The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way.

Fair dinkum, once you wander in amongst the yachts you could very well get lost for days on end.

Thankfully, the last time we did we found more than enough chilled prawns, Beluga caviar and bottles of '71 Grange to keep us going!

Great-God-a-mighty folks feeling bad

Only limbs. St Johns Park, New Town. June 2011.

My word for the week?

flat [adj.]

...

7. Lacking interest or excitement; dull: a flat scenario.

8.
a. Lacking in flavor: a flat stew that needs salt.
b. Having lost effervescence or sparkle: flat beer.

Hard-time blues, William Waring Cuney

Went down home ’bout a year ago
things so bad, Lord, my heart was sore.
Folks had nothing was a sin and shame
every-body said hard time was the blame.
Great-God-a-mighty folks feeling bad
lost every thing they ever had.

Sun was shining fourteen days and no rain
hoeing and planting was all in vain.
Hard hard times, Lord, all around
meal barrels empty crops burnt to the ground.
Great-God-a-mighty folks feeling bad
lost every thing they ever had.

Skinny looking children bellies poking out
that old pellagra without a doubt.
Old folks hanging ’round the cabin door
ain’t seen times this hard before.
Great-God-a-mighty folks feeling bad
lost every thing they ever had.

I went to the Boss at the Commissary store
folks all starving please don’t close your door
want more food a little more time to pay
Boss Man laughed and walked away.
Great-God-a-mighty folks feeling bad
lost every thing they ever had.

Landlord coming ’round when the rent is due
you ain’t got the money take your home from you
take your mule and horse even take your cow
get offa my land you ain’t no good no how.
Great-God-a-mighty folks feeling bad
lost every thing they ever had.

There is nothing deep down inside us except what we have put there ourselves.

Don't look back in anger.

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.

Trees. The Hastings Caves State Reserve. The Huon Valley. June 2011.

I feel a little cruel to this week’s first book, Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck. Eking out snippets and snatches of reading at a time does not really do justice to a novel that seeks to engage with the epic trajectory of Germany’s troubling twentieth-century

The central ‘character’ of this novel is actually a place. A majestic house and its grounds by a lake in Brandenburg (once upon a time best buddy of Prussia, and then for a spell part of the German Democratic Republic) is witness to a succession of occupants that displace each other through the political turmoil of the twentieth century.

Like Erpenbeck’s other work, nothing is ever straightforward. The story does not progress through momentous occasions, and there are no grand scenes that progress the action. Indeed, we experience change only in shades, shadows or echoes.

As such, it is probably not the best book to be reading in scraps of time. I think that it would resinate far more if you were able to shut yourself off in a quiet room and immerse yourself.

Recommended for those without small children (or those with small children plus a nanny and sound-proofing).


Moss on a tree. The Hastings Caves State Reserve. The Huon Valley. June 2011.

Book two this week I really liked. A lot. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan is a really master class in storytelling.


The book is broken into five parts that alternate between the immediate present that takes place in the bedroom immediately after their marriage and “flash-backs” to their separate childhoods and home life as well as the development of their relationship with each other and each other’s respective families.

This novel is in one respect one long ‘sex scene’ (or tease). However, the tension and build up to the physical consummation of a marriage is really a creative narrative device that lets McEwan go about his magic. The book explores the danger of ‘unspoken’ conflict and the consequences of not speaking or not acting.

Ultimately, On Chesil Beach is much more than a simple story of suppressed emotion. In fact, it is deft exploration of how emotional wounds can be inflicted and the course of lives can be changed by simply not saying or doing nothing.

I expect that if I was prone to tears, I’d be weeping at the conclusion of this novel. It really is a heart-rendering piece, which is oddly life affirming (considering the dénouement). Very VERY highly recommended. Give it a run!

There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.

Here is a demonstration of maternal cruelty. Despite the fact that Henry is a fan of the Essendon Football Club, she has forced him to sport a dastardly Sydney Swans pancho-towel.

There ought to be a law...

The past is the beginning of the beginning and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn.

Do you need a parasol to qualify? Bellerive Wharf, June 2011.

