Friday, April 25, 2008

Anzac Day today, the 93rd anniversary of the first major military encounter of Australian troops --- against Turkish forces at Gallipoli.  The crowd numbers seemed distinctly down on the last few years.  Panorama. 3:38:00 PM

Sunday, March 23, 2008

At the Royal Easter Show yesterday in Sideshow Alley .... panorama, video. The zombie character behind the barrel periodically lurches into life, looks up despairingly, then, vomits, hyper-realistically, quantites of toxic-looking gunk. (Vomiting robots you might think would be thin on the ground but a little Googling shows this is not so -- they are used for instance in dental training simulators.) Here is a panorama  of one of the more heavy duty thrill rides. A panorama from the Poultry Pavilion. Here is the scene during some judging in the Cattle Pavilion . .. panorama. 1:38:06 PM

Monday, March 17, 2008

Here am I being blessed by a bunch of bishops (and a pope) at the St Patricks Day parade yesterday ... panorama.  The pope is coming to Sydney later in the year for World Youth Day. The peculiar looking building facade behind them used to have a giant Scientology volcano on it -- with ads for Dianetics on the now dead big screen on top. 9:14:45 AM

Monday, February 25, 2008

Sizable crowds turned out yesterday to see the new Cunard liner Queen Victoria on her first visit to Sydney --  panorama  -- and the final visit of the QEII (off to become a floating hotel in the Middle East) . 12:55:07 PM

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

A warm sunny day today after a month of cool, wet weather .... panorama. This is Dawes Point after Captain Dawes of the First Fleet - who built the colony's first observatory here. The ugly metal sign on the concrete pillar out in the water is a speed limit notice for boats. A little way along the shore towards the city is Campbells Cove -- panorama -- the site of the colony's first Stores. The tall ship is the Svanen. 8:54:19 PM

Monday, February 18, 2008

Some folks at the Gay Mardi Gras picnic day today ... panorama. 12:13:18 AM

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Prime Minister Rudd delivered a long awaited apology to Australia's indigenous people as the first order of business of the new Labor government in Canberra today. Crowds gathered in many venues across the country to watch the historic speech including here in Redfern in inner Sydney. Panorama. 12:09:12 AM

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The internet spilled onto the streets today with global Anonymous (a web grouping) vs. Scientology protests. In Sydney about 150 protestors assembled outside the Scientology headquarters in the city and yelled slogans (some obscurely nerdy no doubt to the general population - like the acronymic "GTFO") and held placards and distributed leaflets. Here they are giving obeisance to Lord Xenu, the evil alien nemesis of humanity according to Scientology.  Panorama. 10:25:50 PM

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Yesterday was the 200th anniversary of the Australia's only military revolt -- the Rum Rebellion of 1808.  The costumed figures are presenting a tableau of the moment when Captain Johnston, head of the rebels, announced the arrest of Governor Bligh (of Bounty fame) to the townsfolk.   Panorama. The tableau emulates a version of the scene by painter Raymond Lindsay.  The Sydney Morning Herald has a very detailed multimedia account of the rebellion. 5:01:19 PM

Sunday, January 20, 2008

More Festival of Sydney happenings .... this is an event "Haircuts by Children" organised by Canadian group "Mammalian Diving Reflex".  "Ideal entertainment for the end of the world" they say on their website ... panorama 6:15:46 PM

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Another panorama from the Festival of Sydney -- this is from Becks Bar -- with DJ Krafty Kuts performing. 8:40:08 PM

Sunday, January 06, 2008

This year the Festival of Sydney has taken a more populist turn -- and the city yesterday, the opening day, was full of mass, free events -- including this public wedding in Macquarie Street (the city's historic precinct) .... panorama.  Later, at the top of Martin Place French group Airvag installed a collonade of giant inflatable "horns" ... panorama. 1:52:38 PM

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

The New Year fireworks last night ... panorama.  The computer technology controlling such displays is becoming capable of amazing synchronized sequences now -- on a vast scale in this setting -- and last night had some really novel effects. Fireworks fanatics might like to read this City of Sydney fact sheet about the display. 5:36:29 AM

Friday, December 14, 2007

This anti-whaling poster spills "blood" onto the footpath. Panorama. I noticed it in Surry Hills this evening. There is an even more radical version apparently. 11:46:21 PM

Monday, November 12, 2007

At the Newtown Festival yesterday -- panorama --  the masks of Rudd and Howard on the stage probably came from the large Global Warming rally in the city earlier in the day. 5:26:28 AM

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Giorgio Armani is in Sydney at the moment. I stumbled across him at this media event in Martin Place -- outside his store in the city yesterday ... panorama. 11:32:15 AM

Monday, October 22, 2007

From the top of the Harbour Bridge yesterday ... panorama. This is shot from the short tower (called Blinky Bill, for its blinking aviation safety light) which rises a few meters above the main top girder. The cage on top of the tower -- where I am standing  --  contains, besides the light, a weather station. Here is another panorama I shot futher down in the bridge a little later. 4:28:12 PM

Friday, September 28, 2007

This installation by German artist Gregor Schneider opened on Bondi Beach today ... panorama.  It references Australia's  immigration detention camps which are often dire places in remote desert locations. Here is an "aerial" view of the installation ... panorama. 4:43:15 PM

Monday, September 24, 2007

Time for a scenic scene perhaps ... this is Mackeral Beach at beautiful Pittwater 40km north of the city yesterday .... panorama. 10:56:14 AM

Sunday, September 23, 2007

These zombies at Sydney University yesterday ...  panorama ... were helping create an open source zombie movie. It was part of the worldwide ZombieWalk phenomenon. 9:47:43 PM

Sunday, September 09, 2007

At the main APEC demonstration yesterday ... a flag-burning ... panorama. Here is the same locality a little while later .... after the demonstration had moved further up towards Hyde Park. Panorama. Note the water cannon in the middle of the intersection. This is a new $700,000A purchase for the Riot Squad and the APEC protests marked its first appearances in public. 10:11:28 AM

Thursday, September 06, 2007

George Bush is in town for the APEC meeting and there have been a bunch of demonstrations....  Chaser comedian Chris Taylor turned up as a policeman on a pantomine horse (a reference to the equine influenza epidemic preventing mounted police presence during APEC) at a schoolchildren's demonstration in Belmore Park yesterday. Police objected to the insignia on his shirt .. panorama  ... but once they were removed he was allowed to proceed and he rode off triumphantly through the crowd on his horse. Pic1. Pic2. The Chaser team got into a lot more trouble this morning (Thursday) when they drove in a phoney motorcade up to the entrance of the Intercontinental where Bush is staying. Bush this morning visited the National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour and I made this panorama of his motorcade (a real one) when he was leaving. He is, I think, in one of these three black limousines.   8:29:33 AM

Saturday, August 25, 2007

About this time of year suburban street festivals start in earnest in Sydney, and first off the rank I think is this one -- the Haldon Street Festival  in the inner west suburb of Lakemba -- panorama from today. Lakemba has a large Arabic population and there is a large mosque there and many specialty Arabic businesses and shops. 10:05:29 PM

Sunday, August 19, 2007

On the weekend punks, goths and emos hang out round the Town Hall steps -- panorama. 11:52:59 AM