This will hurt me...

... everyone will be 20 years younger and 20 pounds thinner . [With a nod to both Clusterflock and Kottke !]

Now anyone that knows me knows that I am not the sort of fellow to poke fun at other people’s endeavours. Thus, I shall just post this picture of an art display that has been set up in Kelly’s Garden , which is located directly beneath my office window. This creature is my favourite of the collection. Yes, I know that it looks like a fifth grade paper mache project (more glitter! more colour!), but that may well be the effect that they are going for. Unfortunately, the pile of starfish that forms its base has already begun to rot and stink to high heaven. I know that art is a multi-sensory experience, but I am not sold on this one. The blurb below explains the concept. [Click to enlarge] As I said above, I am a kind and generous man by nature (modest too), so I will refrain from commenting on the other ‘works’. However, I must record a conversation with a colleague. We were having a look at them setting up, and Vernon was unsure as to the artistic merit of the pieces. I was explaining ...

I have decided to go with a two-for-one deal today, featuring clouds as seen from Geilston Bay. The first photograph was taken yesterday afternoon on the Derwent Avenue side of the East Derwent Highway. I snapped the second this morning on the Golf Links Road side of the Highway. After a couple of weeks of very cold mornings, it was surprisingly mild today. Unfortunately, I had neglected to consider that the last 40 pages of my book consisted of footnotes, so I finished it before I had even boarded the bus. That left lots of window gazing. You have to understand, in Australia, no-one talks to each other on the bus unless you are already very well acquainted. I am deadly serious when I say that if I were to attempt to strike up a conversation with someone, their assumption would be a) pervert; b) mentally ill; or c) a mentally ill pervert.

As a fellow with a keen interest in history, I heartily support Baudrillard's Bastard's attempt to solve one of the greatest puzzles of American history: Why do so many prints published during the American War for Independence feature dogs urinating of things? If anyone knows, please help us out!

Here is the wonderful birthday present that my wife made for me, a lovely pair of socks! Without any hyperbole, they are the most comfortable things that I have ever worn. Please excuse the mess on my desk. You know you're in a 'good place' when both the in tray AND the out tray are full!

I will put my cards on the table up front and declare I am all for gun control. I figure if you are going to let deadly weapons out into the community, it is worth trying to regulate them. HOWEVER, I had to laugh at this post that cropped up on the always excellent clusterflock . It concerns the list of questions that you are asked by the Illinois State Police in an application for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. Let us look at the questions shall we? 1) Have you ever been convicted of a felony? That's a good question. We don't want crooks with guns. 2) In the past 5 years, have you been a patient in any medical facility or part of any medical facility used primarily for the care or treatment of persons for mental illness? Another good question. We don't want lunatics with guns. I know that there are plenty of people who suffer from mental illness who aren't crazy insane killers, but hey, better safe than sorry! 3) Are you addicted to narcotics? Like the mental...

Here is a shot down Castray Esplanade, which runs down the waterfront opposite Salamanca Place. On the left there, you can see Princes Wharf Shed No 1. It acts as a car park for most of the year, but in Summer it hosts The Taste of Tasmania . I will admit that it gets a bit cramped for my style, as someone who is more comfortable with more rather than less personal space. There has long been talk of knocking it down and building something of a more modernist (or at least useful) bent, but I kind of like it the way that it is. Anyway, this is Tasmania, nothing much gets done down here, people would rather just sit around and argue!

I will tastefully avoid mentioning the child pornography in the background of today’s advertisement from less enlightened times, and focus on the young lovely in front. Now, yes she looks do happy and gay, not a care in the world. No doubt, this is because she believes the Coppertone promise that “a special ingredient” helps keep the skin looking young while you get a deep, satisfying tan. Forgive me for thinking that this “special ingredient” is probably ‘naivety’, but I thought that I would utilise this wonderful resource that is the Internet and locate the young lady today. This being the Internet, all I needed to do was enter the appropriate coordinates and dates, and ZAPPO, there she is in all of her glory!

