At East Geelong Uniting this morning

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Today we had guests from Leopold join us at East Geelong Uniting Church and also Rev Swee from the Multicultural Commission gave the address - a subversive point of view about the Canaanites being displaced by Moses mob!  I think Jesus turned upside down that tribalism which only saw the dominant side. Rather relevant in today's Middle East events I think! Also the boys who won the Juniors Tennis were greeted - all boys from our youth - Jhiah, Andrew, Jordan, and Ben. There was a Tongan song by the Vaitohi family. I helped play the music with the other muso, Fae. After worship we had lunch in the hall with about a hundred people. It was a good day  of sharing hospitality. Here are a few photos from this morning.

Outside the Geelong Art Gallery

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Two drawings in coloured pencils outside the Geelong Art Gallery are a bit wimpish but here they are. There's lots happening around there at present with the new library going up - encased in square fences now, but in the end it will look like a golf ball. I reversed the colours of the two drawings which gives a stranger kind of appearance.

Contemporary art in Geelong

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Yesterday Peceli and I visited two art galleries where excellent examples of contemporary art were on display. First we went to the Metropolis Gallery in Ryrie Street - saw lovely pen drawings by Lucy Hardie,  Rona Green's animals,  abstract landscapes thickly painted. Then we drove to the Boom Gallery down at the end of Pakington Street - the old woollen mill site - where we saw the interesting urban landscapes of Geelong by Glenn Smith, some large, some quite small. Mainly black silhouettes with abstract markings. Even the Ritz was an inspiration in metal.  There was an element of nostalgia of course as I had spent a very enjoyable time during the 1980s at the Mill doing art for my BA and BA Honours as part of Deakin University studies, before moving to ethnomusicology. Good to see the old mill used as art spaces once again.  I talked with a Geelong art teacher so Peceli took a photo of the two of us. There's a coffee shop at Boom Gallery. but with rather pricy cakes.

I do like to live beside the seaside

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We live five minutes walk from the sea but that's only the animal health lab or Eastern Beach, but from Geelong there are dozens of beaches to visit for swimming and picnics and you can even go on the ferry over to Sorrento for the day.  Here are two pictures I made - one of Sorrento, one of Anglesea   - a monochrome..

Is Melbourne really the best city in the world?

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A survey - not by academics but by readers - puts Melbourne and Auckland as the best cities in the world. I wonder though.  (I was impressed with Auckland on the brief visit we had there, lots of South Pacific islanders and Fiji Indian shops which I like.) Melbourne has too much high-rise for me and some suburban areas are chockers with narrow streets like Prahran, a  bit claustrophobic for me. However there are delightful aspects - great sport, education opportunities, parks,  all kinds of people, every man has a castle to live in - well, not all.  Good food, music, art, libraries. Apparently people are mostly friendly  towards visitors compared with other places. Two are my photos, the one with the traffic is from the internet.

Of course Geelong wasn't mentioned - our city is too small to make the list, but certainly it's more liveable than Melbourne!  I wonder how Pacific cities rate, such as Suva.

Conde Nast Traveler magazine names world’s friendliest and unfriendliest cities

·         AUGUST 18, 2014 12:00PM

US AUSSIES and New Zealanders tend to get annoyed when our accents get mistaken for one another, but there’s one thing we do share. We both can lay claim to hosting the world’s friendliest city, with Melbourne and Auckland jointly taking top honours in a new survey.

Another southern hemisphere destination — South Africa’s Johannesburg — didn’t fare quite as well, being named as the most unfriendly.

Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s annual Readers’ Choice Survey says it was “no surprise readers adore Melbourne,” calling it Australia’s “capital of cool.”Aucklanders were praised by readers for their “humour” and a view on life that’s “something to aspire to attain.”

Australia scored a friendly city double, with Sydney also making the top 10 alongside a global scattering that includes Cambodia’s “awe-inspiring” temple gateway Siem Reap and “vibrant” Dublin.The United States fielded two cities onto the friendly list, with Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, each winning praise.

CN Traveler says its “subjective” survey asked readers to rate cities on a number of factors, including “friendliness.”It said the results didn’t always reflect the local residents.

