Seeking a Leader Like Keating
allow 20 minutes – maybe turn up the volume, do the washing up while listening to George (dated May 2, 2013).
Interesting mention of my local member, Andrew Leigh. I agree. I hope the ‘lone wolf’ chooses the right time to move.
The current state of Cultural Reviews and Critical Comment
Recently the Guardian ran an opinion piece on the Barangaroo development on the eastern edge of Sydney’s CBD. The author pointed out that she had been involved in the project.
I suggest that the author failed to declare that they had been more than just simply ‘involved’. In fact they had been a leading professional on the team that had won the design competition, that had then seen their designs criticised publicly by people such as Paul Keating, then had their wining design rejected by the client and a new design developed and the contracts awarded to other teams.
This is an opinion piece, not just on a particular park, but about the story behind the park. This park is run by a not-for-profit organization. Should there be more of these in Australia as local government budgets get squeezed and the green infrastructure, trees etc, are being placed low on the priority? Many parks and recreation managers, urban tree supervisors and/or landscape project officers tell the same tale that their resources are being reduced and even the day-to-day maintenance is falling behind.
Anne Summers Conversation presents Julia Gillard on DVD
Anne Summers has announced the release of the two conversations with Julia Gillard.
For more information, click on the image to the left (or here) to be taken to Anne’s website.
Anne’s “the Looking Glass” has other useful links and information so please support her work by at least having a look – click here.
About two years ago, during 2010 – 2011, this quiet residential area in the inner north of Canberra was the battle ground over a very silly proposed redevelopment of two blocks of land.
Once the residents had been through the tribunal process, and before the decisions were handed down, the complex chain of events was documented. It is called Do Onto Others.
Comments on the statements by Australia’s Governor General, Quentin Bryce.
Every now and then Australians are taken aback when one of our national representatives actually makes intelligent and thoughtful contributions to public debates. This happened recently with the delivery of the Boyer lectures by Australia’s first female Governor General, Quentin Bryce.
Dealing with the complex issues of climate change adaptation should by now have become a priority and part of the everyday for any local government in their oversight of design, planning, development and the re-development of our settlements.
Here in Canberra we have been the subject of a decade or two of pronouncements from newly appointed chief planners on how they are to oversee development that is sustainable and .. lots of other spin that always sounds so sensible!
Damon Young, Philosophy in the Garden
Melbourne University Press
From Damon’s own blog:
Damon Young explores one of literature’s most intimate relationships: authors and their gardens. For some, the garden provided a retreat from workaday labour; for others, solitude’s quiet counsel. For all, it played a philosophical role: giving their ideas a new life. This book reveals the profound thoughts discovered in parks, backyards and pot-plants. It does not provide tips for mowing overgrown cooch grass, or mulching a dry Japanese maple. It is a philosophical companion to the garden’s labours and joys.
First an admission. I used to be a reasonably keen urban cyclist . However some time back, I had two serious near misses whereby I was run off the road by local buses. After the last bruising, the bike sat in garage till one day I sold it on. Whenever I can , I now walk instead. But I do miss the experience of cycling through neighbourhoods.
Today there was a very good summary in the Guardian on the situation and changes to urban cycling across many cities internationally. Click on the image below.
There’s currently a crazy debate here in Canberra about cyclists and vehicles and pedestrians. Crazy because the debate has been dominated by no so cool people who are not accepting of any other point of view. So I wonder what the problem is?
National Botanic Gardens , Canberra
The recently opened Red Centre at the National Botanic Gardens is an ‘interesting’ addition to this very popular and valuable national asset.
An exhibition at the Getty in LA on the link between photography and architecture. Check it out and note the partly illustrated check list at the bottom of the page.
click on the image for the Getty site
Recently announced installation of art. Always good to celebrate an artist who has chosen the difficult path of sculpture and public art. Click on the image above for the Canberra Times article.
Dan has other pieces….
The Democracy experiment continues to be under threat
An article from the Asia Sentinel hits the mark on the media issues in Australia.
A milestone of a dubious kind was passed in Australia recently when it was discovered that the number of public relations practitioners had for the first time exceeded the number of journalists actually working as reporters and editors. (Hamish McDonald)
The full article is a good read. Click here.
Jack Ross Park, Kingston Foreshore, Canberra
This is a first venture into the new park within the slowly evolving foreshore development at Kingston , Canberra. First impressions are of lots of detail, very contemporary and any park besides the lake is to be a welcomed addition to local amenities.
Japan and food – an image
A photograph taken in 2006 of lunch time on a busy back street in Tokyo.
The food was great. Ordering in such places is always interesting as no-one there spoke English (and this is the usual off the tourist areas) and we spoke absolutely no Japanese. We managed through hand gestures and pointing and thanks to the politeness and very friendly nature of the owners. This experience was repeated often whereby the locals were both helpful and courteous to these foreigners who did not speak their language.
