Play so that you may be serious.

Jen and Hen ponder the imponderables on Bellerive Beach. In the background, you can see the home ground of the Tasmanian Tigers. One of the pondered imponderables was whether the mighty Tigers can emerge triumphant in the forthcoming Sheffield Shield competition. Yes people, cricket season is very nearly upon us!

their own happiness will protect us

Heading to work in Winter. Geilston Bay. June 2010.

We know that the seasons are changing. You get a reasonable read on this when you leave home at the same time each day, and arrive home at the same time each day. The thing that strikes me most at the moment is we have more light at both ends of the day. Contrast this with June in the photo above, which was taken at 7:15 am.

Have a poem.

God Has Pity On Kindergarten Children, Yehuda Amichai

God has pity on kindergarten children,
He pities school children -- less.
But adults he pities not at all.

He abandons them,
And sometimes they have to crawl on all fours
In the scorching sand
To reach the dressing station,
Streaming with blood.

But perhaps
He will have pity on those who love truly
And take care of them
And shade them
Like a tree over the sleeper on the public bench.

Perhaps even we will spend on them
Our last pennies of kindness
Inherited from mother,

So that their own happiness will protect us
Now and on other days.

It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.

This morning, you saw Ezra fiddling about in the snow, now you can see Ezra fiddling about in the sand. These photographs were taken within a week of each other, such is the varied lifestyle down here in Hobart, Tasmania!

Instruction does not prevent wasted time or mistakes; and mistakes themselves are often the best teachers of all.

Playing silly buggers in the snow. Mount Wellington, August 2010.

Circumstances yet again conspire against me!

I had intended to make this post the very first in a Friday Book Club [of one] mediation on what I have reading of late, but alas, today I do not have the time to do it justice. That said, I promise that next week I shall ruminate on whatever it is that has occupied my bus journeys and lunch breaks during the week.

So dear reader, expect a treatise on George Orwell’s slumming it Down and Out in Paris and London; Evelyn Waugh getting amongst it in Abyssinia and Muriel Spark’s loitering with intent amongst a band of lunatics.

To ease the pain, here’s another shot, this time in vivid colour panoramic surround sound!

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.

In America, children throw snowballs.

In Tasmania, children throw snowboomerangs.

The biggest problem is not to let people accept new ideas, but to let them forget the old ones.

The lonely sponge. Seven Mile Beach, September, 2010.

Theme Thursday again, and seemingly without REASON I have chosen the above photograph, taken on our visit on a wet and windy day last Sunday, to get out of the house and avoid killing each other commemorate Father’s Day.

I say that I post without REASON, but as is the case each Theme Thursday, I can manufacture a REASON no trouble.

You see, all (or at least, one of the things) REASON is “a statement presented in justification or explanation of a belief or action.” It can also refer to “Logic, or a premise of an argument.”

Thus my REASON – as in justification or logic – is that age old adage: because.

Because on Theme Thursday I need to post something.

Because for some REASON unbeknownst to me I have appeared to have locked myself into the twice-a-day (three times on Tuesday) cycle that obsessive compulsive disorder prevents me from breaking.

Therefore, you get a sponge on a beach from the south of Tasmania. You don’t need any more REASON than that.

Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.

Here is one of those rare occasions where I rear my head in front of the camera and make an appearance. Ezra, Henry and I are battling against the elements on Sunday (Father’s Day) down at Seven Mile Beach while Jen tries to take a snap without getting rain on the lens.

We nearly managed it.

It is well known that Beauty does not look with a good grace on the timid advances of Humour.

Aren't you cold. Elizabeth Street in Winter. August 2010.

Dolly birds draped about in bikinis. A standard response when you think "Winter in Tasmania".

I am looking for ideas.

I’m happy to trawl the ‘net for more, but I thought that I’d throw open the comments section for suggestions.

What should I write about?

Any questions that I should answer?

Anything that you’d like me to photograph?

The creative well is running dry, and my capacity to draw comics [you know who you are] is limited!

I only go out to get me a fresh appetite for being alone.

Shoulders back Henry!

Head up!

Goodness gracious child, you walk like a peasant!

Ads that I like: # 114

Finally!

Irrevocable proof!

Jesus was a traitor!

Imagine that, anointing the Fritz on the way to butchering the good guy. What a bugger.

I’d love to see the logic behind the central tenets of Christ that would generate an assumption that he’d be anointing his approval of trench warfare…

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.

"The Hall", formally a church. St Johns Park, New Town. August 2010.

Struggling for ideas, I dipped my toe into the Intertubes for ideas and plucked out the My Life in Films Meme. At one time in my life, I watched a lot of fillums. Now I have children, and I watch Shrek every few weeks. Feel free to steal and apply as you see fit.

Films That Remind Me of Childhood

Anything featuring Sylvester Stallone punching people, getting punched, or blowing things up. The brother and I were avid fans of Sly and all things Stallone. That said, I wanted Ivan Drago to triumph and demonstrate the historical inevitability of Communism. Things obviously didn’t go to plan.

That said, nothing beats Rocky or Rambo at the Drive-In (remember them?)

Childhood Films Where Removal was Necessary

I don’t remember much about it, but I am told that there was a traumatic response to that part in The Muppet Movie where Animal eats one of the "insta-grow" pills, turning him into a giant. I believe that I may have been asleep and was a little shocked.

