Pop Ups

"What is that popping up, my love". Well things don't pop up personally like they used to and that is somewhat of a relief.

Is pop up everything an Australian phenomena? Pop up cafes. Pop up shops. Pop up art galleries. Pop up everything. They are meant to be temporary and often are. At the corner of Park Street and Domain Road, less than two kilometres from us, pop up outdoor eating was installed, meaning a few car parking spaces were taken to put more outdoor eating and drinking spaces. This was planned for before COVID but it is now an added bonus if you don't want to be in close inside air with others. This is a good thing for mine. Only in the most extreme heat or in a freezing cold wind will we sit inside a cafe during the day. If we can't sit outside, we find somewhere where we can.

It's not unusual here to see a cafe inside empty of patrons and crowded outside.

Also as part of the Metro Tunnel Rail Project about 500 metres away is a long promised and a long time coming pop up park has been installed in the Albert Road triangle. Just a bit of seating really, but it is ok.

More pop up here and I assume Domain Road being blocked off and these structures being assembled will be for tomorrow night, New Year's Eve. We are advised to not gather unless we have a booking for a restaurant or venue. They will be very brief pop ups.

This one is outside The Botanical Hotel, or The Bot as it was called in the 1980s at least.

This one is outside Entrecote.

This part of South Yarra is such a genteel place, where at a cafe seated at an outside table you can lay down your phone and wallet on the table and never feel a risk of someone snatching it off the table.

Nevertheless, Harry the Hirer company takes terrorism seriously and had these serious car barriers in three directions. Don't worry about the barriers blocking trams. Trams haven't run along Domain Road for a few years as part of the Metro Tunnel construction.

 

Pedos and murals

I hate writing this and I hate myself for thinking about this and its control of me. Worst of all, I hate society for making me feel like this.

I cast my mind back to about ten years ago when I was in the Botanic Gardens and came across a very young child wandering around on its own without visible signs of a carer of any sort. My natural inclination was to ask the child where its parents were and perhaps lead the child by the hand in some direction. I didn't but I did ask a woman nearby to see if the child was ok. I suppose she did.

Great niece Little M turned 2 and her paternal grandfather hosted a party for her and people swam in the pool. I was going to take a photo of niece Jo in the pool and she told me to ask her Mother's permission to take her photo. This child, who from being a crying baby and we walked her around the paths of The Highrise to get her to sleep, whose nappies we had changed so many times, who we cared for umpteen times! I was furious and upset that she had been educated to react so and that she spoke to me in such a manner.

I stewed on it for a week before with the help of Le Carton de Vino Ordinaire I got up some Dutch Courage and called Sister. Sister apologised and said she would have a talk to Jo about the how to speak to people appropriately. Maybe I was going to put a photo of her swimming on FB but I didn't take a photo. 

About five years later since then I have never taken a photo of Jo. She has not been included in any family gathering photos I have posted on FB, which is mostly for family and only very trusted people. I did post photos of her in group shots at family gatherings recently at Torquay but she was masked. One photo I posted where she wasn't masked, I cut her out. Such a sad arse thing to do. 

Yes before you point it out, I know most paedophilia activity is within families.

Am I the only one? Boxing Day family Christmas gathering at Ex Sis in Laws. They have a steep back garden and a long sheet of plastic running the length of the garden. Pour on some cheap washing detergent and put on the hose and it's a water slide and children and some far beyond childhood years had great fun sliding down for about an hour. Four litres of Aldi's cheapest washing detergent was used. Great entertainment for so many for about $5.

I didn't take photos but R did. The next day he said, 'I am not sure about putting these photos on FB. I am not sure if it was right to take them with children in them'.

This is effing shite.

Which brings me back to Monday's mural post. Yes, if you clicked on the link the mural was part of a bigger one. Near the mural before I posted of the dragon there was a kiddies playground. I avoided including the children in the background. In this week's mural post you can see some basketball court markings on the pavement. Behind the pillar where the mural was were some young teen lads shooting hoops. To get the full mural camera photo they would be in shot. I quickly took the photo and bolted with my paedophiliac lens pointing camera. How sad.

Town Hall Tuesday

This week's offering is Footscray Town Hall which is post local council amalgamation, City of Maribyrnong and is the main town hall for local council. It is older than I thought on my viewing and it did replace an earlier town hall. I quite like the old town hall, even if it doesn't look like a town hall but a large private house.

The current town hall was designed by Joseph Plottel and built in 1936. It is located on the very busy Napier Street.

I kind of like Footscray Town Hall but it doesn't make me dream.

Monday Mural

I accidently double posted yesterday at the same time. Sorry about that.

I am not sure that I really like this work, even though it has been well done in my opinion. Ryot is a well enough known street artist and I just happened across this piece when I was walking back from taking last week's dragon mural. If you look at this photo, you can see I rather missed a photo op.

