This will hurt me...

Me (or, something approaching Me). The corner of Campbell and Bathurst Streets, Hobart. September 2013. For this Tuesday Q and A (as I'm in real life steaming up the road and back to Campbell Town), I tackle another series from Sunday Stealing, the Massive Alphabet Meme, part one ! The Letter A Are you agnostic? I’m more atheist than agnostic, to be frank. What is your age? Chronological, ontological, pedagogical or psychological? That’s a difficult question to answer. What annoys you? Lots of things! Hypocrisy really annoys the hell out of me, though. The Letter B Do you like bacon? In moderation, I do. When is your birthday? It’s in May. Who is your best friend? I have three of them. They know who they are. The Letter C What is your favourite candy? Lollies? As in sweets? I like sour worms. Who is your crush? Crush? As in squash? I’d like to squash bad people. When was the last time you cried? A few years ago on the bus to New Town, as I reac...

Me! Castray Esplanade, Hobart Waterfront. September 2012. Sunday Stealing is back! The Who Are You Meme ! 1. What is your biggest pet peeve? People's general selfishness/ lack of concern for others consistently frustrates me. 2. Where and when were you born? I was born in Burnie, Tasmania in the week that Hotel California by The Eagles was top of the Billboard charts in the US. 3. Where did your parents meet? You would have to ask them that question. I assume that it was in Melbourne, Victoria. 4. Do you have any siblings? What are/ were they like in four words? I have an older brother. He was an older brother. 5. Where do you live now, and with whom? I live in Hobart with Jen, Hen and Ez. 6. What is your occupation? I like to call myself a "Policy, Research, Communications and Academic Professional". 7. Write a full description of yourself. I'm just a sore and sorry little bot who needs to be loved. 8. To which social class do you belong? ...

Theme Thursday . Okay. 'ello SUNSHINE. ‘Owya goin’? Been busy? Yeah? Awright. Doin’ well? Doin’ well meself me old mukka. Doin’ well. Doin’ well. Doin’ well. Yep, doin’ well. Can’t complain can’t complain. Hip given me grief mind you. Shockin’ headache. Work given’ me trouble. Can’t complain though, can’t complain. Strugglin’ with me back still. Missus given’ me hell. Strugglin’ with the bills. Bills bills bills. Always bills. Can’t complain though, can’t complain. You? Yeah yeah. Yeah. Musn’t grumple.

The gang is all here! Argyle Street, Hobart. February 2012. Maybe I posted this on Theme Thursday to get a REACTION. My face is so rarely seen on this here blog that it usually causes a flurry of judgements, whispers and swoons belly-laughs. Yet that little internal conversation set me thinking (understandably) about the third of Newton's laws of motion. You know, the one about how forces occur in pairs. Actio et reactio . "Every action is accompanied by a REACTION of equal magnitude but opposite direction." So then I wanted to write it down. First, I thought that it looks like this: Action → REACTION But then I thought that it might be better expressed like this: Action ↔ REACTION That is not right though. Therefore, I thought that it must be. Action → REACTION ↔ REACTION However, even that does not seem right. Ultimately, I have settled for: Action → REACTION ↔ REACTION ↔ REACTION ↔ REACTION ↔ REACTION ↔ REACTION [repeat to infinity] But I'm still not certain. Ar...

Afternoon de light, Opossum Bay, two big buoys and two kayaks. Can you spot them all? The link may seem tenuous, but when I think of afternoon light, the chorus of Afternoon Delight - the Starland Vocal Band's mega hit from '76 - immediately comes to mind. This immediately leads me to today's Sunday Top Five: My Top Five Favourite 1970s Mega Hit Singles [at this point in time, as such lists are liable to change]! 5: The Ballroom Blitz , Sweet 4: Get it On , T-Rex (and check out that German Top of the Pops presenter!) 3: Rock On , David Essex 2: He's Gonna Step on You Again , John Kongos 1: Mull of Kintyre , Paul McCartney and Wings Okay, who have I missed? Obviously Mouldy Old Dough Gimme Dat Ding and Afternoon Delight presented strong cases, but what does the world think?

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.

The MOMA FOMA festival of wank art and annoying noise sound is well and truly over (the sirens and the sandpit no longer outside of the office window). Despite this however, the needs of Theme Thursday have seen me dig into the grab bag of photos and yet again fish out a self portrait. The theme today is, if you haven't already guessed, MIRROR. Rather than hold up a MIRROR to my emotional and psychological state (and equally depress and amuse you all), I've opted for the easy strategy of a ambiguous self portrait. I've done a few , some straightforward , some with kids , and, of course , some alone .