Such is the case with Beijing, which made number six on the unfriendly list after being dissed for its “terrible pollution” and “dirty streets and hideous traffic.”

Stay away from Marseilles. Source: ThinkStock

The Chinese capital was joined by the French port of Marseilles (”Stay away! Threatening”), “overcrowded and ostentatious” Monaco, “rude” Frankfurt, “forgettable” Cannes and — to compound French ignominy -- “cold and aloof” Paris. Johannesburg was named most unfriendly because, despite being “one of the most beautiful” cities, “safety still remains a serious concern” with one reader calling it “a city of crime and contrasts.”South Africa didn’t come home empty-handed, however. Its coastal city of Cape Town placed eighth on the friendly list, with one reader describing it as “the most amazing place on Earth” thanks to its mix of nature, beaches and mountains.

World’s friendliest cities according to Conde Nast Traveler

1. (tie) Melbourne, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand

3. Victoria, BC, Canada

4. Charleston, South Carolina

5 (tie) Sydney, Australia and Dublin, Ireland

7. Siem Reap, Cambodia

8. Cape Town, South Africa

9 (tie) Seville, Spain and Savannah, Georgia

11. Budapest, Hungary

World’s unfriendliest cities

1. Johannesburg, South Africa

2. Cannes, France

3. Moscow, Russia

4. Paris, France

5. Marseilles, France

6. Beijing, China

7. Frankfurt, Germany

8. Milan, Italy

9. Monte Carlo, Monaco

10. Nassau, Bahamas

.

Altona Meadows/Laverton church

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Yesterday Peceli and I drove up to Melbourne to the Altona Meadows/Laverton Uniting Church where a few of our Fijian friends go. Rev Susan Malthouse-Law is the lovely young minister there who leads an informal family orientated worship with plenty of interaction instead of people sitting like in a bus. Songs included Come as you are, Shalom Chaverim, I am the Church,  Just as I am  - with all five Fijian verses.  About forty people were there. Last week they were camping at Anglesea.  Then we had morning tea as usual and yarned with friends. Later we visited a Fijian family in Wyndam Vale and I met Sailosi's sister, a lovely woman from Lau Fiji on her first trip overseas. Peceli drank kava with friends as usual.

In Geelong

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We in Geelong are fortunate to live in a community that is inclusive and there is respect for different religious views. Also we can thank Diversitat - Migrant Resource Centre - for over the years promoting good will and care for one another. Many of us are appalled at the chaos and hatred in some parts of the world and praise peacemakers who risk their lives attempting to heal the rifts.

Geelong religious groups call for peace in Gaza

·         ANTHEA CANNON  GEELONG ADVERTISER  AUGUST 13, 2014 1:29PM1

Life in Gaza moves on, 72-hour truce holds

..THE Islamic Society of Geelong and Geelong Interfaith Network have condemned fighting and suffering in Gaza and called for peace talks.

Network deputy chair Rev Peter Martin said while people of all faiths were suffering, it was particularly affecting the Muslim community.He said everyone had a right to live in peace, dignity and harmony and children needed to be protected.

The network called for a “speedy re-establishment of the dialogue of peace”.

In a statement the Islamic Society said it stood with the families of the victims.“In this difficult time we also ask all the communities to stay calm and peaceful and promote tolerance, love and coexistence among each other,” the statement said.“Islamic Society of Geelong wishes the restoration of peace, reconsolidation and dialogue among all the parties of the conflict. All religions and faiths of the world teach and preach peace, tolerance and understanding.”

A closer look at the front garden

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Yesterday when it wasn't raining I walked around the front garden - which is rather a jungle and needs a good tidy up, and discovered plenty of flowering succulants and even a promise of spring. However the frost had damaged the leaves of one of the plants.

Two leaves

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I picked two leaves from a plant in the garden - (is it called a rubber tree plant?) and scanned them, then made a few images by cropping, altering, superimposing them.  It's a rainy day and I should get out but it's warmer inside!

A pawpaw tree

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Sometimes I am lazy and just fiddle with a photograph, fine-tune the shapes, sharpen edges, add more black, such as this one of a pawpaw tree. Then alter it yet again using Gimp etc. Then by cropping a section you can create a completely different image, more abstract.