This will hurt me...

The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way.

2013-05-22T20:00:00.000+10:00

Here we go.

On the run.

One mile.

No good.

Two miles.

No way.

Three miles.

ORRaaaHHH!

Feelin' good.

ORRaaaHHH!

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.

2013-05-22T09:00:00.000+10:00

Ocellate seastar. Flowerpot Point, Blackmans Bay. May 2013.

Wordless Wednesday.

Ocellate seastars making love. Flowerpot Point, Blackmans Bay. May 2013.

It's ok to grow up just as long as you don't go old. Face it, you are young.

2013-05-21T20:00:00.000+10:00

They just about coped with the rain.

Wait until we get them back into the snow...

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

2013-05-21T09:00:00.000+10:00

Shot Tower. Bonnet Hill, Hobart. May 2013.

Still going on the Sunday Stealing Q and A: The 5000 Question Meme Continues... Part Six

131. Can you identify any of the following lyrics?
A: Nothing to kill or die for...

John Lennon's Imagine, one of the more absurd records ever made.

B: Late comings with the late comin' stretcher...

A far more likely scenario! 911 is a Joke by Public Enemy.

C: I could make a film and make you my star...

I'm going to have to plead ignorance on this one.

Shot Tower, from the inside. Bonnet Hill, Hobart. May 2013.

132. Are you worried about North Korea?

Not in the slightest. Until it's confirmed that they had an apocalyptic religious nutjob in charge, they're not much of a threat. They don't even have air cover!

133. Would you rather be a world political leader or a talk-show host?

Neither, really. If you held a gun to my head: give me the talk show.

134. Have you ever given someone a love letter that you wrote?

Not that I recall.

135. Have you ever sent someone a surprise though the mail?

Quite a few times.

136. Are you looking forward to any dates right now? Vacation perhaps?

No fixed dates, no. I look forward to weekends.

Shot Tower, the view east over South Arm. Bonnet Hill, Hobart. May 2013.

137. Of all animated movies, which is the best one you've ever seen?

A hard one, this. A toss up between Wall-E, Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo.

138. What are the best bands or songs to listen to while driving?

I don't drive. If I did, probably Radar Love by Golden Earring.

139. What do you think is the most amazing thing that anyone has ever accomplished?

Helen Keller would be hard to top.

140. What could a member of the opposite sex do to impress you?

Recognise the immensity of my being...

Shot Tower, panorama. Bonnet Hill, Hobart. May 2013.

Everything is in motion. Everything flows. Everything is vibrating.

2013-05-20T20:00:00.000+10:00

Is that a bunyip?

'Tis better to suffer wrong than do it.

2013-05-20T09:00:00.000+10:00

Hormosira banksii, a.k.a. Neptune's necklace. Flowerpot Point, Blackmans Bay. May 2013.

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...

Would you want to be friends with Humbert Humbert? An article on the importance of “likeability” in novels.

A selection from the 2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Syphilis, sex and fear: How the French disease conquered the world.

Splashdown! The Breeders' Cannonball-Like Re-Entry.

A compelling case against empathy, arguing that empathy alone is not sufficient to uphold morality — and may even work against it.

A map of the world’s most and least racially tolerant countries.

Astronomy porn.

The most depressing thing I've read all week. Five Warning Signs That You're Finally Getting Older.

National flags made from a country’s traditional foods.

Parents, Children, Libraries, and Reading.

Apostrophe now: Bad grammar and the people who hate it.

Are University Leaders Really Overpaid? (Answer: very much so.)

Unusual baby name spellings: don’t do it.

It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.

2013-05-19T20:00:00.000+10:00

Henry channels the late great Ted Whitten.

Well done, Henry.

Well done.

I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.

2013-05-19T09:00:00.000+10:00

Lonely water tower. Boat Harbour, Tasmania's North West Coast. April 2013.

A special 'hints and tips' Sunday Top Five today: Five Things That I Have Learned That Are Worth Reminding People Of!

It is a lot more difficult to get rid of calories than it is to avoid consuming them in the first place.

The ability to be happy is nothing more than working out how to deal with things changing.

Bad moods are a reality of everybody’s life, and trying to force them away makes them run deeper and last longer.

If everyone in the movie or TV show you’re watching is good-looking, it isn’t worth watching.

If anything is worth spending a bit of money on, it’s a high-quality mattress. You spend at least a third of your life using it!

In general my children refuse to eat anything that hasn't danced on television.

2013-05-18T20:00:00.000+10:00

Have you ever picnicked on a rock?

We have.

The letter is now at the censor's.

2013-05-18T09:00:00.000+10:00

Snow Gum, Eucalyptus pauciflora. Lake Dobson, Mount Field National Park. April 2013.