I also remember a reaction to the John Hurt dressed as The Elephant Man that very much missed the spirit of the film. I was terrified of the Elephant Man. His inherent dignity obviously didn’t shine through to a four year old. That said, my mother threatening that I continued to be naughty, “the Elephant Man will get you” probably also didn’t help…

Films that Defined My Teens

Tricky this one, as I was a contrary bugger and turned my nose up at the tastes of my peers. Thus, I can give you all of my long held rationales why Ghost and Pretty Woman irrevocably damaged a whole generation of young girls.

I shall have to confess that I eschewed Bill and Ted… for the rambling work of Hal Hartley circa ‘89–‘94. It seemed to conform to my highbrow taste, although they seem stilted and pretentious in retrospect. That said, The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, Simple Men and Amateur were on high rotation at my place through the teens.

Films Seen Multiple Times at Theatres

Multiple visits to the Burnie cinema were very much centred on the ‘movie marathons’ that they occasionally showed (two/three for the price of one). Thus, I believe that I saw Cocoon, Splash, Goonies, Big, Cocktail, Stakeout, Dirty Dancing, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Young Einstein and a number of others a multiple times. I’m not sure that I’ve seen a single billed film ever more than once at the pictures, but I’m sure that I wanted to get back and see ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi. I am pretty saw that we saw Rocky III at the pictures and the drive-in..

First Date Film

I am not sure that I have ever been on a ‘date’. I think that the first film I saw with Jen at the theatre was Pollack, so I will say that.

Nightmares from Films

I’ve already mentioned The Elephant Man. Any list of films that I recall as very much giving me the willies have to include The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist. The film that I terrified me the most though was a made for TV miniseries (back when the still did that) The Day After. People go on about 9/11, the Bali Bombings and Islamic terrorists, but for mine that has nothing on the oppressive fear of nuclear holocaust that seemed heavy pre-Glasnost.

Films that are Guilty Pleasures

I must confess to enjoying much of the Carry On… canon. I can’t say that I carry a lot of guilt over it though.

Last Film I Saw at the Theatre

My salary is certainly not large enough to make regular trips to the cinema (people really pay 20 bucks to see a movie? Don’t they have Broadband?). The last movie I saw at the cinema was Juno, and that was because Jen scored some free tickets. I have considered taking Henry along to the latest Shrek, but the showing times are not great.

Favourite Film No-one Else Seems to Know About

C’mon, we live in a global village! I think that is very hard these days to have an ‘unknown’ favourite. Once upon a time I would have said Kieślowski’s Dekalog, but then I discovered that the rest of the world knew about it! If I had to pick a little known gem, I might reach for would be Phillip Noyce’s very short Backroads, a harsh little road film that a lot of people haven’t had the opportunity to see.

If you would like to tackle this topic, help yourself. Or, if you'd just like to chuck your two bob's worth in the comments, go for it. I will promise not to ridicule you (unless you attempt to argue that any of Baz Luhrman's films have any merit whatsoever...)

Only on the edge of the grave can man conclude anything.

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

Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.

Can we walk on water? Risdon Brook Dam, August 2010.

Henry is distraught that the local source of water – Risdon Brook Dam – is not infested with crocodiles. The only succour for him is that it is highly unlikely that a mighty and angry salty will emerge from the tap during a bath and vigorously demonstrate the death roll.

Ingratitude is the essence of vileness.

Henry is quite the artist. In fact, I share this wonderful portrait that he has prepared on that finest of artistic forms: the Magna Doodle.

Can you guess who the subject is?

All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.

NAB HQ. Corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, September 2010.

The National Australia Bank (or NAB) is one of the largest financial institutions and banks in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. Apparently, NAB is ranked the seventeenth largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation. That makes NAB bigger than such luminaries as Citigroup (US), Morgan Stanley (US), Barclays (UK) and Deutsche Bank (figure it out yourself). Just for the record, the NAB is only the third largest Australian bank, so we’re punching above our weight in the global financial world down here in Oz.

Which leads me to today’s Sunday Top Five, the Top Five Things That Australia Leads the World In (beginning with the letter ‘S’’!

Sheilas: this one should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. Australian sheilas are renowned the world over for their good likes, fine figures and filthy mouths strong opinions. One simply cannot compile a list such as this without them.

Snags: Although I will confess to being a connoisseur of German-style snags, Australian butchers are renowned for their innovative and economical expansion of the concept. Henry and Ezra are fine judges of a snag, and regularly, they are able to choose between locally produced beef, pork, chicken, lamb, roo, wallaby, and possum. Personally, one of my favourite snags contains the humble crocodile – which I have enjoyed a number of times – but as yet they haven’t quite penetrated the Tasmanian butcheries yet…

Stupidity: don’t get me wrong, I believe that stupidity is a universal human quality found in every nation, race, religion, gender and geographical region on Earth. That said, like all fields of human endeavour: runnin’, jumpin’, throwin’ stuff; many Australians have excelled in the global stupidity ranks. Feel free to nominate your examples in the comments!

Snakes: We love our snakes down here at the arse end of the world. Unfortunately, our snakes are not always fond of a cuddle. Indeed, Australia is the only country that has more venomous snakes than non-venomous species! I advise all visitors to our great land to keep an eye out for snakes wherever they are, whether in the bush, scrub, billabong, beach, nightclub etc.

Shags: Australians love a shag. Men, women and children all day long, in all parts of the country, can be overheard debating the merits of a good shag. Every time that we leave the house, you can be guaranteed to see a shag or two. Aussies are mad for shags. As this blog has demonstrated over the years, the Little Pied Cormorant is perhaps the most beloved Australasian waterbird!