150-a-thon

Sylvia's school is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. So last week every child was assigned a decade. Sylvia came home and said, "Mom, I have the 1880's. I need a dress from the 1880's." None of the other parents seemed phased by this. Everyone is very can-do here. The costumes were to be worn at the 150-a-thon, a fundraising sport and game event.

What do you think of the bonnet? As you can see, Sylvia and I had a successful time shopping at two "op shops" - short for "opportunity shop" which is what they call second-hand shops here. Isn't it fascinating how language can subtly reframe a situation? "Second-hand" sounds rather worn and dull whereas "op shop" hints at an opportunity for bargains and treasure.

                                                                                            The 1960s meets the 1880s.

Sylvia brings a modern day dash to her dress.

Footy!

Otherwise known as Australian Rules Football.

Last night we went to the Sydney Swans vs. the  Essendon Bombers (an AFL or Australian Football League team from Melbourne) game at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Here you can see the goals posts. (Players get 6 points for kicking the ball in between the two center posts or 1 point for getting it between the outer posts).

The large screen was actually quite helpful when the players were at the other end of the field. You can't tell from my pictures, but the playing field is an oval.















Here you can see what an Aussie Rules football looks like:

It's squatter than an American ball. The players don't wear pads but do wear uniforms that show their enormous muscles. The game is fast-paced and involves lots of sprinting and kicking. (Our friend said players can run up to 10 miles a game!) It's fascinating and can be quite beautiful (and brutal too - two huge men were both running for the ball and collided at full speed in mid-air). The man holding the ball here is Adam Goodes. His playing was so spectacular even us newbies could tell he had amazing skills. He had also, unfortunately, been in the news the previous week because a couple of people had made some racist comments to him. Sometimes its unbelievable what people think.

This is the old men's stadium at the Sydney Cricket Ground. I did not take a picture of the "Ladies Stand". You can see that many of the fans wore the Sydney Swans colors - red and white.

Friends enjoying each other, the game, and snacks. As you can tell from the fashionable plastic garb, it was raining, so I only snapped a few pictures and then stowed my camera in a zip-lock baggie.

BTW, apparently "footy" can also refer to rugby - it's all in the context. And for you sports fans, here's a summary of the game complete with a video clip.

Vivid

Recognize the opera house?
Vivid is a festival of light, music, and ideas that is held all over Sydney, but predominantly down by the harbor. It's a bit like seeing people you know gussied up in gowns and tuxes - not necessarily more attractive, but brighter, more, well, . . . vivid.

This is a bit of the many different images with different moods that are projected on the opera house. 

Here's the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia:

And here you can get another taste of the lights and music:

My favorite light show was on the Custom House. I took this from the Circular Quay train stations and love the combination of moving pedestrians and images:

Light sculptures--some of them interactive--were scattered around the city.

This light sculpture is made out of traffic cones.

The best thing about Vivid was how friendly and wonderful the crowds felt. Everyone was out simply enjoying the evening in a low-key way. And, of course, there were fireworks:

Here's a quick clip of some of my favorite, ordinary Sydney lights (That's a ferry and the bunny-ears looking bit in the back is Luna Park):