djackmanson

[djackmanson]

It's a typical chilly, dry, blue-grey winter's day in Melbourne. We're on the side of a busy city road, and on a separated right-of-way in the middle of it is an old W-class tram, turning right. The body is entirely made of wood, and is painted green and cream. This car has not been in regular service for 25 years, but runs as a free tourist shuttle on the City Circke Route.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W-class_Melbourne_tram

https://vicsig.net/index.php?page=trams&number=1010&class=W7

Flinders Street near Docklands Highway, Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Wurundjeri-willam clan of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurring tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

https://deadlystory.com/page/aboriginal-country-map/Aboriginal_Country_Completed/Wurundjeri/Wurundjeri_People

https://www.wurundjeri.com.au/

[djackmanson]

[food] We are looking at a small condiment bowl with four halves of soft-boiled egg in it; the yolks are a bit jammy. The bowl is a dark yellow, red and white, and sits on the photographer's kitchen bench. On top of the egg halves Tajin seasoning is sprinkled; it's a Mexican seasoning tasting of mild chili and lime. The photo is focused right on the centre of the eggs, so the ones close to us are blurry and a small pile of seasoning on an egg near the middle of the bowl is clear.

[djackmanson]

We are in a small grassy area next to a busy freeway on-ramp. In front of us are three large windsocks, each made with different brightly-coloured parachute fabric. On the far side of the on-ramp, rising up a grassy hill, are at least seven more. The sky is blue and the sun is bright. The windsocks are blowing towards our right.

Ballarat Road at the M80 Western Ring Road on-ramp, Cairnlea, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Marin-bulluk clan of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

We are on a concrete path near an urban park. Directly in front of us is a tall bronze sculpture of Gillie and Marc's character Rabbitwoman, sitting on the ground, her knees raised to her chest, her arms around the knees, and holding a large cup of coffee. Although rabbits are lagomorphs, she has characteristics of a human woman, a primate, including breasts on her upper torso, which are exposed to the world, a bipedal figure, and human-like hands and feet. Her eyes, however are on the side of her head. Her ability to digest high-fibre feed in her hindgut and by eating her own droppings is unclear. It appears she is a celebration of trans-speciesism given her mix of incongruent features. Behind her, another, similarly sized sculpture of a Dogman sits with his penis exposed to the world.

Multi-sculpture exhibition Early Morning Coffee by Gillie and Marc

Republica Cafe, Bay Trail West, near Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Ngaruk-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

Swan Road in Altona Meadows leads to their private block of flats We are near the edge of a wide creek. Directly in front of us is a narrow inlet feeding into the larger creek. The mouth of the inlet contains at least two dozen Australian black swans, and a few Eurasian coots, tiny by comparison. A few more swans have already sailed into the creek itself, stately triangular wakes following them.

Laverton Creek, Altona Meadows, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Yalukit-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

Fuck you, local sex-worker-haters

(The MP pictured. Melissa Horne, does not "want" "your" daughters to be anything they don't want to be. What she did, was introduce a law into Parliament that decriminalised sex work and removed the licencing system)

[image description: A picture of an oval sticker posted on a street sign that has had all the wording scratched off. A copy of the original sticker is pasted onto the photo as well, it says "Why does WIlliamstown MP Melissa Horne want YOUR daughter to become a [p-slur for sex worker]?" A picture of Ms Horne is also on the sticker.]

[djackmanson]

The fact they used a double-spout portafilter without using another cup to catch that drip on the far spout annoys me far more than it rationally should. They're going to throw this coffee out, probably, anyway. But still. Get a single-spout or naked portafilter!!!!!!

Coffee Shot

ph. Bill Mantas

[djackmanson]

August Apple Blossom (Winter) We are on a suburban back street on a cold but sunny winter day in August, in the Southern Hemisphere. There is a nature strip between a concrete footpath and the street. On the nature strip is an apple tree, covered in pale pink blossoms. Another tree, half in the photo, remains bare. The sun shines high in the sky behind the tree, covered by large fluffy clouds.

Park Parade, Altona, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Yalukit-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

A woman sits at a cafe table, eating a serve of bruschetta with a knife and fork. She wears a dark purple and lilac windcheater from RB Sellars with a quarter-zip at the front. She looks at us and smiles.

Her fingernails are painted red, and she wears glasses with narrow, oblong frames that look blue or dark grey. She has an Apple watch on her left wrist, and a silver ring in a twisted pattern on the fourth finger of her left hand. At her throat she wears a silver and blue mineral pendant suspended on a silver chain. Behind her, the tables, chairs, umbrellas and restaurants of an urban cafe strip stretch into the distance

University Cafe, Lygon Street, Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Wurundjeri-willam clan of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

Hey everyone! Say hi to Donna. I've been on a few dates with her now and this is after we went to the Melbourne Museum last Friday.

