Vintage Melbourne

 Definitely time for a 'Now & Then'. This is from an article by Carolyn Webb of The Age.

"History buff's vintage Melbourne Instagram site is a hit"

"Today it’s known for its street art, but 50 years ago, Hosier Lane, off Flinders Street, was part of Melbourne’s thriving clothing district.

A sign in a 1972 photo of the bare-walled lane advertises the business of Bernard Rothschild, who sells underwear, knitwear, children's wear and hosiery.

Swipe right on the photo on the Instagram page Old Vintage Melbourne, and you'll see the same view in recent years. The walls are covered in art, with a sign indicating a recent focus of the precinct: a bar called Misty.

Melbourne lawyer Chris Macheras started Old Vintage Melbourne six months ago and it has taken off, with 28,000 followers.

"It's insane," says Mr Macheras, but he is happy it's helping connect Melburnians with their history.

One comment on the Hosier Lane post states: "Wow the graffiti is so ugly ... 1972 looks much better."

But another says: "I’m loving the graffiti. The laneways are so cool."

Someone called Yael Rothschild says that "the Rothschild sign was my father-in-law’s warehouse" and that he passed away just two years ago, aged 95.

"He worked so hard. He was a great man. We have this photo framed."

One of Mr Macheras' favourite historic shots is from about 1906: a Mr and Mrs Laycock pose for a photo outside their shop in Middle Park, with ads for The Age and Cadbury chocolates.

Mr Macheras was relieved to find the building still exists, although it is no longer a shop. A modern verandah has been added and its door has moved.

He learns something new with every post.

A circa 1870s photo of Melbourne GPO, by Charles Nettleton, shows the building with two storeys, not today's three, and a much shorter, more squat clock tower than the one added later.

Mr Macheras said that during the gold rush, large sections were often added to such buildings as Victoria’s wealth and population grew.

 

Right:  The Fish Market on the corner of Swanston & Flinders streets c1895, later becoming the site of the Flinders Street Railway Station (2020 Photo supplied by Chris Macheras) 

His Instagram efforts aren't all about buildings.

When he posted a 1981 photo by Rennie Ellis of a Greek family in Prahran cooking a lamb on the spit, a woman commented, "Wow this is a great photo of me and my family. We are still a very close family and we still celebrate every Christmas and Easter together."

Mr Macheras' own family has run a hairdressing salon at 216 Tyler Street, Preston, since the early 1970s. But the shop dates from the 1930s and he would love to see old photos of it.

The Old Vintage Melbourne Instagram project started in June, when Mr Macheras had more free time as a result of not having to commute from Preston to the city for work.

He discovered vivid digital photos on websites such as that of the State Library of Victoria and started digitally restoring a few.

Mr Macheras says he is allowed to use old photos for non-commercial purposes, where no copyright restrictions apply, provided credit is given.

He hopes to write an Old Vintage Melbourne book, incorporating people's stories. It has, he says, been good for his mental health to have this creative outlet."

I couldn't copy the cool way The Age article did the swipe across the photos, so go to the original article and try it for yourself.

And check out the Old Vintage Melbourne Instagram site for more old photos and Now & Thens. Here are a few of my favourites.

This has been a great exercise for during the changes wrought by COVID, a positive. Thanks Chris, and thanks too to the State Library's photo pool.

Lost Collective

 These images are from Lost Collective a project by Brett Patman. It is a visual and written record of the forgotten and neglected built environments that pervade society. The key focus of the project is documenting the important roles that people and places played in shaping the communities who collectively make up the identity of our societies, engaging everyday people through evocative imagery, to reconnect with past lives and even former friends. It encourages people to share their stories, stories that would otherwise be forgotten as society progress and generations age. 

Every location has a story of its past; it’s present state and in some cases, a plan for the future. From rural country towns to energetic inner-city suburbs, derelict power stations and heavy industry to the tiny farmstead. All these buildings had significance in one way or another. Finding this from the words of the people who made so is what Lost Collective is all about. Societies change, and abandoned buildings come and go, but it’s important to remember and record our heritage amongst the ever increasing rush to replace the old with the new. We only get one chance to do this.

In a recent post Brett showcased a couple of now-and-thens - the Terminus Hotel in Sydney.

He was inspired to blend a historical image into one of his own (as have I). The left side is from the Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University, taken c1970. The right is one Brett took on 19 March 2015. As well as simply aligning and blending the images, he has taken elements from each era and masked them from one into the other in the same position as they were. The vine has arguably been one of the most recognisable features of this amazing old pub, and while the vine is now long gone (the pub has since been renovated and reopened to customers), he couldn't resist brushing it back into the past over the historical image. 

His other image is of the W.H Lucas/Delegate Motors garage. (Delegate is just over the border in New South Wales on the way to Bombala). To blend an old and new photo together but for it to work properly, the perspective of the two images really needs to be exact or at least very close. He has layered these images over one another and added a transparent gradient so that the old photo gradually blends into the new one. The original photo on the left side was taken by Alma Reed, c1940. The right side of the photo was taken by Brett on December 22, 2018.

Always a fan of the Now-and-then, hope he does more.

Tray planting

Bonsai (Japanese: 盆栽, 'tray planting'), is a Japanese art form which utilises cultivation techniques to produce small trees in containers, that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees.

