Somerville's book

Another gem has been added to the collection: the 1966 (third) edition of W. Somerville’s Rottnest Island in History and Legend (Its Discovery and Development, Natural Beauties, Fauna and Flora) arrived in the post this week.

Rotto Bloggo snapped it up on eBay for ten bucks: a snip compared to some of the Bookfinder listings (from $19.35 to $83.75, with most being the Rottnest Island Board reprint of 1976…the cheapest 1966 edition they had was $28.63).

Somerville was interesting. His name remains on the island: the cop shop’s address is 1 Somerville Drive. The UWA site says he was a Senate founder and wrote a history of the first 30 years of the uni that was never published. Fred Alexander (another big WA name) said some of Somerville’s comments in his history are “sensitive”.

The Australian Dictionary of Biography says Somerville was born in NSW and hit Freo in 1895:

“On the morning that he landed, he hunted up the union secretary at his breakfast and by starting time had found a job as engine-smith on C. Y. O'Connor's harbour works. He became a leader of the local labour movement, was active in the 1899 lumpers' strike, and represented the A.S.E. on the new Coastal Trades and Labor Council (president 1901). On 30 March 1899 in Wesley Church, Fremantle, Somerville married Agnes Spunner, schoolteacher; they lived in Mosman Park, a bushland suburb, and Agnes shared her husband's political activity. They had a daughter and three sons.”

Somerville was also involved on the King's Park and Rottnest Island boards: while on the latter he “instigated an ambitious afforestation scheme”.

A cataract meant Somerville retired in 1941. After an operation he wrote his Rottnest masterpiece and other works.

Rottowiki

With all the fuss being created by Wikiscanner last week, Rotto Bloggo thought we’d have a look at the history of the Rottnest Island article on Wikipedia.

The first entry was done on Anzac Day 2003. All up there’s been 195 edits.

This was in the first entry, but isn’t in the current one:

'Each year, around November, the island is inundated with school leavers and university students, who celebrate their graduation with extended bouts of binge drinking at the bar in Thompson's Bay (called the "Quokka Arms") and at rented cabins and units. In [[1986]], outrageous student behaviour resulted in multiple arrests and expulsions from the island, and made national news.'

On 16 August 2005 there was a POV problem, and some superlatives had to go:

'The Rottnest Lodge is a high quality hotel located in the centre of the settlement at Thomson Bay, and the ever popular and recently refurbished Quokka Arms now offers a fabulous beer garden, quality restaurant and superb ocean views.'

There doesn’t seem to have been vandalism on the level of those naughty public servants (you’ll remember they inserted ‘poo bum dicky wee wee’ on an entry about martial arts), but Wikipedia doesn’t like commercial links. On 16 July last year someone slipped in the URL http://www.rottnest.de/, but it was removed a minute later.

more Rottnest art

Someone who's been told he paints like Monet, someone who types like Monet.

Jason Beer is the latest artist to put a Rotto image on eBay: his ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING ONSTRETCHED CANVAS FRE DELIVERY, which shows people on the beach, starts at $95 (or you can Buy It Now for $200).

"I HAVE WON AWARDS FOR MY PAINTINGS AND OFTEN HAVE MY PAINTINGS COMPARED TO THAT OF MONET," Jason says on his listing.

"AT MY LAST SOLO EXHIBITION I WAS TOLD BY A ARTIST,MONET IS MY IDOL YOU PAINT JUST LIKE HIM. WHILE THATS NICE TO HERE I SAY HE JUST HAPPENED TO PAINT THE WAY I DO."

The next eBay listing has Rotto Bloggo stumped, though. Item number 260151802995 is an ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR BY ROBERT RICHMOND CAMPBELL (VERY POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST,"AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE".

Sounds good. But the seller, Bob Wright, is not the most articulate spruiker.

"THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PICK UP AN ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR BY ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S MOST POPULAR IMPRESSIONIST ARTISTS, ROBERT RICHMOND CAMPBELL,THE WATERCOLOUR WHICH IS IN GOOD CONDITION AND SIGNED AT THE BOTTOM LEFT ALSO COMES WITH A SOFT COVER BOOK ON THE ARTIST WHICH WAS RELEASED IN 1986 BY THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY IN TASMANIA," says Bob, in bright blue.