Here are just some of the wonderful and shocking things that have happened on this day in history: 1429 – Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning wounded to lead the final charge. The victory marks a turning point in the Hundred Years' War. 1664 – Louis XIV of France inaugurates The Palace of Versailles. 1824 – World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony in Vienna. 1832 – Greece is recognised independent by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King. 1840 – Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is born. 1892 – Leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito is born. 1895 – In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention – the first in the world radio receiver. Today, Russia and Bulgaria celebrate this day as the Day of Radio . 1915 – World War I: a German subma...

Here is a shot from a moving vehicle as we were approaching the Tasman Bridge from the western (city) side. The house that you can see through the uprights are Rose Bay and Lindisfarne. Don't worry though, I didn't risk life and limb for this. I just held Henry out the side window upside down* and he snapped away like a trooper. It was like a Bond film! [* If you are from the Child Protection Agency, that was a joke.]

After my little rant there, I feel that it is appropriate to lighten things up a bit, and what better way to do that than with a violent cartoon? If you like this sort of thing, I can heartily recommend a visit to XKCD , a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

I have been dismayed to read much of the comment around the Commonwealth’s plan to raise taxation on ‘alcopops’ in an effort to curb the risks associated with binge drinking. While there should be no surprise that the opposition have rubbished it and alcohol industry groups are unhappy , the general critiques that I've seen are very poor. As ever, of the commentaries, the Herald Sun leads the way in outrage . One that really got me riled up (enough to post about it here), was a piece in Crikey titled ‘ Voodoo tax policy on alcopops ’. In it, Bernard Keane speaks of ‘handwringers’ and ‘wowsers’ with a set against kids having fun. He claims that “we’ve still yet to see any evidence that binge drinking is now any worse than in the past”, and makes particular note that the tax ‘attacks’ young women unequally. In not sure where he has been looking, but a quick note of the stats around alcohol-related hospital admissions, alcohol-related family incidents (mostly domestic violence), al...

A new meme crossed my path last week, and I have been compiling my answers until I had completed them to post them up here. You might have seen it already as it has been going around for a while now . The bibliographical theme is what has drawn my eye, and I was interested to see how I ‘stacked up’. So, it involves the top 106 (?) books marked ‘unread’ on LibraryThing.com . My understanding of it is that these books are collated from people tagging the books that they one day intend to read, but have not read. Therefore, we are talking the ‘most popular’ books that people intend to read one day. Anyway, the rules are basic: mark the books that you have read; note those that you have read more than once; record those you have started but could not finish; and note those that you either loved or hated. I have also decided to note those that I am unfamiliar with. I thought that by posting it up, I might be able to aid anyone in choosing future books to read, as well as give you all a guid...

A shot of everyday life from me today. Here is the cold rack of the Salamanca Fruit Market just down the road from where I work. Each morning I usually get a tub of Tamar Valley yogurt (from the lovely North West of the state, where all the best things come from). This and a couple of pears generally get me through the morning. It generally works. For those interested, I went with honey today. I like to mix the flavours up a bit, but if my hand is forced, I think that mango is my favorite. As this current project that I am working on is winding up at the end of the month, I applied for a new job today. We'll see how it goes. [If anyone from Tamar Valley yogurt would like to send me a free crate of yogurt, I would happily accept!)

Due to popular demand, this weekend will be a Henry triple feature! To mix things up though, I have gone with a Before & After/Then & Now theme. So, the first photo you can see Henry (and his mum) at five days old. You know that they're young when the nappy looks that big on them. The second photo was taken in the city today, where Henry is a whopping 559 days old! He looks a little bigger than he does in exhibit A.

I was relieved to read in The Times (of London, no less) this morning that the art of the Stalinist propaganda poster is not yet dead. The Times was promoting a gallery showing for North Korean propaganda posters, and included a few examples of the form for our education. Sadly, I could only read about such pearlers as “Let's grow more sunflowers!”; “Let's breed more high-yielding fish!”; or the wonderfully obscure "In all institutions and workplaces, let's popularise basketball!” Another delightful one exhorts: "Let's expand goat rearing and create more grassland in accordance with the party!" Wise words. However, I have chosen to bypass some that you might expect to see ("Let's take revenge a thousand times on the US imperialist wolves!") in favour of something more harmonious. So today I present you a message that ALL nations should adhere to: "Let's all become perfect swimmers!" Let us just...