Watching days
Turn into years,
Pass before my eyes:
Time waits for no one

A belated Happy New Year to all of my friends and readers out there. I hope 2012 will be a good year for you and everyone close to you.

Thank you to everyone who left comments and sent me emails over the New Year. I had meant to post before now but unfortunately I haven’t been feeling that well lately, so this has been my first chance to post since Christmas. I will have an update about my writing and a few other things finished soon but in the meantime I thought I‘d post a quick photo.

I took this photo inside Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building just before Christmas. The clock is called the Great Australia Clock and is one of two beautiful mechanical clocks in the QVB. It’s ten metres tall, weighs four tonnes and is decorated with 33 dioramas depicting scenes from Australia’s history.

The QVB is one of my favourite buildings in Sydney and I’ve always admired this clock, not just for its ornate beauty but particularly because the dioramas show both Aboriginal and European perspectives on our history.

I edited the photo over the New Year, while I was thinking about how quickly the year had passed and everything that had happened, both personally and globally, and I guess that was what was on my mind when I wrote the haiku. Time seems to go by so quickly these days… all we can really do is hope to make the most of it.

Photo and haiku © CJ Levinson 2011

Christmas Dinner

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today. I hope you’re having a wonderful day with family and friends, wherever you are in the world.

I had a quiet day with my parents today; it was just us as most of our family live overseas and we don’t see our Australian relatives that often. We had a lovely roast for dinner, then opened a few gifts afterwards. It was actually the first time we’ve had a roast in about ten years as we normally have a salad instead; it was delicious but typically we picked the hottest Christmas day in years to have it on. Must be Murphy’s law.

My parents gave me a set of beautiful plates to go with my Egyptian collection and a new mouse for my MacBook. My father bought it from the Apple store and the salesman must have got a bit technical as apparently he was amazed to find out that Dad doesn’t use a computer at all… then flabbergasted that Dad doesn’t own a mobile phone either! I think he thought Dad was some kind of eccentric hermit.

In any case we had a nice day and I thought I’d post another of my Aussie Christmas songs to celebrate. This is the fourth song I’ve written now after The Aussie 12 Days of Christmas, Aussie Jingle Bells and We Wish You an Aussie Christmas, so I guess it’s becoming something of an annual tradition!

This year I did an Aussie version of Deck the Halls. Originally I wanted to do Frosty the Snowman or Silver Bells but they were hard to translate to Australia. I think Deck the Halls works better and it’s also easy to sing along to as everyone knows the tune.

I hope you enjoy it. And Merry Christmas.

Deck the Ute

Deck the ute with lights and wattle
Fa la la la la la la la la
We’ll take it for a drive and go full throttle
Fa la la la la la la la la
Kids are singing in the back seat
Fa la la la la la la la la
Spreading Christmas cheer to all we meet
Fa la la la la la la la la

Soon we’re pulling up at the rellies
Fa la la la la la la la la
And getting ready to open the pressies
Fa la la la la la la la la
Hope it’s not more socks from Aunt May
Fa la la la la la la la la
Oh well guess I can sell them on eBay
Fa la la la la la la la la

Come one o’clock and we’re by the pool
Fa la la la la la la la la
Drinking beer and trying to stay cool
Fa la la la la la la la la
Jamie’s pulling on Susie’s hair
Fa la la la la la la la la
While Dad’s nodding off in his chair
Fa la la la la la la la la

We say g’day to the neighbours
Fa la la la la la la la la
Hear all about their yearly labours
Fa la la la la la la la la
Tom and Amy are getting married
Fa la la la la la la la la
No wonder they all look so harried
Fa la la la la la la la la

Everyone gathers around the table
Fa la la la la la la la la
Eats as much as they are able
Fa la la la la la la la la
Aunt May’s brought a giant fruit cake
Fa la la la la la la la la
Tastes just like Grandma used to make
Fa la la la la la la la la

Soon it’s time for everyone to go
Fa la la la la la la la la
We say our goodbyes and Ho Ho Hos
Fa la la la la la la la la
Pull out of the drive and speed away
Fa la la la la la la la la
Waving behind us to Aunt May
Fa la la la la la la la la

Back home and the kids are fast asleep
Fa la la la la la la la la
Carry them to their beds without a peep
Fa la la la la la la la la
Quietly we turn off all the lights
Fa la la la la la la la la
And sleep away another Aussie Christmas night
Fa la la la la la la la la

Randwick Town Hall, decorated for Christmas

As it’s Christmas Eve I thought I’d post some of the Christmas photos I’ve taken near where I live. Randwick comes alive at this time of year, with lots of houses and businesses putting up decorations and it’s a lot of fun walking around and seeing what’s new. These are some of my favourites from this year.

