Disney Update

"We thank you for applying with high quality drawings but unfortunately we are unable to continue any further with your application".

At least that is what I thought the letter from Disney was going to say that appeared yesterday. The letter instead said that they wanted to see more of my work in a couple of weeks and to submit some samples of their characters - so I've made it to the next round - YIPEEE!!!

So for the next couple of weeks, I should be hiding in a cave wearing away many pencils and filling some sketchbooks. For so my friends in Sydney that I haven't caught up with after returning back to Syndey, it will be a little longer yet (but I'm sure you understand).

Cheers.

Up Late

Working night shift tonight so needed to stay up all night to 'reset' my body clock. So thought I would do a couple of digital paintings with a limited colour palette. The first one was pretty unsuccessful while this one, not brilliant, at least feels like a step in the right direction. Those who have been paying attention will recognise the sketch from when it was posted while I was abroad (was never intended for a painting and would change certain things with hindsight)

Middle Head

The other day I went out to a place in Sydney Harbour called ‘Middle Head’ which I knew of but hadn’t been to before. The day after I got back to Australia, my digital camera kinda broke so I can’t transfer pictures directly to my iPod. I actually have to use another digital camera hooked up to my computer - how annoyment!

In short, it means I am very limited in the number of photos I can take. I would normally take several hundred photos in a location like this to experiment with composition to get the best shot. I almost feel naked being limited to 40 photos!

Basically Middle Head was a military barracks leading into Sydney Harbour. Thus it had large guns here to destroy any unwanted ships trying to get into Sydney Harbour. This is a general layout of part of the area. It is a little surreal with the rolling forms.



Another shot with people to try to give a sense of the size of the place.



Another place and curious trying to figure out why the mounds slope in the ways that they do. The closest I can come up with is that it would be easier to move equipment around but doesn’t make much sense. Cutting the stone on those angles would be much more difficult than having square shapes.



Guns use to sit in this type of circular embankments and were on rails to move around. Thus the weapons could point to North or South Head

Disney - Attempt 1

When I first got back to Australia, I had a funny feeling Disney Australia had their recruitment around this time of year. I checked the usual places that would carry the advertised positions. Nothing. So I didn't think anything further of it. I randomly popped into one of the art schools here in Australia late yesterday afternoon and saw the recruiting ad. At first I thought it would be dated from last year, looking exactly the same.

Nope, cut off date was 19th April. I thought that was the same day I was staring at it. Actually turned out to be the next day. I had to work last night so couldn't do anything about it. This morning, got up early, went across the city to get my drawings from storage, came back and sorted them out (had help from Judy as she would be a lot more objective about the work).

Next up, had to put together an 'art' resume - a lot more interesting than my security and engineering resumes. Couldn't print it. You had to send in photocopies of artworks and naturally the photocopies weren't showing up the detail and looked terrible. So went into the city and after stuffing around with colour photocopy settings (at $2 a copy), Judy had this genuis idea of reducing the contrast, rather than boosting it and the result was some sweet photocopy drawings.

Next up, applications had to be at a PO Box today so went to that post office where they would be and tried to sweet talk the staff. Hopefully that worked. Now it is all in the hands of the gods.

It was interesting going back through a selection of drawings and I still have so much work to do on the figure. I wasn't planning on applying for Disney until the end of the year but hey, blind stupid luck right?! I might be my own worst critic and while the drawings I submitted were good, I know I can do much better now (I had to get life drawings that I did in the 1st half of last year).

If something comes of it, great ... if not, I won't be surprised. Here is hoping though cause I've been back, already found a new security job but just can't take it ... must find something else.

Australia - Unaffordable

Ok, a little bit of a rant session. Over the last decade or so, it has felt that housing in Australia, or at least Sydney, has become an impossible reality for my generation. Now for some numbers that prove it. An article that I found online about the most unaffordable cities in the world to live in:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Sydney-and-Melbourne-homes-just-not-affordable/2005/04/13/1113251680813.html

Of the top 17 cities listed as unaffordable, 6 are in Australia. Why is this?

Well a decade ago, some genius decided to change the foreign ownership laws in Australia. Before, only 25% of an apartment building could be owned by foreign interests. This was changed to 75% which means a lot of money from Asia flowed into Australia. Simple economics - supply is the same but demand has gone through the roof, which means prices can only move up.

I find it EXTREMELY offensive that I can't afford to buy a property in my own country but foreign interests can.

