This will hurt me...

Shadows. Mayfair Plaza Car Park, Sandy Bay. October 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... Detecting the sea change in men’s feelings for their children. A scary story about the brave new online world, young people and the casual ease with which pictures can get them into trouble ... Tales from 1973 Chile... How did milk help found Western civilization? Mali: no rhythm or reason as militants declare war on music.

Is it art? Mayfair Plaza car park, Sandy Bay. September 2012. Here is a crop of ten questions for today's Q and A chosen from a neat little randomiser that I designed myself... Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? At this point, I’m settling. That said, I generally believe in the things that I have to do on a day-to-day basis. I have no problem speaking my mind if work is not being done properly or I find it ethically or intellectually improper. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy? My gut answer is to blame everyone else (i.e. “because everyone else is wrong!”). I don’t know, probably an inversion of this question might be easier to answer. A lot of people seem to enjoy things that don’t give me much pleasure (i.e. “dining out” or the never-ending parade of new “gizmos and gadgets”). I don’t know. I just like a nice beach, a bit of peace and quiet and something interesting to read. How old would you ...

Sunshine came softly though my window today... Magnet Court, as seen from Mayfair Plaza car park. September 2012. Sunday Stealing is closing down, it seems, which means that I'll need to find a new source for these questions! Until then, here is The End is Near Meme, Part 1 1. Ever been given or received an engagement ring? Despite the fact that I am married, I have not experienced either honour. 2. Longest relationship? It’s going strong at eleven ( 11! ) years now. 3. Last gift you received? I got a comfortable jacket for Father’s Day. As well as an Essendon FC bookmark. 4. Ever dropped a mobile phone? LOADS of times. 5. When's the last time you worked out? I’ve cut back on my non-habitual exercise of late. I walk everywhere, we do a bit of swimming and a lot of my ‘relaxation’ involves trekking somewhere or other and often involves carrying a reasonable heavy child, so the excess workouts aren’t really necessary. 6. Thing(s) you spend a lot of money on? ...

Listen up! Mayfair Plaza car park, Sandy Bay. September 2012. Wordless Wednesday.

Self portrait. Mayfair Plaza Car Park, Sandy Bay. September 2012. Theme Thursday ? TEMPTATION? Don't TEMPT me!

Yum! Mayfair Plaza Car Park, Sandy Bay. December 2011. Three books this week, all quite good. First up is the brand new one from Toni Morrison, Home . Set in the 1950s, Home follows the return of a black Korean War veteran who has recently left the newly desegregated army. The country he returns to is no Leave It To Beaver idyll though, it’s one inhabited by damaged people, racial tension and power imbalances (inequities of race, gender and class). At 81, I suspect that Morrison’s best days (skill-wise) are behind her. This reads like a – admittedly quite good – imitation of her best novels. It compresses many recurrent themes of memory, love and loss, uprooting and homecoming. The text flows in jazzy rhythms, but the narrative moves a little too quickly to my mind. This is not a bad read by any stretch, but I have to admit that is not one of her stronger works. If you’re looking for something quick that will give you a taste of her work, this is not a bad starting point. I’...

I’m not aware of any such services in the building! Mayfair Plaza car park, Sandy Bay. December 2011. Three books finished this week, a Russian, Hungarian and American walked into a bar authors all represented. First up is A Russian Affair by Anton Chekhov, a collection of five short stories all about love. Writing in the nineteenth century, Chekhov has a reputation for mastery of the short story form, so I was really looking forward to reading it. As a collection, A Russian Affair gives us a fair insight into Chekhov’s style, which has aged remarkably well and combines both an ease to with real emotional depth. Obviously, it represents a small sample of what Chekhov has to offer, but if you’re after a taste of his work, you could do far worse than this exploration of the emotional complexities of love. Recommended, especially if you are keen on quality short fiction. Second up is Detective Story by Hungarian Nobel Laureate (and author of one of my favourite books , Fatel...

