Ok.

Regular readers may remember the East Darling Harbour competition that was run about a year ago. In the end, the best team won and by all accounts, things are steaming ahead; heights are being set, setbacks devised, and

“That’s fine gravestmor, but I love democracy and I want to be involved!”

Well. Chill. Diligent reader shooter points out that another competition is afoot to name the new Wonder District. Obviously the NSW State Government has realised that the moniker ‘East Darling Harbour’ is neither an accurate geographic description nor is it likely to get buyers all wet about purchasing commercial floorspace or apartments. Thus YOU are now eligible to gain instant fame by dreaming up a

Prizes include are a Certificate(!) signed by Morris Iemma(!!) So get cracking. I want to see a kickass name for this place. (If you do enter, leave a comment as a record and if I can figure out the code I might even run a little in-house poll.)

To help you with your deliberations, the website has a page that asks “What will be there?” A good question, although if you believe the images What Will Be There is: some guy with a latte and a cigarette, a tray of cocktails, trees, a bubbling water feature and a shiny hook to tie your boat so that it does not drift away.

My entry is “Darling Harbour Heights”. Posh and aspirational.

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Previous EDH gear on gravestmor: Entry.
The shortlist. Other entries.
Open letter to the Jury.
Slidenights.
Remarch Working Harbour Forum.

And while we are still off discovering strange worlds, flickr user ‘Reciprocity’ has sent an expidition off under the watchful gaze of an electron microscope in the Microworld. It is a journey that would make a worthy sequel for Innerspace perhaps directed by Gilbert Garcin.

A Perilous Journey Lay Before Them.

“electon microscope photograph of tin oxide crystals”

The Forest That Knew No Fractals. “…as if stripped bare by some gigantic explosion. They pressed onward drawn by the strange light that beckoned.”

“Electron Micrograph (SEM) of fracture surface of silicon carbide fibre reinforced glass ceramic.”

The coaster had lost its roll. “The remains, of what they could only imagine as a gigantic theme park, stretched out for miles.”

“SEM micrograph of multi-layer surface coating on plastic. Shrunk , cracked, crazed and curling due to over-enthusiastic etch in plasma etcher.”

Sunsrise on MicroWorld. - “The causeway behind them was destroyed, and the suns’ alignment and the tremendous resulting forces now acting on the planet was also taking its toll on their equipment. High electrostatic charges and gravitational changes were causing serious problems with their tracking devices and navigational aids. These now could not be fully relied upon.”

Be sure to check out the full set here.

Related
Shadowlands
Gilbert Garcin

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello is the first of three short films and a planned feature film set in the steampunk world of Gothia - a Victorian mechanical floating archipelago of densely overlapping scaffolding, floating dirigibles, masses of cogs, iron trusses, fine lacework, elaborate mechanical contraptions and pronounced noses.

“Set in a world of iron dirigibles and steam powered computers, this gothic horror mystery tells the story of Jasper Morello, a disgraced aerial navigator who flees his Plague-ridden home on a desperate voyage to redeem himself. The chance discovery of an abandoned dirigible leads Jasper through unchartered waters to an island on which lives a terrifying creature that may be the cure for the Plague. The journey back to civilization is filled with horrors but in a shocking climax, Jasper discovers that the greatest horror of all lies within man himself.” From here.

It is a beautiful, dark tale of exploration and discovery and I highly recommend you pick it up.