Weekly drawing: Friday night at Prahran ramp

Prahran skate park, Melbourne was such a popular skate spot it would often get overcrowed which I would negotiate with a skate or die attitude. However I discovered that on Friday evenings (maybe it was dinner time) the park was mostly empty, so this became my favourite time to skate.

I also discovered this was when some of the best skaters would skate. I'd often see local hero Chris Paine riding the big 12 ft steel ramp. I'd imagine when I get the confidence to drop-in "one day I would skate like him". He would do amazing tricks with the greatest of ease, my favourite Chris Paine skate trick was called an eggplant.

We never actually spoke to each other but he would point to me from the top of the ramp to have another go. I would start at the bottom of the ramp and work my way up. Soon all my practicing paid off and I could backside kick turn grind on a 12ft ramp and was considering attempting to drop-in. But unfortunately we moved to Sydney and skate parks were far and few between. So I became a Sydney street skater instead which I also loved.

The thing I loved about these nightly skate sessions was that it was purely about enjoying skating and not really caring about anything else in the world. I'd spent the last few years in three different schools because of my Dad's work and I was in my first year of high school in a new school again and I felt like an outsider especially at this school.

Luckily for me Melbourne is an amazing city for anyone into skating. The Alva team visited my local sports shop in Elsternwick, The Bones Brigade toured with Christian Hosoi doing a skate demonstration at Prahran ramp, I attended the premier of the fourth Bones Brigade movie Public Domain and I was happily in the middle of it all.

Tommy Guerrero deck, Bullet 66 wheels, Thunder trucks, Cockroach riser pads and Borgy copers

There's not much online about Chris Paine but I did find this which I thought was interesting.

Author	budgee ®
Date/Time	28 Oct 2008 10:13:43pm
Subject	Re: Band Called Killing Time

"...CHRIS PAINE
Before Killing Time Paine was actually a very successful skateboarder, featuring in magazines and publications across the country. Word is the three original Killing Time Melbournites were your regular skater punk kids. Paine was somewhat of a mascot for the Prahran skate shop of the time known as "Cheap Skates". The shop was just a stone's throw from the local skate bowl and many of the skater kids from the area congregated there to watch their local hero Paine do his thing. Music came along to this crew when iconic Melbourne store Fretted Instruments turned the Cheap Skates building into their Prahran store. This became the store from which Killing Time/Mantissa bought most all of their equipment throughout their career. "

http://www2b.abc.net.au/tmb/Client/Message.aspx?b=3&m=334984

Weekly drawing 71: William Barak the ngurungaeta (leader) of the Wurundjeri

28th March 1881, William Barak, the Ngurungaeta leader of the Wurundjeri people,
lead 22 Coranderrk men on the long walk to Melbourne to try and save his community from the poor policy
choices of the Aboriginal Protection Board.

This week's drawing is based on the insightful documentary series 

First Australians, Director Rachel Perkins and Beck Cole.

Melbourne was originally Wurundjeri land, but within 30 years of white settlers arriving in the area 

the Wurundjeri people found they "…have no place to hunt kangaroo or maintain they way of life they have developed over so many years", 

Historian, Professor Janet McCalman. 

Watching this documentary highlighted the implications of the government system at the time called a 'land grab'. This policy allowed free settlers to claim land for a home and farm. Ironically this is system was also used to effect by the Wurundjeri when they chose Coranderrk on the banks of the Yarra river in 1863. However their claim was only 1% of what they already owned. To me it's an extremely generous compromise and the most peaceful outcome given the fact that we'd pushed them off their own land.

"…It's a refuge and a place for them to work the land and show 

the white people they could make it a success." 

Associate Professor Richard Broome, historian. 

Coranderrk was an extremely successful community that quickly prospered. Unfortunately the government red tape tore holes in their thriving community. I feel very sorry about the way it all ended up. The Aboriginal people of Coranderrk really tried to work within our system and we let them down. It would have been amazing to see it still running today, it sounded like it was an wonderful place.

Oddly enough, the documentary made me think of John Macarthur, who around the same time claimed 5000 acres of prime pasture land (Camden Park) and got stinking rich. When his ancestors decided to reduced their land holdings, they sold it back to Australian people, and made even more money. History can be so cruel.

For more information watch episode 3: "Freedom of our Lifetime"

Weekly Drawing 69: Malcolm

Malcolm riding his tram built from spare parts

Malcolm is a 1986 movie directed by Nadia Tass and written by David Parker. At the time we were living in Melbourne and I was used to seeing American or English movies, which I loved but they never felt as wonderful and familiar as this movie.

Malcolm quickly became one of my favourite childhood heros. A tram entusiast with an amazing imagination. I love his talent for repurposing common objects to make life a little less mundane.

Weekly drawing 65: Sir MacPherson Robertson, inventor of Freddo Frog, Cherry Ripe and Old Gold

Robertson creating novelty sugar mice and dolls
 in the family bathroom 1880 

This weeks drawing is of Sir MacPherson Robertson the inventor of Freddo Frog, Cherry Ripe, Old Gold, Milk Kisses and Columbines. I was intrigued by his story, especially his eager can-do approach. A very independent and resourceful person like Louisa Lawson, I admire his DIY attitude.

On June 10th 1880 in the working class suburb of Fitzroy. Robertson at 21 years of age started his own sweets business, which would go onto become Australia's largest confectionery works by 1900. I wanted to illustrate this moment in time.

"With a small furnace and a sixpenny nail can boiler he made his first sweets in the bathroom of his family home. He created novelty sugar mice and dolls each week between Monday and Thursday. On the weekends he would sell them to local shop keepers. He walked the streets of Melbourne for a year building his business."

By Jonathan Wright (ABC Goulburn Murray)

Sculpture of MacPherson at Fitzroy Library
I like that he looks like he's made of chocolate.

For more information you can check out:
Chocolate History Tour of Fitzroy and Collingwood
Fitzroy Historical Society