Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Anyone got $1.9 million?

This is genuine now.
Honest!

There's a seriously fabulous multi-purpose residence for sale around the corner from our place. It's been on and off the market since we moved here and has been the source of sundry domestic fantasies.

Welcome to Mansfield House:


The agent does it more justice:


Anyway, it's been steadily dropping in price; at $1.9 million for a 9-bedroom, c. 1887 Italian Renaissance-style glamour pile, it's a fricken bargain.

Besides, imagine what you could get up to in this room:


Seriously, anyone got some spare cash?

Local wildlife

Lions Park, Horseshoe Bend:


Saddleworld, Maitland:

Moving (and stationary) violations #3

This is a variation on one of the first car decals I saw.
That was in a different font and considerably smaller, though:


A bit of Googling reveals it's the logo of "action sports" clothing company, Skin Industries, whose output appears to consist solely of cotton casuals emblazoned with the word "skin" against various tattoo-style graphics (one range is fittingly called "nightmare").

And yes, they also sell die-cut decals – twenty in all.

Moving on to another high-fashion brand:


What the word "unit" has to do with the Playboy bunny is beyond me.
Also, notice the P-plate and the breast-cancer pink vanity plates.

It's a pattern, I tell you.

Finally we have some old-school ornamentation that I find objectionable on more than one level:


The message seems unnecessarily aggressive; it's a Prado, for god's sake.

Secondly, forget the butt, the eyes on that dog are truly disturbing. Is it rabid?

It kind of reminded me of that Simpsons episode with Mulder and Scully:


In hindsight, I guess it's pretty effective.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Under the sunflowers

The sunflowers' flowers are starting to appear:


I'm finding them strangely intimidating; I'll have to get on a ladder to photograph them.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Ossie Ossie Ossie, Oy Oy Vey

Had to make another trip to the Mater to pick up more painkillers – the radiation, in typically insidious fashion, has truly kicked in; my lower face feels like it's on fire and looks as painful – and I noticed work has finally begun on Hexham's Ossie the Mossie:


But are they taking it down in preparation of something even more magnificent?
Are they removing it permanently?

First, let's look back at what once was:


Personally, I hope they think big.
Something you can walk inside, at least.

Suzi, the photo-hound

She just can't help herself:


Beautification is in the eye of the beholder

I know I've had a go at the so-called graffiti artists in town, but the local council's response isn't the most aesthetically pleasing.

Until recently, this shipping container at nearby Smyth Field – who knows what it's for; a demoralising change-room for opposing teams, perhaps – wasn't that much of an eyesore as far as I was concerned:


It now looks like this:


I presume they consider this an historically-sensitive shade of salmon. Or, at a pinch, "terracotta".

I'd call it "lung" myself.

In anticipation of its presumed impending "beautification", I took a photo of this wall, at the same field:


Let's see how long it lasts.

Unholy visions

Maybe it's the psychological aftermath of the Jesus-on-a-dog's-butt, but I've been seeing things lately.

Am I the only one who sees an Easter Island statue in the afternoon light?


And walking home with Suzi the other day, I could have sworn this paint-spill looked like an elephant being chased by a shotgun-wielding ivory hunter:

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Strickley speaking

Going through old photos yesterday, I found a bunch from a trip to London and Paris in 1992.

I was going through a stage of using black-and-white film; I presumed this would lend everything an air of timeless sophistication.
I was 21, okay?

Anyway, I vividly recall walking down Kings Rd in Chelsea and laughing out loud at this:


I was a spelling pedant even then.

Love and marriage

It goes without saying, I think our atheist, living-in-sin (with-a-hairdresser!) Prime Minister Julia Gillard is a hypocrite for continuing to "defend" marriage, i.e. refuse to grant the right to same-sex couples.

Having said that, I don't want to get married myself, never have.
But I just saw this on Joe.My.God and it's so beautifully done I cried:



Joe does that all the time. Bastard.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Let them eat beefcake

For no reason other than I haven't posted any hot men in ages.

That and the fact former professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino (born 1935) has obvious appeal:


Plus, I admire his healthy disregard for modern technology:


That's my excuse.

A little piece of Joan

Crawford, that is. And it's time to get out the credit card.

