On the evening of my 31st birthday, goofing around and feeling a bit weird, now that I’m o-o-older!

Friday night at the Rugby.

Tied up at the St Kilda Woolworth’s

Manchester Lane, originally uploaded by arion».

in Melbourne CBD.

Four Things, originally uploaded by arion».

Sunsets
Airplanes
Boats
Water

Dead TV: Alley, originally uploaded by arion».

It has its own stool. A few days later it had a can of SOLO on it.

Staring, originally uploaded by arion».

What do you see when you stare at your walls? This is what I see…

Maribyrnong River, originally uploaded by arion».

Riding along the Maribyrnong River has some small surprises.

The sky was very strange the whole week last week, due to the smoke haze from the still-burning bushfires north of the city. The smoke haze is mostly gone now.

This is a colour photograph, originally uploaded by arion».

Saturday was the hottest day ever recorded in Victoria, some 47°C/116°F.

Later in the day, a plume of smoke from one of the bushfires blew over the city, obscuring the sky and making it dusty, hazy and awful. Incredibly awful.

Outside the city, it’s even worse.

The worst bushfire disaster in Australia is taking place on the fringes of the city. As of now, 96 people have died in the past two days, making this one of the worst disasters in the history of Australia.

It’s heartbreaking. People around the city are sad, worried about their families and friends in the country. The Premier, John Brumby, keeps giving news conferences and choking up. Grown men are crying when getting hugs from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. A famous newsreader was found dead with his wife in their house; another woman was rescued with her children by her brother charging through a fire with a tractor (captured on 3AW radio, no less).

The fires may be threatening transmission lines, and have been knocking off power for parts of the metropolitan area from time to time in the past few weeks.

The nation is in shock. It’s just so sad. Drought. Heatwave. Now this.

Sometimes, originally uploaded by arion».

I wonder what they’re thinking.

I occasionally wonder if it’s beyond the obvious?