Crass commercialism

I've showed Federation Square before, but something stimulated me to again take photos. Some people like me took time to like the space. Some continue to hate it, but generally, it has been embraced. Even Hels after some period of doubt, came to like it. 

Earlier this year, advertising and mammon overcame style and part of one of the lovely aspects of the square was spoilt. I think the ad was removed before its expiry period by way of public outrage.

I got out and took some pics.

The atrium is lovely, with all the special shapes.

I like the quirky exterior.

The small cobble stone  colours are so beautiful, as paving goes. They are a bitch for prams, wheelchairs, and the feeble.

 

Aside from the forecourt. the rest of Fed Square is friendly to the less abled.

I've seen the space filled with hundreds of people at times.

I love these shapes. 

The design of the whole square  is so interesting.

But then the outrage happened, a covering up of an aspect of the building by crass and huge advertising. I think it was contracted to be there for two months, but the public outcry saw it quickly removed. 

Town Hall Trippy

I think the 'experience' was open for three or four days, and it was a few minutes of my time, and obvious to me, a few minutes of the time for others. 

I'd forgotten that Melbourne Town Hall is such a wonderful place.

If I say anything about the massive organ, it will trigger some people. 

I had to edit this video because as I went to turn the camera off, I hit the button to switch to the front camera, capturing some old bloke whose visage did not impress me. I trimmed it off. I also forgot about turning your phone sideways for a wider view, does not translate well as a video clip. 

A Melbourne Melee

In the English speaking world, there are troubles. The US is a nightmare. Canada and the UK both have their far right issues, and we in Australia cannot take a holier than thou attitude. We have our own issues.

Sunday past in Melbourne, anti immigration protesters gathered in our city streets, joined by white supremacists, anti vaxxers, sovereign citizens and nazi sympathisers, all fervently waving Australian flags and crying out the most original chant they could think of, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi.They need advice from English football teams about chants.

They clashed with anti right wing protestors, whose number was soon bolstered by the usual pro Palestinian marchers. Now there is a coalition to do any Jewish person's head in.

I was travelling to Prahran by tram last week when someone with a mental illness boarded and started ranting about Asian immigration. Of course there were Asian people on the tram, and two very close by to the mouse of a man. I just wished I was younger and fitter and said something to him, and be able to defend myself if he attacked me. He left the tram.

I left the tram at the next stop as did the two young Asian females. I smiled at them, pulled a face and gesticulated towards my head, indicating crazy, and then offered them my upturned hand. That might sound weird, but it worked. They smiled at me and nodded with understanding.

Sunday after returning from the west end of town, I dared not go to the centre or east where the fracas was happening, at South Yarra Station I walked towards the door to the front of me to be closer to station ramp, as did a young couple. There were two older white women with Australian flags draped across their knees, clearly having left the protest to go home for a Bex and a lie down after their exertions. The man said to the woman, 'Something smells really bad in this carriage', and their heads spun around to the women with the flags. I didn't initially understand, and turned to see what they were looking at. I just said 'Yeah'. 

The numbers of immigrants and where they come from should be an open debate in Australia but these pro white Australia supporters add no value to any kind of debate and cause hurt to people.

Later: It became a whole lot worse the next day when it came to light that neo Nazis had attacked the  original inhabitants at a culturally significant meeting place in the Kings Domain. 

Is there anything funny in this? Maybe. As the 'pro white Australians' broke up, they headed off for  banh mi, a curry, or a kebab or maybe even an HSP, a Halal Snack Pack. They may have then caught a train, bus or tram home, driven by a 'brown' immigrant, or caught an Uber, also driven by a 'brown immigrant'. Maybe they waited until they reached home, too exhausted to cook after their anti immigration protests, so ordered in food, cooked and delivered by two different 'brown' people.

There is much good to be said about Australia, but I am not feeling it after the weekend past.  

Quiz Fail and Win

Not smugly, no not at all, I was too young to really know The Beatles. I did buy Paul McCartney's Wings album, but that was my only love of The Beatles. Of course everyone knows some Beatles music. My Beatle ignorance was reflected my zero score in this week's  YP's quiz. A couple of quizzes before, I scored 7/10 in his Famous Women quiz. 

