Yesterday afternoon while Edward and I were on the way to soccer training Edward spotted an echidna near our front letter box. There are some nests of ants in that area and it was having a feast. I've never seen one in an urban setting before and this is only the second one I've seen outside a zoo or wildlife park.
Barney Kieran had a brief and brilliant career as a competitive swimmer in the years 1904-1905. In that short time he swam world record times in every distance from 200 yards to 1 mile.
His induction citation at the International Swimming Hall of Fame explains his dominance during that brief period:
"Had he lived to swim in the 1906 and 1908 and 1912 Olympics, there is little doubt but that Barney Kieran should have won more swimming gold medals than any Olympian before or since."
In 1986 he was also inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Although Barney Kieran has little fame these days, he is being honoured this year with a tribute by the New South Wales State Archives.
He died at 19 years of age after an appendix operation. Beloved by the public, a public subscription was raised to create a monument to be rasied over his grave in Gore Hill Cemetery.
It is generally better kept and tidier than most graves in the cemetery.
Here's the close view of the inscription. The memorial was paid for by public subscription.
Photos by Bob Meade.
There is also a pretty good Sports Illustrated story from 1985: Australia Had A Wondrous SwimmerIn The Star-crossed Barney Kieran.
Barney's brother, Joseph Patrick Kieran died in 1933 and is also buried at Gore Hill Cemetery. However in the burial records of Gore Hill Cemetery he appears under the name of Joseph Francis Kieran - and also appears to be intered in the same or a contiguous plot as Barney.
A further check of records show that Patrick John CONLON is also buried in the plot. Barney's father was Patrick Kieran, however after Patrick Kieran's death it appears his mother married Matthew Conlon.
I'm going to write a few blog posts here about our recent trip to Barcelona and France.
In Barcelona we stayed at the AC Barcelona Forum hotel next to the convention centre. The hotel has a sleek, hip design which was a visual pleasure. I was unfamiliar with the AC hotel chain which has a significant presence in Spain, Italy and Portugal. I found the guest room size slightly on the small side compared to rooms in Australia and the USA but I'm told this is normal for Europe.
There was a problem with the air-conditioning: it would only heat, not cool. This suggests to me that the hotel has the technical limitation of only one set of air-conditioning pipes running through the hotel and must choose for the whole hotel a date to switch from cooling to heating. There was a saving grace however, the windows would open to permit fresh, cool air into the room:
That's what the sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea looked like. Barely visible in the dawn light at the sea shore is part of the ongoing urban renewal of the area which is either reclamation or demolition/reconstruction.
The hotel staff were generally very good. The room attendants did a great job keeping the room clean.
Strangely, for a hotel which is mainly aimed at conventioneers and the business traveller there was no electrical power point at the desk top to permit laptop and electronic device charging. Instead we used the television power point. This is not an unusual fault, but an unforgivable one in a recently built hotel.
One aesthetic feature of Barcelona is the architecture. The 'culture-led' approach to urban renewal has dictated that great care is taken with the design of new buildings and this hotel precinct is no exception with cantilevered building segments on display. The wedge shaped building standing by itself in the photo below was a transparent glass tower held up by the concrete floors and an exoskeleton.
Above: photo of AC Barcelona Forum hotel from across Passeig del Taulat.
Below left: AC Barcelona Forum hotel
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Some were great because of the food.
Some were great because of the time, place and people.
Some were great because I was introduced to a new culinary experience.
I was inspired to write about my best meals ever by Leonard Lopate's interview with James Oseland, Jane Stern and Michael Stern of Saveur Magazine.
Chicken with orange sauce.
My cousin Julie had been married the previous day to then-husband Phil. I guess I was about 9 years old. They were flying out of Melbourne to their honeymoon. In those days it was unusual to take an international honeymoon. Most of the extended family, including my parents and I went to the airport to see them off and it was decided by the adults to have lunch at the fancy restaurant at Tullamarine Airport.
There were lots of things on the menu which seemed unusual to me and I finally decided on Chicken Maryland with orange sauce. When my meal arrived I recall my wonder that there was a sauce other than tomato, that there was a sauce you could make from a fruit and how deliciously piquant citrus was with chicken.
Kill a lamb one day, eat it roasted the next.
My Uncle and Aunt ran a dairy farm and I was a regular childhood visitor. There was also a small flock of sheep on the farm which were reared for eating. One day when I was 12 or so it was time for me to see how the sheep was killed and butchered. One of the lambs was tied up and killed by having its throat slit, then my Uncle went through the butchering process until it was a bare carcass. The carcass was covered in a cotton bag and hung overnight in the big tree. The next morning after milking-time the lamb was brought down and my Uncle cut it up. Roast leg of fresh lamb for dinner. No illusions about where the food comes from. It was delicious with a fresh mint sauce.
