Somewhere Else

Tonight is Halloween. But trick-or-treaters are few and far between here in Australia, where Halloween has never really caught on. However the two of us have a bit of a fixation on skulls and skeletons, so here are several of them to help set the scene for Halloween.

The surprisingly realistic skull above is on a tomb in the church of Saint Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome. It’s a rather cheerful looking skull, depicted in a traditional pirate skull & crossbones setting. The three decorative inlaid wooden skulls below are in Saint Dominic’s Basilica in Bologna. With that crown, you can’t help but think of the Christmas carol “We three kings”.

With skulls like these, it must feel like Halloween all year round in Italy.

When we were in Hobart earlier this month, we admired this statue of Louis Bernacchi (1876-1942). He was a Tasmanian scientist, photographer and writer who explored Antarctica. He is credited with being the first person to stay in Antarctica through the winter, and he also went on Scott’s 1901-4 expedition.

This statue is called “Self Portrait” and shows Louis taking his own photo, accompanied by his favourite husky, Joe. The sculptural group continues down to the waterside, where there are two penguins. Or should that be three? One seems to have escaped! (Okay, okay – the escapee is really a cormorant.)

Here is one more display that amused us at All Ford Day in Perth last weekend. One club set up their stand as a used car lot called “Dodgy Brothers”. Needless to say, the gleaming cars inside were anything but dodgy.

For our international readers, we should explain that “dodgy” has nothing to do with Dodge automobiles (which wouldn’t be at All Ford Day anyway) – nor with dogs or the Dodgers. It’s an informal British/Australian English expression, meaning risky, unreliable and unsafe.

This piece of sculpture always raises a smile. It’s outside a veterinary store in Mosman Park, Perth – so you can argue about whether it’s really sculpture or advertising. Maybe both.

But it amusingly captures a typical cat-dog interaction. The dog chasing a cat up a tree/post is the very stuff of cartoons. The added joke is that the dumb dog thinks the little cat is an easy target. We know better. According to the old saying, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But a cat cornered is also something to avoid.

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. So if you visit Canberra, make a point of checking out this sculpture by Tim Wetherell. It is titled “The Astronomer” and has an interesting history.

In January 2003 there were devastating bush fires around Canberra. Four people died, houses were burnt to the ground and the historic Mount Stromlo Observatory was destroyed. The famous Yale Columbia Refractor, an 8m telescope built at Yale University in 1924 was ruined. It was a scientist’s worst nightmare.

But Tim Wetherell used metal from the ruined telescope to create this sculpture. It depicts an astronomer measuring the heavens.

Yesterday’s All Ford Day in Perth was quite an event, with over 400 classic Fords on display. Somehow the organisers even managed to control the weather. Saturday was grey with occasional showers and today is much the same. But on All Ford Day we had blue sunny skies and a maximum of 32C. It was the perfect day to show off lots of polished paintwork and gleaming chrome, and Ford owners were happy to oblige.

Among all these amazing vehicles, we were taken with the red 1965 Thunderbird convertible below. It is long enough to fill two parking spaces, has a 390 cubic inch V8 engine putting out 400hp, and is equipped with power everything. Plus it has about as much chrome as it’s possible to put on one car. They certainly don’t make them like this anymore.

Digging around in our old photo collection, we came across this photo of some old Model A Fords on show at Bassendean Oval in Perth. The world has changed a lot since they were built in the late 1920s.

But if you are a regular visitor to our blog, you will know that this is a joke. We saw these historic vehicles at All Ford Day in Perth this morning and figured that they would look good in sepia. They are still on show right now, and are part of the display put on by the Model A Restorers Club of Western Australia (below).

Last week we were Somewhere Else – in Devonport, Tasmania to be exact. We saw this store and “something” about the name immediately appealed to us.

It’s mid spring in Perth and that means two things – hay fever and car shows. Last weekend we went to the CARS show and shine, and this weekend we’ll be at All Ford Day. This event only comes around every two years, so you don’t want to miss it. The photo above gives a hint of what to expect; we took it at All Ford Day 2007.

And in case you wonder what a bunch of Aussie males do when they see a beautifully restored Falcon GT with a 351 cubic inch V8 engine, look below. Yep, they drool in the engine bay.

We spotted this 1967 Olympic Riviera caravan at the CARS show and shine last weekend. It’s a true time machine, made of fibreglass so it has survived for 42 years – and looking as good as ever.

If you have a good eye for classic cars, you may recognise the tow car. It is a 1929 Plymouth Model U sedan. And we featured it back on 8 March, though with a different vintage caravan on that occasion. Owners Greg and Noelene T have moved on to the Olympic Riviera since then.