Travellin' Penguin

Hobart at night time.

I’m going to be away for about three weeks so don’t know if I’ll have much time to write posts. I embarking on a 9 day photography workshop in northern Japan with a professional photographer, his Japanese wife and six of us “duckling photographers”. All participants are from mainland Australia except me. We’ll be in Tokyo where we begin, then off to small towns, coastlines and national parks. I’m very much looking forward to it.

I’ll try to put up some phone pics as I go on Instagram (travellin_penguin) but won’t be downloading any photos from my ‘big camera’ until I return home.

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What’s been happening the past two weeks? Well I am almost finished reading the book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Curry. 

Good Reads describes it as:

Kafka, frustrated with his living quarters and day job, wrote in a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912, “time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.”

Kafka is one of 161 minds who describe their daily rituals to get their work done, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks. Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his “male configurations”…. Jean-Paul Sartre chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day … Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced “every pleasure imaginable.”

Here are: Anthony Trollope, who demanded of himself that each morning he write three thousand words (250 words every fifteen minutes for three hours) before going off to his job at the postal service, which he kept for thirty-three years during the writing of more than two dozen books … Karl Marx … Woody Allen … Agatha Christie … George Balanchine, who did most of his work while ironing … Leo Tolstoy … Charles Dickens … Pablo Picasso … George Gershwin, who, said his brother Ira, worked for twelve hours a day from late morning to midnight, composing at the piano in pajamas, bathrobe, and slippers….

Here also are the daily rituals of Charles Darwin, Andy Warhol, John Updike, Twyla Tharp, Benjamin Franklin, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Anne Rice, and Igor Stravinsky (he was never able to compose unless he was sure no one could hear him and, when blocked, stood on his head to “clear the brain”).

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I am surprised by how much alcohol, drug use, insomnia and other very weird habits are involved with so many artists and writers. The book is very interesting. It is often laugh out loud funny too.

I think it is a book people might just dip into for fun but I wanted to finish it before I went away and I should do so by this weekend. I’ll take my kindle on the plane to Japan as I need to read the book The Names by Florence Knapp for our November book group. I am looking forward to a more serious book than some of the ones I’ve been just puttering around with lately.

Airplanes are great places to read. Especially with noise cancelling headphones on which I just would not travel without. 

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Something else that was very interesting that I attended this past week was a session at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG).

The museum received two very large 1800s portraits in frames as a donation. The portraits are wonderful but need a lot of work with some repair and quite a bit of cleaning.

The session went for 90 minutes in the members lounge. We had a 30 minute power point presentation discussing the history of the portraits and describing the work needed and how it happens by the scientists involved. Everything from x-rays to chemical solutions to just plain elbow grease with a lot of Q tips. 

After the presentation we went upstairs to their lab and saw the portraits. The woman’s was on an easel and the man’s was laid out on a large table as it is under investigation and restoring. The three women who work on it described him as ‘their patient’ as he lies on the table.

They showed us the work they are doing close up. We asked questions and we all laughed at the work around the man who made the frame. He lived in Hobart in the early to mid 1800s and his name was Robin Hood. He learned the trade from his father, Robin Hood, Senior.  It was interesting and fun to get out with others learning about something entirely different than what I usually get up to.

The last half hour was spent downstairs having a very lovely morning tea. Sandwiches, fruit and yummy cake, with tea and coffee.

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I came down with a very bad cold this past week so didn’t do as much as was planned. I rested a lot as I don’t want to spend hours in an airplane with a cold. I’m happy to say it is almost gone by today.

Thursday night Mr. P, two of our friends and I went to the playhouse theatre to see the Agatha Christie play, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Three of us had read the book so knew the ending but our fourth member didn’t have any idea. It is a very good story and our local Hobart actor who played Hercule Poirot did an excellent job. He had both the accent and the moustache.

Well that finishes up a very bookish and arty week. For the next two weeks everything will be Japanese food, new friends and lots of photography in that order. 

Peanut says, “Have a good week everyone.”

We have had shocking rain and strong winds here and I’m very tired of it. We finally had a break for a day so I decided I needed a little project. I grabbed my camera, jumped onto the bus to town and photographed a bit of Tasmania as if I was new to town.

The bus dropped me near the general post office in the middle of town.

I then crossed the street and walked through Franklin Square in my 10 min walk to the waterfront.

I got distracted by the Daci and Daci cafe that has the best pastries and decided to sit outdoors. I had a lovely Pain Chocolat Croissant and ate it before thinking of photographing it. 😀

Then I finished my walk down the street to see one of the two new Bass Strait ferries that will one day transport people between Tasmania and the mainland. Our wonderful government bought two of these boats before working out they don’t fit the port in Tasmania so are now rebuilding the port which could take two years before the ships can be used. Yup! That’s all I’ll say.

Off to historic Salamanca. A long street of sandstone buildings with cafes and shops. The buildings are from the 1800s.

