Ginger Stick / photos by Cissy Strutt

coffee is my lifeblood

2010-01-28T20:19:00.007+11:00

Americana and Latte Macchiato at Oxymoron

Grosse Americana mit heisse milch at Impala

Latte Macchiato doppelt at Liebling

Latte macchiato at Baltas

happy bloggoday to me

2010-01-18T04:52:00.005+11:00

It has been three years since I started this palaver. Thanks for hanging out, you guys.

And because I know you want it, here, finally, is a full length photograph of me.

Enjoy

did I mention it was snowing?

2010-01-17T00:04:00.000+11:00

frozen Spree

2010-01-13T06:02:00.002+11:00

Here is Berlin it is cold and snowy. And freezy, as you can see here.

a berry new year

2009-12-31T08:43:00.003+11:00

I wish a juicy 2010 on all of you.

christmas bush

2009-12-04T17:35:00.000+11:00

velour balls

2009-11-29T09:28:00.002+11:00

lav

2009-11-19T17:58:00.002+11:00

They don't make 'em like this any more.

red balloon

2009-11-07T08:57:00.000+11:00

my cup runs over

2009-11-03T20:48:00.008+11:00

After the thrill of being placed in the How Now Brown Cow competition, today I won the fashion contest at the NSW Bridge Club Melbourne Cup lunch. Oh, and my partner & I won our Bridge as well.

I am so very very wonderful.

time is fleeting

2009-10-31T07:17:00.000+11:00

merry merry king

2009-10-24T16:18:00.001+11:00

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry merry king of the bush is he
Laugh kookaburra, laugh kookaburra
Gay your life must be

nice belt

2009-10-08T08:08:00.002+11:00

Why was 6 afraid of 7?
Because 7 8 9.

What did 0 say to 8?
Nice belt.

Have a nice 8th October, won't you?

Christ on a bike

2009-10-05T17:39:00.003+11:00

I can't believe I missed International Blasphemy Day on the 30th September. Luckily the wonderful Skepbitch kept the faith.

gone to graveyards, every one

2009-10-02T18:29:00.001+10:00

footpath

2009-09-28T08:27:00.000+10:00

dust

2009-09-23T09:13:00.001+10:00

Sydney at 6.13 this morning. Dust rolling in from Broken Hill. Taste of it in the air. End of the World. I'm off out to get coffee now. Maybe I'll start smoking again?

saturated spring

2009-09-22T08:54:00.000+10:00

lunch with Fried Krill

2009-09-14T22:36:00.003+10:00

Sydney winter sky

2009-08-28T17:51:00.002+10:00

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Ah, Percy Bysshe, I do love poetry about behinds.

and you don't stop

2009-08-17T09:23:00.000+10:00

walking The Rocks 2

2009-08-09T09:31:00.001+10:00

walking The Rocks

2009-08-01T16:14:00.028+10:00

Today, I went for a walk around The Rocks. It was the area first established by the English after they invaded in 1788.

It was a place of skullduggery, cut-throatery, ill-manners and general bad-end-of-townness from then until the 1970s. Then it got gentrified & made polite. Nowadays, it is the place all tourists go to see convict-cut sandstone buildings, and olde timey things.

And walk over the Harbour Bridge.

(And go on ghost tours. If you are lucky enough, your Ghost Host will be my friend JenVu.)

I have had many jobs in The Rocks. I drove hansom cabs there in the early 1980s, wearing a top hat and a tail coat.

(That's not me, but you get the idea)

When the magnificent Maritime Services Board building was being coverted into the Museum of Contemporary Art in 1990, I worked in the memberships programme. After it opened in 1991, I worked on events.

Here is Jeff Koon's Puppy. Love it.

I worked at the bookstore in The Rocks from 1999 to whenever. You may remember my encounter with nudes there.

And here is another workplace of mine. It is said that Australia has the perfect Opera House. The outside is in Sydney, the inside is in Melbourne and the parking is in Adelaide. Having worked in all those Houses (plus Perth's wonderful Her Majesty's, and Brisbane's QPAC) I can concur. Still, there is nothing like walking 'round from Circular Quay towards the House, looking up at Jorn Utzon's glorious sails, and thinking - I work there.

(*Hansom cab and MCA photos not mine)

on reflection

2009-07-31T08:28:00.008+10:00

Why yes, I guess I am nuts about life. And nuts. Nuts ..... yum.

tram shot

2009-07-29T13:43:00.001+10:00

(thanks to Etta Modern for showing me camerabag.)

nice

2009-07-06T17:58:00.000+10:00

I like flowers, water and architecture.

