The SHERRY MONOCLE Tour Part 2

Continuing from the last post...here are some photos of the suburb of Northbridge (directly north of the CBD) that were taken too late to be included. But that's okay because it kind of deserves a post on its own. Here are a few neat things I found:

 

 

Here we have an area that celebrates Egyptian culture and the reign of the Pharaohs. This particular fellow was a well-known king in the 14th century BC. He is honoured by the locals by affixing pink googly eyes on him, meaning he can see all. It also assures a brief period of mirth for all who gaze upon his noble and virtuous features.

 

 

 

And a Middle Kingdom-era Egyptian frieze depicts his kingly visage in a high relief style, by the stonemason 'Shisha'. This resplendent mural predates Perth itself. I expect it to be behind clear perspex before too long. The mural bears the legend 'Post no bills – $150 fine – Littering Act 1979'. This message has puzzled hieroglyphics scholars for centuries. (Posting bills counts as littering? Okay then!)

 

 

 

I've been to all three of these places.

 

 Nothing says solitude

Like

A rare box of Fortune Cookies

Basking in the

Thursday morning

Raspberry sun

The SHERRY MONOCLE Tour of Perth's suburbs with a train station

Welcome back to my blog for 2024, friends. It's the blog's 15th year, so I promise to make more than three posts to celebrate this 'landmark' year.

The folks at Transperth decided to make public transport – buses, trains and ferries – free for SmartRider holders from Christmas Eve to most of January. Their spokesperson said it was because they get less customers this time of year, but yours truly reckons it's because they're about to 'transition' to a new credit-card-based payment system and will probably 'roll' it out when the free travel time is over. So I thought I'd milk it make best use of this generous offer to see certain suburbs that people have been crowing about. Do they measure up to the hype?

First up is Hillarys, which I visited on New Year's Day. I used to occasionally come to the boardwalk here as a teenager. The boardwalk is still there, but it has been redeveloped a bit, prompted by a fire that destroyed six of the shops (and apparently part of the boardwalk as well) in June 2003. There's now a water play park there. It's meant to be for kids, but was soon taken over by smarmy teenagers. Luckily, one of them spontaneously combusted while underwater and I managed to catch the moment on camera.

Next up is Fremantle. Freo is a great place. I used to hang out there when I was doing work experience at the Maritime Museum. Lots of historical buildings, but the historical signage is just as interesting. Here's an old painted advertisement for MacRobertson's Freddo Chocolate Frogs, at the entrance to the markets.

And one that was most likely painted in 1983 – the boxing kangaroo emblem holding a can of Swan Lager. "It's a symbol of fascism", quoth one passer-by. Well I never.

Right, next on my travels I hit up the bohemian enclave of Maylands, next stop but one from both 'Baysie' (Bayswater) and 'Basso' (Bassendean) on the Midland line. Despite having no dumb shortened name, it can hold its own in the hipster stakes, although if you're not out to pose on the coffee strip you had better go peddle your Matt Damon aspirations elsewhere, matey. 

Hey, I found this ancient knocker on someone's door that's shaped like a hand. This alone makes the trip to Maylands worth it (although the riverside area is meant to be nice, too. I didn't see it though, it was 40 degrees that day).

 

 

Why is there no one in this coffee shop?

 

Weary from my other pursuits, I now arrive in Bayswater, home of no bay and no water. The best thing here was a hand-painted message outside someone's house:

 

Brilliant. NO FRIVOLITY is going to be my motto for 2024. Also, is that the Ukrainian flag?

There are some interesting patterns and designs on shop-front ceramic tiles if you make the effort to look. I found another one but you'll just make crude references to genitalia so I'm not posting it.

 

Remember Rolf Harris? Up until ten years ago he was a Perth icon, one of the few people to emerge from this city that people could, and did, brag about. Then he was convicted of being an old perv, and his career was over. His TV shows will never again be rebroadcast and his albums line the record bins of op shops. His death in May 2023 at the age of 93 went largely unnoticed by the media. But most people in Perth know that the suburb of Bassendean was where he grew up. Perhaps you'd see him on occasion heading to the Bassendean pharmacy with his wobble board or whatever. There are a few dodgy shop fronts there but I'm afraid that's about it.

And this, whatever this is.

Rockingham next. Here's that print shop I posted last time. No extraneous text, just PRINT. If you're ever in Rockingham just stroll in there and say "One PRINT please". Then get ready to book it as they'll probably come after you with a 12-bore. I also like the idea of that blank space on the wall with nothing in it. Because nothing says "Come to my print shop" like a big white circle.

