Celestial butterfly

The refurbished Hubble telescope has caught some new amazing images of the celestial bodies, including this amazing image that has been dubbed a 'celestial butterfly'. Apt. According to the ABC:

The spectacular butterfly-like image is of a nebula, a cloud of stellar dust and gas, created by the last throes of a dying star that once was about five times the mass of the Sun.

I could just get lost in that image if I stared at it for too long. I keep wondering if it will suck me in to a vortex in the middle.

The new images were posted on NASA's Hubble website yesterday. This image is used under the terms of NASA's fair-use policy.

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Two stops early

It's amazing what happens when you grab the chance and get off the tram two stops early.

I keep seeing these pieces of street-art from the tram when I'm near my work. Today I got off the tram two stops early so I could enjoy them up close and photograph them. Finally!

For reasons that appear apparent to me, the piece above reminds me of Kirty's recollection of a Joni Mitchell song.

My youngest loves ladybugs at the moment. He'll be wrapped with this photo.



And, of course, a tiger. This one's pretty good for a stencil art-piece. Nice lines.

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The devil you know

Late last month, I came across a BBC online photo essay that immediately brought back memories of my undergraduate study of Anthropology. Considering that study was some 10 years and more ago, I think that was pretty remarkable.

The photos were of La Diabldada Festival in Oruro, Bolivia, and feature the gloriously detailed and colourful devil masks and costumes of the festival and its parade. The festival is a strong expression of the pre-Columbian Andean traditions, mythology and ritual that remain strong features of Bolivia's Andean people.

'oruro' by OVRL - devil costumed and masked performer in Bolivia

One of the first things I did was explore whether the massive flickr community also had photographs of La Diablada and the Bolivian Andean community who celebrate the festival. You wouldn't begin to guess the jackpot I hit. I also set it as a task of 'using my degree', something I periodically give cause to obsess about (considering I put a lot of energy, time and resources into completing it!

I was amazed how many photos were published on the Creative Commons license. All the photos here are Creative Commons-licensed photos found on Flickr.

'oruro' [2] by OVRL - devil-costumed performers at carnaval de oruro in Bolivia

When I saw the photos and remembered my second year Anthropology studies, I wondered how much things may have changed in the 17 years since I studied anthropology at university. I was particularly interested in how much the increased accessibility in travel, and the way the internet has allowed an explosion in the sharing of stories, photos, experiences and knowledge of things – including festivals, traditions and rituals – in places we may have once considered distant, unreachable and the domain of the brave few who ventured to explore them, or the isolated people who live these as daily realities, has affected how we 'know' the world around us.

'Cholitas dançam la Diablada' by Cltn - colourfully masked and costumed dancers on parade

'Máscara de Morenada' by Cltn - masked performer at what appears to be a festival by Bolivians in Sao Paulo, Brazil

The internet has brought together online the experiences and stories of people across the world, and their documentation and publication under creative commons licenses.

Not withstanding the concerns with the accuracy of much of this information, this development allows other writers, bloggers, media makers and other armchair sticky-beaks like me – and more importantly students and academics – to use them with the freedom that creative commons licenses offer. How much can the internet, social networking, blogging and creative commons licensed content creation and sharing improve teaching in universities? How much is this also unreflexive voyeurism? Perhaps that's the topic for another post.

What I do know is that I certainly did not get to enjoy the colour and vibrancy of these images to assist me in understanding what we were learning in anthropology. I wish I had access to these images then.

'Jallalla...!!' by mabel flores - Bolivian miner offering a salutation with beer

The Andean people in these parts of Bolivia have historically been the working backbone of Bolivia's now declining tin mining industry. The ethnogography, by Michael Taussig, we studied in second year anthropology examined how the devil featured in Latin American working class and peasant communities and expressed their experience of the brutality and exploitation of Latin American capitalism. According to wikipedia, in The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America:

Taussig … argues that through the devil, peasants express their recognition that capitalism is based on the magic belief that capital is productive, when in fact capitalism breeds poverty, disease, and death."

photo by orianomada - a miner in an underground mine in Oruro, Bolivia

As developing countries, and mining communities in particular, suffer in the agonies and conflagrations of another global economic crisis, and communities are threatened by the flight or collapse of capital or falling commodity prices, I also wonder to what extent the internet can contribute to bearing witness to their struggles and document their traditions.

