This will hurt me...

Stunned by the audaciousness of my rook-work, Henry is for once lost for words. It is a hard lesson for a nineteen-month old, but the lad needs to know that if the rook gobbles up all of his prawns, the horsey can do nothing at all the help the king. Unfortunately the little bloke is the chess version of John McEnroe. A very unsavoury business, the police were called but the capsicum spray was not needed.

For your entertainments, here is the new video clip for the song "Pork and Beans" by the popular music combo, Weezer. For mine, they make they have been making the most interesting video clips for the past 14 years, and this one is no different. Whether it is reconstructing Happy Days on "Buddy Holly" , man/monkey love in "Island in the Sun" , or resurrecting the Muppets in "Keep Fishin'" , they can always be counted on to deliver something worthwhile. Here, they delve into another of my interests, teh internets! Here, the band offer their homage to some of the famous internet memes, and I quite like it.

Mawson Place, in the CBD by the waterfront. At night. Final report finished. Must sleep now.

I think that I can probably just let this poster from a 1940 public health campaign speak for itself. Suffice to say that any bloke that lets his old feller anywhere near her is asking for everything he gets. "Bag of trouble" does not seem to be the half of it!

Here is a picture taken this morning looking over Kings Pier Marina , which is a lovely spot to stretch your legs at lunchtime. I took this shot of some of the more modern boats through the rigging of one of the many old brigs that operate around Hobart for most of the year. Now, if I was into the full wankery around art, I would say something along the lines of: With this image, I was endeavouring to explore the concurrence of old and new, of sail and motor. Through this, the viewer will inexorably ruminate upon the fragility of time and the unceasing march of progress. Now, although I am fluent in such wankery, I will choose to tell you the real reason that it looks like this: There were a lot of boats in this morning. It was hard to get a clear shot without walking all the way to the end of the pier, and I had to get to work. Not nearly as romantic, but it is, sadly, the truth of the matter.

A quick thought/confession/question. Is it wrong to think less of a complete stranger just because they – a young and fit looking fellow – order a “skinny soy latte” each morning? I cannot seem to help but shake my head and think “What sort of man are you? You should be embarrassed”. Actually scratch that, I know that it is wrong. Yet I still do. I think that I need help.

If you think that you have the key to unlock that title, please send the answer on a postcard (or maybe just leave it in the comments). Now I hope that the title of this post will strain your brain more than the challenge of guessing the subject of today's photo. Regular readers should pick it with no trouble! For the answer, please refer to here and here . I have been pushed writing up the final report for the project that I am finishing up, and will endevour to post something more substantial soon! I got the new job I may have mentioned, which is good, because Henry will have food to eat well into the future. Vive Henry! Vive le nouvel emploi! Vive la nourriture dans l'ensemble de nos ventres!

No, I am not going to use one of those horrid icons that you used to see on every second web page in the mid-1990s. However, some of you may have noticed that I have been messing around with the format of the blog this morning. I expect to have a far niftier header up and running this evening, so consider this one a temporary one until I can get my hands on some better software.

I think that this cartoon is funny. In fact, I think that most of the cartoons on the Married to the Sea website are funny. You know, they don't call it the "champagne of comics" for no reason!

Here are some fine representatives of the Hobart City Council that you regularly see down at Salamanca on weekday mornings. Council workers are wonderful. Hard working, polite, and handsome, they truly are magnificent! Now, after having a dig at French rail workers and Australian teachers in the past few days, I have not let the fact that my father-in-law happens to be a council worker influence this commentary in any way, shape or form. For the most part, council workers are fine upstanding citizens... ...until they get a sniff of the compo, that it. :)

Today’s ad is another one that all of you ladies out there should readily identify with. Ask yourself, do you ever feel flat ? Tired ? Worn-out ? Are you ever so exhausted that not even an invite to The Smiths can pep you up (Morrissey must have forgiven Mike Joyce if they’re gigging again!)? Did you used to be a lot of fun, but now your friends think that you are kind of a drag to be around? Are things not right at home? Are you turning into a peevish old woman ? This ad raises an important and timely issue, one that sadly even affects my own household. Despite my distinguished record as a husband and Jen's generally solid marks on the Crane marital scale , my wife always complains that she is tired. She thinks that maybe it is something to do with looking after a lively and demanding toddler all day long while being 28 weeks pregnant, but I am not so sure. That just seems too complex a reason. I have been wracking my brains looking for an answer and - to be frank with you dear

I have had an extraordinarily busy day today, so I've had to dig into the grab bag of pictures and fished out this summer shot of a creature slowly moving across our backyard. Somehow Jen conjured up this varmint out of a couple of balls of wool. Unfortunately, she'll have to be punished for such witchcraft. UPDATE If you have clicked on the comments, you will note that Jen has posted a link to the pattern for this turtle. I thought that it might be best to bring this into the post itself. So, as my lovely and talented wife has pointed out, anyone interested in knitting their own turtle can find the free pattern here !

Here is the view looking up towards Mount Wellington from the bottom of the overpass next to Lindisfarne North Primary School . This will be the school that I will be more than happy to send Henry and the next one (and the new baby, it will be coming online in early-August). Close by, nice size, friendly, no toffs in ties and blazers. Now, after the fallout from my commentary on the French Rail unions yesterday, I certainly won't be drawn on offering my opinion on the recent offerings of the Australian Education Union and their ever-increasing demands. The letters faxed in from the SNCF legal team were very interesting and made me think twice about public comment on this thorny issue. (To the SNCF lawyers: je mai reconsidérer mon avis indiqué si vous pouvez brancher sur moi la sauce que vous avez de chemin de fer en cours!) Thus, I have decided to hold my tongue and grab a famous quote from Albert Shanker, the former President of the American Federation of Teachers: "When sch

A lazy link for you all today, particularly history buffs. I like the concept, and the execution is pretty cool too. For the uninitiated, a reportret is a reconstructed portrait. As the site says: In many cases a contemporary image of a specific personality from world history is not on hand. In order to still form a clear picture of those personages affected, Reportret was set up as a gallery of reconstructed portraits: without anachronisms, respecting contemporary style, and based on historical sources. Read more about it here , and make sure that you have a browse around their gallery, it is well worth the effort!