This will hurt me...

I'm not happy with these colours, but Henry insisted that we give a Henry-eyed view of the fountain in Salamanca Square. I get the impression that it is in some way a magical fountain, because it always seems to draw children (and drunks) to climb in for a swim. After seeing dozens of mangy pigeon bathing in there however, I would advise against it.

I COULD wax lyrical about how everybody is linked to everybody else in some small way, and how we're all dependent on each other yaddah yaddah yaddah BUT I'M NOT because I CAN'T BE BOTHERED. What I will say is that I quite like this photograph. I like how the reflection plays off the water and I like how the colours are all a bit grimy and most off all I like the tension is quite evident when you look at the rope. And it should be. This flimsy little rope is all that's mooring a catamaran not much smaller than this one here . There is something terribly impressive about that!

You may have figured out by now that I enjoy odd comics. I have linked to a few in the past , and now want to share a new one that I've found and am enjoying. This one is called Pictures for sad children , and is written and drawn by John Campbell. He describes his work as "pretty okay" and "about a bad feeling you get when you are feeling good, or a good feeling you get when you are feeling bad". Thus, these comics may not be appropriate for sad children. Have a look, you'll probably like them.

Just a quick one this evening, I'm so tired I could eat a horse (that's how tired I am!) Here is a picture taken on my way home from one of my favourite shops in town Spice World . As a fan of all manner of cuisine, this is one of the best places to go to find ingredients from all over the world. As a particular fan of Hungarian food, I always like to browse the wide range of paprika available here. As always, I am on the lookout for tasty recipes for Henry and I to try from all over the world, so if anyone cares to help us out, links in the comments page would be much appreciated. Over and out!

I have been disturbed by the amount of anti-Elmo propaganda that I have encountered over the past few weeks. I have heard him variously described as “too mainstream”, “Sesame Street’s version of Jah-Jah Binks”, “F&*#$@g annoying”, and most commonly, “Elmo has been the ruination of Sesame Street.” Intrigued by other people’s apparent loathing of the furry red monster, I naively Googled “I hate Elmo” and got three hundred and twenty-nine thousand responses. There is even a group who have organised an International "I Hate Elmo" Week ! Having a look at most commentaries, people seem to feel that Elmo is somewhat low in IQ compared to the other Muppets on Sesame Street. But my understanding is that Elmo's character is three-and-a-half, and his development was designed to introduce a character with the mentality of a toddler, someone the really little ones could relate to while their older siblings enjoyed other aspects of the show. When contacted by this blog, Elmo decli...

I am all for encouraging people's hobbies, but there clearly cannot be a better example of a slow news day than this here from the ABC here in Australia!

A number of days ago I spoke about a concept often used in teaching political science called The Tragedy of the Commons . To illustrate, I used one of my stock examples, that of whaling. Today, I could not help but photograph another of my hoard of examples to demonstrate public policy problems, which may be more readily apparent to people the world over. The building in which my office is located houses a number of businesses. Each floor of the converted warehouse has a small kitchenette, shared between offices. There are just three offices on the top floor, ours; a barrister/solicitor office; and an IT crowd who seems to do some sort of animation. As one might expect, the barrister and staff are all very neat and tidy, and for the most part our lot buy their lunch and don’t really use the kitchenette. I do, however, enjoy an instant coffee on a cold morning, so regularly use the kettle. That is generally the extent of my usage. The IT crowd, predictably, consists of a group of young,...

Personally, I don't think that the lady was likely to have uttered the above phrase, but the distance between her lifestyle and that of the wretched masses did not win her any sympathy. Pay heed, residents of the Silo Apartments ! The cake featured above is a little strawberry tea cake that Henry and I managed to cook this afternoon. I knocked off early today as Jen had an obstetrician appointment today. Well... at least Jen thinks that it was an obstetrician that she saw, they don't really introduce themselves, part of an obnoxiously superior [ahem] socially dysfunctional interesting manner whereby the patient appears a mere obstacle to a big fat paycheck a secondary concern. But enough doctor baiting! I was talking cake, and today in order to satisfy the eager el duce I opened up the cupboard, grabbed the flour and had a think about what we could whip up. Recipes? Pfft! Amateur hour. Working off an apple tea cake variation that I know well, we got some strawberries, qua...

In order to celebrate what is the FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-THIRD post of this here website thingamabob, I thought that I should alert you to the fact that it now has its own Facebook page . How terribly exciting! So if you do the Facebook thing, feel free to add the blog networks application and tick me off. Even better, if you have your own page, you can whack it up there with little effort.

Here we have the homes of the some of the Hobartian elite [which must be pronounced AY -leet in order to convey the full effect that I'm aiming for]. As with many cities the world over, the former docklands of Hobart – once home to the worst sort of filth, disease and moral depravity that one expects among the lowest rungs of society – has now been transformed into la-de-da apartments, and once grimy and slummy terrace-housing have become “semi-detached town houses” fit for the sort of urban living now desirable to the privileged upper-classes. For over half a century, the Hobart silos were used for storing grain destined for export. As the utility of Hobart as a working port declined, and the global competitiveness of Tasmanian grain dwindled, the future of the silos looked bleak. Cue urban regeneration, and today they house thirty luxury residential apartments , and have become amongst the most lusted-after addresses in Hobart. The powerful and famous can be spotted each morning...

I can’t really be bothered to enter too much into Alexander Downer’s latest theatrical outburst as he exits Australian politics, as I am more than aware that he's playing the same old kind of politics that he always has. That said, it is nice to see him go out as big a hypocrite as he has been throughout. His quote: "If Mr Rudd doesn't run a candidate in Mayo, well then he's slinking away in a cowardly way and he should be prepared to face up to the judgement of the people of Australia whenever that judgement is called to be made. I think they're treating the people of Mayo with contempt if they're not prepared to run a candidate when they're the Government of Australia." So let me get this straight, the guy who contested (and won) the seat of Mayo in the 2007 election, but whose party lost miserably and looks set for a good stretch in opposition. Perhaps understandably, he doesn’t like the taste of opposition so he bails out early, forcing a by-elect...

I understand that when many people think of Australia, they think crocodiles. Generally speaking though, crocodiles like warm weather, and thus can't be found here in Tasmania (nor Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia or the ACT). That is, all crocodiles except for the Extreme Antarctic Show Tunes Saltwater Crocodile . We happen to keep one of these very rare and dangerous beasts as a pet, to encourage a mentality of caution and safety. Like the giant saltwater crocs that you can find in the north of Australia, the Antarctic croc is an aggressive and robust animal. They tend to congregate in rivers, lakes, wetlands and sometimes in toy chests. They feed mostly on vertebrates like fish, reptiles, and mammals, and occasionally on English muffins, raisons and dried cranberries. It tends to be an 'ambush hunter', that is, it waits for fish or land animals to come close, then rushes out to attack. The most unique feature of the Tasmanian sub-species of the Antarctic croc i...