National Day of Action

Thursday 30 Nov, 2006. 11.20 AM AET
National protest in this blue collar town, against Work Choice leglisation . Collective bargaining lost, a thing of the past. Speakers were busy and action from Melbourne was relayed on the big screen "we don't want to become like workers in the USA" , it was said, among other things.
Union organizers are often of English background.

World"s Biggest

Touted to be (tongue in cheek) The World's Largest Car Boot Sale last weekend.


Coal ships waiting off port: 52

Weather cam: Cloudless, warm. 33/90, Total Fire Ban.
Wed, 29 Nov 2006. 9.50 AET 

Bulk Handling

Tues, 28 Nov, 2006, 11.30 AM. Upstanding Graincorp wheat silos on the harbourside.
Not to mention the Australian Wheat Board- the 'single desk'- in trouble, getting lines over export to Iraq, kickbacks and UN sanctions and the US competitors are onto it. 

Wedding Day

Mon 27 November, 2006, 10.30. AM. L & H were wed on Saturday at Peppers Creek and it was splendid. Incidentally, the band was great.
Nearby, Carol King, at an outdoor venue, drew heaps of people, the ambience was rather good all round.

 

Triathalon

Sun, November 26, 2006. 8.36 PM
Newcastle Olympic Triathalon today. 

Trees keep cropping up

Friday November 24, 4.27 PM. Stunts were underway around an unwanted tree. It is just as well town trees are protected by council regs unlike many of those in the forests.
The tall TV aerials were once used to 'pick-up' Sydney channels before we got 'better' service.
Solar Hot water heater sits on the roof positioned well to the north for all year sunshine, perhaps the tree cast a shadow on it.

 

Passionate rendezvous

Thurs, November, 23, 11.00pm. "Cows with Guns" sung by its maker, Dana Lyons along with other fun and insightful songs at the Croation Wickham Sport Club last night. With a visitor from beautiful B.C. they are on an impassioned global quest to get conservation of the quite outstanding Temperate Rainforests. Hosted by the Wilderness Society and Trees not Gunns there are "outrageous" hopes for conservation of Tasmanian Old Growth Forests.
Trivia: Cows With Guns first broke in Newcastle for this country.

 

 

Little Italy - mama mia!

Wed 22 Nov, 7.40am. Quite often good things are
found when you're not looking for them. A surprise quasi piazza tucked away in Sydney. Simply delicious pasta as well

Coal ships anchored off Port: 53

Now: Warm, hazy, smokey, 25C/77F, Surf temp 19C

a gay scene - not

Wednesday 22 Nov, 11.30 pm
From a lookout, known as a gay meeting place, was an apocalytic view this afternoon, plunged into near darkness, a wall of black and orange, a mix of smoke and ash and thunderstorm rolled into one. One hour later the sky was brighter.

 

 

Xeroxed

Wednesday 22 Nov o6 3.45 pm Sponsored by Xerox, the Dixon Park Surf Lifesaving Boat returns from an evening of rowing on the harbour. Strangly,"Xero" means a dry process. Horseshoe Beach.
A fully ladened ship leaves for the likes of China or Japan.

Xeroxed

 

wedding

Romance, vows and rite of passage. Unfolding promise.
No, these nuptials are not in Bracciano nor is it Tom and Katie
but will be celebrated in the Vinyards. 

Jam Session

The closest I got to Pearl Jam in concert this evening at the entertainment centre.
They also performed at Make Poverty History concert, Melbourne


Coal ships anchored off port of Newcastle: 46

Safe Harbour

Repairs: high and dry in the floating dock 

The Merchant Of Venice

A tiny shoppe discloses fine Venetian masks and curios.
Intrigue.. dalliance.. the bourgeoisie... revealed in Sydney


Weather cam: unseasonal, cool, rainy, gales, traces of snow on Barrington Tops. T14/58. 8.14am AESummer time 

track work

Track Work: the bane of life for commuter and end of year exam candidate etc


The railway line is closed. Every bus/coach is
commandeered so as to take up the slack.




unloading



The old hardwood sleepers with their blood sweat and tears are replaced with the new and concrete.

State government/State Rail is alive and well after all. 12.25am AESummer time

Citroen renaissance?

after an epoque of generic styling this model has flair once again depending on ones taste ! Reminiscent of the earlier Goddess but nothing like their up-to-date smaller car range.

weather cam : stormy, brooding, indoor 25C/78F, Humidity+, dB 51-61!
1.12 AET

banana republic

I say, B1, these are times of terrible deprivation!
Bananas are $12 per kilo and have been so for months now, up from $2.
Grapes, from the US, why?, $17. We are so fortunate to have great fruit and vegetables.
Last March, cyclone Larry, destroyed the banana crops round Innisfail, Far North Queensland, and bananas are said to be in short supply.

Innisfail was truly an Art Deco town. It was rebuilt along those lines in the 1930s following a cyclone.
Art Deco: represented the future, modernisation and the coming machine age (Wikipedia). 3.30pm AET

Musos Corner

On the corner of King Street, 'The Con', Conservatorium of Music, inner city campus of Newcastle University.
Formerly NESCA House, home of the electricity service when these services were more of an institution prior to privatization.
The building was part of a robbery scene in the film Superman Returns.
I think its other claim to fame is the Art Deco styling. 11.42AM AET 

milestone, brave move into sick care

The neon light that once glowed above the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital is given prominent place at a ceremony this evening.
After 85 years, from its beginnings, the hospital is enthrusted into new hands.
From one groups of carers, famous in Dublin and around this country to other international carers.
VIPs, the hospital board, (Chair: Brian McGuigan)and staff participated.

All Change

Next stop Newcastle Uni! A brand new train, built in Newcastle, was tested today.

 

Melbourne Cup Day

Old stayer, fading colours yet proud Arabian lines.
In a local saddlery.