This will hurt me...

Things are looking up. The corner of Campbell and Liverpool Streets, Hobart. September 2013. A long-delayed Q and A stolen again from Sunday Stealing. This time, Meme 325 ! Something that’s holding you back from achieving your dreams: Life! Something you think you could win an award for: Irritability. Something you fear more than anything: Caring what people think. Something you wish people would understand: That life would be much easier if they were a little nicer to each other. Something that keeps you going everyday: The promise of sleep. Something amazing that happened last Summer: Henry and I saw a foot-long weedy sea dragon while snorkelling at Opossum Bay. We were less than a metre away for a good couple of minutes. Something you hate that people say: The casual use of the word ‘bogun’ in work contexts. Something you refuse to pay money for: Friendship. Something you wish you could have told that person that you never saw again:...

Cat. Theatre Royal car park, Campbell Street, Hobart. September 2013. Sunday Book Club? That's right, SUNDAY Book Club! Great Granny Webster , Caroline Blackwood: What an odd little book. Essentially a psychological analysis of how one person (in this case the obdurate matriarch of a clan) can inflict emotional damage across generations. The titular Great Granny is stuck in the "correctness" of her own Victorian youth. Her daughter is driven mad and talks to the fairies. Her granddaughter parties all night, smokes all day, and parties obsessively. She also constantly attempts suicide. Deceptively concise, this one is a sleeper. Recommended. B . Strangers on the 16:02 , Priya Basil: A short novel, this reads more like synopsis for a new novel than a complete work. Painted in broad strokes, it does a reasonable job in constructing three very different characters, reaching a climax between the three, then it ends. Frustrating. C- . I, Claudius , Robert Graves: R...

Pipe and brick. Skills Tasmania HQ, the corner of Bathurst and Campbell Street. September 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... What Happy People Do Differently. Smaller animals perceive time as if it is passing in slow motion. How Poverty Taxes the Brain : “The condition of poverty imposed a mental burden akin to losing 13 IQ points, or comparable to the cognitive difference that’s been observed between chronic alcoholics and normal adults”. The reasons for preserving biodiversity are becoming more widely understood... "George MacKerron and Susana Mourato from University College London and the London School of Economics recently looked at the relationship between happiness and nature. They found that people are happier in all outdoor env...

Medical School. Corner of Campbell and Bathurst Streets, Hobart. September 2013. We're hitting the road early, so no list today!

Me (or, something approaching Me). The corner of Campbell and Bathurst Streets, Hobart. September 2013. For this Tuesday Q and A (as I'm in real life steaming up the road and back to Campbell Town), I tackle another series from Sunday Stealing, the Massive Alphabet Meme, part one ! The Letter A Are you agnostic? I’m more atheist than agnostic, to be frank. What is your age? Chronological, ontological, pedagogical or psychological? That’s a difficult question to answer. What annoys you? Lots of things! Hypocrisy really annoys the hell out of me, though. The Letter B Do you like bacon? In moderation, I do. When is your birthday? It’s in May. Who is your best friend? I have three of them. They know who they are. The Letter C What is your favourite candy? Lollies? As in sweets? I like sour worms. Who is your crush? Crush? As in squash? I’d like to squash bad people. When was the last time you cried? A few years ago on the bus to New Town, as I reac...

She blinded me with science. Campbell Town, Tasmania. April 2013. Theme Thursday ? I know, I know! I'm very busy today and I don't want yto face ACCUSATIONS of piking out!

Pigeons of Hobart (public art), Campbell Street, Hobart. May 2012. 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... The most creative stacking of firewood that you'll see all week! Really interesting stuff about humans, our brains and evolutionary principles . I do like the reminder about the sheep being a more efficient ‘power animal’ than Usain Bolt… The BBC tracks the slow spread of Vegemite ... Ein deutscher Mann tut seinen Hintern . Two millennia of Western philosophy in comic form.

