True Blue

Related to the Titanic theme, I saw James Cameron’s Avatar in 3D in the IMAX theatre too. Conceived 14 years ago and over 4 years in the making, Avatar breaks new ground in delivering a fully immersive, emotional story and reinvents the movie-going experience. I have Avatar on DVD, but had wanted to see it on the big screen, so when IMAX brought it back I decided to go. It is definitely the way to view the movie, as IMAX have digitally re-mastered it with unparalleled crystal clear images, laser-aligned digital sound quality, and maximised field of view - the most immersive movie experience. I could see how the CGI technology has only just evolved to do this justice.
It is live action with new generation special effects - a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love - an epic action adventure fantasy.

Seen through the eyes of Jake Scully (Sam Worthington) a former Marine now confined to a wheelchair, who is recruited to the human outpost on the planet Pandora where a ruthless mining corporation is extracting a rare mineral that can solve Earth’s energy crisis. Due to the planet’s toxic atmosphere, they have created a program where humans have their consciousness linked to an avatar – a genetically engineered remotely-controlled biological hybrid.
Jake’s mission is to infiltrate the native Na'vi population, after Neytiri saves Jake’s life he is taken into the clan and gradually learns to respect the Na'vi’s relationship with the planet. Ultimately Jake leads a heroic battle to save an alien civilisation he comes to call home.
While the story may be predictable, you can forget all that as you become engrossed with the visual feast. While I admired Sam’s acting, it is the special effects which are the stars of the film – the floating islands are the best, closely followed by the luminescent plants – great, great effects.

Down with the Titanic

Still with my trip to Melbourne, I got to go and see Titanic : the Artefact Exhibition at the Museum before it closes next week (with the huge crowds & difficulties in getting a ticket, they could extend the season for quite some time).

The tour was very busy, lining up, looking at exhibits over others' shoulders, waiting for the procession to move on.

Here is my boarding pass, given to each exhibition visitor. At the end of the tour you check the lists of passengers & crew to find if your character survived the sinking. I was Miss Bridget McDermott an Irish immigrant in 3rd Class (a third-class ticket on Titanic cost $40, approximately $900 in today’s currency), travelling to visit her cousin in St Louis. The night before sailing Bridget gave a few coins to a wanderer who told her she was going on a long journey 'There will be a tragedy but you will be saved' he said. Bridget was saved from the Titanic.

The story for those living in a cave for over 100 years - On April 15, 1912, Titanic, the world’s largest ship, sank after colliding with an iceberg, claiming more than 1,500 lives, and becoming one of the world’s greatest maritime disasters, and the best known.

The Exhibition showcases more than 280 artefacts retrieved from Titanic’s debris field, offering a poignant look at this legendary ship and its passengers and crew. The Exhibition has created stories through artefacts and re-creations of the ship’s interior.

The exhibition journeys through the life of Titanic, from construction and life on board, to its ill-fated voyage, tragic sinking and the amazing efforts to recover artefacts.

RMS Titanic, Inc. is the company permitted by law to recover objects from the wreck, it has conducted 7 research and recovery expeditions rescuing more than 5,500 artefacts. Artefacts on display, include the D-Deck door, a large hull section, a cherub statue, portholes, china and glass-ware, currency and passenger’s personal effects.

There is a full-size re-creation of the ship’s Grand Staircase. There is a mystery concerning the loss of the entire Staircase from the relatively intact bow section. James Cameron explored the bottom of the stairwell, and no traces of the heavy oak handrails or the wrought-iron balustrades remained. When the Titanic film-set was flooded the entire staircase dislodged - did this also happen to the real staircase and did it float to the surface?

I didn't read all the display boards as the press of people was too great, but did read all the cards on all the artefacts - utterly amazing - one that they could find tiny objects like cuff links and childrens' marbles, and second that some fragile items like paper bank-notes, and linen jackets could survive decades underwater virtually intact.

The re-creation of the First Class hallway & staircase, the Passengers' Verandah Cafe, and the Third Class accommodation were awesome. But strangely it was walking down the carpet of the re-creation of the First Class Hallway which made the biggest impression on me - all those white painted doors with their number plates.

Finally at the end you come to the ubiquitous photo sales and gift shop, and I was intending to pass straight through the commericalism, until I saw the teddies. And I immediately remembered the kids book Polar : the Titanic bear by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden.