Then we have politicans talking about how to make housing affordable in Australia. If they are serious about this, they would immediately change this horrible law they passed years ago. That isn't about to happen so we will go on hearing these empty sound bites on the news about how they are concerned about the problem. Give me a break!

These days if you can find a 2 bedroom apartment in a dodgy part of Sydney for under $500,000 - you'd be doing well. It isn't like our incomes are much higher to justify this, actually the opposite is true. I was amazed to find out that a teachers starting salary in Canada was around $40,000pa. In Australia, you'd be lucky if a teachers starting salary was $30,000.

Future of the Blog

Originally the blog was setup just to record my ramblings while out there in that big bad world. I get the feeling that a number of people are now reading this and I’m inclined to continue it. I’ve come back to Sydney and see it differently, want to explore more and post photos here.

Also inclined to post artworks and sketches as I go along (a lot of work that doesn’t make it onto my more ‘formal’ website). Would love to hear people’s thoughts and comments on this – either make posts here or email me.

See ya on da flip side,
Matt

Back in Sydney

Got off the plane at 0600am and the humidity hit me. At that time in the morning, it was already 18 degrees. Funny to think that the really warm days I had in Canada barely got up to this in spring and it is warmer in Sydney in our Autumn. The last couple of days have ranged between highs of 25-30 degrees.

I don’t know whether it is the heat or jetlag or combination of both, but been needing to go to bed early over the last little bit. Although I’ve been pretty fortunate with jetlag and in tandem with time zones, managed to ‘steal’ a couple of days (although got onto a plane Wednesday in Canada and got off it Friday in Australia – where the hell did Thursday go?)

Where to From Here?

Travelling had many goals and purposes, and consequently I never really planned beyond the trip. I think in the medium term, it is not a matter of ‘if’ I get to Canada, but a matter of ‘when’. The goal now is to be back in one shape or form within 5 years.

More immediately a matter of finding work and a place to live. A couple of options and things to follow up with.

In terms of travel, feels like horizons are much further broadened and want to travel a lot more. Interested in learning Spanish and heading to Mexico and South America, Asia and India have appeal and heck, even travelling more in Australia are possibilities. Now to figure out priorities and how to pay for it all.

End of the Road – Surreal

After going about a little today, it started to hit me about what has just happened with regards to the trip and travelling. It just all seems very surreal. Ever since I left Canada 14 years ago, I always wanted to return and see old friends. A goal that had always remained with me one way or another.

Now that has been achieved.

Really hard to describe when you hold onto a goal for that long and never think it will happen, and then it does. Just unbelievable. It was everything I could have ever hoped for, then topped with a couple of extra bonus.

Day 94 - Long Road Home

They say that all good things must come to an end. I guess this trip is no different, although I view it as just another journey that has been undertaken in this game of life that we play. I looked out the window and thought this was an interesting photo so naturally took it.



The plane ride gave me lots of times to reflect over things and it has been a truly amazing experience. I generally wouldn't have had the trip any other way .... although a couple of people I would have liked to have seen in Canada but didn't happen ('next time' I tell myself).

This was something that I saw at the end of the museum yesterday and it has a certain appealing ring for me, maybe a good way to leave things.

I've Figured Out Numbers and What Their For...

Some interesting numbers from the trip:

26,000 - number of miles allowed on my airfare
25,943 - number of miles used on my airfare
14,419 - number of photos I took while away (yes that is 14,419 and not a typo)
536 - number of kept emails to download when arriving home
225* - number of blog entries
206 - number of photos on the blog
184 - number of journal pages in my ultra microscope print
93 - number of days away
55 - number of hours just spent actually flying
14 - number of years in between seeing friends in Canada
13 - number of countries that I went to
12 - number of kilos lost while in Europe
8 - number of times I used one worthless Eurail Pass
6 - number of kilos gained when finding Old Dutch Chips in Canada
5 - maximum number of years before I’m in Canada again
2 - number of journals that got full while travelling
1 - Life a whole less ordinary from the experience
0 - my favorite number, the amount of things I had stolen – I am a master of blind stupid luck!

* estimate

For everyone out there in blog land, this is not the last entry! Still got a couple of ‘wrap up’ areas to cover and readjusting back to the ‘normal’ life. Watch this space for more details soon.

American Immigration

Thus my time abroad has come to an end and now for the long road home. British immigration gave me a hard time almost deliberately while American immigration, they did it out of stupidity – unbelievable.

