Yeah, not my typical thing, but I started buying shirts for my son and I noted a couple of places that sounded interesting. After the XXXX tour, I turned my attention to a more local flare, and found a few in the neighborhood.
Keep in mind, I know nothing about these places, and even though I have been to them, I really know nothing about beer. I also did not sample beer because… I would not know one from the other. but I can tell you these are a few places I found in Brisbane.
Fick Brewing only interested me because as I was wandering around the internet, I came across the name. I have a friend with the last name Fick, so off I went determined to buy a t-shirt for my friend. Because I think it would be neat if there was an brewery with my name on it.
They did not have t-shirts. Bummer. But they had glassware, and I picked up lunch. Had a great talk with the owners about the beer business and surviving in today’s market, which is hard. Which is why they don’t have a huge inventory right now of T-shirts. Still bummed about that, but I got a glass.
And of course the magnet picture. With their beer list in the background. I was being artsy.
Green Beacon Brewing was right around the corner from Kristin’s old apartment.
They had several t-shirts, and were not only a beer brewery, but a coffee brewer.
Another interesting thing they had was beard cream. My son and my cousin have beards, so yeah, I got some.
Working Title Brewing was just around another corner, and for the life of me I could not remember the name of it.
It is an odd mix of old and new, with wooden barrels and video games amidst professional, older client base. I have no idea what I thought of this place.
Believe it or not, I visited more than breweries. This, for example was a blast from the past.
In a world of similar stores but different, this jumped out. Kmart is the store of choice for this type of store. Except it is more Wal-Mart mentality on an American Target level of goods. (They have Target here, but I think Target would be embarrassed by the Targets here). Nothing here is the American ‘super’ sized one stop megamart. These type of stores are a housewares, clothing, toys… Kmart type store. No groceries, no lawnmowers (that i noted anyway). So, a lot like the Kmart of the 1970’s and 80’s without the Icee machines and blue light specials.
I miss the blue light specials. Sigh.
The big cities enjoy their signs, and Brisbane is no different. Of the name signs I have seen so far, this one is probably the best placed for photos. Great skyline as a backdrop and great clouds to set things off. Little hard to read because they are expressing the many wonderful parts of Brisbane, but great backdrop for certain.
This was a fun building that could be seen from the apartment and I had the opportunity to walk by one day. It is shaped like a big barrel, obviously. From above it looks like a keg. From here it just looks interesting, but the fun part about it is that it has managed to be unique while not towering over the skyline as many other buildings in the area have done.
No idea who lives here, or anything about the building other than it absolutely stands out in the neighborhood.
And finally for this post, I must mention the signs. This sign describes the situation perfectly… if you understand the sign. If you are American, or more specifically, me, it can be confusing.
First, I am fascinated by their pedestrian signs. Most have 2 people, but the people vary. Sometimes they are a ‘mother figure’ and a ‘child figure.’ Sometimes they are a ‘couple’ as the one above. Sometimes the figures are more obviously elderly and I am unclear if I am insulted by that or if I even care.
There are also what I have deemed ‘neutral’ pedestrian signs, which are simply a pair of legs ‘walking,’ completely disembodied from gender, age… or any other defining factor, other than they do appear to be men’s shoes. Or penny loafers. I obviously have spent entirely too much time thinking about this.
Putting aside the sign shape differences, and slight color differences because the general point is made, I still wonder why there is a need here to be specific at all.
I could research and answer my questions, but I am in a speculating mood, not a research mood.
The first sign tells us that young people, perhaps aged 20 to 60 will be crossing the street, then indicates ‘refuge island’ and ‘blind.’
Perfectly logical. There is an ‘island’ or area in the middle of the street where the pedestrians can pause and wait for the traffic to pass. It is a busy street, so getting across both lanes without taking a breath can be problematic, and there is no light to stop the traffic.
This place is full of snow plow nightmares like these random pedestrian ‘islands’ in the middle of narrow streets. Of course, they don’t have snow plows, nor do they need to worry about snow plows, or ‘snow emergency no parking zones’ which would also be needed because I don’t think a plow would fit between the lines of parked cars and these islands. This entire paragraph screams my native Iowa upbringing and the fact my husband plows snow so I notice such things.
The ‘blind’ sign, I assume refers to the island, not the people.
Do not laugh at me, I have seen signs cautioning motorists that blind people live in the area. We also have them for hearing impaired people. My statement was not made without precedence.
The island, in this case, cannot even be seen from the sidewalk unless you are inline with the island. The tree cover is extensive in the area, and thus, not only hard to see for motorists, hard to see for the people.
Back to the point, the first sign, in my limited opinion, means there is a narrow busy street with a lot of traffic that has cars parked solid on both sides where they have allowed, in the middle of the block, a path for pedestrians to cross. There is an island, or more of a curb really, in the middle of the street for the pedestrians to pause, but the curb is hard to see by the drivers. So slow down, there might be people standing in the middle of the street for no apparent reason, or they may walk out in front of you and you won’t see them until they do.
Or similar cautionary information.
It is a lot to process if you ask me, which no one did. I’m glad I did not drive here because it took me a darn long time to figure out all the information on those signs, which I probably would have ignored because I would be so busy keeping the car from hitting the other cars. Or I might have tried to decipher and while the attempt was being made, I would have likely driven over the curb island and crashed.
You should never read and drive. Just saying.
Again, thankfully, I did not drive here. But I did stand and stare at this sign for a very long time, because my first impression from my limited intelligence told me that a young blind couple were on their way to a refugee island somewhere… because they were running away from something… and seeking refuge… and this happened regularly because it was marked by a sign cautioning drivers to slow down and allow them to pass.
Which makes no sense whatsoever, unless you take into account I had recently come from an island (which is essentially what Australia is. A giant, continent sized island) where these signs were seen regularly…
People here have reason to run from things and seek refuge. Like fires, cyclones, snakes, apparently traffic… the list is really extensive, so my thinking on the matter is not entirely out of line.
Or perhaps it is. My mind is a very weird place. Sorry about it getting out and expressing itself on other cultures and their signs. Allow me my learning opportunities and I will try to keep my future opinionated knowledge to myself.
