The eBook Revolution

In a previous post, Coming Up For Air, I wrote about my purchase of an iPad 2, and how I was adjusting my book reading habits to reading eBooks via this amazing tablet device. In my Travelling Bookworm entry, I listed all the physical books I had read over a three month period (January-March, 2012), and I've decided to return to the theme here.

Apple iPad and iPhone readers will be familiar with the iBooks app (see image). Although I also have Google's Play Books app, my eBook reader of choice at the moment is iBooks.

As you can see from the lists below, my reading of physical books continued apace during April and May. But following the purchase of my iPad, and the downloading of more than 100 free eBooks (in the ePub format) from the Gutenberg.Org website, my book reading has changed overnight from physical books to eBooks.

Books Read in April
20. Where The Buffalo Roam, by Anne Matthews
21. Dubliners, by James Joyce
22. Oliver Stone: The Making of His Movies, by Chris Salewicz
23. Before The Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730 
24. The End of America, by Naomi Wolf
25. Isaac’s Storm, by Eric Larson
26. The Devil in The White City, by Eric Larson
27. God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens
28 A Genius for Failure: The Life of Benjamin Robert Haydon, by Paul O’Keeffe

Books Read in May
29. Shakespeare Never Did This, by Charles Bukowski
30. Provinces of Night, by William Gay
31. The Captain is Out to Lunch…, Charles Bukowski
32. Pulp, Charles Bukowski
33. Hank: The Life of Charles Bukowski, by Neeli Cherkovski
34. Ask The Dust, by John Fante
35. Notes of a Dirty Old Man, Charles Bukowski
36. George Lucas: The Making of His Movies, by Chris Salewicz
37. The Dig Tree, by Sarah Murgatroyd
38 Tilt: A Skewed History of The Tower of Pisa, Nicholas Shrady
39 Selected Poems, T.S. Elliot

Books Read in June

40. Report From Engine Co.82, by Dennis Smith

eBooks Read in June
1. Knickerbocker’s History of New York, Washington Irving
2. Greenwich Village, Anne Alice Chapin
3. Henry Hudson, Thomas A. Janvier
4. Botticelli: Masterpieces in Colour, Henry Bryan Binns
5. The Training Of A Forester, Gifford Pinchot 
6. The Story Of Manhattan, Charles Hemstreet
7. Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search For Osama Bin Laden, Peter Bergen
8. Literary New York, Charles Hemstreet
9. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving
10. Davy and The Goblin, Charles E. Carryl
11. The Admiral’s Caravan, Charles E. Carryl
12. Nooks and Corners of New York, Charles Hemstreet
13. Journals & Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773-1774

Of the thirteen eBooks listed above, only Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search For Osama Bin Laden, is a modern publication. All the others were originally published between 80-200 years ago! Since purchasing Manhunt, I have bought three other modern eBook titles, but continue to discover and download other public domain works via Gutenberg.Org.

So how have I found this transition from physical paper-based books to eBooks?

I must say I have surprised myself by how quickly I have taken to reading via the iPad. I love the convenience of having potentially hundreds of books stored on this device. I love too, the ability to highlight interesting passages of text, make notes, search for definitions of words I am unfamiliar with, and enlarge or reduce the size of text as it suits me. I can also do a general online search for individual words or phrases, or search Wikipedia specifically. I can also email notes and highlights to myself - or anyone else - or print them off if I want 'hard copies' of my notes.

The transition was made easier when I realised that it wasn't so much the physical books I was interested in so much as the information contained in the books themselves. Since I am first and foremost interested in the information, it makes sense to have this information close at hand - literally at my fingertips.

The main drawback I am faced with at this time is the sheer volume of eBooks available online - both public domain and commercial releases. As noted, I already have well over a hundred eBooks on my iPad, and keep discovering more that I would love to read, but finding the time to read them is my greatest problem. However, I figure it is a nice problem to have, and I am already learning to curb my initial enthusiasm for collecting a mass of esoteric titles I may never get to read. Mind you, the beauty of discovering public domain eBooks is that they are always available online, and I can always return to download them as the mood takes me.

What do you think of eBooks? Are you a convert? A passionate advocate or a traditional book reader? Feel free to add your thoughts to this topic via the comments box below. Personally, I believe the wave of the future has arrived, and even though I know I will still buy the occasional traditional book, I am firmly committed to 'book' reading via my iPad.

Coming Up For Air

Hard to believe, I suppose, but there it is… my last entry was posted on April 1 (All Fools Day), and despite my best efforts to ignore my blog and devote myself to reading, people have kept visiting this site, and to my amazement (and confusion), I’ve even gained a couple of followers during my self-imposed exile.
I also discovered recently that a blog called Eleni’s Blog in Ikaria recently featured The Compleat Traveller as her blog of the month. In keeping with the focus of her own blog, Eleni has specifically chosen to feature my numerous entries about the Greek island of Ikaria, my ancestral home in the Aegean Sea.
I had hoped to return to Ikaria this year, but I have decided instead to make my third trip to America, so Greece and my island ‘home’ will have to wait for another twelve months or so. Meanwhile, thank you Eleni for the honor, and I commend my readers to Eleni’s Blog in Ikaria and hope you enjoy her writing and mine.

Apple iPad 2
Apart from continuing my reading streak, I bought a 64Gb iPad 2 at the start of June, and I have been discovering its many joys and features ever since. In fact, I am rarely away from it, and amongst other things, I have been testing its potential as an eBook reader. To that end I have downloaded over a hundred free eBooks from that wonderful repository of public domain books at Gutenberg.Org, and already read a dozen of them. I have also bought and read one other book, Peter Bergen’s Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search For Osama Bin Laden.
I finally made the move to iPad and eBooks after my bookshelf began to fill to capacity, and I realised that I just had to make the transition from physical books to digital reading before my passion for books got totally out of control.
It seems to have worked.
Since purchasing the iPad, I have only bought a couple of physical books and the more I use the device to read, the less I feel the need to buy ‘hard copies’ of the printed word.
Of course, the iPad has many other functions and uses, and I am planning to make it my main digital companion on my forthcoming trip to America. On previous trips I have lugged a heavy laptop around with me, but I am going to see how I can get by with my new purchase. I am hopeful that I can do pretty much everything I will need to do while on the road, and where it does not suffice, I will use internet cafés.
Anyway, I’m alive and well, and looking forward to travelling again, and making the occasional blog post here. Oh, and it’s good to be back. I think.

