Autumn Days

Hello, Autumn is certainly here in Bright with the leaves changing colour and the temperatures declining (particularly in the mornings with single figures being the norm). Off to Brisbane after Easter to do some national parks walks (another upcoming book!). But before then some observations and photos...

Local Events
We have a lot of local events here in Bright including the mountain bike championships (see pictures below) Hot Rod Run, and the Brighter Days Festival (the most attended event of all). This festival is an important charity event and features, cars, bikes and music. It's a time when you see a lot of grandpas on expensive, noisy, motor bikes, and a lot of black tops and handlebar moustaches around town.

Local News
I found it quite ironic that the Beechworth Bushrangers football club had prisoners on day release playing for them (as reported here).
A big thing here recently has been a farmer that has planted a field full of sunflowers. I have seen a number of people taking photos of themselves in front of them and people have apparently come as far as southern NSW to see them. People should get out more. Perhaps try visiting a botanic garden - I believe they have flowers there too.
In the local newspaper they feature profiles on local people. It is a good way to get to know people in the community and to learn about what they do. One profile I saw intrigued me. I quote from the profile:

I am a life coach, adventurer, speaker and host of....podcast. I help peo­ple break free from their lim­it­ing sto­ries and es­cape so­cial pres­sure so they be­come their high­est vi­brant self. To­gether we re­view life­style pat­terns and ex­plore their ad­ven­ture, life­style and well­ness as­pi­ra­tions. I help peo­ple put prac­ti­cal ac­tion steps in place and en­cour­age, in­spire and hold you ac­count­able to achieve their ideal life. I truly be­lieve that travel and ad­ven­ture is a phe­nom­e­nal cat­a­lyst for growth and learn­ing and I love that also get to work with school groups, lead­ing kids on over­seas ex­pe­di­tions teach­ing them skills such as lead­er­ship, re­silience and mind­ful­ness.

I think she is a tour guide.
A bit of a tragedy here in Bright, one of our last (in fact our only) vestiges of corporate fast food chains has closed down: we no longer have a Subway. I don't know what the tourists will do now. 

Television

I sometimes wonder about priorities on TV News when their main story covers such things as: the timing of the AFL grand final, a photo of a footballer, and a horse winning a race.
I am also intrigued by the fact that a lot of the female TV hosts on commercial TV seem to all look the same. They all seem to look like barbie dolls. I am not sure whether that's a key selection criteria for the job or I am just getting old and all young people are beginning to look the same to me.

Fashion
I saw someone the other day with a pony tail in the middle of the top of his head. He must have lost a bet.
Also I don't think neck ties are really for people with fat necks. It's distracting. It just highlights their fat neck.
I have noticed a few more people wearing socks with sandals lately. Really, that's just wanting it both ways.

Bikes
During my recent travels I have come across some interesting bikes. If your bike creaks, I think it needs some sort of mechanical inspection. And if you still have a bike that has a seat with a spring, it's time to update.

Visit to Melbourne
A few weeks ago I went to the Palais Theatre in St. Kilda to see the John Prine concert (an American country folk singer-songwriter who has been around for a while). Quite a number of attendees had real problems coming to grips with the alpha-numeric system to designate seats. Perhaps colour coded seats might help. Working in the cloak room, I was surprised to come across (in retirement) a former media director I once worked with. I have not been in the theatre before or the area for quite a while. I like Acland Street because it offers all the offers all the  important food groups: icecream, cakes, and schnitzel.
I also had the usual entertainment on the train. One person not only sat in the wrong seat but she had one of those cleaning lady headbands on, you know - tied in the front with a big knot. She didn't even have the excuse that she was old. 
I also don't know what was happening in Melbourne when I visited. All sorts of people in the middle of the day with weird costumes: someone with antlers, a belly dancer outfit, and another all in pink. Talking about costumes I think the term "cosplay" was invented by adults wanting to legitimatise wearing children's outfits.
I also came across a discerning smoker in 7-Eleven: he just wanted the cheapest cigarettes. In the city I also saw an old woman that looked like the Queen on a bad hair day with too much makeup.

Knuckleheads
I have come across another measure of knuckleheadness. According to a recent survey, 6% of Americans think "socialism" means "talking to people, being social, social media, getting along with people". That puts it at 19,723,310 knuckleheads in the USA. That explains a lot.

Another Discount!
Yes, yet another plug for Random Thoughts & Tales. The book is now available with a 15% discount (until 18 April) using discount code ONEFIVE. To order visit lulu.com.


Some pictures from the Oceania Mountain Bike Championships...

And some other local pictures as well...