After some details about Campbell's employment, Bob gets red: "AUCTION DETAILS:TRAFALGAR SQUARE, OIL CHRISTIES 2000,71X 90, $35,250. SYDNEY HARBOUR,OIL,DEUTCHER-MENZIES SYD, 2004,15.5X 39,$12,925. MIDDAY LIGHT,ROTTNEST, WATERCOLOUR,27 X 39,GREGSON FLANAGAN,1996,$1,870."

What what what? Do these details have anything to do with the image for sale? What is the reason for the tantalising Rottnest mention?

Bob had this, in magenta: "IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE THE END OF AUCTION,I AM ONLY TOO WILLING TO HELP IN ANY WAY I CAN,,,,,"

Rotto Bloggo duly emailed Bob with our query but he was somewhat frosty in his reply: "i can see from your pleasant personality that you would be a wonderful person to deal with, i am quite happy for you not to worry about bidding on any of my items,thankyou".

Yikes! We're destined to remain in the dark about Campbell.

* Photo is in the Impressionist mode, by Rotto Bloggo

icon do that

More Rotto artistic angles.

The Rottnest Channel Swim wants a design for next year’s event and it’s worth $500.

“Regarded as a collector’s item by swimmers and support crew the iconic long sleeve shirt has been produced since 1994,” the Swim’s site gushes.

(Hmm. Do these shirts really have the characteristics of an icon? It was discussed at Curtin Uni yesterday. Rotto Bloggo accepts the word no longer applies to just Russina religious images – but the Swim shirt?)

Anyway, the winning design will be on 4000 shirts and will win the designer serious Rottnest cred.

The winner also gets the cash, or two VIP passes on Swim day, or a choice of team, duo or solo entry, and a salutation in the yearbook.

You can only use four colours and it must be printable in block colour.

You can't have a quokka in your design.

The Swim people get to own the copyright, and they will use all or part of it.

Get a move on: entries close at the end of the month.

Your Space?

Got a spare space on your wall crying out for original art?

Look no further than Rotto Bloggo: we can guide you to a superb Rottnest image.

Perth-based emerging artist Alli Sylvestre posted this on eBay yesterday.

Item number 270157400213 is an oil on board artwork called In Each Other’s Space.

It’s about “about being completely relaxed with friends and soaking up the sun and the atmosphere of Rottnest”, as Alli explains in her listing.

It’s attracted glory: the painting won the Curtin Award of Recommendation at the Town of Vincent Art Awards this month.

The cost? A mere $850. Postage is an extra $150, but to sweeten the deal for Perth buyers, Alli will do free delivery to the metro area.

Get out your tape measure: In each Other’s Space is 970w by 935h by 70d.

It’s in a limewashed wood frame and ready to hang.

“Are you charging a commission if it sells?” Alli enquired, somewhat suspiciously, when Rotto Bloggo sought permission to use the eBay image.

No no: we’re just spreading the word about Rotto images.

Rotto quiz

We went to the Rottnest Society’s AGM on Monday night.

It was a very informative evening. The Society is a group of good people. Why not consider joining?

A highlight of the evening was hearing from the relatively-new environment manager, Nicola Patrick. She’s been in the job for about eight weeks.

By the way, which of the following plant species are not indigenous to Rottnest: Melaleuca lanceolata, Acanthocarpus preissii, Callitris preissii, Templetonia retusa?

If you think you know your Rottnest, check out the Society’s quiz (the above question is question number 20, out of 30), at

http://www.rottnestsociety.org.au/rottnest_quiz_questions.htm

It sorts out the day-trippers from the hardcore fans.

are you Experienced?

What do public toilets and changerooms, linen and bedding, and shore facilities and fuel services for boaters have in common?

They’re areas that don’t rate well in surveys of people who have been to Rotto.

“To continue to satisfy customers, those aspects that continue to be less positively rated than others (and are used by many visitors) should be reviewed,” as Evaluating the Rottnest Island Experience (Final Report) puts it.

The Final Report is wonderful reading and Rotto Bloggo will quote from it in greater length this week.

But getting the Final report was an effort.

The RIA’s Penni Fletcher-Hughes wouldn’t release it: “The research forms part of our business operations. Some of the results are published in our annual reports. The report is not made available for the public.”

So of course Rotto Bloggo has to send in its cheque for $30 to the RIA’s Freedom of Information coordinator, Fiona Westenhaver.

