It’s been a long time between updates, but here’s a selection of shots from last night’s screening of the classic American Graffiti at the Coburg Drive-in.

The film was screened as part of an event organised by the Melbourne-based Fuel Magazine, and in that scenario, you know exactly what to expect: hot rods, classic muscle cars, and plenty of them.

But first, here’s the trailer for the film:

Now, onto the photos.

For me, the real highlight of hot rods is not the overall package, but rather the little touches, the small garnishes and chrome decorations. Read on.

Check out all of the full-size photos here on my flickr page.

One of my friends, Dan, loves to tinker with cars. A lot of my friends do, actually, but Dan always has something on the go. He generally sticks to Mazdas, but he’s also got a fantastic Volkswagen Beetle that he’s kitted out in true ‘ratrod’ spec, and we all love it.

His birthday was earlier this month – the day after mine, in fact – and we thought it would be great to buy some junker off the ‘net, deliver it to his house, and enjoy his reaction.

Tony had come across this unloved first-generation 1977 Honda Civic five-door for $200, and we decided it was the perfect choice; it was no Mazda, but it was old – ideal for Dan – and it was cheap – ideal for us.

More photos through the link.

The day began simple enough, with Joel dropping his $1.80 packet of donuts on the ground before any of us had even had a bite. Top work.

Joel and I arrived first, and within 10 minutes, the rest of the guys – and Tony, with Dan’s new Civic – had arrived.

And here she is: 1200cc engine, two-speed Hondamatic transmission, black-taped speed stripes, a tank of premium and brand-new door cards.

Glorious.

I’m told that PBS radio station sticker was placed there to cover the holes left after someone stole the badge that was there. Now we’re concerned that if we remove the sticker, the car might collapse in a heap.

Lichen adds character.

The temptation to paint the horn buttons red and write ‘NOS’ on them was difficult to overcome, but we managed.

Star gives a speed boost and allows you to drive through other motorists, flipping them on their head and causing them to lose all their coins.

Those brand-new door cards I mentioned? Still wrapped in plastic. Getting visions of my grandfather’s couch…

Ryan applied a racing number to the roof. I asked about the relevance of the number 4: “well it’s got no round bits. Easy to tape…”

Above: the highlight of the day begins as Tony rolls up to the home of Dan, who suspects nothing.

And now; the video of the handover.

Above: Here’s the brilliant bit; Dan and this little Honda both rolled off the assembly line in the same month, of the same year.

It’s all smiles on the outside, but you just know that on the inside, there’s only “Oh, god.” But don’t worry mate, we even got you a repair manual.

For the wrong engine…

But wait, what’s this? The first modification, and all within 30 minutes of taking ownership!

Dan had found some roofracks on the side of the road a few weeks earlier, and he figured he’d see if they’d fit the Civic.

Perfect.

V.

I paid my first visit to Melbourne’s new gamin’ and drinkin’ venue, Mana Bar, with some friends a few weeks ago. Afterwards, we popped down to The Alchemist for a slightly classier cap to the evening.

v.

The City of Melbourne put on a “Yell for Cadel” welcome back event at Federation Square yesterday, to celebrate the champion cyclist’s Tour de France win.

They say there was around 150,000 proud Melburnians in attendance – a record for the venue. That said, most of us were crowded in the incredibly packed St Kilda Road and Flinders Street.

Sadly, I arrived late and couldn’t get close enough to snap a shot of Cadel as he cycled slowly along and shook hands with the crowd.

But hey, here’s some photos of an excited and lively Melbourne.

Hopefully he wins it again next year – so I can make a better effort to shake his hand!

V.

Had some friends over for lunch, yesterday. It turns out I was more interested in photographing the progress of our ‘Bacon Explosion’ concoction than the people surrounding it.

I did manage to snap some shots of our spontaneous visit to the Albert Park Driving Range in Melbourne, though. You can see those, and more horrifying greasiness, after the jump.

The preparation.

Oh gawd, this is going to be good.

Ready for the oven. Now we wait…

Below; an hour, eight slices of tasty cheese and a punnet of tomato and garlic pasta sauce later, the Explosion was ready to demolish our insides.

I couldn’t get through my second helping, but be assured it was delicious. I suspect I won’t be eating meat for another six months, though.

After a round of virtual golf on my Android tab, we decided to hit the driving range. I’d never been, and I had no idea how quickly I’d get bored of the 100 balls I paid for. I gave up about 30 balls into it, and started snapping shots of everyone else, instead!

And that’s that.

v.

Oh hello thar. Apologies for the huge gap between posts; I somehow lost the battery charger for my camera, and for a while I held out hope that I’d find the damn thing again. After two months of that, I caved in and bought a new one.

So, here’s some shots from a weekend away in Daylesford, in Victoria’s north-west. It’s a sleepy little town known largely for its seemingly endless supply of day spas and massage houses, but it’s also home to the beautiful Lake House restaurant, where we dined last night.

Sault also comes quite highly recommended, though we didn’t manage to make time for that one. Next time.

There’s only a few shots here, I’m sorry to say. It was a fairly dreary weekend as far as the weather goes, so I was hesitant to pull the camera out too often. Also, I was drunk a lot of the time.

Above is a shot of the beautiful ironwork featured on a bench in the gardens at The Convent – a former, well, convent.

Host to a gallery, chapel, bar and cafe; I can recommend a visit if you’re into architecture and nice gardens, but I can’t endorse it as a home to fine art, because everything on display was terrible.

Above; Friedy wanders through the garden at The Convent. That part of the establishment is at least quite nice.

An interesting boat sculpture, forming part of a West Papuan exhibition at The Convent. I would have taken photos of more from the exhibition, but it really wasn’t interesting enough to bother.

Looking at the photos, I have to admit that the sculptures and artworks on display don’t appear all that ‘orrible, but I can only assure you that, up close, everything here is caught between boring and just plain bad.

Situated on a hill that overlooks the town proper, The Convent at least offers some nice views.

A detail shot of the walls, which have been deliberately (and nicely) left in a dilapidated state.

Elsewhere;

Above and below: You just gotta giggle.

Below; When I saw this – ‘Notional Trust’ – some part of me was willing to accept that perhaps such a thing exists, but that I’d better snap a shot just in case it actually is an epic typo. After some intense eugoogaling, I can say with some certainty that this is indeed one hell of a cockup.

Above; Anyone know what type of duck this is? Sure is an ugly blighter.

And, a goose. He ate my whole mandarin, the greedy little bastard.

That’s all, until next time.

v.

Despite being the Easter weekend, Friedel and I both had some work to get through while we were visiting her family in Tasmania this week. With just the one laptop between us, I took off for a few hours on Monday while she knocked over a few design tasks.

Half an hour into my drive, a roadside sign told me I was a mere 19km from the summit of Mount Wellington. Well, hell. Off I went.

Above, the view of Hobart from atop the mountain.

After sitting for ages behind an old LandCruiser that I’m certain was piloted by a drunkard, I finally arrived at the top. Moments later I’d jumped a fence on the tourist platform and I was off in search of a rock to perch on for a while. Look at me, no respect for nature. Damn.

It’s a strange mountain, that one. Well, to be fair, it’s only the second one I’ve been at the top of – the first being the fairly tame Mount Dandenong, which even has a restaurant at the top of it.

I’m told the summit of Mt Wellington is often covered in snow, but being Autumn and a pretty nice week of weather, it was quite dry up there. With the Sun overhead and virtually no wind to speak of, it was a good visit (particularly as I wasn’t dressed for snow and wind).

It really looks like a tundra up there, something I’d expect to see very high up in the Northern Hemisphere.

But for me, as a sci-fi nerd and a huge Kim Stanley Robinson fan, it was no small leap to imagine the scene as the early stage of a terraformed Mars, the sky blued by a new (but only just) breathable atmosphere and flowing water when the temperature is right, with a rock-strewn ground covered by specialised algae and hardy plants.

I spent a good 30 minutes just sitting on a big rock and imagining the scene. I suppose I’ll never get to Mars, so it was nice to imagine a visit.

Some more photos below, and scroll to the bottom for a zomg special edition photo manipulation just for you.

Above: my specialised Mars suit, of course.

Above: maybe this is how the surface of Mars would look as the colonists wait for the algae and plants to do their job..?

v.

Still full on memories of the feast that greeted us at the family Christmas last year, we headed down to Tasmania this past weekend for an extra-long Easter holiday with Friedel’s family.

Here’s a few shots from the veritable buffet that awaited us, and a couple of other shots under the rule of ‘just because’. Above are my four eggs from the massive batch of hard-boiled eggs we had to get painted before the guests arrived.

Definitely did not eat the above eggs. Purely decorative and beautifully hand-made.

This ceiling light reminded me of the rocket ships that always featured in science fiction films in the 1950s.

Up next, my visit to Hobart’s Mt Wellington. Tremendously fulfilling for me, sure to bore the hair right off your head.

v.

What’s the collective noun for ninja? Is it ninjas, or does it remain ninja? Perhaps it’s ninjai…

I caught up with some car-loving friends for lunch today, with the main focus (see what I did there) being the Ford Focus RS that I picked up for work this week.

A front-wheel-drive monster, It’s a ridiculous car, in that unique way where ridiculous is deemed to be good. I was hoping for the white one, mind you, or even the dark metallic blue, but the green will do.

It’s packing 220kW and 440Nm of torque in its turbocharged 2.5 litre five-cylinder engine, which, for the sake of reference, is 32kW and 110Nm more than the Australian-delivered all-wheel-drive Volkswagen Golf R – my current fave.

Not entirely rare in Europe, where it was designed and built, there’s nonetheless only 315 of these in Australia, so it’s a nice thing to be one of the few that will ever drive it.

Well, nice if you’re into cars. I’m not thick enough to think that anyone would would give a damn…

Sitting alongside my brother’s S13, which in its day was a power in its own right. Still a riotous ride, especially with the mods it’s packing.

Dan’s Beetle is a beauty. It’s seen better days, but its beat-up state is a big part of its charm, really.

And, of course, the obligatory food shots;

Now, back to work.

v.

Popped into the National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square yesterday morning. Photography was allowed, so here’s a few of my faves from the exhibitions we hit.

The detail in this piece was phenomenal, to say the least. When you note how obvious and large the fibres of the canvas are in the below shot, you can see how close I am to the painting, and how small yet detailed the house and surrounding trees are.

The light of the setting sun, in the piece above, was so powerful – I sadly couldn’t capture it with this photo. It was almost as though the canvas backlit by a UV lamp.

Good ol’ Burke and Wills.

The above painting reminded me of Frank Frazetta’s style. The fact that it’s on wood also reminded me of Audrey Kawasaki’s work. Of course, this piece predates either of those artists by nearly a hundred years.

Another piece with brilliant light work, particular in the halo behind the head.

The paint was so thick on this piece, it was almost like I was looking at a zoomed-in stroke of a regular brush, rather than the large broom that the artist used here.

The colours in this piece are so vivid. This painting was created in the 60s, and I’d say the subject matter and style makes that pretty obvious…

This messed with my eyes, and that was the artist’s intent.

Friedy and I agreed that we’d both love to have this photo, from the Stormy Weather exhibition, in our home.

And lastly, a little of the signage around the NGV. I loved it.

I’ll just close out with this space invader, because why not?

v.