Random tangent (blog)
Ameel Khan's personal blog. This is a blog about life, technology, photography, typography, the internet, science, feminism, books, film, music, and whatever other random stuff I come across or happen to be interested in today.
Caught the edge of the thunderstorm that passed by our suburb a couple of hours ago.
Photo of several layers of clouds covering half of a bright blue sky above a house. The lowest layer of clouds is quite dark, while the uppermost layer has rays of sunlight breaking through the gaps.
The down side of working from home during the pandemic is that I haven’t had the opportunity to walk around the city taking photos with my (still relatively new) Pixel 6 Pro phone camera system. Which is why you mostly get snaps of Maggie either at home or in and around our neighbourhood. So here are a few train photos I’ve taken over the last few weeks.
Here’s a long exposure of a V/Line train arriving at Southern Cross station. That was taken the last time I went into the office before my year-end break.
Photo of a train pulling into a platform across from the photographer. The photo is a long exposure, so the moving train has motion blur and is slightly transparent.
Here’s one of a train zipping along the tracks from Newport to Laverton stations. I’m really enjoying playing with the various motion photo features available in the Pixel 6 Pro camera.
Photo of a Metro Melbourne train running down train tracks behind a line of trees.
And here’s one of a freight train running down that same bit of track at the southern end of Newport. This time I’m making use of the zoom lenses available on this smartphone.
Photo of a freight train running down train tracks behind the tree line at the end of a residential street. The phrase ‘MULTI-FRIEGHTER’ is written on the side of a the khaki coloured boxcar that’s visible through the trees.
I expect to be going into the office at least a couple of days a week from early next year, so I’m looking forward to taking and sharing more photos then.
All clear for the Christmas barbecue!
Photo of two rapid antigen tests lying next to each other on a counter. Both tests are showing a negative result for COVID-19.
The barbecue itself was a great success. This here is just a photo of the meat tray taken halfway through the meal. Not shown are the snacks, salads, vegetarian options, pile of haloumi, and desserts! :)
Photo of a tray piled with barbecued meats, including sausages, burger patties, cutlets, and ribs.
Thank you James for the barbecuing and Bec for the hosting! #ChosenFamily
Keeping an eye on its owner while he’s stepped to Leroy’s Café to grab a coffee.
Photo of a black and tan French bulldog wearing a blue and white polka dot vest. The dog is tied to a pole with a blue leash outside a café. It is leaning to one side so it can peek through the door at its owner, who is inside the café.
Nothing quite like a bowl of cold, diced mango on a hot summer day.
Photo of a hand holding a pink and white bowl that’s full of diced chunks of mango.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When your fridge freezes your diced mango (because you inadvertently knocked the temperature dial to a higher setting) make mango milkshake.
Photo of a blue glass full of mango milkshake.
It’s been ages since I’ve ridden a tram. At least I got to see one when I went into the office today.
Photo of a classic tram turning into a street in front of some office building. Everything but the tram is blurred in the photo.
Zippy cyclist is zippy.
Photo of a motion-blurred cyclist exiting a curved bridge onto a paved, inner city riverbank.
So the Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphone camera’s long exposure functionality is cool.
Selective long-exposure photo of a train passing through a level crossing. The moving train is the only element of the photo that has a motion blur effect applied to it. Because one of the long-exposure photos taken was from before the train appeared within the frame, the train in the final image appears to be semi-transparent. A white car has stopped in front of the lowered boom gate of the level crossing.
The more I use it, the more I like it.
Selective long-exposure photo of a train passing through a level crossing. Only the moving train has had the long exposure effect applied to it, so it’s the only object in the photo with motion blur.
Yay for post-lockdown catch-ups!
Had a lovely, delicious dinner at Panda Hot Pot with a bunch of friends. The food was good and the company was fantastic. 10/10 would recommend.
There was a line outside the restaurant for our scheduled sitting too. Nature is healing!
Selfie of a man and a woman sitting next to each other inside a large Chinese restaurant. Both are smiling at the camera.
A couple of months after I stopped needing to wear it, I had to pull out my puffer jacket to walk the dog this morning. With this current cold snap we’ve taken two steps forward, three steps back on our way to summer in Melbourne. *sigh*
Selfie of a man walking along a residential street. He is wearing a black t-shirt, black puffer jacket, and black cap (with a red trim).
When you’re walking Maggie and she suddenly surges forward or pulls away, you know she’s found something to eat in the buffet that is our neighbourhood.
One in five times she succeeds. The rest of the time I pull her back quickly enough.
But now she knows that I know…
A red dog being walked on a lead in a residential neighbourhood sniffs at a patch of grass in the nature strip by the side of the road.
So these days, when I yank her to a halt (and she’s not still straining because Dammit. She. Is. So. Close.), she immediately feigns disinterest. Sometimes she even takes a small step in the other direction.
Then, the second there’s some slack on her leash, she lunges forward to grab the forbidden morsel. It’s a smart tactic that’s even worked a few times.
But now I know. And she knows that I know.
I’m curious to see what she'll come up with next :)
A red dog being walked on a lead looks back over its shoulder at the photographer who has stopped walking to take this photo.
I do occasionally let her grab a doggy street food snack, by the way. We have a primary school and three cafes nearby so there’s always fresh bits of sandwiches and the like strewn across our neighbourhood.
Finding and eating random stuff on the road is the highlight of her day!
No, really. We are heading into summer in Melbourne. We’re just not going in a straight line.
Photo of a red dog settled down on the floor in front of a gas heater.
