July 20 - Nananananananana Nananananananana Batman!

  Up at 8 o'clock to get my exercise out of the way early.  It was my day off today so I didn't want to go out and have fun then have to come home and slog it out.  Also... I may have had a somewhat desperate urge to see part two of the Buffy episode.

  While I was cooling down I was craving a cooked breakfast so I decided the berries would keep in the fridge another day!  I toasted an english muffin while in my tiniest non-stick frypan I cooked up a single egg, a slice of Bega Tasty cheese and a little shredded ham.  It was a scrumptious improvement on McDonald's and really didn't take very long at all.
  After that I got showered, dressed and ready to head off for a day of fun with Mr Smart.

  Mr Smart made us a lovely lunch of prawn curry with rice and roti.  I had one of the roti and a bowl of rice with curry and just enough juice to make the rice flavoursome!  We ate and mused on possible modifications to future incarnations of the dish while half-watching Bargain Hunt with Tim Wonnacott.  I love the show but I'll admit I preferred it when David Dickinson was the host.
  Our appetites now sated, we set off for the city, walking to the nearest bus stop.  We'd no sooner left when we were detained by Mr Smart's neighbour which was a pleasant enough occurrence but it did make us almost miss the bus.  Luckily there was no other traffic about and Mr Smart was able to signal our intentions to the bus driver who was then kind enough to stop while we crossed the road.
  Off we went, o'er hill and dale and alighted on another hill to switch to a city bound tram.  I really like travelling by tram in daylight.  It clickity-clacks and hums and bounces it's way past interesting shops, restaurants and parks.  I have time to watch the world on a tram and the things you spy inspire conversations and ideas; like "Lets try that restaurant" as I point out the window which then leads to a discussion of why it's not really fair to lump so many cuisines under the one Middle Eastern label despite the similarities.
  Before getting to the IMAX to see The Dark Knight Rises, Mr Smart needed to drop into uni to grab a book for the coming semester so I got an intimate student-guided tour of the campus.  So many beautiful old buildings, so many statues and sculptures.  Did I want to see the most amazing entrance to a car park in the world? Why yes I did...
This is the pedestrian access to the faculty car park.

  Isn't it amazing!?  Isn't it a gothic masterpiece!? Complete with ivy covered wall and dark foreboding interior, tucked away in a corner.  The whole campus in fact, even including a couple of starkly ugly 1970s architectural black spots, is a secret oasis of art and green in the hubbub of the city.  Now obviously, being one of the foremost universities in Australia, it's not exactly a well-kept secret, but I'd never known and was delighted to see it all.
  We then wandered down towards the museum but strolled at a leisurely pace as there was still plenty of time before the movie.  Luckily, Mr Smart harbours the same dread hate of being late to anything as I do, so I know we'll always have plenty of time!
It's a comforting thing to know.

  A particular pause had to be made at the corner of Grattan Street and Erskine Lane to capture an image of this flower.  The garden was full of native flora like proud fluffy deep yellow Banksias and spiky red Grevilleas so I'm assuming it's a native too, but I'd never seen it before and thought it was quite striking.  An image search on Google did not reveal its identity to me so if anyone happens to know what it is, please let me know.
  We arrived at the museum still with plenty of time and descended into the underground IMAX cinema.  We milled around for 20 minutes or so and were then seated.  Mr Smart has a knack for picking a good spot and had booked us tickets right in the middle of the row.  Not that it would've mattered too much I think, the screen is 7 storeys high!
  I will not reveal a thing about the movie itself, let it never be said that I've issued forth a spoiler, but I will comment on the cinema experience.  This was my first time ever at an IMAX and it was something to behold that's for sure.  We were in row D which is quite close to the front as you'd imagine, it was sometimes hard to know where to look when the screen pace was rapid!  The sound too was super-sized and reverberated throughout your mind, the bass shook your whole body at times!  I enjoyed the movie and it was an amazing, if exhausting experience.  I would love to go and see one of the nature documentaries they show on it.
  As we filed out of the cinema through the crowd of people awaiting the next screening, I overhead a merry band of trolls say loudly and clearly "Wow.. Superman showing up.  I didn't see that coming."  Luckily I don't think anyone was likely to believe them.
  We ascended into daylight, or rather twilight, and set off to catch the return tram.  I of course headed in the wrong direction momentarily due to not realising that we'd be catching a different tram back.  It was 5:15pm when we boarded the rush hour tram.  Sardines anyone?  Still, it didn't take long for the tram to get roomier and we clickety-clacked our way back.  I even managed to catch a sunset glimpse of the city from Ruckers Hill.  It's a beautiful view and one that Mr Smart made a special point of showing me some months ago.
  Once returned we had a rest, took in an episode of The West Wing, and once I knew rush hour was over, it was time for me to head home.  I had three pieces of leftover homemade pizza for dinner and a granny smith apple for dessert (thank you Jack).
  I have no particular plans for the remainder of the weekend and certainly no desire to rise early tomorrow so I shall head to bed, turn off my alarm clock, open my book and read until I get sleepy.
  Goodnight all,
  Jess