The Travelling Bookworm

I have been consuming books at a great rate over the last three months, which accounts for the lack of entries on this ‘travel’ blog. It also reflects the fact that I haven’t been travelling much over the past year – although I did spend five weeks house sitting in Melbourne during January and February. In fact, my Melbourne stay has been responsible in part for my return to reading. The city has some great second hand bookshops, and on my return to Adelaide, I carried with me a carton of 22 books that I just could not ignore as I trawled through my favourite stores.

I used to have a collection of several thousand books, but five or six years ago I sold my house and have been living in a series of rented accommodations ever since. As a result, I got rid of the bulk of my collection, with the rest packed in boxes, which are in turn stacked in my niece’s shed.

The previous collection of books covered everything from folk music to folk tales, history to fantasy, fiction and non-fiction, politics and art, and much more. Sadly, I never seemed to have time to read most of the books I bought. They just took up space on the bookshelves waiting patiently for the day when I would finally find the time to devote to them. Unfortunately, that time never came.

However, now that I am pretty much retired, I have plenty of time to read, and that is what I have been doing. Most of my new, small, but growing collection of books deals with 17th and 18th century history as it relates to the United States and Europe. I have also become interested (in a very general way) with architecture, art, and philosophy. To lighten my reading list, I try to mix non fiction titles in amongst the serious tomes, and I must say, I have found my renewed enthusiasm for reading quite addictive and of course stimulating and educational.

I can’t imagine why you would be interested, but here for the record is a list of the books I have read to date in 2012:

Books Read in January

1.      At The Edge of a Dream: The Story of Jewish Immigration on New York’s Lower East Side 1880–1920

2. Imperial City: The Rise and Rise of New York, Geoffrey Moorhouse
3. The French and Indian War, Walter R. Borneman
4. Will Rogers, by Ben Yogoda
5. Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell
6. To Reach The Clouds, by Phillipe Petit
7. Bird Cloud: A Memoir, by Annie Proulx

Books Read in February

8. City Life, by Witold Rybczynski
9. Architectural Details, by Marcia Reiss
10. Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy’s Guide, By Joseph Epstein
11. Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
12. How The Industrial Revolution Changed The World, by Thomas Crump
13. All That Follows, by Jim Crace

Books Read in March

14. The Way West, by A.B. Guthrie
15. History of Pirates, by Charlotte Montague
16. Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt
17. Red Silk: The Life of Elliott Johnston QC, by Penelope Debelle
18. The Potomac, by Frederick Gutheim
19. An Australian in America, David Dale

Roosevelt Dime

“In these troubled times, everyone needs a Roosevelt Dime”

One of the great things about travel is the chance to discover new music and exciting venues in the cities and countries you pass through. I don’t much go for hanging out in bars and clubs, but music venues, yes.

Friday 13, August 2010 turned out to be a lucky day for me. On that day I was wandering through Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park during my New York City stay when my attention was caught by some of the happiest, liveliest music I had heard in more years than I care to recall. It seemed to be a mix of jazz, old timey music, folk, and that modern musical marketing segment known as Americana.

The group turned out to be Roosevelt Dime, an outfit I had never heard of, but which I immediately fell in love with and became a big fan of. They were in fact, indulging in some good old fashioned audience building. That is, they were out where the people were, playing for them live and for free. They were also promoting that evening’s gig at one of my favourite New York venues, The Bitter End.

Of course, I had to see catch their show. As it happens, I already had a ticket to see another one of my favourite American singer-songwriters, Steve Forbert, who was performing at Joe’s Pub on Lafayette Avenue that same night. However, as soon as that show finished I raced around to the Bitter End, and was delighted to find that Roosevelt Dime had only just taken to the stage.

The band is building its support base, one fan at a time. It is slow, hard work, but Roosevelt Dime seem to in it for the long haul, and know that there are no easy fixes on the road to bigger and more appreciative audiences.

If like me, you like what you hear, buy their music, and support their gigs – especially if you live in New York City and near abouts. Their website lists upcoming gigs in the New York area. Foot tapping fun for everyone is pretty much guaranteed.

"A perpetual crowd-pleaser, Roosevelt Dime often has commuters soulfully stomping their feet in the subway and passersby lindy-hopping in the park."

Tze Chun - The New York Times (June 7, 2010)

Monday Movies - High Steel and Spudwrench: Kahnawake Man

High Steel, by Don Owen, 1965, 13 min 47 sec

High Steel is a short documentary offering a dizzying view of the Mohawk Indians of Kahnawake (pron: Gun-na-wa-ga) who work in Manhattan erecting the steel frames of skyscrapers. Famed for their skill in working with steel, the Mohawks demonstrate their nimble abilities in the sky. As a counterbalance, the viewer is also allowed a peek at their quieter community life on the Kahnawake Reserve, in Quebec.

One of the first construction projects the Kahnawake helped build was the Saint Lawrence Bridge (1886-87) linking Kahnawake to Montreal Island. As Kahnawake men employed as ironworkers and bridgemen worked hundreds of feet above the water and ground, a legend began that the Kahnawake men had no fear of heights.

Over the years, Kahnawake men have continued to be employed as ironworkers in Canada, with many also moving to New York City to work on the city’s skyscrapers. Kahnawake men participated in building the Empire State Building, the World Trade Centre, and other major skyscrapers in New York City, as well as many bridges. This short film examines some of the work and lifestyle of these workers. 

High Steel, Don Owen, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Spudwrench - Kahnawake Man

By Alanis Obomsawin, 1997, 58 min

This documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin introduces us to Randy Horne, another high steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. As a defender of his people's culture and traditions, he was known as "Spudwrench" during the 1990 Oka crisis (a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada).

The hour long film presents a unique look behind the barricades at one man's impassioned defence of sacred territory, and is both a portrait of Horne and the generations of daring Mohawk construction workers that have preceded him.

Spudwrench - Kahnawake Man, Alanis Obomsawin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Both films are amongst the hundreds of films available via the National Film Board of Canada website. Another wonderful online resource for all to enjoy.

It’s a Small World After All

How true that heading is. On my way back to Adelaide from Melbourne yesterday, I got talking to a man who was also travelling on his own. We chatted about travel – as one seems to do when one is travelling – and he mentioned visiting Philadelphia some time ago with his wife.

It seems that the bus they were travelling on was delayed on its way to Philly. When they got to the main bus station much later than anticipated, they found that the hotel they had booked to stay in was some “50 miles” out of town, and that the only way to get there was with an expensive taxi ride. Of course, they cancelled that booking, and asked the agent at the bus terminal in Philadelphia if he could recommend a local hotel.

The agent recommended the Comfort Inn. In fact, said he, “they have a courtesy bus which can come and pick you up”. So the bus was called for and away went this couple to the Hotel. The man and his wife were delighted to find they were placed in a room overlooking the Delaware River, with a great view of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

What a coincidence.

This is the same Comfort Inn hotel I stayed in during my Philadelphia visit in 2010, during which I too had a room overlooking the river and the bridge. Of course, I mentioned this to my fellow passenger, and marvelled at the serendipitous nature of travel encounters.

At a subsequent stop (we were not sitting together), we started chatting again. This time we began talking about the bus ride up to that point, and agreed that next time either of us were making the same trip, we would look at catching the train instead of a bus. He mentioned that the train cost only a few dollars more anyway, and had the advantage of letting passengers walk through the carriages, giving them a chance to stretch their legs and move around more freely.

As we were chatting, the thought suddenly occurred to me that the train would pass through Mitcham station on its way into Mile End. Mitcham station is literally a couple of hundred metres from my current address, and I told him this, mentioning that I lived at Mitcham. Well, you could knock me down with a feather. Not only did this man and his wife also live in Mitcham many years ago, but he said, they “used to live in some flats opposite the Mitcham shops.”

“In Wemyss Avenue?” ask I.

“Yes,” says he.

Go ahead. Knock me down with a feather. Because my current address just happens to be one of those apartments in Wemyss Avenue.

I couldn’t believe it, and I’m not sure that he believed me, either. But there you have it. Two complete strangers swapping travel stories during a long bus trip between Melbourne and Adelaide, and we had both stayed in the same hotel in Philadelphia, and in the same apartment complex in Adelaide.

Of course, the dates and apartment/room numbers were different, but just the same – what are the odds of this happening?

It is indeed, a small world.

Monday Movies – Manhattan to Tokyo

A couple of movies combining motion and time lapse footage of Manhattan, and that other great metropolis, Tokyo. These are both from the Blue Eden page on Vimeo.

I haven’t been able to find out much about the people or person behind Blue Eden. The YouTube page was only set up at the beginning of December 2011, and the first Twitter post only went ‘live’ on January 4, 2012, so Blue Eden is definitely the new kid on the block . However, the quality of the three films produced so far, leave no doubt that the ‘kid’ may be new, but s/he certainly knows how to make a good first impression.

The information below is taken from that provided on Blue Eden’s Vimeo page.

Manhattan
A city that glows long after the light has faded. It seems people are always moving in and out of New York in pursuit of dreams. The city comes alive at night, as if unsatisfied to simply sleep. Many of us will leave one day, perhaps when we finally awaken, but those blurry lights continue to inspire long after.

I filmed this over one week in the winter. Scenes include Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central, Wall Street, Met Museum, American Museum of Natural History, and the 9/11 Memorial.

Music: "Circuits" by The American Dollar.

New York "Afterglow" from Blue Eden on Vimeo.

Kyoto
I first visited Tokyo nearly 10 years ago and was swept away by its futuristic society steeped in ancient culture. The beautiful mix of new and old still entrance me today. We hoped to capture that beauty and filmed for 2 weeks in Tokyo and its surrounding areas. As we visited during the New Year, we were lucky to attend the "dezuiri" sumo ring-entering ceremony, which you'll see in the opening shot. We also captured "yumi hajime" (first archery practice of the year) as well as "hatsumode" (first shrine visit of the year) at Asakusa.

Other shots include Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi Hills, Meiji Shrine, Rainbow Bridge at Odaiba, Tokyo Tower, Tsukiji fish market, Yokohama, Mount Fuji, Lake Kawaguchi, and Nikko world-heritage shrines. Music by Stephen Anderson.

Kyoto "Rising Dawn" from Blue Eden on Vimeo.

More Information
Blue Eden on Vimeo… 
Blue Eden on Facebook… 
Blue Eden on Twitter…

Also check out Blue Eden’s other Japan film, Kyoto HD "Rising Dawn" Technical information about the making of each video is available on Blue Eden’s Vimeo page. Finally, thanks to Blog Top Sites for bringing this to our attention.

Friday Fotos – Melbourne Images

 

Commit No Nuisance
Now where is the fun in that? I spotted this sign as I wandered through Melbourne’s Chinatown area, and couldn’t resist taking a photo. One has to wonder at just how much of a nuisance visitors have caused to force some authority to feel the need to paint this directly onto the wall. I have no idea if it is successful, or why it appears on this wall and on no another. I have yet to see similar signs elsewhere in Chinatown, or anywhere else around the Melbourne CBD for that matter.

Fireworks Underfoot

On January 29, I headed into the Chinatown section of Melbourne to catch some of the festivities taking place there as part of the Year of The Dragon celebrations. I watched two ceremonies take place at which long strings of fireworks were set off in front of Chinese restaurants, in an age old tradition meant to bring the owners good fortune and much luck throughout the coming year. The carpet of red that you see in this image has been created by the remains of hundreds of exploded fireworks.

Can This Be The Wall…?

Just down the road from the house I am staying in, locals have painted this sign on their house wall. While the sentiments may be admirable, it seems to me that the targets, the ‘coal barons’, are pretty much long gone, although there are probably some still around. Now a days, I suspect the coal barons have moved on to much richer pastures and are busy exploiting other natural resources like coal seam gas, uranium, iron ore and such like.

Reg Livermore – Take a Bow

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Reg Livermore has been entertaining Australian audiences for over 50 years. Sadly, I have missed the majority of the many, many shows he has appeared in – either as part of an ensemble cast or in his one man shows – because Reg lives and performs mostly along the eastern seaboard of Australia, and rarely it seems, does he make it to Adelaide.

However, I count myself lucky to have at least seen him in his seminal one man shows Betty Blokk Buster Follies in 1976, and Sacred Cow II in 1981. I also saw his production of Ned Kelly when it toured to Adelaide in 1978, a show for which Reg was writer, director, and designer.

So I was absolutely delighted to see that the Arts Centre Melbourne, was staging an exhibition celebrating his extraordinary career, and that my visit to Melbourne coincided with the exhibition, which as of this writing I have already visited three times.

Reg Livermore – Take A Bow, showcases his groundbreaking solo shows that began with Betty Blokk Buster Follies, and features some of the many stage costumes worn during that, and other shows. Also on display is material from his personal archive, including show posters, manuscripts, interviews, and awards, all of which allow the visitor a rare glimpse into the creative talent of a true Australian theatre legend.

The centre piece of the exhibition features a giant screen replaying songs from Betty Blokk Buster Follies. And it is these songs and performances that have drawn me back to the exhibition several times already.

Betty Blokk Buster Follies DVD
Here is the promotional video for the Betty Blokk Buster Follies DVD:

Some of the costumes on display include those of the characters Tara The Incredible, Carmen Marahuana, Allison Diesel, Captain Jack, Joan of Arcadia, Vaseline Amalnitrate, and the immortal Betty Blokk Buster herself.

As an occasional performer myself, I have always been drawn to other singers and actors who are not afraid to completely inhabit the characters they play and give them full expression. Reg Livermore not only does that but he has never been afraid to tread where many other performers are afraid to tread. In recognition for his many years in theatre, Livermore was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1996, and in a special ceremony at Melbourne’s Docklands in 2006, Livermore was named one of 100 Australian Entertainers of the Century.

His latest show and tour Turns (with another legend of the Australian theatre Nancye Hayes), took place in 2011. At 73. Reg Livermore doesn’t look like he is ready to stop performing anytime soon, and Turns was just the latest in a long career that began in 1957 with Around The Loop, and has gone on to included television (as an actor and presenter), and appearances in more than 100 theatre and television shows.

Apart from his one person shows, and the dozens of other theatre performances he has been in, Reg Livermore has appeared in some of Australia’s biggest theatre productions including Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show, Barnum, Iolanthe, The Producers, and My Fair Lady.

I was delighted to see that a collection of songs from the Betty Blokk Buster Follies show is now available on CD and DVD, and these can be bought via Possum Records. Reg has also written an autobiography, Chapters and Chances a coffee table style photographic history, published in 2003, and he is currently completing a second volume, There Are Things I Haven't Told You. Chapters and Chances can be bought directly from Reg Livermore via his website, and I note that he is more than happy to sign copies of the book if you request it.

Both the book and the DVD can also be purchased at the Arts Centre Melbourne during the exhibition.

"On of the most extraordinary events in Australian theatre history - A brilliant star"

~ The National Times on Betty Blokk Buster Follies

I have made my own humble tribute to Reg Livermore using footage from the Take a Bow exhibition, edited to his beautiful performance of the Charles Aznavour song, What Makes a Man?

More information:

Reg Livermore – Take A Bow at Arts Centre Melbourne, Gallery 1
November.5, 2011 – February 23, 2012.

Open Daily | Free entry

Arts Centre Melbourne…

Reg Livermore website…

Reg Livermore on YouTube…

Possum Records…

Reg Livermore on The Midday Show (1996)

In 1996, Reg Livermore appeared on The Midday Show, and was interviewed by the shows host Kerri-Anne about his career, his Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) award, and other topics. You can see that interview here:

Monday Movies - Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut



Screen grab from Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut

Just one movie for you today, and it’s great as it is bizarre, surreal, and funny.

In 2009, Vimeo developer Casey Pugh had a dream: to create an entire remake of the original Star Wars: A New Hope using only 15 second fan-made clips; they could recreate the scenes whichever way they wanted, whether using action figures, beer bottles, animation or dogs. Now, a 2010 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media later, the entire crowd-sourced project has been completed.

You can see the completed fan-made Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut, below. The two hour film includes animation, live action, puppets, Lego figures, and the weirdest collection of 15 second clips ever assembled into one delightful pastiche that pays tribute to George Lucas’s groundbreaking film.

Thanks to Gothamist for bringing this to my attention.

Things You Discover Walking – Clifton Hill Shot Tower

Clifton Hill Shot Tower looms over local homes

Have you ever wondered how they made those little round balls that passed as bullets in the olden days? You know the type I mean. Small, round, lead balls that had to be rammed down the barrels of primitive muskets and pistols, before they could be fired at an assailant or enemy combatant. Well, today’s Things You Discover Walking entry provides the answer.