Vale Jill Munroe

2009-06-27T08:08:00.003+10:00

man and dog

2009-06-01T08:26:00.000+10:00

Photo Friday - High Speed

2009-05-29T19:41:00.007+10:00

tree mendous

2009-05-23T10:23:00.002+10:00

I had a wonderful birthday season - ten days of attention being paid to ME. I must be wonderful, wouldn't you say? It was all summed up in the card I got from Pookie, who wished me

"A big happy wonderful playful romantic loving fun-filled joyful dirty disgusting smelly rosy farty healthy positive poofy bowel-regularity smiley silly sexy flatulent provocative challenging rewarding smutty fluffy propelled stimulating resourceful stinky sweary hilarious soleful soulful somnambulent birthday"

... and I did.

O happy day

2009-05-19T08:14:00.000+10:00

bananas

2009-05-14T22:11:00.000+10:00

There was a time I swang free through the concrete jungle, gibbering my doggerel, earning a few measly clams. Ah the early eighties ...

I have come so far .... *choke*

big wheel

2009-05-11T08:17:00.001+10:00

keep on turning.

crenellation

2009-05-07T21:04:00.000+10:00

When you are ruled by a Queen, you're gonna get castles.

two hundred

2009-05-05T08:59:00.000+10:00

It's a rainy autumn morning here in Sydney. The Harbour is shrouded, the coffee is hot, and I'm in my pyjamas. And two hundred posts ago, I ventured a toe into the blogosphere, and found you all. Aaaawww. Now bring me some petit fours and rub my feet.

(Happy birthdays to Big K, Fynn9 and Nicemu the Mad Greek)

rooted

2009-05-01T21:27:00.000+10:00

introducing Furry

2009-04-29T18:11:00.008+10:00

Oskar was a dog among dogs, an individual, distinctive, attentive, clever, loving animal.

Furry comes to us from a rescue shelter, too. He is a dog of a different stripe. Initially unsure of his place, fearful that he wouldn't be fed, wanting to be part of the pack, but unable to meet our eyes. Now, thanks to the loving home he inhabits, he's a feisty, humorous, hairy firecracker. He loves the beach, and hangin' with his gang. He has many admirers, and is trying hard to figure out going to the cafe. You'd like him. And he would like to sit on your lap.

Threskiornis aethiopicus redux

2009-04-26T10:18:00.002+10:00

bus stop

2009-04-23T07:45:00.001+10:00

where was Mister Jackson?

2009-04-19T21:22:00.012+10:00

So there were some motherfucking snakes on a motherfucking Qantas plane. Four Stimson's pythons. They couldn't be found. So Qantas decided to fumigate the plane. To kill the pythons. Which are non-venomous. Poo on Qantas. A Qantas spokesman said they established that "the species was not threatened or endangered". Wouldn't you say that those particular four reptiles were both? Read all about it.

fanfare

2009-04-15T10:16:00.005+10:00

No need to fret my lovelies, just letting you know I went to the doctor yesterday. Yes, we do go to doctors when there is nothing apparently wrong. This lets us check up on our general health, and catch problems before they become, er, problematic. So I saw Doctor Dimitri (fee for consultation: $AUD 0.00). He ordered some blood rests - 8 to be exact. (Fee for 8 tests: $AUD 0.00). He had some concerns regarding a persistent sore shoulder. So he ordered some X-rays and an ultra-sound. (4 X-rays $AUD 0.00, 1 ultrasound $AUD 0.00). In addition, at my request, he wrote me a referral to my osteopath for 5 visits. (5 visits to Wendy the Osteopath $AUD 0.00.)

Now, we Australians eschew the fanfare, so i won't go on and on. There is much to criticise in my country, culturally, politically, fiscally. But the Medicare system worked for me yesterday. It did cost me time - I was at the Medical Centre from 8.45 til after 1, I have to return for my ultrasound, and also for more blood to be taken as my arm was empty, apparently. While I have an appointment time for the ultrasound, I will have to take a number & queue up again for blood-letting. Yesterday, my wait at Pathology was over an hour. Still, I had a book and the time passed not unpleasantly.

Man goes to the doctor for a physical examination.
Doctor says to the Man "You have got to stop masturbating".
Man says "Why?"
Doctor says "Because I am trying to give you a physical examination".

