This will hurt me...

Kelp gull on wing. Derwent foreshore, Lindisfarne. August 2013. Wordless Wednesday.

Oh buoy. Geilston Bay. April 2013. Sunday Stealing: The 5000 Question Meme, The Final Part Two 86. Name one thing that turns your stomach: Rampart inequity. 87. What was the last thing you paid for? Some apples. 88. Are you a coupon clipper? No, but I am open to the concept. 89. Get anything good in the mail recently? Nobody sends me anything. 90. Which would you rather take as a gym class... dancing, sailing, karate, or bowling? Of that selection, probably sailing. 91. In Star Trek people 'beam' back and forth between different places. What this means is they stand in a little tube and their molecules are deconstructed and sent to another tube somewhere else where they are reassembled. Only problem is when the molecules are deconstructed the person is dead. When they are put back together it is only a clone that has all the dead person's memories. Is the person who gets beamed the same person on both ends? Ummmmmmm... Perhaps... [Slowly moves toward th...

Hmmmmm. Bellerive Bluff, Bellerive. March 2013. Theme Thursday already and there is a nasty little FRAGRANCE about. A stench. A stink. An odour of disrepute. No putrefaction, but something ominous. A bouquet of disagreeableness. A whiff of repugnance and an aura of unpleasantness. And I'm not talking about the fish.

SHAG BAY!

Eastern Shore entrance on the old Hobart Bridge . Rose Bay. December 2012. What's to Become of the Boy: Or, Something to Do with Books , Heinrich Böll: A brief memoir of a boy's life in Köln in the years immediately following the Nazi seizure of power. An interesting angle of the coming of age tale. B . The Stranger , Albert Camus: It's hard to believe that I've managed to avoid the classic exemplar of the existential novel this long. I feel silly about doing so. A+ . End of a Mission , Heinrich Böll: Extremely funny, in a quiet, dry sense. As usual with Böll, a fantastic tale with fully realised characters. I loved it. A- .

An erosional feature in a flat sedimentary rock formation. Bellerive, December 2012. Entering Germany: 1944-1949 , Tony Vaccaro: A G.I. took his camera with him into Germany and photographed five months of war and five years of occupational peace. Stark photos and keenly observed text. Stunning. A . Wartime Lies , Louis Begley: An austere recount of a childhood spent by a Jewish boy during the Nazi occupation. A measured, deliberately cold tone throughout results in an emotionally flat narrative that is out of kilter with the content. I really enjoyed this (as much as you can 'enjoy' a Holocaust memoir. The key point around the costs of physically surviving to the psyche of a child is profound. A- . Poo: A Natural History of the Unmentionable , Nicola Davies: C'mon! Everything you ever wanted to know about faeces! Fascinating. A . Conference-Ville , Frank Moorhouse: A slice of life among the Australian academic and political amidst the turmoil of the Whitlam dis...

Climbing the dunes. Nutgrove Beach, Sandy Bay. December 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... A great read on the death of a city: The Land of Topless Minarets and Headless Little Girls . Well worth your time. The Onion nails it: Right To Own Handheld Device That Shoots Deadly Metal Pellets At High Speed Worth All Of This. Humans think that they are better than animals. They are, of course, NOT . Some choice examples of futuristic Soviet architecture . John Birmingham waxes lyrical about the great experience of his daughter's state school. Hello Sailor! The Nautical Roots of Popular Tattoos... A great reverse prank courtesy of YouTube...

Dead babies. Bellerive boardwalk, Bellerive. November 2012. Wordless Wednesday.

Destiny calls!

Waiting for something to happen. Intercity Cycleway, Cornelian Bay. October 2012. More questions, this time Sunday Stealing's Who Are you? Part 2–The Grown Up Meme ! Would you survive in prison? I'm quite certain that I wouldn't enjoy it very much, but I am aware of the odd trick to keep up appearances and pass the time. Will you keep your last name when you get married? I already did! When you look into the past, what do you miss most? Youth! Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before? I think I have! Do you wear your shoes in the house? Only very rarely. I'm a bare feet kind of fellow. Happiness is a ________? Delusion. If anyone came to your house on your "lazy days" what would ya'll do? Bolt the door and hide. What are you naturally good at? Soliloquising. What irritates you most on the internet? The incivility of many. What is worth the pain? Bone marrow transplants (if needed). Transplanting marrow ...