Last week I bragged to my Dead in Bed Neighbour when I messaged her, that for the first time I scored 10/10 for The Age newspaper Victorian topical quiz. There are four options in the drop down boxes. The answer to the question about Bright was a plausible guess. 

Still with The Age, each week since the quiz' inception I have participated in its weekly opinion poll. There is some kind of prize, valued at around $100 as I remember, but I've never won it. 

The poll is not general opinion, because readers of The Age are more educated than the general populace, more socially progressive, wealthier, and have a general care about society. They are less religious, but that's from a fairly low base anyway. They are older and feel the threat of street crime. Mostly there is no question to ask myself when answering, but at times there a 'but?'. 

I voted with the majority in every question in these polls, but I wanted to qualify my answer about YouTube being available to kids, because parents or carers can already restrict children to only watching YouTube for Kids. Had that been mentioned, I would have changed my answer. 

An enjoyable encounter

As the sending greeting cards dies off, businesses selling cards have reduced, so I normally buy mine now in Myer department store, where they have a decent selection. I went into Myer yesterday to buy a card for my friend's ninetieth birthday and there were only nice 90 year old lady cards. BAD is not a traditional old lady type. I bought a card with roses and a nicely patterned set of tea cups, with the the 90 on the card face. There was nothing else. She probably would have preferred a rude card.

Of course when buying a birthday card, you feel the need for a new winter shirt, as winter is about to end here. Tommy Hilfiger at  half price! 

I recognised the person I paid, an older woman.

She: Are you visiting the city for the weekend?

Me: No, I live in the city, well St Kilda Road.

She: Isn't the street tragic now?

Me: Err, in some ways, yes.

She; All those beautiful old mansions destroyed.

Me: Yes, including the beautiful Illoura.

She: I'm 85 and I began here as seamstress when Myer used to make some of its own clothes.

I was gobsmacked at her age revelation.

 

She: One of the other female staff here used to make deliveries by taxi after work, the taxi paid for by work, and she lived in Beatrice Street, off St Kilda Road and she make sure she was near her flat at the end of her deliveries and be dropped home. Are you near there? 

Me: No, closer to the city. So if you've worked here so long, you must remember Freddie Asmussen?

She: My mother worked here too. We both knew him. 

Me: He was quite a character.

She: Oh yes. In his older years he used to swan around the store with Dame Merlyn. 

I then left her to her job. 

Freddie was an outrageous queen who worked his way up the chain at Myer by his talents and cultivation of his betters. He became Dame Merlyn Myer's favourite and would decorate her mansion for dinners and parties. The (I am sure gay) lads who worked under him were known as Freddie's boys.

Back in the 70s and 80s, if you met a guy for a casual hook up, if asked where you worked, you might have said Myers. 

PS, the store name was changed from Myers to Myer I think some time in the 80s or 90s. 

Australia's Trove has some information about him. 

From a website, 

The windows first began in 1956, created by Freddie Asmussen, who was the head of the display in Myer. Instead of filling the windows with the usual range of gift giving ideas, Asmussen instead decided to showcase something completely different for the Christmas windows. Creating the very first Myer Christmas Windows theme, “Santa and the Olympics”, which celebrated the Olympics, the technological marvel of television, and of course, Santa! Asmussen designed a new Christmas theme every year until his passing in 1974.

And another: 

The hidden saint of Myer's was the late Freddie Asmussen. To call him a window dresser is to say Michelangelo was a ceiling-painter. Freddie, a confirmed bachelor (as they used to say), used the Myer's windows as a series of proscenium arches framing the theatre of his miraculous mind. The Christmas windows were his annual festival, when snow and tinsel and reds and greens and elves and reindeer and Santa manifested themselves in ever-changing combinations that drew people from as far as Upwey or Alamein. At other times, Freddie was only slightly more restrained, allowing himself a few Renaissance touches while avoiding the Rococo.

A shocking train crash

It was a long time ago when I posted about the local Sunshine train crash back in 1908. I was reminded of it when I recently came across this memorial plaque at Sunshine Station.

