This will hurt me...

Just one way? Princes Street, Sandy Bay. October 2011. The Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and ladies with zebras). 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 history of turning tyrants from figures of fear into figures of fun ... How extreme wealth and absolute poverty have returned to disfigure the West ... The trick to creating healthy boys is not that tricky ... Bit of trouble? Feeling a bit down? The strange and curious history of lobotomy ... Did you know that the Easter Island “heads” have bodies ? Shocking news: social protections like income security and access to essential social services are essential for third world development ... A surprisingly poignant video of video game deaths over the years. On a personal note, it was great to see to see the grisly decapitation from Barbarian II make the cut... On why...

Spotted outside The Shipwright Arms. Coleville Street, Battery Point. November 2011. So I did this Myers-Briggs thing the other day, and it turns out I am a classic INTJ which pegs me at introversion , intuition, thinking and judgment – which is one of the rarest of the sixteen personality types, and accounts for about 1–4% of the population. Window #1, The Shipwright Arms. Coleville Street, Battery Point. November 2011. Quite correctly, INTJs are referred to as Masterminds , one of the four types belonging to the temperament called the Rationals . The Meyer-Briggs Foundation define us INTJs as Have[ing] original minds and great drive for implementing their ideas and achieving their goals. Quickly see patterns in external events and develop long-range explanatory perspectives. When committed, organize a job and carry it through. Skeptical and independent, have high standards of competence and performance – for themselves and others. Window #2, The Shipwright Arms. Coleville Street, Ba...

A touch of blue. Gregory Street, Sandy Bay. September 2011. "Chiggety check yourself befo' yo' wreck yo'self"? What's that mean, exactly?

Clouds seen in the hospital windows. Argyle Street, Hobart. February 2011. Sometimes the best way of looking at something is by looking at something through something else. We often fool ourselves that when we observe something for ourselves, we can achieve some kind of objectivity. Of course, all observation is mediated through the observer. If we consciously choose to observe something through something, we immediately abandon that pretence, and factor in the potential refractive points. We won’t get objectivity, but at least we might get something more contemplative. What that has to do with clouds is anybody’s guess.

There be many a window there. Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart. December 2010. The windows are the eyes of the sole. I think. Do you know who would make a beautiful woman? Boutros Boutros-Ghali. I believe that the name 'Darren' is cursed. Mister Mister. No good. The year is nearly over. Probably for the best.

I sense a pattern. The nouveau riche area of Wapping, Hobart, October 2010. I have already railed before about the gentrification of the areas of what were formally slums here in Hobart. Primarily, these areas were those that previously housed the various destitutes, waifs, beggars, prostitutes and cocktail waitresses that seem to surround working docks . When the work at the docks dry up, all that are left are the slums. Eventually – after a period of mass forgetting – those with the bread to spare force out the toothless grannies left, bulldoze the filth and shift in their high-rise apartments, underground parking and diamond-studded collar wearing Pekinese. What I want to know is, as I suspect, this a universal phenomenon? Dear readers, have your cities experienced similar ‘urban regeneration’? How has is worked out?

Bunkered in bureaucrats at 10 Murray on a chilly Autumn's evening. May, 2010. By and large, people annoy me. As do dogs. Cats can be annoying, but not crocodiles or Great White Sharks. Children annoy me at 2 am if they're screaming, but not if they're sleeping. Is it my fault or theirs?

The fine features of the Hyro building in Hobart. Sunday Top Five Eleven! Today's list is in celebration of Tasmania's epic run chase to defeat Western Australia on Friday, which saw rookie wicketkeeper Brady Jones snare two fours off the last two balls of a four day game, with no wickets to spare. It is only fitting then that today I offer up my Top Five Eleven Favourite Tasmanian Tigers! I've tried to keep a balanced squad, but top be honest, my distaste for the two most famous Tasmanian cricketers - Ricky Ponting and David Boon - has seen me pass them over at the selection table. Similarly, two imports - Michael Beven and Shane Watson - have also been overlooked because, well, I've never liked 'em. Thus, the side is not the strongest batting lineup ever seen. That said, if we have a green top and a bit of cloud in the sky, I'd wager that my pace attack would keep any scores very low. McCracken's Tasmanian Tigers All-Time Squad Jamie Cox : Wynyard's...