At the time of writing here in very sunny Brisvegas, the temperature is nearly 24 degrees. The predicted maximum is 26, but it’s feeling much less like a warm winter day as we’ve been having for about a week, but like it’s building up to be a hot spring day. It’s still coolish at night, and it’s dry heat unlike the humid horrors of December-February, but everyone’s putting away their jumpers, and basically today is a hot day.
So, although I’ve got lots of work to do, I’m going to go for a swim later on in my break. And in celebration of the season’s turning, I’m going to do what I often do impulsively and buy a black swimsuit. So far I’m thinking this one.
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/6S90329V.jpg"
I like vintage style swimsuits, and prefer black and one-pieces to bikinis. And that’s not me by the way, but the model has a similar figure. I think the price is pretty good – you’d have to really sell me hard on togs costing more than a hundred bucks.
So, what’s the weather like where you are? And what’s hot in swimwear for summer 06/07? What would you consume if you had $80 to spend on an impulse purchase?
In the spirit of these posts, this is a no stoushing allowed good humoured post.
This being Darwin, it is 32 degrees. Again. And it will be tomorrow. And the day after that.
I CAN NOT WAIT to move to Canberra next year.
Obviously, while sunbaking in one’s new swimsuit, one needs one’s favourite music close to hand.
[Via Digg, now Slashdot]
Weird Al’s song called _Don’t Download This Song_ warns you all about what the RIAA will do to you.
Warning: opening the page makes the music start playing. Loud but otherwise SFW.
Really? Top of 16 in Canberra today according to the weather bureau.
I’d split the difference and settle for 24 and sunny. Like it is here right now
In Melbourne town the sun is shining – but no chance for wacking on the togs just yet. I am amazed by Brisvegas people who are soon to endure the infernal heat on their skin as though this is the best way to live. Me I prefer the variation of Melbourne – you never know what you’ll get. $80 on togs yea gods, please buy a pair made in OZ.
It’s crisp and beautiful here in Canberra, Miss Kim. All the little blossoms are starting to flower, and the jonquils and early daffodils are out.
But are you buying swimsuits and going for a dip and a sunbake on your break, Miss Zoe?
Just kidding – sounds lovely.
Anyway better go back to work and earn me $80.
Kim – Canberra has variation. Darwin does not, other than hot and dry, hot and humid, and hot and very humid. Canberra has cold weather, which means you can wear nice clothing. Darwin does not (okay, that is a personal preference re. fashion, but I stand by it). Canberra is Canberra. Darwin is Darwin. And it is unlikely I will have a chance to move back to BrisVegas any time in the near future, so don’t taunt me
The latest in blokes swimwear can be found at http://www.aussiebum.com/
Pretty good stuff and owned/made in OZ. They even have “The Whitlam” boardshort. What more could you want? Rain…………..
20 degrees and sunny here in Perth. We’ve had bugger all winter this year — I am doggedly wearing my knitted things even though it just isn’t cold enough. I like the look of those togs — I’m a fan of the tankini myself (what an awful portmanteau).
Very nice Kim.
Personally, I don’t think you could do much better. What bothers me, though, is where do you wear such a thing in Brisvegas? Do you brave the Brisbane River or head off down to Wet’n'Wild, or whatever it is called?
Cheers..
What would I spend 80$ on?
That’s easy…a slab of beer, bottle of good red and a nice long slow rim-job from Janet Allbrechtson.
Well, Mick, treat this as a bleg and find me a better one on the nets!
As to swimming venues, we do have Council pools! And of course, since as you correctly insinuate, we are not a beach city, we have very cunningly built a beach at Southbank:
<img src="http://www.bcec.com.au/www/images/gallery/dest_southbank-beach.jpg"
Which is where I’ll probably head!
Vis Professor Rat… Janet Albrechtson? On the other hand…. IMHO it just goes to illustrate the truth of what P.J O’Rourke once said. Nobody ever has fantasies about being ravished by a Liberal. That was an American liberal, not one of ours, BTW.
Cheers…
Oh sorry, Mick, I misread your comment. You said you didn’t think I could do much better! Thanks, and thanks Kate – I’m glad you like them too. I think they’re pretty spiffy. I guess they go with the whole 50s rockabilly and retro theme that’s coming in this summer.
Dont be too sure Mick…i’d happily go Tony Abbott in Poligoth kit.
