This will hurt me...

I don't walk this way any more. The corner of Davey and Murray Streets, Hobart. July 2013. We're off chasing Great White Sharks today. Fingers crossed that we all make it back in one piece! I, Too , Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America.

Buildings. Murray Street, Hobart. October 2012. The Basque History of the World , Mark Kurlansky. Entertaining history of a fascinating people. Bonus points for the recipes! B . Barbed Wire: A History , Olivier Razac. A political and cultural history of barbed wire. Razac focuses on focuses on the use of barbed wire in three crucial aspects of modern history: by American ranchers during the mid/late 1800s to both parcel up land for private use and end the roaming ways of Native Americans; as an effective killer in the defensive stalemates of World War One; and lastly that of the concentration camps of World War Two. Quite French, but don't hold that against it... B . The Invisible Man , H.G. Wells. An exciting little tale of an insane anti-hero that becomes increasingly pathetic. Staring with a slight comic start, it shifts into a darker, more subtle satire. Excellent stuff. B+ .

What's the collective noun for 'bureaucrats'? Davey Street, Hobart. October 2012. Sunday Top Five ? Already?!? Okay then. My Top Five Collective Nouns! A congregation of alligators. An array of hedgehogs. A fluther of jellyfish. A deceit of lapwings. An ostentation of peacocks.

The Hyrdo Building. Corner of Davey and Elizabeth Streets. July 2012. Life & Times of Michael K by J.M.Coetzee is set in a vividly imagined South Africa of the 1970s that has descended into civil war. While the setting is important, the novel itself eschews discussions of race or class and concentrates on the journey of the titular character, a simple man whose life has been shaped by institutionalism from a very young age. In this sense, Coetzee has opted for using an innocent as the central character. It's a tricky ploy, as the simpleton remains simple throughout and - for the reader at least - the state of purity, innocence and grace can be a limiting thing. The story is told well, with a tale full of ugly and sad scenes, and very few glimmers of hope or beauty. Despite such scenes, it is quite a desolate book. There is only a vague, ominous sense of how bad things really are in the greater society and while Michael K. serves as the vehicle to paint this story of sur...

Phallogocentrism. Davey Street, Hobart. May 2012. A poem... Detail of My Sort of Light , Ander Monson Now I know that everything is a body, so even the snow and the sand and the blood rivered down in the snow, and snowed on again so it's buried is a body. All things are bodies in photos— detail of the left side of a breast and the arm's pit—detail of the sled slumbered under by the storm's leavings. Detail of my sort of so-early half-lit eyelid light that bodies are near to invisible and touch is no longer the sole way of knowing, and outline is all that there is. Detail of your body as it does its morning leaving thing. Detail of what light there is on your skin. Detail of land- scape of let me in please and coffee, warm when the weather's action on this body is less than ideal. Landscape with pear. Landscape with weather and part of a breast in the frame.

I see the light! Davey Street, Hobart. August 2012. Sunday Stealing: The 88 Meme 1. What type questions do you hate on a meme? Anything that involves ‘celebrities’ or ‘dating’ or ‘dating celebrities’. 2. If you married the last person you texted, what would your last name be? What a profoundly stupid question. 3. Were you happy when you woke up today? No. I still felt sick. 4. When were you on the phone last? And with who? I rang Henry’s school to let them know that, like me and work, he was too sick to go in. 5. Who are you excited for? I am excited for Henry, who hopefully will receive some recognition for reading the most books of any Lindisfarne North Primary School student during the Premier’s Reading Challenge. 7. Honestly, who was the last person to tell you they love you? Ezra. He had just been told off, mind you. 8. What's the last thing you put in your mouth? A toothbrush. 9. Have a best friend? I married her. 10. Were you ever or are ...

Look both ways. The intersection of Davey and Murray Streets, July 2012. More Q and A. More stolen from Sunday Stealing. This week, Our Players' Meme ... 1. You have been awarded the time off from work and an all-expenses paid week anywhere in the United States. The catch is that it must be somewhere you have not been before. Where do you choose to visit? Given that I have not been to the US at all, I have a whole continent to choose from. Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. 2. Name three of your guilty pleasures. I generally don’t feel guilt about pleasure. However, the recent healthy-living kick has seen me attach some to the wrong types of food. I also struggle with spending money on myself. 3. The best kind of Girl Scout Cookie is: Ummm, the normal ones? I like a nice plain biscuit. 4. What do you value most in other people? Honesty, integrity and half a brain. 5. Be honest. Do you sneak some raw cookie dough when you’re baking cookies? Not unless the reci...

Decline and fall. Davey Street, Hobart CBD. August 2012. Wordless Wednesday.

Patterns on a wall. Davey Street, Hobart. May 2012. Wordless Wednesday!