Eucalyptus ficifolia redux

2009-04-12T08:56:00.007+10:00

Autumn again ...

Woolloomooloo

2009-04-06T08:32:00.002+10:00

Crocodylus johnsoni

2009-03-29T11:57:00.005+11:00

You are not safe, even in a suburban bathroom. Beware the Australian native fauna. And some of the flora is pretty nasty, too.

firemen's behinds

2009-03-20T12:29:00.002+11:00

They do such a good job. Mmmm

one french fry short of a happy meal

2009-03-19T23:43:00.003+11:00

Apart from my own, the only blog I can claim to have read every single post on is Tetherd Cow Ahead. Reverend Anaglyph's wit is sharp and his brain is huge and pulsating (he keeps it in a jar), his sense of social justice is fierce, and he suffers fools neither gladly nor otherwise. He is fearless and challenging and he makes us think. And laugh. Oh yes indeed, the laughing. He is the most irreverent reverend you will ever come across.

He has invented a superfun cool Anti-Meme. Go and try it here.

bats

2009-03-15T14:14:00.005+11:00

The wonderful writer Lionel Shriver has this to say about being 50 and menopausal:

"Already my opinions are obnoxious, belligerent and unapologetic. Dyspeptic, tactless and aggressively disrespectful of everything from the credulous liberalism of my upbringing to religion of every stripe, I figure I've got the makings of a fabulous old bat."

by Hawking's chair!

2009-03-10T12:43:00.001+11:00

Well I know you are longing to hear how it went. Monsters vs Aliens in 3D is a tour de force, nothing short of sheer brilliance technically, and a fun story to boot. The female lead character's neck is perilously slim (how does it support the weight of those huge eyes?) but I loved it from start to finish. Gone are the clumsy cardboard-with-red-and-green-lenses 3D glasses. As you can see on our model, Kai the Ghost Dingo, we wore stylish nerd-tastic frames. Go at a time when kids will be in the cinema, and sit at least halfway back. Part of the fun is watching them reach up to try and catch balls, leaves and other objects floating just in front of their eyes.

Star spotting: I saw, but did not get to declare my love to, Seth Rogan. However, I was thrilled to say "Not my gumdrop buttons" to Conrad Vernon. He smiled shyly and said "Aw thanks". Jeffrey Katzenberg is short.

Lipstick update: Russian Red was a smash hit, Friday it was Wanton by Benefit, ditto Saturday, Sunday's lips featured Ladybug by Mac, and back to Wanton for Monday.

red carpet red lipstick

2009-03-05T08:34:00.001+11:00

In my twenties and thirties, I wore lipstick every day. Then I just sort of stopped wearing it every day. Now I don't apply even once a week. Tonight I am attending the Australian premiere of Monsters vs Aliens, walking the red carpet. I pledge that not only shall I apply, it will be red - Mac Russian Red, to be precise. And further, I will wear red lipstick every day for a week. I'll let you know how that goes.

Ficus carica

2009-02-22T22:03:00.000+11:00

Five fast fun facts about figs*

1. What we think of as the fruit, is in fact the flower of the tree (called an inflorescence).
2. After Adam & Eve realised they were nekkid, they clad their genitals with fig leaves.
3. Some varieties of figs are Brown Turkey, Celeste and Poona.
4. The word sycophant literally means "showing the fig".
5. In Ken Russell's 1969 film, Women In Love, Alan Bates eats a fig. If you've never seen it, just ... just watch it ...
6. Shakespeare once wrote (or was it Kit Marlowe) "When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like the bragging Spaniard".

(*Facts may not be fun, acceleration not guaranteed. Oh, and there may not be five.)

ring sting

2009-02-16T12:12:00.002+11:00

Because 'ass' doesn't mean 'arse' in my beautiful country, this sign is not at all funny.

burning ring of fire

2009-02-01T10:10:00.005+11:00

The bushfires in Victoria have so far claimed 28 homes and 60 sheds. Oh, the sheds.

26th January

2009-01-26T11:15:00.000+11:00

In 1788, Europeans landed on the continent now known as Australia. They haven't left yet ...

get nude, again

2009-01-22T22:54:00.006+11:00

Something tells me that those great aficionados of Art, AngryGinger & ColonelColonel will enjoy this scribble.

