Larrikin Behavior and other photos

Aref, Simon and I at a pub downtown on St. Patricks day. Aref doesn't drink. Its illegal in Iran, although that doesn't stop people. He is just naturally full of youthful exuberance.

From Wikipedia:

"Larrikinism is the name given to the Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and disregard for rigid norms of propriety. Larrikinism can also be associated with self-deprecating humour^[1].

A person may be classified as a larrikin if he or she meets some of these criteria. A larrikin is not concerned with the opinion of other people and so is not socially intimidated into modifying behaviour and structuring it around social norms. Larrikins are also not at all fazed by authorities of all kinds, including whatever power or authority they may possess themselves, and must not take themselves too seriously. Australia's "Pace e Bene" blog has suggested that Jesus be considered a larrikin, for his non-conformity^[6]. For the preceding two reasons, someone like the deceased Australian media magnate Kerry Packer may not have been a larrikin as he took his own power and authority, as well as that of other media companies and the government, seriously. But his personality might have seen him classified as a larrikin were he not wealthy and influential. Below is a list of famous larrikins, not all of whom satisfy every criterion. [note: I edited the list down some to people I know of, like, or think have cool names, or satisfy more than one of those categories]

-Ned Kelley
-Captain Thunderbolt
-Paul Hogan
-Yahoo Serious
-Steve Irwin
-Bon Scott [whose jacket I saw in the Melbourne Museum]"



A BBQ with some UniLodge people, in the courtyard of our building. An Indian guy was in charge of marinating the meat and it tasted delicious.

Simon (Oz), Aref (Iran), Suneil (Malaysia), Me, Andreas (Ecuador). The majority of people living at UniLodge are from the Asian continent (from the Middle East to China, and some surrounding islands, like Indonesia).

A possum smelled cooking meat and came to investigate. Simon offered him a treat and got bit. No rabies. Below is an artists rendering of the possum:

Hitting the goon sack in the Carleton Gardens, outside the Melbourne Museum. Rita from Berkeley has been traveling in Australia and stopped by in Melbourne. We used box of the goon cask to play soccer as we cut through the park on our way to a pub in Fitzroy. Despite Tomomi's size she was able to deliver a powerful kick that also sent her shoe flying.

Tomomi and Simon.


I've been playing a lot of pool here since theres a table in my building and a lot of pubs have them.

One shaka...

A different night: Sundeep, me and Simon at Pug Mahones, the Irish pub near our building.

Two shakas...


Eating cheap pizza in Brunswick, a neighborhood with lots of op shops (opportunity shops, aka thrift stores), as well as foods of various ethnicities.

Some of the city skyline from the banks of the Yarra.

Some of the University of Melbourne buildings as seen from Tomomi's room on the twelfth floor of UniLodge (she took most of the photos in the this post). Unfortunately you can't see any of the cool old 19th centurey buildings, like the one the stonemasons were working on when they dropped their tools and marched to the parliament building and demanded (and received) the first eight hour day in history.

Its currently Good Friday (which is a big deal here. I even got a free hot cross bun yesterday). Come Monday, I leave for Tasmania.