This will hurt me...

Political comment. Elizabeth Street, North Hobart. July 2013. Master Georgie , Beryl Bainbridge: This book won a lot of prizes, and it isn't hard to see why. Novel represents a unique glimpse at a character from a prism of lenses formed by those around him. This conceit works well and it allows Bainbridge to really explore three very different narrative voices. Not for everyone, as the author showcases a real mastery of technique here that can be quite challenging at times. However, if you love reading, you should love this book. A . The Second Tree from the Corner , E.B. White: A collection of literary miscellanea, some dated, some prescient. Uneven. C . Poodle Springs , Raymond Chandler (and Robert B. Parker): Private dick settles down, but circumstances won't let him. This was Chandler's last novel, incomplete at his death and finished by Parker. It's okay, if somewhat hackneyed. C .

Happy birthday! Geilston Bay Community Centre, Geilston Bay. July 2013. Sunday Top Five ? How about July 19 Through The Years! #5! #4! #3! #2! #1! Cake drafting. Geilston Bay Community Centre, Geilston Bay. July 2013. The cake! Geilston Bay Community Centre, Geilston Bay. July 2013.

Theme Thursday . Okay. 'ello SUNSHINE. ‘Owya goin’? Been busy? Yeah? Awright. Doin’ well? Doin’ well meself me old mukka. Doin’ well. Doin’ well. Doin’ well. Yep, doin’ well. Can’t complain can’t complain. Hip given me grief mind you. Shockin’ headache. Work given’ me trouble. Can’t complain though, can’t complain. Strugglin’ with me back still. Missus given’ me hell. Strugglin’ with the bills. Bills bills bills. Always bills. Can’t complain though, can’t complain. You? Yeah yeah. Yeah. Musn’t grumple.

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...

Clock. G.P.O. Building, Elizabeth Street, Hobart. July 2012. Theme Thursday already and I am yet again filled with empty PROMISES. I PROMISE to make sure that I remember Theme Thursday. I PROMISE to try harder. I PROMISE to be nice. I PROMISE to do my best. I PROMISE to stop I PROMISing.

I shall try not too. Elizabeth Street Pier, Sullivan's Cove. November 2011. It's Tuesday right? That means another Q and A stolen from Sunday Stealing. This week, The Madness Meme, Part 2 [the madness continues]. 23. Do you ever walk around the house naked? All the time. It’s my house! 24. If you were an animal what would you be? Why? Erm... I’m pretty sure that I am an animal. Humans can get mighty uppity sometimes about their position in the food chain. If the question was intended to be “If you were a different kind of animal what would you be? Why?”, I guess that I’d say Great White Shark. Why? I dunno. Cruising around. Easting stuff. Sounds cool. 25. Hair colour you like on someone you’re dating? These things are always going on about ‘dating’. I don’t even know what that means! Is it a euphemism for ‘rooting’? Anyway, I like brown hair on girls. 26. If suffering an injury, would you rather be left blind or deaf? I really rather not suffer the injury, but if you have a h...

No bells. Atop Hobart G.P.O, Elizabeth Street, Hobart. October 2011. We have pancakes every Saturday morning, even though I am a fry up kind of guy. Amoeba , John Hegley hello amoeba I wish you were my pet but you're not really big enough to be seen by the vet are you? you're a little blob of jelly you've got no skin and bone you're not a boy you're not a girl and you're not on the telephone I cannot get in touch with you I cannot pull your leg you look a bit like a fried egg you're a long way down the ladder that evolution trod but you can eat with your feet or to be more discreet obtain food with your pseudopod and you don't have to have a partner to start a family you can multiply by dividing tra-la-la-la-lee you don't get up in the morning because you never go to bed you've not got any genitalia but you've got other bits instead I saw you down the microscope when I was just a lad I told my mum about you and then I told my dog you're n...

Heading home. Elizabeth Street, as viewed from the pier. June 2011. Three books this week and the strike rate has not been pretty. First up is Finnish author Elina Hirvonen’s When I Forgot . The critical reaction seems to be very favourable, and I must admit that I’m struggling to see why. The story of damaged people and damaged families, and the harm that they inevitably do to each other; it utilises a fractured narrative to exemplify the ‘brokenness’ of the central characters. In this sense, this is not a subtle book. In broad brush strokes it ties together the idea of memory with the reality of unfortunate childhood(s), mental illness, relationship failures and even the linkage between personal and familial dysfunction and national identity and loss. I dunno, some described this book as "potent, fragile, and tender" but the words “ self-indulgent ,” “ overwrought ,” “ confusing ,” and “ narcissistic ” more readily come to mind. Not recommended. Speaking of na...

The morning sun on the corner of Liverpool and Elizabeth Streets. Hobart CBD, September 2010. Inspired by regular commenter "Me", and an afternoon spend wading through the Bowie catalogue, today's Sunday Top Five seems a relatively straightforward one: Pick My Top Five Bowie Albums ! Low [1977] Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) [1980] Station to Station [1976] The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars [1972] Hunky Dory [1971] Looking upon my list, I can't help but suggest that it appears I enjoy Bowie's seventies output the best. My apologies to to you Tin Machine aficionados out there, most of whom live in Norway, I believe...

The house generally wins. Elizabeth Street, Hobart. September 2010. I am not a gambling man. I am more a gambolling man. Punting is a game for mugs, and there does not seem a shortage of mug punters out there. There used to be a lively (if not quite happening ) music scene in Hobart. Now we have poker machines. Now I understand that not everyone wants to hear another version of Keh Sanh played at the wrong tempo and sung by a guy with less gravel in his voice than Nana Mouskouri, but it is surely better than the sound of some poor down and out pissing away his kid’s new pair of shoes in the hope of three pairs of cherries. I confess that I have no experiential knowledge of electronic gaming. As I said at the top, it is a mug’s game and I may be many things – charming, handsome, sophisticated, romantic, modest – but I am not a mug. So I turn to you, the global village , and ask what is so fun about poker machines ?

