Why do people have a compulsive obsession to photograph every sculpture or statue they come across when most couldn’t care less what it is or why it’s there?
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Some of these strange things are created to shock while others are meant to make a statement, tell a story or just entertain and there’s some weird ones around the place.
Orange councillors Neil Jones and Russell Turner made a failed attempt to get a four-storey high aluminium sculpture called Uniting a Nation that Sydney council didn’t want even though it had been paid for by a philanthropist.
They thought it would be great at the Botanic Gardens. But Orange has lots of arty ‘sculptures’ we could promote and all that’s needed are some directional signs for visitors.
For starters there’s the Telstra towers off Moulder St that make an interesting look along with the communications tower at the railway station. Then there’s all those concrete traffic blisters the council is putting in everywhere. How arty are they?
And what about the rusty collection of machinery in Tynan St you can see from the East Fork railway bridge? It would bring joy to a sculpture lover’s heart. These are all fine art pieces and if visitors can be convinced to stop and take photos of them, well and good. Sculptures? Who’d know the difference?
Trainspotting
There's little doubt that when steam trains disappeared there was in many cases a feeling of sadness and now, years later, only the real enthusiasts have maintained the fight to preserve that important part of our history.
Lachlan Valley Rail, at Cowra, is a group of dedicated rail buffs who spend most of their spare time restoring old steam locomotives and carriages and running tourist trains.
But in a move that eventually will be a boon for Orange, LVR has taken over the old East Fork depot and will use it as an operational base. LVR members have begun cleaning up the site and mowing the grass.
Won’t it be great to eventually have those old tin dinosaurs rolling out of there again 45 years after the demise of steam?
13th sign in the mix
What will all you people who follow the stars every day do now that NASA has reminded us there’s really 13 constellations in the original zodiac and that changes your signs.
The space agency says when the Babylonians drew up a plan for the zodiac to correspond with the months of year, they already had a 12-month calendar so they left poor Ophiuchus out.
So the ‘new’ dates for the 13 signs include Capricorn that was originally December 22 until January 20 now becoming January 20 until February 16.
The date changes go right through the zodiac to include Ophiuchus.
Here they are: Aquarius February 16 to March 11, Pisces March 11 to April 18, Aries April 18 to May 13, Taurus May 13 to June 21, Gemini June 21 to July 20, Cancer July 20 to August 10, Leo August 10 to September 16, Virgo September 16 to October 30, Libra October 30 to November 23, Scorpio November 23 to November 29, Ophiuchus November 29 to December 17 and Sagittarius December 17 to January 20.
But it’s up to you what you believe and if you've already invested a fair share of personal meaning into the sign you were born under, that's fine because astrology isn’t real science like astronomy. So take any changes with a grain of salt.