You can read about the detail on Wikipedia, and here is a snip. 

The Sunshine rail disaster occurred on 20 April 1908 at the junction at Sunshine railway station (in Sunshine, Victoria, Australia) when a Melbourne-bound train from Bendigo collided with the rear of a train from Ballarat. 44 people were killed and over 400 injured, almost all of them from the Ballarat train, as the Bendigo train was cushioned by its two locomotives.^[2]

It is the second worst train disaster in Australia after the much later 1977 Granville train crash with 83 killed. Nowadays, train crashes are so rare here, and deaths even rarer. 

Removed, it didn't work.

I worked on this for a long time, simply to find the audio, upload it and somehow place it here. Hence no post yesterday. I think it will work but truly, you are better to go to the website and just click play, and the lyrics are there too. 

Fun in Melbourne

Melburnians and tourists have fun in Melbourne at a major horse racing event, the Melbourne Cup.

The majority of attendees arrive by train, for many the only train trip they take for the year. Trains only run on this branch line for special events and it is such an easy way to get there and home.

Ready for fun with a river cruise.

Massed and ready to board, with diners across the river stuffing their faces at Afloat, formerly Arbory Afloat.

Arbory above Afloat is where Platform 11 at Melbourne Flinders Street once saw trains from St Kilda and Port Melbourne. The lines were converted for light rail trams. With hindsight, it wasn't a great idea as these lines now require quite intensive trams services, whereas less frequent trains could better deal with the number of passengers.

Banana Alley vaults under the railway viaduct have various businesses, and this one is where men go to meet up with men. In these times of internet hook ups, as I sat on a seat outside, I was surprised how many men were coming and going. I suppose if you connect with someone using a hook up site, it is a cheap place to meet up if a home isn't available. 

Phyllis' driving lesson went ok, with only one alarming moment when I reached for the steering wheel. While he rode a motor bike in India, he really is starting from absolute scratch for car driving. But he is smart and quick to pick things up. Next weekend he is not working for four days and I will take him for a lesson each day. 

Next Monday is a public holiday to celebrate the King's Birthday, which actually isn't next Monday. It's the 14th of November. I have promised myself that every time I say Queen's Birthday, I will donate $10 to a charity. I am $10 down already. 

The backside

Sorry for the click bait headline. No I'm not. It was deliberate. 

With my neighbour HH at my suggestion, we took a paid back stage tour of our Arts Centre, which includes Hamer Hall and the larger building without a name, known as the Arts Centre. It needs a proper name. Before Hamer Hall was named thus, it was the Concert Hall. 

The tour, hosted by staff, one at the front talking and one at the rear to make sure we didn't wander away into the bowels of the earth, did not start well. Later HH and I agreed we were worried because she was hard to hear as she introduced herself inside Hamer Hall.

We walked outside and paused to hear her talk about the Arts Centre Spire, and she was marvellous, with her voice well projected and very easy to hear. 

Some of what I heard during the tour I already knew, especially about the construction difficulties but there were things I did not know and were very interesting. 

There is an excellent book called 'The Place Across the River', which covers the totality of the Arts Centre area and the history of what was formerly there. 

I've always enjoyed such tours of buildings and places, and this was no exception and well worth taking. We were given a a coffee voucher to use at one of the Arts Centre food venues, so HH and I had lunch, but I forgot to use my voucher. I can use it any time in the future. 

HH is a good talker and the time passed quickly. She turns 80 this year, but she won't tell me the date. Every second Friday she volunteers at the tourist Melbourne Information Centre. She is socially quite busy and has quite a large family who all live a long way away. Her son was a famous rugby...union? player and her daughter is a high achieving business woman, with a social conscience, and has received awards for her charitable works. Lol, HH says her daughter is so smart, she is scared of her. 

Anyway, here are a few photos I snapped.

I've forgotten about this painting, so I Guggled it and who would have thought? Up popped a photo I had taken of the same painting a number of years ago when we attended a concert. There are more of my photos there, I assume lifted from my blog. I didn't easily find out about the painting, so I gave up. I don't mind my photos being used but I should receive a credit for them at least. Marcus Wong wrote a very interesting post about the use of his photos and those of others, and how they brought down the company who stole their photos to use. 

https://wongm.com/2025/04/taking-down-a-profiteering-photo-thief-from-facebook/

Thousands of marbles are imbedded in a polymer surface. 

