Dedication.

This model took me a while. It's based on the man who immediately flew to Tasmania to rescue his son when his bike was hit by a car. You the best.
My Dad

Ben's Facebook post. Context: April 2011

Pedro Mota on YouTube.

I've been following a few motorcycle travellers on Youtube.

A personal favourite is Pedro Mota who has ridden his much-repaired and modified '91 Honda Transalp across Europe, through Turkey, Iraq, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. He's currently locked-down in Argentina and hopes to ride to the southernmost tip of South America before turning around and heading north.

Here's a small selection from Pedro's channel:

Brazil and the biker's prayer*

Bartang Valley Tajikistan

250km beach ride in Brazil



* The blessings of the Big Guy (© Pedro Mota)

May the oil stay viscous and slippery,
and absent of water.
May the carburetor pump,
like a strong man's heart.
And may the engine keep pushing us
to further and further away destinations.
Help us now and then to make good foolish decisions,
but save us from the too-foolish ones.
Amen.

A spring Saturday snapshot.

Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers playing throughout the house. Several loads worth of washing hanging inside and outside. The washing machine "error coded" and refused to spin the last load. The vacuum cleaner has been busy, on hard surfaces... carpets are for another day. Freshly-cut grass spread all over the backyard and Jazz (the dog, not the music) has green feet. Those green feet have been out for a walk and we caught the end of a local auction. Three BR unit passed-in at $815k, sentiment is that the "market's slow" but possibly everyone's become too greedy. John Coltrane's playing now, it's a very long clarinet solo and the tune is from Mary Poppins, might go and bump the cursor along a bit. 

Perspective.

Changing perspective, seeing the familiar in different ways. A pleasant weekend away from the kitchen and at the farm.

Zenterlink.

Zenterlink, where you learn patience, the folly of assertiveness, living with less and how to sit for long periods of time.

Arkham.

Confined by a straightjacket, beset by doubt and misery, cursed by bad luck and plagued by a swarm of rats... yet managed to rescue Daniel Chesterfield and escape the asylum.

Snapshot.

The last day of 2017. Right now it's 11am and Ben's in the kitchen solo-playing Onirim while waiting for UFC 219 to start. YouTube is auto-playing music of varying quality in the background. Downstairs, the washing machine noisily cleanses an assortment of ragged towels, old clothes and a new Coles Christmas t-shirt. The joyfully-red shirt has been in active service for three evening shifts a week while its generally-solemn wearer re-stocks shelves and helps customers locate items. The other evening, I asked for directions and was directed to a non-existent aisle 23. Mum, who's rarely here, was here briefly and has just left. Jazz is out in the yard snoozing amongst the peach pits. Two motorcycles sit idly in the garage, parked between the old blue Ford and a less-old Holden station wagon. The even-older Skyline has been sold to an enthusiastic younger person with lots of plans. Household finances, an ever-present post-retrenchment concern, have been eased by occasional freelance work with known publishers. As a result, those red zones on the planning spreadsheets have gradually been pushed back and we're safe to stay put for the next 12 months. UFC has started and our former-traveller is resting tiredly on the couch while heavily tattooed adults beat each other up using an assortment of fighting styles on the TV. "He's in a bad situation here," according to Joe Rogan's commentary. As for us, we're doing OK.

The Dark Arts.

We've been re-watching the entire Harry Potter series. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Delores Umbridge is placed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the Minister of Magic. Ms Umbridge happens to be particularly fond of cats and her favourite colour is any shade of pink. Ostensibly she’s there to teach but she has a secret agenda as the Ministry seeks to gain control of the school. Clipboard in hand, Umbridge clinically assesses the staff and decides who stays and who goes. Sybill Trelawney, the Divination teacher, is marched out while the entire school looks on in dismay. With the connivance of the Ministry, headmaster Dumbledore is sacked. The highly-respected wizard who devoted a lifetime of service to the school is forced to leave. In a memorable scene, Dumbledore refuses to go quietly and disappears in a spectacular flash of flame. "You have to admit that Dumbledore's got style," concedes one member of the Ministry.  This story springs to mind today, the first anniversary of my own experience of the dark art of retrenchment. This will be the only anniversary because I would like to obliviate those unpleasant memories and move on.

Harry and Raffy.

[A very good tale.]

Today was clear and sunny which is unusual for this time of year but not unusual this particular year. While Ben waited patiently in Dr Bob's surgery, I waited patiently in a nearby park and read a good book. I had a bench all to myself and enjoyed the sun's warmth on my back. Gum trees were flowering and cheerful sounds of parrots filled the air. A Filipino lady appeared, attached the leads of her two shaggy terriers to one leg of the bench, checked that I didn't mind then walked off to the Salvos op shop. Before she left, I asked about the dogs' names but it wasn't really clear which was Harry and which was Raffy. One whimpered constantly and looked sadly in the direction of the shop. The other growled at anyone who walked by and yapped at other dogs in the distance. I kept reading. A few minutes later, a grandfather arrived. He was pushing his grandson along on a colourful plastic trike, one of those trikes with a long handle at the back. "He likes dogs," the grandfather explained. "They're not mine," I replied. Soon afterwards, Ben came to tell me the doctor was running late. He kept his distance but was clearly amused by the small crowd gathered around my bench. Dog leads were entwined around the grandfather's legs, one dog whimpered, the other one growled, the grandchild sat quietly on his trike slowly extending his tiny fingers towards Harry's or Raffy's nose and I kept reading.

Kitchen gymnasium.

[Kitchen gymnasium on a sunny autumn-nearly-winter morning.]

Our kitchen has been the focus of many activities* over the years. In its latest iteration, the area has been transformed into a small gymnasium complete with floor mats, punching bag, boxing speed ball on a stand and 'Draco' the Jiu Jitsu grappling dummy.

