Well, today is the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. Armistice day. I thought it would be nice to pay our respects at the large ANZAC Memorial at Hyde Park in the heart of Sydney.

The ANZAC Memorial was opened in 1934. It looks imposing enough from the outside but is even bigger than you think once you explore the interior. The building was designed by Australian-born Charles Bruce Dellit and is clearly Art Deco inspired. This is not the site of the Sydney cenotaph as I first thought. The cenotaph is actually in nearby Martin Place.

Beneath the memorial building there is a museum. Similar to the much larger one in Canberra. As part of the museum there is a collection of soil from almost 1,700 locations around Australia. The War Memorial Soil Collection Program set out to collect soil from every location around Australia where there was an enlistee in WWI. Part of the four sided display is shown below.

11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month…

Initially the 11th of the 11th was meant to be in remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price in the First World War (WW1). Nowadays, as the clock strikes the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, people stand in silence to honour the fallen from all wars.

The 11th hour on this day marks the end of the final battles and hostilities (that were only still ongoing on at the “western front”) of WW1. I found out at today’s service that in Australia, everyone thought World War 1 had ended on the 8th of November and a large party ensued. Then, three days later they got the news that it really had ended. The party got a immediate reboot and the celebrations rolled on…

Interesting to note that despite what has been going on recently in Europe and America – and also here in Australia to a lesser extent – with pro Palestinian protests, there was no sign of anything like that on this special day in central Sydney. Nor was there any sign of the police. In fact the police were conspicuous in their absence. However, I am sure the news will show a different story from other parts of the world later today/tomorrow. Crazy times (again!)…

The Star Ceremony

After the remembrance service the staff hand out golden stars with the names of ANZACs who gave their lives in the various wars. People in attendance are invited to take a star and pause to reflect on the name on the star before throwing it into the Hall of Silence. Notice all the stars on the Hall floor…

The Big Bullets

Not exactly on the official list of The ‘Bigs’ of Australia but does appear on some such lists if you look into it.

This larger than life artwork is the work of Aboriginal artist Tony Albert whose family has many years of military service. He created the dramatic structures to honour the sacrifices and bravery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women. One of the horizontal ‘bullets’ has an inscription on the ‘bullet’ base (see photos).

The sculpture work is inspired by his grandfather’s story about himself and 6 soldiers who escaped from a prisoner of war camp in Germany, only to be caught by Italian soldiers who lined them up to be shot. The Italians shot 3 of the men before realising their mistake. The men were POWs and should have been returned to Germany. Hence: 4 standing bullets (at 7-metres tall), to represent those who survived and 3 fallen shells in remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price. It is a fitting work of art so close to the ANZAC Memorial.

It’s been a funny old week. There is enough bad news on TV to keep us going for years. (When has it been any different lately?) But now and again something happens that gives you reason to forget all of that and just smile.

My faith in human nature has been restored – if only temporarily. As you get older your faith in humanity definitely takes a tumble. I don’t care how optimistic you are. Call it old(er) age; call it experience. But occasionally things like this happen that just give you hope. OK that’s a bit of a grumpy old dad type of thing to say, I know. But keep reading to the end…

Lost & Found

Dani went to the local shopping centre with his mates after school on Friday. It’s one of those end of week rituals kids get into. Invariably they’ll go for a nourishing burger at McDonalds (sarc.) or a super-value for money drink at Starbucks (extra sarc.).

This particular time they headed for the food court where Dani decided to take out his wallet and then have one of those foggy memory moments. For some unknown reason he put it down – he could not remember where of course – only to realise that he had lost it a few minutes later.

When he returned home his mum asked him why he hadn’t gone to the information desk in the shopping centre. After much discussion she went back to the shopping centre with him. Sure enough someone had handed in Dani’s wallet to the nearest manned information/help point – which in this case was the other side of the shopping centre.

The wallet contained some money (good old fashioned cash), one of those kids debit cards (yeah, more about those in a later post I think) plus Dani’s Real Madrid membership card. Nothing had been taken. A big thanks to the anonymous person out there who was kind enough to do the right thing.

Incidentally Dani had the good sense to call his mum and report what had happened once he realised his wallet was gone. At least that gave her the chance to cancel his debit card.

Footnote

I don’t want anyone reading this to take it the wrong way. I know the majority of people are good and honest. It’s not that there aren’t enough people with good intentions. There are. Plenty. Almost certainly the overwhelming majority. It’s just that the not so good minority are there and they are increasing. More than that they are the type who would not hand in someone’s lost property. I know that is hard to take as no doubt all of you reading this would hand in a purse or wallet if you found one. I know I would.

It’s easy to look at things from the ‘glass is half empty’ viewpoint. When in fact the glass is probably more like almost full! But it is still gives me a really nice feeling when this kind of thing happens.

This little drama had a happy ending but could easily have been the other way around.

Now. To teach that kid to take more care with his property… An ongoing battle…

Well, it’s Halloween. Again… That came around quick (as do most things these day). It is no secret on this blog that Halloween is Dani’s favourite event. Will it still be after today? Let’s find out…

Once again Dani and his mate Josh went out ‘Trick or Treating’ in the neighbourhood. Plus a little beyond this year… Josh was dressed as something called Duolingo. No; me neither?. But lots of other kids recognised it as the owl that is the face of a language learning “App” called Duolingo. OK? Now we all know…

Meanwhile Dani was dressed as… well, what exactly? With that wig he looked a bit like a cross between Garth from Wayne’s World and David Bowie from Labyrinth. Even something out of that 80’s group Kajagoogoo:  Don’t ask, cos I am not telling. If you don’t know then just look it up. Still, the wig got some favourable responses from the public.

I still can’t get used to the fact that it is daylight and too warm for face masks and certain other costumes. I am sure it would be the same – in reverse – for someone who grows up in the southern hemisphere and moves to the northern hemisphere. This opposite seasons thing is just something you grow up with and get so used to.

Fortunately it was not too hot today. At least when they were out and about spooking the locals.

Still the best fun day of the year Dan?

I would say the answer is a big “yes”. He enjoyed it as much as last year. Hopefully he will continue to enjoy Halloween for years to come. It’s just a bit of fun and great for the kids to dress up.

Meanwhile I have a complaint to make. The shopping centres need to rein it in more than a little bit. These bloody Christmas decorations were out even before the Halloween decorations in many places. Some shops and supermarket had aisles with Christmas stuff on one side and Halloween stuff on the other. That really makes no sense.

Please can we get one out of the way before the other takes over? Is that too much to ask?