Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Moomba, Wagons and flying foxes


Melbourne is heading into another major event this weekend with Moomba kicking off on Friday night. OK, it's not exactly the AFL Grand Final, but I still love the sense of anticipation.

The water skiiers were out practising their jumps on the river this morning and the carnies have slowly been unloading and setting up the rides and sideshow alley at Birrarung Marr in the shadow of the Skywheel (above).

And the platform for the Birdman Rally is all set up, ready and waiting for all the men and women who are willing to take a plunge in the murky Yarra River in pursuit of 15 minutes of dubious fame.

The Birdman Rally is probably my favourite part of Moomba - people dressing up in silly costumes, climbing aboard ill-conceived home-made "aircraft" and launching themselves into the air in a bid to "fly" the farthest distance. Usually there's more plummeting than flying, but that's half the fun. It's total silliness and ya gotta love total silliness.

I also discovered today that Wagons, one of my fave bands, is playing a free gig for Moomba on Friday night. Yay. (And I just found out just then looking at their myspace profile that their new album is out next month. Double yay).

It's also a long weekend this weekend too. Woohoo.



Foxy

Tonight while I was lying on the couch watching Spicks n Specks, a procession of flying foxes flew past my window on their way to the gardens.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

yay for the birdman rally! hope you get some pics to share :)

Jayne said...

God, I LOVED the Birdman Rally when I was a kid lol.
Looking forward to photos!

dam buster said...

Hey FL - Headline in the Moomba liftout of yesterday's Hun:

GLEE ON PARADE

are they putting a parade on in your honour?

Jayne said...

Hi Victoria. So do I. I'll have to get there early for a good vantage point. Last year I had someone's fat head in all my shots.

I'm looking forward to wondering about Moomba in general with my camera - lots of shot-worthy stuff, I hope.

Hi Jayne. I didn't grow up in Melbourne so I'm making up for lost time! I do remember seeing the parade on the telly and not having much of a clue what it was about.

Hi db. Well, now that you have mentioned it, I have accepted an invitation to be the Queen of Moomba and wave in a regally gleeful fashion from a float during the parade of glee. Or I would accept if I were actually asked...

dam buster said...

All hail Glorious Queen Jayne!