Tuesday, November 4, 2008

melbourne Cup Day

The first Tuesday in November is a holiday in Melbourne for the running of the Melbourne Cup. Usually I am down at Aireys for an extended long weekend , but the house is being used this year so I planned a different day. I am not really interested in the Cup carnival, not being a gambler at all,but the horses are beautiful and there is always a good story of a well deserved win by horse jockey or trainer.
The forecast was for rain and a cool day but after clouds shifted in the morning, it was a cool breeze but clear blue skies, and warm out of the wind. I went into the National Gallery Victoria to see their Australian exhibitions There was a photo exhibition a retrospective, called No standing only Dancing, by Rennie Ellis. The title comes from one of his photos of grafitti. Ellis was renowned for his candid documentary images of contemporary Australian life. He was best known for his photographs of social events, such as music festivals, fashion parades or nightclubs. During his career he photographed life on the streets, sometimes showing the darker aspects of society such as his Kings Cross series. The exhibition was from the 60's and I kept expecting to see people I knew in the hippy photos! He died from cerebral heaemorrage in 2003
try a video http://www.bananasinpyjamas.com/news/video/2008/10/30/2406112.htm
I also wandered through the Australian collection including one of my favourite modern painters Fred Williams, Pilbara Series painted for Rio Tinto. His painting Upwey Landscape (1965) sold for $1,987,700 in one of the final auctions of Christies in Australia in April 2006, which was the second highest price for an Australian work. He died in 1982 from lung cnacer at teh age of 55. As well I browsed the collection of Impressionists. Arthur Street, McCubbin, E Phillips Fox, Jane Sutherland, Tom Roberts, etc etc.One surprise was one of Beach Road after Rain by Clarice Beckett. There are several well known paintings done in Beaumaris and Ricketts Point, a popular spot for the Impressionist camp. We had been talking about how our home was one of the first built in the area and how the roads of our childhood were all just sand, burning hot underfoot in summer. Now it is a very posh suburb with big houses and trendy lifestyle. This painting was from 1937, and you can see how it was seen as being in the middle of nowhere, when first settled Grandpa was appalled that his daughter was going to like out in the wilds of Black Rock. Also came across a collection of wonderful bird paintings that I did not now by Murray Griffin, really caught my eye today! After some lunch at federation Square I settled won to watch the big race on the big screen There was a good crowd getting more as the time drew near.
This little girl had no interest other than her mastering the stairs. She started off with holding the rail (at top of her reach level) and her mother's hand. Then she did it with just the rail, then no hands but one step down, sit ,other foot down stand up, then one foot down,to next step; her parents hovered but let her go. (as she lurched off the last step in a jump, she swayed and except for father keeping his hand there she would have hit her head on the end of the rail,he just pointed it out to her and let her go again. Maybe there are still kids allowed to test their limits! She was very pleased with herself at the bottom.
The race was loudly cheered and barracked by the crowd so a good atmosphere The favourite didn't win, but Bart Cummings and an Oz horse won . So a good event!

India and after

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