The thunderstorm itself might have missed our suburb, but at least we got to see the gorgeous cloud formations on the fringes of that weather system.
(Of course even this distant thunder managed to freak poor Maggie out. She was a trembly dog all afternoon. *sigh*)
Photo of a completely overcast sky above the roofs of some houses. The sky is full of puffy, swirling clouds and looks quite dramatic.
Nadia and I made the most of the gorgeous, post-lockdown Sunday we had today.
First we had brunch at the Altona North Jolly Miller Café. (I’d been missing Eggs Benedict so much! Not enough to make any at home though.)
Photo taken from the top of a table in a café. On the table is a menu that’s out of focus because it’s so close to the camera. Behind the menu are a water bottle, two glasses, a salt shaker, and a pepper grinder. In the background are other tables and chairs, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows through which you can see a bright blue sky.
And then we went for a relaxing, hour-long walk through the lovely Paisley-Challis wetlands nearby.
Selfie of a man and a woman wearing hats, sunglasses, and light jackets. They are standing in a flat wetland area, with lots of green grass, several bushes, and pools of water. In the background, behind all this greenery, is the sea.
There were several walkers, runners, and cyclists on the track, but the rest of the place was so peaceful.
A wide-angle photograph of a green, brushy wetlands area, with the blue sea in the background. On the extreme left of the image you can see a thin walking trail with a single person on it.
A lovely way to spring into post-lockdown spring in Melbourne.
We had heavy rain and seriously wild winds across Melbourne overnight and well into this morning.
Screenshot of a smartphone weather app showing a large band of heavy rain moving towards Melbourne from the west.
Luckily just three weeks ago our local council and the power companies that supply our side of the city had come through and cut down all the tree branches that were close to powerlines in our neighbourhood. They’d asked us to do the same with the trees in our front yard too.
Photo of a letter titled ‘Vegetation clearance responsibilities’ with diagrams showing how residents need to trim trees around power lines in front of their houses.
Not that this stopped whole trees and massive tree branches from falling across roads in and around Melbourne’s west, of course.
Screenshot of a smartphone app showing a continuing list of ‘Tree Down’ incidents across several suburbs in Melbourne’s west (including the suburbs of Brooklyn, Ascot Vale, and Maidstone).
Which inevitably led to a bunch of power outages.
Screenshot of an ‘Electricity Outages’ webpage from electricity supplier Jemena. The map on the screenshot shows several pockets of power outages across Jemena’s area of supply, which is mainly to the inner west and inner north of Melbourne. There are no outages at the bottom of the map – between Altona North and Williamstown – which is where the suburb of Newport is situated.
But we lucked out in our neighbourhood: we did have a couple of brownouts during the worst of the wind, but we never actually lost power.
This was the biggest branch that fell on our street.
Photo of a large branch that has fallen off a massive tree on the side of a residential street. The branch that has fallen off is as long as the house behind it is wide.
Fortunately most of the branches that did fall were thinner and leafier, like this one. (Medium sized dog for scale.)
Photo of a relatively thin tree branch that has fallen and is lying on the nature strip next to a residential street. A red dog on a leash is standing next to the branch on the grass.
So chalk one up for proactive maintenance from the Hobson’s Bay City Council, Jemena, and Zinfra!
There’s a first time for everything. Like today, when Nadia and I watched a movie at the Village Cinemas drive-in during a thunderstorm! Which is a lot less disruptive than you think it might be, by the way. As long as you’re not too fussed with watching a movie with the windshield wipers on :)
Also, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a fun movie.
Photo of a large, outdoor cinema screen taken from inside a car at a drive-in cinema. Being projected onto the screen is the Marvel Studios opening titles sequence.
I’m not a fan of summer picnics, but spring picnics are most excellent – especially post-lockdown ones! And Newport Lakes Reserve is a great place for a picnic.
Selfie of a man and a woman in a large park on an overcast day. The man is sitting in a low picnic chair. The woman is sitting on the ground and is leaning back on to the man. Both have been caught mid-laugh.
(Don’t worry, Nadia and I only took our masks off while eating lunch, which was immediately before we took this selfie.)
And, since it was such a lovely day, here’s another selfie :)
Selfie of a man sitting in the share of a tree in a large park. The man is balk, bespectacled, and has a salt-and-pepper beard. He is wearing a black t-shirt that’s the original cover of the book ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams.
To beach, or not to beach, that is the question…
Living in Melbourne’s west you get a 10:1 ratio for Western Bulldogs vs Melbourne Demons supporters who have decorated their houses for the AFL men’s grand final match.
Collage of four photos, each showing streamers, balloons, scarves, and residential gates painted in the red-white-blue of the Western Bulldogs or the red-blue of the Melbourne Demons AFL men’s teams.
And then you get balloons after the Demons won :)
Photo of the front of a house. Painted on the gate is a large red and blue heart. Painted next to the heart in large red text is ‘Go Dees’ and, on the other side, a red trident. There are red and blue streamers tied to the sides of the gate. Tied above the garage door in the background is a Melbourne Demons scarf.
This is not a kookaburra post, this is just a post with a kookaburra in it.
Photo of a residential wooden fence. There is a thick wooden post at the end of this fence. Sticking out from this post is a flat metal sculpture of the outline of a kookaburra (a native Australian bird).
Nein, nein, nein. It’s not bin right tonight.
Photo of three garbage bins with the number nine written in large white text on each of them. The bins are lying tucked away in a line by the far wall next to a garage door at the end of a residential driveway.
This is personal website of Nadia Niaz and Ameel Zia Khan. Here we document our lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia