Dog-Gone Ethics

I'm a dog lover and Boulee has been a feature in many of my posts.

He's just becoming an "old dog", and the changes happen fast.
He'd rather chase a ball once then lie on his back to have a tummy scratch.
Throwing the ball a second time, he is blase.

I know it sounds horrible, but I went to look at the Sydney Dog's home website and found nothing but political turmoil. ( I was thinking of an older companion for Boulee ... I still expect many great years ahead with my canine shadow. Especially after the rubber duck incident ! )

I'm not going to comment just yet, but this is the best lead of a disturbing situation. Paws Post

This is the internet, so be aware that posts are emotive, and as a surfing punter, be mentally stubborn.

But all of this has to be in the open.

Hill Street Blues

Hill Street runs up the saddle of the hill from Illawarra Road, and is dominated by flats. It's not the most creative of names.
I recently found a photo on the Marrickville Council's website taken in 1936, and today I revisited the site. If it wasn't for the retaining wall and chimney, it would have been near impossible to find. Very few weatherboard houses are left in Marrickville and I wonder how long this one survived. 1936 was probably an optimistic time in Marrickville, with the municipality celebrating it's 75th anniversary and Australia coming out of Depression. The upcoming war would put an end to all that.

I've just found another image from the same spot. The inscription reads:


Val Gleeson (far left) is pictured here in Hill Street Marrickville, 1951. Her younger brother Stanley can be seen at far right. The Warren Estate is pictured in the background (Day Street) and the RB Bavies factory can also be seen in the left of the picture.

Warren and Maggie

The Warren is a locality of Marrickville named after a huge Gothic inspired mansion that used to sit on the hill overlooking the Cooks River. There is a painting of The Warren, having it's last gasp above encroaching suburbia, that was painted by Peter Lawson in 1911.
Hoping to find out more about the artist, I did a search and found another Peter lawson who paints. It's not the same guy, unless he has painted the picture of Dorian Grey. What struck me was one of his website paintings. It looked strangely familiar.

It turns out that I've been to the contemporary Peter Lawsons gallery and spoken with him. His gallery is on Magnetic island, and the familiar painting is from the top of Maggie, looking down over Horseshoe Bay. Here are some of the pics I took of the same spot when John and I holidayed there in 2005. All great coincidences!

Glam or Goth

A few weeks back John and I went to a Michelle Turcsanyi's 40th at The Harp Hotel in Tempe. That's Mich in the pink leggings and her husband, Attie, as Gomez Addams. They hired the back room, and had The Usual Suspects playing. The theme was Glam or Goth, and it was great to see everyone make an effort. Much drinking and dancing was had, including Hungarian dancing and a cha-cha train. The guys in the Kiss costumes are part of Mich and Atties Hungarian dance troupe, and there's a pic of them at the earlier Octoberfest post. It's also great to be able to stumble home without the hassles of taxis or public transport.