And for C.Rag - arse.

tree for two

2009-01-18T23:54:00.001+11:00

Hello folks. Just to say, this makes two years of noodling on the 'nets. Thanks for sharing the noodles.

this morning 6:07am

2009-01-13T22:18:00.003+11:00

... I glanced out of my window ...

proof positive

2008-12-25T11:49:00.007+11:00

Santa came to my home last night.

He drank his Coopers Pale Ale to the lees.

He ate his star-shaped iced shortbread.

And the reindeer had a gnaw on a carrot.

I wish you all a merry Xmas and a peaceful holiday season. Be safe & well.

palindromes are erasemordnilap

2008-12-06T12:21:00.000+11:00

... which has nothing to do with this picture, which I call 'leafs'(sfael).

pointy

2008-11-25T16:33:00.000+11:00

Inspired by this post by headbang8 over at Deutschland Uber Elvis, I give you my favourite New York building.

And my favourite poem, by John Lillison:

O pointy birds, o pointy pointy.
Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.

Such heights of poesy as Joey & Atlas can only dream on.

wheel

2008-11-17T07:13:00.000+11:00

Bougainvillea spectabilis redux

2008-11-11T20:02:00.016+11:00

Last year, we visited a bougainvillea in Spain, with a dear little amphibian to boot. Here is a spectacular specimen living near Michaelangelo Optica and Cowboy Gee in Erskineville.

The heady honey fragrance can be nosed from metres away (yards for our newly Democratic friends). I'd like to bottle it for Anaglyph.

the Race that Stops a Nation

2008-11-04T09:29:00.012+11:00

It is the first Tuesday in November, and today a race will be run which brings an entire Nation together. Hope will struggle with Despair, Triumph hand in hand with Defeat. A whole Nation's hearts will beat strongly, quickly, as one. Then Joy unalloyed for the Winner, and the losers drag home with empty wallets, dreading the hangover of the morrow.

Yes, folks, it is Melbourne Cup Day. Don't ring Australia at 3.20pm, no-one will answer the phone.

Before the day is out, you must make the eternal, and difficult, choice between a fascinator and a hat.

Oh, and the horses. The beautiful horses.

So good luck to us all today in our voting, er I mean, betting. I like a hat, but this year I'm all for the Fascinator.

update: 45-1 roughie Viewed has won the Melbourne Cup, the twelfth for magic trainer Bart Cummings.

Brachychiton acerifolius

2008-10-27T10:16:00.005+11:00

here's another view of the Illawarra Flame Tree because chickie liked it so much.

John Mills Himself

2008-10-24T17:52:00.001+11:00

Now you know as much as I do.

Brisbane, Queensland

2008-10-21T12:52:00.014+11:00

(thanks to Schatzi for the last two photos, and to the stunning State Library of Queensland for the wireless connection)

new kid on the block

2008-10-13T13:19:00.004+11:00

And so we welcome Angry Ginger into the world. He jumped the gun, and is tearing ahead.

Cissy Aged One has some words of wisdom for him:
Have your stuffed koala beside you at all times, taking care he is not larger than you are; ensure you are wearing a jaunty hat made out of a birthday card; and always, I mean always, have your hand down your pants.

dad

2008-10-09T16:33:00.001+11:00

Dad died three years ago today. Here he is in 1960 with 8 week old Cissy and her brother.

Mum labelled the photo on the back ...

("Dad's hard afternoon")

Here we are in LA, on the porch of our house. Dad was at USC on a Fullbright scholarship.

Sydney 1963. And there's nothing like tickling fingers to induce hysteria in small children.

He was a great dad as dads go. And as dads go, he went. (Special 'dad joke' for Dad, who had many).

Magnolia grandiflora

2008-10-01T21:17:00.001+10:00

Magnolias are scenting the air. It'll be the jacarandas next. Wonderful.

rosy fingered dawn

2008-09-28T07:32:00.006+10:00

Outside my window this morning. Happy Sunday everyone. I'm at the bookshop today if you want to drop by.

Spring continues apace

2008-09-21T22:24:00.002+10:00

I love trees. But I wouldn't want to be one.

pirates off the port bow

2008-09-19T00:01:00.003+10:00

Avast, ye lubbers, Bella Grim & her grimy band of scallywags have boarded the SS Ginger Stick. Break out the Rum, smartly now, and keep a weather eye out for the Squid.

black berries

2008-09-17T07:14:00.002+10:00

Shiny. But only eat them if you'd like a swift trip to a convenient mortuary. Or, maybe they are delicious. Who can say? Who was the first homo sapiens sapiens to try one? Hey, Barry, this is shiny. Eat this. *snigger*. Maybe Homo sapiens idaltu tested it out. And that's why they are extinct (take that, fraternal sub-species).

I'm just hanging out for Friday.

completely cactus

2008-09-14T07:46:00.000+10:00

jugs

2008-09-09T14:48:00.010+10:00

I promised Miss Rag.

bud

2008-09-08T07:56:00.001+10:00

Spring is busting out all over.

candy stripe pistol shrimp

2008-09-04T08:57:00.008+10:00

Prompted by JR's pedantry over at Tetherd Cow Ahead, I present you with the Candy Stripe Pistol Shrimp, one of several species named for my father. (The latin name, dear readers. I don't want you getting the idea dad was Mister Pistol Shrimp. [That's Doctor Pistol Shrimp, to you.] Though that would have been cool, no?)

Of course, being a research scientist, a marine biologist by trade, it is not uncommon to have a species named after you. But Dad is the envy of his gang in that he has a Genus named after him too. Go Dad. Dead three years come October 9th, but alive in taxonomy.

Next up in the series: the Stout-Legged Wren - extinct, but on a stamp.

funerary cherub

2008-08-31T08:31:00.000+10:00

This morning, a lovely grey veiling rain is falling on Sydney. My home is a haven. Today I am drawing. It is the last day of Winter. This chap stands sentinel on a grave in Bubenreuth cemetery. I wonder what sky he is under today.

putting your whole life on eBay - some thoughts

2008-08-22T09:07:00.003+10:00

The decision to put your whole life on eBay is not taken lightly. But once taken, a rush of energy and a sense of elation takes hold. Then there's the coughing as your burrowing dislodges years of dust.

When I say my whole life is on eBay, I might be exaggerating just slightly. But basically everything I own is coming under intense scrutiny, and 83% of it is up for sale. There are things I felt I could never part with, which now I can't wait to enshrine in bubble wrap and entrust to Australia Post.

(Whoever else is making money on eBay, the Post Office is creaming it.)

I now have CHOAS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) as there is stuff literally everywhere all over my apartment. Yes, Rev - literally. Me and my laptop and my tape measure and my scales crouch in a small clearing, surrounded by tottering piles. I sleep with clothing scattered all over the bed. (Don't you wish you knew my username so you could buy some of that stuff)

Everyone wants in. Somehow the idea excites or scares or challenges people. Although some are initially taken aback, now I'm a clearinghouse for friends' bits and bobs. Oh you should see the garments the Gucci Mama has given me to sell, with the swing tags twinkling in the light.

I wrap everything beautifully. I would say it is in my nature to do so, but also I think of the people receiving the items, and the pleasure they will get. More than that, I have realised I'm honouring my things, having a little moment with them before they are sent away. Because it's not that I don't like them.

Funny, the handful of things that gave me a real pang to list, I thought, okay if it doesn't sell, you can keep it. You know the tag of that story. They all sold.

I try to write lively & engaging descriptions. And I am scrupulous about indicating faults.

But describing is not easy. You may think, oh yes, this top is funky, I'll put funky. Then you find yourself holding up a top and staring at it for minutes at a time as you interrogate the question, "Is this top really 'funky'? Or not? Is it perhaps 'spunky'? If I call it 'groovy' is that a naughty fib?"

Here are some of my favourite describing words: fresh, suave, pretty, unusual, wild, stylish, elegant, cheeky, classic, soft, divine, unique, jazzy, snazzy, crisp, chic, fab.

Here are some of the colour names I used: asparagus, deep leaf, donkey, crimson, dirty brown, mushroom, oatmeal (trying very hard not to say 'beige'), french blue, powder blue, navy, peach, chocolate, grey marle, silver, black, deep black & true black.

And I'll be doing some "live" selling too. Schmoopy & I are having a stall at Rozelle Markets on Sunday. Come down & say hi.

only these

2008-08-17T08:02:00.000+10:00

Here is a small thing which drives me crazy with exasperation. Say you want a red 7 litre plastic bucket. You go to a hardware shop. You say "Do you have any red plastic buckets?" The sales persons say "No, only these" pointing to a stack of red 7 litre plastic buckets.

What is it with the "only these"? I have exactly what you are after, but I respond "No, only these".

