DRYING OUT SLOWLY!

In our part of the world we’ve been more fortunate than some, but we have had some very heavy downpours.

Yes, I know it’s our “wet season” and I know we need good rainfall to flush algae from waterways and top-up reservoirs….but jeepers! enough with the mouldy stuff , OK?

I’m beginning to feel like a character from a Somerset Maugham novel!

My chief concern is that I can only proceed slowly on the books. I don’t want to have too many damp pages at once. So how do I manage? Well, I think Heath Robinson would probably have come up with a better contraption, but I use this:

With ceiling fans whirring gently (as opposed to clattering like mad helicopters) it does help. Of course, it’s in the middle of the floor. And a great temptation to little black furballs. But, like Mr. Hobson‘s clients, I have limited options! And I can’t use this when drying glued pages.

But I’m not the only one suffering. If you’re interested you can read more about this “project” on our blog.

And for further notes on the daily doings Chez Dinahmow, the cats can help.

Back to work…

WELCOME TO MY DUSTBOWL.SORRY, NO POPCORN.

I still haven’t found that thing I was looking for, but I did unearth some “stuff” I hadn’t seen for years!

“Taking The Piss” is one of my more recent acquisitions. The page inside the cover where there is usually a warning in impossibly small font against plagiarism, unauthorised copying, et cetera is missing. That’s my excuse!

The author(Genevieve LaRue) of this slim volume claims to be a de-frocked nun…who am I to take issue?

A book of “Booze” that I see, from the inscription, was a Christmas present in 1969.

I love the illustrations (by John Astrop and Eric Hill, according to a very badly stained flyleaf. )

Here’s one of its recipes…

And a tattered and worn anthology that’s been twice around the world with me and has scars to prove it.

Puns and parodies and irreverence. Bit like moi.

In my eclectic hoard, back in the 60s, I counted several interesting books. So, apparently, did some tea leaf whose conscience  clearly wasn’t a burden. If someone ever offers to sell you a first edition of John Lennon…it just may be mine.

I collected 3 kinds of books in those days: serious literature (early edition “Doctor Zhivago” before Omar Sharif’s face graced covers, Tolstoy short stories, Guy de Maupassant and more, art books, particularly early engravings and Japanese prints) and what I call the “funnies.”

These were light-hearted verse, graphics.  Things like “Sam, the Ceiling Needs Painting.” These cartoons are still around, but probably censored on Amazon.

And I had a copy of  this ! So I was delighted to find it on Youtube.

Which is lucky, ‘cos the weather is anything but a delight. Even ‘way up here, the dust is thick ; I need to keep my inhaler handy and firefighters’ water bombers have been grounded. A bit scary when there are bushfires raging.

Of course, on the bright side, I’m saving electricity as Hoovering is just pointless 😉

Here’s a web picture from Nine News of one of the bridges across the Brisbane River, in Brisbane.

Seems there IS life on Mars!

OF DAEMONS AND OTHER FANTASTIC THINGS.

A few years ago I read Phillip Pullman’s “Northern Lights.” Intrigued, I went on to read the complete trilogy.(Northern Lights; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass.) At the time, my sideways brain could see a television series in this. Actually, I could see rather a lot in the story/stories! I loved the creatures and objects Pullman created; in fact, I even made sketches of some to better understand how they “worked.”

And guess which movie seems set to score well at the holiday box office? Yep,the film based on these books; released as “The Golden Compass.”

From a review:
Los Angeles Times, Sam Adams:

Given a choice between Iraq and fairyland, it’s clear where moviegoers would prefer to spend time.

As one might expect, the God-botherers are reading into this far too much pseudo-religious opinion, crying “foul!” at what they see as an attempt to undermine Christianity. Utter tosh! As with the “Harry Potter” stories, they are just that: stories. And a heck of a good read, too. Go on, head to the library or book store and find out. You don’t have to like them, but I can pretty well guarantee that you will find them interesting.

Over at Bad!Kitty, Heather has an intriguing link to the movie website, including a Daemon Test. Well, naturally, I had to find out what my Daemon is…

Sirion, the tiger

There was a code to paste into this post, but Blogger rejects the code as given!And you know what I’m llike at re-writing html!! Bah!
(I did this twice, by the way, scoring Myron, the Snow Leopard first time around.)

Now, those who know me would probably use the word “pragmatic”(or maybe “pig-headed!”) of me. Certainly, they wouldn’t think that I go around chatting to my soul/shadow!

Wrong! When I was a toddle-bod I had (as do most youngsters) an imaginary friend. The family accepted that this friend sometimes held up proceedings because of a broken shoe lace, or whatever. I would grow out of it. And that’s what they all thought…

But I didn’t. Not completely. I just grew up a little and learned that the weird stuff in my head was not in other heads. So that’s where it stayed. My imaginary friend morphed into something a little different, with a new name and is still there!

No wonder Pullman’s Daemons struck a chord!

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I suppose it was only a matter of time before this happened. It is the Silly Season, after all!
If this link is also giving you trouble, blame cyber gremlins and Google ‘Reuters Oddly Enough’ and click on electric eel

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Ooh! I haven’t shown you any “awww!- aren’t- they- cute” photos for a day or two. So, to redress the balance for all you aileurophiles…

Geiger, leaping out of a pot of silk delphiniums and hydrangeas; Sporran about to make his attempt from behind the pot.

Apparently, climbing into and jumping out of was not as much fun as shredding…

But at least my “Heath Robinson” kitten fence works! Too bad if the Wet Season arrives and I need my gumboots!

More of dinahmow’s photos