When I got to Vancouver, from a Calgary flight, I couldn’t really figure out where to go and everyone was vague with instructions. I was asking security, airline desks, information and all the rest of it. Finally someone gave me the run down that I had to go through US immigration.

I didn’t understand. Why do I need to go through US immigration if I am going to Australia? Eventually it clicked to me, because the plane goes through Honolulu, Hawaii. So I go to the control area, wait in line. Get to the front of the line and then told I have to fill out some forms – on a desk near the entrance – crap.

The guy was really unhelpful as to which ones and all the rest of it. He was ticked off cause I didn’t know what to do but then when I asked questions to find out, he got even more ticked off. So filled out the form, went to the back of the line, waited again, then saw the guy.

More attitude and problems. He said that I needed a visa. I said I was going to Australia. He said I still needed a visa for Australia. So I flicked over the front of my passport and pointed it to him. He said “SO”. Thus I pointed to the text “Australia” and he said I still needed a visa for Australia.

I was dumbfounded! I said to him that I was an Australian citizen and didn’t need a visa for Australia. He said that I did. I couldn’t get over it. So I asked him to call someone and they quickly clarified it. He let me continue onwards.

How could someone working in US immigration not know this or be so thick to think a citizen needs a visa to be in their own country? It just got worse going through security screening. They wouldn’t tell you anything, get ticked off when you did the wrong thing and get more ticked off when you asked questions. Generally they were rough about the whole process and really arrogant.

Eventually got to the departure gate and got called over. I was listed as “DO NOT BOARD” because I didn’t have a visa. I flashed the guy my Australian passport and the guy swore under his breath. There were another 10 passengers for the flight that had the same problem and one got the distinct sense this is a frequent occurrence. The Canadian apologised for the problem and let me get onto the plane.

Day 93 - Glenbow Museum

Holly had mentioned this was a good museum to check and this concurred with my guidebook. I walked into the museum and asked for a ticket and the dude at the counter asked student or adult? I said adult unless he wanted to give me the student price. He said “OK” and gave me the student price – bonus – must try this remark again some time.

Started on the 2nd floor and generally had pieces from Calgary’s early days as they related to resources of the province. I saw this early model chainsaw and from a design point of view, love the rugged, raw industrial feel that it has.



Next up wondered up another level and they had the development of Calgary area since the first white man appeared on the land. They had a couple of tipi displays that you could go into and a commentary on how you had to earn the right to be able to paint certain designs through elaborate ceremonies. That was kinda interesting cause if someone told me I couldn’t draw something, that would almost be the first thing I’d try (reverse psychology stuff).



The display then continued around the varying decades and the 1900s was interesting. They had the old washboards and then the ‘new and improved’ washing machines. Here is a picture of one of the new labour saving devices.



The interesting thing was the promotional material from the 1910s promoting the benefits of the newer washing machines. It is always fascinating to see the marketing techniques from various periods. They relied on upselling the benefits of the product with illustrations where as today, most products seem to be sold on the basis the target market is stupid and will pay attention to sex.



Finally managed to see the old style refrigerator after hearing about these things for years. Basically this is from about the 1920s and you put ice or cold water in the top cylinder compartment. This helps to keep the whole thing cool.



On the next level up was a 5 century warriors display and more great reference material. They also had this bit of ivory which I thought was pretty ironic given my rant yesterday about it. The tusk itself was huge. This was either from one massive elephant or possibly a woolly mammoth – it was about 2m long.



Next up was a rock display and the coolest part was this florescent / glow in the dark rocks. Here are some lights on and off photos of the same rocks so you get an idea.





Around the place was various painting and photography exhibits which I found really interesting. The artists were working from predominately a European tradition but adapting it to the Canadian wilderness and environment. Next time in Canada, I’ll have to come during summer so I can get out doors for some landscapes.

Last up was an African art exhibit. This was particularly interesting as they had numerous woodcarvings with exaggerated features. Seeing this, you could understand Picasso’s style as just a westernised version of African art.

The Hosts with the Mosts

While at the zoo today, had plenty of time to start reflecting upon things. While going to some wonderful museums and seeing great things in Europe, I think the places I've enjoyed the most have been the ones with friends. Even if it was nothing more than just sittin' around and chillin', great times.