A couple of kilometres from the home I am currently house sitting (in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North), is a tall chimney-like structure that towers high over the neighbourhood of Clifton Hill. A little research reveals the column to be the Clifton Hill Shot Tower, a structure that was first erected in 1882.

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Would you like to hazard a guess at the number of bricks that went into
the towers construction?

...

But what exactly is a ‘shot tower’?

“A shot tower is a tower designed for the production of shot balls by freefall of molten lead, which is then caught in a water basin. The shot is used for projectiles in firearms.” ~ Wikipedia

Let’s examine this process in more detail. Inside the shot tower, lead was heated until molten before it was passed through a copper sieve high up in the tower (presumably, the furnace to melt the lead was located at the top of the tower). As the molten lead dropped through the air it solidified as it fell, and the surface tension generated by the fall, formed tiny spherical balls.

The partially cooled balls dropped into a pool of water at the bottom of the tower where they were left to cool down completely. And that in a nut shell is how lead shot used to be made before the development of modern bullets.

To make larger shot sizes, a copper sieve with larger holes was used. However, the maximum size of the lead shot was limited by the height of the tower, because larger shot sizes needed to fall farther to give them time to cool.

Originally, molten lead was poured into moulds of various sizes to create lead shot, but as you can imagine, this was a long, slow, time consuming process. The advent of the shot tower sped up the process considerably until even newer modern methods were developed. 

Clifton Hill Shot Tower

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The Clifton Hill Shot Tower rises 49 metres (160 ft), and can be found on the corner of Alexandra Parade and Copper Lane. The tower (the tallest shot tower ever built in Australia), was operated by the Coops family, who also managed the Coops Shot Tower. Remarkably, this tower has also been preserved and can be seen inside the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre. Both towers are on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Modern methods for producing lead shot for shotgun shells, have of course done away for the need for shot towers, but many examples of these fascinating relics of a bygone age still survive.

Two of the oldest towers still standing are the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower in Wythe County, Virginia. This was built in the 1790s, and is now part of a state park and open to the public during the tourist season. Another is the Chester Shot Tower, in Boughton, England. This tower, built in 1799, is the oldest surviving shot tower in the Britain. Other examples still survive in countries as diverse as Germany, Finland, New Zealand, and elsewhere.

Clifton Hill Shot Tower

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So there you have it: the Clifton Hill Shot Tower. It now stands like a silent sentinel on a nondescript corner just metres from the entrance to Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway.

It would be wonderful to see the tower turned into more than just an old relic from a bygone era – I’m sure the view from the top would be well worth the climb – but sadly, money, politics, and planning constraints will no doubt conspire to stop that.

Monday Movies – The Vanishing El

The elevated line at Broadway and 125th Street

If you are a keen moviegoer like I am, you will almost certainly be familiar with the elevated railway lines that are used to such great effect in films like The French Connection, Saturday Night Fever, and the opening credits of Welcome Back Kotter. While most of the elevated lines in New York City (colloquially referred to as the ‘El’), have long disappeared from Manhattan, wonderful examples of these amazing engineering works can still be seen in Queens and Brooklyn. However, a short section of elevated line for the ‘1’ Train still soars high above Broadway and 125th Street in Harlem.

Manhattan’s most famous surviving section of elevated line today must surely be the formerly abandoned, by now newly renovated west side line. This has undergone a new lease of life, and been reborn as the incredibly popular High Line (see Walking The High Line, Street View Comes to The High Line, and here...). All of which serves to introduce today’s series of Monday Movies featuring the former Third Avenue El.

If Things Could Talk: The Vanishing ‘El’ [10:00]

As the name implies, the Third Avenue El, ran the length of Manhattan’s Third Avenue before crossing over into the Bronx. The first segments of the line opened in Manhattan in 1878, and service continued before the line was eventually shut down in stages – beginning with the Manhattan sections in the 1950s – before the complete shut down of the Bronx section in 1973.

The Third Avenue El was featured in a number of films, including The Lost Weekend (1945),The Naked City (1948), On the Town (1949), The Killer That Stalked New York (1950), and On the Bowery (1956).

The 3rd Avenue El [10:39]

In this film a beatnik photographer with a tripod, a stumbling drunk from the old Bowery, a giddy little girl travelling with her father, and a couple on a romantic excursion help create a loose narrative of life on the old El.

See more films at: http://www.weirdovideo.com 

Melbourne

Flinders Street Station by Adam J.W.C.

~ After an exhausting eight hour day wandering around central Melbourne – buying books and visiting the Melbourne Museum and the Australian Centre for The Moving Image (ACMI), I returned to my house sitting base in Fitzroy North, and pretty much collapsed from the effort.

It doesn’t bode well for the rest of my five week stay, but I’m sure I will adjust to the routine – as long as I don’t make the purchase of books a regular part of that routine. Personally, I thought my Training For Travel program of daily hour long walks would have prepared me better for the rigours of extended city walking, but of course, there is a big difference between walking for an hour, and being on my feet for at least seven of the eight hours I was out and about yesterday.

Right now, I am still in recovery mode. Thankfully, my feet are complaining less, and my back is a lot happier now that I am spending most of the day reading, writing, and relaxing. But watch out, body, tomorrow we hit the streets again. So suck it up, and make the most of your layover day. The adventure is only beginning.

Monday Movies: Musicians Below New York

One of the many things I love about New York City is the range of amazing musicians and singers who eke out a living performing across the city’s subway network. Actually, ‘eke out’ may be the wrong expression. Judging by the amount of money some of these musicians are able to earn in tips (based on my observations), they may in fact be making quite a good living.

Of course, this only applies to the best of the performers, but then to survive as a performer on New York’s subway stations you have to be more than good, you have to be very good. So today, I thought I’d feature some short films that focus on a few of these subway singers.