One day people will come and wonder what all of this was about. Footpath leading onto the Tasman Highway, Hobart. June 2012. I suspect (hope?) that we are nearing the end of this marathon series of Q and A stolen from Sunday Stealing, the ominous Imaginary Meme, Part Six ! 101. Name 4 things you always have with you. i) Watch, ii) wallet, iii) keys, iv) phone. More often than not, I also have v) camera and vi) book. 102. How many SERIOUS ex-girlfriends/ boyfriends/ significant others do you have? None. 103. What causes you to you admire people? Anyone who manages to combine half a brain with integrity always warrants my admiration. 104. Do you like sports? I do. 105. Would you have sex after marriage? Why or why not? What an odd question. I can only presume that they mean ‘before’ rather than after, although it seems that there is often a correlation between post-marriage/ decline in sexual congress. As for sex before marriage: why ever not? 106. What is your favour...

Going home. Sandy Bay Road, onto Davey Street. June 2012. As you know, the Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds. Unfortunately, the Internet are these parts does not appear to be working! I'm going to have to postpone the weblinks for another day. If this post ever manages to actually go live, please feel free to stick around and enjoy the view...

Going home. Harrington Street, Hobart CBD. June 2012. That's right, time for today's Sunday Top Five Ten . This week, The Top Five TEN Spices That Get The Most Regular Workout In My Kitchen Over The Past Six Months! Salt Garlic Pepper Cinnamon Paprika Cayenne pepper Ginger Cloves Wasabi [Lemon] Zest

Achtung! Ampelmännchen sagt halt! The point just after Davey Street turns into Sandy Bay Road. June 2012. Just the one book finished this week, and a trip back in time with Mussolini And The Rise Of Fascism by the academic/ historian Donald Sassoon. Sassoon is the author of what is to my mind the definitive work (and weighty tome coming in well over 1,000 pages long) on continental European socialism, One Hundred Years of Socialism , so I was looking forward to his analysis of the development of fascism in Italy. You might already be familiar with the tale: in 1919 the former socialist newspaper editor-cum small time political player Benito Mussolini had assembled a ragtag group of followers in Milan and launched the movement that was to result three years later in a dictatorship. This itself would last 23 years, and draw Italy into an escalating number of foreign interventions, ending ultimately with a disastrous war that was to leave large parts of her in ruins. Oddly enough...

Sunshine just around the CORNER. CORNER of Murray and Davey Street, Hobart. February 2012. Theme Thursday today and sometimes the best way to photograph the sun is to stand just around the CORNER from it.

10 Murray: going the way of the Tasmanian Tiger? Corner of Murray and Davey Streets, September 2011. It's about time that I had a sexy poem... The Ninth Secret Poem , Guillaume Apollinaire I worship your fleece which is the perfect triangle Of the Goddess I am the lumberjack of the only virgin forest O my Eldorado I am the only fish in your voluptuous ocean You my lovely Siren I am the climber on your snowy mountains O my whitest Alp I am the heavenly archer at your beautiful mouth O my darling quiver I am the hauler of your midnight hair O lovely ship on the canal of my kisses And the lilies of your arms are beckoning me O my summer garden The fruits of your breast are ripening their honey for me O my sweet-smelling orchard And I am raising you O Madeleine O my beauty above the earth Like the torch of all light

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.

Ampelmännchen, Ich werde auf dich warten. Campbell Straße, December 2010. The Christmas/New Year period has derailed my reading somewhat. Who knew that so much literary graft could be achieved on public transport and during lunch breaks through the week? That said, I'm knee deep in Gert Hofmann's Luck , and should be finished in a few days. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I think that much will depend on where he takes the tale...

One of my very few shots that contain people (not spawned by me). Here we are on a chilly winter's afternoon waiting at the lights on Davey Street. Hats are indeed in order, and even dear little Ampelmännchen is starting to feel the chill! Alas, winter is departing! This morning, I awaited the bus amid glorious spring sunshine . Sure, there was snow on the mountain and it was four degrees when I arrived in town, but blue sky and a heartening sun can do a lot to cheer a man up.

Another sunrise over Davey Street. To paraphrase Mr Hendrix from some time ago, excuse me while the sun KISSes the sky. Those of you who live in proper cities will be delighted to hear that this line of cars is what constitutes "heavy traffic" here in Hobart. It's Theme Thursday you see, and the challenge today is that of KISS . I would like to expand on the subject of KISSing, however life prevents me from exploring it in too much depth. That said, it is a practice that I quite enjoying – in the right sort of company of course. Alas, I am required at a three hour navel gaze interface all morning, so the best that I can manage is a list of five things that I’d rather be KISSing than go to this meeting today: Decrepit harpy Dame Margaret Thatcher (with tongues); The mangy cat that lurks around my bus stop of a morning (no tongues); A large sandpit full of mud, nails and dead gum leaves; Six of Snow White’s seven dwarves midgets little people (the current conce...

While on a jaunt to meet the bigwigs at HQ, I spotted this odd bit of graffiti on their sign right at their very front door. Despite my firm opposition to vandalism - outside of the Silesian region of Central Europe around 400 A.D. - I am almost able to endorse this as a mark of oddball genius. Alas, the use of "thru" compels me to dismiss the author as a nong .