Marry me.

Go on, I dare you to.

To Friends behind a Frontier, Tomas Transtromer

I
I wrote so meagrely to you. But what I couldn't write
swelled and swelled like an old-fashioned airship
and drifted away at last through the night sky.

II
The letter is now at the censor's. He lights his lamp.
In the glare my words fly up like monkeys on a grille,
rattle it, become still, and bare their teeth.

III
Read between the lines. We'll meet in 200 years
when the microphones in the hotel's walls are forgotten
and can at last sleep, become trilobites.

Skepticism must go hand in hand with rationality. When theories are shown to be false, the correct thing to do is to move on.

2013-05-17T20:00:00.000+10:00

Walk on Henry.

Walk on.

A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.

2013-05-17T09:00:00.000+10:00

Dead fish. Hope Beach, South Arm Peninsula. April 2013.

100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events That Changed the World, Nick Yapp: A stunning collection, if a little US-centric. B+.

The Body in the Library, Agatha Christie: A dated little murder mystery. By the numbers. C.

The Inheritors, William Golding: A fantastically-rendered and irredeemably sad tale of the extinction of one of the last remaining Neanderthal tribes at the hands of the more advanced (yet malevolent) Homosapiens. The final chapter nails the tragedy of it all beautifully. A.

After the Quake, Haruki Murakami: An odd little collection inspired by the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Uneven, but worthy. B.

Marry Me, Dan Rhodes: I do love every new Dan Rhodes release. Marry Me is no different. Equal parts sour, bleak whimsy and savage whimsy inspired by the concept of marriage. As black as coal and funny as hell. I loved it. A.

You'll see it when you believe it.

2013-05-16T20:00:00.000+10:00

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Repeat.

We die only once, and for such a long time.

2013-05-16T09:00:00.000+10:00

Proud Gull. Boat Harbour. April 2013.

It is another Theme Thursday and today sees a burst of CREATIVITY and a shot little piece that came to me on the walk to work.

I call it Perception.

Quiet Jim was the first of the old gang to die. It came as a bit of a shock to get the invite to his funeral on Facebook. There were five in our gang: me; Quiet Jim (he was the quiet one); Loud Jim (he was the loud one); Big Jim (he was the fat one); and Little Jim (he wasn't very little, but he was much smaller than Big Jim). They just called me ‘Mike’.

It was a surprise to all of us that Quiet Jim was the first to go. He was so, well, quiet. Loud Jim drank too much, got into fights and generally wasn't a very nice person.Big Jim’s diet was terrible, he smoked like a chimney and the mere thought of exercise could send him into apoplexy. Little Jim (who really wasn't little at all) had a taste for bizarre sexual practices. I’m pretty laid back, but as an avid trainspotter am always running the risk when waiting by the railway lines.

No, Quiet Jim was, well, quiet. He never got in any trouble and kept his opinions to himself. He didn't smoke or drink. Nor was there any suggestion that he was into Autoerotic asphyxiation. He didn't even like trains.

Quiet Jim was a great listener. He was measured. Mature. Stoic. Everybody liked Quiet Jim. Therefore it was no surprise that there was a big turnout to the funeral. There were lots of tears and lots of kind words. His friends stressed his bravery. His brother spoke of the inspiration he took for him. His sister concentrated on the hurdles that he overcame. His mother spoke at length about the challenges inherent in having a child who spent his whole life in a permanent vegetative state.

Oh.

I just thought that he was shy.

I was even more shocking than the fact that he died. Then again, I have never been very perceptive.

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.

2013-05-15T20:00:00.000+10:00

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Drop punt.

Repeat.

Scientists now believe that the primary biological function of breasts is to make males stupid.

2013-05-15T09:00:00.000+10:00

Russell Falls. Mount Field National Park. April 2013.

Wordless Wednesday.

Everyone at Russell Falls. Mount Field National Park. April 2013.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

2013-05-14T20:00:00.000+10:00

Jen and Ezra slowly make their way around Lake Dobson.

Before it starts snowing.

He who has no wish to be happier is the happiest of men.

2013-05-14T09:00:00.000+10:00

Dead penguin. Marion Bay, Tasmania's East Coast. April 2013.

Sunday Stealing: The 5000 Question Meme Continues... Part Six

121. Have you ever lost someone without having the chance to say goodbye?
Yes. To be honest, sometimes having the chance to say goodbye is harder.

122. How do you feel about women in politics?
It depends on the woman, doesn't it. There are good ones and bad ones, much like people with a penis.

123. Would you rather have an indoor Jacuzzi or an outdoor pool?
An outdoor pool. Hopefully with a sauna by the side.

124. What things are you interested in that you study or read about regularly?
Lots of things! History, people, society, geography, nature. Just a few little things.

