lifeasdaddy

Sydney then and now: Martin Place

Martin Place, Sydney.

Then:

State Records NSW Digital ID: 17420_a014_a0140001110   "Construction of tram tracks at Martin Place, Sydney" (Photograph used with permission of the State Records Authority of New South Wales)

The photograph is undated, but the Holden motor car in the centre foreground of the photograph suggest that it was in the late 1940's to early 1950's.  General Post Office (GPO) Sydney is the substantial building in the right foreground. The air compressor in the right foreground looks like the same model used to construct the wharf at Bennelong Point in 1950.  However there were tram tracks along George Street in this position well before the 1940s, so this is probably a major track repair.

The Cenotaph can be seen in the centre of Martin Place, in the middle distance behend the tree.

and Now:

Git me some o' that Botox

I was in a medical office today and saw this display of Botox.

After I asked permission to photograph the display, the receptionist and cosmetic procedures nurse were both encourageing me to get some botox treatments.  I might consider it had it not been for seeing Sarah, Duchess of York on the Fox & Friends TV show last night where her face was looking very smooth, but very very stiff.

The woman as the medical office wanted to know why I wanted to photograph the Botox, so I told them it was an important cultural artifact of our times.

Pamplona, the running of the bulls, best ever photoset.

On the Big Picture blog here.

And my favourite from the comments:

That photo of the bull leaping over a pile of people is wild! It's hilarious to see them holding up their digital cameras and phone cameras as THEY ARE ABOUT TO BE CRUSHED. The whole event is fascinatingly ridiculous and yes, grotesque.

Posted by Jabo

Centrepiece for Royal Buffet, 1954

Centrepiece for Royal Buffet, originally uploaded by Old Parliament House.

To celebrate its 75th birthday, Old Parliament House called for people, from across Australia, to send in their pictures and stories of the House. The response forms a remarkable collection that tells an unofficial history of this Old Parliament House, and many are now displayed on Flickr as part of Old Parliament House's Photostream "In The Picture" .

This photo was entered by Anthony Scarth ‘The cake was a centrepiece for the Queen's Royal Tour banquet in 1954. Every one of the roses’ details were hand made and finished. Arthur Mueller was a marvellous pastry chef. It took at least 10 weeks to make and was made mostly by Arthur and I helped.’

Mr. Scarth's pride of workmanship is plain.

There's something about working on or in some of our iconic buildings.

The most recent issue (June 2008) of "About The House" magazine has a feature about the 20th anniversary of the opening of the new Parliment House building including interviews with many of the people who built it. Undoubtedly it was one of the high points of their careers.

Interesting to reflect too that 54 years after this photograph was taken Her Majesty The Queen, Elizabth II is still going strong.

So, where's Australia's chemical plant security programme?

"The Department of Homeland Security has preliminarily labeled more than 200 chemical facilities, including university laboratories, at highest risk for a potential terrorist attack.

DHS has winnowed this number from a pool of about 7,000 facilities under review in its chemical plant security program."

Read the article in Chemical & Engineering News here.

So far as I can tell, in Australia the National Counter-Terrorism Committee is responsible for this stuff.

Just to set your minds at ease, here is the National Counter-Terrorism Plan (second edition, September 2005)  Concerns regarding chemicals are addressed in section 3.7 on page 17 of the pdf.

John McCain III in Truc Bach Lake

I came across this picture of John McCain being captured during the Vietnam War on the Big Picture blog.

I've seen hundreds of photographs of McCain and Obama, but I've never  seen this one before.

I'm not endorsing McCain (as if my opinion mattered) and not not endorsing him either.  It's just an interesting moment in military history.

The photo is from the Library of Congress, and appears as part of their Veterans History Project where McCain was interviewed, mainly about his captivity where he spent more than five long years in a hell hole.

John McCain (center) being captured by Vietnamese civilians in Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi Vietnam [ Library of Congress ]

Here's his interview with the Veteran's History Project

Is this the world's most expensive watering can?

Yep.  AUD364.10

That's about EUR221

or USD349

or GBP175.

And 4.5 litres is about 1 Imperial gallon, or 1.2 US gallons.

It's just a steal, get it from the Simon Johnson online store here.

But what's going on with the Australian retailers  price mark up?

On the Duchy Originals UK website, we see that the recommended retail price is just GBP 47.  Or in our currency, AUD 97.

Sure.  It has to come around to the other side of the world, but more than 3 and a half times the UK retail price?

C'mon.

ANZAC Day - Lest We Forget.

ANZAC Day is one of Australia's national days of mourning for those who fell in war. 

We mark it on 25 April each year.  Throughout the land, in big cities and small towns people will gather today at a war memorial, cenotaph or cemetery - and remember.

A beautiful and moving tribute:

Their name liveth for evermore.

Lonely Planet guide book writer admits he made it up.

I thought Lonely Planet guidebooks were over rated.  This could be one reason.

Jamy Ian Swiss on YouTube

"I did a trick for a little boy. He was probably about 5 years old. Anyway, he looked up at me and said, 'I know how you did that.' I said, 'How?' He said, 'You used magic.' It's the best explanation I ever heard."

So said Al Cohen.

I've got a soft spot for magic.  And I look forward to when I can teach some simple magic to Edward.

Adam Gopnik has got an outstanding story about the current state of the magic industry/business/way of life/sub-culture in the March 17, 2008 issue of the New Yorker.

There's only an abstract available online here. One of the magicians featured in the lengthy article is Jamy Ian Swiss who is a specialist in close-up magic.  Card magic and the like.  Many people say he's the best at that there is.

Swiss is quoted in the article as (mainly) being opposed to magicians on YouTube.  So, I checked to see if he is on YouTube, and sure enough he is.  Probably unauthorised content.

Check him here, here.

Also, on his own website here.

Aside:  I read Steve Martin's recent memoir Born Standing Up - and his reverence for old-time magicians is quite touching.  Martin was no slouch in the magic stakes himself.