I think these people deserve a special mention and a little thank you here. The 'Honour Roll' is:

Averil & Rob "Matt, you are the last person I ever thought would visit me in France" Booth

Kira "Matt, what timing to be able to help me with my painting" Muldoon

Linda & Terry "Matt, she kicked me out! I'm a boll weevil!" Allen

Trent "Matt, they know I could write an opinion piece" Allen

Vie "Matt class, cheated on a test in my class all those years ago" Profit

Holly "Matt, there really isn't that much to do in Saskatoon" Farski

Les "Matt, I forgot I had to look after my niece" Saskowski

And the sun will rise another day ....

Thought I would wander out and catch my last sunset while in Canada. I was at a skate park at the time and it was great to see all sorts of kids out and about ... away from the video games. This was an interesting full pipe and great to watch some of the kiddies attacking it.



One area of photography that I haven't really played around with seriously is 'sports' photos. Thought I would have a little bit of a tackle at it given there was the guy doing some serious tricks in front of me. Kinda turned out. The dude is going up the side of the ramp, jumping off his bike and letting it spin around several times (and he landed this one).



Here is the final sunset. I think I'll let it speak for itself.

Day 92 - Calgary Zoo

Got up and my last full day in Canada / abroad was a great day to be outdoors. Thus it was off to the Calgary Zoo in search of a moose :P My guide book made a major boo-boo. It was meant to be a half price day at around $5.00. Was full price day at $16 ... just a little difference.

Walked in and it was off to the North America section in search of a moose. Saw mountain goats, bison, lots of deer of various species, sheep, foxes, wolves and finally a moose! This was about as active as it got however:



Incidently with the wolves enclosure, the zoo keeper was throwing sticks into it and the wolves were just pouncing on them and crunching them up. Apparently for the reason that it was just a foreign object in their territeary - see below



One thing I was really surprised with was seeing a porcupine. I just thought that they would be a similar animal to Australia's eckidna having a similar defense mechanism - spikes. Actually they are very different creatures. Porcupine is much bigger with spines like fine bits of hair. Eckidna has more bulky needle like structures. This is a porcupine ... asleep... didn't move from this position. A couple of others further around the corner were doing the same thing.



The other main thing I wanted to see where bears. There was a good description on the difference between Black and Grizzly Bears. Like most other animals, they were asleep and not doing much. Did manage to catch a few Black Bears coming out of their cave long enough to have a look around before going back into the cave.



Managed to see some cougars wandering around for a bit before looking for a place to sleep. Next off to the prehistoric area. This had dinosaur models ... didn't have to feed them much. Unfortunately the whole display was based upon the idea of being around a swamp land.

However, in Calgary, water freezes during the winter, so the 'lake' was drained so as not to damage the place. It does however kill the effect a little bit.



Maybe I've been spoilt with the Dubbo Zoo where I lived, but the elephant enclosure here didn't inspire me. You had 4 large elephants in a very small space. These are the sorts of creatures that really need to move about. It was also interesting to see the capping on this elephant. I can only hypothesis as to its purpose as I couldn't find a zookeeper around to ask questions



This was an elephant tusk / ivory that has been carved. Interesting to note the context on this. Recently I've seen wonderfully detailed carved ivory in museums and admired the craftsmanship. Here I see it in an animal/zoo context, an somewhat disgusted at the notion. Maybe because it just looks far too much like an elephants tusk.



This was a creature I didn't even know existed but such a striking colour. It is a Red Panda. Kinda like a giant cat but more stocky.



While I was in the nocturnal area, came across this frog and knew it was going to make some great photos - just loved the light on it.



I'd pretty much covered the whole zoo so thought I'd walk into the Australian section. Had some other people coming into the room and trying to name various animals and couldn't get any of them. Was interesting to notice just how well you know your own local fourna and flora as I could name them exactly. Also just shows how different the local critters are that we take for granted.

Did manage to see a tree kangaroo which I'd never seen before. I looked on the distribution map to see where in the world they live ... and not in Australia. That was kinda curious given you only find other kangaroos in Australia.



The Calgary Zoo certainly was worth visiting. The guide book mentioned it was one of the better ones in North America. Maybe I'm bias, but the Dubbo Zoo I still feel is better than this. The animals have more space, the enclosures feel better laid out with a wider variety and diversity of animals (just no bears, wolves or moose).

Day 91 - Kicking Back

Purely a lazy day. Some mental barrier with just getting past Day 90 - like 3 months abroad or something (for some reason I consider a month to be 30 days). Was just kicking around in the morning catching up on some diary entries.

Les ended up babysitting his niece and some other friends came over for a BarBQ ... ah more real food! At the point now that I probably just can't stomach any more junk food .... hopefully ever. Just kicking back and relaxing.

