From Austin to Oz. I'm planning to flee the country for 7 months - working for 4 and traveling for 3.
Departure = 03 Sep 2003 / Re-entry = 03 Apr 2004

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Austr(al)ia

When I was in Salzburg, Austria, back in 1994, I noticed heaps of "no kangaroo" t-shirts and paraphenalia for sale in the tourist shoppes. At first, I didn't get it, but then dumbed down myself to realize that apparently many people confuse "A-U-S-T-R-I-A" with "A-U-S-T-R-A-L-I-A". That made me wonder if tourists actually thought that they would see koalas and kangaroos in the City of Mozart. Roos in Austria? Don't be daft!

Well, accelerate to 2006. Wild roo loose in the Land of Hapsburgs, not Holden. I wonder if I can still get one of those t-shirts?

Kangaroo on walkabout in Austria

A stun gun had to be used to catch the kangaroo

Police in Austria were pressed into action to help capture a kangaroo that went walkabout after jumping out of its enclosure near the town of St Veit. But Austrian police training does not cover kangaroo catching, and the animal spent some time exploring the snowy countryside before being apprehended.

Local police officer Joerg Fortin said the wayward marsupial just kept hopping away when they tried get hold of it.

In the end a local vet was called in to help catch it using a stun gun.

The one-year-old kangaroo, which belongs to a breeder in Tirol, was finally nabbed in a country road about five kilometres (three miles) from St Veit, in the province of Carinthia.

It is now being treated for minor injuries by veterinarian Georg Rainer, who said he was going to care for the animal for two to three weeks.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

marsupial mojados

Wallabies found at Texas-Mexico bridge

2/21/2006 3:59 PM
By: Associated Press

FALCON, Texas -- Two female wallabies have been located in a pickup bound from Texas to Mexico.

Customs officials say the wallabies, which are native to Australia and protected by the Endangered Species Act, were discovered Monday at the remote Falcon Dam International Bridge.

Each of the animals is believed to be about one year old. So far no arrests. The smuggling investigation continues.

Customs spokesman Rick Pauza said the wallabies, which are about 30 inches tall, are worth about $1,400 apiece.

The animals have been turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Aussie line-up at SXSW 2006

Here are the Australian bandsplaying SXSW 2006, so far.

Brisbane's Powerhouse, meet Austin's Seaholm Power Plant

Along the north shore of Town Lake sits the Art Deco Seaholm Power Plant. It has been decommissioned long ago and has just recently received the EPA 'go-ahead' for the City of Austin to convert the power plant into a cultural center. It reminded me of Robin and my, our visit to the Brisbane Powerhouse, also a decommissioned power plant now cultural centre on the bank of the Brisbane River.

On 17 Jan 06, Austin American-Statesman reporter Shonda Novak wrote a story on Seaholm:

Seaholm's rebirth set for 2008
EPA says ex-plant ready for development; summer start possible.
By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, January 17, 2006

The former Seaholm Power Plant overlooking Town Lake could be crackling with new energy by mid-2008.

Work on the transformation of the decommissioned 1950s power plant into a mixed-use project with housing, entertainment and cultural attractions could start as early as June, said John Rosato, managing partner of Seaholm Power LLC, which the City of Austin tapped last year as its partner for redeveloping the site along West Cesar Chavez Street.

A grand opening for at least part of the project is set for July 4, 2008, Rosato said.

The timetable is ambitious for the 110,000-square-foot public-private venture slated to become a major anchor of downtown Austin's western edge.

But with downtown rapidly changing — from an emerging retail district along Second Street to the proposed redevelopment of the Green Water Treatment plant east of Seaholm — Rosato said Austin's development boon is attracting interest from investors and financial institutions.

"We want to stay on the front edge of that wave," said Rosato, who is also a principal with Southwest Strategies Group Inc., which is leading the Seaholm redevelopment team.

The project cleared a major hurdle Tuesday when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officially designated the 7.8-acre site suitable for development. During a news conference at the site, federal and state environmental officials said the nine-year, $13 million remediation to clean up hazardous materials there was finished.

Seaholm is the first facility nationwide to receive a "ready for reuse" designation under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.

Although still being tweaked, plans for the site include a tower with as many as 20 stories on the northeastern portion holding about 150 residential units atop ground-floor retail; a two-story office building on the site's northwestern corner; and 30,000 to 40,000 square feet of retail space in the cavernous main building that once housed the plant's turbines.

About 1.5 acres of public plazas would serve as a neighborhood park.

The development also will include 60,000 square feet of space for a cultural entity, such as a new home for public TV station KLRU and its "Austin City Limits" music program or a proposed Texas Music Hall of Fame. Rosato said talks are continuing.

Rosato expects to sign a master development agreement with the city within three months outlining the parameters of the project and financial details, including the city's contribution.

When completed, Seaholm will create more than 200 jobs and produce $2 million a year in tax revenue, Rosato said.

Although it is too early to say what tenants his team might go after, Rosato said some local retailers have expressed interest, including RunTex and Whole Earth Provision Co.

The development group plans to preserve the former power plant's distinctive character, including its five exterior smokestacks and indoor elements such as a massive crane that once hoisted up to 75 tons of equipment. The art deco-style landmark stopped producing electricity in 1989 and has long been dormant.