I thought perhaps this was an Antipodean habit. But on my recent trip to the United States, I found myself in picturesque Pennsylvania. I have been wanting some old wooden children's blocks for a while, so when I spotted a charming bric-a-brac shop in Frenchtown, naturally I made moves to enquire. "Good morning", I began. "I wonder if you would have any old wooden children's blocks at all?". "No," replied the sweet silver-haired shop woman, "Only these".

my medal

2008-08-11T15:44:00.010+10:00

Forget those pesky Olympics.

While many of you were sleeping, I did the 14 kilometre City 2 Surf, from lovely downtown Sydney to the sands of Bondi Beach.

Can you pick me out?

Christo in Paris

2008-08-06T16:07:00.001+10:00

The French are just so bloody stylish, non?

hair today

2008-08-03T08:33:00.000+10:00

Now that I have finished my film role, I can cut my hair. I've had to let it grow all these months - a little thing called continuity. But I don't know what to do with it. Has any woman ever said "I don't know what to do with my hair" before this? I wonder.

When I was a girl, I had long red hair down to my bum. As a grown-up I've had - long hair, short hair, shoulder length, several bobs including one 'shattered', Flock-of-Seagulls hair, perms (both body & root), a number 3, an asymetrical razor cut, a shag, plaits, Culture Club hair, a mohawk, a Vidal Sassoon, ponies high & low, braided extensions, seldom a fringe, and never a Farrah, a Diana, or a Jennifer (but I am considering an Aggy.) My dos have included, but not been limited to, french rolls, bouffants, messy day tease mad-woman hair, serious backcombing, crimping, curlering and enough product to float Queen Mary (the queen, not the ship).

And by the way, when am I going to get my first white hair? Every other woman I know dyes their hair (except the Gucci Mama - her blonde hair is turning an elegant silver).

Is it that I have had every hairstyle in the known universe and there's nothing left to try?

What oh what am I going to do with my hair?

Bridge

2008-07-31T22:21:00.000+10:00

I met Doris twenty years ago on the comedy circuit. Today we took our first Bridge class. We are wondering if it is now time to put a wisteria rinse through our hair, and start referring to everyone as 'dear'.

sweeties

2008-07-29T09:09:00.000+10:00

I love sugar. Oh how I love it.

I love Haigh's chocolate, South Australia's finest. Their milk chocolate scorched almonds are a perfect breakfast, accompanied by hot dark coffee.

I love sour gummy anything.

I love dessert. There is a reason 'desserts' is 'stressed' spelled backwards.

I love Minties and Fantales and Jaffas.

I love bitter dark chocolate.

I love pfeffernusse.

I love lamingtons.

I love See's candy. I had a whole box of mixed truffles to myself last time I came through LAX. I bought a box for The Gucci Mama too as an alibi.

The Croissant D'Or opposite the El-Alamein Fountain does a vanilla slice you could drown in.

I love paddle-pops and Bubble O' Bill. I enjoy a Gaytime.

I love anything banana-flavoured. I love how "banana flavour" is like "chicken flavour" - nothing like the taste of the thing it is named for.

I love sweeties, lollies, candies, chocolate, treats, ice-cream, creme brulee, butterscotch, panna cotta, lemon bars, marshmallow, maple syrup, caramel, fudge, cakes.

And today it has been four weeks since I had any sugar. Of any kind. One month and counting ...

West Village whimsy

2008-07-26T22:55:00.003+10:00

Who can resist wet cement?

hanging around the Cross

2008-07-24T19:52:00.004+10:00

The Pope has flown, the pilgrims have dribbled away, and I'm just hanging around the Cross.

let's hear it for the boys

2008-07-20T09:27:00.000+10:00

Because mike keeps a neat and artistic shop. Because Atlas Cerise appreciates a fine product. Because Colonel Colonel can rip off a strip with the best of them. Because The Very Reverend Anaglyph has been known to DIY. Today we celebrate duct tape.

fill 'em up!