To the far north of the metro area we go, Joondalup to be precise. To be honest, I didn't see any of it other than the Lakeside shopping centre there, which the train takes you directly to. I did walk around the outside a bit, but the only photo worth posting here was of this big orange ball outside the centre. Ain't it lovely.

And finally we come to Claremont. This was a thriving nightlife area until it got a really bad reputation in 1996 when the Claremont serial killer came to light. One of the women who disappeared was seen in an infamous bit of grainy CCTV footage right outside the Claremont Hotel, shown here. Although at that time, the place was called Club Bay View. Another misnomer. My first high school reunion was held there in 2005. The area is well covered by CCTV now, don't you worry about that.

But hunting grounds of serial killers aside, here's the most interesting thing I discovered about Claremont. Take a look at this building. What would you say it is? A church, perhaps?

 

 

Nope – it's a library! To be fair, it was originally a Methodist church, built in 1922. But after the infamous 'Night of the Long Tinnies' which preceded the bloody and brutal Methodist purges of 1978, the building reopened as a library in January 1979. And they vowed never to speak of the purges again. In fact just forget I just mentioned them.

 

The choir loft at the back, or is it the pulpit, or where the organist used to sit? Church nomenclature is not my strong point. Note the stained glass windows with memorials on them. They are all to people with the same surname. One for a boy who died a hundred years ago aged nearly 2, the other for two men who went to fight in the Great War and never came back.

BONUS ROUND

One last surprise for you. Here's a photo of the so-called Shark Rock, in McDougall Park in Manning, where I used to play as a kid, and is still within walking distance of where I live now. See that rock? It kind of looks like a shark's head. Personally I think it looks more like a dog's head. But whatever. You project whatever you want onto it. I'm not gonna tell you one way or the other. But for all the years I went to this park, I never knew about Shark Rock until last Friday. And apparently people have written reviews of it online. So take the family down to see Shark Rock of an evening. Top night out.

All photos are ©2024 by me, in conjunction with the SHERRY MONOCLE Corporation, in association with Dunderheaded Velocipede Seats and the Utterly Inanely Named Crew.

Brunswick

Following on from yesterday's post about the Homecooked Comics Mini-Mart, I thought I'd post a selection of photos from the streets (Sydney Rd and Victoria St, to be precise) of Brunswick. I've lived in Melbourne for 12 years now, and this was the first time I had been to Brunswick. So, what did we find?

Well, firstly and quite surprisingly, the suburb of Brunswick has a 'sister city' relationship with the Greek city of Sparta, and one of Brunswick's streets bears its name. The ancient Spartan king Leonidas is commemorated in statue here. I had to slightly move the floral wreath someone had placed, so I could get the plaque in shot.

Two views of a hand-painted signal box on the street corner – a bit of street art done by primary school kids. You can make out the name 'St. Joseph's' and the initials of what I assume are the contributors.

I like photographing old, faded hand-painted signage, and this 'Nestlé's Chocolate' above a shop is a fine example.

Near the Blyth St intersection, a shop called 'Mary Eats Cake'. I'm sure she does. 

A closeup of a shop front's decorative tiles, and what look like two bullet holes. I'm sure they're not though.

Putting stickers on things is much more preferable to graffiti, kids.

This was in a shop window. Interesting.

More of the same tiles further down the road. Perhaps these shop fronts were all tiled at the same time. 'NO POSTERS' warns a handwritten sticker. Better do as it says.

Last of all, a nice lighting display in a shop selling...I forget now. Perhaps Middle Eastern craft items.

One more thing about Brunswick: for some reason it was the suburb whose name was chosen to be the largest on the fabric design that now graces some of Melbourne's train seats. Why? Us mere mortals shall never know.

The Mysterious Paving Slab

This isn't really street art even though I've given it that tag – but it definitely comes from the street. In fact, it's on the street itself!

This afternoon, Michelle and I went for a walk in the suburb of Malvern, and at the corner of Kooyong Road, I noticed this inscribed paving slab:

It's 27 years old and a bit weathered, so if'n ya can't read it, it says:

A CURSE UPON THE

REMOVAL OF THIS SLAB

AS IT FINALLY

LAYS TO REST

WITNESSED

1ST DECEMBER 1989

What's that all about, eh? 'Curse'? 'Lays to rest'? Don't tell me some poor schmo was buried under there? Alas, no. It turns out someone called 'Eugene' put it there to protest at the street being dug up time times in a year (presumably the year 1989). He was the chairman of the High Street Traders Association, and was fed up of losing business due to roadworks (lucky he never worked in Hong Kong, then).

It seems to have worked, as the slab is obviously older than the surrounding ones; the subsequent roadworkers just paved around it. So they did heed Eugene's curse, esoteric as it may be.

Newtown Signs

On July 4, I spent the day taking photos around Sydney's hipster suburb of Newtown, a very interesting area visually. Even the Fire Department has a sense of humour! 

Wall Or Nothing: Painting A Mural

Rob Scholten and I have been painting a mural in David Street, Preston, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. Ben, the owner of an Eastern-themed home goods and furniture store called Funky Stuff, asked him to do it and supplied the paint. It was Rob's design; he has done murals before – I was just adding flourishes, but it was interesting to work on street art in public for the first time.

We started the work in December 2013 and Rob had just put the finishing touches to it. Here's a visual record of our progress.

The wall originally was bright orange, 30 metres long and 10 metres high. Rob started by making lines in spray paint.

  

It needed to incorporate Buddha, and this is Rob's preliminary sketch.

In the early stages, using the roller and line work.

Embrace the wall, man!
 

Almost there...getting to this stage took about 5 sessions, lasting until sunset.

And finally, in March 2014 it's complete.

Scenes From America I: The Kurt Cobain Tour

Well, I'm back after 11 weeks in the United States and here is my first themed photo megapost, and it really has nothing to do with illustration or design – rather, it's about Nirvana, and Kurt Cobain. As a huge fan of Kurt as a songwriter and musician, it was a unique experience to visit the city of Seattle where he lived, and the small town of Aberdeen where he grew up – not to mention the amazing Nirvana exhibition at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. So, here are some Kurt-related things I was able to see on my trip.

(Thanks to Joe Cooper for taking me to Bellevue and Aberdeen. The EMP's Nirvana exhibit was curated by Jacob McMurray; no copyright infringement is intended!)

When you enter Aberdeen from the eastern side you are greeted by this Welcome sign. To commemorate Kurt, a smaller sign was later added bearing a Nirvana song title which has since become Aberdeen's unofficial motto.

This is 1210 East 1st Street, Kurt's early childhood home in Aberdeen. His family moved here in 1968, the year after he was born.

When Kurt visited his aunt, Mari Earl, who was herself a musician, he would play this guitar, which is now on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle.

This star has been set into the footpath outside Rosevear's Music Store in Aberdeen where Kurt got his first guitar (or took his first lesson; I forget which). The store has since moved a short distance away since Kurt's time.

And right outside that same store I found this cool decorative mural on a tree railing.

Kurt's mythmaking Young Street Bridge, immortalized in the Nirvana song "Something In The Way". Some say he lived under this bridge when he was homeless, or at the very least spent the odd night here. The sign says "In Memoriam – From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah", and yes, they are indeed muddy. It's like slippery clay under the bridge. Watch your step!

In Riverfront Park, a small patch of green next to the Young Street Bridge, is this sign featuring a drawing of Kurt and the lyrics to "Something In The Way". The other side (facing the road) gives a description of Kurt's history with this location.

And just below the sign is this plaque in the ground, featuring some of Kurt's quotes.

This is cool – a guitar statue entitled "As You Were", mounted on a platform. The curved metal strip bears the words "Just one more special message to go, and then I'm done, and I can go home", a line from the Nirvana song "On A Plain". You can see the bridge in the background. The whole small park is well kept and is definitely a place true Nirvana fans must see; it made me think Aberdeen has done more to commemorate Kurt than Seattle has, but at least there's the Experience Music Project.

Speaking of which...

If you're a Nirvana fan and plan to go to Seattle, go and see this. It costs $18, and $15 if you get one of those tourist brochures with coupons. My hostel got me in for $11. Worth every cent (and there are plenty of other great exhibits as well). There's plenty of time, it'll run until April next year. I'm not going to post photos of everything there, there isn't enough space. And Jacob McMurray wouldn't be too happy.

But here's something I really liked – a photo of Nirvana with Shonen Knife, in the early '90s. Two of my favourite bands in the same room together. Awesome.

This was my favourite item on display: Kurt's T-shirt he wore in the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. I don't know how much thought Kurt put into what he was going to wear in that video, but this unassuming brown and green long-sleeved T-shirt he chose unwittingly became an iconic piece of clothing. It's still in great condition too (unlike Kurt's canned meat)!

Kurt's final residence (seen from the side) on Lake Washington Boulevard East in Bellevue, just outside Seattle – apparently the sixth-most expensive street in the United States. Kurt was found dead here in 1994; fans still come to the tiny park next door. Its name is Viretta Park, but the name sign was missing.

Viretta Park has two wooden benches covered with messages from fans...

...and the second time I went there, I added my own. Nothing profound came to mind, so I kept it simple.


And finally – the nearby city of Tacoma paraphrased a certain song title on one of their souvenir postcards.