This will hurt me...

Ball in focus. Casino as seen from Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay. Theme Thursday again and I'm being asked 'WHAT'S COOKING?'! "WHAT'S COOKING?", I ask myself. WHAT'S COOKING? indeed! Mischievousness, that's what! Casino in focus. Casino as seen from Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay.

Fellas. FELLAS! Mecca's the other way fellas.

Metal plus seaside equals corrosion. Little Howrah Beach, October 2011. I've warned Ezra about jumping up and down too vigorously on corroded man personholes, utilising the tried an true 'fear' approach (i.e. there are crocodiles locked up in there). As long time readers will intimately know, I have been a passionate and enthusiastic supporter of manhole protection for many years now.

It's raining again. Princes Street, Sandy Bay. October 2011. Yes, we know that that Internet is a wonderful place filled with all the rich and varied treasures that the world holds (as well a videos of fellows and horses in uncomfortable poses). 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 ... The ever-reliable Ben Goldacre explains why so much of what is reported in the mainstream media on "science" is rubbish ... A website full of pictures of women looking dissatisfied in bed ... A listening party from NPR with three members of Wilco to discuss their (magnificent) new album... A fantastic article on my favourite vegetable from the Smithsonian magazine, How the Potato Changed the World ... Four charts that explain what Wall Street protesters are angry about ... A great interview from The Guardian with Jarvis Cocker about the state of music today. I agree with his comment,...

It's all about your perspective. Marieville Esplanade looking up Napoleon Street, the Sandy Bay/Battery Point border. July 2011. I always think that if you find yourself out and about armed with a camera and don't come home with dirty knees, you haven't done all that you can do in pursuit of a halfway decent photograph. Granted, the older I get the more difficult it is to get back up without straining some muscle somewhere or dislocating a kneecap, but are we not supposed to suffer for our art? Now I'm not talking about nailing one's old fellow to a two by four or self flagellation atop a canvas. I just mean get down in the dirt and check out those parallel lines. Tired of another photo of the clouds? Try it lying flat on your back. You might be surprised at what you see if you mix you angles up a bit.

Jennifer's legs. Clifton Beach, June 2011. I really really REALLY love this poem. It captures pretty much perfectly my feelings. I'd like to think that in the heart of all men in love lurks a Viking berserker... Your Hair of Snakes and Flowers , Håkan Sandell Hakan Sandell When I saw one of those men touch your hair, I heard for the first time in many a year the ancient battle trumpets and I saw the banners of an army winding off to war and felt that blind power urging me to knock him out with one punch, send him tumbling to the floor. If nobody had held me back, stopped me, I would—God help me—have killed him on the spot, stomped out his blood, and spit in it. I'm sorry, but you must be aware your winding hair is different now, a hornets' nest, a snakes' lair! Yes, like a ball of snakes in a flower basket, dear.

Watch out on those cliffs. Clifton Beach. June 2011. Sometimes I would like noting more than to sit out on these cliffs (out of the wind), and just watch the sea. For hours and hours and hours and hours. I don't think that there is anything dishonourable in running away from the world to live the life at sea for a time.

It's all happening on the down low. Clifton Beach, June 2011. I've long held to the maxim that the gutter is the best place to be, as the view of the stars is simply unparalleled .

It can be nice to experiment with the camera every now and then. Angle of shot, depth of field, mixing up temperatures, depth of focus, exposure times, f-stop fiddling, shutter speeds, perspective distortion, messing with the metering mode and so on. Yet when one’s two key subjects are a little on the energetic side, shutter speed is about the best we can hope for. That’s where marshmallows come in. It appears that the humble blend of sugar, water and gelatine is the prospective solution to impatient models. Who knew?

Can you believe it? They can DANCE ! Home, Geilston Bay. November 2010. Four books this week, and all good ‘uns! The first is a short novel –perhaps better known as a film – from a master of Czech literature Bohumil Hrabal Closely Observed Trains . Set in [then German-occupied] Czechoslovakia in 1945, the war is turning against the Germans and the presence of the Red Army looms not too far away. The story focuses on the life of one train controller, who has just be released back to work after an unsuccessful suicide attempt in the wake of a little premature ejaculation-incident. So straightforward then. The ever-approaching war soon means that the morning trains arrive at noon, the noon trains in the evening, and the evening trains during the night, so that now and then it might happen that an afternoon train came in punctual to the minute, according to the timetable, but only because it was the morning passenger train running four hours late. For such a short novel, Hrabal crams in a ...

Focusing on the boats. Geilston Bay, October 2010 Theme Thursday rolls around again and today it is all about perspective. It is amazing how differently things look when one shifts one’s perspective, even to a minute degree. The problem is (of course), that many people appear to operate in patterns assumed over time, or from memory, not taking the time to alter one’s perspective and consider things from a different angle. Take yesterday evening’s photograph . An artist at work recording an artist at work (recording an artist at work recording an artist at work recording an artist at work ad infinitum ). The photo is not merely a record of a memory. Nor is it a statement of artistic intent. No, it is best considered as an indicator of a CONSANGUINEOUS marker. A genetic predisposition hitherto overlooked or ignored. Dangerous? Might I be creating a monster ? Focusing on the goalposts. Geilston Bay, October 2010