Do not consider painful what is good for you.

Young love...

Ain't it grand?

The blind would/ stumble certain of whom they approached

Turning over an old leaf. Royal Botanical Gardens, Hobart. April 2012.

>The Cinnamon Peeler, Michael Ondaatje

If I were a cinnamon peeler
I would ride your bed
And leave the yellow bark dust
On your pillow.

Your breasts and shoulders would reek
You could never walk through markets
without the profession of my fingers
floating over you. The blind would
stumble certain of whom they approached
though you might bathe
under rain gutters, monsoon.

Here on the upper thigh
at this smooth pasture
neighbour to you hair
or the crease
that cuts your back. This ankle.
You will be known among strangers
as the cinnamon peeler's wife.

I could hardly glance at you
before marriage
never touch you
--your keen nosed mother, your rough brothers.
I buried my hands
in saffron, disguised them
over smoking tar,
helped the honey gatherers...

When we swam once
I touched you in the water
and our bodies remained free,
you could hold me and be blind of smell.
you climbed the bank and said

this is how you touch other women
the grass cutter's wife, the lime burner's daughter.
And you searched your arms
for the missing perfume

and knew

what good is it
to be the lime burner's daughter
left with no trace
as if not spoken to in the act of love
as if wounded without the pleasure of a scar.

You touched
your belly to my hands
in the dry air and said
I am the cinnamon
Peeler's wife. Smell me.

Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.

"No, not that one. The other one.

The expensive one!"

Television is very educating. Every time somebody turns it on, I go into the other room and read a book.

The succulent's edge. Quayle Street, Sandy Bay. January 2012.

This Blinding Absence of Light by the Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun is a very dark book, in more ways than one. Its narrative is essentially a reconstruction based on the testimonies of the former inmatse at Tazmamart, a Moroccan secret prison for political prisoners that operated with the harshest of conditions.

A hole in the middle of the desert, Tazmamart was a place where prisoners were give us subsistence level of food and water to keep them a live, but deprived them of every aspect of life, including that of light. Thus, we the reader are primarily left with the voice of a solitary prisoner, a voice all the more powerful for being draped in darkness. As one might expect, there is a starkness to the crystalline, pared-down prose. The author certainly rises to the challenge of maintaining interest in such a limited environment and utter hopelessness facing those characters held here.

Thus we are treated to a lot of interior monologue, one that renounces hope for a higher purpose. This is a book that embraces the language of Islamic mysticism. Not religious when he first arrives, our narrator faces the real version of the spiritual hell that Islamic mystics usually describe in metaphor. He escapes from his torments by following in their footsteps, imagining his way as far into his mind as his slowly decaying body will allow.

This is not a book for the faint hearted, the narrative follows twenty years of life in the most utter degradation. Horrible deaths alternate with inspired collective efforts to stay alive. Reminiscent in many ways of Solzhenitsyn One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, avoid approaching this book if you want your heart to be warmed. This is less a tribute to the human spirit, than it is a simple tale of truth.

I liked it. You might too. Recommended.

Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really very frightening.

Henry mounting the rock mounting the rock mounting the rock mounting the rock that looks like a globe.

Chastity - the most unnatural of all the sexual perversions.

Rosella in stand-off. Royal Botanical Gardens, Hobart. April 2012.

Theme Thursday and I have been driven just a little bit WILD by the new interface that Blogger has enforced on us all.

I know that I shouldn't complain about what is ultimately a free service, and with this being post number three-thousand, three-hundred and seventy-five, I'm hardly going to quit now. That said, I am intrigued as to how others feel about it. Some come on Theme Thursday-ers, what do you reckon?

Are you WILD about it? Or does it just drive you WILD?

At the side of the everlasting why, is a yes, and a yes, and a yes.

I can't decide.

Who has the silliest face here?

First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.

Somewhere out there, just past South Arm and Bruny Islands, lies the Southern Ocean. Franklin Wharf, Hobart. April 2012.

Wordless Wednesday.

Arrange whatever pieces come your way.

Big Hen had a prang at school and came off second-best in a clash with the asphalt. On the bright side, his battle scars went down very well at Auskick later that day!

I quote others only in order the better to express myself.

I could go some of these Indian Root Pills right now! Argyle Street, Hobart. December 2011.

Before I get into the Q and A today, I just had to look up the tale of this old ad [above]. It turns out that Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills were one of the great success stories of the good old patent medicine industry. The (possibly shady) ‘Dr.’ Morse asserted that the pills contained a secret blend of herbal ingredients that would help "cleanse the blood." Indeed, ‘dirty blood’ appeared to be the cause of all diseases to ‘Dr.’ Morse.

I will confess to being slightly disappointed to not being able to access the miracle drug these days. They sound just the ticket!

Alas, onwards to another Tuesday Q and A courtesy of Sunday Stealing. It’s a challenge this week – The TV Show Meme – especially difficult because I’ve watched a sum total of about eight television shows in the past six years…

But first, a note from the Q and A designer! Before reading the questions, nominate FIVE TV Shows you like. They can be past or present. Hint: pick shows that you are REALLY into. Hey! no peaking at the questions! The list:

1. Seinfeld
2. Deadwood
3. Yes Minister/ Yes Prime Minister
4. SpongeBob SquarePants
5. Arrested Development

1. Who is your favourite character in 2?
That would have to be Al Swearengen. The ONLY good thing to come out of HBO not making a season four is that we didn’t have to witness Al’s inevitable demise…

2. Who is your least favourite character in 1?
I could pick an annoying minor ensemble character who annoyed me (i.e. Kenny Bania), but that is a bit of a cop out. I will confess to finding Kramer a little hard to take at times, so of the main four, he gets the nod.