Seek and ye shall find. Argyle Street, North Hobart. November 2011. Right. Settle back, make yourself a cup of tea and read this poem. The last line makes it worthwhile. If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso , Gertrude Stein If I told him would he like it. Would he like it if I told him. Would he like it would Napoleon would Napoleon would would he like it. If Napoleon if I told him if I told him if Napoleon. Would he like it if I told him if I told him if Napoleon. Would he like it if Napoleon if Napoleon if I told him. If I told him if Napoleon if Napoleon if I told him. If I told him would he like it would he like it if I told him. Now. Not now. And now. Now. Exactly as as kings. Feeling full for it. Exactitude as kings. So to beseech you as full as for it. Exactly or as kings. Shutters shut and open so do queens. Shutters shut and shutters and so shutters shut and shutters and so and so shutters and so shutters shut and so shutters shut and shutte...

A centre of learning. Campbell Street, Hobart. February 2011. Another busy morning has seen me miss the deadline for the first time in a while. We’re all going to Melbourne on Thursday. Whatever will we do?

Looking south down Campbell Street, Hobart. April 2011. Too busy to type! I'm off to lecture people far more important than myself...

Waiting for the light. Campbell Street, intersection with Davey Street. February 2011. There are many things that one can do while waiting for the lights to change. If not reading a book or taking photos, I like to subtly alter the lyrics of popular tunes of yesteryear to amuse myself. If I can’t think of any, I concoct hypothesised conversations between any pedestrians that might be lurking around. If I’m really bored, I like to speculate what kind of foibles, desires, hidden strengths or indeed pervasions that complete strangers in the street might possess. Try it. It’s fun.

A bacon and egg roll and we’ll just wait and see what happens. Campbell Street, Hobart. January 2011. History – and historical memory – can be an odd business. It is hard to get a sense when you are in the present of the true historical magnitude of the events taking place around you. Conversely, it’s nigh on impossible to comprehend truly the importance of events that happened with the distance of time between you and it/them, removed as you are from the proper context. That does not stop us from trying of course. You may have seen the (most recent) attempt to tally up the views (and scores) of British historians along a set of criteria and deduce the “best” President of the United States . It is an interesting exercise, and makes for some great arguments (you can read all about it here), but ultimately it strikes me as being a bit of a futile exercise. While I will confess to be an FDR fan, I really couldn’t tell you if he was really X percent superior to (say) Grover Cleveland; or ...

They built this wall around the boxes. Bus stop on Campbell Street, Hobart. January 2011. Australia Day? BAH! All these flags everywhere… PFFT! In my day, we used to think the Australian flag embarrassing (what, with it being dominated by someone else’s flag . Mind you, I remain unconvinced by some of the proposed alternatives… As presented before me, I shall be backing the demand to replace this insipid attempt: …with this submission for a fellow with great form on the design front , Mr Ken Done: If one would permit me a few minor alterations, I would suggest knocking that blue down a touch (indeed, opting for Prussian Blue instead), and make the yellow more golden, (like the Crayola colour Sunglow ). Yeah, it’s a little like the European Union flag, but it’s a damn sight better than having someone else’s monstrosity plastered all over the place. Even better, not a kangaroo – nor the colour green – in sight!

I’m still standing. Campbell Street, Hobart. December 2010. It seems that no matter how good some people have it, there is a drive within many (most) to complain that they don’t have it better. Give them five jellybeans, and they want eight jellybeans (or a chocolate frog). Give them a twelve percent pay rise, and they want a fifteen percent pay rise. Give them a parking spot one hundred metres from the front door, and they want the parking spot twenty metres from the door. You give them access to any scrap of information they want at the tip of their fingers, and they’re too lazy to type in the search terms. They get shown the world, and they complain that it’s not hi-res enough. They live longer, and they complain about being old. They get given entertainment, and they get bored with it. They get given more entertainment, and they get bored with it. You give them knowledge, and they’re bored with it. It’s not immediate enough, it’s not easy enough it’s not simple enough it’s all too ...

A moon over Davey Street. Hobart, December 2010. The chimney belonged to the Hobart Gas Company, and was built in 1854 to establish a gasworks to lighten the city streets. This was the third gasworks in the southern hemisphere, but we all know that it really was the best. A lot of bricks, piled real high... Hobart, December 2010.

