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Street of Dreams – Musical Mirror Maze [Tiny Tim's Street of Dreams] (Martin Sharp, 1988)

Dec

4

Street of Dreams - Musical Mirror Maze (1988)

Tiny Tim performing in front of the Luna Park's fantastic entrance gate (via). DPs: Russell Boyd, Geoff Burton, Tom Cowan, Michael Edols, David Sanderson & Simon Smith.

A theme park*, or in this case, amusement park.

“Just take it from me I'm just as free as any daughter I do what I like Just what I like and how I love it

I'm right here to stay when I'm old and gray I'll be right in my prime Living in the sunlight, loving in the moonlight Having a wonderful time”

– Tiny Tim, Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight (Al Sherman & Al Lewis, 1930), from God Bless Tiny Tim (1968)

Tiny Tim is a personal hero of mine. A decade after his mainstream TV debut, Tiny's career had taken a tumble but he still was – God bless him – Tiny Tim, and he performed a two-hour-and-seventeen-minute singing marathon at Luna Park Sydney. Just months after that, tragedy hit the park's Ghost Train ride. A fire, arson as it was determined decades later, killed seven. Fellow Tiny-aficionado and OZ artist Don Lane saw a connection between these two events and spend years cutting and editing the musical marathon, nude drunken interview and disaster footage, and Tiny wandering around a mirror maze into a narrative.

 

Lane passed in 2013 and, in respect of his family's wishes, Street of Dreams remains unfinished.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

Feb

14

Valentine's Day

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

A delicate, pink frosted Valentine's cake topped with a yellow marzipan rose. The cake, which bears the words St. Valentine in crude writing, has a deep straight cut right through the middle and a scorched dark spot on its side. On the right a rusty knife. DP: Russell Boyd.

“On Saturday 14th February 1900, a party of schoolgirls from Appleyard College picnicked at Hanging Rock near Mt. Macedon in the state of Victoria. During the afternoon, several members of the party disappeared without trace.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

Nov

26

Valentine's cake – alfresco

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

A piece of cake. With teeny tiny ants crawling all over it. Awww! DP: Russell Boyd.

“This we do for pleasure, so that we may shortly be at the mercy of venomous snakes and poisonous ants. How foolish can human creatures be.”

– Miss McCraw

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

Nov

26

World Lewis Day

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

A koala high up in a tree, observing one of the rescue operations. DP: Russell Boyd.

A koala for World Lewis Day

 

It's not possible to be in nature, one can only be absorbed by it.

“The vicinity is reknowned for its venomous snakes and poisonous ants of various species. It is, however, a geological marvel.”

– Mrs. Appleyard