vestibule area was just as crowded, but we were shown to a large vacant table. We also found our friend who'd organised the event, and then a small number of our group already seated elswhere, drinking green tea. But the big table the waiters were preparing for us seated only about ten people, and we now needed seventeen chairs (one more adult had confirmed), and a highchair for an infant. I watched, dismayed, as the waiters butted another round table up against the first one. The chairs had flaring wire legs so, although seventeen chairs appeared to fit around the tables, when everyone was seated, many of the chairs' occupants were now too far away from the edge of the table. I began to feel claustrophobic, and went off to the restroom to calm myself.

Barely had we sat down than bowls of food were unloaded onto the lazy Susan in the middle of the main table. Now one side of the group had food galore (our side), but confusion reigned over at the far table as to how, exactly, yum char worked. The waitresses did not explain, they just kept unloading dishes. The waiters did not explain, they just raced away like startled deer. One side (the other side) were given green tea; we weren't.

"Take it all away", said our harried hostess to the waitresses. "Take this food away. We'll order the ones we choose."

So, the next thing I knew, we suddenly had access to a communal bowl of noodles, a few other dishes and no serving cutlery whatsoever. People understandably started unloading food into their personal bowls using their own chopsticks, which was working fine - until people were faced with "double dipping" to serve themselves any additional portions. I kept asking for serving cutlery, and receiving blank stares from everyone who looked remotely like an employee of the restaurant. They were happy to offload more food, though. I began to feel extremely claustrophobic again, even though I was aware of the air conditioner blowing a slight breeze above my head.

I needed a drink. A Coke Zero would do. Or even a regular Coke. I noticed several people around our table had located drinks, and others returning with soft drinks in hand. Ah, there was the bar! I offered to get drinks for the people on either side of me.

"No," I was told at the counter. "Order from the waiter."

I returned to my seat. Suddenly there was no waiter in sight, just another trolley waitress.

"Roasted duck?" she asked.

Sounded good. Looked good. I agreed. Well, the two tiny slices of duck I then selected (with my fingers, as all the serving cutlery was in other bowls of food) looked great. I was now seated so far from the table edge, trying not to entangle my chair legs with other patrons' chairs, that it was ridiculous. And the duck slices were almost all bone and gristle. Ick.

Still no waiter to take a drink order. But now others at our table were returning from the bar with drinks in hand, ordered from the woman who refused to serve me?????? At that point, I'd almost reached frustration point.

The woman next to me said, "I think this duck is off. It tastes off."

That was it. The feeling of claustrophobia overwhelmed me. And, so, I went shopping, with a promise to return in about 45 minutes, to see if I could better judge to what time the meal would go.

You know, it's not as if it was my first yum cha experience. I've been to both good ones and bad ones. Even the really good one (in Melbourne) had its limitations, such as an overwhelming number of dishes made with, ugh, jellyfish. But I have a strong feeling that today's yum cha experience might be my last.

When I arrived home, I toasted myself a nice, safe fruit 'n' spice Old English Muffin. Yum!

Great company, glorious weather and fireworks to boot

Despite the massive Australia Day crowds at the Waterfront Bar (which started an entry surcharge of $5 per head about an hour after Nate arrived there), and the throngs on the Old Pyrmont Bridge when they opened it up to let the endless flotilla of ferries go through!), we had great company, new Star Trek friends, old Star Trek friends, glorious weather, and fireworks at our front door.

Baia San Marco's food was excellent as usual. They did not hurry us, despite being so busy, and that left lots of room for chatting - and dessert. When we couldn't get free access to the Waterfront, Baia even let us have our table one hour early!


ABOVE LEFT (clockwise from left to right): Sonia, Djura, Ben, Chris, AdamJ, Iarfirithwen and Caprica_Six. (After a few merlots, and with all the dark lighting, the photos are a bit fuzzy.)


Where would we be without mobile phones? They seem to be the only way to triangulate a group of friends coming together these days:

"Where are you guys? I'm in the queue at the door."

"We're over here. Table 38. We're waving at you now."

"Hey guys, I've been trying to get across the pedestrian bridge for 70 mins. Have you started dessert yet?"

"Where did you go, mate? I thought you only stepped out to see the fireworks?

And so on.

Thanks to all thirteen members who weathered the crowds and supported the first re-energized Sydney Star Trek Meet-up at Baia restaurant, plus the extra members who caught up with us after dinner.


ABOVE (from left to right): Ben, Chris, Therin of Andor and Paranoid Tailor.