All GAMBLERS and FANCY WOMEN must sign up with captain?

Who decides? What if you change you mind mid-voyage? Will there be a test?

I must say, this seems a little heavy-handed in that rollicking hotbed of libertarianism New Orleans! Does it have something to do with their hurricane? How did they end up in Bellerive?

So many questions, so little time...

To endure is the first thing that a child ought to learn, and that which he will have the most need to know.

In his best John Inman...

I'M FREE!

There is no remedy for love but to love more.

Spread your wings. Bellerive Wharf, Bellerive. May 2011.

Too much to do, too little time to do them.

That is our theme for the year.

What is elegance? Soap and water!

Henry makes a startling find at the bottom of the cliffs on Clifton Beach.

A rock!

When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.

Babel Two? The Living Room, Geilston Bay. June 2011.

Another day, another job. By the time this post appears I shall be ensconced down in main street Sandy Bay, not far from my humble abode of a good four or five years. That shall no doubt prompt some interesting moments of deja vu.

Nonetheless, a whole new adventure with a whole new set of potential photographs on the way to and from work (not to mention lunch breaks)!

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.

Ezra arrives early to see the big game at Victoria Stadium Docklands Stadium Colonial Stadium Telstra Dome Etihad Stadium.

Jen and Henry are up further along in the shot. I suspect that they are responsible for the big screen not working...

Necessity dispenseth with decorum.

Looking down! Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

Also, when in a cave, don't forget to look down!


Whose feet? Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

History, a distillation of rumour.

Croquembouche? Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

Like most caves, there are a bunch of odd animals. Over forty species live in the cave, allegedly.


I'd like to taste it. Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

Troglodytes,

A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.

Melting moments. Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

Now these caves started to form around forty million years ago, but seemed to be unseen until 1917, when forest workers knocked down a bloody great big tree and knocked a great big hole in the ground to reveal an entrance. As usual, they named the bugger after the governor of the time who never bothered to visit.


Mud from the mid-1960s. Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

The cave itself is a decent size with a bit of light. There are a bunch of stairs that can get pretty steep, but Ezra managed to them just fine. Formed in dolomite, this cave is a bit different from the usual limestone around these parts. Despite being the middle of winter, underground is pretty nice, with the temperature a comfortable nine degrees Celsius.

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.

Stalactites? We've got a few... Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

Hastings Caves - deep down in the south of Tasmania - was our destination last Saturday. Henry was initially reticent, but once assured that there are no bears in this state (koala's included), he ventured into the subterranean depths...


Stalagmites? Them too... Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

Newdegate Cave is the largest of the Hastings set. in terms of a cavern, it's a big-un! As today is my last day of freedom, we're heading to the east coast for the beach. Don't fret, because I have plenty of cave pics to savour through the day.


Spooky? Absolutely! Hastings Cave, Huon Valley. June 2011.

We spent an hour in Newdegate's massive and varied cavern. Everywhere you turn there's something to look at: flowstone, stalactites, columns, shawls, straws, stalagmites and the unusual helictites that grow in all directions!

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.

She says:

One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.

Henry and Jennifer discuss the relative merits of de Beauvoir's The Second Sex and Friedan's The Feminine Mystique.

He says:

Man is not the enemy here, but the fellow victim.

She says:

Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female - whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male.

He says:

It is ridiculous to tell girls to be quiet when they enter a new field, or an old one, so the men will not notice they are there. A girl should not expect special privileges, because of her sex, but neither should she "adjust" to prejudice and discrimination.

The unconscious mind has a habit of asserting itself in the afternoon.

Something happened. Experiment involving water, Geilston Bay, June 2011.

Crikey Moses, Sunday already! Another top five? How about Five Songs With A Nice And Distinctive Australian Accent In The Vocal?

• My Heart is a Drummer, Allo Darlin'



• Heavy Heart, You Am I



• I Was Only 19, Redgum



• To Her Door, Paul Kelly



• Bizarre Love Triangle, Frente!

If you're not familiar with the tunes, click on the link and give 'em a run. Help us shift some units!