The first film was uploaded to YouTube by a person using the pseudonym/profile name: mybs86. Regarding the video s/he writes:

"okay- what you are about to watch is a true new york experience. what originally started out as a typical nyc subway ride ... turned into an awesome performance by two people who have never met before. i captured the whole thing on video. the singer continued with another great song after the entire subway car demanded an encore. her name is jessica latshaw- make sure to check out her music."

   

Whether the meeting of musicians was a set up or not is immaterial. It’s a great clip, and Jessica exudes confidence and charisma by the bucket full. Jessica Latshaw has her own Facebook profile [https://www.facebook.com/jesslatshaw], so if you feel so inclined – get in touch and become a Friend/Follower.

Thanks to Gothamist for bringing the Jessica Latshaw video to our attention.

Below New York 
Below New York is the name of a documentary for CamLin Productions, whose first feature “…is a unique and stylized look at some of New York City's finest subway performers, musicians and artists. The film draws the audience into the amazing lives these local performers lead, and how their quest for a venue and sustenance adds a truly wonderful aesthetic to one of the greatest cities in the world.”

   

Below New York – Select Blendz 
One of the groups featured in the Below New York documentary is Select Blendz, an (almost) a’ Capella group that clearly has the doo-wop thing down pat. I say ‘almost’ because they do include an upright bass player in their lineup. This second clip showcases the group on an unnamed New York subway station.

   

* * *

Make Your Dream a Reality

Matt Green’s celebratory cake (see below)

In my first post for the year (Welcome to 2012), I mentioned that many people have found ways to indulge their love of travel, often for extended periods of time, and that if you are prepared to make the commitment and sacrifice, you too can travel sooner rather than later. What I didn't include in that post, however, were links to some of the many blogs and websites from these travellers. So today, I have decided to address that omission.

All the travellers highlighted have embarked on amazing personal journey's that often defy logic, logistics, money, and maybe even common sense. But as I also wrote in that entry:

“You will … encounter naysayers, sceptics, and critics who will argue that the world is filled with dangers lurking around every corner – as if watching an hour of the evening news doesn’t reinforce that time and time again.

Then there are others who argue that you need to knuckle down and focus on finding a life partner, or family, or career, or homebuilding, or making a fortune, or [add your own inner nagging voice].”

The intrepid travellers noted below, have all chosen to ignore the critics and live their dreams.

The World on Wheels…

Bearing the tag line: An ongoing adventure of travel and living while using a wheelchair, Tim and Darryl Musik’s website is a detailed record of the father and son’s travels across America and further afield. Tim has been disabled from birth. Darryl is his father and caregiver. Together they have embarked on journeys to Austria, Belgium, Dominican Republic, England, France/Monaco, Germany, Ireland, Mexico and throughout the United States.

Filled with numerous images and short, high quality videos, The World on Wheels is always positive, uplifting, and insightful. And it shows that confinement to a wheelchair is no excuse for staying home, when there is a world of wonders waiting to be discovered and experienced.

Feel The Earth…

Someone else who is exploring ‘the world on wheels’ is Keiichi Iwasaki. In April 2001, the Japanese national, then aged 28 decided to ride his bicycle across Japan. He had just 160 yen (around $2) in his pocket. His plan was to perform magic tricks wherever the opportunity presented itself, and to pay for his bike ride as he went. Keiichi not only completed his ride across Japan, but he enjoyed it so much he caught a ferry to South Korea and kept going. Ten years, thousands of miles and dozens of countries later, according to this September 2011 report on the National Geographic website, Keiichi is still riding – and still paying his way by performing magic tricks.

Along the way he has been robbed by pirates; arrested in India; nearly died after being attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet, and narrowly escaped marriage in Nepal! But he has also climbed both Mont Blanc and Mount Everest; used a rowboat to travel from the source of the Ganges River in India to the sea (a distance of over 800 miles), and also rowed across the Caspian Sea just because he wanted to see “…how big Caspian sea is?” It took him 25 days.

Dervla Murphy...

Irish author Dervla Murphy has written over twenty travel books, many documenting the details of her journeys by bicycle across an incredible range of countries. In 1963, at the age of 32, Dervla embarked on her first major bike ride – from Dunkirk, France to India, and wrote her first book Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle, about that ride. Still travelling at 80, she recently published her latest book, The Island That Dared: Journeys in Cuba.

But why ride when you can walk?

The Longest Way…

German born, Christoph Rehage set out on November 9th, 2007 – his 26th birthday – to walk from the Chinese capital Beijing to Bad Nenndorf in Germany. One year and 4600+ kilometres later he ended his walk – still in China – at Urümqi, a couple hundred kilometres shy of the border with Kyrgyzstan. Although he didn’t complete his walk, Cristoph (who now studies in Berlin), writes that “…getting as far as I got was an experience for which I am very grateful.”

His website, The Longest Way, documents his walk in great detail, with this time lapse film of the journey receiving over a million hits.

I’m Just Walkin’ (USA)…

Someone who did complete his walk across America was Matt Green, who walked from Rockaway Beach, Long Island, to Rockaway Beach, Oregon, crossing New York state, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and finally Oregon. After roughly five months, 3,000 miles, and 1500 blog entries, Matt said:

“A couple years ago I started a walking group called Hey, I’m Walkin’ Here! in New York City, and my love for walking really blossomed over the course of our adventures. Moving through the world at three miles an hour, you can fully take in your surroundings. There’s nothing separating you from your environment. You notice things that go completely undetected by people zooming by in cars. It’s such a rich experience: you can see, hear, and smell everything around you, and even touch and taste things if you feel like it.”

Having completed his walk across America, Matt began 2012 with the goal of walking every street across the five boroughs of New York City. As you would expect, he is documenting this challenge on his website I’m Just Walkin’ (NYC)…

Want more? Check out this list of people who have also walked across the United States.

Going Slowly...

