First dates
This is my rather late entry for
week two of
Blogger Idol, on the topic of 'first dates'.
This looks like it could be a nice, picturesque place for a first date - a picnic maybe? It's the golf course a new housing estate which is being built in
Scoresby. (I took some photos there earlier in the year -
1,
2.) I took these photos at about 5:30, after all the workers had gone home.
The good things about having a date here are that it looks nice, and since it's not finished yet, it's very peaceful (after working hours). Possible downsides are that the owners might not be to happy to find out people have been picnicking on their golf course before the estate has even been finished and that you have to get across Ferny Creek. However, for more adventurous couples, this could be seen as a plus.
Otherwise you will be unable to exit
This is a
thing. It is in the middle of the rooftop car park at
Boronia Mall.
Century Building
This is the
Century Building, in Swanston Street, just up from
Manchester Unity. Maybe it's Bob's winter palace?
Chapel Road
I took this photo two-and-a-bit weeks ago, at the last meeting of my old church, Chapel Road Uniting Fellowship, in
Keysborough, a suburb of
Dandenong.
Basically, the church was started for people from the
Uniting Church who had problems with the Uniting Church
saying that homosexuality was okay, and wanted more Biblically-based teaching, including teaching about the Holy Spirit. The building in the photo was where we eventually ended up meeting on Sundays (previously we'd met in people's houses).
So far, this is where I had my most positive experience of church. Although there were only about twenty-five regulars most fo the time I was a part of this church, it was a genuine community. 'Fellowship' was more than a cup of tea or coffee - it was like being in a
functional family. The sermons were interactive, rather than it just being the pastor transferring his knowledge to us 'lay people'.
Now a significant number of churches have agreed to leave the denomination and start a new one, unless the Synod (church council) returns to more biblical teaching. Because of this, there isn't really a need for this kind of church anymore, and the building has now been taken over by some church-planters who have come from
Samoa to start a multicultural Christian community in Keysborough.
Argh
As the free ISP I had been using up until now appears to have been put out of business, I won't be updating with new photos for a while.
The view from Spencer
I took these while waiting for the train to Ballarat to arrive at
Spencer Street Station, the Sunday before last.
Footstool temple
'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you ever build me a temple as good as that? Could you build a dwelling place for me? My hands have made both heaven and earth, and they are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken!'
Isaiah 66:1-2
My Top 5 - week 1
1.
Ian's Messy Desk
2.
Buzzcrash
3.
A Dervish's Du'a
4.
Livingroom
5.
Writer's Edge
1:13am Wednesday December 13:
I want to give the entry from
Blondzila an honorable mention as well, now that I've read it.
Bob's place
Here is another photo of Bob's
art deco castle. As was mentioned by
Taqwa in
this post, Bob is the twin brother of
Saruman the White. Evidently, he is also the CEO of
Manchester Unity.
Heavenly sign
Found this piece of street art in
Degraves Street, Melbourne CBD, coming up out of Campbell Arcade after visiting
Sticky.
Baptist Place
These are some more photos I took at
Baptist Place last week. In the first photo, you can see (through the mirror) Garry and Mary working on their mural.
The launch of the murals was on Wednesday, but Garry and Mary still have a bit of work to finish off.
I took the photo below after the launch. Garry is on the left and Mary is on the right, holding up one of the skyscrapers. The lady in the middle is one of their friends who came to the launch.
Naïeveté scene
One thing I'd appreciate for Christmas is a realistic nativity scene. I've never seen one where Jesus and his family look Palestinian. I've never seen one where Mary and Joseph look like they've just finished a huge journey just so some beurocrats can do a head-count. And, of course, I've never seen one where Mary looks
anything like she's just given birth.
The Christmas story's always so sanitised and pacified. It's been castrated (but without any pain or mess, of course).
It also seems pretty bizarre.
In the Christmas episode of
Mr Bean, Mr Bean plays with the miniature nativity scene in a department store. Jesus is visited by the shepherds and wise men, but also by a robot and a Tyranosaurus. All the visitors are shhhed by Mary and Joseph for making to much noise.
Eventually, Jesus must be air-lifted by an angel to a doll's house, which the Mary and Joseph figures indicate is a much more suitable place for a newborn baby.
That scene (as in the scene in the episode, not the nativity scene) says a lot to me. The nativity scene version of Jesus and his parents is as alien to 1st century Palestine as the robot and dinosaur. They'd feel much more at home in a suburban, middle-class home in a wealthy country during the 21st Century than some dirty stable where anyone can walk in off the street.
I think it's a bit late for me to put together a more sensible nativity scene for this year, but I can start thinking of ideas for next year. I can almost smell the manure. If you have any ideas, tell me via the comments.
Bank of New Zealand?
I
think this is the
Bank of New Zealand. I will check when I'm in the city tomorrow or on Monday, and if it isn't, then I'll correct this. If it turns out that it is, then I will point out that it looks like it's out of
Lord of the Rings. Either way, it is a big,
gothic revival building on the corner of
Collins Street and
Swanston Street in Melbourne CBD.
1:30am December 8: Sorry, turns out it is actually
Manchester Unity. And it is actually
art deco rather than gothic revival.
Urban Seed
The last two weeks I've spent a few afternoons in Baptist Place, an alley off Little Collins Street, in Melbourne CBD. I took these photos there today (Wednesday). Note that the bottom photo is bent. That happened while shoving it into my backpack.
Baptist Place is used by drug users as a place to inject heroin.
Urban Seed provide free lunches to the people who use Baptist Place, through their
Credo Café. They also run art classes for the street people every Wednesday afternoon. The article below is from Monday's (mostly garbageous) edition of
MX:
Partnering with
VIVAIDS, Urban Seed have commissioned some artists to paint murals in Baptist Place 'depciting issues of Koori, Vietnamese and Anglo injecting drug users in Baptist Place.' The launch of the Laneway Mural Project is at 3:30pm on Wednesday December 8. Below is a photo of one of the murals, from a flyer Garry (one of the muralists) gaves me.