Of course I had to stop and admire this lovely dog. He was incredibly laid back.

Next a peek into the Hobart Book Shop. I don’t get to it often as parking is a nuisance and I only drop in when on foot. Besides Fullers is my go to book shop.

Then I looked at the selection of 2026 calendars in the basket out front.

I always stop and look at these statues by an artist I don’t remember but these guys appear in several countries in various positions.

There is a games and puzzle shop that tracks people of all ages. It used to be called Platos then they may have changed hands or names but it is now called Socrates. This is their Halloween window. Yes, Australia is following America with more Halloween activities than in the past.

Next we have the laundry mat cafe. Sit outside while washing and tumble drying your clothes inside. I haven’t sat there for quite awhile butthe coffee was always good.

I decided to walk a circle from Salamanca Square that is behind the old buildings to the front of the buildings. I sat outdoors at long time running cafe called Retro. It is a good place to sit and people watch. My waiter was happy for a photo but I told him to look away and please don’t pose.

Then onto Norman and Dann, a premiere chocolate shop. They have many coffee beans too and other wonderful little food stuffs. I bought a small container of dark chocolate/chai powder to try at home. It looks quite decadent. I chatted to the woman running the shop and left when a bunch of “Other” tourists arrived.

Time to head home so a short cut across Parliament House lawns was in order. I stopped briefly to see a small meeting of a Greens Member of Parliament and some anti salmon farming protestors. Our salmon in Tasmania are crowded in pens off shore and are full of disease and anti biotics. Change is needed and many work on that change. Again our government is blind to what the people want. Sound familiar. Even the chefs in the restaurants in this tourist district won’t put salmon on the menu at the moment.

But never mind – I’m relaxing today. I’ve had a brilliant spring day and needed to get the bus home. Here I am back at Franklin Square at the stop.

Home Sweet Home. The bus stop is half a block from our front door.

As I write this now, there is yet another severe weather warning out for us and more rain. Typical Tassie spring weather. When you think there is no land mass between us and Antarctica to the south and South Africa to the west you can see why our weather gets so wild and wooly at times.

Have a good week and let me know something fun you’ve done or are planning this week.

…..that an hour’s reading did not relieve. (Montesquieu)

Here we go with another quick week.

BOOK

I am just about finished with a fun little book called A Beginners Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations. Written by Pico Iyer.

I am enjoying this because it is not your regular Japanese tourist guide of all the must see places. He writes about very different places and how they relate to his life living in Kyoto.

I am going to Japan the end of October for about 2 weeks or so. I’m participating in a small photography tour beginning in Tokyo and heading north. I have been before and that was a fun cherry blossom tour and visiting many of the tourist destinations. This will be very different.

FILM

Well I pulled out the book of 1001 Movies you should see, etc. I decided I’d choose 2 with the random generator. The first one was Pan’s Labyrinth and the second one was The Usual Suspects. I’ve never seen Pan’s Labyrinth and I was tempted though it is not my type of go to movie. I saw the Usual Suspects years ago but only remembered bit parts. I decided to watch the Usual Suspects. I really enjoyed it and I watched it late enough in the evening where I didn’t have to get up and down to let the dogs in and out of the house.

I enjoyed it again but it is quote violent. I enjoyed the story. Lots of twists and turns.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Not much happened on that front but I did get a couple from a lunch I attended yesterday with my seniors group. The photos came out okay but the lunch was a disaster. Twelve women all over the age of 70 had lunch at an historic pub in Richmond Tasmania. It was established in 1827. I have had several lovely meals there but yesterday it all went belly up. As coffee was being served at the end of lunch two of our 80+ yr old members became violently sick. It was very strange how they both became so sick at the same time. We had to call an ambulance about 90 minutes later which did not show. We had them lying on the floor with blankets and pillows. Family members were called. We had to transport their cars home by sharing the load. Some had car pooled so we had to get them home. One went straight to hospital and she is still there , more than 24 hrs later. The other is recovering at home, feeling better today but in bed.

I didn’t get home until 5 pm. What a day!

But (laugh) the place does have nice flower arrangements on the tables.

The flowering cherry tree is lovely too outside of the pub.

Before the lunch three of us did a little walk over to the jig saw puzzle shop. I took a photo of the massive jigsaw that is on the wall. Something like 32,000 pieces? There is a plastic covering over it so hard to see the pieces but you get the drift.

I thought you might enjoy seeing one of the historic cottages in this lovely town too.

Well I guess this brings you up to date with life in Tasmania as I know it.

I’ll end this post with one of our lovelies. It is always fun coming home to their wiggles and waggles.

Peanny has been playing in the garden.

NOTE: follow up to restaurant. Three public health departments rang me for details and the hospital contacted the environmental branch of the City Council and it is a mandatory follow up investigation. It’s always good to report situations like this . Even if it is a bother. There will now be an investigation.