This will hurt me...

It's a rock and roll damnation!

An erosional feature in a flat sedimentary rock formation. Bellerive, December 2012. Entering Germany: 1944-1949 , Tony Vaccaro: A G.I. took his camera with him into Germany and photographed five months of war and five years of occupational peace. Stark photos and keenly observed text. Stunning. A . Wartime Lies , Louis Begley: An austere recount of a childhood spent by a Jewish boy during the Nazi occupation. A measured, deliberately cold tone throughout results in an emotionally flat narrative that is out of kilter with the content. I really enjoyed this (as much as you can 'enjoy' a Holocaust memoir. The key point around the costs of physically surviving to the psyche of a child is profound. A- . Poo: A Natural History of the Unmentionable , Nicola Davies: C'mon! Everything you ever wanted to know about faeces! Fascinating. A . Conference-Ville , Frank Moorhouse: A slice of life among the Australian academic and political amidst the turmoil of the Whitlam dis...

Patterns in the sandstone. Goat Bluff, South Arm Peninsula. January 2012. The Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and videos of fat people falling over.) 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 ... The disappointment that has been Barack Obama may well be genetic ... The Economist explores how blogs have become the vanguard of the argumentative economist ... As a former addict, I need no convincing as to the tale of how Tetris became the world's favourite computer game ... Still no cure for cancer. However, scientists tickle animals to find the secret of laughter .... How about the link between money and happiness ? Remember the good old days? You mean the time when we used to display people in zoos as little better than animals? What's going on in Russia right now? Good question....

Not the most comfortable place you will ever find yourself sunbathing. Excellent skipping stone fodder, however.

The wave comes in on the southern side of Clifton Beach. Clifton Beach. November 2011. Me: Guess what? You: What? Me: Today I am embracing a new meme. You: Embracing a new meme you say...? Me: Yes, a new meme! You: What kind of meme is it? Me: Well, it is a new meme that will let me showcase a photograph in new and innovative ways. You: Does it involve furries dressed up like My Little Ponies? Me: No, it's Watery Wednesday , an exciting new opportunity for me to feature a photograph that focuses on water or a water-themed subject each wee! You: ... Me: Hey, where are you going? What's wrong? You: ... ... ... ...

Ezra and some of his favourites from his rock collection....

Rock on. Blinking Billy Beach, Sandy Bay. May 2011. I will confess that part of me admires the tenacity of people who ring an incorrect telephone number, and insist that it is in fact the correct number. That is, the fact that you are not (for example) Dave's Mowing Service is not their fault, it is YOURS. Indeed, the fact that you are not Dave, you have never been Dave, nor do you mow lawns as a matter of business bothers them not a jot, the simple insistence that you ARE because the number that they've dialled IS will somehow magically transform you, your phone number and Statewide and Mental Health Services with it - through sheer force of will and belief - into Dave's Mowing Service. I wish that I had that kind of belief. It'd almost make you think that the world was a halfway decent place...

Is it a beach or a quarry? Not quite golden sands down at Blinking Billy Beach...