3. What’s your favourite episode of 4?
Probably episode 61 (the first of Season 4), particularly the vignette Fear of a Krabby Patty, in which Mr. Krabs opens the Krusty Krab 24/7 which causes SpongeBob to have a mental breakdown. A more insightful commentary on industrial relations you will struggle to find!

4. What is your favourite season of 5?
I would say the first season. They are all quality, but the freshness of the writing and the fact that it was quite innovative at the time made it a great experience.

5. What’s your favourite relationship in 3?
It is hard to go past the master/ servant dynamic of Sir Humphrey Appleby [GCB, KBE, MVO, MA (Oxon)] and The Rt Hon. Jim Hacker. It is a beautifully drawn relationship that explores everything about the Westminster parliamentary system.

6. Who is your anti-relationship in 2?
I am not sure that I understand the question. Is that the actual relationship I didn't like or the possible relationship I would never want to see? Maybe it’s my least favourite character? Who knows!?! I will confess to finding Alma Garret intensely annoying, so her rise to prominence and fractious relationship with Seth Bullock frustrated me.

7. How long have you watched 1?
From beginning to end! I was a fan of it the moment that I saw it, which was pretty much in line with its airing in the US. The frustration here in Tasmania was with the shoddy treatment it got on TV, it was forever being shunted around and shown out of order. Thankfully my brother, ever the completest with time on his hand scrambled together every episode on VHS (this was pre-DVD), so I’ve always have access.

8. How did you become interested in 3?
I’m not sure. I just saw it one day and enjoyed it. The great thing about this show is that it easily bears multiple viewings and always offers something new. I would have been under-10 years old when I first saw it, but the lessons within stood me in good stead studying political science at university (and then working in the public service)!

9. Who is your favourite actor in 4?
David Hasselhoff was excellent in the movie. In the show, I quite like the voicework of Clancy Brown, who voices Mr Krabs. I was delighted to see that he also is responsible for Uka Uka in the Crash Bandicoot series, because I have been riffing on that voice for years now!

10. Which show do you prefer 1, 2, or 5?
Man that is a hard question. They all cater to different moods, but if forced to choose Seinfeld has to get the nod because of longevity.

11. Which show have you seen more episodes of 1 or 3?
I’ve seen every one of both, which gives me 100% ratio. There were many more episodes of Seinfeld made though, so technically that gets the nod again.

12. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?
It’s hard to go past SpongeBob himself. He seems happy, even when he isn’t.

13. How would you kill off any character in 5?
It would have to involve Buster, a Segway and George Bluth’s infamous Cornballer...

14. Would a 3/4 crossover work?
Hmmm, a BBC politico-comedy and an animated Nickelodeon marine farce mash-up? They are probably closer than many might think – SpongeBob is actually far sharper satire than many realise – but I think that a crossover would probably be doomed to fail.

15. Pair two characters in 1 that would make an unlikely, but strangely okay couple.
I think that the Newman/ Babs Kramer romance could not possibly be topped by anything that I could come up with.

16. Overall, which show has the better cast, 3 or 5?
Again, tough call. Arrested Development featured a top ensemble cast, but did spread itself thin with the branching plotlines. One of the greatest strengths of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister is the tightness of its recurring cast and dynamic between Sir Humphrey, Jim and Bernard. The fact that their taut, triangular relationship the focal point of each and every show really rammed the points that Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn home. I’d give that one the nod.

You know, I enjoyed doing that far more than I expected to!

Ambition is not a vice of little people.

Nothing much to see here, just two hunks relaxing in the (not very-) Thermal Pool down by Hastings Caves...

Politics isn't about left versus right; it's about top versus bottom.

Racing boats. The Derwent Estuary, as viewed from Alexandra Battery, Sandy Bay. April 2012.

The Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (as well as a lot of pop up ads.) The following are some things that I've had a look at in the last week. I call this: a Compendium of Click-throughs for Monday Morning..

• Here are some very dangerous things to avoid doing, spectacularly captured in super slow motion highlights…


• This is cool: the World of 100. Some nice graphic representation of the composition of the world if we were just a village of 100 people…


• A hundred years ago, the British Empire looked enviously at the efficient carrier pigeon networks established by its European rivals. Yet – after constant training and investment – Allied birds outperformed their rivals during the First World War. Here is the story of how the closed the pigeon gap!


• We should strike some medals for these two sisters in the UK who have forced retailers to rethink the 'pinkification' of girls' toys. Now they are turning their attention to makeup aimed at children...


• It is always nice to read someone else’s letter from Tasmania...


• Speaking of nice graphic design, how about complex philosophy expressed in simple poster form?

(Apologies for the weird formatting, this new Blogger interface will be the death of me!)

A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than yesterday.

Fair dinkum, this new Blogger interface is going to be a test...

Stubborn and ardent clinging to one's opinion is the best proof of stupidity.

A great all-rounder. Hastings Caves State Reserve, Southern Tasmania. April 2012. Sunday Top Five already? Cripes! Okay, how about My Top Five Former Sovereign States That I'd Like To See Back!

The Holy Roman Empire

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

The Great Republic of Rough and Ready

The Federal Republic of Central America

The Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia