Whiskful Thinking

These two broom,  perhaps stilled in mid-sweep from their own bewitched animation, camouflaged by dappled shade, lie on the path beside the Ota  River in Hiroshima. The  twig broom's no fuss technology  has endured millenia, like bread, perhaps because it works. While it would be far-fetched to call it elegant, it has its own endearing aesthetic, a sense of the wild wielding, of giving short shrift, sweeping leaves and litter off their feet.

Return to Keirle Park for the Scratchy Paper Blues

And it's not just blues. It's the pinks, yellows and purples.   The idea is terrific and so is the little stick that comes with it but oh la la that rainbow hippy effect is just all too much.Frankly this paper stinks. One good thing about the smell is that it made me seek a better ventilated spot than the very comfy car seat which is my usual view point. The Norfolk Pines are a wonderful subject but I am sorry to say I short-changed this tree and only got the top half in.  The effect is odd echo of the graffiti (below) along the south edge of the skate park.

 

Voila! Playing with Violas

Is there something underhanded here?  Of late Farmer Bart Brassica has aspired to what Mavis Eggwhistle calls 'floral fiascos', trying to out-style a certain local farmhand's recent success as a horticultural pin-up person. Here Bart is aiming for a dramatic Spanish effect, in the style of the Toledo master of the still life, Juan Cotan. How Bart comes to be muttering things about Cotan is a complete mystery to all the folks in Lambertville but some fear he has been browsing Art Catalogues.  This may be due to some confusion on Bart's part who may have believed he was ordering Portraits from the Prairie, when due to an intermittent dyslexia, he ordered Portraits from the Prado. 

Top Ten Secret Sydney Days for Visitors ~ Number 1 The Rock Pool

While there are the obvious pleasure of surf beaches, many visitors  miss what is one of the great contemplative treasures of the Australian east coast, the rocky beach headlands with their natural intertidal rock pools.  The rock pool is a world in microcosm, a glinting and glorious brilliant home to to dozens of small animals such as anemones, periwinkles, barnacles, crabs as well a intricate algae species, and sometimes, as you can see here emerald green sea grass. Rock pools are best viewed around somewhere half way between high and low tide. (Check the Tide Time Table at  http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/docs/Tide_Tables.pdf).

One of the easy places to see rock pools is the northern rock platform at Balmoral Beach . To get there take the Taronga Zoo Ferry from Circular Quay ( this takes about 20 minutes), if you're up a for walk along the foreshore of Sydney National Park,  talk the path to the right as you leave Taronga Ferry Wharf , heading north-east and you'll find the path which is well signed. Keep going around Bradley's Head, around  Clifton Gardens Park, through Chowder Bay,  where you can stop at either the Baccino  kiosk right at the water's edge for a coffee or cold drink, or at the Baccino Cafe which is up the stairs a little further. If you don't feel like walking take the 238 bus from the ferry bus stop and get off at Balmoral Beach,  just at the end of Raglan Street is probably the best spot.

You can take the Chowder Bay Road, which make a longish loop past the Sydney Institute of Marine Science,  up the hill turning left into  Middle Head Road, till you ge to the stairs down to Balmoral Oval.  There is also a path just to the left of Baccino Cafe with  stairs that go up and over the hill to the meet up with the Balmoral stairs.  Down the stairs, take the path around the oval to Balmoral Esplanade. You can find a detailed map of this walk and other maps of Mosman at http://www.mosman.nsw.gov.au/mosman/place/maps.

  If the weather is warm the beach is a peaceful place to swim, and on weekdays is not at all crowded.  There are quite a few casual cafes with great coffee, like the Boatshed Cafe, if you're need lunch.  Walk north along the beach, past the bus shed (remember this for the return trip!), past the small island connected by a curved bridge, past Bathers Pavilion (also a great place for lunch and the menu is posted near the front door ) and then along the beach, past the man-made 'babies pool) till you get to the rocks.

Some kind of light sandshoe is best for walking on the rock platform. This rock platform goes all the way around to Chinaman's Beach but this is quite a challenging work and you will find many wonderful rock pools just past the point. Don't take anything, shells or seaweed from the pools, as this is prohibited, some creatures, such as the Blue-Ringed Octopus are poisonous, so as general rule don't pick up sea creatures. 

