The Robin Hood Tax

Am I missing something? Because it sounds terribly simple.....

Show your support here

via PottyMouthMama

Copenhagen's Harbour Bath

Copenhagen’s harbour is in the midst of a transformation from an industrial port and traffic junction to being the cultural and social centre of the city. The Harbour Bath has been instrumental in this evolution. It extends the adjacent park over the water by incorporating the practical needs and demands for accessibility, safety and programmatic flexibility. Rather than imitating the traditional Danish indoor swimming bath, the Harbour Bath offers an urban harbour landscape with dry-docks, piers, boat ramps, cliffs, playgrounds and pontoons. As a terraced landscape, the Harbour Bath completes the transition from land to water, making it possible for the citizens of Copenhagen to go for a swim in the middle of the city.

I wonder if something like this or this would work in Newcastle's harbour?

A budget of US$787,000 might help.

The Hobo Code

via A Continuous Lean and including hobo lingo.

Newcastle Show

James Perse Trike

Where did all the low-riding trikes go? The ones you'd do block lap races with the neighbourhood kids.

This limited edition James Perse trike brought back a few memories.

via Minor Details.

The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle

The Great Northern Hotel was built on a site opposite Newcastle terminus train station at 'the top of town' in 1863 (historic images below from here) and attracted weary travellers from Sydney looking for meals and lodging close to all the main attractions.

Along Scott St, 1906.

Another incarnation

And with awning, circa 1914

During the early to mid-twentieth century Newcastle's CBD was a bustling metropolis savouring wealth from coal and steel industries and local production for everything from electric light bulbs to hosiery.

Workers lined ten-deep on the pavement to catch one of the many trams* or buses queued along Hunter Street for the commute back home to the outer suburbs. On Saturdays the streets were thick with dapper shoppers and day-trippers looking for a way to spend their hard-earned cash.

Shoppers line for buses outside Scott's Department Store on Hunter Street in December 1952 image from here.

New plans were developed for the hotel in 1937 by Rudder & Grout Architects and Engineers for brewers Tooth and Co. Rudder & Grout where also responsible for North Sydney Olympic Swimming Pool and the Qantas Building at Chifley Square in Sydney. It was Tooth's biggest hotel in their group at the time. Building was conducted by a local firm, Paynter & Dixon Ltd, and was completed in January 1938. Designed as a fashionable meeting place with no expense spared, all manner of luminaries bedded here including various Prime Ministers.

An advertisement for The Great Northern from Wilson's Rail, Road and Sea Guide to the North Coast (c.1930). Note that The Great Northern was once the 'largest hotel outside of Sydney'.

The Great Northern Hotel in the 1940s (building to left). Image from here.

The hotel in the 1950s.

The east and west wings were raised one level to be the same height as the central wing in the 1950s. You can see the difference in the colour of the brickwork of the central and western wings in the more recent image below.

Its more recent history is one that's repeated up and down the streets of Newcastle's CBD - a grand old dame of a building that's seen much better days. Having suffered decades of neglect as local industries slowed and died off and shoppers discovered all the conveniences of suburban malls, the death knell sounded in 1989 by way of a the earthquake which caused destruction for many buildings in the CBD. It was closed for approximately fifteen years.

Thankfully much of its integrity remained and The Great Northern Hotel is now listed on the NSW Heritage Register. New owners are undertaking what looks to be an slow but sympathetic restoration with the street-level bar and bistro reopened in January.

Ohhh, look at the variety of nice ice cold beer on tap.

The 96 hotel rooms, amenities and function halls in the upper levels are still be to restored as can been seen n the below pictures. Don't they remind you of a similar fate of some of the buildings in the city of Detroit? They too once had a booming (automotive) industry, but when it went bust so too did all the infrastructure, including people, that supported it.

I wish the owners all the luck in the world to turn this beauty around.

The Great Northern Hotel
89 Scott Street Newcastle

02 4927 57 28

All pics from The Great Northern Hotel unless stated otherwise.

* yes there were trams in Newcastle.

Salt-n-Pepa

By Vic.

Crochetdermy

First there was feltidermy. Now there is crochetdermy. By Shauna Richardson.

Newcastle Tram Roll

OK, so Newcastle never* had trams but I designed this destination roll as a contender for the Bird In The Hand design challenge before I realised that it was only open to people under 25 years of age.

It's based on the Bather's Way with some other points of interest added in. I'd love to have it screen printed and mounted one of these days. But it would make a good tea towel or postcard too I think.

* Addendum: I was on the right track afterall! Robert & Athena tell me that there were trams in Newcastle. It's really a pity that they ever got rid of them.

Logorama

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Merewether

If I should draw a comparison to Sydney, Merewether Baths would be Bondi Icebergs.

However, there are many differences. There's no club to join, no minimum visit requirements, no letter required to excuse you of missing your monthly visit quota, no paying for parking, no lack of parking......

It's only five minutes drive from my house. And it has a lovely name - Merewether. Indeed.

Can you smell the salt air?

The New Nail Polish

I love the idea of matte nail polish but for some weird reason I get finger nails on chalkboard chills thinking about them.

KnockOut Cosmetics have some excellent colours, but I do not know if you can get them in Australia. OPI do a matte range though, which should be easier to locate.

Over at For Me, For You (pic above) you can see how lovely grey (gloss) nails work. Kate recommends Essie and Rescue Nails range of alternate colours.

Meri Meri Cupcake Kits

I don't believe we have seen the end of the cupcake craze. Or themed kids parties. These guys have got it covered.

US$11.95 from Meri Meri Design.

via Jordan Ferney.

OK Go: This To Shall Pass

Newcastle, I Am Coming

First up, apologies for the serious lack of posting, however I have been preoccupied with a bit of a life-changing event.

The big news is that I will be moving away from Sydney with my family and relocating to Newcastle (Australia, not England!). This idea wasn't new, but it happened sooner than we imagined, instigated by being given notice to move out of our current house as the owner intends to sell.

My husband hails from Newcastle and I've been keen on the idea for years, but all those things that make life 'easy' and 'comfortable' like gainful employment and good friends made it easy to stay. However we so wanted to buy a house, but Sydney prices are crazy and we kept getting pushed further away from the coast, city, friends and family. In the end we couldn't justify living so far away from the things and people that were kept us here in the first place.

That being said, there are so many awesome things about Newy, namely affordable housing that is close (five minutes!) to the beach and also a sense that the city houses not-yet-fully-explored sources of inspiration, creativity and innovation. It's unaffected and unimpressed by glitz and glamour - it exudes realness.

We purchased the first house we looked at (because it's really cute, we don't have to do anything to it right away and we can ride out pushies to the beach!), resigned from our jobs and this time next week we will be probably be eating Henny Penny on the lounge room floor surrounded by storage boxes.

Scarily I will be unemployed, but I'm looking forward to spending time with my kids. I have grand plans for chickens, a vegie patch in time for autumn / winter harvest and some serious documented exploration of my new neighbourhood. Plus, I want to concentrate on blogging lots more.

Change is scary, but exhilarating. I'm so glad I'm not wondering 'what if?' anymore.

This Diana pic of a Newcastle beach is by Victoria.