The Brownlow

The Brownlow is a medal awarded to the best and fairest player in AFL Australian Rules Football, as judged by field umpires. By some kind of osmosis I know this, which is curious given my lack of interest in any sport (except recently, pole vaulting). 

The award is given out at long a tedious gala night where votes are counted live and broadcast. It has become so boring and tightly controlled. In days of past there was always a footballer who drank too much and misbehaved, perhaps saying something inappropriate in a speech, but not now.

The men dress very boringly, in conventional suits and women go all out with their best formal glam look. I despair at myself for looking at such rubbish on the Information Super Highway, but I did as bombs fell and rockets were fired in the Middle East. 

Here are a few photos from The  Age newspaper of what women were wearing, mostly great but...

He made an effort to look a bit different. No doubt event management came along and made him remove his necklace.

All good so far.

WTF? A milk bottle? 

My head is sitting on my left hand as my head shakes back and forth. Does she have a massive right hand breast that needs a lot of fabric to cover? Truly...

You may be able to look at more frocks here, if that is your thing.

The kiddies are upset and behaving badly

There is some kind of arms exhibition in Melbourne this week. Ok, I looked here. We were not told of this in advance, though the planning would have begun at least two years ago, which is the timeline of booking the Exhibition Centre. Weapons of war, including tanks, were brought in with the cover of darkness.

The kiddies against war and the killings were somewhat upset and protested as the event opened yesterday. Hey, even old gay men can be against war and killings. I thoroughly approve of their protests, trying to block entrances for attendees, making lots of noise, moving around the large venue, splitting up into groups and reassembling. Screaming the words 'child killers' at visitors to the exhibition is fine with me. That's what weapons do.

Things became tense between the protestors and the police. Tram routes were shut down, a major road or two was closed down as the crowd of protestors grew. The kiddies got a bit antsy as the police pushed them back and began throwing things. Among the rotten tomatoes, some quite more heavy things were thrown. That is bad form, kiddies. The cops are doing their job as ordered. 

The police responded with force. Tear gas, rubber bullets and what I had to Google, flashbangs.  What on earth are they? It is a classic case of naming something quite serious into something sounding more mild. You may have heard of them as stun grenades, with a big flash of light that upsets your vision and a loud bang that upsets the fluid in your ears and, consequently your hearing and balance. The effect is temporary in theory. I wonder. But the protestors went well beyond the pale too.

I am sure our very respected Bushmasters, of which we have sent many to Ukraine, were featured. They are fighting off Putin's invasion. While I hate war and killings, countries need weapons to defend themselves. But if there were fewer arms and less war technology, might we not be a bit better off? I dunno. I think a phrase has already been invented, the arms race. 

Protests will continue tomorrow and probably the next day.

The famous

McEwans was a dominant hardware store in greater Melbourne. The late partner of my Port Melbourne friend was an heir to the empire, hence said friend is also quite wealthy. 

McEwans had a multi level hardware store in the city, in Bourke Street, just a little west of Elizabeth Street. 

At its street front, it had a walk of fame, that is hand prints of celebrities. At the Melbourne Town Hall City  Gallery, there was an exhibition of the pavers where famous people planted their hands or feet in wet concrete. Some have deteriorated but I am so glad the pavers have been kept.

Cyd Charris and Tony Martin. Surely not the local comedian Tony Martin. Perhaps Kirk could enlighten me on another Tony Martin. 

Sid James. 

Harry Seacombe.

Michael Cole.

Sarah Vaugne.

Jose Feliciano.  

Terry Thomas. 

Derek Nimmo.

John Inman. 

Robyn Annear, I simply adore. As well as curating the exhibition, perhaps not too hard, she is an author, who has written several historical books about Melbourne, her best known, A City Lost and Found, featuring the destruction of many famous Melbourne buildings. Also, the great podcasts, "Nothing on TV".