THE DUBAI DOGGER ; SHOP OF HORRORS EXTENDED SEASON

While our snap happy photographer , who  goes  under the  name of  Vallis , was wandering  about  the  Townsville CBD  taking   an arty series  ,   he  had an unexpected encounter  which  illustrates  this  blog's  claim   that  there are  a  thousand   untold  stories  in  the  naked  city.

Vallis  risked  life and limb standing  near the    CFMEU  office,  displaying  a get rid of  labor  hire  cowboys poster , on  the side of  Flinders Street, shooting  the  facade  of  the above   building . After taking  the  shot, he  examined it  in  the  camera.

Out of the ether  came a  voice : "I used to be a dogger on that building ."  The  person who made that unexpected  utterance  was   a wiry  gent  ,  showing signs of  wear  about  the face ,  brown  as  a  nut.

 

Turns out  he  had been a  dogman , the name for  a person  dangled  from   cranes in the construction of  buildings. He  had  worked  in many parts of Australia and  Dubai . Dubai ?  That  place with  its  spectacular  , skyscraping  buildings?  Yep.

     

On closer examination of  this  weathered  and battered  looking  character , Vallis gained the impression  that he may have been  banged up against  the  100th floor  of  several buildings  during  gales in  his  dangerous   career  as   a  dogman,  the  job  now much safer ,  he said .

 

He mentioned  the  recent  television show   about the Dubai  sheikh and the missing daughter  which  had  been  shown  on  the  ABC , adding that  woman " over there " are not allowed to drive  and  everybody  is  closely watched .  A wave,  and  the  ex-dogger  went  his  way , swallowed  up  by  the  naked  city .    

Vallis  continued  his  CBD  shooting safari and  captured the above  angle   on the  long closed  Great Northern  Hotel  , still   displaying the   banner for  the October  2017  season of  The Little Shop  of  Horrors . Local media has not  followed up  why the hotel  has  not yet  opened , despite a banner which once said it would be reopening  soon , since removed .  

SPECTACULAR SKY WATCH WITH PROMISE OF RAIN FROM SEVERAL QUARTERS

With  clouds  piling up  in impressive  shapes  , rain orchids in Townsville  and on Magnetic  Island   in  flower  ,  supposed  to  indicate  rain any day soon , a watch  is  on a  low  up  Papua New  Guinea  way  , also   in   Territory  waters .  

 

 

 

Orchids were  right -heavy rain fell  during the  football match in Townsville which was  won by the  Cowboys. Vallis photographs . 

FRENCH CAPTURE AUSSIE PIE MARKET APRES ISLAND DELUGE

Fair    crack  of   the  vin  rouge  bottle ; down   me  chunky  lamb  and  rosemary  , cobber .

 

Due to the closure  of the  Magnetic Island  bakery  as a result of the ceiling collapsing  during the recent torrential rain , the nearby French restaurant-Le Paradis - was  approached  by   many   people  seeking    pies , not  normally  on its   menu- pizzas, yes.

 

 However , with  talk that the bakery may not reopen for up to six months, maybe in a new location , out   came  some  Gallic recipes  and   a tasty  range of  pies  was produced.   Word  spread ,  pie eaters turned up in growing  numbers,   production increased .  Popular is  the  beef   with  red  wine  as  is  lamb  with  rosemary ,   pork and bacon .   If  the  demand  continues to grow , the   Le Paradis  kitchen, with one of the staff on   genuine French leave ,    may  take on  the   hectic appearance of  a  wild  Wallace and   Gromit   bakery   production  line .

 

The  demanding  pie expansion  took place  while  café proprietor ,  Frenchman  Marc  Palun ,  was   going  through  the  process  of  becoming  a naturalised  Australian  , taking  part in  a Townsville ceremony  attended by 70 .

He  is  now  a   dinky  di  Aussie   ,   recently  officially notified that  his name is  on  the electoral   roll .  Marc, who has been in Australia for l6 years , managed restaurants overseas, France naturellement, and  in other international  gourmet  spots.   

