This will hurt me...

Big Hen considers shipbuilding as a trade.

Winter in Hobart. Mount Wellington, as seen from Davey Street, Hobart. July 2013. Baby, it's COLD outside! The Chimney Sweeper: A little black thing among the snow , William Blake A little black thing among the snow, Crying "weep! 'weep!" in notes of woe! "Where are thy father and mother? say?" "They are both gone up to the church to pray. Because I was happy upon the heath, And smil'd among the winter's snow, They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe. And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery."

Hartz Mountains National Park was been shaped by glaciers during past ice ages. Here we are walking up through the centre of the park to Lake Osborne, a small glacial lake reached by a walk through wet eucalypt forest, into alpine heath and then onto the lake itself. It was well worth the effort!

Duck feet (from below). Geilston Bay. July 2013. I'm back on the buses again, which ups the time I have to read. This is always nice. After The Wall , Jana Hensel: I'm always up for an East German generational memoir, which is Hensel's goal here. What differentiates this one from many of the others is that Hensel reflects on the very last of that generation, those that were at the tail end of their childhood at the fall of the Berlin Wall and whose teenage years coincided with the process of reunification. I'm not certain that this translation helped (it was packed full of jarring Americanisms), but was an interesting-enough reflection. C . Grendel , John Gardner: A fascinating novel that retells the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf from the perspective of the monster and - quite successfully - explores (among other things) the nature of good and evil; man's capacity for violence; finding meaning in the world; and the power of literature and myth. I really enj

I know that it is something to do with computers...

Boat race? The Derwent Estuary, as seen from Napoleon Street, Battery Point. July 2013. Theme Thursday ? SPACE? Object. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ →                                                                        ← ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Object.

Say "Roquefort"!

'The Devil's Backbone'. Lake Osborne, Hartz Mountains National Park. July 2013. Wordless Wednesday. [Still] 'The Devil's Backbone'. Lake Osborne, Hartz Mountains National Park. July 2013.

Everywhere we go, we find cliffs.

ACHTUNG! Melville Street Car Park, North Hobart. July 2013. An odd little Disney-themed Q and A from Sunday Stealing today, the the fairy tale meme Snow White: Do you consider yourself pretty? Name the part of your body you think is the most beautiful! Pretty? Probably not. How about "ruggedly handsome"? I have lovely legs though... Cinderella: What is your shoe size? It's usually 13 or 14, depending on the brand. Sleeping Beauty: How many hours do you sleep each night? Around seven. Little Red Riding Hood: What is your favourite food? I love berries, particularly raspberries. The Frog Prince: What do you find disgusting? The stale smell of cigarettes turns my stomach. Jack and the Beanstalk: What plants are in your room? Alas, no plants. Puss in Boots: Do you have a pet? Do you want one? No pets no plants. I have children, thus no need for pets! Rumpelstiltskin: What is the meaning of your url? U niform R esource L ocator. [Ahem.]

Hip hop bush-strutten gangsta stylee.

All of us. The living room, Geilston Bay. July 2013. As you know, the Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and RSS feeds.) 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... Re-examining ‘the Elephant Man’ : Nadja Durbach questions the extent to which Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, was exploited during his time in a Victorian ‘freakshow’, and asks if it wasn’t perhaps the medical establishment, often seen as his saviour, who really took advantage of Merrick and his condition. The industrial age is over, so why are we still punching in? Rethinking Work . Drowning mercy: why we fear the boats. Soviet-era erotic alphabet book from 1931. 5 Things Men Will Never Understand About Consoling a Woman . While the natural sciences have evolved – new fields, discoveries, methods – the social sciences have stagnated, answe

From the front... ...From behind.

Hobart in the Winter. Geilston Bay. July 2013. Sunday Top Five ? TODAY'S Sunday Top Five? How about The Five Things I've Heard About All This Week ? Minecraft. Zombies. Minecraft. Moshi Monsters. Minecraft.