In 2007, a survey found that 35% of Australian households contain at least one person who now plays a musical instrument – a statistically similar figure to the 36% found in 2001. This proportion now equates to a rough estimate of 4.25 million people (5+ yrs) who play. Of these, about 1 million people are believed to be taking private lessons.
The most popular instrument now played, according to the survey, is the acoustic guitar (by 31% of current players). The upright piano is played by a statistically equivalent proportion. The electric guitar is currently played by about 16% of players (with some acoustic overlap) and drums by some 12%. In the 2001 study, the piano was marginally ahead – a position perhaps eroded by other digital pianos and keyboards.
Music players continue to have a young profile. It was found that 37% of all players are aged 5-17 yrs and a further 24% are aged 18-34 yrs. That is, over 60% of music players fall within the 5-34 yrs age bracket – compared to about 45% of the total population (5+ yrs). In fact, there is an increasing view towards younger exposure to music – over 40% of people think this should be before the age of one year.
This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.
“Aurora” is a 2006, large stainless-steel sculpture, by Geoffrey Bartlett, situated at the corner of Harbour Esplanade & Bourke St, Docklands. “Aurora” engages with the history of Docklands. The work’s central component is a sweeping netlike form constructed in stainless steel, held aloft by three curved and tapering stainless-steel legs. It is suggestive of technologies once used to move cargo between ships and shore, underscoring the historical importance of the site as a shipping port.
The work encourages passers-by to walk through it, but the vertical elements also draw the viewer’s attention up to the main, netlike component, challenging them to consider its meaning. Named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora’s stainless-steel surface is highly reflective and responds to changes in natural light during the day. By night, the main component is lit internally, creating the impression of a glowing orb suspended above street level.
This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.
Some more photos from Union Lane in the City where I was test driving a camera.
This post is part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
Melbourne is a fairly clean city, with well kept properties, clean roads, generally spotless, well-cared for parks. However, occasionally one finds some places that have had rubbish dumped there, some dirty alleyways and rarely some properties that are rundown and dilapidated. Glad these are the exceptions and not the rule... Here are some milk crates that were dumped (surprise, surprise!) in a small empty lot just off one of the alleyways in the City! Come to think of it, it may not be dumped it crates, it may be art...
This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.
Melbourne’s newest walking and cycling bridge along the Yarra River, named the "Jim Stynes Bridge" in honour of the late footballer, opened in June 2014. Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Lord Mayor Robert Doyle joined Stynes’ wife Samantha and children Matisse and Tiernan to mark the bridge's first day of operation. The bridge was formally opened by Tiernan, who ran through a banner built by the Melbourne cheer squad that read ‘‘Jim’s Bridge’’.
The Jim Stynes Bridge reminds people of the contribution the 2010 Melburnian of the Year had made to Melbourne. Jim Stynes represented the quintessential Melbourne story: A migrant made good. The story of his settling in Melbourne, his outstanding AFL career, his philanthropy and charity work, and his brave fight against cancer touched us all. Designed by engineers Aurecon in partnership with Cox Architecture, a bronze plaque at each end of the bridge tells the life story of Stynes, who died in 2012.
This post is part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.
Melbourne has beaten Rome, Vienna and Sydney in being judged to have the best coffee in the world. Travel website booking.com surveyed more than 1000 of its users from around the world and found Melbourne was well and truly on top when it comes to coffee. Melbourne baristas take pride in their coffee and it is appreciated by diners and tourists.
Tourists love Melbourne because our coffee and cafe culture is a part of our lives and is a very unique thing to Melbourne. There are many great specialty roasters in Melbourne that consistently strive for excellence. In the survey, 301 booking.com guests endorsed Melbourne for coffee, followed by 187 endorsements for Vienna, 116 for Rome and 86 for Lviv in the Ukraine (March 2014).
This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme,
