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Showing posts from April 3, 2011

Why should poetry have to make sense?

Get it Henry! Get it!

The new moon begins / a new chapter of our nights

Dusk closes in on Geilston Bay. East Derwent Highway, looking north. April 2011. I know that it's clichéd right now to give 'em a kick, but the majority of public servants really do seem to have no clue about where their level of workplace entitlements and conditions sit in relation to the rest of the world... Please note that I say this - for the moment - as a public servant myself. Evening Love Song , Rainer Maria Rilke Ornamental clouds compose an evening love song; a road leaves evasively. The new moon begins a new chapter of our nights, of those frail nights we stretch out and which mingle with these black horizontals.

This is the precept by which I have lived: Prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes.

Further back… Further… Further… Look Ez, there are easier ways of checking your kidneys.

The dominant feeling of the battlefield is loneliness.

And not a dinosaur in sight. Parliament Lawns, Hobart. March 2011. Under the Net is Iris Murdoch's first novel. It's a fun romp with plenty of laughs, some great set pieces and decent philosophical ruminations. It has its flaws, but nothing that should stop you reading it! Very funny stuff. David Lodge's Home Truths is a compact little farce. Essentially a set piece that explores a writer's responsibility to their talent, celebrity culture and the tendency towards mean-spirited 'attack' journalism. A decent read, but a pretty poor conclusion.

It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge.

What lies beneath?

Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love of power.

Go-to-sleep-forever-berries? Geilston Bay, April 2011. Today, a poll... Which is the greater achievement?

Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.

No. No snakes there...

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

This monolith thrusts confidently and proudly out up the heavens. St Johns Park, New Town. April 2011. Everywhere I look the phallus . Phalluses to the left of me, phalluses to the right, I am even seated right inside a phallus as I type! I look out over a vista dominated by (you guessed it) the phallus ! It doesn’t make a man half uncomfortable…

All this happened, more or less.

Little Howrah beach isn't a biggun', but it's a good 'un! Best crabbing beach close to Hobart.

As soon as liberty is complete it dies in anarchy.

House rules. The living room, Geilston Bay. March 2011. We do have more rules than this, but the chalk was fat and the blackboard is small so this is what Henry and I came up with when we work-shopped it. Do you have ‘house rules’? Are they displayed where the natives can see them?

I may be no better, but at least I am different.

Four million push-ups? No problem . Stay in bed all night? No chance.

An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through.

The view from down low at the flower clock. Royal Hobart Botanical Gardens. March 2011. Think of this as a complex Where’s Wally challenge. For you American folks, I’m talking about Where’s Waldo . For some reason, the Yanks struggles with Wally and called him Waldo. If anyone xan explain, please feel free… #2 from the flower clock. Royal Hobart Botanical Gardens. March 2011. You might have better luck spying the hidden characters in this one…

I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.

On the farm, every Friday On the farm, it's Henry pie day. So, every Friday that ever comes along, I get up early and sing this little song Run Henry run Henry Run! Run! Run! Run Henry run Henry Run! Run! Run! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Goes the farmer's gun. Run Henry run Henry Run! Run! Run! Run Henry run Henry Run! Run! Run! Don't give the farmer his fun! Fun! Fun! He'll get by Without his Henry pie So run Henry run Henry Run! Run! Run!

Duty largely consists of pretending that the trivial is critical.

Hobart in the Summer! Mount Wellington, as seen from New Town, February 2011. Quick , I need a Sunday Top Five! Ummmm…. How about Top Five Statistical Details About Tasmania That You Might Not Be Aware Of ? Most Tasmanians live in urban centres, with nearly 90% of the total population living in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport. Over the next twenty years the proportion of Tasmanians under the age of fifteen is projected to decline by approximately 7% while the proportion of people aged 65 years and over could grow by almost 60%. In the ten years to 2006 there was a 10% decline in the number of households with children in Tasmania, while the number of childless couples increased by 17% and the number of people living alone increased by 15%. Although the proportion of welfare-dependent households has declined in recent years, Tasmania still has the highest proportion of welfare-dependent households of all states and territories at 34%. Of these households, the majority (52 %) wer