El tio de la mina, Oruro by germeister - shrine to the devil of the mine, El Tio. Such expressions were a central focus of enthonographies of the 1980s.

Galeria del museo etnologico de los mineros, Oruro by germeister - mining museum, Bolivia

Or whether the internet will just become another type of museum. Not that there's much wrong with museums (that are reflexive of their work and role in cultures). I guess the opportunities the internet offers us is more ways to engage with the content online, and with other people creating and sharing this content.

By the way, did I tell you how much I really enjoyed Barista's excellent, highly informed and exploration of the Chinese demon-catching god? (It is beautifully illustrated by illustrations now in the public domain.) Or Sophie Cunningham's amazing photographs of the Balinese festival to banish bad demons? How remiss of me.

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Something to enjoy

I found this via the New Internationalist Blog and twitter update. In case you miss them, those are kites flapping above the roofs of homes in India, in celebration of the Makar Sankranti festival, which celebrates the return of the sun to the northern hemisphere and the awakening of the gods from their six-month slumber.

Which reminds me that Australia, in the southern hemisphere, is now heading into the reverse – the fallow period of our cycle of sun and the seasons. A good time for reflection, licking ones wounds, I guess, and recharging.

The photo, by photographer Adeel Halim, based in Mumbai, India, is published on the NI blog's creative commons license, and hence republished here. Enjoy.

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Wordlessly or otherwise

I wish it were Wednesday, so that this post and photograph could be part of Wordless Wednesday, which I'm hoping to return to. But it's not, and I've just written some words. So there.

I'm quite taken with this photograph I took over the winter of the pigeons that congregate at this house's backyard every evening at around 4.30–5.00 pm. I assume they're being fed then, and they make quite a flurry of activity as they take off en masse, circle the house and surrounding area, and return to pick over whatever is left from their initial feeding frenzy. Sounds a bit like journalists, if you ask me.

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Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale

We had a great time during our weekend away to Queenscliff. In actual fact, our holiday was in the Bellarine Peninusula, as we stayed in a self-contained cottage in Wallington, about 15 minutes inland from Queenscliff, and, besides enjoying Queenscliff's township, we also made forrays to Point Lonsdale for its beach and to see the lighthouse.

I have a thing about lighthouses, and you wouldn't believe how happy I was to see and photograph the one at Point Lonsdale. The current structure has been standing since 1902, when it replaced the wooden lighthouse that had been operating since 1863. I wonder if the wooden one burned down. The plaque didn't say.

I hope to photograph the lighthouses at Airey's Inlet and Cape Otway some day, and have a complete set of the lighthouses of the Bellarine Peninsula and Great Ocean Road.

The kids are train fanatics and Queenscliff is famous for its tourist steam railway, so there was no way we could avoid a steam train trip. To be able to take our younger son on a ride, we chose the shorter 40–45 minute round trip from from Queenscliff to Lakers Siding. Short and sweet, but much going for it, including passing by some lovely views of Swan Bay and the Marine Discovery Centre (more on that later).

Queenscliff station is a simple, old country railway station with volunteers running the steam trains as a 'living museum', much like Puffing Billy in Belgrave and the museum at Daylesford. Lakers Siding was just a stop with just a little old post and telegraph office. But there we got to watch the train shunt around the carriages and join up to the opposite end to take us back to Queenscliff.

We also visited the Queenscliff Marine Discovery Centre, which is a marine research and education centre run by Victoria's Department of Primary Industries. They don't have an extensive public exhibit, but we got there just in time for the floor talk and feeding time (the creatures are fed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). It was a really good way to see some of the marine life of Port Phillip Bay, including sea horses, sea cucumbers, scallops and such, and for the kids and adults to learn of the impact of litter, plastics and other acts of human inconsideration on marine ecology and sea life. We also got to touch the seastars, hermit crabs and other hardy creatures in the touch tank.

We stayed at a self-contained holiday cottage on the grounds of a B&B in Wallington, set in a mix of bushland and farmland. It was quite easy to get to from the Bellarine Highway, which was amazing because dotted around the property were these amazing, massive and ancient grass trees.

