Ned Kelly. Australian icon. Innovator. Misunderstood genius.

Ned Kelly. Australian icon. Innovator. Misunderstood genius. More than a bushranger. Not just another bearded hipster on a fixie...

Inventor of the bicycle helmet, by which means he sought to protect the rider from the perils of Magpie Attack! 

People speak of drop bears and sharks and hundreds of other deadly, bitey and sting-y things in Australia, but what brings true terror to Australians every spring is the magpie, swooping from above with murderous intent, especially to those who dare to ride bikes.
Not many people know that Ned Kelly was a keen early cyclist, and instead of cowering indoors in September, he decided to do something about it.

 He invented the bicycle helmet. 

Admittedly his early prototype was very heavy (remember this was before the invention of polystyrene) and lacked a little in regards to peripheral vision, but he had ongoing plans to develop his ideas.

Unfortunately where he got into trouble was with his early method of crowdfunding. Approaching financial institutions and the public with guns blazing, and promising not to shoot his backers as a reward, was met with a level of misunderstanding by the police of the day.

When Kelly faced the full weight of the law, the judge redefined 'stretch goals' and his enterprise came to an early end.

Such is life...

Here are some photos of my first real attempt at automata - figurative kinetic sculpture. Ned rides his bike as he is continually swooped by a magpie.  Check out the video too!

.Magpie has paper wings and a body made of Kneed-it epoxy putty

Ned is made from pine mostly, with aluminium armour (from old drink cans) and aluminium wire for arms, easy to bend in shape! This photo shows him without his jacket and chest armour.

prayer, and the fall of the Berlin Wall

9th Nov 2014, is the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, which led to the fall of communism across Europe and the reunification of Germany.

Unlike many great political upheavals, it was achieved without bloodshed, and may not have happened at all without people like Christian Fuehrer, the pastor of the Nikolai Church in Leipzig. He decided a few years earlier in 1982 to hold Prayers for Peace every Monday at his East Germany church. in the early days, barely a dozen people turned up, but over several years it grew. It grew to such an extent that people couldn't fit into the church, After Monday prayers on 9 October 1989 more than 70,000 people assembled there in order to demonstrate.

It was only a few months since the Tienanmen Square massacre and so people were nervous, and hospitals prepared for the worst. Riot squads gathered and patrolled the streets, ready for anything. Armed only with candles and Jesus' message of 'Love your enemy' and 'no violence' in their hearts the people set out.

Chanting 'No Violence' and 'we are the people', they totally confused the riot squads.
Pastor Führer later said: "They didn't attack. They had nothing to attack for. East German officials would later say they were ready for anything, except for candles and prayer." 

And then, exactly one month later, a wall which had stood for decades, dividing families, a city, an a whole country came down.

For more read this BBC report or this interview with Christian Fuehrer. He wasn't Gandhi or Mandela, but pastor Fuehrer is one of my heroes. 

twisted

Who knows the burden of naturally curly hair? How it never sits how you want, how humid days make it twist and curl more? How windy can make it hard to manage? Ah well, at least I'm not a ranga, ginger or carrot top...
I finished this small painting yesterday, and the hair isn't really half as curly as I originally planned it to be. But quite often artworks twist beneath your brush and can go in slightly unexpected directions. And they still somehow turn out okay, sometimes even better than expected.
Life is full of twists, no one knows what is just around the corner,so you must face the future with determination, like this young lady, and step out in faith and hope.