Tara Alan & Tyler Kellen set up Going Slowly in February 2008, to document their bicycle tour around the world. That epic ride may be over – but the website acts as a permanent scrapbook of their many adventures together.

Without Wings…

Also going slowly are Anna Rice and Alex Hayton. Anna and Alex are currently undertaking a year long round the world journey by rail, road, ship and whatever other forms of transport they can arrange – short of flying. They have decided to embrace the concept of slow travel with all its joys and challenges, aiming to eat and sleep locally, and travel with as small a carbon footprint as possible.

Ok, I know I have chosen some pretty extreme examples, and I don’t expect you to walk or ride in the footsteps of the people mentioned. But the point of this entry is to push home the message that anything is possible if you are prepared to make the commitment and sacrifice to see your travel dreams come to fruition.

Folks, if it was easy – everyone would be doing it!

It isn’t easy, but as the examples above show, it is doable. So remember…

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Zuccotti Park, New York City

Mark di Suvero's, Joie de Vivre

On both my trips to New York City in 2008 and 2010, I have at various times found myself wandering through Zuccotti Park. Strictly speaking, it is more of a plaza than a traditional park, and in fact it used to be known as Liberty Plaza Park. Created in 1968, the park was one of the few open spaces with tables and seats in the Financial District. It is located just one block from the World Trade Center. Following the events of September 11, 2001 it was left covered with debris, and subsequently used as a staging area during the ensuing recovery efforts.

As part of the Lower Manhattan rebuilding efforts, the park (renamed Zuccotti Park in honor of John E. Zuccotti, a former City Planning Commission chairman),  reopened on June 1, 2006, after an $8 million renovation which involved regrading the area, the planting of numerous trees, and the reintroduction of tables and public seating.

The park is home to two sculptures: Joie de Vivre by Mark di Suvero, and Double Check, a bronze businessman sitting on a bench, by John Seward Johnson II.

Double Check, John Seward Johnson

When I first saw Johnson’s life sized statue of a businessman sitting on a bench, I was some distance away. Initially, I thought the figure was one of those ‘human statues’ that can be seen in many major cities around the world. You know the sort I mean: they cover their clothing in paint, strike a fancy pose, and only move if you put a coin or two in their tip jar.

On closer inspection, I realised that this incredibly life-like figure was forged in bronze. Apparently, the artist John Seward Johnson II, uses casts of real people as the basis of his work, which accounts for the realism of his sculptures.

Double Check, John Seward Johnson

Joie de Vivre, seen below and in the top image, is a 70-foot-tall sculpture by Mark di Suvero. The work, consisting of bright-red beams, was installed in Zuccotti Park in 2006, having been moved from its original location in the Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, NY.

Mark di Suvero's, Joie de Vivre

Of course, since I was last in New York City, and by extension Zuccotti Park, the area has become known around the world as the location of the "Occupy Wall Street" protest which began on September 17, 2011. It will be interesting to see if the OWS protests are still taking place when I visit New York again over the summer of 2012.

Here is a short video I shot during my April, 2008 visit to the park.

...

Scammer Alert!

Blogging can be such a thankless task. Most of us do it because we think we have something of value to offer, or because we like to contribute in some way to the body of knowledge and information that multiplies at an exponential rate across the Internet.

Some bloggers, myself included, try to reap some small monetary reward for the hours of writing, researching, photo editing, and everything else that goes into maintaining a blog. We do this by running Google and Amazon ads on our sites, but the vast majority of bloggers, again, myself included, make no income worth talking about via these ads.

Still, we live in hope that one day, we will begin to earn something worth boasting about. So when someone sends you an email enquiring about the possibility of buying ad space on your blog, your heart tends to leap in anticipation of the riches that might be waiting.

Well, folks, a couple of days ago I got one of those emails, and this post recounts the sorry tale as a warning to other bloggers and webmasters. Here is the complete text of the first message I got from a Maxence Leclerc:

To: Webmaster
From: Maxence Leclerc mleclerc@nami-agency.com
Message: Hi,
We are looking for new advertisement platforms and we are interested in your site compleattraveller.com. Is it possible to place banner on your site on a fee basis?
Best regards, Maxence Leclerc

On replying to M Leclerc that it was definately possible to place a banner ad on my site, I recieved this reply:

Hello,
Thanks for reply to our proposal!
I represent Nami Agency. At the moment we are preparing an advertising campaign for Lacoste Company (it is a French company producing clothes, footwear, perfumery etc.) We already have designed banners for the campaign, they are the following sizes: 160x600, 240x400, 300x250, 336x280, 468x60, 728x90.
What can be your price for one banner (banner should appear at ALL pages of your site) of abovementioned sizes (please specify the place for the banner – top, bottom, left, right)? Please mention a normal link for banner, without javascript code and set prices in US dollars per month.
Best regards,
Maxence Leclerc. site: www.nami-agency.com e-mail: mleclerc@nami-agency.com phone: + (0)9 78 62 68 47

Well, as the saying goes, "There's one born every minute," and for about four or five days I was that person.

It now turns out that M Leclerc has been very active spamming blogs and websites at random across the internet in an effort to scam as many people as possible. The gist of the scam seems to be that once he has agreed to your price (and he always agrees), you have to install a piece of code on your blog or website which displays the agreed to advertisement.

I have not been able to find out yet what this code does to computers, blogs, or websites. It may be that the scam simply involves the blogger/webmaster installing Leclerc's ad code across their website, which results in Leclerc getting all the income that may result from visitors clicking on his ad and completing a purchase. In effect, Leclerc is piggy-backing his ads onto other peoples websites. We do all the work, but he reaps the rewards.

Sweet.

For him.

But it is a bitter pill for us, the webmasters and bloggers.

As someone who has been online in one form or another for at least 15 years, I thought I was too smart to get caught out by scammers, but the prospect of turning my blog into some sort of money earner clouded my judgement, and I too *almost* got sucked in by M. Leclerc.

