Chris
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chrismbr.bsky.social
Chris
@chrismbr.bsky.social
300 followers 75 following 2.1K posts
art-architecture-food-theatre-history-delight and other pleasing things
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Reposted by Chris
horrornonna.com
I'm gonna take a few days out from social media because Australia is about to lose its goddamned mind (I'm on email for folks who need me). This is a small country of 27 million: we haven't had anything of this scale since 1996. There's a lot of misinfo about Australian gun laws, so quick refresher:
Australian gun control: 29 years after Port Arthur
Almost 30 years after Port Arthur, there are more guns in Australia than ever before, and the Howard Government’s landmark National Firearms Agreement is falling short of its stated aims. There is no ...
australiainstitute.org.au
December 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
chrismbr.bsky.social
#NGVA Indigenous works using photography and new media, and ‘Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday’, an exhibition in conjunction with #RMIT and with the participation of Alice Payne, Dean of Fashion & Textiles, of consumer products designed to reduce the harms of mass production.
seven photographs of photography-based Indigenous artworks six photographs of Indigenous artworks using metallic paint, neon lights, photography & film seven photographs of consumer items in an exhibition about sustainability, including shoes, takeaway drink containers, a chair, and clothes
December 14, 2025 at 2:22 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
Visited the #NGVA to get my art-quotient up; the Indigenous galleries don’t fail! There are a couple of my favourite scraped scrap metal artworks as well as superb paintings, and contemporary works using traditional methods… 2/3
six photographs of artworks made from scratched and scraped scrap enamelled metal signs five photographs of seemingly abstract paintings by Indigenous artists six photographs of artworks made using traditional Indigenous techniques of weaving and petroglyph creation
December 14, 2025 at 2:19 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
Visited the #NGVA to get my art-quotient up; the Indigenous galleries don’t fail! The Bark Salon is both overwhelming and exciting, with its salon hang of Wonderful Things from the last 80 years.
three photos of a gallery displaying Indigenous bark art in a salon-style hang up the walls three photographs of Indigenous bark artworks four photographs of Indigenous bark artworks Indigenous bark artworks showing traditional mermaids
December 14, 2025 at 2:15 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
Artworks at the new #StateLibraryStation: Danie Mellor ‘Forever’, huge glass murals of Aboriginal people, and Maree Clarke ‘Tracks’, platform mosaics of native fauna footprints, in all 5 stations. Poor show compared to ANZAC Station. On Sneak Peak day there were musicians and roving performers too.
five photographs of glass murals depicting Aboriginal people in traditional clothes, in a railway station four photographs of stone mosaics of native Australian animal tracks set into a railway station platform five photographs of musicians and roving costumed performers in an underground railway station
December 14, 2025 at 1:52 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
Pre-opening visit to new #StateLibraryStation. Down the 2nd set of escalators to the loooong platform. Impressive orange decorative arches & linear chandeliers, though disappointing they’re also at the City Square Station. Nice cast aluminium brackets for everything, and at last! platform barriers.
high level view of an underground railway station platform four photographs of an underground railway station platform showing escalators down to it and brackets supporting functional and decorative elements an underground railway station platform four photographs of an underground railway station platform showing glass barriers at the edge with doors to access trains
December 14, 2025 at 1:35 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
Pre-opening visit to the new #StateLibraryStation. The entry off #SwanstonSt, the concourse below with connection to #MelbourneCentralStation, and the strange empty curved tunnel (future artwork/adverts?) to more escalators…
three photographs showing the entry area of a new underground railway station including escalators down three photographs showing the escalators down into a new underground railway station six photographs showing a concourse of a new underground railway station including a large light fitting five photographs of a concourse of a new underground railway station including more escalators down
December 14, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by Chris
davidbeckler.bsky.social
Here he is taking the photo.
Charles Ebbets standing on a steel beam as he takes the iconic photo of construction workers having a lunch break on the beam.
December 12, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Reposted by Chris
premthakker.bsky.social
Wow: Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (named for Holocaust survivor Raphael Lemkin, who coined term "genocide") calls Clinton's remarks "genocide denial."

"Young people in the US are not stupid or gullible. They simply reject genocide – something the Secretary might consider doing as well."
