Monday 24 August 2009

A day in Pompeii - Melbourne Museum

Detail of a mosaic found in Pompeii. The figur...Image via Wikipedia

Very well laid out exhibition - interesting objects well linked together and to life in the Roman Empire; perhaps a bit more context about the Emperors and politics of the day. The Exhibition is accompanied by a series of lectures. Avoid times when a/ small children are taken and b/ School parties are there. There are a couple of screens showing interactive CD's - but if you want a go you may have to queue.


As usual its the body casts are particularly evocative and they are well 'displayed' with decorum. A bit more information on how the casts were discovered and made might help the casual browser on the day.

The shop was pretty tacky however, with a few roman inspired bracelets inc Roman & Greek coins, and a catalog - but very few 'Roman' items.


Til October 09



Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Wednesday 12 August 2009

The Cove (I highly recommend you get to the cinema)


If you enjoyed Al Gore with 'An Inconvenient Truth' you will love 'the Cove'. The movie may raise more questions than it answers but it certainly makes you think. Are Dolphins sentient? How should we treat wild animals? (though Dolphins are classed as Cetaceans or small whales - and yet not covered by the IWC!) Do Whales and Dolphins threaten fish stocks? How do humans interact with our planet? etc

Well I left with a weird dichotomy of feelings - and watching Flipper as a child may have aided and abetted my adult feelings of guilt and 'awww they are so cute'ness.

Yes I would be happy to write letters to stop whats happening in Tajei - but more importantly to stop Japan interfering in Caribbean island nations to 'buy' votes on the IWC. Oddly for me they came out as the bigger wrongdoers - the IWC, with Japan as the slightly overweight David that the International Goliath was sadly mismatched against.

But - go see it and come away with your own views - not as gruesome, maudlin or even the bad rip off of the Blair Witch meets Al Gore I expected. Highly Recommended.

At Cinemas now!

Bunnings

That's BunnINGS - not bunnys.... the local Aussie DIY shop. Take your man there and get your hair done girls - or loose 3 hours of your life there looking at every little and large gizmo and gadget he might need for the summer or winter (or at least the season juxtaposed to the one you are in) and comparing screws.