Canberra 16-17 November 2013
Take a quiet little street in Downer. Local artist Stephen Harrison is a resident. Stephen asks the neighbours if he can take over the street and their front yards for the weekend. They say yes. Stephen then brings in the work of about three dozen artists. And so a fun weekend arrived……
For travelers of urban space and cities, there is nothing more enjoyable as roaming streets and observing both the unusual and the ordinary. In reality most of time the ordinary and the unusual do tend to blend. Anyone who is an observer of street behaviour realises that there is not much that is ordinary about how people behave as they wander, rush or simply promenade about our urban thoroughfares. The streets of our cities are packed with these constantly changing tableaux. The realities are fun to observe as well as those things we conjure up in our imaginations about the buildings and the streets and the parks and the cosmopolitan mix of people.
former Prime Minister resigns, at last.
Last night I happened to be online when the former Prime Minister stood up in Parliament to resign and to leave office.
There were lots of kind words and some hinted at the troubles he had caused but most were polite and positive about his contributions in public life.
Turner From The Tate
exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, June – September 2013.
Having visited this exhibition three times while it was in Canberra , once in Adelaide and having five times visited Turner in the Tate in London, I have been contemplating these experiences and offer the following comments as a review.
I refer to what looks at first as if it is another informative article in the Guardian Australia. Click on the image below. Unfortunately this great online newspaper has been infiltrated.
The author of this piece has not declared a very close interest in the project.
It was while standing in front of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), that it occurred to me that the extension, which includes the new entrance, had not figured in awards. I am fully aware of the controversies about how these extensions came about. Should any of that have excluded this architectural addition to the nation’s art gallery from being the recipient of awards.
I intend to write more about the NGA in the near future, but for now I my curiosity has turned to the architecture awards as run by the national professional body, the AIA. These awards are lauded nationally, so why not apply a reality check as to how their award winners really stack up.
the Australian War Memorial 11 November 2013
Paul Keating’s Remembrance Day address “Those Australians fought and died not in defence of some old world notion of competing empires and territorial conquests but for the new world – the one they belonged to and hoped to return to.
This is why Australia was never in need of any redemption at Gallipoli, any more than it was in need of one at Kokoda thirty years later.
There was nothing missing in our young nation or our idea of it that required the martial baptism of a European cataclysm to legitimise us.”
full text of his speech at Australian War Memorial
Bishan Park Singapore
Question? Can a professional in a large bureaucracy bring about change?
The above image is of Bishan Park in Singapore until a senior landscape architect within the Parks Board had a great idea. Why not change this unattractive engineered solution back to being part of the river? Apparently he pushed hard for the idea to be taken up and eventually won the day. We visited this park in 2012 and were impressed by the difference a great idea and determination can deliver to the local population.
It it time to monitor the performance of our nation’s pet Rabbott now that he and his followers are inside the pen with all the assets of people of Australia to play with.
The trend is to make fools of the media – and this is a turn around given the role of the mainstream media in promoting the Rabbott and Murdoch messages prior to the last federal election.
Canberra’s Champs-Elysees? Get Real!
The redevelopment of Canberra’s Constitution Avenue has been long in coming and the ACT Government has today announced its plans for the next stage.
Unfortunately someone has bravely announced that it will be Canberra’s Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Does that mean there will be an equivalent of the Arc de triomphe, the avenue is to be lined with large international expensive shops, huge crowds day and night, massive amounts of traffic (four lanes each side) and a host of ever-present scammers and pick-pockets.
Much of the current crop of graffiti and street art consists of the signatures and/or some brightly coloured clichéd scrawls. There’s also the more subtle and creative.
The latter is so much more fun. And things that bring a smile when everyone wants to be ever so serious about anything and everything, must be a good thing. Bring it on.
The basics of a proposal for rethinking this important piece of Green Infrastructure
The main road into Canberra from the north has been the topic of much debate following the ACT Government’s announcement that it is build a light rail with the route being from Civic to the newer suburbs of Gungahlin. In the wings sits the developer lobby as this transport initiative would provide the final green light for the major intensification of the commercial and residential buildings along the full length of Northbourne Ave
Trees are important in our urban environments. They are part of our urban green infrastructure and perform important roles assisting in health and well-being as well as climate change adaptation.
And they are just beautiful. I like trees.
Yes those retail dinosaurs are still with us.
All those stupid consumers were supposed to spend up big after the recent federal election. The election of the Rabbott was supposed to bring about a boost to consumer confidence.
There’s nothing more basic in our democracy as the processes that underpin the election of our governments. At the time of writing , the WA Senate election has become complicated, not just because of the necessary recount given the closeness of the first results, but because of the unfortunate event whereby by about 1,400 previously counted votes have been misplaced.
Global Warning on Coloured Hair Dyes
Alert Alert – it may be time to panic!
There’s an alert in circulation globally about the use of a particular hair dyes by aging business men.
I do not get this one. The supermarkets and other retailers have again attempted to convince us that Australia celebrates Halloween and we should be encouraging children and teenagers to wander around and knock on doors to demand sweets. I do not think so!
I’ll migrate that appropriate saying from that other not so relevant event: Bah Humbug.
