From "Defrocked, of Wangi Wangi"

The decommissioned power station on the shores of Wangi Bay, on Lake Macquarie. It operated from 1956 to 1986 and supplied New South Wales with electricity. Here is a set of 8 images on Flickr of the station in 2009 courtesy of "Nammo".

A relentless currency

Much navel-gazing is given to the relentness nature of the 24-hour news-cycle; the desperate need to fill each hour, to rust-on each listener, to cut swathes through the advertising dollar. Warhol's fifteen minutes of fame is over in five. Mediocrity is the new black: it is plentiful; it is cheap; and, it is expendable.

One of the consequences of this desperate, lemming-canter to the abyss, is that the worthy of generations past, fade into obscurity. Brilliance is still celebrated, although through a mirror darkly, but 'worthiness' goes unremarked. So, travel with me for a few days, back into last century, whilst I muse upon the worthiness of two little-remarked Australians: Bill Dobell, and Mary Gilmore.

Bill Dobell painted a stand-out portrait of Mary Gilmore, which was subtley included in the background of our $10 note. Gilmore - poet, journalist, and socialist - died in 1962, aged 97. Dobell - sculptor and painter - died in 1970, aged 71.

Dusk gathers us in

Looking into Wangi Bay, on Lake Macquarie, late on Saturday afternoon.