2008-07-17T19:54:00.003+10:00

Please ignore this filler post.

bird on a wire

2008-07-16T08:07:00.000+10:00

(well, you come up with something cleverer)

Ficus macrophylla

2008-07-11T07:27:00.001+10:00

For malach and angryginger (she is a ginger and she is cross), a Moreton Bay Fig from Centennial Park to climb and fall out of. Bats love these fig trees. They gorge on the fruit then shit virulent fuschia-coloured poo. As the sign says "Beware the Bats' Poo". It should really say "Don't Be Where The Bats Poo".

vale Oskar

2008-07-08T19:32:00.011+10:00

Oskar gives us a lick

a nod of thanks

shows us his dear profile

and sets off on his last long run on the beach.

good boy

Centennial Park

2008-07-04T17:13:00.004+10:00

Near my home is Centennial Park, "a 189-hectare grand park in the Victorian period tradition featuring formal gardens, ponds, grand avenues, statues, historic buildings and sporting fields", so they say.

I go there and walk about, or sit in the cafe.

But when you come to visit, you might like to ride horses, or cycle.

Or walk your dog.

Several years ago, I met a friend for weekly walks through that Spring. We found a clutch of five cygnets with their parents, and on every walk after that we looked for them and watched their progress. One day, having not been for a while, there was no sign of five fluffy birds. We were sad. Then we spied a group of seven swans, and realised five of them were smaller than the other two. Our cygnets had fledged, and were now rambuctuous teenagers.

Meeting anyone who regularly used the Park during that time, I realised we all watched over that family group, somehow heartened that all of the babies survived the cold and the predators and grew up under our eyes.

They all only had one head, though.

Luna Park

2008-06-28T08:23:00.001+10:00

Lately, life has been a bit of a .... well, you know ...

At least I know where to stick my coin.

what Barbie set out for my birthday

2008-06-21T21:07:00.000+10:00

Any port in a storm.

Say cheese.

Pennsylvania turtle

2008-06-18T21:03:00.001+10:00

There's nothing like looking into a Pennsylvanian stream and spotting a discarded rubber glove (inflated & tied off at the wrist) and spluttering about vandals who desecrate beautiful sylvan countrysides and then getting closer and finding it's a Pennsylvania turtle floating in the stream taking in the day at his leisure.

[And, yes, he is alive. He is keeping himself in place by gently waving alternate front legs.]

{This image is now Nuala Fury's screen saver. Little turtle goes a long way.}

birdbath

2008-06-15T20:59:00.001+10:00

I see you there.

None for you.

two heads better

2008-06-13T18:23:00.000+10:00

Here we are in sylvan Pennsylvania.

Here we are back in Centennial Park in Sydney.

So you see, my friends, they follow me across the globe.

how green was my valley

2008-06-08T11:45:00.009+10:00

A glorious Spring day in New Hope (the county, not the Star Wars movie). Nuala Fury, Edgar Allen Joe, Our Man Flynn, and Agatha Christie all share the rent on a wonderful country home where we spent some marvelous days in Pennsylvania. It is indeed sylvan. And I saw a ground hog and some tree toads. And some poison ivy. Ooo aah. Also some avifauna, to be revealed in a later post.

imbroglio

2008-06-04T08:50:00.006+10:00

When asked, the Gucci Mama said she would have no hesitation in allowing Bill Henson to photograph her eight-year-old son (seen above, photographed by me, New Year's Eve 2007). And this is the woman who won't allow photographs of children in underwear in the catalogues of the retail giant she runs. Even thinking twice about toddlers in swimsuits.

What is happening in my country? I leave it alone for ten days, and it gets itself into trouble. More here.

If you are unfamiliar with Bill Henson's work, putting his name into google images will give you a quick overview.

Let's hear the man himself on the subject: Henson told the Herald "there is always something being boiled up. George Steiner once said that the media's only job is to create and maintain a state of emergency. About what," he added, laughing, "it doesn't matter."

My own 'thoughts' are rather feelings. Anger, outrage, revolt. And, horribly, dismay. I have made no secret of my pash on Kevin Rudd, our Prime Minister. I knew in my heart that the honeymoon would not last. But I didn't think it would end quite so soon. And in such a distressing way.

Take a little mind balm from Annabel Crabb for soothment.

I only wish that this incident had somehow involved chanteuse Natalie Imbruglia so I could have entitled this post Imbruglia Imbroglio.

I am still jetlagged. But then again, I have been mainlining sugar all morning.

birth day

2008-05-19T19:17:00.006+10:00

On my birthday every year, Miss K would give me a card. In each one she wrote "You grow lovelier with every passing year." On her birthday, I would give her a card saying "You will always be older than me."

Miss K died four years ago, aged 47. Today I turned 48. Now it is she who grows lovelier with every passing year, and I am the one who is older.