This will hurt me...

In flight. Howrah Beach. March 2013. Denver , David McKee: Even though I've read a LOT of children's books, I rarely review them. Here is an exception. Denver argues that rich people are better than poor people; poor people cannot be trusted (and are guileless idiots to boot); and that sharing is a very bad thing. Perhaps the worst thing that I have ever read. F . A Spy in the House of Love , Anaïs Nin: I'm sure that this was frightfully shocking in the 1950s, but it's all a bit of a yawn these days. D . Railway Maps of the World , Mark Ovenden: If you like history and you like maps, you're bound to like this lovely coffee table book. B . Loser Takes All , Graham Greene: One of Greene's self-derided 'entertainments'. I enjoyed it. B- .

Keep on truckin'!

Southern brown bandicoot. Howrah bike path. December 2012. Theme Thursday and it is bushfire season AGAIN . Every year it seems that the combination of heat, wind and a whole lot of plants that have evolved a variety of strategies to survive/ require bushfires make for a torrid time down here at the arse end of the world ™. Yes, even the plants are against us. A whole host of our native flora posses epicormic shoots or lignotubers that sprout after a fire and have developed fire-resistant or fire-triggered seeds. Thus, they don't dislike fire, they love it! Indeed, the most dominant species actively encourages fire, as eucalypts contain flammable oils in the leaves that have probably evolved as a way to eliminate competition from less fire-tolerant species. So AGAIN we face the unenviable truth of another period of nail-biting and stressing. Here in Hobart it's been 33°C with strong winds with the forecast of 38°C tomorrow and with 45 km/h gusts spell a whole world of ...

I still don't reckon that it will burn...

Beach life. Howrah Beach, Hobart. October 2012. My Top Five Things I've Been Trying That You Really Need To Start Doing for Yourself! Be honest with yourself. What is right for you? What needs to be changed? Be honest about with every aspect of your life. Once you do, you will have a better understanding of where you are and how you got there, and you will be better able to identify where you want to go and how to get there. Learn the lessons your mistakes can teach. Mistakes are natural. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying and you can’t be learning. Start enjoying the things you have. The problem for many is ‘happiness’ seems to be the next few steps away. They spend a lot of time thinking about how great it will be once they ‘get there’. Yet when they get there, it’s more than likely that they’ll have a new destination in mind. The trap is that you spend your whole life working toward something without ever stopping to enjoy the things you have. Don’t make th...

Yes Ezra, there is a Santa Claus.

Does it say something about me that I read the dedication on that stone there in a haughty and dismissive tone [i.e. "Hmmph! Yeah, thanks a lot , guy!]?

Jocks on rocks?

Henry in colour? Or... Black and white Henry?

I walk the line. Howrah Bike Path, Howrah. August 2012. Toby's Room by Pat Barker. Revisits the characters of Life Class , the big reveal happens within the first ten pages, and everything else falls out from that. The story happens to also track the emergence of facial re-constructive surgery during World War One, and the role of artists in the process. More interesting that it might sound... B . The Pigeon by Patrick Süskind is an odd little number. Essentially the tale of an existential crisis triggered by the unexpected appearence of a pigeon in a hallway. Very French, despite the fact that it was written by a German. Surprisingly effective. B+ .

Nestled in a cavity halfway up a cliff with a blustery southerly roaring off Antarctica at your back sure is a fine place to be.

Sunrise over Howrah. Seen from Sandy Bay. July 2012. A little late today, but bear with me, I have the flu and stuff to do this morning. Two books finished this week. First up is Bring Larks and Heroes by Australian author Thomas Keneally. I haven’t read a lot of Keneally ( Schindler’s Ark and Gossip in the Forest being the other two), and this book is a good reason to further chastise myself for that fact. It’s a ripper! Stylistically, it’s worlds apart from my assumption of his approach. It brings to mind a more accessible Patrick White, with a keen sense of tragedy without ever weighing down the who enterprise. In it Keneally probably helped kick of an entire re-interpretation of Australian history: that of our past as a penal colony. It’s a brutal but beautiful book. Rich in history and imagery, the tensions in those first few years of colonisation at the remote ends of the Earth resonate with tension. Men vastly outnumber women. The Irish – both convicts and those pres...

Oh to be young and carefree.

NEWSFLASH Handsome hunks stop traffic with dripping wet strut down centre of highway!

It’s the little-known secret to sporting excellence, the art of the tongue !

When having a break from scootering, we like to indulge in our favourite pastime: Theoretical physics .

Well done people! [Consider this an endorsement to your visiting this web page…]

As requested, young Ezra received this Christmas his very own scooter . The skill and dexterity he demonstrated on Henry’s convinced us that he was up to the challenge, although – as you can see below – his knees quickly bore a tale of their very own…

Ezra awaits the arrival of the orcas. You can’t see it in this photo, but just behind those dunes he’s sharpened up the knives and is ready to gut and fillet the colossal crustacean fish whale member of the oceanic dolphin family. Dip ‘em in a bit of olive oil, roll in some fresh rosemary and tarragon, stick ‘em on the grill and serve with a nice summer salad. Bon appétit!

So Christmas is done and dusted for another year. All we have left is to get out in the water, catch us a few fresh Orcinus orcas , fire up the barbie and we’ve got ourselves a traditional Tasmanian New Year Hāngi! Get to it Henry!