Sculpture by the Sea 2009

Every year around the end of spring or early summer, there is a sculpture exhibition along the beaches from Bondi to Tamarama. These beaches form part of the eastern beaches coastal walk, a scenic walk that I love to go on if the weather is right. This year's Sculpture by the Sea was held from the 29th Oct to the 15th Nov 2009.

I started my walk from Tamarama Beach and worked my way up north. Sculptures of all sizes and designs littered the beach, from skulls made of used Coke bottles to petrol station pumps in the middle of the sand. Note that the two girls sunbathing in the pic above are not part of the exhibition! (It's the structure behind them, see?) But with the weather so nice, I couldn't resist slapping on some sun block and getting a bit of sun myself :)

The pics posted here show just some of the sculptures displayed. There were so many artistic (and weird) stuff to see that I went back another day to look at some of the stuff I missed the first time.

You may think my favourite sculpture would be one of the above, but no. My favourite is the one below entitled Arte de las Playas (Art of Beaches) by Alejandro Propato from Argentina. It was a collection of huge coloured flags that whipped and lashed above my head as I stood looking at them (at one point almost touching my head, causing me to duck). Situated at the top of a hill, this 'sculpture' made use of the strong winds to create interesting shapes in the air. Isn't that just brilliant? :)

Festival of the Winds

Here's an event that took place on Sunday the 13th September 2009. It was a kite flying festival held at Bondi Beach, called the Festival of the Winds. Kites of all shapes and sizes filled the skies.

There were also musicians, kite making workshops, face painting, a kite exhibition and pony rides, among other things.

The weather was also perfect, with blue skies. Too bad so few people turned up at the beach.

Kidding! The beach was unbelievably crowded! It was like sardines in a can, and it's not even summer. This kid had the right idea... climb a tree to look at everything from up high :)

Finally, the end of an enjoyable day... I left the beach and started my walk home as the setting sun bathed the cliffs in an orange glow.

Paddington Reservoir Gardens

A couple of weekends back, I visited Paddington Reservoir Gardens, located across the street from Paddington Town Hall here in Sydney. Paddington Reservoir Gardens was officially opened on the 29th March 2009. It was originally built between 1866 and 1878, and was a crucial part of Sydney’s early water supply but was finally decommissioned in 1899.

The renewal of Paddington Reservoir Gardens won the 2009 Australian Award for Urban Design.

Paddington Reservoir Gardens is not a large place, but it's a nice little oasis of calm in the middle of a busy part of the city.

Although it covers only a small area, this place provides many focal points of interests for photography and I found myself visiting it twice with my camera, once earlier in the day, and again when the light started to fade.

Disney buys Marvel

Disney is buying Marvel for US$4 billion! Yep, that's four BILLION dollars. Images of Marvel/Disney character crossover amalgams are now popping up all over the net. So instead of doing my work as I should, I thought it'd be nice to spend my afternoon doing yet another Marvel/Disney "mash-up" to add to the many that are already on the net! I give you... X-MOUSE! :)

Quotes - Terry Pratchett

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

Inception

When news came out that Christopher Nolan was going to work on a movie called Inception, people thought it was going to be a small movie. Imagine their surprise when it was revealed that the movie has a budget of more than $200 million! For months, journalists and fans have been trying to find out more about this movie but everything is being kept top-secret, so much so rumour started that Inception was actually the working title for the third Batman movie by Nolan. That was proven to be false but even after the cast was made known, nobody involved with the movie is revealing anything. A week ago, the first teaser trailer was released. All that is known is that the story has something to do with the 'architecture of the mind'. Unlike James Cameron's Avatar, Inception is certainly very hush-hush, which makes me extremely curious.

The Crafting of Narnia / Basement Books

Before I went to England, I often went to discount book stores to buy books. Sometimes I'd find some really good bargains for novels, film, art or design books. Unfortunately, when I came back from England, I discovered most of the discount book stores have closed. I was therefore happy to find one of my favourites is still open for business. Basement Books is located at the end of Central Station's underground pedestrian tunnel. A couple of weeks back, I bought The Crafting of Narnia (a book that retails elsewhere at AU$45.00) for AU$12.95. :)

If you're as interested in film post-production as I am, then this book is a bargain. Creatures like centaurs, weapons such as Edmund's sword and other beautiful art fill the pages.

I also wanted to buy The Art of Lord of the Rings but didn't at the time. There were 4 books on the art of Lord of the Rings, one for each movie and one which is a sort of compilation of the 3 books. The full address for Basement Books is Shop 1, Henry Deane Plaza, 2 Lee Street, Haymarket, Sydney. If you're ever in the area, do drop by and have a look. You never know, you may find something you'll like!