Time Capsule

It's been a long time since a post on here, and a lot has happened. The Squat which is pictured in previous blog entries is still going strong. There are still 4 people living there, down from 7. One housemate and Me have moved into a new squat not too far away, and we've been joined by a friend.
The new place is exciting. It appears to have been empty for about 15 years (!!!), and as such has deteriorated significantly. In some parts of the house, there are holes in the roof, large parts of the interior paint are peeling off, and in some rooms as many as 1 in 5 floor boards are completely rotted through.
So far we've fixed up the rotten floor boards by laying a new flooring of plywood and whatever else we could find, and have placed rugs over the top. The kitchen has been made functional using an assortment of milk crates and a door as the new bench top. And despite how the description may make it sound, the kitchen is lovely. We've painted the fittings with striking red paint, and we have a vintage yellow lamp in the corner, which when turned on makes the whole kitchen look warm and cosy.
We've got the toilet working so we no longer need to bucket flush, though we still haven't put a new door on the toilet, which is a slight problem as it's an outside toilet with neighbours windows looking straight in.
The Lounge room and hallway are now the only rooms that really need to be cleaned out. When we first moved in, the house was packed full of the owners junk. Piles of stationary, boxes of documents from the 70's and an assortment of personal items. We decided to keep items that had an obvious personal value, and to throw the rest of the junk out. I imagine even the things to which we've assigned a personal value aren't especially important, as they have been left in this place for over a decade.
There have been pictures taken, and they will hopefully be posted soon!

The [We Need A Name For This Place] Squat.

While comrades in Melbourne were being harassed by landlords, squatting communities in Papua New Guinea having their settlements burnt and demolished by cops, Big Bbusiness planning to descend on squatters in Ghana, and Kenyan squatters demanding land be returned by the Government; one of Sydney's largely gentrified, though conveniently located Inner-West suburbs got a whole lot more squatty!

A few comrades and me have turned a really (really) nice empty, into a really (really) great home.

After squatting our place, we noticed that a large industrial building next door was also empty, and so now that is being used as well, with plans afoot to create a people's kitchen.

We were shown our place by friendly squatters from down the road, who have helped us out a lot. which just goes to show that if you want to squat in Sydney, you just need to get in contact with the squatters. The community in Sydney is actually quite vibrant despite being smallish in comparison to other cities, and everyone involved is happy help out - so squat!
We've been living here for about a month now, these photo's were mostly taken before we moved in. So a lot has changed.

For some pictures, starting with the overgrown yard. This was cleaned up pretty quickly with a lot of initial enthusiasm (and before the 40°C days.)
Some of the rooms;
Our ghetto lock;

Front bedroom clothing solutions;

Locked out

So i arrived at the house i had set my heart upon this morning, armed with a broom and tape measure, only to find that some goons had been sent around to screw the door to the frame.
Basically there is no way into the house, even for the owner, without breaking in now. So you can only imagine the house has been secured so it can continue to rot away in peace.

Here's to waste!

Anyway, on a more beautiful note, here we have the music of Steve Reich, remixed by various artists. This is pretty old now, but listening to Reich recently reminded me of my HSC year when i had to analyse this piece, different trains. Please listen, it's worth it.
This is one of three movements, America - before the war, which is followed by Europe - During the War and then After the War, obviously.

Home Improvement #1

Introducing; The House!
The dwelling is a modest 1 bedroom terrace about 2-3 Kilometers from the CBD. My rigorous researching leads me to believe that it has been unoccupied for well over a year, in which time it has been left to the mercy of the elements, and by the looks of things, vandals.
Every window is missing, there is a lot of debris on the floor, carpet needs cleaning, electricity and gas need connecting, the toilet needs to be sealed, yard cleaning up, shower head installed, new coat of paint and I'm sure there will be many more things to add to this list as i spend more time in the space.
The pictures below show the space as it was when it was first entered. I intend to update this section of the blog fairly regularly, detailing the work being done, and answering any questions i can from potential squatters or curious minds.
To view these posts, and these posts only, at the bottom of this post click the "home improvement" label.
Enjoy!

Front Door; A view from the hallway.

The Kitchen

Hot water System!

A Door (obviously)

The next few home improvements should be somewhat more interesting, and i hope to deliver some squaterlicous blogness to you soon. Take care.