Day 148: Pink sunrise, modern music and Buddha's birthday

Day 148 (3 May) Friday. I have things to do in Brisbane today, not the least of which is take my car for a service, just to get it up to speed (bad vehicular pun). I also have a range of errands to complete that spending 14 hours a day on campus tends to inhibit (a small campus, we don't have the commercial facilities other campuses do). 

Our sky, at 6.12am

Even so, it is a slower start to the day, and it gives us the chance to look skyward this morning and try and capture the brilliant sky. A few of us on twitter do so and share our results. This morning was particularly stunning and notwithstanding the limitations of the fruit phone camera, a couple of shots at 6.12am captured a sense of it. A little later, I played the #612bluesky game again, at an optimal moment, though I broke the rules, a bit...for effect.

To this, a bit later

I set about working, well, marking, in between the wait for the car and the completion of errands. Once upon a time, an academic might have spent Friday catching up on reading the latest research in their field...nowadays that is something of a luxury. I try to do the reading early in the morning or late at night. For a variation on a usual Friday night theme though, I opted to head into town to hear the QSO in their new studio. At 6.12pm, I'm at the bus stop, waiting for a late bus.

Bus stop, at a darker 6.12pm

A 'modern' concert, all compositions of the 21st century, is considered 'daring' in orchestral terms and without audience support, orchestra management will continue to stick to the safe repertoire. I went along for several reasons, but chiefly to support the orchestra in taking these so-called 'daring' steps. Conductor Ben Northey was excellent in a program of Elena Kats-Chernin, Paul Stanhope and Phillip Glass. Keep it up QSO. When I sat in my seat, I received a text that one of my best mates, a former QSO player, is back in hospital...the cancer marches on. It's bloody annoying...his piccolo would have sounded magnificent in the new studio. He never did like the modern repertoire though. 

South Bank

It's an early finish and I get to wander through South Bank on the way back to the bus. It's Buddha's Birthday, and my mate used to laugh over his buddha-like stomach...bugger.