Most of the houses are from Frederick Street, which is known for its Christmas displays and has won awards in the past; there are a few photos from Bondi Junction as well which I took while shopping. There are about 20 photos so I’ve split them after the jump; you can click on any of them to see larger versions as well.

I’m just finishing my annual Christmas song now as well… will have it posted sometime tomorrow. This year’s is an Aussie version of “Deck the Halls”. Should be fun!

Blue Santa lights on a house in Oberon Street, Randwick.

A surfing Santa and other decorations outside a house in Oberon Street.

A flat in Frederick Street, getting into the festive spirit.

Christmas lights and decorations in Frederick Street. This was one of the more brightly lit houses.

Christmas signs. This was the same house where I took this photo as well.

Christmas lights and a colourful tree in Frederick Street.

Another surfing Santa. Guess they must be in fashion this year?

Reindeer and thong lights, with Santa gnomes nearby.

Panorama in Frederick Street. The kids there seemed to love this one; they kept coming back to look at it.

Nativity scene in Frederick Street.

Snowman and star lights, with a guitar-playing Santa below.

Reindeer lights and a spiral tree in Frederick Street.

Rudolph decoration in Frederick Street.

Another house getting into the Christmas spirit.

Reindeer above the entrance to a house in Frederick Street.

A house in Frederick Street, covered in Christmas lights. This was my favourite overall.

A shrub, covered in Christmas lights.

Santa with Dale the Emu. Dale is a bit of a local celebrity as he keeps being stolen, only to turn up again in some unusual places.

Snowman sitting on a balcony.

Lights and decorations at Papaya homewares in Bondi Junction.

Christmas trees outside the entrance to David Jones, Bondi Junction.

Tree decoration outside The Coffee Club in Westfield, Bondi Junction.

Christmas tree in Oxford Street Mall, Bondi Junction.

Ray White real estate office in Randwick, decorated for the holidays.

Antonas real estate office in Randwick, decorated for the holidays.

Christmas tree in the window of Taylors real estate office in Randwick.

Bronze soldiers
Monuments to war
From another time:
We remember

I was in the Sydney CBD yesterday, looking at the Christmas decorations and doing some late shopping. The crowds were awful, particularly in the shops, but the atmosphere was quite festive and pleasant and I actually had a lot of fun walking around, taking photos.

I took this photo in Martin Place, outside the Sydney Cenotaph, where people were leaving Christmas cards and flowers in remembrance. The cenotaph was constructed in 1927 to remember the fallen from World War I; it is used extensively in the ANZAC and Armistice Day dawn services each year, drawing thousands of people.

As of December Australia has approximately 3,000 personnel stationed overseas, 1,500 of which are in Afghanistan. 2011 has been a horror year for Australian casualties; of the 32 deaths Australia has suffered in Afghanistan, 11 have been this year alone.

Please keep all of our soldiers and their families in your thoughts this Christmas.

Photo and haiku © CJ Levinson 2011

A single rose
Its fragile beauty,
Slowly dying:
All things must end

I took this photo a couple of nights ago while looking at some of the Christmas lights around Randwick. This was taken outside one of the more brightly decorated houses in Frederick Street; the rose really stood out against all of the lights and decorations and I thought the way the colours reflected off it was interesting.

The lights were excellent this year; I’ll post some photos once I’ve finished editing them. I enjoy seeing the light displays going up each year… they’re much more widespread now than they used to be and the displays seem to get better and better each year. I am glad I don’t live next to any of them though… I think it’d all drive me nuts after a while!

Photo and haiku © CJ Levinson 2011