Happy New Year dear Steemiverse! Just a quick post from the near-end of New Year's Day in Australia - it's nearly 6 pm here and I've just been chilling most of the day. Had a three hour surf this morning which was relatively uncrowded. New Year's Day is a good one for a surf as there's many too hung over to stagger to the beach. It was glassy and warm and just beautiful - it cheered me up a bit since most of yesterday I'd been watching the fires unfold on telly. It's utterly devastating, and we definitely didn't feel like celebrating, though we did get a few beers in (resulting in a bit of a headache today - ugh). We're safe where we are at the moment but many aren't. The images and videos coming out are just horrifying. It feels like the end of the world.
Best thing that happened on NYE? Tex Perkins giving Scott Morrison (our Aussie PM) the finger. Definitely not our prime minister. Scomo had Tex on his Spotify playlist - was he listening to them at Kirribilli House whilst he enjoyed a party with his mates? I know thousands of people didn't have that luxury NYE. Many only just got out with the clothes on their backs.
I love Tex Perkins - his energy in his band Beasts of Bourbon was always something to be seen on stage back in the day. I shared a joint with him once after a gig. One of my favourite songs by the Beasts is Psycho. Creepy and weird.
And then there was the screaming sexy energy of Chase the Dragon.
Anyway back to Scomo - definitely #notmypresident. As people stand around in eery red light on beaches whilst their towns burn, Scotty from Marketing is getting picturers taken with cricketers. Coal obsessed, he's unable to take the lead we need him to in a country that's burning to the ground. Whilst you might argue that he can't do anything right now, he sure as hell could be at least comforting the firies that have been working for months fighting these fires. If you haven't seen this video yet, you should - it's insane what these guys have gone through.
4,000 people taking shelter on a beach whilst gas bottles explode is inconcievable. We've holidayed in Mallacoota so often - it's awful to think of what they're going through.
Meanwhile, in NZ, the world's gone dark as smoke from the fires drifts over there. Looking at aerial shots, the whole country is covered in smoke.
This, from Xlordes on Twitter says it pretty well.
So yeah, people might be shocked by Tex giving Scomo the finger, but there's more thing to be shocked about, methinks.
Excuse the lack of sourcing for any of these photos. They're all freely available on the Internet - I'm not saying they are mine and it's clear they are not.