POWERFUL RURAL LOBBY OUTRAGED BY WINDY MINISTER

CANBERRA : Unicorn  farmers   throughout  the  nation are  furious  with Morrison  Government minister  Matt  Canavan (National  Party )  for   denying   the   farts  of   the   cuddly  animals   to   be  used   in  the   production of  base  load  electricity.  

 

Argus Tuft  Scoop

 

In a cruel , dismissive , typical statement  , Senator  Canavan  said  neither   solar  panels , wind  turbines , fairy dust  nor    unicorn farts  would   electrify the nation  and  help  turn  the  lights  on  in  Europe  after  Brexit.

Nil gaseous  unicorns , but  free  Italian gelati  for voters.

Unicorn  ranchers   condemned   the  minister's  comment , saying  it was a pointless   remark   which  has  upset the patriotic   critters ,  their numbers  in Australia   now  almost  rivalling that  of  canetoads   and  boofheads   in  North  Queensland   LNP   paddocks .

 

The  angry  unicorn  owners , accompanied by 100,000 of their animals ,  will picket  Canavan's  Rockhampton  coal lined  electorate   office  and demand  that   he  reconsider   using  their  farts .  If not , they plan to  blow him out of  office  at  the  election .  

 

A spokesman for the disgruntled  unicorn farmers ,  Fred Hornblower ,  said  the group has received  reliable information that   there is a  government  conspiracy to set up a chain of    subsidised  power  stations  running on   rocking  horse  shit  ,  pulverised  clean  coal  and  Coalition  bulldust, deceptively claiming  it to be  the latest fuel  in  rocket science .

 

This  seemingly implausible  conspiracy  belief  , Hornblower   explained ,   is based on the fact that  the man known as The Fixer in  the Morrison  Government  ,  Christopher  Pyne , was recently   spotted    with  a  bucket and  spade  under the  giant  Gumeracha  Rocking  Horse  tourist  attraction    in   South Australia . "Pyne  is not   retiring from politics, " declared Hornblower. "He's  got a lucrative  contract  to  shovel  rocking horse  droppings  until he is 80."    

 Meanwhile, the first shipment of    50,000    dehorned   unicorns  from   Townsville  to  China aboard    the  rusty looking Ocean   Ute   has  gone unnoticed by the  local media  which is allergic to the waterfront . However, our Shipping Reporter , the only one  north of  Sans Souci , managed to snap  the  Welland vessel   before  it  departed .

CLOUDLAND CAPTURED IN WATERCOLOUR ; WHAT STRIKING SCHOOLKIDS WANT TO SAVE

 

 

 

Series by  Vallis, on Cloud  9 , a threatened  planet  and  a  ferry .

TOWNSVILLE'S DRUNKEN CLOCK

Tipsy clock  above   what  was once the    Townsville CBD   post office  , now  part  of   The  Brewery  ale  house and  venue  ,  is   again  displaying    different  times , as  shown by  this  blog's  exclusive  photograph. The  clock had not been working    for ages  and we  drew  attention  to the fact that  it   was not  a good look  for the  Queen City of the North. 

Indeed,  popular  British  television  presenter Tony Robinson  came to   Townsville  for   one of his  highly regarded   history  time walk shows  and  asked  the  pub  when   the clock  would  be  fixed .    

 

 Eventually  repaired and  ticking  late  last  year , it took the  local  media  some time  to  pick  up  the fact . Now that  it  is  again  looking like a wall eyed drunk , it  has   again  escaped  media coverage ,  civic   comment  and  action .

 

 It has been suggested  by an eminent   Swiss  watchmaker  that   the holding of  a  Paul Murray  Show    (Sky)  in  The Brewery may  have caused   the  clock  to  go  haywire .  A  repeat  Sky  performance on the premises  during the federal  election campaign  , he warns ,  could  result  in  the  clock  exploding  like  a  jack-in-the-box  on  all  faces.      

SWAMP REFLECTIONS WITH RIPPLE , SPIDER WEBS

 

Taken off  West Point Road, Magnetic  Island,  by Vallis