This will hurt me...

Arrr, look out, gar! Thar be some 'ery naughty people approachin' us on the port side and Me think that their intentions be somewhat less than honourable.

Experiments at night (with pants) # 1. Constitution Dock, Hobart. June 2011. A: “This is a sorry sight.” B: “A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.” A: “There's one did laugh in 's sleep, and one cried, ‘Murther!’ That they did wake each other. I stood and heard them; But they did say their prayers, and address'd them Again to sleep.” Now we break for a poem... Tonight , Elfriede Jelinek tonight my sparrows let go the snow into fields of carnations swollen with anger. tonight the three popes proclaim the revolution against teenage television. seals smash their heads bloody their heads on the elevators the paternoster elevators which delays the holding of their conference. tonight my sister the wind's bride gives blood for the cello of the jericho desert which prompts the trombones ...

Now, this here looks familiar ...

Short cuts. St Johns Park, New Town. June 2011. Breaking my streak of books that haven’t disappointed me (I was up to TEN) is the highly regarded sci-fi ‘classic’ Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch. I shall admit that perhaps I was not in the best frame of mind to tackle this one, but like many novels of its time (1968), I fear that it has not aged well. Set during a war that seemingly emerged from the Vietnam War, this altered history posits a United States as having taken a decidedly authoritarian turn. The narrative is the journal of a poet of some renown, the lapsed Catholic Louis Sacchetti who has been sent to a secret military installation as punishment for his conscientious objecting. This experimental camp sees military prisoners are injected with a form of syphilis that is intended to make them geniuses and thus harness their genius for the good of the state. Of course, things are never that simple. Don’t be fooled by the sci-fi tag, the book is crammed with a multitude o...

Squid and chips are a magnificent feast for children and dogs alike!

Thar be an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Cremorne Beach, Cremorne. June 2011. Strength through unity . Strength through duty . Strength through love . Strength through hope . Strength through logic . Strength through weakness . Strength through faith . Strength through fear . Strength through joy . Strength through muscle . Pick one...

Alas, he didn't find any buried treasure in Melbourne, and I still have to got to work...

Juvenile Kelp Gull. Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay. July 2011. I won't be late today, thanks to the twenty-fiver meme ! 1. Tell us about something that made you laugh last night. Tell ‘Em Steve Dave Overkill . 2. What were you doing at 8 pm last night? Writing this post. 3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? I am guessing drinking coffee. 4. What happened to you in 2006? Everything changed. We call him “Henry”. 5. What was the last thing you said out loud? [*This was last night as I’m typing the post, not 8:30 am*] “Are you going to leave those pants on?” 6. How many beverages did you have today? Knowing my habits, I will have had one glass of orange juice and one cup of coffee. 7. What colour is your hairbrush? Alas, I don’t own one. 8. What was the last thing you paid for? An apple. 9. Where were you last night? At home in bed writing this post right here. 10. What colour is your front door? A matte black glass door. It’s quite classy. 11. Where do you keep your change? In the...

NOT YET! I HAVE HAT HAIR!!!

Greek Orthodox Church prepares for a new day. Antill Street, South Hobart. July 2011. Cripes, I forgot again! I am going to recycle something that I wrote in a previous comments page just to stir up the possums... It concerns the outrage that many have with regards to the issue of gay couples having children. Now, my opinion on the matter is that too many people attach far too much significance on the concept of ‘ natural ’, which seems to me itself an incredibly subjective and contestable idea rather than some immutable scientific ‘ fact ’. Yet let us not get too sidetracked on that point. My belief is essentially one that assumes the only acceptable or correct equation in this area is "man + woman = parents" is wrong. Moreover, it is such a simplistic notion that barely seems worth arguing about. Surely anybody with any experience in the world much have collected by now innumerable examples of how the "man + woman = nothing like a parent (should be)". For me - i...

You'll note that my children wear a lot of knitted materials. The hat and the jumper that Ez is decked out in here were scrupulously made by my talented wife. I am hoping that this Christmas, she will knit me a big jumper with great big cables inspired by the fine work of Jenny Kee . Maybe with a Vegemite jar on it. With an angry koala bursting out of it. Holding a stubby . And a boomerang . With a crashing wave in the background. With a surfer on it. Also holding a boomerang . Now THAT is change we can believe in...

Green means...? Constitution Dock, Elizabeth Street Pier, July 2011. When my children are awake there is always noise. Such noise. Such very much noise. And the noise is never limited to one direction or angle. It moves. It rebounds. It echoes. It peaks and it troughs (and it peaks again). It's bickering and arguing like drunks at 3 am outside your window. It's broooom -ing and wiiirrrr -ing like a pair of fourth-rate Michael Winslow impersonators gurning through Police Academy 16. It's the screech of a banshee and the moan of a million zombies seeking out brains. Then they sleep.

Silly buggers by the Yarra River. There really isn't much finer!

Blast off! Ezra's third birthday party. Geilston Bay Community Centre, Geilston Bay. July 2011. Consider today's Sunday Top Five as a photo retrospective to birthday's past. My Top Five Birthday Cakes That I Have Made For Certain Sons Of Mine In The Past Four Years! Ezra's 3rd : Yesterday's rocket ship, as modeled on the beauty seen in Wallace and Gromit's A Grand Day Out . Henry's 2nd : Elmo! Henry's 3rd : crocodile attack! Ezra's 2nd : shoot for the moon ! Henry's 4th : Jaws - The Revenge . The picture on the front hopefully gave them a clue as to what it was supposed to be. Ezra's third birthday party. Geilston Bay Community Centre, Geilston Bay. July 2011. Ezra prior to the ceremonial extinguishment of the flaming candles. Ezra's third birthday party. Geilston Bay Community Centre, Geilston Bay. July 2011.