This will hurt me...

Is it art? Mayfair Plaza car park, Sandy Bay. September 2012. Here is a crop of ten questions for today's Q and A chosen from a neat little randomiser that I designed myself... Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? At this point, I’m settling. That said, I generally believe in the things that I have to do on a day-to-day basis. I have no problem speaking my mind if work is not being done properly or I find it ethically or intellectually improper. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy? My gut answer is to blame everyone else (i.e. “because everyone else is wrong!”). I don’t know, probably an inversion of this question might be easier to answer. A lot of people seem to enjoy things that don’t give me much pleasure (i.e. “dining out” or the never-ending parade of new “gizmos and gadgets”). I don’t know. I just like a nice beach, a bit of peace and quiet and something interesting to read. How old would you ...

Public art or graffiti? Does it matter? In the lane-way off 99 Bathurst Street, Hobart. May 2012. Here's a book review. The Battle for History: Re-fighting World War II , essentially an extended literature review on the subject by British military historian John Keegan. Give that well over half a century has passed since the end of World War II; it strikes many as surprising that historians are still struggling to define it. I’m not sure why people are all that surprised, given the infinite angles and interpretations that can be applied to the events of the period (especially when one considers the ways in which the world was irrevocably altered). In assessing the general histories, Keegan manages to illustrate the extent to which our past – including how we think about it, interpret it and define it – dictates our present. Each chapter covers separate approaches to the topic, including overall histories of the war, biographies, distinct campaigns, the intelligence war, logis...

A view towards the Tasman Bridge. Hobart Cycle Path, River Derwent. October 2011. Today we reach the end of the road for the Questions Galore Meme, as we complete Part 3 ... 41. What is a quote that you love? "If you have the choice between humble and cocky, go with cocky. There's always time to be humble later, once you've been proven horrendously, irrevocably wrong." - Kinky Friedman 42. Do you think of pure hate as something humanity created? I'm not convinced that there is such a concept as "pure hate". 43. When was the last time you wanted to scream? On Friday, and it involved an overload of poo jokes. 44. Do you ever at times see the world in black and white? Often, then I slap myself and snap out of it. 45. Have you ever thought that cell phones are too obtrusive? Pretty much most of the time. 46. In your life, where do you thank the rainbow will end? Rainbows are an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear i...

I'm going for some artsy fartsy framing here. This one is from Opossum Bay back in February. Obviously Henry is up close and personal. That's Mount Wellington in the extreme background, Taroona on the western shore and Jen and Ez wading in to wrestle some Great Whites. I do believe that cranky Hanky is a good inch taller now than he is in this photograph.

Art in action. April 2010 . In a rush, here's part one of a meme... 1. What's your favourite Dr. Seuss book? I loathe Dr. Seuss. I mean, really, he just makes words up and yet still can't work out regular metre? 2. If you could live in any home on a television series, what would it be? Robin's Nest, from Magnum P.I. 3. What's the longest you've gone without sleep? Five or six days. I wasn't really keeping track. 4. What's your favourite Barry Manilow song? What? I think that the only song of his I know was called Mandy , but I can't recall anything about it. Whether that makes it my favourite, I can only guess... 5. Who's your favourite Muppet? The now apparently dearly departed Guy Smiley . 6. What's the habit you're proudest of breaking? I stopped chewing my nails. Then I had children. 7. What's your favourite website? I don't play favourites, although if you click the link you will find an excellent example of web savvy. 8. ...

Art! Turning over a new page. April 2010. It's art! Apparently.

Theme Thursday today, and leaving the post again to the last minute has me striving to think outside the BOX . This is a - hopefully - moody little photograph of what I believe is Earth's most unpopular bird feeder . We have no cats, no dogs, plenty of birds about, lots of healthy and nutritious bird seed, and a beautiful BOX feeder right there waiting to be visited; but not one . None. Zero. Keiner. Neviens. Absolutamente ninguna!

Here is an artsy fartsy black and white taken down at Princes Dock in Salamanca. There's a nice mix of cloud and sunlight, and I particularly like how the reflections on the water to the right look like little stars. I have a poem, one of my own this time: cake , by Kris McCracken cake filled with nuts. rats! nuts! cake filled with nuts, worse than cake filled with rats.