You could tell they were old because they are very slow growing and many had tall trunks and even taller central floral spikes. The one above didn't have half as tall a flower spike, but it was stunning and in blossom. This was pretty much the view from the kitchen window whenever I was at the sink:

Not bad for washing dishes, wouldn't you say?

You can find more of my Queenscliff holiday photos on flickr.

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Luna Park, photography and a travel guide

I've just heard that my photograph of the famous smiling entrance to Luna Park in St Kilda, Melbourne, has been included in the latest edition of Schmap's online travel guide to Melbourne. The photograph is published on my creative commons license on flickr, which is where Schmap found it.

You can find the photo accompanying their entry on Luna Park and St Kilda generally, along with quite a few others.

This is not the first time one of my photos has been published (under my Creative Commons license), though the first time it has been published somewhere so prominent. And this is one of the rare occasions that the publisher has asked my permission to use my photograph, for which I've very grateful. Thanks, Schmap!

You know, the funny thing is, I took this photo nearly three years ago – before I did that photography course earlier this year, or started taking my photography a bit more seriously. And I have been less confident about publishing my photos on flickr or this blog since that course. It has a lot to do with having taken most of the photos for that course on film, but probably also more to do with feeling that I had to take 'good' photographs, and getting all angsty about what 'good' is.

Funny that.

I think I'm going to take more photos, and scan in some of my prints from last semester, and upload them to flickr. And perhaps go back to doing Wordless Wednesdays.

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Winter – Wordless Wednesday (No. 5)

It has been a while since I've done a Wordless Wednesday, but it thought I'd try again, seeing that I actually liked some of the photos I took at a family outing to a park in Brunswick on the weekend. It has been cold here this last week. Winter has truly set in.

Last night I went to the forum 'Growing up Asian in Australia' last night, held to mark the launch of the new anthology of writing by writers of Asian descent – about growing up Asian in Australia – edited by Alice Pung, and I've had Hanif Kureishi on my mind .

Wouldn't you know it, his website has a story with a tree, children, an 'Asian' father and a park. Oh, and an errant ball. I recommend you read his story 'Hullabaloo in the Tree' to go along with the photo. I will blog on last night's panel when I have some time later this week.

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"We've come home, now"

Today was Sorry Day – the tenth anniversary of the first Sorry Day, in fact. Part of Melbourne Aboriginal community's commemorations this day was observing this anniversary and reminder of what they have been through.

It also served as a reminder to the non-Indigenous community that despite the federal government's national apology to the Stolen Generations, there is much that needs to be done to address Indigenous disadvantage in this country – not the least of which is financial compensation for members of the Stolen Generations, as part of the full reparations to them recommended by the Bringing Them Home report.

Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, with their band, performed at Federation Square in the late afternoon as part of the commemorations, and as usual their performance was powerful.

When Archie started to sing 'Took the children away', all those present went up to the foot of the stage to place a white flower on the wreath that was placed there to commemorate all those who had suffered the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families – those stolen passed and present, and their families who suffered unbearable loss. It was powerful moment. And not one I wanted to spoil by taking photos of.

Archie also spoke about how important being a father and being part of a family is to him now, particularly in light of his experience of being a member of the Stolen Generation. I'm uncertain if the lyrics were in the original version of his song, but Archie now finishes the song by singing "We've come home, now", from which the title of this post is taken. The roar of approval and applause from the crowd sent a chill down my spine.

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37 bikes in the bike shed

Yesterday was Ride to School Day, where school children were encouraged to ride their bicycles to their schools (under their parents' supervision, in the case of youngsters) – instead of being driven there by their parents. Our eldest son's government school got in on the act.

He rode the bicycle he got from us for his birthday last year – the whole two-and-half blocks to his school. It was his first time riding his bike to school, though he's probably ridden more than twice that distance for various neighbourhood outings. All the same, he was pleased as punch to be able to ride his 'BMX'. He was not so pleased at his mother's insistence at documenting the occasion with my camera (at my request). Hence this perfect back shot.