The Final Report was sent to us – but not all of it.

In order to get most of it, Rotto Bloggo agreed stuff about businesses like Red Rooster could be left out.

“I…have removed third party information on pages 29 and the entire section on “Businesses on Rottnest island”,” Fiona wrote.

“The third party information refers to visitors opinions of businesses on the Island and as such the RIA would need to seek third party approval to release this information.”

beachMcComber

Did you see that SBS show the other night on The Triffids?

There was Paul Kelly and others saying how wonderful the Perth band was.

This from the Brisbane Times: "If Bruce Springsteen had put out Wide Open Road, it would have been a monstrous hit," says the Church's Steve Kilbey. "To me, it's tantamount to an Australian Born to Run."

High praise indeed - and correct. "By 1988 their fame was such that NME invited the group to contribute to the Beatles tribute album Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father alongside Billy Bragg and Wet Wet Wet," says the Wikipedia entry.

Rotto Bloggo couldn't help but notice two Rottnest moments during the show on this quintessentially WA band.

There was a few seconds footage from a music video between two villas in either Thomson Bay or Geordie: one band member was shovelling sand over a wall, while another was shovelling it back in.

Then there was footage of people at the Quokka Arms drinking and turning pink in the sun.

Almost as if it was Too Hot To Move.

the meet is on

Cancel your plans for Monday night, record Media Watch, get down to Cottesloe.

The Rottnest Society is having its AGM.

It's on at the Cottesloe Lesser Hall (the north-eastern corner of Cottesloe Civic Centre, on the corner of Broome & Napier Streets).

Eyes up for a 7pm start, and the they promise a free Rottnest Society t-shirt for the first ten members or guests there.

At 8pm the guest speaker is Kristy Winn, who will talk about woodland restoration on Rotto from her PhD.

"As we have been participating in this programme for the last ten years we believe members and friends will find this topic most interesting," the Society says.

stony ground

There's a little bit of Rottnest in West Perth.

Rotto Bloggo was amazed to learn Rottnest sandstone was used to build Parliament House:

"The present Harvest Terrace frontage and the two Chambers of Parliament House were completed in 1904. Later additions included the eastern frontage and the members bar (1964), offices on the southern side (1978), the visitors bar (1980), the gymnasium/courtyard (1988) and offices on the northern side (2003).

"The facade of the 1904 structure incorporates Rottnest sandstone; later extensions are faced with Donnybrook sandstone. Locally quarried granite was used in the entrance foyer floors and steps, and the internal stairs and wall treatments are Italian Travertine marble. Wood panelling throughout is fluted and polished jarrah."

Sometimes they ask questions about Rottnest in a building that's made out of Rottnest.

Rottnest bagged

In our quest for Rottnest memorabilia, we saw this today:

"...two DMH Outdoors Rottnest sleeping bags. The two bags can be zipped together to form one large bag. I paid about $80 for the two bags 4 months ago and only used them one time."

Who would have thought it? Sleeping bags named after the beautiful island.

The bags won't be zipped together in Tentland: the RIA is closing Tentland as it sits on the Aboriginal cemetery (news that even made the Supernatural News website).

"Chairman Laurie O’Meara said ground-probing radar showed most of the Allison camping area in Thomson Bay was formerly a burial ground for Aboriginal prisoners and that campers had caused deep disruptions to the soil in the sensitive area," The West reported last week.

"The authority would set up a temporary area for 18 tents this summer, including five at the edges of Tentland and another 13 which were close to a nearby oval.
"Mr O’Meara said the authority was committed to keeping a full-sized campsite on the island and was looking for a new location, possibly one with beachfront views."

"The island has been racked by problems over the years,” Cedric Jacobs, from the Whadjuk Tribal Sovereign Lands group, told The West.

“Once the campers go, you will see peace come back to the place.”

And now someone says part of the Lodge should be closed:

"The Rottnest Island Authority has backed calls to stop use of a section of the Rottnest Island Lodge after an eminent historian likened it to holidaying at Auschwitz concentration camp because nearly 300 Aboriginals had died in the rooms," The West reported yesterday.

A Rottnest holiday is being part of the Final Solution! Goodness me. Perhaps we can all wear special-shaped yellow stars when we get the ferry to Thomson Bay!