An Oasis or a mirage? Elizabeth Street, September 2010. I stand at this very spot, directly outside this den of iniquity , and await my second bus for the day to another den of iniquity, the Carruthers Building . On this bus, I can expect to find a number of regular characters, who are rapidly developing interesting back-stories to go along with the monikers that I have already given them. Take as an example “ Japara Bitch ”, so-called for the lovable combination of her fashionable raincoat and a face like a slapped arse. Opposite her is a fellow I call “ Oh we’re from Tigerland ” – or “Tiges” for short – with his tear-stained “Save Our Skins” hat from way back in ’90. At the back are the Chuckle Brothers , a trio of slack-jawed howlers who appear to have recently arrived on planet Earth with little more than the matching tracksuits on their backs. You will also find “ Sparkles ”, “ Manuel ”, “ The Princess of Hearts ”, “ Grizzly Adams ” and a whole host of others on the 7:48 am to Gle...

Aren't you cold. Elizabeth Street in Winter. August 2010. Dolly birds draped about in bikinis. A standard response when you think "Winter in Tasmania". I am looking for ideas. I’m happy to trawl the ‘net for more, but I thought that I’d throw open the comments section for suggestions. What should I write about? Any questions that I should answer? Anything that you’d like me to photograph? The creative well is running dry, and my capacity to draw comics [you know who you are] is limited!

NAB HQ. Corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, September 2010. The National Australia Bank (or NAB) is one of the largest financial institutions and banks in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. Apparently, NAB is ranked the seventeenth largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation. That makes NAB bigger than such luminaries as Citigroup (US), Morgan Stanley (US), Barclays (UK) and Deutsche Bank (figure it out yourself). Just for the record, the NAB is only the third largest Australian bank, so we’re punching above our weight in the global financial world down here in Oz. Which leads me to today’s Sunday Top Five , the Top Five Things That Australia Leads the World In (beginning with the letter ‘S’’ ! Sheilas : this one should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. Australian sheilas are renowned the world over for their good likes, fine figures and filthy mouths strong opinions. One simply cannot compile a list such as this without the...

Waiting for the second bus of the day. Elizabeth Street looking north, Hobart, August 2010. This is the spot in town where I wait for the bus to head up to New Town and work. You’ll note the spire of what I think is the “ First Church of Christ Scientist Hobart‎ ” (and I thought that he was a carpenter). This melds nicely with the fact that when taking this photograph, I’m standing outside of what I presume is the “ First Church of Keno and Poker Machines Hobart ”, which is located right by the “ First Church of Getting on the Piss and Falling Over Hobart ”. It’s a good thing that I share a building with Alcohol and other Drug Services Hobart Tasmania.

The beautiful morning sunshine lamp shine of Hobart in winter. Elizabeth Street, Hobart. August 2010. The combination of a show shutter speed – necessary to cope with the poor light – and street lamps still on – because of poor light – have delivered an interesting effect in this photo here. I do like the way that prolonged exposure to the blaze of what is really a low watt globe almost burns out the [ahem] film . This leads me to my next instalment… 51. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No, no I most definitely do not. A couple of chickens dipped in ink. On acid. At a Prodigy concert. 52. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Lunch meat? I like spicy Hungarian salami. I like ham. I had pastrami today. 53. ANY BAD HABITS? I have many, many bad habits. 54. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING CD ON THE SHELF? My CDs are all in boxes at the top of Henry’s cupboard. Most embarrassing CD? I had a clear out prior to the last move, and I’m not sure what is left (hundreds remain). The most embarrassing CD...

Photographing the lights while waiting for the lights. Elizabeth Street, Hobart 2010. Yes it is Theme Thursday again, hello to all Theme Thursday’ers who may be passing through these parts today, or tomorrow (if you are on the backwards part of the world and your today is our yesterday). It is not too much of a stretch today, as one of the many sources of tension to be found in this blogging lark – and I am at 2080 posts and counting – is the balance between keeping it LIGHT and getting heavy. It is a tricky one, because a lot of excellent things are exclude by getting too heavy on matters; and a LIGHT touch cannot possibly do justice to. That said, keeping it heavy requires a bit of effort, and can be a bit of a bummer to infrequent visitors, or diverse audience. Indeed, there is a lot to be said for keeping things LIGHT. Like working clean and not BLUE, LIGHTness of touch broadens one’s appeal!

There's money to be made here... June, 2010. The prospect of destroying all the evidence is an intriguing one, one that most of us wouldn't mind applying to facets of our own lives. Now, I'm not talking about some Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind expurgation of the self; I'm more about the elimination of proof . What I am proposing is putting yourself in the clear . Suppose that you could discretely arrange for CONFIDENTIAL SECURITY SHREDDING to rock up and remove the evidence , would you do it? Perhaps the question should be what would you do it for?

Walking to work, Monday morning, what could be finer? Oh, I know ! NOT walking to work on a Monday morning. Staying home in bed. With children who are quiet and well behaved and let you lie in. Walking to work, Monday morning.

I have day off today. Eight Hour Day or International Women's Day? You be the judge!

Look at these poor buggers waiting at the lights, ready to head in to work for another day of soul destroying, mind numbing, blood pressure raising work! And it doesn't even matter that these guys will be working in the waterfront precinct, with lovely views and the chance of seeing seals frolicking during their coffee break. It matters not one jot, because they are disenchanted through the crushing numbness that is paid employment in the year 2009. One that fine note, here's Tuesday Q and A! This is an easy one today: do you hate your job?