quicko: september 11th

Maybe I'm just a bit more sensitive having been in America at Ground Zero recently, but it just hit me again this year while writing the date on the board for my students that September 11th really is a date that will continue to live in infamy.  Even an "off" year that's not a particular anniversary is still an anniversary.  And even if I end up a bit sunburnt because airline security confiscated my sunscreen ... well, gosh, there are much worse things that can happen.  (Yes, I know that doesn't all flow logically.  Give me a break and one day for emotion.  If any day deserves it, this one does.)

public service announcement: exhibition

There's a really good exhibition on at the tiny little Manly art museum at the moment -- it's on the Holocaust and tells the stories of many people who were part of the resistance.  It's fascinating and thought-provoking, not too big and free.  Worth a visit if you're passing through.

quicko: cyclone tracy

Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin late Christmas Eve 1974 and was arguably the greatest natural disasters to hit Australia in modern history, particularly in terms of damage.

According to Wikipedia:

"Tracy killed 71 people, caused A$837 million in damage (1974 dollars) and destroyed more than 70 percent of Darwin's buildings, including 80 percent of houses.^[4][5] Tracy left more than 41,000 out of the 47,000 inhabitants of the city homeless prior to landfall and required the evacuation of over 30,000 people.^[6] Most of Darwin's population was evacuated to Adelaide, Whyalla, Alice Springs and Sydney, and many never returned to the city. After the storm passed, the city was rebuilt using more modern materials and updated building techniques. Bruce Stannard of The Age stated that Cyclone Tracy was a "disaster of the first magnitude ... without parallel in Australia's history."^[7]"

quicko: the brisbane line defense strategy

Now I haven't researched this fully (read: one of my friends once told me it was true), but evidently during World War II, Australia had an official government slogan that was "if things get really way too bad, then we're willing concede everything north of Brisbane."

Let's hope this wasn't common knowledge back then.

And, please, if this post incites you to comment overly quickly, think carefully how you phrase your response.  Relax.  Talk it out.  Then go ahead and correct me nicely.

quicko: the first fleet

After all I've blogged about the adorable Sydney ferries, somehow it utterly escaped my notice that they're named after the ships of the First Fleet (the aptly named set of ships that were the first to come to Sydney from England in terms of settlement).  If I've listed the ferries correctly, they represent 9 of the original 11 (missing The Lady Penrhyn and The Prince of Wales).

They include all my favorites*:
Sirius
Supply
Fishburn
Scarborough
Friendship
Borrowdale
Golden Grove
Alexander
Charlotte

*Listed in order of my favorites, at least today :)

quicko: diggers

Australian term for soldiers, particularly those in World War I who were digging in the trenches.  Hence, the Harbord Diggers RSL overlooking Curl Curl isn't just an oddly named building as I'd assumed, but actually named in honor of soldiers (funny how that goes along with an RSL -- returned serviceman's league? (similar to a VFW)).

mr. eternity

I've rarely been so proud of the labels for a particular post here, but today's include the incredible mix of "christians," "sydney," "why sydney rocks," "history" and "famous australians."  It's rare Christians get a good rap in society today, but I absolutely love it when it happens -- just think if every Christian lived the way Christians are supposed to, how much better would our stigma in society be?  Not that Christians should ever expect to be treated well by the world at large, but if we were hated because of Jesus instead of for not acting like Him, at least that would mean we were doing an awful lot better job of following Him.

Anyway, I have a vague idea that others from outside-of-Christian circles have mentioned Mr. Eternity to me before, but I heard about him at church tonight in one of those ways like Martin Luther King, Jr. that makes you go, "yeah!  If only everyone realized he was doing what he did for the gospel of Jesus Christ and not just because he was nice/creative/charismatic/altruistic/cool/etc!"

So, Mr. Eternity is a reasonably well-known name in Sydney because for 35 years in the early to mid 1900s he wrote the word "eternity" in chalk all over the streets of Sydney.  He's estimated to have written it over 500,000 times and thus made his mark.  Because his identity wasn't known, he was referred to as Mr. Eternity.

The part of the story that isn't as widely known is that his real name was Arthur Stace and he had an absolutely amazing testimony of being a follower of Jesus Christ.  He'd had an awful childhood and led a very colorful life up unto the age of 46 at which time he heard a sermon and gave his life to Christ.  Two years later he heard another sermon on eternity from Isaiah 57:15 ("For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.") and felt God's call on his life to write "eternity" around Sydney.  I imagine this was to make everyone stop and consider eternity and how their current lives would impact their eternity, though I didn't find that explicitly stated.  What was also fascinating was that he was nearly illiterate to the point of hardly being able to write his own name, but he was able to write "eternity" beautifully.

He lived in Sydney between 1884 and 1967, and today one of his "eternity" chalk writings remains (there are two other replicas).  Vastly more important, though, is the impact he made on a hugely unknowable number of people which will truly last for eternity.

For further reading:
"Mr. Eternity -- Arthur Stace"
Eternity at the Olympics -- though I disagree with the ending.  I doubt he (or any Christian) would call the gospel the best "bargain" he'd ever had.
Arthur Stace -- Wikipedia

quicko: excavation site

Walking through the Rocks this weekend, my friend Michelle and I happened by the new Backpackers' YHA.  Gives whole new meaning to roughing it, hey?

(Okay, okay, it's all historic, I know.  I'm more an aesthetic person, though, which means I stop and look and take pictures, but generally can't care less what the instructive little signs say.  Knock yourself out if you really want to know.)

quicko: harold holt

Former Prime Minister of Australia.  Only one they actually misplaced entirely.  Bill Bryson tells it much better than I, but suffice it to say they've never yet found him.  I also understand he makes an excellent object lesson when teaching past modals of possibility -- "He could have been eaten by a shark," "He might have been a Russian spy all along" or even "But of course!  He's just still off chucking a sickie!"

quicko: sunshine and oranges

I've been hearing about this movie a bit from a couple different people recently and it's really, really shocking.  It's a documentary (i.e., TRUE!) about thousands (millions?) of children from England who were shipped off to Australia around the 1930s-1940s mostly, but as recently as the 1970s or 1980s.  The children usually came from poorer backgrounds and were told that they were orphans and promised "sunshine and oranges," while their parents, most of whom were still alive, were told that their children would be restored to them once they got back on their feet.  Names were changed, the children lost their identities and grew up in Australia -- only learning much later that their parents might still be alive in England.  Some have been reunited, but many, many others weren't.

quicko: explorers

Burke and Wills.  Two famous Australian explorers.  I'm imagining they're something along the lines of Lewis and Clarke, but I might have just made that up.  I don't really know anything else about them.  Sorry.

quicko: the endeavor

The name of the boat Captain Cook sailed to Australia in.