Clapp the Father and the Son

Francis Clapp, US born, and his son Harold lived in a large house in Domain Road, South Yarra, about fifteen minutes walk from home. I think it is two storey but otherwise unremarkable.

F B Clapp made lots of money from his Cobb and Co horse powered stage coach business. 

I am mostly working on memory here, but Clapp the elder visited San Francisco to examine its cable tram system, where a moving cable runs under the road and through a slot and a grip mechanism built into the tram, the tram is hauled along the streets. He brought his knowledge back to Melbourne was instrumental in establishing our first cable tram line, which soon expanded to quite a large system. San Francisco still has cable trams, mostly for tourists. Melbourne just has a few remnants. 

The first cable tram line in Melbourne ran from Spencer Street Station along Flinders Street and Bridge Road to terminate at Hawthorn Bridge, where the Yarra River was a natural barrier to going further. Here is the kept façade of the first cable car tram depot.

His son Harold, later knighted, in 1920 became Chairman of Victorian Railways and improved and modernised Victoria's railway system immensely, with also a strong focus on food and refreshments, in including railway café food, fresh fruit and vegetables and of all things, raisins, and even raisin toast. 

Victorians and Melbournians have lots of reasons to applaud Clapp and son. This plaque is in front of their Domain Road home, Airlie. 

What was going on?

The area was fenced off and wiring was laid underground and wondered what it was about. We discovered last week.

This one is a bit amusing at the end where real birds are feeding near a display bird.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas if you are of that bent. If you aren't then hold your breath and it will quickly pass. I'm holding my breath and hope it disappears, after great family get togethers for Christmas. Go figure. It is my culture, nothing religious for me.

I didn't take too many photos for Christmas when out and about but here are a few.

A gay former acquaintance lives at Prahran Central with his partner. I wonder if this is his Christmas decorated apartment balcony.

Melbourne's Christmas tree at Federation Square.

Viewed from Flinders Street Station.

Commercialising Christmas by City of Stonnington in Toorak Road. Yes, ok, that horse bolted a long time ago.

At Melbourne Town Hall.

A new underground train tunnel is being built under Melbourne into the north west of Melbourne and south east very near us. This in neon was on the hoardings.

On the other side of street I took this short video.

Prahran Square.

Choose your side to sit and hope you have made the right choice.

Getting into the Christmas spirit.

Closer to home, our building's Christmas tree.

Even closer to home, in our home. No one aside from us has seen our tree.

I love this creation by R.

Many years ago Ex Sis in Law decorated these light bulbs and gave them to us for Christmas and each year they come out.

Still in the family, at ABI Brother's. Murrella was the name of my grandparent's house and the name in wrought  iron was on the front of her house. It moved to Mother's house when her parents died and now adorns ABI Brother's house where Mother now  lives.

Cut the Red Tape

We need to cut red tape for businesses to get our economy growing, thus create jobs and get our country moving again.

Every so often you will hear a politician spout this or similar and at times they act and cut red tape and what is the result?

It can often end in tragedy. 

The Grenfell Tower fire in London where it all went so horribly horribly wrong. 

Local government monitoring of construction of buildings red tape cut and handed over to private inspectors resulting in, while not a tragedy has resulted in people losing tens or hundreds of thousand dollars. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cracked-towers-spark-widespread-safety-fears-about-high-rises-poll-20200106-p53p7n.html

Private companies overseeing construction of tram platform stops built by private contractors in Melbourne? A great idea. https://twitter.com/9NewsMelb/status/1336611866576089091

Is your impression of Australia it is a very safe country, aside from our tourist killing creatures? (While drop bears are native Australian animals, they have no tree preference and can drop from any tree, including an elm, oak and maple) We are a first world with very high engineering and safety standards. You will find rheams of rules and regulations but who enforces them?

In the 1970s when I jointly owned the motor car service station with my step mother, about every six months a government inspector from Weights and Measures would visit and measure that the quantity of fuel dispensed from the petrol bowsers matched what was displayed on the pump. I remember they used to also check supermarkets, butchers, fishmongers and greengrocer scales. Now red tape has been removed, none of those pesky inspectors checking your honesty and I expect such businesses check themselves and upload their findings. (Any knowledge River?)

Australians trust that our safety standards are of the highest order, as did Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozbeh Araghi and not connected to them, tourist Cindy Low. Photo from ABC.

To put it bluntly they were mashed up in the mechanism of a ride on the Australian Gold Coast theme park. A private amusement ride company self regulating? Yes, let's get rid of all red tape of government regulation and let there be no government regulatory inspections of safety standards. Not really what you would expect in The Great Southern Land.

  

The Highrise Flora

We usually buy a bunch of flowers on Fridays at South Melbourne Market. If we are lucky they will last a week but that is a bit rare. Even the worst performing cut flowers, flag iris anyone?, last until Tuesday and then we are flowerless until Friday. Flowers last the least time when the heating is on midwinter.