I say almost, because right now I am waiting for him to get back to me about a 'quote' for an ad placement on my website. I did check out the Nami Agency site, but did not think to Google his name, otherwise I would have saved myself a lot of trouble and dashed hopes.

Today, I did Google the name "Maxence Leclerc" and was led to this page: http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/741710-banner-advertise... where I read more about the scam.

The Google search reveals more than one person going under the name 'Maxence Leclerc', and of course this scammer may or may not be one of the listed people. In fact, it is almost certain that none of the people so named are the perpetrators of this scam. I further Google search reveals that this attempted rip off has also been carried out under the names of 'Martin Dumont', 'Gabriel Petit', and 'Evan Hubert'.

Anyway, I just thought I should write about this scam today. If you are a fellow blogger or webmaster - be warned. M Leclerc is on the prowl sowing the seeds for his scam even as you read this.

Have a safe, scam free new year.

Monday Movies – January 2, 2012

~ I have said it before, but it doesn’t hurt to  repeat it from time to time: the world really is a beautiful place, and the two films I have selected today for the Monday Movies reflect that very much. The first is a stunning seven minute NASA video of footage shot from the international space station and presumably from various Space Shuttle flights. The video is narrated by Dr. Justin Wilkinson from NASA's astronaut team.

In the film you can see some of the planet’s most impressive landscapes, including the coast of Namibia, Tunisia and Madagascar, along with Sicily, China, the Zagros mountains in Iran, Australia’s Gulf of Carpenteria, and the Great Salt Lake in Utah to name some of the birds-eye views on offer.

The second video is less than three minutes in length, but shows a full year in the life of our nearest neighbour – the moon. The time-lapse footage is quite hypnotic, but for me the real impact comes from comparing the views that both films offer of life in our universe. The stark contrast between the ever changing, blue, green and red landscape that is our beautiful planet, with that of the bare pockmarked surface of the moon, is frighteningly obvious.

As I said about another recent Monday Movie featuring different footage from the International Space Station:

"... if you think we humans are going to find a better place elsewhere in the universe – you are kidding yourself. This is it. This really is as good as it gets, and the sooner we accept that, the sooner we can focus on protecting the planet, and doing everything possible to ensure it, and we, survive for many future generations."

Touring The Earth From Space

-o0o-

A Year in The Life of The Moon 

If you were stuck somewhere far away from the recent lunar eclipse, here’s some consolation courtesy of NASA. The Scientific Visualization Studio at the Goddard Space Flight Center has put together this two and a half minute video from over a year’s worth of data recorded by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which has been orbiting the moon at 50 kilometers above its surface for over a year.

Related Content:

Touring the Earth from Space (in HD)

The Best of NASA Space Shuttle Videos (1981-2010)

Thanks to Open Culture for bring this to our attention.

Welcome to 2012

It’s traditional to offer some homilies and reflections at the end of one year, and at the beginning of a new one, and being a bit of a traditionalist I am happy to add my few words to the millions that have been written already, or to those that are being uploaded across the Internet as we speak.

Last year was not the best in my extended family, coming as it did with the loss in May (at age 70), of an older brother, George. There was also the untimely passing of a brother-in-laws much loved mother, and family matriarch, Maureen (who lived a long and fulfilled life of 91 years). Of course, all deaths are untimely, when it comes down to it, but Meg, as she was affectionately known by one and all, passed away just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and any death close to Christmas seems to have more impact than if it had occurred well before significant events that are normally celebrated by most families, or the larger community.

There were other deaths along the way, all of which served to remind me that I am not getting younger, and that if I am going to make the most of the rest of my life I need to focus my time and attention where I can get the most benefit out of the years ahead. Of course, life marches to its own beat, and it has a way of getting in the way of our best laid plans – no matter how carefully we have made our arrangements.

So for myself, the new year begins with much reflection and the hope that last year’s farewells will be the last I am going to see for some time. The new year also begins with the promise – and planning – of new journeys. Next week I head to Melbourne for a five week house sitting stint, and in July and August I should be apartment sitting in New York City. Then there is a much anticipated return to my ancestral home on the Greek island of Ikaria – and another stay in Paris, France would not go amiss either.

Dear reader, life is finite. The clock is ticking.

Travel blogs are filled with comments from readers wishing that they too could embark on journeys they have been daydreaming about, in many instances, for years.

If this sound like you, take heart. You can have your cake and eat it too – but you will have to decide on your priorities. You will almost certainly have to sacrifice something to make your dreams come true. And you will again, almost certainly, have to overcome many doubts and fears to bring your dreams to fruition. You will also encounter naysayers, sceptics, and critics who will argue that the world is filled with dangers lurking around every corner – as if watching an hour of the evening news doesn’t reinforce that time and time again.

Then there are others who argue that you need to knuckle down and focus on finding a life partner, or family, or career, or homebuilding, or making a fortune, or [add your own inner nagging voice].

Ignore them all. Travel blogs are also filled with articles from people – young and old – who have decided to live the dream they have been nurturing for many years, and who have left the 9-5 rat race behind to travel the world, in many instances for years at a time.

Some work their way from country to country, others busk or perform on city streets and subway station platforms. Travellers can join a wide variety of networks and organizations filled with friendly people that are happy to offer accommodation and advice for the passing traveller. All this information and more is available online via the monitor or portable device you are reading this post on right now.

Make a plan. It doesn’t matter if your plan is to travel in five years instead of five months. The important thing is to make a plan and stay focussed on it. Nurture it. Feed it. Grow it. Read, research, make notes, make plans, make contact with fellow travellers, and aim to put some money aside each week until you reach your ultimate goal – and departure date.

I say again – life is finite. The clock is ticking.

So, Love The Life You Live – or change it – and may all your dreams and more come to pass in 2012.