125. Would you consider yourself to be intelligent?
Well... modesty forbids... [ahem]...

OF COURSE I DO!

126. Would you consider yourself to be wise?
Less wise than intelligent, perhaps.

127. Have you ever given or received a lap dance?
In a commercial sense? The concept repulses me, to be honest. Between friends? Whatever gets you through the night.

128. Have you ever spoken to a homeless person?
Lots of them. Come on, I worked in a needle exchange for years, currently work in mental health and have done far to many research projects with the socially excluded to count. Yes, I've spoken to one or two homeless people.

129. Would you ever creep into the subway tunnels to go exploring?
If my safety was assured.

130. If you could add 70 years to your life but only by making some random person die 70 years sooner would you?
Who wants 70 extra years? Your body would be broken down of no use to anyone!

Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.

2013-05-13T20:00:00.000+10:00

Look!

He moves like Jagger!

A lot of people attack the sea, I make love to it.

2013-05-13T09:00:00.000+10:00

Autumn bodyboarding #1. Calverts Beach, South Arm Peninsula. May 2013.

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...

Ridiculous Indie Rock Band Photos.

An exploration of gendered book covers.

Tax obscene profit levels? Mandness!

The Invention of David Bowie.

Autumn bodyboarding #2. Calverts Beach, South Arm Peninsula. May 2013.

There’s a growing unease in modern society with the line between disease and difference. The New Yorker traces the historical roots of how we define disease – and how we gave doctors the power to decide. ‘The line between sickness and health, mental and otherwise, is not biological but social and economic,’ he writes.

How is this for an opening paragraph?

"This is the saddest moment in my 45 year career of studying, practicing, and teaching psychiatry. The Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association has given its final approval to a deeply flawed DSM 5 containing many changes that seem clearly unsafe and scientifically unsound. My best advice to clinicians, to the press, and to the general public - be skeptical and don't follow DSM 5 blindly down a road likely to lead to massive over-diagnosis and harmful over-medication. Just ignore the ten changes that make no sense."

DSM 5 Is Guide Not Bible—Ignore Its Ten Worst Changes.

Autumn bodyboarding #3. Calverts Beach, South Arm Peninsula. May 2013.

For all of you public opinion data junkies: Trends in Australian political opinion, results from the Australian election study, 1987-2010.

Talking about Tasmania...

Autumn bodyboarding #4. Calverts Beach, South Arm Peninsula. May 2013.

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

2013-05-12T20:00:00.000+10:00

I'm walkin' here.

Aye! I'm WALKIN' here!

Arrange whatever pieces come your way.

2013-05-12T09:00:00.000+10:00

Formally a crab. Bellerive Bluff, Bellerive. April 2013.

A vintage Sunday Top Five today that I know the whole World has been waiting for. Yes, it is My Top Five Favourite Tracks By English Post-Punk Weirdos, The Fall!

Blindness

Totally Wired

Theme From Sparta FC

Reformation

The Classical

If you can't make it better, you can laugh at it.

2013-05-11T20:00:00.000+10:00

CAUGHT!

we / do not admire what / we cannot understand

2013-05-11T09:00:00.000+10:00

Australian Hobby Falcon, Shag Bay. April 2013.

The Australian Hobby [Falco longipennis] resembles the Peregrine Falcon, however it is much smaller and has darker plumage. It's a nippy little bugger, and can swiftly weave through the bush in chase of other birds. I've not seen too many around these parts, but this one happily sat in the tree for Ez and I to have a good gander at it.

Poetry, Marianne Moore

I, too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond
all this fiddle.
Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one
discovers in
it after all, a place for the genuine.
Hands that can grasp, eyes
that can dilate, hair that can rise
if it must, these things are important not because a

high-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because
they are
useful. When they become so derivative as to become
unintelligible,
the same thing may be said for all of us, that we
do not admire what
we cannot understand: the bat
holding on upside down or in quest of something to

eat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless
wolf under
a tree, the immovable critic twitching his skin like a horse
that feels a flea, the base-
ball fan, the statistician--
nor is it valid
to discriminate against "business documents and

school-books"; all these phenomena are important. One must make
a distinction
however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the
result is not poetry,
nor till the poets among us can be
"literalists of
the imagination"--above
insolence and triviality and can present

for inspection, "imaginary gardens with real toads in them,"
shall we have
it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand,
the raw material of poetry in
all its rawness and
that which is on the other hand
genuine, you are interested in poetry.

Wine hath drowned more men than the sea.

2013-05-10T20:00:00.000+10:00

Ezra investigates apples. Invariably he will eat a grub.