This will hurt me...

Pretty little flower blossom. Natone Street, Lindisfarne. September 2013. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls , David Sedaris: A new book! That's a rare thing these days. Like the one I reviewed last week, this is a hit and miss collection of essays and anecdotes with enough of a light touch to keep things ticking along. Worth a look. B- . Two Views , Uwe Johnson: A book very much of its time, this novel is essentially about the divisiveness of East and West Germany. The tale of two lovers (acquaintances would perhaps be closer to the mark), what the reader faces is an immense accumulation of detail to build the two "views" while two people endeavour to reach each other. The politics remains in the background, but remains a ubiquitous presence. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed reading this, but can recognise the skill. C+ . The Handmaid's Tale , Margaret Atwood: This is not the first time I've read this, but I'm not sure that I find myse...

Beautiful blossoms!

A tiger snake's-eye view of cranky Hanky and co down Eaglehawk Neck way... Watch out Henry!

Blossoms in bloom. St Johns Park, New Town. October 2010. As Friday Book Club rolls around, and I’m nearly done with Nobel Prize winning Hungarian Imre Kertész’s exploration of life in a concentration camp Fatelessness . Nearly isn’t enough though, so we’ll save that for next week. No, the book under discussion today is Former Cold Chisel keyboardist and songwriter Don Walker's first book, Shots . In clipped prose, Walker conjures up an autobiography quite unlike the norm. More a series of snapshots with a chronological thread, it traces his early life in rural Australia to his time in the Australian music scene. Life in the bush, a crack at uni, boredom in the public service and a struggling muso stuck in Lodi Adelaide. The gap – much to the dismay of some readers – is the period of success. I’m happy to take Walker’s word that we’d be bored by that. That said, there’s enough wild times on the road, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll and hard-living Kings Cross if that’s what you are af...

I don't know what kind of tree this is, perhaps someone could enlighten me. Whatever it is, it reminds me of AC/DC. Which leads me to today's Sunday Top Five: the Top Five AC/DC Songs That Remind Me Of The Tree Above! 5: Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution 4: Jailbreak 3: Can I Sit Next To You Girl? 2: Whole Lotta Rosie 1: For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

This should give you an idea of where we are at, seasons-wise.

A grey old day in Hobart today, but it is anything but grey in my heart! I thought after yesterday’s tale of poor parenting and the outrage that it prompted, I’d best switch on the positive vibe and look on the bright side of life. In order to do that, I felt it appropriate to post some lovely blossoms that I photographed right next to the bus stop this morning Congratulations are in order for Paul Krugman, on his receipt of the Nobel Prize for Economics. Krugman will be a familiar name to many – even those not interested in the dismal science , but I will forever remember him for helping convince me of the positives that can emerge from the on the liberalisation of trade, and more generally to the multiplicity of impacts related to the globalisation of capital. His work on Mexico and the Philippines in the mid-1990s, in particular, helped me broaden my outlook considerably and helped lead to the reconstruction of a lad who at that point was a wholly unreconstructed social democrat ...

So here we are, springtime in Tasmania again. Spring has truly sprung folks. The lambs are out and frolicking. The cockatoos are boisterous of a morning. The magpies are swooping the early morning dog walkers. The lads on the bus are nervously switching off their i-pods and trying to talk to the girls. The wallabies have turned feral and have taken to attacking poorly monikered children. Footballers whose teams have missed the finals are turning up somewhat under the weather in nightdresses with foolishly large phalluses attached to them. Ahh Spring! Glorious Spring ! It’s a fine time of year to be alive.