Here is a self portrait. I’m calling it Portrait of a lady in a dirty window . Shocking, isn’t it? However, it is apt! Samhain , Nos Galan Gaeaf , Hop-tu-Naa , All Saints , All Hallows , Hallowmas , Hallowe'en or HALLOWEEN . It’s Theme Thursday and we’re talking about the festivals traditionally held at the end of the harvest season. Huh? No wonder Australians have trouble with the concept of HALLOWEEN. For the record, in my thirty-two L O N G years on the planet, I can’t say I’ve ever seen ghosts ‘n goblins, trick ‘n treaters or Michael Myers stalking Tasmania’s streets at the end of October. [That said, I did once see a woman as pale as a ghost turning tricks that looked like Michael Myers in late November one time.] Despite the best efforts of Hollywood, sitcoms, and innumerable companies; it seems Australians are impervious to the [ahem] charms of a corporatized variant of a celebration of the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darke...

In the morning light, from this angle, you'd never know that the Aurora Australis was painted bright orange. It looks battleship grey here! They must have had a couple of bags of chips on them, you can see some seagulls hanging about on the scrounge.

Another day, another shot of the surface of the water. Yes, it is the Derwent River again! In my world, it seems that the terrible twos have mutated into the wretched threes early, and we have one junior Idi Amin - only with less concern for others - on our hands. It makes for a pleasant day. I suppose that it could be worse, he could be Roman Polanski. If he were Roman, however, at least we could on Hollywood to stand by him ! It's a good thing that Polanski only raped a young girl, and not anything to do with dogs . The public's forgiveness has its limits, you know!

A familiar view here in Geilston Bay the past three or four months. That, coupled with grizzling children caked in snot has ensured our share of [ahem] interesting evenings. I did consult with the most recent guide to the Geneva Convention rules and regulations, and wouldn't you know it, there, on page 367, full colour prints of Henry and Ezra! Designated deliverers of cruel and unusual torture , it reckons...

Another day, another reflection from a puddle of water. Here you can see the tops of the trees out the front of Parliament Lawn, as I meander down right by the waterfront. ATTENTION! ACHTUNG! ATTENZIONE! ВНИМАНИЕ! انتبه! 注意！ POZOR! ATTENTIE! HUOMIO! ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ! שים לב! सावधान! FIGYELEM! PERHATIAN! 주의! UZMANĪBU! توجه! DİKKAT! Do not put the cart before the horse . This is an incorrect application of the technology. This will render the warranty of your cart null and void . Moreover , the horse, he does not like it. THANK YOU!

MORE rain means MORE reflections. MORE reflections means MORE photographs of things in puddles. Here are a few buildings and a 4WD down on Hobart's waterfront the other morning.

Sometimes the best view of the sky can be found by looking down on the ground. Here is a puddle on a patch of ground at the bottom of Elizabeth Street. Here is a little poem about power . Doing Stuff ACTION! ... wait ... wait ... waiting ... ... nothing ... ... wait ... wait ... waiting ... ... ACTION!

I asked Jen to pick the image for today, and she opted for the "stone wall". Of course, this is no stone wall viewed from below, it's the water in Sullivan's Cove viewed from above! I took this one just next to the tilt bridge near the fish punts. That must read very oddly to a non-English speaker, one would imagine. Easter Monday, and I have still managed to avoid chocolate eggs. It will be quite an accomplishment if I make it right way through unscathed. I noted in the comments thread about a work colleague of a reader who was offended by my bemusement at the whole Easter tale. Now, I respect everybody's right to be offended at whatever they like, but like that Jesus fellow apparently said himself, do unto others and all that jazz. You see, I can happily endorse that Byrds track Jesus Is Just Alright , because Jesus sounded like a nice fellow. I can't say that there is too much different about our respective approaches to life. So, in the spirit of Jesus,...

I like photographs involving water. I like photographs involving reflections. I like photographs involving the autumn light. I like photographs involving the morning sun. Here we have all four taken just last Thursday down in Sullivan's Cove! I am currently enjoying Timothy Gaton Ash 's excellent History of the Present . If you don't know his work, he's an academic/historian/author/journalist with a way with words. I will probably expand on my thoughts when I've finished it, but one brief comment struck me as I read it on the bus this morning. It concerns a point early on in the siege of Sarajevo. There was a bombed-out post office with a common piece of graffiti/political comment, " This is Serbia! " Apparently someone had scrawled underneath the retort, " No, you idiot, it's a post office ". I like that. It pretty much captures the sort of inanity that drives people to war, ethnic cleansing and all of the kinds of atrocities within. It'...

I came across an interesting little article in the New York Times on the Basics of Fatherhood that offered up eight simple rules to help frame the qualities that might shape a ‘good father’. It discussed (and linked to) an article by family therapist Marie Hartwell-Walker more broadly talks about the role of fathers in the modern world. Both are well worth checking out if you are a father, or are soon to be one. I would like to think that I go alright on all of these, although to be honest, I could do a little more work on a few (as is always the case). It probably serves a useful purpose now and again to stop and assess how we are going in such an important role. As an aside, I like point seven, I try to make all discipline fun! Embrace your responsibility Be there Be there throughout their childhoods Respond to the needs of the kids, not your relationship with their mother Be in a respectful and appreciative relationship with their mother Do your financial share Balance discipline ...