"We want as much of the original industrial feel to stay," Rosato said.

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So, I wrote to the reporter and various others connected to this project:

"After having read Ms. Novak's story about the Seaholm power plant in the online Austin American-Statesman [link here], I recalled attending a show at the Brisbane Powerhouse [link here] when I lived in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 2003. The Brisbane Powerhouse is a converted power station on the Brisbane River that functions as a cultural center for the city, much like Austin envisions Seaholm to become.

From the News8Austin article about Seaholm (http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=154009),

// "What's interesting is coming from out of town, I don't necessarily think Austin recognizes what kind of national precedent this project will be. That this is really one of the most unique projects in the country," urban designer Tom Liebel said. //

Mr. Liebel may be completely accurate in stating that the Seaholm renovation is one of the most unique projects in the country (USA), yet, there is no need to re-invent the wheel if Austin can engage a prior power plant conversion project. May I suggest contacting and involving the Brisbane Powerhouse to learn from their mistakes and successes?"

[I didn't mention in my e-mail that the show that Robin and I saw was 'Puppetry of the Penis'. Figured that part of the e-mail wasn't important (smirk).]

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Recently, after being tossed from person to person, someone in the City of Austin finally replied:

"Thank you very much for the information about the Brisbane Powerhouse. We will look into the lessons learned by their experience as we have tried already to do with other facilities in the United States. Several years ago we hired a specialist in cultural attractions with experience in the reuse of decommissioned power plants to help us understand what works and doesn’t work so that we wouldn’t make the same mistakes. So we have been thinking along the lines you have suggested. Thanks again."

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See? Everyone IS entitled to my opinion. Sometimes, I have to prod them to acknowledge that.

Friday, January 27, 2006

And while 40 percent of Portuguese men rated intelligence over looks in a first encounter, no Australian men did so.

And the most important trait in a mate is...

By Kamakshi Tandon
Fri Jan 27, 9:42 AM ET

TORONTO (Reuters) - When it comes to romance, women prefer someone who tickles their funny bone while men opt for those who catch their eye, according to an international survey released on Wednesday.

The survey, conducted in 16 countries by Canadian romance publisher Harlequin Enterprises, asked men and women on six continents about traits they liked or disliked and how they went about trying to meet Mr. or Ms. Right.

The poll revealed differences between countries in the way people tried to impress the opposite sex.

Australians and British men frequently admitted drinking too much, while about half of German and Italian men said they had lied about their finances. Spaniards were the most likely to use sex to catch someone's attention.

Eighty percent of Brazilian and Mexican men said they had lied about their marital or relationship status, as did 70 percent of German women, the survey said.

When it came to meeting that special someone, a majority of respondents preferred to rely on friends for introductions. The Internet was not a popular hunting ground except in Portugal, where about half the surveyed men and women opted to find people online.

Both Spain and France suffered a gender gap. Thirty percent of Spanish men, but no Spanish women, looked for love online. In France, 40 percent of men but only 10 percent of women attended parties, bars and clubs to meet someone, but they did have one thing in common: both sexes rated looks as more important than their counterparts in other countries.

When it came to that first meeting, a majority of men polled said beauty was more important than brains, while women put a sense of humor at the top of their list.

Physical attraction was the top priority for men in France, Brazil, Greece, Japan and Britain. And while 40 percent of Portuguese men rated intelligence over looks in a first encounter, no Australian men did so.

In the United States and Canada, humor was considered the most important trait by both men and women, getting 63 and 73 percent of the vote respectively.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Where are we Jen and Kim?

While in Queensland, Kim and I had different guidebooks, mine was a Lonely Planet: Australia which was given to me as part of my Working Holiday Visa scheme. Kim had this other one that listed more, ahem, 'refined' activities that LP didn't mention. Without Kim's guidebook, we would have never discovered the Art Deco coffehouse in Katoomba. Remember kids, one guidebook should not be your only source.

While in Queensland (specifically, the Gold Coast - which is Australian for "LasVegasMiamiOrlandoAtlanticCity"), Kim fererenced her guidebook and suggested that we leave the coastal confines of Surfers Paradise and head less than an hour away to Lamington National Park. What a great idea to visit during the week because we had the whole park to ourselves (pretty much) during our several-hour hike. We didn't see as much wildlife as we had expected, altho we did spot a few small marsupials. Twas a splended walk in the forest and after, I was chuffed. I believe that later that night upon returning to Surfers Paradise, we four discovered the "mates' tray".

Here's a write-up about Lamington National Park in the Sydney Mornning Herald.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

in print!

So, yes, amigos, amigas, hermano y prima, I now am officially in print! "What took so, long, Julian?" you may wonder. I wonder, too. No longer. Start building the ark kiddos, cuz the flood of stories has just begun!

Koalas, Koalas everywhere!

I dedicate this story (along with many, many more) to Robin Emery, without whom I would have never had this Antipodean adventure. I still miss her. Always will.

PS: Yes, I did write the tagline at the very bottom.

Monday, October 24, 2005

1st one down, 1 zillion to go

A few weeks ago, I submitted my joey board entry posted in this blog to a new travel writing magazine, Austin Traveler Magazine. Last night, I learned that the story was accepted for submission in the Winter 2005 edition. So, I guess that I'm a professional travel writer, now? Or, maybe I always was and now I'm getting published?