Very little action at the bus stop. Campbell Street, Hobart. December 2010. Boxing Day? BAH! The Easter eggs will be out soon. This year - excluding picture books - I've read eighty-five books! Jen guessed at sixty, I was thinking seventy, so eighty-five is a sounf tally that leaves me a good selection for today's Sunday Top Five: My Top Five Books That I've Read This Year! Bear in mind that these are books I've read and enjoyed this year, not books released this year. Let's see if this year's crop can top last year ... Fatelessness by Imre Kertész Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills Just missing the cut, and again in chronological order (in terms of my reading it): The Quiet American , Graham Greene; Closely observed trains , Bohumil Hrabal; Mercedes-Benz , Pawel Huelle; The Middle Parts of Fortune , Frederic Manning; The End of the Affair ,...

The sky is the limit. MS1 , Campbell Street, December 2010. The building on the right is known as MS1 (Medical Science 1 to its friends), the home of the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, in the heart of Hobart's Medical Science Precinct. Let’s just say that a lot of rats go in, but they’re rarely seen leaving… A Few Rules for Beginners , by Katherine Mansfield Babies must not eat the coal And they must not make grimaces, Nor in party dresses roll And must never black their faces. They must learn that pointing’s rude, They must sit quite still at table, And must always eat the food Put before them—if they’re able. If they fall, they must not cry, Though it’s known how painful this is; No—there’s always Mother by Who will comfort them with kisses.

Someone has put some wood in this wall! The Theatre Royal, Hobart. December 2010. Two books, both written within the same period, with similar themes, but both very different from each other. The first is Defeat Into Victory by William Slim. Bill Slim, or – to give him his proper title – Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ, has been described by some as perhaps the greatest commander of the twentieth century. Defeat into Victory is his account of the retaking of Burma by Allied forces during the Second World War first published in 1956. Slim was the commander of the British 14th Army that, in concert with American and Chinese forces, defeated the Imperial Japanese Army during the Burma Campaign. But don’t let that put you off! Slim's most notable characteristic is his lack of ego. Unlike many (most?) other accounts of this type, Slim consistently makes reference to his mistakes, errors in planning or judgement, and his def...

Graffiti under the fire escape of the Theatre Royal. Campbell Street, Hobart. November 2010. Kaddish for a Child Not Born by Imre Kertész is one of a series of four novels which examine the life of a man who survives the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. I wrote about the first, Fatelessness , a few weeks back . If Fatelessness offered a relatively conventional narrative approach, Kaddish for an Unborn Child , written fifteen years later, is anything but. It is a difficult novel of repetition and ambiguity, the narrator acknowledging all his uncertainty, and constantly reminding the reader of the difficulty of exact expression. In many respects, it’s an artist’s attempt at public self-flagellation. Broadly, the novel is a meditation on the narrator's failed marriage, and in particular, his refusal to have children. Identity is fixed firmly to the present perspective, with the narrator constantly reminiscing yet always acknowledging what was to happen: history is fixed, e...

Stairs to the stars. Fire escape from the Theatre Royal, Hobart. November 2010. This one is a (slightly different) look at the Theatre Royal, right at the heart of Hobart. It is a versatile location, staging all kinds of events including ballet, opera, drama and musicals. When the theatre opened in 1837, it was located among the pubs, brothels, gambling dens, factories and tiny workers’ cottages of Wapping. As such, it is the oldest continually operating theatre in Australia. This nearly wasn’t the case though! No less a figure than Sir Laurence Olivier himself spoke passionately to Tasmanians, urging them to resist the urge to demolish it an start again in the 1940s, telling us to "never let it go"! Obviously, someone was listening. Countless lesbians [ahem] thespians have trod the boards of the Royal. Indeed, reading through a simple list is like gazing up at the sky in the dead of night! Laurence Olivier! Noël Coward! Vivien Leigh! Lillian Gish! Peter Ustinov! Hell, we’...