Not that taking an alternative to the car to get to school is novel to us. My eldest has walked the two-and-half blocks to and from school for the vast majority of his last two years of schooling. Unfortunately, this year's family travel arrangements have changed somewhat, but that's another story. It has made the bike ride an event, though.

In today's school newsletter, the Principal reported there were "37 bikes and 14 scooters in the bike shed yesterday," and that "This did make a difference to the traffic conditions in the immediate vicinity of the school." I wouldn't have hoped for less.

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Wordless Wednesday No.4 – Moomba

Moomba

I grabbed this shot of a parade participant on her way back down Swanston Street after the Moomba Parade had finished and the crowds were going home. She said she'd had a good parade, but it was very hot! I could only imagine how hot under all those feathers, and with 37 degrees C heat!

I had gone to the Moomba Parade on Monday morning to take photos – with a 35 mm SLR Minolta. I haven't gotten those developed yet, but this was the last of the three photos I managed to take on my Canon digital before the batteries died on me. I have to remember to recharge the batteries before I go out to take photos!

By the way, I think I'm failing at the 'wordless' part of the Wordless Wednesdays...

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Wordless Wednesday No.3

Bubbles

Wordless Wednesday was nearly photo-less this time round, with things really busy during the day. I thought I'd just make it in anyway with this photo I took of my partner's niece – well, my niece too, I guess – Alix. I took this on Saturday, when we were celebrating my partner's mum's birthday, and her grandchildren were out playing in her backyard.

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Wordless Wednesday No.2

Making a meal of it

This is my favourite of the photos I took of the pig sculptures in the mall in Adelaide, September 2007. I think it speaks volumes of our culture's consumption habits.

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(Not so) Wordless Wednesday No. 1

I first learned about Wordless Wednesdays from two peas, no pod, and I've decided to start doing it here. It's late, but it just sneaks in today! The idea is to post a photo of mine each Wednesday (I hope) to share, with a few details of the 'where', 'when' and 'what' of the photo's subject (and maybe 'how' of the photography), and to leave it at that – let the photo tell the story. Hence 'wordless' Wednesday. You can learn more, and find other participating bloggers at the home base of everything Wordless Wednesday.

This is my second son, Jamie, at San Remo on our way home from our Phillip Island beach holiday. He has this amazing capacity to sit and occupy himself – amazing for one his age – as he was when I took this photo. He's also wearing my favourite of his t-shirts.

This being my first such post, I'm going to break the rules and say a bit more. Besides, it's also a week since I last managed to post here, so this helps to break the drought.

Tomorrow will be Jamie's first full day of child care. That is a big thing for us, as it means that we will be trusting him into the care of people who are not his extended family or close friends of ours for some stretch of the day. This will be a big thing for him as well, I'm sure.

It will be for two days per week, for now, and somewhat different from the weekly three hours of occasional care we've had him in the last six months at the local Neighbourhood House. But this means that his mum can start going to uni this year, and his dad can keep going to work to pay the bills and fit in study and writing as well, so we are really appreciating the fact that so far he has taken well to the new day care centre.

He has had his orientation there: a number of two- and three-hour stints over two weeks at his new child care centre so that he can get used to the place, the setting, the carers, and the idea of being in care there. We feel that we can trust the carers and their ethos, and we know that Jamie is ready to be in child care a couple of days each week, but this is still a big thing for us. He will be growing and doing things some days that neither of his parents will get to see, and I can admit to some trepidation at the whole thing.

Sure, we've done this before, over a number of years, with his older brother, but it's been two years since we've had a child in day care so it's still some getting used to all over again.

It is certainly shaping up to be a busy year for our family. What I'm thankful for, though, is that I can fit in study and child-rearing responsibilities around my very family-friendly part-time job, including my working from home on Tuesday mornings while Jamie is at the Neighbourhood house, and then going to get him and spending the rest of the day caring for him! This means we can still spend some decent time together each week!

Jamie, you're growing fast, and this year you're going to do some of that growing beyond our eyesight. So it is my privilege to record and share here some of that growth that I do witness!

Okay, from now on, Wordless Wednesday posts are going to be a lot more wordless!

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In the picture

I discovered this amazing news through Genevieve at Reeling and Writing and Lucy Tartan Sorrow at Sills Bend: the Library of Congress has recently added a significant chunk of its collection of images and photographs to flickr – free, and without restriction, as they've selected "only images for which no copyright restrictions are known to exist" to share online.

