This will hurt me...

I have no idea what this car is trying to say. I assume that it is some allusion to police corruption of some kind, but I don't really get it. I imagine that it is very very funny if you understand it, but I don't understand it. Another thing I don't understand is why the header on this blog is playing up. Rest assured that I am on the case and hope to have it sorted ASAP.

As this blog has demonstrated over the past 1,607 posts, Hobart is home to a lot of boats. What I have not stressed is the propensity for the owners of many – if not a majority – of those boats to pick a terrible pun as a name for their boats. Believe it or not, Concerto in Sea [pictured above] is indeed one of the wittier examples to be found in our many marinas and boatsheds around town. Just as in naming a child, the pressure of picking a moniker that will be able to weather the tests of time, trends and mean-spirited individuals is immense. I would like to think that I’ve performed well thus far with the world-renowned Henry and Ezra [with the added pressure of the pun tastic surname of Mc Crack en], and thus would flourish if faced with the challenge of a virgin ketch trembling in anticipation at the prospect of a lick of paint and a dignified name. That said, today I face a new kind of anxiety, Theme Thursday pressure! The Powers That Be have decided – in their infinite ...

I have been dismayed to read much of the comment around the Commonwealth’s plan to raise taxation on ‘alcopops’ in an effort to curb the risks associated with binge drinking. While there should be no surprise that the opposition have rubbished it and alcohol industry groups are unhappy , the general critiques that I've seen are very poor. As ever, of the commentaries, the Herald Sun leads the way in outrage . One that really got me riled up (enough to post about it here), was a piece in Crikey titled ‘ Voodoo tax policy on alcopops ’. In it, Bernard Keane speaks of ‘handwringers’ and ‘wowsers’ with a set against kids having fun. He claims that “we’ve still yet to see any evidence that binge drinking is now any worse than in the past”, and makes particular note that the tax ‘attacks’ young women unequally. In not sure where he has been looking, but a quick note of the stats around alcohol-related hospital admissions, alcohol-related family incidents (mostly domestic violence), al...

Ronald Reagan certainly knew how to keep friends and family happy. It's this sort of generosity of spirit that got him to the presidency. I especially like the notion of a happy "Christmas Card" carton. There would be nothing nicer than kick back on Christmas morning, cracking open Ronnie's present, and smoking up a storm while watching the kids frolic about on their new bikes. Good times!

Richard Bach, Johnathan Livingston Seagull Look at the seagull pictured above. Look into his eyes. Isn't he nice? He is a nice seagull. The other seagulls do not understand him. They do not try to understand him. Yet he loves them nonetheless. There you go, no need to read it now. Thank god this only took half an hour to read. For some reason this book appeals (once appealed?) to many, many people. I'd not read it before, but have long been aware of its reputation (although it has always been in association with Neil Diamond). I was after a quick read to break up my Richard Ford trilogy, so finally got around to reading it. I honestly can't say that I regret doing so, even if I find the writing simplistic to the point of irritation, the narrative trite and self-satisfied, and the subject matter overwhelmingly banal. By god the late-1960s counterculture must have taken a turn for the worse if millions embraced this in the 1970s. Honestly, if anyone is looking for the embodim...

Saw this story on Reuters this morning, and found it both depressing and amusing. It concerns the banning of the famous Cranach painting of Venus from a poster promoting an upcoming Royal Academy exhibition. It has been determined that the image is too risqué for the sensitivities of London's commuters. Aesthetically, I've never been a particular fan of Cranach's nudes (they all look like they are short of a good feed, to be honest with you), but what nonsense! How many school kids would visit the top art galleries of the world? Should we censor every Ruebens and Tintoretto because it might damage one of the sensitive dears? Or are they catering to the gender or religious sensibilities of whomever? Surely the 500 year old work of a master is no more offensive than some of the pseudo-paedophilic titillations of the ilk of Calvin Klein or some other underpants/perfume/home loan ad? It appears that the Royal Academy had the choice of placing black strips over Venus's naug...

By christ some people are stupid. Just had to get that off my chest.