This will hurt me...

Henry at work. Geilston Bay. September 2013. The Winter Queen , Boris Akunin: A story of murder, suicide, deception and disguise that hurtles through pre-revolutionary Tsarist Russia. Crafted with care, Akunin weaves some beautiful expression and a series of exotic historical settings - primarily Moscow, Saint Petersburg and a quick jaunt to the seedier side of London in the mid-1870s - together with a wonderful series of well developed characters that really does feel like Tolstoy tackling a murder mystery. I loved it. A .

North from the casino. Sandy Bay, Hobart. June 2012. Wordless Wednesday.

Hen and Jen search for treasure. Little Howrah Beach. March 2012. The Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (as well as a refuge for many, many sad and lonely people.) 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.. Let's start with one that gets me fired up. On the topic of the current trend of middle class entitlement here in Australia, it is no very clear that current funding policies of Australian schools aggravate the widening social gap in achievement . Grants to non-government schools encourage social selectivity and policies promoting 'choice' lead parents with cultural and financial advantage to pool their resources in schools of choice, both public and private. The key point is of course, that the winners of our education system are the best off and the losers are the worst off, and that dynamic is self-reinforcing...

Circle and lines. East Derwent Highway, Lindisfarne. April 2012. Another Tuesday Q and A courtesy of Sunday Stealing. It's a bit of a shake-up this week, less 'Q and A' and more 'complete the sentence' really. Thus, I present to you The Semi Charmed Meme, Part One 1. My uncle once: got my father imprisoned for the weekend. 2. Never in my life: have I insincerely professed love. 3. When I was five: I am sure that I was naughtier than my boy Henry. 4. High School was: not something that enjoyed in the slightest. 5. I will never forget: that the important things in life cannot be bought and sold. 6. I once met: someone with an odious personality. It didn’t end well. 7. There’s this girl I know who: must have the patience of a saint. 8. Once, at a bar: I took a punt and then everything in my life changed. 9. By noon, I’m usually: ready for either a) my run; or b) a nap. 10. Last night: was like most other nights. 11. If only I had: been a little ...

I do love the late afternoon light that occurs at the tail end of the daylight savings period. At the very least, I prefer it to the darkness that descends at 4 pm these days.

Crabs = 3 Ezra = 1

Jen and Hen take an evening stroll. Geilston Bay High School, Geilston Bay. November 2011. rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit  rabbit rabbit rabbit  rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit   rabbit  rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit  rabbit rabbit  rabbit rabbit  rabbit  rabbit  rabbit  rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit  rabbit rabbit  rabbit rabbit rabbit   rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit  rabbit  rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit ...

Afternoon sun over Geilston Bay (as seen through a gum). East Derwent Highway, Geilston Bay. October 2010. I think that I forgot to post. Oops. Can you tell that I've been busy?

Dudes catching the mega waves one Sunday morning. Clifton Beach, September 2010. Things I'd rather be doing rather than be at work #2,234,231: ripping gnarly phat breakers on one of Tasmanian's millions of handy beaches. Pregnant dude in the middle looks to be a little perturbed. Clifton Beach, September 2010.

Waiting for the bus, part 12,397. Campbell Street, Hobart. August 2010. Want a list? This comes to mind: Five Feelings Other Than Joy, Love And Happiness That Come With Having Children (That They Don't Often Talk About)! Frustration Anger Resentment Exhaustion Ennui

Two of my lovelies, one of them grumpy, which is which?

Self-portrait with Ezra in the late afternoon. Bellerive, March 2010. I can't deny it, both my sons and I have very long legs . The late afternoon autumn sun demonstrates this most effectively. For The Foxes , Charles Bukowski don't feel sorry for me. I am a competent, satisfied human being. be sorry for the others who fidget complain who constantly rearrange their lives like furniture. juggling mates and attitudes their confusion is constant and it will touch whoever they deal with. beware of them: one of their key words is "love." and beware those who only take instructions from their God for they have failed completely to live their own lives. don't feel sorry for me because I am alone for even at the most terrible moments humor is my companion. I am a dog walking backwards I am a broken banjo I am a telephone wire strung up in Toledo, Ohio I am a man eating a meal this night in the month of September. put your sympathy aside. they say water held up Christ: to ...

Again, Ez exhibits a 1970s vibe with the fat love beads and amber autumn light.

The sun always shines on TV Bellerive. April, 2010. Word was passed on to me the other day concerning a disturbing event that confronted crafty knitter, sometime blogger and erstwhile commenter Blackie in the middle of the night. Awoken by a rustling sound, Ms Blackie assumed that the culprit must surely be a roaming dirt magnet . However, a brief spot of reconnoitring revealed the true malefactor was not of the toddle genus, it was in fact a plain old Mus musculus exploring some half finished knitting. Now, it is not my business to get into the rights or wrongs of musophobia, nor have I any knowledge of whether or not a Gertrude of Nivelles appeared in the guise of a strapping young man. What I can say, however, is that in the middle of the night I'd rather find a mouse explore my half-completed shrug still on the round (in a Continental fashion) than a tattoo-d escaped convict doing a poo in my handbag!

Ez here, in this light, kind of reminds me of Marlon Brando as Kurtz right at the end of Apocalypse Now . Except, you know, not all deranged and plunged into a violent descent into madness and all that...

Afternoon sunlight piercing through the trees always makes for an arresting photograph. Ezra took this one from our front door step. I am now scouting out a new camera to replace the dearly departed one. Any suggestions?

The clock tower at Hobart's General Post Office bathed in nice winter afternoon sunlight. We've had too little of this lately, as it's mainly been raining. Time for the Sunday Top Five! Today I am revisiting my Top Five Ever Karaoke Performances Total Eclipse of the Heart : for the amateur vocalist, the sheer overwrought emotion of Bonnie Tyler's raspy voiced paean to wandering lovers the world over is a good song for the confident (or inebriated) to belt out. Come on Eileen : a rousing, jaunty little number that harks back to the music hall. The chanting bit in the middle can rescue strugglers. The fact that there are not many words also helps. Sexual Healing : easily the most challenging of the bunch, as not many are blessed with the pipes of Marvyn Gaye. That said, the degree of difficulty makes it a triumph if pulled off, especially if the intent is to send a [ahem] message to any ladies in the audience. Suspicious Minds : you can't have Karaoke with an Elvis t...

I've featured a lot of pictures looking north on Elizabeth Street, but from memory this is one of the few taken looking south. This was taken on Thursday, at around 4:30 pm, as I am grumpy waiting for the 4:20 express. Sunday Top Five! A wisp of melancholy and an intense feeling of being old accompanied my oversight of a "best singles on the past decade" list online yesterday evening. More precisely, I either failed to recognise, or flippantly dismissed most of the entries. You see, my formative musical years happened some time prior to the year 2000. Thus, today's list. In chronological order, I present to you My Five Favourite Record Albums of the 1990s ! U2: Achtung Baby R.E.M.: Automatic for the People Pulp: Different Class Radiohead: OK Computer Wilco: Summerteeth Just missing the cut were a long list, culled to a very short list that included: Manic Street Preachers' The Holy Bible ; Portishead's Dummy ; Guided by Voices' Alien Lanes ; Pavement...

It's early doors yet, but Ez has already had a few offers from NASCAR. Them and the big chain supermarkets.

The sky as seen through the trees down in Salamanca last Thursday. Have you even had one of those mornings that kicks you in the face about, oh, a dozen times reminding you just how much it is that you hate about your job. Fair enough your face dulls to the kicks over the week, but by christ they hurt on a Monday morning!