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Showing posts from November 29, 2009

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.

"Skirts, eh?" ... "And these are blokes , right?"

Yes, memory. Without that, time would be unarmed against us.

People in Tasmania store all manner of things in their front yards: cars, broken washing machines, unwanted children et cetera. In Battery Point, however, things are quite different. Ever since the suburb threw out the prostitutes and drunks was gentrified, the front gardens have assumed an air of little England circa 1907. Roses, violets and stiff upper lips reign supreme. Houses named " Charlesworth ", " Heathcliffe " and " Edgar " abound, and one assumes that the abodes simmer with firm manners, forced smiles and repressed sexuality. Occasionally though, one bucks the trend. This little split terrace features an old weather beaten plough shear not fashioned into a tank, rather a novel little perch for a concrete cockatoo. This household better be careful, I suspect that the neighbours are already preparing the giant wicker man to burn them in, lest they continue to bring down the tone of the neighbourhood....

It shows nobility to be willing to increase your debt to a man to whom you already owe much.

What could be a better post-tooth brushing exercise than a nibble on a container full of dry white rice and silver glitter? That's the explanation behind the smile people, rice and glitter.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

Afternoon sunlight piercing through the trees always makes for an arresting photograph. Ezra took this one from our front door step. I am now scouting out a new camera to replace the dearly departed one. Any suggestions?

Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.

Cranky Hanky turns his back on the camera to check out the play equipment in the notorious derelict park in North Hobart. Be careful Henry, there's hungry homeless about!

The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend, as to find a friend worth dying for.

Imagine for a second that you have a best FRIEND . He is a good FRIEND. A solid FRIEND. A FRIEND that has seen you through the good times and the bad. Imagine chaining that FRIEND up to the back of your ute, and driving down to South Hobart. Some FRIEND. It’s Theme Thursday you see, and today’s theme is FRIEND. Some people reckon that dogs are man’s best FRIEND . I reckon that this photo proves otherwise.

True education means fostering the ability to be interested in something.

Technically, this photo isn't the best that I've ever taken, that I will concede. That said, I defy anybody to say that the smile that Ezra flashed atop Mount Wellington is anything but first class .

When… in the course of all these thousands of years has man ever acted in accordance with his own interests?

It isn't every morning that you see a [however small] warship parked out in the middle of the Derwent River! On war - segue like a pro there - I am enjoying what has proven to be a challenging read at the moment: Heinrich Böll's Billiards at Half-past Nine . Like many German novels, conflict lays at it heart. The novel itself is structured beautifully (if a little obliquely). The plot itself emerges through the use of flashbacks by multiple characters, and there are a number of things going on. Being German, there's a central dialectic happening. Loaded with Catholicism, there's another dialectic happening. The tale of father, son, mother, son ensures that there's at least another couple of dialectics happening too. I haven't finished yet, but if you're after a challenging, but rewarding read, I can heartily recommend it!

Past and to come seems best; things present, worst.

We're desperately searching through the genealogical milieu, trying to find some Grenadian heritage. If we can find it by Thursday night, expect Henry to make his debut for the West Indies this Friday in the second test!

It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish.

Here is one of the many interesting features that can be found atop Mount Wellington . Yes, more rocks. I am reasonably certain that these rocks are Dolerite, which is an intrusive igneous rock. If my hazy memory of Year Eight science is anything to go by, igneous rock is formed by magma (or molten rock) being cooled and becoming solid. Thus, at some point things must have been a little hot 'n hairy up here on Mount Wellington! On that, there was a guy in my Year Eight science class who wasn't allowed to sit in on lessons that talked Geology (or Biology for that matter). He belonged to that extreme set of weirdos cult religious sect, the Exclusive Brethren. Obviously their faith is such that the mere exposure to false idols such as rocks , microscopes and girls in short skirts sitting on stools can have a disastrous effect!

Yet there is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.

Slide Ezra, slide like you've never slided slode slidden slid before!

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

One day I am going to take the ferry to work. One day. Here is the ferry [I think] MV Jeremiah Ryan cruising its way around Bellerive Bluff. I lost my camera the other day, and I am very down about it.

What kind of liberation would that be to forsake an absurdity which is logical and coherent and to embrace one which is illogical and incoherent?

Now THAT , my dear boy, is a PHALLUS !

The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

Here is a shot atop Mount Wellington, looking west-nor'-west over the rather barren scenery. The harsh weather up there keeps a lid on most plant life, with small, hardy shrubs and mosses dominating. It gets rather wild and windy up there, and as noted earlier this year , it gets snow all year round. Time for Sunday Top Five! Today I am considering the Top Five Ten Tracks of the Noughties ! Thus, in no particular order and without doing a lot of thinking, here you are: Regina Spektor, Us Sufjan Stevens, Chicago The Shins, New Slang The Hives, Hate To Say I Told You So Wilco, Hummingbird Franz Ferdinand, Take Me Out Outkast, Hey Ya! Beyonce, Crazy in Love Alicia Keys, No One Wilco, Heavy Metal Drummer