[djackmanson]

Ice age woman making the first discovery of kink when she gets ambushed while out hunting by a woman from a neighboring clan who rips down her thick animal hide coat and hold a stone knife to her exposed chest saying in a language that she understands some but not all of the words of that she will skin her like an elk and she without thinking hits her with the 🥺 face

[djackmanson]

We are in a museum exhibit, in front of the casts of skeletons of two megafauna species, Diprotodon and Genyoris. The Diprotodon is a giant four-legged marsupial with two blunt, huge grinding teeth curving out of its skull, in front of its nasal cavity. It is something like a giant wombat, which is one of its close relatives that exist today.

Meanwhile the Genyornis is also a giant; a flightless bird this time. It is much larger than the emu or ostrich it might remind us of today, with a long neck and a skull showing that the head was big. It was actually more closely related to geese than emus, however. https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/resources/dinosaur-walk/

Dinosaur Walk exhibition, Melbourne Museum, Nicholson Street, Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Wurundjeri-willam clan of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

On a white crockery plate at a cafe sits a piece of bruschetta. It is made with olive oil on rustic white toast, and covered with a heaping of small pieces of chopped tomato, and some rocket (also known as arugula), and basil. A tiny amount of balsamic vinegar has been drizzled on for flavour.

University Cafe, Lygon Street, Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Wurundjeri-willam clan of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

We are in a large, dark room. The only lighting has been chosen deliberately by someone who wished to show off the triceratops fossil in the middle of the room at its very best. The dinosaur is enormous. Its lower jaw is higher above the ground than the height of most humans. Although triceratops were vegetarian, this one appears poised ready to charge at us if we seem to be a threat. Its two main horns are about as thick as a large person's leg. Its third horn is smaller but still enough to gore us. It might not eat us, but it could hurt us if we don't slowly back away. On top of its head is a large, bony frill which makes it seem even larger. It looks to be four or five metres long, with a tail that stretches another couple of metres.

This specimen is a real fossil, not a cast, and is 85% complete. As of 2025 it is available to see free at the Melbourne Museum with general admission. Holders of Australian concession cards (Carer Card, Health Care Card, Pension Card, Student Card, Veterans Affairs Card, and companions of those holding a Companion Card) can enter the museum for free.

Melbourne Museum, Nicholson Street, Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Wurundjeri-willam clan of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

https://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

It is still night, still dark. It is still and cold. It has rained recently. A train is heading almost right towards us. We are behind a fence, but it is flimsy and would never protect us if the train left the tracks and headed in our direction. The train's headlights are lit, and the yellow and white from those and the red from the boomgates are shiny on the road's wet asphalt and the rails heading towards Laverton.

Maidstone Street, Altona, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Land of the Yalukit-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation.

nahttps://alhs.com.au/local-history/indigenous-peoples/

[djackmanson]

On a grassy lawn near the sea in the late afternoon, a bronze sculpture rests on a stone plinth. The statue is called "The Swimmer", and it depicts a feminine figure, approximately life-sized but in a modernist style reminiscent of the 1930s. The figure lies on their side, long hair streaming behind their head. The swimmer appears to be doing side-stroke.

A metal plaque attached to the plinth tells us the original form of the sculpture was originally created by ceramicist Jeffery Wilkinson, who lived and worked in Melbourne from the 1930s to the 1950s. It was then realised in this final bronze form by sculptor Bruce Clayton.

Around the sculpture, someone has scattered sprays of saltbush in an oval shape. It feels like a ritual to either celebrate or contain the spirit of the sculpture has taken place

Bay Trail East near Beach Road, Hampton Beach, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land and water of the Ngaruk-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

[djackmanson]

"Tick Us Up A Point Til Payday Bro?" We are in front of a bronze sculpture of a tall, long dog, perhaps a stylised greyhound. They sit on a concrete slab on a beachfront, in front of a bike trail. The patina of the dog has worn off on its toes. The dog sits up on their haunches with their four paws close together. Their ears are blown back by the sea breeze. They wear a pair of white-framed wrap-around sunglasses which, to this photographer, look like the sort worn by petty speed or methamphetamine dealers. Behind the dog is a metal shape on a tall pole, looking like a tree that has been shaped into topiary. A modern house with an octagonal window is behind, and a person in a green helmet rides a hired bicycle on the path.

Bay Trail East, Brighton Dog Beach, Brighton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land of the Ngaruk-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin nation

The sculpture is "Summertime" by Anne Ross

[djackmanson]

We stand at a bare lookout point next to Port Phillip Bay, with patchy grass and a few low bushes. We gaze towards the city in the far distance, which is framed by a bare, sparse tree leaning landwards. A boy in a puffer jacket has his back to us. Long shadows and the golden, hazy sun tell us it is late afternoon. Beyond us, on one curve of the bay, we can just make out the famous Brighton bathing boxes, dozens of them in one long row along the beach. Very faintly, we can see the Middle Brighton Pier, and the city far past it is hazy and ill-defined. If we zoom in we can just make out particular buildings, and the pylons of the Bolte Bridge.

Green Point City View Lookout, Brighton, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Land and waters of the Ngaruk-willam clan of the Boon Wurrung tribe in the Kulin Nation