That's 3,115 (to date) copyright-free images to use! I'm salivating just thinking of all those images to use in blogs, agit prop, histories and research.

I'm also excited because, as I've mentioned before, I'm going to take a serious effort to learn photography this year, and this is going to make a great learning resource and an introduction to the history of American photography. What I'm also amazed is that someone (or more than one someone) actually sat through all of them uploading, adding titles and descriptions that include photographer, subject, date, and technical notes - and tags! Now that's discipline. And commitment to librarianship and the commons. You'll find them at the Library of Congress flickr page.

The photo above is by Jack Delano, of "Mrs. Marcella Hart, mother of three children, employed as a wiper at the roundhouse, Clinton, Iowa," taken in April 1943. I found it under the tag 'railways'.

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The Wall

I've just heard the news that some German tourists were ordered by New South Wales police to delete their tourists photos of the security fence erected in Sydney as part of the security measures around the APEC leaders' summit there.

I can't believe how ridiculous the police are getting over this! Their explanation for this measure – one they plan to enforce more widely – was that they didn't want protesters to be taking photos of the security fence, or 'The Wall' as Sydneysiders are calling it, for 'reconnaissance' purposes. Police claim that protesters are carrying out this 'recco' to find weaknesses in the fence that they can target in order to break through and disrupt the APEC meeting.

While I have no idea whether the protesters would want to carry out such scouting or even want to break through the cordon, I think the police ban on photos of The Wall is ridiculous and futile because, in this time of quick and easy communication via the internet and mobile phone, the photos are already out there and there's no way the police can stop them!

When I first read the news, I immediately wondered how many photos of The Wall and other security measures have already been posted on flickr or other websites, sharing tools and blogs. A quick search shows that there's a flickr group for photos relating to APEC's Sydney meeting, including shots of the fence and security measures around the summit. Although it only had 30 photos as of time of posting, I'm sure it will grow. There are heaps more photos on flickr, as a search of the combination of the tags APEC, Sydney, security and protests will reveal.

But I'm also angry that police should be stopping people from taking photos of what is so clearly visible to the public, and in the public domain. It is such an overreaction by the police, but more importantly a dangerous limitation on our freedoms – to observe, document, report and broadcast on the actions of the state. I think it is important to kick-up a fuss on such things, otherwise the next thing we'll find is police trying to stop – on similarly baseless arguments – legal observers and other witnesses to police actions against protesters from taking photos, documenting police actions and compiling evidence for possible future complaints of police assault or misconduct.

That is why I'm publishing the photo of The Wall here – an act of defiance and protest. Let's see the police trying to ask blogger, flickr, and a host of others to remove this photos from the internet! It's the least I can do all these miles away here in Melbourne.

[Image of the security fence by mpesce (cc) of flickr]

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Seemed like a good idea at the time

Earlier this month, my family and I went to the Werribee Sewage Treatment plant's open day – to find out how the treat sewage, but mainly to catch a glimpse of the water birds that flock to the 'wetlands' and ponds there. I'm sure you may think it odd, but we found it fascinating. Would you believe that the place, especially Lake Borrie, is a significant habitat for something like 270 species of birds? Unfortunately, most of the birds had migrated north for the winter!

While on the coach tour, our guide pointed out the odd telegraph pole-like structures pictured above. No, it wasn't some art installation, though I wouldn't be surprised if it were. Researchers had found that the cormorants that flock to the area were in strife because the gum trees that were their usual perches were dying and collapsing. So they erected these new perches for the cormorants (being a threated species and all) – who flatly refused to use them.

I was struck by how this was a beautiful example of how what seemed like a good idea at the time, and plainly of good intentions, turned out to be absolutely useless – or just not used.

Do you know of any other examples of something well-meant and seeming like a good idea but didn't work as planned?

[Image is one of mine; apologies for its blurriness - it was taken from a moving bus. CC mark lawrence]

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Autumn baby

From beaches of sunshine to autumn leaves. Returning to Melbourne was a rude shock because when we arrived last Saturday, it was wet, cold and grey. But yesterday's lovely, warm, sunny weather – and the fact it was a public holiday – drew us out of the house and into the sunshine at Abbotsford Convent.

