This will hurt me...

As ever, Melbourne trumps Hobart when it comes to public art installations. Even Ezra was impressed, and he’s notoriously difficult to please…

Stern looking kelp gull. Derwent River Estuary, Lindisfarne. May 2011. It has been said – by people who mustn’t know me at all – that I am by nature a cranky person. Some cruel ne'er-do-well even had the temerity to compare the look on the above kelp gull’s face with mine! Bastards! Leviathan , by George Oppen Truth also is the pursuit of it: Like happiness, and it will not stand. Even the verse begins to eat away In the acid. Pursuit, pursuit; A wind moves a little, Moving in a circle, very cold. How shall we say? In ordinary discourse— We must talk now. I am no longer sure of the words, The clockwork of the world. What is inexplicable Is the ‘preponderance of objects.’ The sky lights Daily with that predominance And we have become the present. We must talk now. Fear Is fear. But we abandon one another.

Just look at that look of absolute terror on Henry's face. Laurence Olivier eat your heart out!

Looking at the sun. Heading to the Tasman Arch, the Tasman Penninsula. January 2011. Tobias Wolff’s The Barracks Thief is a quietly-told story of a restless young man waiting for something to happen. That ‘something’ happens to be a stint in the 82nd Airborne out to Vietnam, but something is – on occasion – better than nothing. The novel draws this man together with two others with similar tales, with the title giving us the apex for the story to hang off. The army seems to be a place where the restless and the lonely might be able to find the kinship that they otherwise don’t know. However, this kinship inevitably comes at some kind of cost. It’s here that Wolff effectively weaves his tale. Embracing the perspectives of both the betrayer and the betrayed, he manages to coerce us into lives that we might otherwise condemn, or to recognise depth where we might not have seen. Don’t be fooled by this novel’s apparent slightness, for there’s an awful lot going on inside it. It both reinfo...

Ezra is always keen on getting up close and personal with the wildlife. Henry, well Henry prefers to keep his distance…

Rocks on the beach. Blinking Bill Beach, Sandy Bay. April 2011 Good news: there’s been a lot less carry on out the front of my place of work. Bad news: it is a combination of cold weather, asbestos and jack-hammering that’s chased them off. Better than rocks in your head. Blinking Bill Beach, Sandy Bay. April 2011

Henry does his best ‘Dawson’ from Dawson’s Creek impression. In other news, I’ve only ever seen approximately one minute and thirty five seconds of Dawson’s Creek . It was more than enough for me… Coming soon: an Ally McBeal analogy and a humorous reference to Magnum P.I.’s moustache!

The sunshine on the water. Eaglehawk Neck, Tasman Peninsula. January 2011. What’s that you say? Five questions about motion pictures you sure? Why sure… What is your favourite movie of all time and why? A hard one, as it depends on my mood. If I had to pick a short list, it probably include Unforgiven , The Godfather , Cool Hand Luke , Das Boot , The Life of Brian , Halloween , The Thin Red Line and Three Colours: Red . One of those, for lots of reasons… What was the best movie you saw this last year and why? Toy Story 3 . I didn’t get around to seeing a lot of movies last year, but I’m not sure that it matters. Who would have thought that an animation would be filled with such pathos and the tale of a bunch of toys so utterly ’human’ ? Who’s your favourite director and why? Like the favourite anything, it depends ! Krzysztof Kieślowski seemed to be a great combination of storyteller with an utterly fantastic eye for a shot. I think that Dekalog is about the best thing ever made with...

Ezra is an interesting fellow at the moment. We can’t pass any kind of statue, monument or shrine without him wanting to climb up on top and be photographed. It’s an urge that I understand all too well, unfortunately to crushing weight of civility stops me from hopping up on too…

Brown bear, brown bear what do you see? Melbourne Zoo, April 2011. The brown bear can weigh from 300 to 780 kilograms – that’s more than eight times me – and at its largest rivals the polar bear as the largest land-based predator in the world! I see Henry and Ezra and some bloke with a camera. Melbourne Zoo, April 2011. This one is a handsome beast that particularly caught Ezra’s eye. While Ez marvelled at its bulk and dexterity on those rocks, Henry was more taken by the fact that it was eating carrots and lettuce! Ursus arctos, Ursus arctos quis operor vos animadverto? Melbourne Zoo, April 2011.

The Easter Bunny: REVEALED !

Chucksomeletterstogetherandyougetsomewordseventually. Federation Square, Melbourne. April 2011 Words are letters.Lots of letters. Sometime not so many letters. You can't have words without letters.You can make letters from lettuce to make words, but cabbage is better. I like cabbage. Yum. Sowhatdoesitsay? Federation Square, Melbourne. April 2011

It might be too cold to swim – outdoors at least – but it’s never too cold for the beach! You will all be pleased to know that Ezra has started his swimming classes, and he’s already excelling. I call him “my little bluefin tuna”. Just so you know.

Art Deco lives (although I’d argue that it was more a case of Art Moderne . Sandy Bay, April 2011. Sunday and no church to visit AGAIN . Oh well, I’ll have to console myself with another Sunday Top Five. This time I’m venturing back to the heady world of architecture , more specifically, (In No Particular Order And Off The Top Of My Head) My Top Five Favourite Architectural Movements Since The Beginning Of The Twentieth Century ! Googie : yeah, yeah… I know. Forgive me, but The Jetsens was very influential to an impressionable lad. A very American form, features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and daring use of glass, steel and neon. Think Googie, think Space Age. Art Moderne : a common feature of Burnie, Art Moderne is a late type of the Art Deco design style that emphasised curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. Brutalist : in what will be a controversial choice for many. Whatever. I happen to like much of the Bruta...