Daisy and her husband were a wealthy couple with a passion for travel. With their young son Douglas, they sailed on the Titanic. On the night of the disaster Polar the stuffed bear was tucked under Douglas' arm as the Speddens were lowered into a lifeboat. After the rescue Polar was left behind till a sailor found him and returned him to Douglas.

Three years after the sinking, 9-year-old Douglas was killed in a car accident. No one knows what then happened to Polar.

"Under the clocks"

While I was in Melbourne, I attended a talk by author Jenny Davies on her book "Beyond the Facade : Flinders Street, more than just a railway station".
Jenny is truly passionate about her subject and has undertaken heaps of research and now possesses a wealth of information and stories about the building.

Some of the tales she told included -

• trains and passenger services continued through the building operation
• it is built on the site of the Fish Market
• there was no foundation stone or official opening of the station building
• the building included a creche, gymansium, ballroom and library
• the bullet hole in the Hatter's was reputedly fired by gangster Squizzy Taylor
• the builder was sacked which then led to a Royal Commission
• the painted facade is over a brick and cement render construction
• the clock faces in the tower are 12 feet across
• the Banana Alley Vaults were built in conjunction with the Viaduct linking Flinders Street to Spencer Street stations
  

Who's who in the zoo?

I was in Melbourne for most of last week, and thought I'd take some time out to visit the Melbourne Zoo. The zoo is one of Australia's oldest, opening back in 1862 on the same Royal Park site.

I hadn't been there for many years, in fact these first 2 images are from slides back in the 60s when the extended family spent the day there.

Things have certainly changed - I couldn't find the elephant ride (above), and the wire cages are long gone, (these brick & bar cages were built back in the 1890s) though they have kept one similar old exhibit cage from 1928 to show visitors how much zoos have evolved and changed their policies on keeping, caring and showing animals.

The other major change I noticed was the fun park rides - the miniature train, the pony rides, and merry-go-rounds are no more. The only reminder of the Fun Fair is the magnificent 19th century English-made merry-go-round, a much-loved feature of the zoo .

The merry-go-round (below) or as they're calling it -the carousel, is now wrapped in plastic, due to its heritage state. It is on the Heritage Register as a significant part of Victoria’s history, it recently underwent a major restoration to restore it to its original glory.




Touring the grounds early in the morning, I came across the western lowland gorillas just after they'd been fed. It was interesting to see them gather a variety of fruit and veg in their hands to eat later and to stop the others from getting it first. They were keen on the rhubarb.

'Trail of the Elephants', is the new complex for the Asian Elephant exhibits which opened in 2003, and is still being added to. I liked this modern/ancient-looking wall.

It was a pleasant morning, but with The Butterfly House set at 28 degrees the humidity moved you on quickly.

The Zoo's philosophy is to divide it into ‘bioclimatic zones’, where animals that share a common native habitats are grouped with or near each other. So the giraffes, zebras and ostriches are in an African savanah habitat.

70 years on

The weekend saw what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday, so as I did for Elvis some time ago, here are some Lennon clips.

3WV at Dooen

I've driven through Dooen twice this week, and on Tuesday night asked if anyone remembered the old ABC radio building that used to be there - they didn't and challenged me to find a photo. Well here it is:

The original transmitting station building for 3WV at Dooen, was erected in 1936. It began broadcasting in February 1937. During World War II a 24-hour V.D.C. guard were posted at the site.
The original building was demolished and replaced by the current building in 1988-89.


Some little known facts:

the soil conductivity in different directions from the transmitter showed widely different values (this influenced the selection of the station site)

the 201metre high radiator (a guyed structure surmounted by a horizontal armature, the base of the mast stood on a group of tubular insulators) was installed in 1937. Dooen was the first station in Victoria to operate with an armature radiator

the transmitter upgraded in February 1937, the Standard Telephones & Cables 10 kW transmitter consisted of 2 separate units (the oscillator-modulator, & the linear power amplifier) constructed of a metal framework faced with polished slate panels. In the 50s a 50 kW transmitter was installed

unusually the station generated its own power on site for the 10kW transmitter. In the 30s it had a large low speed heavy engine set plant.

The Art Deco style building with portecochere (an entrance or gateway to a building large enough to permit a coach/vehicle to be driven through) was built on a 20 hectare site, it housed the transmitters, an office, lunch and change rooms, store room and workshop.
Modern technology has enabled transmitters to be housed in small metal frame buildings with unattended facilities.

All this techo data comes from John Ross' "Radio broadcasting technology" book.

Caretaker George Koschmann & technician Ray Leskie outside the building in 1988

(Photo from "Road Board to restructure")