This week we have a plethora of flowers. 

Ok, I just happened to take a photo of last weeks flowers and it was in the folder for this post.

Gladdies bought Friday. Probably at their best this Tuesday evening. Not sure any more blooms will open.

R's sisters in England sent this lovely bunch. It is so nice. There is even holly in there as I felt the prick my hand brushed past. Mother asked how it was transported and still looked so fresh. At least she knows her geography, if not how the international flower delivery system works.

I would not have done this to my own brother without asking, but R said 'ABI Bro in Law, secateurs please', and R promptly snipped off some of ABI Brother's hydrangea blooms, along with some rosemary and mint. 

Changing Rooms

An American bloke wrote about being naked and exposed to others in an open sports shower room in his school years. Now in his senior years he feels like it was child abuse. Public nudity was so wrong and says he has serious issues with exposing his early naked self to his schoolmates. Perhaps he could sue the school? (I read this some time ago and failed to save a link)

Duh, get over it love. We were exposed all the time in public showers, at the gym or the pool or other sporting events. We were perhaps too young to know if we were straight or gay but we all looked at each other and noted the differences. Some of us, ok me, might have looked harder than others. Fats Aitken wasn't called Fats because of his build. The very nerdy Big Hangers got his nick from some reason.

Japanese and many Europeans aren't at all bothered by public nudity.

I have kind of overcome it now, the thought that all Americans are very prudish. I know differently now, but I am a product of seeing Darren and Samantha, and the newly married Mike and Carol with three children apiece, all sleeping in separate beds. Clearly Mike and Carol would not have a joint child without some divine intervention, or a The Postman Always Knocks Twice moment.

Bad ABC

Two important reports were handed down today, one into how our State Government failed with its hotel quarantine system and the other how badly our Federal Government nursing homes performed during the height of the pandemic, leading to many deaths. Both were absolute chaos but of course in these modern times you will  not see a minister of The Crown resigning in disgrace and shame.

Never mind that New South Wales has a COVID outbreak from seemingly a member of an international flight crew and this is after our country, aside from returning quarantinees from overseas, had around 40 days of no COVID. We killed it through harsh measures but the virus is free again.

Our ABC Radio covered the matter well enough today. I was looking to ABC TV 7.30 current affairs programme to give these matters some colour and analyse. But, it seems 7.30 shut down last Thursday. This is really not good enough. Our ABC would reply to a query, sorry but budget cuts and allocation of recourses. 

Naturally politicians are aware of this and that is why such reports are handed down as the media goes to sleep for the week before Christmas.

On such an important day surely Our ABC has a kitty to fund a special edition of 7.30. As a forty year supporter of Our ABC, I am not happy.

Monday Mural

Joining in with Sami and others for Monday Mural.

Writer of graffiti on buildings and a serial tagger,  Sinch has been dead for a number of years after he was killed while skylarking on the roof of a moving train. Could this mural really be by him? I don't know and I can't be bothered checking. I've seen his name elsewhere written falsely.  They are nothing wonderful but better than bare brickwork on a utility building in Centenary Reserve, Port Melbourne.  

Handsome Man Quiz Answer

I've no idea who the Anon is who correctly guessed the photo was of a young Sir Ian McKellen. Whoever you are, take a bow or curtsey. I know an easy way to find out such things using Google Photos. I have been the victim of a hoax though. I read last year somewhere that Sir Ian had died but it is not true. While doing my usual ten second research for a post to get his birth and death dates, I found out he is alive and possibly well. (1939-....) Apparently he died in 2017 too.

Sunday Selections

I am joining in with Elephant's Child and others for Sunday Selections, this week is just randomness.

We visited Altona Village/Beach for brunch. I hadn't noticed these metal cut-outs before.

Part of Pier Street has been turned into a summer mall and The Esplanade has been blocked and a block to the east has also been turned into a mall.

A cheery sight when we were locked down.

My birthday present from R in October. Well, it did have the appropriate bottle within.

With an interesting interior to the box.

For children to play in I suppose.

This unwelcome proselytising book was placed in every residents' mail box. If it was a novel, a book this size might cost $20. The religious nutters have way too much money. Straight to the recycling bin. 

We bought the dress on the left for one of the twins for Christmas. Look at the featured dress! Almost an old ladies crimplene evening dress. Who would dress a girl in that. 

There hasn't been a horse sighting in Commercial Road outside The Alfred Hospital as far as I know for decades, so the water supply to this horse trough was switched off but I can remember when it worked. The floating ball automatic refilling mechanism is protected behind the white barrier.

The changing background of the rather nice Koornang Road, Carnegie. We were visiting our travel agent.

Found on the internet. Pretty cool, hey. (I hope I haven't posted this before)

Nine months after panic buying began as COVID arrived in Australia are the toilet paper hoarders dumping their excess? 

I remember shoe lasts being rather different to this.