Enjoy your swim, Kim, but being a born farm boy I can’t rejoice in the dry, warm weather.
I can only remember twice in my life getting a bit sick of the rain. Once was in the Brisbane flood and the second time was in April-May 1995 when we had over 32 inches (in the old money = 813mm) in 8 days.
But it seems that is you wish for a warmish spring your wish may well be granted.
joe2, Those swimmers do look rather spiffy. However, I implore blokes to be careful about getting changed after a day at the beach. Make sure you take your speedo-clones home with you – you wouldn’t want a dolphin to decide to wear them!
Poor li’l Scrappy. He needed a depantsing team of 31 people on 5 speedboats to sort him out.
Growing up in Melbourne I never thought I’d become nostalgic for a stereotypical Melbourne winter’s day. Umpteen consecutive winterless years in Brisbane have changed all that, as I discovered when I flew south to see my family in July and came to quite enjoy the cold, gloomy mornings when the sun seemed like it would never rise over the latticework of the bare branches of the trees, and the evening in Lygon Street amongst Melbournians rugged up in boots, scarves and thick jackets.
After an unsavoury episode back in May when a heavy rainstorm saw me with water running down the inside of the bathroom walls and dripping through the light switch, I spent nearly a thousand bucks on a storm-water management upgrade, thereby ensuring that Adelaide would end up having its driest winter on record.
Kim, buy that swimsuit. It’s gorgeous.
Hey tanja – Tony Abbott in Poligoth kit? You might be happy to, but the guys is such a catholics I doubt there would be much for him. Except the guilt of course. BTW. What exactly is Poligoth kit? Sounds like something from a Harry Potter book. & Kim. Glad you got that straight. It was meant as a compliment, for what that is worth. Compared with us guys, who have to be content with budgie smugglers or baggy board shorts, you women enjoy a lot of variety when it comes to swimwear.
Cheers….
“And that’s not me by the way, but the model has a similar figure.”
Stop toying with us Kimberley.
Mick….i’ve changed my signature link. Go find out.
I saw on A Current Affair tonight (yeah I was slumming. Coulda have been the other one but I can’t tell the difference at times) that the one piece is indeed back in.
Central Coast should be 25 tomorrow which is lovely.
Also per Brian’s comment a question. How many people can still talk rainfall in both inches and centimeters now? I grew up old school and still understand both.
Are you wearing your stockings of evangelism for this thread, tanja?
I did enjoy my swim, thanks, Brian.
I have, Dr Cat!
Unfortunately til they solve that matter transmission problem for internet purchases… So I wore a black one-piece from last season!
Thanks, Mick!
Actually, Kim, that looks a lot like you! Sure you’re not moonlighting as a swimwear model?
tanja. Wow. Wipe-out. I followed the link. Jeez, what can I say. I’m impressed. Nice artwork. I’m really impressed. Seriously.
Cheers…
I followed your link as well Tanja. Mick is right, that is some impressive work you have done! I urge everyone here at LP to go and have a look…
This one is priceless!
aw shucks…thanks…it was my first attempt at photoshop and i got hooked and decided to put ‘em up online (actually its not photoshop but a much lamer free edition that was bundled with my comp but you get the picture.)
See what i mean about Abbot? Quite lucious really imho.
I’m a little sorry i made Bush look so damn good but i’ll get over it.
Amanda made me laugh the most.
I’m trying to do one every week.
tanja – excellent for a 1st effort on Photoshop of whatever the software actually is. I know everyone keeps saying how easy it is to manipulate images, but the truth is that photoshop is not nearly as easy and straightforward to use as many people make it out to be. You have blended things nicely – although given that they are only lo-res internet images it is a bit hard to tell about the details. It is when you blow things up for hi resolution printing that things really become critical. And it worth coming back to this thread to add another comment just for the chance to have another look at the retro bathers…
Cheers..
Tony’s lost his looks alarmingly of late, I think.
Fabbo site though tanja!
Hey, Mick – so you like the retro bathers?
I can’t wait for them to arrive!
Kim the bathers are great. Here’s to a long hot wet…summer!
Agreed about Tony’s looks…i think his hair has thinned since the paternity paradigm shift. Irrespective of how one thinks he handled that politically, that was a hell of a thing to go through in public.
Thanks Mick…are you a graphic artist? YOu sound like you know what you are talking about!
