This will hurt me...

Kelp gull on wing. Derwent foreshore, Lindisfarne. August 2013. Wordless Wednesday.

Gull. Flowerpot Point, Blackmans Bay. July 2013. 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... Lessons on feminism. New book finds U.S. conduct during the Vietnam War to be much worse than previously understood, where My Lai was “an operation, not an aberration.” The Strange Sexual Quirk of Filipino Seafarers. 25 Hilariously Inaccurate Knock-Off Toys. Political power, said Mao, “grows out of the barrel of a gun.” His fondness for bloodshed should not blind us to the accuracy of his observation… Why Violence Works. Vote Compass is an educational tool developed by a non-profit group of political scientists and hosted by the ABC. Answer a short series of questions to discover how you fit in the Australian political landscape. Election FactCheck is...

Proud Gull. Boat Harbour. April 2013. It is another Theme Thursday and today sees a burst of CREATIVITY and a shot little piece that came to me on the walk to work. I call it Perception . Quiet Jim was the first of the old gang to die. It came as a bit of a shock to get the invite to his funeral on Facebook. There were five in our gang: me; Quiet Jim (he was the quiet one); Loud Jim (he was the loud one); Big Jim (he was the fat one); and Little Jim (he wasn't very little, but he was much smaller than Big Jim). They just called me ‘Mike’. It was a surprise to all of us that Quiet Jim was the first to go. He was so, well, quiet . Loud Jim drank too much, got into fights and generally wasn't a very nice person.Big Jim’s diet was terrible, he smoked like a chimney and the mere thought of exercise could send him into apoplexy. Little Jim (who really wasn't little at all) had a taste for bizarre sexual practices. I’m pretty laid back, but as an avid trainspotter am al...

Gull. Bicheno, Tasmania's East Coast. January 2013. A very special Sunday Top Five today: My Top Five Favourite Words Beginning With The Letter 'Q' As Well As A Sentence That Contains Them All! Quintessential Quean Quiescent Querulous Quixotic The quintessential quean can be quiescent (for a price), querulous (for free), yet oddly quixotic when it comes to Valentine's Day.

Waiting. Howrah Bluff, Howrah. August 2012. We're rapidly approaching the end of Sunday Stealing, so someone find me some new questions QUICKLY! Until then, The End is Near Meme, Part 2 21. Biggest lie that you've ever been told? That people get what they deserve in life. 22. Blondes, brunettes, redheads or bald? Brunettes. Every time. 23. Who do you phone most? Jennifer. 24. What was your first job? Delivering newspapers. 25. What were you doing before Sunday Stealing? A little series that I called " Ads that I like ". I made it up to number 123 before Iput that one on hiatus. 26. If you could get plastic surgery what would it be? I'm not interested in plastic surgery, but if anyone wants to stump up the cash to get laser surgery so that I don't have to bother with these glasses I'd happily do it. It's less about vanity than it is practicality though... 27. Why did you fill out this survey? The pass the time. 28. What do you ...

Stern looking kelp gull. Derwent River Estuary, Lindisfarne. May 2011. It has been said – by people who mustn’t know me at all – that I am by nature a cranky person. Some cruel ne'er-do-well even had the temerity to compare the look on the above kelp gull’s face with mine! Bastards! Leviathan , by George Oppen Truth also is the pursuit of it: Like happiness, and it will not stand. Even the verse begins to eat away In the acid. Pursuit, pursuit; A wind moves a little, Moving in a circle, very cold. How shall we say? In ordinary discourse— We must talk now. I am no longer sure of the words, The clockwork of the world. What is inexplicable Is the ‘preponderance of objects.’ The sky lights Daily with that predominance And we have become the present. We must talk now. Fear Is fear. But we abandon one another.

A Kelp Gull assesses its options. Tessellated Pavement, Eaglehawk Neck. January 2010. As a public servant, might I permit myself to say something? [Ahem] “ Cripes the attitude of most public servants astounds me. ” [Ahem] Thanks for that. I needed the release.

Larus dominicanus is nibbling on something. Opossum Bay, December 2010. Larus dominicanus – A.K.A. the Kelp Gull – is a large black-backed gull with a white tail and a large yellow bill with a red spot on the lower tip. Alas, It is only the second largest (or should that be the first smallest ?) gull in Australia. The wing has a wide trailing edge and a small white 'window' in the wingtip. This is how I tell ‘em apart from the bigger and friskier Pacific Gull. In terms of tucker, the Kelp Gull takes what it can get on both land and water, but rarely in the air. It feeds mainly on fish and crustaceans, but will scavenge when it gets a chance. I understand that they have a predilection for pommes frites , Schwartenmagen and 1945-vintage Chateau Mouton-Rothschild Jeroboam . If it cannot get that dish, it gets anxious. Indeed, Kelp Gulls have been observed feeding on living Southern Right Whales. In desperation, it will plunge its mighty beak to peck down inches into the skin a...