On December 7, there's an estate sale of personal Joan Crawford items.
Imagine her face when she read this:

Lot 1118
[CRAWFORD, JOAN]
Archive of legal and business correspondence
 pertaining to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Approximately seventeen sheets (a few in photocopy), with a signed contract by Joan Crawford for the use of some Baby Jane footage. Generally good condition.
Infamously, a rift occurred between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford during the making of this film, in which Crawford played the wheelchair-bound Blanche Hudson.
C Estate of Joan Crawford
Estimate $250-350 



There's a lot of fur (mercifully nothing with a head), but I think this is quite stylish. Also, fox, so not quite so guilt-inducing for some reason:

Lot 1163
Silver Fox Rectangular Stole 
With black silk satin lining, labeled Furs Alixandre New York Paris and monogrammed JCS in script.
Length 6 feet 10 inches, width 17 inches.
C Estate of Joan Crawford
Estimate $600-900 



But this is the star of the show.
Can't you just see her in a boardroom, stabbing her glossy-nailed finger at it as she asserts her authority?

Lot 1175 Gold, Ruby, Emerald and Diamond Pepsi Bottle Brooch 
14 kt., the gold pin centering a detailed Pepsi logo, topped by an accented ruby bottle cap, set throughout with emeralds and diamonds, approximately 11.2 dwt. Length 2 1/8 inches. 
C Estate of Joan Crawford 
Estimate $600-900 


Maybe, if you rubbed it three times, she might appear...

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Slumming it, Joan Collins-style

I know Joan Collins has had her ups and downs, quality-wise.

It all started out so glamorously:


Of course, when Hollywood fails to succumb to your wiles, embrace TV.
At the very least, play a Batman villain (called the Siren, what else?):


If times get tough, do a B-grade horror. Remember, show cleavage:


When all else fails, play the character everyone assumes you to be; resurrect career:


When that fizzles, accept the most unlikely role/act of stunt-casting ever concocted by an ailing sitcom, namely Roseanne:


I caught this yesterday and was gobsmacked.
Joan was cast as Ronnie, Roseanne's estranged cousin. It was quite surreal, although Joan, naturally, just played Joan.

The best line was from Roseanne: "Where'd you get that hoity-toity accent from anyway? You're from Illinois!"


I think by far the strangest sight was Darlene sitting next to Ronnie/Joan on that couch:


Joan's Versace leggings are not getting along with that crochet throw.

Some gourds are bigger than others

I think Mick picked one prematurely:

Time flies

Freddie Mercury died 20 years ago today.

Sheesh.

A random tribute:






I really hope the Sacha Baron Cohen biopic goes ahead.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Bewitchery

Time for a spooky TV re-run coincidence.

For all the dross the digital channels have exhumed to fill up airspace (JAG, Perfect Strangers, The Hogan Family, for god's sake) there are some welcome flashbacks, like The Golden Girls, Murphy Brown and Bewitched.

I caught an early (first-Darren) Bewitched last week:


As always, Endora was fabulous:


And the advertising subplots were always fun:


Anyway, I saw the closing credits and couldn't believe I missed the photo op.
For the first time I was happy they repeat these repeats, because I got a chance to take it again.

The guest star was an actor I just happened to mention here a couple of weeks ago:


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Purple, rain

Typical.

The big jacaranda next door finally blooms and we immediately get high winds and rain:


Creates a nice carpet I suppose.

Sounds a bit queer #2

The Pender Place musical director strikes again.

This evening, they were playing one of my all-time favourite songs:



Why no-one's done a cover of this is a mystery.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Pointillist-blank range

That horrendous student pepper-spray incident in the US has spawned this, among others:


From Dangerous Minds.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Moving violations #2

Okay, a brief wrap-up of the vehicular aesthetic infringements currently cluttering my desktop.

I seriously doubt this will be the end of this thread; the phenomenon just keeps spreading.
Although Mick and I won't be heading to Newcastle daily, the local parking lots are an abundant source of unsolicited automotive autobiography.

To wit, this taken just yesterday.
Classy:


This one confused me a little (as in: Why are you driving a car, then?):


This was patently false (we overtook them):


And I can only presume/hope they can see out of this rear window a lot better than we could see in:


Finally, this has to be one of the saddest iterations of "family" I've seen so far:


Is the fish her partner, her pet, or dinner?

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Hunter fog

Forgot to mention this morning's walk with Suzi.

After all the excitement of finishing treatment I hardly slept last night and noticed, as the sun was coming up, the neighbourhood was submerged in fog. It's fairly common around here but it's the first I've seen in ages.
I'm never up early enough.

Anyway, I managed to catch it before it evaporated: