The main reason that I didn't make it to the Iron Heart party this year was because I got myself a dog. This is Disco, he's a Peruvian Inca Orchid.
He's currently about four months old, and probably about the size of a Whippet. Like his owner, he's also completely bald.
This is a Kookaburra. They're a relative of the Kingfisher that's native to Australia, and they're about the size of a crow.
They're hunters, and I saw one today that had caught a small snake. That's the large worm in its beak. It's not a great photo, as I snapped it with my phone on maximum zoom.
The Aurora Australis was visible from outside my house this evening.
There's an area of native bush or woodland in the park near where I live, and there's some wildlife that frequents it.
Yesterday I saw a couple of older gentlemen on the bridge across a creek that runs through it. It turns out that they were watching a Platypus. It climbed out onto a log, and I got a rather poor photograph with my phone's camera.
The sighting came about half-an-hour after I'd been verbally abused by a woman for having my dog off-leash in an off-leash area...
I saw an Echidna back in December. They're a spiked marsupial that resembles a Hedgehog or Porcupine.
I've seen a couple of Kangaroos, and several snakes. I don't have any pictures of them, because I'm normally trying to stop my dog from sniffing them or following them into the undergrowth.
Continuing the theme of clean and dirty, here is Disco on Sunday afternoon posing after winning Best of Breed at the Royal Sydney show. I should cheapen the victory by pointing out that our rival failed to turn up, after she unfortunately injured her knee. But the advantage of a rare breed dog is that it is likely to win its class by default.
And here he is on Monday morning after he spent an hour chasing a Pitbull and a sheep around a small farm on the outskirts of Sydney. It was probably the highlight of his weekend.
Disco got a lot of attention at the show. I probably had to explain what a Peruvian Hairless was hundreds of times over the two days, because it's a fairly unique breed. Well, except for the Xoloitzcuintli who were further down the aisle...
I've still got the Mountain Parka, and occasionally wear it. Here it is being modelled with Flash, who I was walking at the Greyhound Adoption Programme on Saturday.
Three rare breeds that you probably haven't met in one photo. From left-to-right: Disco, a Peruvian Hairless or Peruvian Inca Orchid; Pacino, a Cirneco dell'Etna; Farourk, a Sloughi.
Dante from Pixar's Coco and my dog Disco bear a striking resemblance.
Dante is a Xoloitzcuintli whilst Disco is a Peruvian Hairless or Peruvian Inca Orchid.
I'm planning on signing up with a pair of the Papa Nui X The Rite Stuff Sailor Moku Pants. However, they won't arrive until October, so I'll be a late entrant.
@louisbosco I would go for a watch with the Spring Drive UFA movement, which is regulated to within 20 seconds per year. It's a unique and very accurate timepiece.
Carryology and Evergoods have collaborated on another pack, the Kludde.
It's based on the Evergoods MPL22, but it's made from ULTRA 200TX, all the hardware is aluminium, and the buckles are Cobra knockoffs. There is also a matching sling and tech pouch.
Of course, there's an overly verbose design article for your perusal, and it will be released on Wednesday at 10 am EST.
@seawolf I didn't find studying remotely that difficult, but it was tricky fitting it around work.
The course material wasn't too challenging, except for a unit on genre theory. But writing itself can be very difficult, and I can understand why George R.R. Martin has struggled to finish books.
@seawolf I studied at the University of Sydney, but it was all remote due to the Pandemic. The only time I was on campus was for graduation.
Furniture making sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing what you produce. And, yeah, I can imagine it's a lot of work.
@seawolf what field is your MFA in? I finished a master's in Creative Writing a couple of years ago. I haven't done anything with it yet, though.
There's now a navy version of the Y'2 Leathers chore jacket for pre-order.
@Sir_Cuffs-a-Lot I've got my name down for the cap too. Of course, I'd argue that you should order the matching pants too. 
I'm planning on signing up with a pair of the Papa Nui X The Rite Stuff Sailor Moku Pants. However, they won't arrive until October, so I'll be a late entrant.
Papa Nui and The Rite Stuff have collaborated on the Sailor Moku Pants, which are currently available for pre-order with delivery in October.
They're based on The Rite Stuff's Daybreak pants, with tweaks to the pockets based on military designs. They're made from a 10.5 oz denim that mimics a slubby vintage Levi's weave, and they're manufactured John Lofgren.
At the time of writing, The Rite Stuff has sizes S (32"), M (34"), and XXL (40") in stock, whilst the Papa all sizes bar XXL, including L (36") and XL (38"), along with the matching cap.
I've signed up for a pair, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out.
I watched the AMC Interview with the Vampire series over the last week or two and enjoyed it.
The show is a cover version or remix of the original novel: Louis is a Creole pimp at the turn of the twentieth century, rather than being a white plantation owner a hundred or more years earlier; Claudia is older and black; and Daniel Molloy, the interviewer, is aged up and gives off definite Anthony Bourdain vibes, whereas the original could be replaced by "an Anderson Cooper cardboard cutout" according to one website I saw.
I think that it's cleverer than the books. There's a line in "The Vampire Lestat" where Lestat accuses Louis of twisting the story to suit an agenda, but the series takes this idea of unreliable narrators and runs with it as a more central theme.
