Next: #4 Dark night
June 25, 2011
Paris Night Magic: #2 The Reds
In Every Neighbourhood of Paris (Tony Murena)
Almost paintings ...
Almost paintings ...
Next: #3 Gold shot with green
Paris Night Magic: #1 The Blues
Edith Piaf sang of Paris 50 years ago.
Even 50 years before that, and more, Paris at night was magic like this...
Even 50 years before that, and more, Paris at night was magic like this...
Sous le ciel de Paris (Edith Piaf)
Next: #2 Red
June 18, 2011
Presenting the Moscow Cat Theatre!
The Moscow Cat Theatre is just that: a travelling show of cats that perform amazing tricks for the owners who love and train them - Creative Director Vladimir and his daughter Maria.
Vladimir tells us that everybody in Russia is used to seeing cats perform tricks.
Please enjoy these very clever cats and the balalaika and accordion musical background.
Thank you Russia!
June 11, 2011
Sydney's Luna Park: the bittersweet life of a fun park #2
The Midway (Laughing Clown)
The dark times began on 9th June 1979.
The Ghost Train was destroyed by fire. Seven lives were lost - six were kids.
Luna Park was immediately closed down.
Eventually, the shock gave way to suspicion, accusations and implications.
Inquiries into the fire yielded no proof. It was a terrible accident.
smh.com.au
The saga for the next 25 years involved a colourful and sometimes sinister cast of characters.
The Luna Park site was attractive to the powerful money men and developers
... there were plenty of them in Sydney in the glittery 80s.
And then there were the politicians, also powerful ... and the lawyers....
Sydney Morning Herald 1981 (Nat Gallery Aust)
Many original rides and artworks were sold or dismantled, buildings were bulldozed.
In fact it was closed - dark - silent for a total of 18 years
... "Just For Fun" only for the rats and cockroaches.
But Luna Park was impossible to ignore
- opposite the Sydney Opera House, at the foot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
- opposite the Sydney Opera House, at the foot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Thousands of Sydneysiders and visitors saw it there every day
... still fronted by the silly face which faded and disintegrated, became more and more of a horror.
flickr.com (arkaya962)
For that 25 years, the Friends of Luna Park led by Martin Sharp, the designer of the jolly Mr Moon Face, remained visible and vigilant. Not all the art deco murals, designs, and architecture were destroyed.
Their reward was the eventual heritage classification of the face and spires ... and in 2004, the rebirth of Luna Park.
It did not become a commercial site, office buildings with-a-view, high-end apartments, or even “an adult entertainment centre with high rise towers”.
The spruced-up entrance now fronts rides, music and crazy fun as ever,
plus cafes, concert halls and function rooms.
And Sydney's Luna Park is one of only two amusement parks in the world that are protected by government legislation.
2004 rebirth year
wikipedia.italia
and now you can even eat a chocolate Luna Park ....
figjamandlimecordial.com
June 4, 2011
Sydney's Luna Park: the bittersweet life of a fun park #1
From its opening day in October 1935, Luna Park was a true fun palace through Sydney's good times and hard times for over 40 years.
A Sydney icon, proudly perched on the edge of Sydney Harbour, in the shadow of the Sydney Harbour Bridge - prime real estate!
virtualtourist.com
The bright brash face shouted Just For Fun, and it was! Crazy fun! Happy days!
Of course there were incidents and accidents amongst the thrills and fairy-floss, but only one fatality in those first 45 years - in 1946 a French sailor, having Too Much Fun, stood up on the Big Dipper.
But in June 1979, it all changed .....
Music: Luna Park (Walter Losi)
Luna Park Logo: lunaparksydney.com
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