This will hurt me...

Ezra and I enjoyed a light little jaunt rowing around Kangaroo Bay at the recent Seafarer's Festival down in Bellerive. Henry politely declined.

Henry's hundred metre splits have been reasonably good since the carnival, but he has a tendency to not lift his knees high enough when he hits the seventy-ninth/ eightieth rep. I'm finding that the electric shock do encourage him, but he's developing a bit of a nervous twitch that I think might impinge upon his reaction times upon starting. We must find a new 'rehabilitation' technique...

Grapefruit in the bay. Kangaroo Bay, Bellerive. February 2012. Each Watery Wednesday must feature all sorts of flotsam and jetsam. I am not sure whether today's grapefruit constitutes flotsam or jetsam . The romantic in me would like to think that it was an intriguing bit of flotsam , making it all the way to Bellerive via the great Southern Ocean current after a Chilean fruit tender struck a rogue squid or something or other. It is of course more likely to be jetsam , cast aside by some foolish rapscallion as part of some sophomoric prank. BAH! [Of course, maritime law seems flotsam as floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo . Conversely, jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposefully cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore .]

Ezra takes aim at cars flying Australian flags. At present, he has three. We're aiming for at least ten by Australia day...

Ezra tempts fate. Bellerive Wharf, Bellerive. January 2012. The Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and daggering.) 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 ... YouTube is taking over the world! Don't say "man yoghurt" in my house... Anti-establishment Berlin football club sells its soul [to its fans]... Traps shut, kiddies! You've never had it so good ...

One thing that you can say about the bloke: he puts on a hell of a show!

Blue. Kangaroo Bay, Bellerive. February 2011. Another week, another few books. This week I have a bigger one and a littler one. Let’s start with the little one, shall we? Although Alan Bennett is better associated with the world of theatre, he has ventured into TV, radio and literature. In The Clothes They Stood Up In , he brings his attention to detail and illustration of contemporary life through the eyes of Mrs. Ransome's, a seemingly dreary figure left behind by modern society. The central premise of the book – suddenly all the worldly possessions of a suburban couple are removed from their flat – allows the author the leeway to create an atmosphere of stilted repression in which one character, gradually, is able to discover the world’s ability to delight her, even arouse her. It’s a surprisingly dark piece, and tackles one of my favourite topics: stuff and its capacity to blunt our senses. All up it is a fantastic book, and – even better – will only take you a few hours to kn...