Ibis

 

I don't know why but the late afternoon shadows made me smile. I which I'd got the beak in shadow too. It was like a mirror world had seeped into mine. Even the shrubs were completed in shadow form and the pole extended...

The Ibis took off too quickly for me to capture it coming at me.

“What men call the shadow of the body is not the shadow of the body, but is the body of the soul.”
― Oscar Wilde, A House of Pomegranates

Linking with #ShadowShotSunday

Getting lost is just another way of saying 'going exploring. Justina Chen

 Our uber dropped us in an alley in Surry Hills, which was meant to be the restaurant, but wasn't. He farewelled us with 'I hope you find what you're looking for' when we said we'd work it out (Another reason I wouldn't go in a driverless car...but that's for another post).

I turned round to head to the main street and saw Hellboy.

I adore Hellboy and it's a great mural so it was, in fact, a brilliant start to the evening as I would never have discovered this otherwise. It was also a good reminder that getting lost can lead to discover.

“Sometimes it takes a wrong turn to get you to the right place.”
― Mandy Hale,

Linking with #MuralMondays

September Audio Books and Podcasts

I am very much enjoying my recent discovery of Jerome K. Jerome and have gone down a bit of a rabbit hole....

First up I listened to this on Audible & it was free. It's Ghost Tales by Bram Stoker, Sir Walter Scott and Amelia B. Edwards as well as Jerome K. Jerome. These are serious ghost stories, and while I hadn't read any of them, they all felt very familiar. There is one little bit of nuttery at the end of J.KJ's one, otherwise it didn't really seem like his other works.

However, the above was good background for what I listened to next.

This is sort of 2 books in 1. The first is very funny, and dissecting the formula of the Victorian Ghost Story genre. It's classic Jerome K. Jerome nuttiness and I laughed out loud more than once. It also highlighted why all those stories seemed so familiar. They are all built with the expected tropes and traditions of the classic ghost story in literature at the time. The second half is just ghost stories - a few by Poe, Kipling and other well known authors. 

Cat (Wire) recommended the Tim Curry, Michael Palin movie of Three Men in a Boat, free on Youtube. It's dramatised by Tom Stoppard so you know it's a good adaptation. I thought it was missing my favourite bit but it appears later in the film, so the movie is sort of mixed around a bit. Tim Curry made a comment that it was sort of the last moments for the Victorian man where idle happiness was possible for the upper classes and life was idyllic, before the world changed forever with the build up to war. Three men in a boat (reviewed here) was written in 1889 but the humour is as whacky as anything today. It was meant to be a serious travelogue with some humorous elements but apparently the editor kept throwing out any of the serious guide references.

If you like classic movies, Cat's Wire is all over it, reviewing films from the Golden Age of Cinema and more.

Jon Ronson's The Castle is out, and he's touring Australia with it. I adore Jon Ronson so have been eagerly awaiting it. It's on the unravelling men that we currently seem to be seeing - through the manosphere and beyond. It's crazy yet true insights into all sorts of aspects, starting with a creepy castle that his son was lured to. When he was last out he mentioned this anecdote at his talk, and since then, has built a book around it. What I like about Jon Ronson is that he goes in without judgement. I find Louis Theroux has a bias that he sets out to present. Ronson, on the other hand, seems to see the best in everyone until they prove otherwise, even if they are white supremacists, for example. It leads to a more interesting investigation. Anything by Jon Ronson is fascinating and funny. He is an extraordinary talent these days in the culture war times.

Other Ronson reviews:

Last Days of August

So you've been publicly shamed

The Butterfly Effect

What I do

The Debutante

Things Fell Apart - note there is a new series coming of this podcast, and lucky me discovered a series I hadn't listened to, so currently enjoying that here.

Post on his Psychopath night.

and this old post made me smile: Small Mercies.

Yes, I am a total fan girl on his work! 

I am labouring through my book club book so will review it next time, so I give it a chance...

Do you go nuts for certain writers? Who?

Linking with #SundayPost #StackingtheShelves #TrafficJamReboot #TuesdayTwirl & MonthlyBookworms #Acupofteaandagoodbook #SundaySalon

Also a quick shout out to Get Lost magazine going into Print - my copy turned up (they had a subscription special so I treated myself to a year to test it out). A little more interesting than normal travel mags & at a glance, a lot less ads.

Sydney Marathon

The Sydney Marathon is now a world major, and one of the prettiest, according to my husband who has run over 20 and has all the Abbott Stars (Though I think he forgets how beautiful Paris was - and as a spectator, how easy Berlin was to get around, but I digress).

The city is abuzz on the Sunday in late August, moved due to the terrible heat a few years back. It was a perfect day.

With Father's Day the following week, it's really been a fortnight of celebrating him!

Are you a runner? Do you run distance or marathons?

Throwback to last year's Marathon here. You can sign up for next year's Ballot here.

My favourite costume was the Monkey King from Journey to the West (I think that's who he was meant to be, and the cricketer who very excitedly took a selfie outside the SCG).

#Allseasons linky runs from Thursday to Wednesday each week. 

Link one post that shows something seasonal. Traditional weather wise, a seasonal nature marker or a seasonal celebration or event.  Please link relevant posts only.

Make sure you link back to this #AllSeasons post. 

Please comment on the post before yours and the host. Don't dump and run.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Now you see it

 and now you don't.

Short and sweet for #SaturdayCritters #WordlessWednesday #NaturesNotes and #AwwMondays

Leaving his mark

I find it interesting what a mark this image made. For those overseas, this was written all over the footpaths of Sydney in 1930s more than half a million times, by a man named Arthur Stace. It is indeed iconic for us, and Remo made a very popular Eternity shirt in the 1980s.

Back in 2015 it was appearing in chalk again for some reason.

So while it wasn't what he was meaning, his action seems like it might last for Eternity.

Linking with #WeeklyWonder #WordlessWednesday #MuralMondays #HappyTuesday as I love that his legacy is still so well known almost 100 years later. It's a ripple through time.

A change for the better...

Twice in Japan, in different areas, I've stumbled across these vending machines. They are adorned with fire fighters and fire trucks so you can't miss them.

Part of the proceeds are given to a fund to support widows and children of the fire fighters who lost their lives at work.

How simple, yet affective. Like myself on a hot night, people buy water or drinks. Why not have part of that go and do good in the world?

I want to investigate how to do that here, as we only recently (Nov 2025) expanded the list of cancers covered for fire fighters, even thought those very cancers were more than likely caused by fire fighting chemicals. 

Or a different charity. Any charity. We could have many different kinds. Women's Shelters, Smith Family, Wayside  - whatever! A $1 from every sale. Slowly the world changes a little.

As I saw in Cambodia, tourism and consumer spending can directly help those in need. And for the consumer, nothing changes. 

The world doesn't get better by chance, it gets better by change. Let's be that change!

(Note, I'm paraphrasing a quote by Jim Rohn)

Linking with #WordlessWednesday #TalkaboutitTuesday #HappyNow as this project makes me happy at the moment....(Charity gives as much to the giver as it does the receiver) #WordlessWednesday