Tasman Bridge, Eastern Shore side. Hobart. October 2012. A Burnt-Out Case , Graham Greene: Faith, belief and unbelief. And lepers. A bleak and miserable cast of characters in deepest, darkest Africa ponder the existence of God. B . The Sixties , Lesley Jackson: A nice big book that concentrates on the design and architecture of the 1960s, this book traces the transition from the 1950s "Contemporary" design to the geometry of "the look" and styles that proliferated throughout the 60s to the proto-high tech developments of the 1970s. It covers all aspects - architecture, ceramics, glass, textiles and furniture - and is well worth a look if you're into that kind of thing. B . The Bird Room , Chris Killen: Dirty grubby people not doing much other than being dirty and grubby. Oh, and it's unclear who is who or even if there are more than two actual characters, neither of whom is in the remotest likeable. Not pleasant. F .

Lunch. Errol Flynn Park, Sandy Bay. October 2012. Wordless Wednesday.

Little flower. Intercity cycleway, Cornelian Bay. October 2012. A little late, but this Theme Thursday I thought that I'd share a recipe for a very special SOUP! 1 tbl ambition 1 large optimism , coarsely chopped 2 cloves of potential , crushed 2 tsp finely grated competence 2 tsp ground resilience 500 g bitter experience , peeled, coarsely chopped 4 large milestones , peeled and diced 4 cups water 1 tsp resentment 1/2 cup low-fat natural cynicism Chopped fresh circumstances , to serve Step 1 Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Drizzle ambition. Add the optimism and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the potential, competence and resilience. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until aromatic. Step 2 Add the bitter experience, milestones, water and resentment. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the ingredients are soft. Set aside to cool slightly. Step 3 Place ...

h5a Rast ich, so rost ich!

I know boats. Errol Flynn Park, Sandy Bay. September 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... Are Neanderthals Human? Some great photos of life in North Korea. Has the UK seen the end of the stiff upper lip? Yet more REALLY great photos in the National Geographic Photo Contest 2012 . Some interesting thoughts in this BBC piece on child obesity: Why do parents let their kids get fat?

Sometimes I feel/ like my only friend. Tasman Bridge, looking south. September 2012. Here are the Top Five Reasons This Sunday That This Sunday Top Five Is Essentially A List Of Why This Sunday Top Five Is Why I Have Not Done A Sunday Top Five! An artistic expression of the principle of least action . Or at least a Sunday Top Five-related variation on the theme The Anna Karenina principle . Or at least a Sunday Top Five-related variation on the theme. The Euthyphro dilemma . Or at least a Sunday Top Five-related variation on the theme. Issues related to the identity of indiscernibles . Or at least a Sunday Top Five-related variation on the theme. An intense fear of conforming to the mediocrity principle . [Ahem.] Or at least a Sunday Top Five-related variation on the theme. Thank you. You can move along now.

Hank keeps an eye out from mermaids...

Boats on the Derwent. Just off Tranmere, as seen from Sandy Bay. August 2012. Father's Day? Sunday Top Five? I have an idea! My Top Five Interesting Dads In The Animal Kingdom ! Lions . Greedy and lazy buggers, lion fathers. They occupy most of their time lying about in the shade, waiting for one of their wives to bring home dinner. Female lions do pretty much all of the hunting and almost all of the parenting. Of course, this bugger likes to eat first, and is happy enough in lean seasons to let everyone else starve to death rather than go without a feed... Emperor Penguins . You probably already know this, but this dedicated dad holds his missus's eggs on the top of his feet, covering them with his belly for two months in the frigid Antarctic... without eating! Where is is partner? That's rights, she's off shagging and eating! Grizzly Bears. These bears like their own space, they really do. They also like to eat. A lot. Which means that if mamma bear doe...

A cold Henry is a sore Henry is a grumpy Henry is a tired Henry is an emotional Henry is a tricky Henry.

Sharks patrol these waters.