Statement on Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Genocide Denial at the Israel Hayom Summit December 9, 2025 The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security feels called to point out that former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s recent remarks at the Israel Hayom Summit on 2 December amount to outright genocide denial. During her remarks, the Secretary correctly noted that the recent deterioration of Israel’s standing among U.S. voters is not a “Republican versus Democrat kind of divide” but rather a generational one. Nevertheless, she incorrectly diagnosed the reasons for the shift as a matter purely of optics, stating that “Israel [has] the worst PR of any group” and accusing social media, particularly TikTok, of presenting “pure propaganda” that American youth are uncritically ingesting. Secretary Clinton’s framing is not at all an accurate reflection of why Americans are growing more critical of Israel. Young Americans of all political stripes have not fallen prey to propaganda, though that is always a legitimate concern. Rather, they have consumed two years of videos depicting Israel’s genocide against Palestinians that have been uploaded by Palestinian journalists, ordinary people trying to survive in Gaza, IDF soldiers, and ordinary Israelis themselves. There has been no convincing refutation of the sheer amount of raw evidence of genocide coming out of Palestine. Young people in the U.S. are not stupid or gullible. They simply reject genocide – something the Secretary might consider doing as well. Secretary Clinton appears not to be bothered by the reality of genocidal violence – in fact, she did not mention anything about it. Her concern is, rather, in her words, “the narrative” – the fact that these crimes are no longer hidden and are now being live-streamed and documented in real time, making it harder for her and others to control it. TikTok cannot be blamed for the fact that many members of Gen Z understand that Israel is … It is in fact highly ironic to blame TikTok for the dissemination of content laying bare the realities of Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Like many other social media conglomerates, TikTok has been accused of systematic censorship of pro-Palestinian content. In July of this year, TikTok appointed an ex-IDF instructor as its new manager of hate speech. This person can hardly be accused of pro-Palestinian views given her background and stated opinions. It appears that what Secretary Clinton really means to say is that TikTok is not being effective enough at censoring the truth. What truly seems to unsettle Secretary Clinton is not “misinformation,” but rather the fact that younger generations are no longer consuming a single, state-controlled narrative. They are accessing unfiltered images and testimonies that challenge decades of political messaging. This helps explain why TikTok has become a target, not because it is misleading students, but precisely because the content uploaded by its users allow them to see beyond official propaganda. When former Secretary Clinton calls this “a serious problem for democracy,” it sounds less like a defense of democratic values and more like concern for the weakening of a long-standing political and ideological agenda, one that, it must be stated, is highly undemocratic. Secretary Clinton did get one thing right, although quite inadvertently: When you do not have the truth on your side, all you left with is indeed optics and “the narrative.” But she is wrong to think that any amount of PR – even really great and expensive PR – is going to hide this genocide. Israel would be better served by advice to end the genocide, engage in a transformational process that brings the perpetrators to justice, and build a future with Palestinians. That is the only way to change its image. America’s young people are no longer fooled by genocide denial – whether it is being presented by Israel, the United States, Sudan, Myanmar, Russia, or Secre…
December 9, 2025 at 7:15 PM
chrismbr.bsky.social
In #StPatricksCathedral the south aisle plaster vaults are lone remnants of George & Schneider’s 1858 cathedral; Wardell’s stone vaults are simpler. The 1997 central altar has Book of Kells floor mosaics: at the west end are artworks and a funny clock. The 1962 organ has 5,000 pipes & 24 trumpets!
a view of a huge church including a side aisle, and two photographs of aisle vaulting - one complicated and one simpler a photograph of a huge church showing the central altar, two photographs of stylised animal mosaics, and a built-in wall clock six paintings including a large classical one, one of a sleeping or dead man, and two pairs of figures three photographs of a huge church organ, with a man playing its complex consoles
December 6, 2025 at 9:10 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
In #StPatricksCathedral the amber glass gives everything a rich orange glow. The original high altar in the eastern chevet (French-style curve of radiating chapels) is by Wardell, 1896 (the central altar is post-Vatican II) while the great west Ascension Window is from London (Hardman & Co, 1868).
view inside a huge church flooded with golden light view inside a huge church flooded with golden light two photos in a huge church: the high altar in the distance surrounded by curving pointed arches, and a huge blue-toned window a view in a huge church with curving arcades of pointed arches
December 6, 2025 at 8:58 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
Sculptures south of #StPatricksCathedral: Ss Francis & Catherine and a lamb in a fountain (Louis Laumen, 2000), St Mary MacKillop (Louis Laumen, 2012), and busts of Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac (Mladen Mikulin, 2001) & Father George Preca (Peter Corlett, 2008). The south portal has foliate carvings.
four photos of two life size bronze statues on matching plinths, one of a man with hands held out, one of a woman holding a crown of thorns in the air a relief sculpture of a lamb and cross in a water-filled basin two photos of a bronze sculpture of a woman descending stairs, and two photos of bronze busts of men three photos of stone carvings of foliage
December 6, 2025 at 8:09 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
James McGowen’s 1880 model of Wardell’s design for #StPatricksCathedral shows the important ceremonial West Door was designed, strangely, to be rather small. The central pillar was removed in the 1860s but the whole doorway was completely rebuilt in 1939, following the model of the side doorways.
a view of a model of a grand church building showing the ceremonial end wall, and the end wall as built with towers and huge window a view of a model showing the end entry under a huge window, and the end currently with a much larger doorway four historic photos of the construction of a grand church building historic photos of a church building showing the end doorway with a central stone column, then without it, and today with a much larger portal
December 6, 2025 at 5:10 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
The amazing model of Wardell’s design for #StPatricksCathedral, made by James McGowen in 1880, shows how the spires follow the design but were considerably elongated when added in 1939, to make them much taller. The South Door is as built…
a model of a grand church building two views of a model of a grand church building a view of a side entry to a grand church building as shown on a model and a view of the same entry as built
December 6, 2025 at 5:05 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
At least when they demolished the #StPatricksCathedral College School (Patrick Scanlan, 1854-61, demo 1971) they replaced it with a masterpiece: the #CardinalKnoxCentre by Roy Simpson of Yuncken Freeman, 1971.