I jumped on a bus and headed back to Calgary for the night. Got back to the hostel a little before midnight. Hopefully get a good night sleep for my last full day abroad tommorrow.

Day 90 - Another Friend in Red Deer.

Got up early this morning and went for a walk over to the north side of the city. Funny that once you get across the river, development kinda ends. Means that you can get some interesting photos of the city like this one.



Afterwards I was able to get ahold of another school friend who is in a city called Red Deer about 2 hours north of here. So I jumped onto a bus and ended up in Red Deer. Got off the bus and took a split second to recognise my old friend Les. Red Deer itself lives off oil. Naturally with high oil prices, there is now a lot of activity happening in this part of the world.

We went over to one of his friends house and just hung out for a bit before heading out to a Chinese buffet. Afterwards went back to his house and crashed out watching Wrestlemania off the satelite (haven't done that since the last time I was in Canada - de ju va and blind stupid luck).

Followed this up with Mike Moore's "Roger & Me" that I'd been wanting to see for some time. Basically it is his 1989 film about GM and his hometown Flint - has all the elements of Bowling for Columbine and Farenhiet 9/11. Certainly makes you think twice about the whole shareholders, companies and employees.

Day 89 - Cowboy Town

Calgary is kinda like a giant Tamworth, cowboy sort of city. The tourist information guides at the airport are all walking around with cowboy hats and it isn't out of place to see numerous people with these types of hats. Eventually got going this morning and a block away from the hostel is this mural which I really like:



I was walking around today with the aim of taking some photos, more beautiful blue sky. I heard a band start playing, ah de ja vu with all the times this has happened before leading to some blind stupid luck. I walked around the corner and there was a full military ceremony.



Basically, it was the 95th aniversary of some division so they were being welcomed into the city. They had an array of army personal carriers. This was cool cause I just stood in one spot, they were driving past slowly so I could get lots of reference photos of vehicles without even having to move from my spot.



After this I continued to wonder down to where Fort Calgary was ... or what was left of it. This was pretty much the extent of it.



Right next to the fort was this building. It was a reconstruction of the original police/RCMP barracks which currently houses a museum on the history of Calgary that I went into. Inside it was lots of reconstructed rooms and time periods similar to the Western Development Museum that I saw in Saskatoon.



The thing that struck me about Calgary and Saskatoon is that they aren't really old cities in the scheme of things. Calgary was nothing until the first police outpost in 1883 and Saskatoon was formed around the same time.

I guess coming from Australia, the large cities (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne) all grew out of penal villages almost right away. America's discovered in 1492 and ok things probably didn't get going until the 1600s but not having settlements (not even cities) forming until the late 1800s just seems really strange. Although it is interesting to note this was on the back of the 'coming of the railway' so I guess there are access considerations.

Anyhow, 'nuff about that. Next up wandered further down south and came to this stadium, the Saddledome. Naturally it is appropriate in a cowboy like city to have your main sports stadium in the form of a saddle.



Been wandering around for a bit so thought I would head back to the hostel for a breather and to recharge my camera batteries. Along the way I took this photo which I kinda liked.



Calgary at night is relatively dead. The main downtown area is closed with next to nothing open. I had problems finding something to eat last night as all convience stores, restaurants (including McDonalds) seemed to be closed by 2100. Only thing opened where smoke filled pubs.

My guidebook did manage to point me in the direction of this large garden area ... on the 4th floor of a building! It was huge with plants, water fountains, fish, sculptures etc all over the place. This photo just shows a tiny little section. The great thing about it was it was deserted. I had the whole place to myself. Occasionally a security guard would walk past but that was about the extent of it.



The garden also had this cool sculpture from the 1850s. Unfortunately it was in a hard spot to look at, let alone photograph.

Saskatoon Summary

It was amazing to see Holly again, meet her husband and her parents. Saskatoon per say isn't really a 'tourist destination' and the guide book made no bones about that. That didn't really bother me, it was just great hanging out with an old friend!

The city itself was pretty friendly and cool. I generally like the consideration that people seemed to be showing on another. When the snow was melting and becoming dry and dusty, reminded me a lot of things in years gone by.

I enjoyed my time and now looking, unfortunately, to the end of an amazing couple of months.

Day 88 - Lazy Day

Originally thought I had to catch a flight at 0655am but actually misread it and turned out to be 1855pm - glad about this one as I really didn't feel like getting up at like 4am! So today was just a lazy day - just kickin' back, relaxin, and trying to work out my CV for when I get back (yeap, sad but true I am thinking about it now).