 I'm obviously not enough from my bonsai, as clearly shown in this post from the Twisted Sifter people

Bonsai Fruit Trees are a Thing and They’re Pretty Adorable (11 Photos)

 A recent post on reddit sent me down a wonderful Internet rabbit hole in search of Bonsai fruit trees growing both full-sized and miniature-sized fruit.

People considering a Bonsai fruit tree should know that in the winter the leaves of a fruit tree will fall and the they typically grow much faster. You can find many more tips on growing Bonsai and specific considerations for growing Bonsai fruit trees here.

To see more pictures of Bonsai fruit trees and learn more about the art form, check out Bonsai Empire. 

1.

 2.

 3.

4.

 5.

 6.

 7.

 8.

 9.

 10.

 11.

Ballet movements

Amazing footage - an overhead view of a humpback whale surfacing through a bait ball of fish. The drone footage was captured off the coast of La Jolla, California by  DolphinDoneDom. The first eruption is the best as the whale materialises from the depths.



A bait ball occurs when small schooling fish swarm in a tightly packed spherical formation about a common centre. It is a last-ditch defensive measure adopted by small schooling fish when they are threatened by predators. You can see the birds circling attracted by the bait fish and seemingly not scared off by the whale.

Edward the Emu at Sawyer Park

An oldie but a goodie, came across the Wimmera Mail Times' recording of the children's story at the 2017 Australia Day celebrations.

The book "Edward the Emu" by Rod Clements was given a twist with a puppet acting out the scenes.

Thanks to Mary for the reading and the girls with the animals.

https://www.mailtimes.com.au/story/4428746/horshams-australia-day-ceremony-in-videos/?cs=240

Time lapse

A couple of starry nights from Lost Collective
Firstly the Green Cape Lighthouse with its easily recognisable hexagonal tower -'Green Cape Astrolapse'.


And, this one of the Jincumbilly Railway Station

Lost Collective is a project by Brett Patman. Check out some of his other videos and photo galleries. 
I also enjoyed the 'To Bourke and back' and the drone footage from 'A Place to call home' and needless to say the abandoned buildings.

Dog-gone

This optical illusion that appears to be three suns shining down on the earth, is known as a Sundog or Mock sun, formally called a Parhelion (plural parhelia) in meteorology. 

It is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the sun. It happens when refracted sunlight is reflecting through icy clouds that contain tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. 

Isn't nature neat! 

Last bus stop

Here is a postscript to the blog post I did on "Into the wild" and Chris McCandless aka Alex Supertramp, back in 2014. 
If you're unaware of the story, check out either Jon Krakauer's book or the movie.

The Supertramp bus

And why a postscript? Because the bus Chris sheltered in has been moved, actually airlifted, (link to UNILAD post of airlift) removed from Denali and placed in a storage facility as authorities decide what to do with it.
Authorities said it had become an infamously popular hiking destination over the years with many of the hikers requiring rescuing, and multiple deaths.

On route, (from Facebook)

Just like Chris' story this has provoked polarising comment, from those who saw trekking into the bus site as a pilgrimage, and those who saw it in that location as a danger to the unprepared.

The safest thing to do - is read the book or watch the movie.

Buckle up

I still remember this cover from when I read it so many years ago - High Citadel - the first Desmond Bagley I read and gradually I got to read the rest of the 16 thrillers he wrote. 
So when I saw 'High citadel' as an eAudio, I thought time to give the story a second glance.
The plot is classic adventure thriller, from the era of Alistair MacLean and Geoffrey Jenkins (who I should probably tap into again too),arch-typical action plot complete with a gritty, tormented hero and his love interest, a gang of foreign villains and a crew of supporting cast member passengers - the dastardly co-pilot, the kindly elderly couple, the drunken brash businessman, the history professor, the old man with a heart problem...you get the idea. 
Outnumbered and outgunned, alcohol-soaked worn-out ex-fighter pilot Tim O'Hara must save himself and the lives of his passengers when his aircraft crashes on the side of an Andes mountain range in a fictional South American dictator state. He has to deal with an assorted, eclectic group of characters to survive in the freezing thin air at altitude while attempting to outwit and outplay a squad of communist sympathetic soldiers who have gone to a lot of trouble to attempt to kidnap one of those passengers.

Is it predictable? In places but then there are also the twists that keep you page turning or listening.
Desmond wrote 'High citadel' in 1965, so it's now more than 50 years old, so you need to put aside some of that sixties staging and political thinking. Desmond Bagley loved military history and war games, which is obviously where some of the scenes for the story were conceived.
It and 'Snow tiger' are the most memorable to me. I must have read it in the 80s and now years later I could remember most of the plot.
Well worth the 11.5 hours listening time.

Ocean waves

From the people at TwistedSifter comes this awesome video 'MOCEAN' it is an incredible short film by Chris Bryan that captures the raw power and beauty of waves. 

 A major part of the beauty of the video is the colours - yes I know water is clear, but the reflected and absorbed shades and tones add to the mood and that sense of power.

All the images where shot using a Phantom Flex 4K camera with Leica Summilux lenses and Bryan’s custom underwater housings.

Image from 'Back to water' Chris Bryan