This will hurt me...

Jen and Hen ponder the imponderables on Bellerive Beach. In the background, you can see the home ground of the Tasmanian Tigers. One of the pondered imponderables was whether the mighty Tigers can emerge triumphant in the forthcoming Sheffield Shield competition. Yes people, cricket season is very nearly upon us!

Heading to work in Winter. Geilston Bay. June 2010. We know that the seasons are changing. You get a reasonable read on this when you leave home at the same time each day, and arrive home at the same time each day. The thing that strikes me most at the moment is we have more light at both ends of the day. Contrast this with June in the photo above, which was taken at 7:15 am. Have a poem. God Has Pity On Kindergarten Children , Yehuda Amichai God has pity on kindergarten children, He pities school children -- less. But adults he pities not at all. He abandons them, And sometimes they have to crawl on all fours In the scorching sand To reach the dressing station, Streaming with blood. But perhaps He will have pity on those who love truly And take care of them And shade them Like a tree over the sleeper on the public bench. Perhaps even we will spend on them Our last pennies of kindness Inherited from mother, So that their own happiness will protect us Now and on other days.

This morning, you saw Ezra fiddling about in the snow, now you can see Ezra fiddling about in the sand. These photographs were taken within a week of each other, such is the varied lifestyle down here in Hobart, Tasmania!

Playing silly buggers in the snow. Mount Wellington, August 2010. Circumstances yet again conspire against me! I had intended to make this post the very first in a Friday Book Club [of one] mediation on what I have reading of late, but alas, today I do not have the time to do it justice. That said, I promise that next week I shall ruminate on whatever it is that has occupied my bus journeys and lunch breaks during the week. So dear reader, expect a treatise on George Orwell’s slumming it Down and Out in Paris and London ; Evelyn Waugh getting amongst it in Abyssinia and Muriel Spark’s loitering with intent amongst a band of lunatics. To ease the pain, here’s another shot, this time in vivid colour panoramic surround sound !

In America, children throw snow balls . In Tasmania, children throw snow boomerangs .

The lonely sponge. Seven Mile Beach, September, 2010. Theme Thursday again, and seemingly without REASON I have chosen the above photograph, taken on our visit on a wet and windy day last Sunday, to get out of the house and avoid killing each other commemorate Father’s Day. I say that I post without REASON, but as is the case each Theme Thursday, I can manufacture a REASON no trouble . You see, all (or at least, one of the things) REASON is “a statement presented in justification or explanation of a belief or action.” It can also refer to “ Logic , or a premise of an argument.” Thus my REASON – as in justification or logic – is that age old adage: because . Because on Theme Thursday I need to post something . Because for some REASON unbeknownst to me I have appeared to have locked myself into the twice-a-day ( three times on Tuesday) cycle that obsessive compulsive disorder prevents me from breaking. Therefore, you get a sponge on a beach from the south of Tasmania. You don’t n...

Here is one of those rare occasions where I rear my head in front of the camera and make an appearance. Ezra, Henry and I are battling against the elements on Sunday (Father’s Day) down at Seven Mile Beach while Jen tries to take a snap without getting rain on the lens. We nearly managed it.

Aren't you cold. Elizabeth Street in Winter. August 2010. Dolly birds draped about in bikinis. A standard response when you think "Winter in Tasmania". I am looking for ideas. I’m happy to trawl the ‘net for more, but I thought that I’d throw open the comments section for suggestions. What should I write about? Any questions that I should answer? Anything that you’d like me to photograph? The creative well is running dry, and my capacity to draw comics [you know who you are] is limited!

Shoulders back Henry! Head up! Goodness gracious child, you walk like a peasant!

Finally! Irrevocable proof! Jesus was a traitor! Imagine that, anointing the Fritz on the way to butchering the good guy. What a bugger. I’d love to see the logic behind the central tenets of Christ that would generate an assumption that he’d be anointing his approval of trench warfare…

"The Hall", formally a church. St Johns Park, New Town. August 2010. Struggling for ideas, I dipped my toe into the Intertubes for ideas and plucked out the My Life in Films Meme . At one time in my life, I watched a lot of fillums. Now I have children, and I watch Shrek every few weeks. Feel free to steal and apply as you see fit. Films That Remind Me of Childhood Anything featuring Sylvester Stallone punching people, getting punched, or blowing things up. The brother and I were avid fans of Sly and all things Stallone. That said, I wanted Ivan Drago to triumph and demonstrate the historical inevitability of Communism. Things obviously didn’t go to plan. That said, nothing beats Rocky or Rambo at the Drive-In (remember them?) Childhood Films Where Removal was Necessary I don’t remember much about it, but I am told that there was a traumatic response to that part in The Muppet Movie where Animal eats one of the "insta-grow" pills, turning him into a giant. I bel...

Two of my lovelies, one of them grumpy, which is which?

Can we walk on water? Risdon Brook Dam, August 2010. Henry is distraught that the local source of water – Risdon Brook Dam – is not infested with crocodiles. The only succour for him is that it is highly unlikely that a mighty and angry salty will emerge from the tap during a bath and vigorously demonstrate the death roll .

Henry is quite the artist. In fact, I share this wonderful portrait that he has prepared on that finest of artistic forms: the Magna Doodle . Can you guess who the subject is?

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 the...