In the afternoon I was just looking at some photos of Holly's from our junior high and beyond. Some people haven't changed that much while others were hardly recognisable. It is funny how you can always remember someone by a smile, a pair of glasses, freckles or how they carry themselves. It was also interesting to see people that I knew from a slightly different angle.

Was interesting to think about the number of people that I know from the Canada years, various high schools and the many years in college. On the one hand, it might be a nostalgia kick, on the other, maybe just a memory for people (shame it doesn't work as good these days).

Day 87 - Part II

After the Western Development Museum, Holly dropped me down town for a bit of a look around. She managed to find this art supply store hiding in a back lane so like a moth to the flame, I was there. It was interesting to see the brands that they did and didn't have. There was a blank jigsaw puzzle that you could 'create' on and then use as a jig saw - I came really close to buying a few things like this but managed to resist temptation.

I went into a couple of the smaller, local art gallerys/shops to get a feel for what was happening locally. There were some interesting pieces but in one location, the lady that was there was interesting. I thought she was about 60 but she turned out to be 82 years old. Basically she had worked full time until she was 75 and then worked part time in the gallery which her son owned. There really seems to be something to be said for remaining active in life.

My timing in Canada has been a little idea in terms of catching the change of seasons. Was in The Pas while freezing but starting to warm up (enough to make a snow man) and Saskatoon while the snow is really beginning to melt. At this transition in seasons, the place can become really dirty/dusty/brown as in this photo of the main street of Saskatoon.



Holly picked me up and a little later on we picked up her husband and went to a semi- grill like steak house - I guess that is the best way to describe it. I had this thing which was a little like a pizza rolled up into a sandwich with lots of cheese. It reminded me a lot of the racklet I had in France with Rob and Averil - very heavy. When we got back to the house, didn't even feel like the wonderful chocolate cake that Holly had made :(

Quickie - In Calgary

Missed a day or so and will update at a later date (been spoilt with home computers and now back to internet cafes). Had a great time in Saskatoon with Holly and amazing to catch up with someone like that! Another awesome friend who went to great lengths to make sure I was enjoying and getting out an about.

Was thinking of heading home but just couldn't bring myself to do it - not too often that I'm here so take the opportunity while at it. Thus I caught a plane and now have arrived in Calgary (where the winter Olympics were in 1988). I'm hoping to catch up with a friend just outside of Calgary but will depend upon what is happening with their work.

So here I am, 'backpacking' for one last time before returning down under and back to a kind of reality, on 'da flip side I guess.

Day 87 - The Zoo and Western Development Museum

Up again this morning for breakfast with Holly and her folks at Tomas Cook. After yesterdays 'learning curve' with the huge pancakes and strawberries, thought I would go with the Egg Muffin. Maybe it is a sad state of affairs, but so hard not to put a 'Mc' infront of 'Muffin'.

First up we headed to the Saskatoon Zoo. It was a smallish zoo and I've probably been spoilt with the Dubbo Zoo where I use to live in Australia. In the Dubbo Zoo the animals are not in cages but have large areas to roam over.

Here is a wolf and much like most other animals in zoos, just sleeping the day away. As I discovered with the Dubbo Zoo, best time to go is around sunrise or late in the afternoon. The thing that surprised me about the wolves was just how big they are! They were significantly larger than German Shephards and the like.



Next up was the History of Western Development Museum - this was almost source material heaven! How I wish we had something like this in Sydney. They had an old main street from about the early 1900s with all kinds of buildings - banks, tailors, pharmacys etc and each were fully decked out with antiques and so forth. Here is the main street and each building you could walk into.



One thing I lament about our disposable consumer society today is the attention to detail and craftsmanship. Not only were things built to last in days gone by, but they had character and elegance. Take this stove for example, the detail and quality was just exquisite.



Some things also never change. This was taken inside the Women's Auxiliary and note the shoe's on sale/display - I may never understand the fascination with shoes. When I was working security in a shopping centre, the place could be dead but guaranteed, the shoe shops were always doing a roaring trade (the place would then go buzzurk the second a 'sale' label went up on the window).



I thought this photo was more interesting for lighting reference purposes. It is inside the train station and the dude is meant to be working a morse code signal thingy (off which were several).



The museum also had an interesting collection of restored cars. I'm not much of a petrol/gas head and look at things like this more so in terms of design. There is just something about the curves on old cars.