All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.

NAB HQ. Corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, September 2010.

The National Australia Bank (or NAB) is one of the largest financial institutions and banks in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. Apparently, NAB is ranked the seventeenth largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation. That makes NAB bigger than such luminaries as Citigroup (US), Morgan Stanley (US), Barclays (UK) and Deutsche Bank (figure it out yourself). Just for the record, the NAB is only the third largest Australian bank, so we’re punching above our weight in the global financial world down here in Oz.

Which leads me to today’s Sunday Top Five, the Top Five Things That Australia Leads the World In (beginning with the letter ‘S’’!

Sheilas: this one should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. Australian sheilas are renowned the world over for their good likes, fine figures and ~~filthy mouths~~ strong opinions. One simply cannot compile a list such as this without them.

Snags: Although I will confess to being a connoisseur of German-style snags, Australian butchers are renowned for their innovative and economical expansion of the concept. Henry and Ezra are fine judges of a snag, and regularly, they are able to choose between locally produced beef, pork, chicken, lamb, roo, wallaby, and possum. Personally, one of my favourite snags contains the humble crocodile – which I have enjoyed a number of times – but as yet they haven’t quite penetrated the Tasmanian butcheries yet…

Stupidity: don’t get me wrong, I believe that stupidity is a universal human quality found in every nation, race, religion, gender and geographical region on Earth. That said, like all fields of human endeavour: runnin’, jumpin’, throwin’ stuff; many Australians have excelled in the global stupidity ranks. Feel free to nominate your examples in the comments!

Snakes: We love our snakes down here at the arse end of the world. Unfortunately, our snakes are not always fond of a cuddle. Indeed, Australia is the only country that has more venomous snakes than non-venomous species! I advise all visitors to our great land to keep an eye out for snakes wherever they are, whether in the bush, scrub, billabong, beach, nightclub etc.

Shags: Australians love a shag. Men, women and children all day long, in all parts of the country, can be overheard debating the merits of a good shag. Every time that we leave the house, you can be guaranteed to see a shag or two. Aussies are mad for shags. As this blog has demonstrated over the years, the Little Pied Cormorant is perhaps the most beloved Australasian waterbird!

Lost inside an adorable illusion and I cannot hide, I'm the one you're using, please don't push me aside, we could've made it cruising, yeah.

Yes it is Theme Thusday again, and today we are talking GLASS . I've three possible hooks to hang my [glass] hat on with this theme. First, the photo! Yes, it is the river again from an odd angle in an interesting light. You can just make out the bottom, which should tell you that I'm right on the shore. In some ways, the distortion of the stones below the surface reminds me of ye olde glass windows, what they call "cylinder blown sheet glass". You can still find some of this around Hobart these days. Thw second link comes from a trip I took to Venice a few years back. You're probably aware that Venice was (is?) a glass-making centre of excellence. If you have ever been there and taken the tour of the glass factories, you might be familiar with the sheer amount of coloured glass that sits at the bottom of the water there. These fragments of glass have been worn down and had their edges dulled by their time in the water, which makes them ample keepsakes for the ...

Hold me now, oh hold me now, until this hour has gone around. And I'm gone on the rising tide, to face Van Dieman's Land

Theme Thursday again, and this one is rather easy. I am Tasmanian, you see, and aside from being all around general geniuses - as I have amply described previously - we are also very familiar with the concept of WATER. Tasmania is the ONLY island state of an ISLAND continent. That means, we're surrounded by WATER. That should help explain why I take so many photographs of water . Tasmania was for a long time the place where the British (an island race terrified of water) sent their poor people most vile and horrid criminals. The sort of folk who would face the stark choice of a death sentence , or transportation to the other end of the world. Their catalogue of crimes is horrifying : stealing bread assault stealing gentlemen's handkerchiefs drunken assault being poor affray ladies being overly friendly with gentlemen for money hitting people having a drink and a laugh public drunkenness being Irish Fenian terrorist activities being Catholic religious subversion. ...

Happy anniversary baby, got you on my mind

No it is not a webcam, but this photograph was taken a mere forty-five ago on my way in to work. Here you can see a good old fashioned Hobart autumn morning, with the rain pelting down and me getting drenched. This one was taken on the corner of Macquarie and Elizabeth, while I was waiting for the lights to change. Come on Ampelmännchen ! Today is my wedding anniversary, an apparently I need to be showering Jen with leather -related goodies. Va-va-vaVOOM! To you Jennifer, here is a poem I wrote this very morning. Anniversary I love you i love you iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou I LOVE you I love YOU iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou I LOVE YOU iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou Happy anniversary

This will hurt me...

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