This will hurt me...

Ezra and Archie trying out for the Dons.

Go for it Ez. Go hard.

Have you ever tried a torpedo punt while holding a chocolate scone? Ezra does not recommend it.

Henry channels the late great Ted Whitten . Well done, Henry. Well done.

Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Repeat.

Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Drop punt. Repeat.

Football. The living room, Geilston Bay. November 2012. As you know, the Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and RSS feeds.) 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... A British father living in Malmö reflects on a Scandinavian system that pays men to stay at home and keeps women in the workforce... Looking back at the Cold War... A bit of retro phone action... The brave new world of making money from music... Breakfast, lunch and dinner: Have we always eaten them? The politics of ‘orphans’ and the dirty tactics of the adoption lobby... Toddlers and discipline! Bloody Hitler!

Ja Welt, gibt es einen Weihnachtsmann!

Yes Ezra, there is a Santa Claus.

Little by little, day by day, Henry's kicking is getting just that bit better. All he needs to do now is find the natural rhythm of the action and go with the flow. Relax and kick. Relax and kick. Relax and... dummy kick, handball off the left run hard to receive the return hand ball run harder to evade the chasing player relax and kick the goal!

Not that my children have (wisely) embraced Australian Rules Football and the mighty Essendon Bombers , Henry and I have been working very hard on his fundamentals. His endurance and speed is top notch and while his handballing needs a bit of work, it is not bad for a fellow of his age. He's getting the hang of keeping his eyes on the ball and is thus improving his marking in leaps and bounds. On that, he has a fair bit of spring in his step, so his leaps and bounds are very strong. Where he lets himself down is in the kicking department. He reminds me a little of Michael Symons, poor technique and prone to rush it. Next stop, electrodes .

In the spirit of multiple photographs, have another two...

Table Soccer II. Henry Fights Back!

Ezra crosses codes and demonstrates that the might of the Essendon Football Club is felt even in the wild and woolly field of table soccer !

A handful of seaweed, a footy, an unfettered idea and positive sense of self/ What more could you possibly ask for?

Just checking the usual twenty five text from Eastern European supermodels.

Ezra is a little lackadaisical in manning the back pocket. Geilston Bay, October 2010. Friday means Book Club Friday in this part of the world, and a super-busy week has meant that I’ve not had too much spare time to read. That said, I did manage to finish an odd little book from a German author I’d not read before, The Book of Words by Jenny Erpenbeck. I’ll admit that I struggled through the first fifty or so pages, and I only kept going because it is quite a short novel. It’ll be hard to reflect on it without venturing into possible SPOILER territory, so proceed with caution… The novel is transmitted through a very fragmented, vaporous kind of narrative voice, which initially reads very much like a creative writing exercise written by a talented, but raw and inexperienced writer. While I don’t mind fiddling about with narrative, the almost deliberately obtuse expression initially jars with what concerns the inner life of a young girl. Eventually (after about fifty pages, funnily en...

The big men fly fall over, OR, " CARN THE SHIPS! " Geilston Bay, July 2010. In the rugged Tasmanian winter, every weekend is footy weekend . Those of you who take note of such things will have already processed the news that the next AFL team - to be located on the sinful Queensland Gold Coast - have adopted the moniker of the "Suns". The Gold Coast Dubious Property Speculators The Gold Coast Nikhedonia The Gold Coast Royal Commissions The Gold Coast Bjelke-Petersens The Gold Coast Discombobulation

This retired old oval has seen better days. Geilston Bay, July 2010. Where have all the children gone? Probably disappeared down the holes, if you have seen he state of that ground. If anyone is looking for some moles, voles, ferrets and gophers, I do believe that you'll find them here .

The sea birds are taking advantage of the end of the football season and setting in on the Henry Fitzgerald McCracken Recreational Ground. Watch out for the rollers though fellas, cricket is just around the corner!