Walking along South Dowling Street last week, I spotted this little dog.

It reminds me of Will Coles‘ cement teddy, which I passed on Crown Street a few months back.

Nice carrot.

A few weeks ago, walking along South Dowling Street, we noticed neighbouring houses for sale.

I like the initiative that No. 403 is taking, grabbing onto the coat-tails of No. 405.

Two weeks on and No. 405 has sold and the sign is down at No. 403.

Rose Terrace in Paddington, just off South Dowling Street, near the corner at Oxford Street, has undergone a make-over.

A little bit of research shows an interesting history.

The 32 houses were built in 1874-75 in three terraces to form a triangle, with a common area in the middle. Kids used to play, clothes-lines were erected, neighbourhood parties were held here. Then in the 1960s, individual houses were sold and the common area became a place to park cars and dump trash.

In 1973, the Rose Terrace Society was formed to fight against the owner who wanted to build a multi-storeyed building on the site. The then Lord Mayor of Sydney, Leo Port, came to the rescue. The owner was defeated and the common area was given back to the people as a community garden. A Local Citizens Committee was established to care for and maintain the garden with a grant of $5200.

According to the Paddington Paper (official newsletter of the Paddington Society), in April 2009:

The Rose Terrace garden park has been scooped out clean for a complete renewal. City of Sydney has worked with residents and landscape specialists to come up with a new look for this park…

Pulling up the tar from the old road surface has revealed treasures and rubbish. It seems 100 years ago, road base was just small rocks and anything that would go on top of the sand.

Digging struck treasure too. The sandstone gutter that originally went with the sandstone curb saw daylight for the first time in many years. The sympathetic landscapers are preserving and re-seating it ready to go along side the new tarred surface.

Well, it is all complete and looking lovely in the spring time.

There’s a new Zap paste-up on Fitzroy Street, near the corner of South Dowling Street – opposite the Cricketer’s Arms hotel – in Surry Hills.

This one’s got some extraterrestrial space funk vibes.

We have to
get out of here
Zap the monster
hand is going
to take us
to the galazy
of giants
we are ants
there

A reference to Sun Ra, P-Funk, or the graffitiist’s ’80s funk name sake, Zapp?

I know, I know. We’re at risk of becoming a Zap fan blog. But occasionally you come across someone who’s doing something cool, right at the moment they’re doing it.

Two ‘c’ words from very different ends of the street art spectrum.

One is a quaint (and informative) chalk piece I noticed on the wall of a house on Oswald Lane, Darlinghurst.

The other is Andy Uprock’s latest offering, on the corner of Flinders and South Dowling streets. I hope his cups are recycled, or at least biodegradable.

A strip of Oxford Street in Darlinghurst – on the way up to Paddington – renamed itself ‘Three Saints’ recently.

It actually happened in the second half of 2008. Businesses on the Oxford Street, South Dowling Street, Victoria Street and Barcom Avenue intersection started talking renaming, set up a website, and started jamming out some names.

• Fruit Bat Crossing
• Penguin Square

They settled on Three Saints, due to nearby St Vincents, St Sophia and Sacred Heart.

So they’ve got the branding down.

Top picture is the window of Ariel bookshop – and below, Ariel’s shopping bags.

Is this common, this renaming business?