THE MILK BAR PROJECT
Melbourne photographer Eamon Donnelly is an avid corner store enthusiast. We asked
him all about his latest venture, the Milk Bars Project. What’s the go with this series? It’s
a photographic archive of the corner stores that have been slowly fading away since the
1970s. Why milk bars? In a world of grey buildings, I love how maximalist they are, from
the graphics to the signwriting. l also love the sense of connection you get with a milk bar.
We’re more isolated than ever before, but when you walk into a milk bar you’re walking into
someone’s home. When did the project start? The first photo I took was of my childhood
milk bar in East Geelong. I took that in 2002. I’m now sitting on over 7000 photos. Where
has the project taken you? All across Australia, from Sydney to Broken Hill, to Perth and
Adelaide (where they’re known as delis) and the outback. I’ve visited over 300 stores, and
interviewed countless past owners. How do you find them all? A combination of tip-offs
from locals and driving down back streets looking for colourful gems. I’ve developed an
acute milk-bar intelligence. What’s next? I’m publishing a 400-page coffee-table book in
- I also sell prints from my online store. milkbarsbook.com SJ
DAINTON FAMILY BREWERY
Most Australians will wrinkle their noses at the prospect
of drinking a beer that’s been out of an esky longer than 45
seconds. Then again, most Australians are raging philistines- at least compared to other beer-drinking nations. Case in
point: prior to encountering the Dainton Family Brewery’s
Rum-Soaked Raisin Belgian Quad (a beer best drunk
warmish), we didn’t even know the difference between a
raisin, a sultana and a currant. Worse still, we didn’t even
know that we didn’t know the difference. And we still don’t
know what it is. Likely never will. Even so, we’re grateful there
is a difference, because we don’t imagine this beer would taste
anywhere near as good if it were brewed with rum-soaked
sultanas. Also, such meddling could potentially lower the
alcohol content from its righteous 11.2 per cent ABV. And
as any ardent Australian will vouch, the higher the alcohol
content of a beer, the gooder that beer is.
daintonbrewing.com.au TL
THE SECRET
SCIENCE LAB
Few things have been hidden in plainer
sight than the giant telescope concealed
in the heart of London. Built in the
1670s to celebrate the rebuilding of the
city after the Great Fire, it is today more
commonly known as the Monument – a
61-metre-tall stone prong topped with
an immense copper urn. Londoners
were told the Monument was purely
ornamental. In reality, it is one of the
weirdest scientific instruments ever
assembled. The design is traditionally
ascribed to Sir Christopher Wren, but
it was a friend of his, the philosopher-
scientist Robert Hooke, who thought
the Monument could be more than just
a monument. At Hooke’s prompting, a
trapdoor was built into the copper urn
that opened up to the heavens, lenses
were installed inside the structure’s long
column, and an observation chamber
was built below ground level. It should
have been the most powerful telescope
on the planet. But as big thinkers often
do, Hooke neglected the earthly details.
Even back then, London traffic created
enough vibrations to throw the lenses
off. Hooke’s telescope drifted into
history as an audacious folly, one of
those ideas brilliant in every respect,
but for the fact that it didn’t work. AM