Chateau de Troja, Prague.
June. Prague summer. It was at a corporate function for dinner. First there was a tour through the Baroque chateau, including the magnificently frescoed stables. Then, on an evening of beautiful weather, down the sculpted staircase to the parterre where tables were set for about 200 people. We sat at a table with some Finns who could not speak any English. I can't remember what we ate, but I remember eating it in the garden of a palace.
.(photo by Guillaume Cattiaux. Used with his kind permission)
More details about the Chateau de Troja here.
Victor's Cafe 52, New York.
We were on our way to New York. A friend recommended Victor's - which specialises in Cuban food. Never had Cuban food before. It was July. New York is HOT in July. The streets smell as the garbage rots. I telephoned for a reservation and the restaurateur told me that the air conditioning was not working and the restaurant would therefore be hot, but if we still wanted to come we would be very welcome. Seemed fair enough to me. If it was too hot, we could leave. Walked past Gallagher's Steak House and the window of their cold larder filled with gigantic cuts of beef. Got to Victor's. The door was propped open and large electric fans circulated the air. Our friend told us to order Mohitos and Champagne empanadas.
Had my first Mohito. Tick the box. But there was no sign of Champagne empanadas on the menu. We asked, we got. They were exquisite.
Le Café Marly at Le Louvre.
Here, position is everything.
(Photo by Kwong Yee Cheng on Flickr under a CC licence)
When you sit down with your lovely wife at Café Marly , in the Richelieu wing of The Louvre you look out at I.M. Pei's pyramids. You sit on stylishly covered chairs and are attended by waiters who speak English. You drink an expensive, though excellent cup of coffee and take a pastry. You are not dreaming. You are a lucky man.
I have a few more memorable meals to write about. Soon.
Here's an interesting pocket Bible. It was given away to soldiers across the British Empire during World War Two by the British and Foreign Bible Society. This one to a soldier in the Australian Army.
It cannot be rare, however I am unable to find any identical in the online catalogues of the usual Australian cultural institutions. If you know of any similar examples - please let me know.
This one bears the symbol of His Majesty King George VI. It is 120mm high and 76mm wide.
Inside the front cover is a tipped in presentation page plus a stapled Bible Reading hints insert. The slightly corroded staples have created a slight brown stain. Otherwise the bible is almost unmarked after 70 years:
His Majesty's message to his loyal troops is also included. The message is dated just 2 weeks after the start of World War Two:
Interestingly it was printed at the University Press, Oxford:
The man I wrote about here was once a member of the I.O.O.F. Talbrager no. 74 lodge in Dubbo, New South Wales. He was initiated in 1934.
The International Order of Odd Fellows was a fraternal organisation which also provided welfare and insurance such as sick benefits to members. There was also an associated organisation for women named The Rebekahs. Here's the wikipedia entry about the North American organisation which gives a good overview of the general structure and flavour of the organisation.
His ceremonial I.O.O.F. lodge collar looks like this:
It is adorned with a flannel flower motif. This flower has a close association with the State of New South Wales. The background is red coloured silk velvet and the flowers are embroidered in silver bullion wire, and the fringe is also of silver bullion. The edge of the collar is trimmed with repeating I.O.O.F. and triple link motif in silver thread embroidery.
Here is a close view of the embroidery.
The rear of the collar is lined with red coloured leather.
And it comes complete with a lockable leather carrying case.
Some empheral items are also contained in the case including two I.O.O.F. hospital cards:
and usefully a copy of the Triple Links magazine for January 1, 1940.
The magazine includes some advertisements for ceremonial collars, one from David Jones department store:
and from Hordern Bros. Ltd.:
Here's a photograph of some I.O.O.F. lodge members in California wearing their collars.
There do not seem to be many of these types of collars still in existence in Australia, but here's one in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
On October 21, 1944 HMAS Australia (II) was deliberately struck in a suicidal attack by a Japanese dive bomber. There is some modern day controversy as to whether or not this was the first true Kamikaze attack of World War II.
Nevertheless, it was devastating - killing 30 and wounding 65.
A couple of years ago I visited the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre and saw this:
Today I was referred to a recently created Flickr photo stream by Jeff Penberthy who is preparing for the 1911- 2011 Centenary of the RAN.
I came across this gem:
Circa Oct 22, 1944: Officers muse on the engine of a Val bomber on HMAS Australia [II], the first of her six hits in the Philippines - Photo The Argus, SLV., originally uploaded by Kookaburra2011.
Photo: The Argus, held at Argus Collection, The State Library of Victoria [LaTrobe Library]Which of course shows the exact engine from which the museum piece engine cylinder block came.
The 1944 photograph would look good in the RAN Heritage Centre sitting beside the piece.
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