Yes, he has lost more hair, tanja, but he’s generally looking more crinkled and wrinkled too. I have to admit a slight crush on him when he was more boyish. So who wants to confess their cross-ideological crushes? (But no more Albrechtsen admirers please…)
ok, I’ll ‘fess ( as if i haven’t dumbed down this foum enough – sorry Mark).
Arnie would have to be, um, it would be like selling your soul to the devil, but, um yeah…
tanja, I share your shame.
Only the younger Arnie, of course. Conan the Barbarian up to Terminator 2, with The Running Man and Total Recall possibly my absolute faves.
To put it in purely ogling terms, classic one-piece suits complement legs better, IMHO. Bikinis by contrast suit those seeking to (a) show off or (b) tan their bellies.
Myself, I prefer to express my sartorial cowardice by keeping my tee shirt on and my boardies long when straying onto the beach. I’m sensitive about the way everyone puts their sunnies on as I walk past.
I like to see backs reasonably bare, so as long as the one-piece has most of the material at the front, I’m a fan. Nothing wrong with modest boobies in a bikini though.
Arnie of course is a perfect candidate for a cross-ideological crush because he has a cross-ideological marriage with Maria Shriver, who is one of JFK’s nieces.
<img src="http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/U/f/8/bench04020627.jpg"
I ran into her in a well known lesbian bar in LA in the late 90s and asked her out… but ladies don’t reveal the rest of the story, or whether they should tell about a kiss…
you’re teasing…..!
Or was Maria teasing?
Oi, Armaniac. What’s with the plural? Can’t those of us who only have one leg look good in a vintage one piece swimsuit?
<img src="http://larvatusprodeo.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/swimsuit.JPG"
you’re a cruel woman Kim..
Why’s that tanja?
Coz you’re newish to LP, I should point out that I am in fact an amputee. I lost a leg to cancer when I was 14. I wrote about it in this post in July last year (warning – I was pissed when I wrote the post!):
http://larvatusprodeo.net/2005/07/09/what-its-like-to-have-one-leg/
cross posting
sorry…
I’m torn not hearing the whole Shriver story…I can’t handle not knowing every detail
now THAT swimsuit is the bomb. Is that yours?
Oh, ok, the cross posting!
Like I said, ladies don’t tell about the kiss… and…. erm…. the rest of the story….
Let me just say that certain bars in LA and SF in the late 90s were well worth hanging around.
No, unfortunately, it’s a genuine 50s original, lent only for a photo shoot.
From memory, I believe the fee for the modelling job would happily have been sacrificed to keep the swimsuit, but it was worth serious money!
Yes i did know that – i read that on your livejournal a while back..unfortunately the cross post timing made my comment sound dreadfully out of context
(feel free to edit out these posts – btw.)
Apologies if I momentarily made you want to slap me.
Btw – without wanting to give too much away, Birdy and Mark may be right and that might be me in the pic modelling the black swimsuit in the post….
No, no! Not at all, tanja!
No apology required!
I was just having a go at Armaniac’s limbism and thought perhaps your comment was a response to that!
I’m glad I re-read that post, just incidentally.
There was some literally awesome poetry that I was quoting.
Aeschylus:
T. S. Eliot:
And -
Kim, i have just been pouring over you old post myself. Sublime.
I even got bit misty. ( Lie: I cried)
Eliots Lovesong just unfolds its sad beauty a little more each time, each year.
Thanks, tanja, means a lot. Seriously.
Eliot is without par. And well worth returning to. All true beauty means more with age and wisdom, which as Aeschylus says, comes to us against our will through suffering. I very much like the thought that the grace the gods give us is a gift that is harsh and violent.
That quote is from Derrida.
From The Politics of Friendship.
I wonder whether you can attain wisdom without suffering. Somehow I doubt it.
Brian, Kim’s playing around there with the Aeschylus quote.
I was also very struck by it – after Penelope and I saw a production of the Oresteia at QPAC in 2004. I don’t have any Greek but when I looked around at the different ways it was translated, it was remarkable how much the meaning differed.
I must ask Michael who reads Koine Greek, if not classical Greek.
However, regardless of the accuracy of the translation (and there are far fewer who can understand Classical Greek in this postmodern age even than who can read Latin), it is undoubtedly true. Aeschylus was certainly onto something.
No, it’s not possible.