The TV has been moved to an adjoining room which has become the "home theatre" complete with a comfy couch. We're all amazed that, considering how many years we've lived in this house, no one thought of it earlier.

The table has been pushed up against the bench so there's not much space for eating in the kitchen these days. However, like many of our relatives, we can now eat dinner and watch videos while sitting on the couch.

* One year in the kitchen (2013),  Heating and sleeping (2012),  Kitchen workshop (2013),
Camping in the kitchen (2013),  Music in the kitchen (2013),  Christmas in the kitchen (2012),
Kitchen tap (2012),  Yoga in the kitchen (2012),  Kitchen battlefield (2012).

The Cottage.

The cottage sold for $135,000 back in August 2013 and has just been listed for sale again at an asking price of $189,000. The new owners have made many improvements. It now has a wood heater, two large plastic water tanks, a good-sized tool/garden shed, a concreted area behind the house and some nice landscaping. One of the photos shows there's even a very neat and tidy dog kennel situated behind the rear bedroom. All of the original furniture is still there but is not included in this sale. No longer connected to the grid, the cottage has solar panels with a 24v battery bank, though I wonder how they manage during those dark wet winters. One of the locals mentioned a generator when we re-visited the town earlier this year. As I write this, Ben's still in the kitchen and happily back into WOW and other internet activities. There's no NBN access in Weldborough. If there was, that little cottage would be mighty tempting!

29689 Tasman Highway Weldborough Tas 7264

Tick Tock.

Tick tock,
Time to stop.
Story continues,
Blog ends.

Bourne in Berlin.

(web image)

We’ve been watching and enjoying the Bourne series. According to Ben, "Jason Bourne wouldn’t be such a hero without the European public transport system". He especially enjoyed identifying familiar places in The Bourne Supremacy which was set in Berlin. We do have to return to Berlin for one final medical procedure, probably next year, and will make good use of the trains.

Yami Yami.

Ben had another appointment at Box Hill today. We also had a delicious lunch at the Yami Yami Korean restaurant. We’ll be back in a few weeks time for the next appointment and for lunch.

Clint Eastwood.

While the name makes me think of a tough cowboy, an even tougher detective or an opinionated old bloke with a rifle, Ben thinks of this song by the Gorillaz:

(Gran Torino, web image)

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on...

What’s in a name?

Starcraft II players use names like Classic, Maru, MarineKing, Terminator, Soulkey, Reality, PartinG, Dream, Hurricane, Super, Solar, Creator, DeParture and sOs. All the most successful players are from Korea and some use English versions of their Korean names like BByong and DongRaeGu (DRG). One player recently won $100,000 at a winner-take-all tournament in Katowice Poland. Ben thinks that I should learn how to play and, when asked what name I should use, thought for a while and then suggested Frack. I wouldn’t win very often and could loudly utter my new name after every game.

Dark Souls 2.

We picked up the deluxe collector's edition of Dark Souls 2 on Thursday. The game comes with a cloth map, concept artwork booklet and a large hand-painted knight which now stands proudly on the kitchen shelf; beneath an Ork Mek Boss and beside the Dalai Lama. The hand painting was good but Ben’s using his painting skills to improve it significantly. The game hasn’t been played yet and won’t be attempted until the arrival of a Dark Souls 2 Strategy Guide pre-ordered from Amazon a few weeks ago.

Noise!

The neighbour a few doors away is having two large trees removed this morning. Chainsaws make very annoying noises but far worse is the massive wood-chipping machine that’s been running for the last few hours. Ben’s coping by wearing ear plugs and industrial ear muffs while also sleeping in as he usually does. Noise is a continuing problem in this house. Our teenage next-door neighbours often get carried away and play very-loud-and-fairly-awful music in their house or cars. Worse still was “doof-doof man” around the corner whose sub-woofer vibrations registered on the richter scale. A near altercation with another neighbour and, at another time, a call to the local police seems to have quieted him down. Finally, and at the low end of the noise scale, our fridge is a continual source of annoyance. The industrial ear muffs are worn to block the sound or, alternatively, the fridge gets switched off for a while.

Less Miserable.

(web image)

Ben reports he’s feeling much better lately, which is very good news. Our fairly frequent film viewing has expanded from the Sci Fi and Zombie genres to Westerns and even a musical, Les Miserables with Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Borat and others. The story is quite good and it was a revelation to discover that Russell Crowe can sing as well as act and manage a rugby team. And Hugh Jackman can sing too! Perhaps we all can but don’t have the training to sing well. One slight drawback is that a story moves fairly slowly when characters sing all the time and we kept wondering when we’d reached the half-way point. I think we’re now close the end as Javert, unable to forgive himself or anyone else, has just toppled off a parapet into the ocean.

Tasteless and Artosis.

(Artosis, Tasteless - web image)

Tasteless and Artosis are the names of Ben’s favourite Starcraft 2 casters. Their commentary on SC2 matches is both funny and interesting, though incomprehensible to non-gamers. We’ve put the new Samsung TV to good use watching live net broadcasts streamed from Korea. The TV wasn’t so cool when, after only three weeks of use, it suddenly failed to operate. Fortunately the electronics store was happy to exchange and the replacement is functioning well. In other news of the month, the Mulgrave Country Club directors decided to suddenly remove the club’s pool tables. We plan to punish them financially by not renewing our memberships and ensuring that our vast entourage of friends and relatives are aware of the injustice. We did try another pool hall in Syndal but were quickly driven out by loud techno music. How anyone can skillfully pot pool balls with that playing in the background is beyond me. Ben’s had occasional outings with friends though most time is still spent at home. Painting of Warhammer models continues each day and painting skills are improving. Thus February finishes and we march into March.