A flying start to a conference

Photo by Joe Peters

Today, the second day of the NSW Teachers Federation Annual Conference, three very talented students from the circus arts group at Woonona HS, just south of Sydney, demonstrated their amazing skills. The delegates were totally captivated.

Chandelier, Vestibule, Sydney Town Hall

The crystal chandelier hangs from  the centre of the elliptical dome, decorated with 12 leadlight panels. The chandelier was converted from gas to electricity in 1905.

Sydney Town Hall restoration work

Restoration of this beautiful Victorian sandstone building  is currently under way. The first time I saw that "picture of the building" scaffolding cover was in Italy. 

Another bright blue winter sky...before the front which arrived later and brought a dramatic change.

Click here to see a previous post of the jacarandas in bloom.

And here to see the Town Hall from the diagonally opposite view.

Wolli Creek apartments

Out of former light industrial and warehouse land at Wolli Creek, a whole new city of apartments is arising.

Previously blogged here 

Have a seat!

Pub

Journalism is not a crime

A post in support of the three Al-Jazeerah journalists jailed in Egypt for the "crime" of doing their jobs. 

Moratorium

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, opposition to the war in Vietnam had grown to a huge mass movement.

This piece of remnant graffiti promoting the cause still exists (as of yesterday!) in the railway underpass at Arncliffe in Sydney. I wonder if there is any elsewhere?

The Moratorium against the Vietnam War began in the United States, with the first Moratorium march on 15 October, 1969. This followed anti-war marches on the United Nations and Pentagon in 1967. On 15 November, 1969, 500,000 people marched on Washington DC.

In Australia the first marches took place on 8 and 9 May, 1970. Over 200,000 people took part, 100 000 in Melbourne. It was the largest mass movement against the war to that time. The second was in September 1970 and the third  in July 1971. By this time, public opinion was turning decisively against conscription and Australia's involvement in the war.

Guess who lives here?

Midwinter's Day

Winter solstice in Sydney - warm (20 deg C), sunny, still, quiet. Birds twittering, children playing in neighbouring yards. A blissful day.

Winter sky

Rockdale

A film for photographers

I don't usually post a picture which is not a photo I have taken myself, but I want to draw this to the attention of photographers.

This film, winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and the audience award for best narrative feature at the Sydney Film Festival is one that anyone with an interest in photography should try to see. 

The film-maker, Nuri Bilge Ceylan (director and co-writer) is also a stills photographer. it shows. Every frame is like a photograph, held just long enough to explore, but without it flagging. Portraits, landscapes, interiors, action shots, animals, people, emotions....

Not everyone is going to like a wordy, philosophical, 3-hour + film, but I loved it, especially as it was so visually stunning. Every frame could be framed and hung in a photographic exhibition. It also has a lot to say about the human condition.

It was a late starter in the Sydney Film Festival, not included in the official competition, or program. The two screenings were announced after the festival began, and were sold out. 

No false advertising

It may be winter, but my hibiscus plants are blooming. This one is better even than the label - no false advertising here!

A little bit of France in Surry Hills

Sydney Film Festival "Together in the dark we share our stories"

I love the Sydney Film Festival. This year was its 60th birthday. Over the past 9 days, I saw 13 feature drama films; 3 classics; 6 documentary features; 4 short documentaries. Can't wait til next year.

The winner of the jury prize was Two Days, One Night, directed by Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne

Dramas
Appropriate Behaviour (USA), Boyhood (USA), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her (USA); The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (USA), Love Is Strange (USA), Human Capital (France/Italy), Two Days One Night (France/Belgium/Italy), Black Coal  Thin Ice (China/Hong Kong), The Two Faces of Jabuary (US/UK/France), Abuse of Weakness (France/Belgium/Germany), Rock The Casbah (France/Morocco), Gabrielle (Canada)
Classics
Rebel Without A Cause
Robert Altman retrospective : A Wedding, Short Cuts
Documentary Features
Sepideh: Reaching For The Stars (Sweden/Norway/Iran/Germany/Denmark), Particle Fever (USA), School of Babel (France), Tim's Vermeer (USA), Dior and I* (France)
Documentary Shorts
The Lion's Mouth Opens (UK), The Queen (Argentina), The Other Woman (Senegal), David Hockney In the Now (USA)