All disabled people must climb up unaided... Mayfair Plaza Car Park, Sandy Bay. February 2012. Sunday oh Sunday. I need a top five, and I need it fast! Okay, how about this Prospective Major Transit Points On An Itinerary For A Trip If I Had The Cash Tomorrow ? St. Petersburg , the city of three revolutions! A.K.A. Petrograd and Leningrad . Helsinki , it's Finland , dude! Tallinn , home of one of the best preserved old town centres in the world. Riga , former playground of Peter the Great. Kaliningrad , the artist formally known as Königsberg .

Tuesday Q and A and I am back to stealing questions from Sunday Stealing . This week I am stealing The Never Ending Meme, Part One . 1. Song that always makes you sad? R.E.M.’s Try Not To Breathe . 2. Last thing you bought? A wheelbarrow. Unassembled. 3. Last person you argued with? Ezra. He’s a particularly argumentative chap. 4. Do you put butter before putting the peanut butter on? I’d shoot myself in the head before putting peanut butter on. 5. One of your stuffed animals’ names as a kid? I honestly can’t remember. This saddens me. 6. Did you ever at one time own a Barenaked Ladies CD? Barenaked Ladies? They had a song in Shrek , didn’t they? If they did, that’s about all the Barenaked Ladies facts I have. If they didn’t, I know even less about the Barenaked Ladies than I thought. If you’re talking about bare-naked ladies, I might get interested… 7. Favourite day of the week? Monday. 8. Favourite sundae topping? Fresh raspberries. 9. Did you take piano lessons? No I did not take ...

Where she leads nobody knows. Mayfair Plaza Car Park, Sandy Bay. January 2012. Sunday means Sunday Top Five, which means cobbling together some kind of list. Hmmmm. I've got it! The Top Five Bowlers I've Seen Play Cricket To Be In My Side I Was Picking A Squad To Play A Test Against A Team Of Robots Programmed To Play Cricket Really Very Well! [In Batting Order.] Richard Hadlee Imran Khan Shane Warne Malcolm Marshall Curtley Ambrose Just missing the cut were Joel Garner, Glen McGrath, Wasim Akram, Michael Holding and Dennis Lillee. Backup spinners included Anil Kumble, Saqlain Mushtaq, Daniel Vettori and the bolter in Funky Miller. I can't bring myself to include Harbijhan Singh and Muttiah Muralitharan has been deemed ineligible. This line up gives the batting some depth, and whenever you have Imran as your workhorse, you know you've got a good attack.

No way out? Mayfair Plaza car park, Sandy Bay. November 2011. Sunday Top Five day already? Okay, okay. Ummm. A quick flick over to analytics and I've come up with The Top Five Countries That Stop By And Pay A Visit To This Here Blog That I Have Chosen To Title This Will Hurt Me... ! A surprise to me is the prevalence of the denizens of the Dominion of Canada . When not hunting moose or harassing polar bears, it seems that the Canuks are clicking on Hank and Ez! Less surprising with a strong fourth place are the gut volk of die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ! Alles klar everybody! Just pipping the canny Krauts are the proud citizens of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . It what must be said is a pretty poor showing from the poms. Lift your game chaps! In something of a shock, those of us here in the Commonwealth of Australia have been beaten out to second place. What is more, it wasn't even close. At less than half the hits of the runaway winner, t...

I'm not sure how to pronounce that. Mayfair Plaza car park, Sandy Bay. October 2011. The Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and ladies with zebras). The following are some things that I've had a look at in the last few week. I call this: a Compendium of Click-throughs for Monday Morning ... Why women's education in Tanzania is critical for slowing population growth ... Christopher Hitchens on why Muammar Qaddafi should not have been killed ... Feeling manipulated? Anxious about your looks? Tune out the hype and learn to love your body Read about New York's attempt to reinvent an inner-city school . You may have noted that the world's population is expected to hit seven billion in the next few weeks. After growing very slowly for most of human history, the number of people on Earth has more than doubled in the last 50 years. Where do you fit in? Henry and Ezra will be fine now I know that Joking and pretending ...

Roll up roll up roll up! The greatest show on Earth right here underneath the big top! Mayfair Plaza, Sandy Bay. July 2011. No, nothing at all like a circus. Actually, it really is a whole lot of phone calls, submissions, questions and (occasionally) answers. It almost makes one feel like a clown.