Travel: A summer trip to the Renaissance fortress and city of Zamość

We visited Zamość Fortress (Polish: Twierdza Zamość) and town on one of those perfect Polish summer days where the sun and heat pelted down and made everything bright and vivid. Locals and visitors in this far south eastern city of Poland seemed to have a spring in their step on this fine day and everyoneContinue reading “Travel: A summer trip to the Renaissance fortress and city of Zamość”

Every Picture Tells A Story: An Elephant in the Tea Room (1939)

At Robur Tea Room in Sydney in 1939, an elephant made a visit and majestically trumpeted in front of photographer Sam Hood and his friends. Thanks to the State Library of New South Wales. Found here.

Medieval Icelandic Sagas: Tales of Blood Feuds, Dangerous Women and Warriors

In this series of podcasts, Australian writer and broadcaster Richard Fidler and his friend, Icelandic writer Kári Gíslason travel to Iceland to regail us with the stories of the ancient Vikings; tales of blood feuds, dangerous women, fugitives and warrior poets. They also go to the windswept country to discover more about Kari’s own mysterious origins.Continue reading “Medieval Icelandic Sagas: Tales of Blood Feuds, Dangerous Women and Warriors”

Every Picture Tells A Story: Cracking Open a Keg on Cockatoo Island, 1925.

Here’s the auspicious launching of the HMAS Warrego II a Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney Harbour circa 1925. Trainspotters here will remember that I did a post a few years ago about the creepy and now largely abandoned Cockatoo Island and it’s industrial relics. Read it here. Well this photo recalls when Cockatoo Island was inContinue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: Cracking Open a Keg on Cockatoo Island, 1925.”

Mysterious Rongorongo Glyphs from Easter Island

A collection of 24 sacred wooden objects from Easter Island bear Rongorongo inscriptions, a system of glyphs that was discovered in the 19th Century and is still a mystery to historians. Numerous attempts at decyphering the proto-writing have been unsuccessful. These pieces of wood (a lot of it driftwood) are weathered, burned and damaged andContinue reading “Mysterious Rongorongo Glyphs from Easter Island”

Every Picture Tells a Story: Sokos Department Store, Helsinki 1947

Downtown department store Sokos in Helsinki, 1947. Located at the junction between Mannerheimintie and Postikatu department store Sokos was still under construction and resembled a behemoth and imposing ship. Courtesy of the Yle Archives – Yle Elävä arkisto on Flickr  

The Last Dogs of Winter: A Beautiful Documentary about the endangered Canadian Eskimo Dogs

Watch the preview here  In 1976, prompted by advice from Bishop Omer Robidoux (1913-1986), Churchill dog handler Brian Ladoon made it his mission to preserve and breed Canadian Eskimo Dogs also known as Inuit Dogs or Qimmiq, the rarest registered breed of dog in the world.  His efforts have inspired both admiration and fierce criticism,Continue reading “The Last Dogs of Winter: A Beautiful Documentary about the endangered Canadian Eskimo Dogs”

The lost art and history documentaries of YouTube

Forget Netflix, YouTube has some incredible vintage documentaries about art and history. Made during the days of  analogue, these docos may seem pixellated and blurry by today’s standards. Yet if you persevere, you’ll be rewarded with terrific storytelling, great production values and enigmatic and fascinating subject matter. Here for you are some great documentaries about materialContinue reading “The lost art and history documentaries of YouTube”