As you can see, Jamie had a great time playing in the autumn leaves that carpeted the lawn outside 'Lentil As Anything' cafe. I can hardly believe that my little baby is turning 1 next week! (On Wednesday!) It seemed only last month that I announced his birth on this blog. How time flies!

He's growing strong, crawling fast, and starting to stand up (tentatively) on his own legs without holding on – if only briefly. And, as you can see, he's also turning out to be a bit of an escape artist!

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The true price of food

On Saturday, my family and I went the the Farmers' Market at Collingwood Children's Farm for the first time in many, many moths. In fact it was my youngest's first time there, and he's now 10 months, so this trip was special. For while it used to be one of my favourite things to do, but it got harder to do as we changed gear for the baby.

I remembered how much I enjoy the Farmers' market as I scoured the stalls for the best deals on freshly picked organic fruit and vegetables, revelling in the variety of vegetables not available at supermarkets or most standard market stalls. And visiting the farm animals.

The farm is more than a chance for the kids to happily negotiate their way through chickens, ducks and geese, watch a cow being milked (a first time for some), or pat friendly sheep. It is a way of getting to know where our food comes from.

The best thing about the farmers' markets is not just the variety, or the chance of a deal on produce, but the opportunity to talk with the growers directly, and know that the money changing hands is going directly to the grower and not half-a-dozen middlemen. It is also a chance to learn something about where the food we eat comes from, and how much hard work farmers put into it.


I'm certainly not alone in this, as the crowds at last Saturday's market attest. Many, many people are keenly interested in where their food comes from, how it's grown, and who's behind it. Many see this as a tonic for a toxic culture of fast food, genetically modified food, or bland, featureless supermarket produce bred for shelf-life rather than for taste.

The Age food writer John Lethlean describes this as about "having a relationship with the production and preparation of what we eat". For Lethlean, this interest is best encapsulated in the Slow Food movement.

Slow Food or not, my concern is predominantly with good food and food security – ensuring that our food, from the the growing and production of our food to how we turn it into a meal on our tables – is secure, free from the unfair domination by commercial interests, safe and environmentally sustainable. It is also a way of supporting farmers who want to do something different and break out of the supermarket supply-chain straightjacket.

This is especially the case for me with heritage varieties of vegetables and fruit. So it was particularly unhappy for me to learn that one of my favourite growers, whose heritage variety eggplants, apples, chillies, and other vegetables are so fabulous and fresh, will not be able to return to the farmers' markets after April, because she will lose her right to irrigation water later next that month.

She is a Mildura based grower, and this must surely be a result of the increasing pressure that the drought, the deplorable state of the Murray River and the worsening situation for irrigators is placing on farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin. Hearing this news first hand from the grower should sharpen in the mind of any city dweller the terrible conditions of the drought and the Murray River crisis poses for our farmers and the food we eat. It did for me.

You still here the odd complaint from shoppers at the farmers' market about the high price for tomatoes (organic) or other vegetables, but I'm learning to be more relaxed about such things. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it. I have learned to buy what is in season, and limit what I purchase to what my family and I can eat. But I think that more and more people are learning the true cost of food, and how the price we are paying for it at supermarkets does not reflect the cost – to the farmers, the environment and to our future food security.

The photos are by me, and you can see the rest of them on my flickr site.

Update: A good background on the Murry-Darling basin crises by Peter Cullen is on the ABC website here. Some thinking and background on food security issues is available on the WorldChanging website here. If you're interested in food security, urban farms, food production and similar issues, the 4th Annual Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network Conference is happening in Melbourne next week.

Oh, and I found and added the link to the Age article by John Lethlean, if you want to read the rest of his piece. I enjoyed it.

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burung

burung, originally uploaded by Farl.

Ok, after the earlier morbid post on dead animals, accompanied by the photo of the dead bird, I felt a need to redeem myself.

And I could help but share this stunning photograph of a bird by flickr photographer Farl. His work is amazing, and I'm enjoying the particularly Southeast Asian content and perspective of his work.

By the way, 'burung' is Indonesian and Malay for bird.

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