Federation Wool Arch
I’m a big fan of the Powerhouse Museum’s Photo of the Day blog, and today’s picture was particularly interesting. It’s a stereoscopic view of the “Wool Arch” set up for the big Federation parade. I’d never heard anything about the parade before, so I did some googling. Australian Federation took place on January 1, 1901, and they had a big process that went all the way from the city out to Centennial Park. (I’ve seen the plaque out there to mark the spot where they signed all the relevant documents.) Along the way, there were a whole bunch of gates and arches set up to commemorate important Australian industries and natural resources. The Wool Arch was near the intersection of Bridge and Loftus streets (near where Wagamama is now). Here’s a really good picture of the Wool Arch. (Welcome to the Land of the Golden Fleece!) The ABC site has a wealth of information about the parade, along with a neat digital puzzle of the Wool Arch. And there’s your learnin’ for today!
Month: January 2010 (page 4 of 9)
No-Purl Garter Stitch In-The-Round. That just BLEW MY MIND. Brilliant!
“When Trying to Preserve the Planet Strains the Relationship.” A pretty hilarious article about the very First World problem of arguing with your family about environmental issues. My favorite part was: “Her mother, who says she prefers the way food tastes when it is served on Styrofoam, notes that washing dishes has its own environmental costs.” (italics mine) HEE! Luckily the Snook and I are pretty much on the same page when it comes to this stuff. Well, except that he thinks trying to grow our own vegetables is pretty pointless. (Given our limited success in this area, I’m starting to come around to his perspective.) Oh, and he leaves lights on all the time. That drives me crazy.
From the Department of Disappointed Yet Not Surprised, the Notre Dame Observer ran a cartoon promoting anti-gay violence. How is that possibly acceptable? The editors have already run a retraction and apology, and the authors are claiming that they did it for shock value. WTF?
I’m actually a former staff member of the Observer myself. I used to help write the “Days of Our Lives” update each week in my sophomore year. I thought they were pretty much idiots back then too.
Halloween 1982. Boba Fett’s eyes are wigging me out. CAN’T. STOP. STARING. But hey, that’s pretty much the sweetest Cookie Monster costume of all time. I bet it’s homemade, too.
Fantastic news. Humanist House have booted the fascists that were meeting in the Hall. It sounds as if they still make up a substantial membership block though, so I’d urge those of you in the neighbourhood who are able to become members.
Flying the Expandable Object
We finally had time on a non-rainy day to try out one of the kites we got for Christmas from my Dad and Cindy. This is a Prism Expandable Object, and it’s one of the weirder kites I’ve ever seen. It’s this flat, lightweight thing that springs up into this three-dimensional shape. It’s meant to be really easy to fly. Unfortunately today was really gusty, so we had a hard time keeping it stable!
Jeff Galloway has a great article about getting started with running without aches and pains. If you’ve been inspired to hit the roads this New Year, you should check it out.
F**kYeah Dioramas! Oh tumblr, how I love you.