a grand church building with a circular 1970s sunken courtyard in front a view of a Gothic building added to a grand church, and the top of a classical tower wedge shaped concrete columns of a low building in front of a a grand church, and the connection cantilevered canopy between the newer and older buildings a grand church buildings sits behind a sunken circular courtyard encircled at the higher level by a blue pond
December 6, 2025 at 4:59 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
It’s a very odd choice for the #CityOfMelbourne to plant a street tree directly in line with the grand axis of #StPatricksCathedral with its long cascade and fountain, it almost seems spiteful. Mind you, this ‘Pilgrim Path’ was the idea of George Pell, and he opened it in 2000…
three photos showing a young street tree planted on axis with a linear water channel two views of a constructed water channel with cascades and inscriptions three photos of a water channel including two of an intermediate fountain, and one of the main fountain supplying water to the channel a grand church building with a fountain in front of it of a side entry
December 6, 2025 at 4:45 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
#Netflix The Åre Murders, 2025. Two Swedish tales: a city female cop rests in a remote ski town and helps the locals investigate two murders. Like The Bridge-lite, with a clash of approaches and personalities helping resolve the cases. Chilly but fairly mysigt (like Danish hygge).
poster for a television programme showing a woman’s face and a man against trees in the snow
November 29, 2025 at 12:19 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
#LawlerTheatre #Fringe The Lucky Country. How do ‘minorities’ - racial, cultural, sexual, etc - fit into this fine country, built by chance by the second rate? This lovely musical/song cycle explores some knotty problems through wit, melody and the talents of the beautifully diverse cast.
photograph of a theatre production showing three beauty queens in splendid costumes photographs of a theatre production showing a woman in Indian dress sitting, and a young person facing towards a projected bird on a starry sky photograph of a stage with a projected backdrop of beach, sea and sun
November 29, 2025 at 12:16 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
#PalaisTheatre #VictorianOpera Katya Kabanova. Delicious Janacek opera given a powerful live cinematic treatment - and the cast are up to the close scrutiny of the cameras too (operator from Kip Williams’ Dorian Grey/Jekyll & Hyde/Dracula). Amazing playing & singing and a very successful production.
photo of a operatic production: a huge live-projected actor’s face looking down at the protagonist, as the actor does the same on stage photo of a operatic production: a woman stand at the end of a pier, behind her projected on the rear is a huge close-up of her head photo of a operatic production: huge projected faces loom down on the actual actors below a view of an old building with a high curving sign ‘Palais Theatre’, and a view of the auditorium proscenium arch
November 29, 2025 at 12:07 AM
chrismbr.bsky.social
After all these years the dreadfully/joyfully kitsch 1991 Seiko Giant Pocket Watch is still in #MelbourneCentral (from #Daimaru days) and still performing, albeit with the brand half-rubbed away, one figure broken, and the long, draping watch chain removed temporarily permanently.
two photos of a large shiny clock in the shape of an old pocket watch, showing a drop-down area of mechanical figures, birds and animals old photograph of a shopping centre showing a large clock hanging in the atrium surrounded by escalators
November 28, 2025 at 11:56 PM
chrismbr.bsky.social
#RMIT artwork: an unidentified flamboyant bust and the heroic Man in Black II (Robert Bridgwater, 2010).
a bronze bust and a wall-sized timber carving of clouds
November 28, 2025 at 11:48 PM
chrismbr.bsky.social
#PrimeVideo Midsomer Murders, Season 5, 2002. Surely there can’t be more serial killers out there? But golly, the settings are gorgeous and it delivers a strong dose of nostalgia.
a photo from a television programme showing an older man and a young man
November 28, 2025 at 11:42 PM
chrismbr.bsky.social
After decades Indonesian favourite #Nelayan closes, consolidating to the newer, showier place around the corner, Enak.
two photographs, one showing an empty shop formerly a restaurant, the other showing a newer restaurant
November 28, 2025 at 11:37 PM
chrismbr.bsky.social
The mystery of the disappearing letterboxes. Eventually I went into a Post Office to post, and was entertained by a slice of wintery childhood: robins in the snow.
🐦‍⬛🌨️
three photos, one of where post boxes have been removed, one where they remain outside a post office, and a poster inside a post office of robins and other birds in the snow
November 28, 2025 at 11:33 PM
chrismbr.bsky.social
#ThisIsNoFantasy #GertrudeSt Kevin Chin ‘From the Ruins’
a painting in subdued colours of a surreal but gentle combination of landscape and building elements
November 28, 2025 at 11:24 PM