Once you've had enough in your rock pool viewing you can catch the bus back to the city from the bus shed.  For an interesting and free bus ride around the district, you can do a circuit on the free Mosman Rider bus which runs every half an hour, there are bus stops for just next to Awaba Cafe on the corner of  Awaba Street and the Esplanade.  You can find information on all the ferry, bus and the free Mosman bus at  http://www.mosman.nsw.gov.au/mosman/transport/public-transport.

Tanpopos' Tempura Trap

OK, so on our previous visit to Tanpopo, Julius, one of the chefs, sent out a complimentary and  incredibly delicious  bowl of tempura for us. We had never ordered the tempura before and perhaps he knew this.  So  last night I ordered tempura, and set to to sketch what was on the table before it arrived.It might be that we look starved, or perhaps, and more likely the opposite, but Julius sends us out a delicious green salad topped with some extremely tender thin slices slow braised of waygu beef.  Then a simply enormous dish of tempura arrives, as well as the Grilled salmon, which the waiter Ellie tells us is a half portion, though it is plainly not. Theo is having ramen but kindly helps out with the tempura (here you see an inexact drawing of his hand and skeric of the New Scientist). When we finally get through our food, and get the bill, we see they have tried to undercharge us, and have to hide extra money under the bill and run out quickly so we can't get be pressured to take back any money. All the staff seem pretty happy about this undercharging joke. This is seeming more and more like a surreal film by Goddard.

Meet the Makings - What is the Collective Noun for Inks

This line up of inks, brings with it the question what might be the collective noun for inks. A Writ of Inks, a Well of Inks, a Rorsasch of Inks, a Sink of Inks? If they are lined up do they become a Cortege or a Procession, if they circle are they a Proscenium or an Arch,  if they huddle are they a Muddle, and if they keel over, collectively, are they a Spilt?

Tarantula - New Play by Alana Valentine

Ok, so what is the conceptual link between the street art in Newtown and the new play by Alana  Valentine which has just premiered at the King Street Theatre In Newtown?  Something about the creation of roles and personas, the two characters busy creating a third, the omniscient 'eye' being all us theatre-goers sitting in the dark?  It is a very funny play about Lola Montez and female desire, about being tough and being open-hearted and balancing the two, with terrific performances by Zoe Carrides and Michael Walley.  Go and see it while it's still on.

Tanpopo goes Manga !

The messy sketchiness of Friday's drawing shows I am spending more time eating and less time drawing,  This week ended up with two visits to Tanpopo in Cremorne  once on Friday for ramen and on Sunday for grilled king fish and their very good pork belly. We have reached a miraculous point at Tanpopo where the chef sends out special dishes for us to try, some slow braised waygu beef and ginger, a little dish of king fish tempura and a croquette of slightly fermented soy beans but last night we hit the jackpot and got a large dish of tempura, with gloriously fresh bean curd, eggplant, zucchini and chicken hiding an intense and delicious broth, the whole crunchy, soupy construction zingy with rounds of green shallots that played a bit of trick with the green pattern on the bowl. We usually never order tempura but now we are converted.

And what better place than Tanpopo to try out the new Manga mera app on my phone!

When is a Room Too Small ? Pointed Moments of Honesty

Is this large sign a just too honest statement about the dimensional challenges of this advertised hotel room? Or does it refer to the act of poking, of course by which I mean the metaphorical act of not minding one's own business. In any case the room, small or not, is ephemeral and perhaps, in any case, you'd like something a bit bigger?

Frame by Frame, The Pre-Billed Signal Box

The signal box, beloved 3-D substrate of the street artist, has been pre-hit up up in Brisbane, leaving both its functionality as a reference point about failed signals and adding local colour. This arty one perhaps is a reference to Alex Harvey's song, Framed? Perhaps not, but still there is an argument that those rollers are a sly nod to Harvey's rolling rrrrr's.

Brunswick Street Beauties - Brisbane's Architectural Shiners

Visiting Brisbane, while there funky shops, wonderful restaurants, stacks of groovy coffee spots, galleries and miles of river to glide over on the Rivercat or the charming City Ferry, a few hours spent meandering the streets will reward you will such classics as these three Queenslanders, all from Brunswick Street.  I was preconditioned to notice - well it is hard to miss - the lime green detail on the house above by a stylish young woman in a plain fifties style black dressed cinched with a thin lime green belt. Perhaps she is a local and inspired by this wonderful two-tone green weatherboard wonder?  There are more treats in store along the road, two of which are below. And though here I've stuck to the Federation and late Victorian, Brunswick Street generously includes all architectural periods. Might a whole street, a tour de force of Qld's building  history be declared a National Treasure? Yes, I do declare! 

R