David Coombe

david_coombe_cbr@aus.social

Canberran. Partner. Father. Retired systems analyst, designer & developer. Original research on colonial artist S.T. Gill 1840-1853. Gardens : vegetable, native. Following more hashtags than accounts. Portrait (detail) : by Phillip England (TasmanianTintype), gift of my daughter.

Posts

Post #2735463
I accidentally voted in an #ABCNewsAU poll as my scrolling thumb landed.
Post #2735462
“Gen-Zee” voters. Oh how it hurts my ears. Sarah Ferguson on #ABC730
Post #2735461
RE: https://mastodon.social/@publicdomainrev/116572766423875447 I&#39;ve been long puzzled by #S_T_Gill&#39;s sketches of theatrical costumes and scenes from Shakespeare. Were these designs for a theatre company? But having just seen PDR&#39;s post (quoted below) I see it&#39;s possible Gill was (again) (at least in part) inspired by Cruikshank on a theme. Link to Gill&#39;s &quot;Hamlet and the Ghost&quot; in #StateLibraryNSW. https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/...
Post #2735460
Couldn&#39;t miss it! This is the second anenome stinkhorn #fungus to pop up in the native garden in the last few days. &quot;The first fungus scientifically described in Australia and collected in 1792.&quot; #fungi #GardeningAU
Post #2735459
At Manuka Oval #Canberra for rep game #AFLCanberra vs #AFLSydney https://manukaoval.com.au/events/
Post #2735458
Happy about this. I had an overnight enquiry from an academic in Dublin with an interest in the &quot;literary cultures of nineteenth-century copper mining&quot;. She was particularly interested in the interaction between Indigenous and settler children shown in an #S_T_Gill picture that was reproduced in 1848 in the Illustrated London News. It pleases me that my project can be useful to other researchers. Plus the enquiry helps me refocus on that content and in a couple of weeks I&...
Post #2735457
@anne_twain yes, the Adelaide Parklands have been on ABCTV news here in Canberra.
Post #2735456
Today is Samuel Thomas Gill&#39;s birthday - he&#39;d be 208. I&#39;ve described him as &quot;arguably Australia&#39;s most recognisable colonial artist&quot;, not as much by name, as by the extent of works used for historical illustration. Once more commonly called &quot;the artist of the goldfields&quot;, here&#39;s a sample of 24 sketches (tinged with gentle humour) from 1852 - that earnt him that nickname - in my recent article: https://coombe.id.au/S_T_G...
Post #2001019
Canberra's Community Toolbox will now deliver to #Belconnen, starting tomorrow. (Saves you driving to Watson.) For when you want to DO something, but don't really want to BUY the tool thing. Modest membership fee, borrowing is free. See what's in the library. https://www.communitytoolboxcbr.org/toolbus
Post #1630930
A Melbourne butcher’s fears are headline news this morning. #ABCNewsAU
Post #1630925
#Canberra has a new &quot;waste less&quot; thingy - a Reusables Library - thanks to community group SeeChange. Borrow crockery, cutlery, etc, for events such as meetings, seminars, school fetes – anywhere there are a group of people and food and/or drink is provided. https://www.seechange.org.au/reusables-library
Post #1630920
Heard on ABC #Canberra radio news just now that #SaveBigSplash #JamisonPool to reopen 1 November. Government expects owners to lodge application to demolish water slides. #Belconnen My view: #ACTGovernment has been chicken on this and also kept the community mainly in the dark. Questions: 1) what’s Big Splash without slides; 2) are we just relying on yet more consequence-free promises to open?
Post #933215
Bloke on the radio (ABCRN) this morning says one day Australia too could land people on the moon. Save that thought mate for after all the electrified very fast trains.
Post #708952
“The man who ate a park” in today’s #TheSaturdayPaper is about William Light’s design for #Adelaide (and the Park Lands). A few years ago I made this (slightly) interactive version of Light’s map. https://coombe.id.au/1840s_South_Australia/1837_Adelaide_Map_Original_Purchasers.htm
Post #550175
I&#39;ve noticed #TroveAU has recently cut over to using #StateLibraryNSW *new* catalogue. The new catalogue is great. (I transitioned my project.) #ozGLAM
Post #550174
The artist&#39;s many signatures. Applying fresh analysis to a 40-year-old 4-page appendix. New article: https://coombe.id.au/S_T_Gill/S_T_Gill_Signatures_and_Dating.htm #S_T_Gill #catalogueRaisonne #artHistoryAU
Post #550173
fly-past from a flock of corellas in conversation
Post #550172
#Tasmania Hidden Treasures Walk to the West #colonialArtAU exhibition in Queenstown 6 March – 10 April. #artAU https://rst.org.au/search-for-the-lost-piguenits-a-valuable-artwork-could-be-hanging-on-your-wall/
Post #550170
Heard on radio BBC Inside Science in an item on geology and after an item on AI. “ … because AI had never …” middle of night brain catches up “ … a) I had never …”
Post #550166
“Frog. The Secret Diary of a Paramedic” by Sally Gould (2025) Ambos. “Life as a paramedic … can be traumatic, gross, dull, hilarious and magical.” A great Australian read. Just finished (from #LibrariesACT)
Post #550164
Weather is a curious prompter of memory, I find. This morning’s weather a reminder of another place and time … Or maybe it’s just unusual weather that does it.
Post #550162
#S_T_Gill project bug fix (links to maps). Artworks with ampersand in the title were not linking to #uMap (object name). Replaced ampersand with &quot;and&quot; in webpage html and in uMap content. Fixed example on 1840s #Adelaide map, &quot;Capt. Frome&#39;s &amp; Engineer Barracks&quot;: https://coombe.id.au/S_T_Gill/S_T_Gill&#39;s_Series_of_Adelaide_Views.htm#47
Post #238994
#Canberra #LifelineBookFair is on again at EPIC, today and over the weekend. I’ll be there carrying for the voracious reader. https://www.lifelinecanberra.org.au/books/bookfair/
Post #159409
Absolutely bizarre thermometer graphic used on #ABCTV news tonight. Check the number scales both left (C) and right (F) in the #Canberra edition. No AI please! #ABCNewsAU