About this time last year, almost to the day, one of our readers spotted would-be Nazi graffiti on the road in Darlinghurst. Then this appeared over the weekend, near the old toilet block at Taylor Square.

But as one of our readers, Tony, noted in the comments at the time:

Well, actually, this is not a nazi cross (Swastika) at all. The real cross is the other way around (mirrored image).

This ‘reversed Swastika’ can be found in numerous places:

1. The Nydam Bog (look at the bottom of the page).
2. A buddhist temple
3. The flag of the city Hirosaki, in Japan

So we could be facing a very angry Danish from the year 200AD, a peaceful buddhist monk, a Japanese backpacker eager to come back to Oz… or an angry (and probably drunk) kid that doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. Place your bets ;-)

So there you have it, and it’s reappeared at the tail end of another summer holiday.

An activist/street artist called the Invisible Man has left small plaques on walls and telegraph poles around inner city Sydney, particularly Surry Hills and Darlinghurst. But recently, the Invisible Man’s branched out.

At this spot on Premier Lane, Darlinghurst, and on a few other walls around town, the Invisible Man’s appeared as a copycat of This Is For That’s alphabaffiti.

We’ve had people searching the blog for various combinations of ‘Darlinghurst’, ‘Sydney’ and ‘invisible’ or ‘invisible man’ every day for the past month or so. And at least one report, in the comments, of hand delivered material from Invisible Man.

Then one of our readers, Steve, noted this plaque on the corner of Farrell Avenue and Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst.

Hard to see, I only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye. It’s stuck to the curb that forms the garden bed on the little traffic island at the intersection of Farrell Avenue and Kirketon Road.

This one is for Lisa Marie Smith and references something happening with her in Bangkok in ‘96 – and on a side note, asks to ‘FREI BOGAN SCHAPELLE CORBY’.

It’s also got what looks like a giant spliff on it.

And then this…

Walking down to Cafe Hernandez on a recent morning, we noticed this artwork on a shelf, dated 2007 – clearly by the same artist – Damien Jones.

Back to work, and at least on this Liverpool Street downpipe, it’s back to meetings with suits and briefcases.

It’s that time of year, I guess. Darlinghurst isn’t too corporate, but when people are stepping out about now, it’s for meetings not parties.

The girl whistles a song to pass the time. The boy’s peaked hat gives him a bit of a Boys Own vibe as he teaches their pet to heel (is that a squirrel or a dog?).

You can find these inner city kids on Fitzroy Lane, Surry Hills.

Reminds me of this man, who appeared on Clarkson’s Mill Way, Darlinghurst, in March last year.

After noting this Ryder Street terrace’s excellent stoop, it’s hard to miss its street number, hand drawn on the wall in a Roman script – ‘VIII’.

That’s not all. Along with the DIY number, the Surry Hills terrace gets a constant stream of messages, as far as I can see, all addressed to James.

Hey James!
Have a beer with us sometime!
Sam & Ed

Hello James!
This time it was Grace, Balin and Sam!

I’m assuming James lives in the place. Though, if not, it could go back and forward as some sort of ad hoc community announcement board?

Before mobile phones and email (and definitely before social media), connecting with friends called for good timing, a working landline, and a lot of luck. Somehow we managed. In Surry Hills, the tradition continues.

This farm yard animal appeared on Liverpool Street this week.

It’s just down from the crossing with Palmer Street, and diagonally across from East Village – but what it actually is, I’m far from certain. At the site, I had it picked for a cow. On photo, it seems obviously porcine.

We’ve had a few leads on ‘alphabafitti,’ as Kym Chapple calls it, appearing about town.

But there’s something about this one, on Roslyn Street, Kings Cross, that makes me wonder – copycat or the real? So I went back to the source, and it’s no copycat.

I like running through some of the recent this is for that hits, W is for “Weather Girl” is a particular favourite.

There’s a stand-off happening on Church Lane, between Bourke and Little Bourke Streets in Surry Hills.

Two cherubs, with birds flying from a cavity in each babe’s stomach. Or are they stealth fighters?

They’ve been on the wall of Object gallery’s office, in the St Margaret’s redevelopment, since the artist Jason Wing’s show (with Vernon Ah Kee).

This rabbit popped up down near the corner of Hardie and Burton Streets, Darlinghurst, this week.

It’s a cute bunny, but it’s a bit early for Easter decorations, right?

This little bit of alpine art is on the loading dock of a Surry Hills warehouse, just behind the Bourke Street Bakery and around the corner from the Brett Whiteley Studio.

It’s a series of craggy mountain tops, set in pink – each mountain seems to have a letter, but I can’t make sense of it – it’s out the back of Gineico Marine’s Devonshire Street warehouse, on Esther Street and Esther Lane.

There are quite a few other bits of street art on the block – see local blog Acid Midget for more. Little stencil galleries like this are tucked away across Darlinghurst and Surry Hills, I wonder whether the work tends to cluster because of a lack of monitoring, support from residents and local businesses, or just that once one person’s done a stencil at a spot, others want to join them.