Travellin' Penguin

…..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.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Another week is speeding by. So much political stuff happening in the U.S. Tired of all the news about it. Australia has their own drama.

READING….

Have begun a new book of short stories. I casually mentioned it last week. Winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize. It is Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi.

Good Reads description:

In the twelve stories of Heart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq exquisitely captures the everyday lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India. Published originally in the Kannada language between 1990 and 2023, praised for their dry and gentle humour, these portraits of family and community tensions testify to Mushtaq’s years as a journalist and lawyer, in which she tirelessly championed women’s rights and protested all forms of caste and religious oppression. Written in a style at once witty, vivid, colloquial, moving and excoriating, it’s in her characters – the sparky children, the audacious grandmothers, the buffoonish maulvis and thug brothers, the oft-hapless husbands, and the mothers above all, surviving their feelings at great cost – that Mushtaq emerges as an astonishing writer and observer of human nature, building disconcerting emotional heights out of a rich spoken style. Her opus has garnered both censure from conservative quarters as well India’s most prestigious literary awards; this is a collection sure to be read for years to come.

I have read the first two stories and the writing is very good of course. But the themes are very much about the oppression of women, the lack of opportunity for women, domestic violence, polygamy and on and on it goes. 

I really do miss just a good story for entertainment though two stories out of 12 does not make a book and this book is for our reading group so I will persevere. I think it is probably an excellent book but gloomy. 

TAKING PICTURES…

On a brighter note three of my fellow photography women friends and I went in to the city last week and spent a couple of hours photographing people. As part of doing street photography there is plenty of opportunity to meet people and hear their stories. I will share a couple of the photos here.

I love photographing people reading instead of being glued to their phone.

Last night the Canon representatives were in town from New Zealand to share their newest camera gear. A small group of us met in town and did a walk around the water front for sunset. However the mountain was in cloud and the sky colours never eventuated. A few in the group tried out the latest camera equipment, lenses and made a couple of Nikon jokes for my friend who was with us. She had a Nikon of course.😍

Canon and Nikon people are great sparring partners though both cameras are wonderful.  Don’t get me started on Sony users.

Looking down an alleyway.

Reflections of the city.

Another little project I have decided to start is related to the book:  1001 Movies You Should See Before You Die.

Ollie says hello ‼️

I have watched so many 6 part or 8 part series that take days or one very long day, I have decided to catch up with some films I have wanted to see but haven’t. Or those films that I saw a long time ago. With the sad death of Robert Redford I really wanted to go back and revisit some of his films. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were (one of my top 5 of all time), his first directorial position in Ordinary People.

I haven’t seen a real movie in a long time. Though I must see the final film of Downton Abbey. It just opened here and I feel must be seen on a large screen. I might sneak off one afternoon to see that.

Anyway- back to the big book of movies. I have decided I am going to focus on the movies in the book from the 1940s to 2020. I think that is when the book information ends. My mother watched old films for years and what she didn’t know about the 40s and 50s films wasn’t worth knowing. I remember sitting up with her after coming home from a date with Mr P or my friends and watching the late movie on tv that began at 11:30. Those are nice memories. She’d tell me all about the film stars of the 40s.

I am going to use a random selector to choose a film for me. If I can find it streaming somewhere or maybe available for rental I will look at it.

I am also going to do a random selection on another book called 1001 Albums You Must Listen to Before You Die.  That could be anything from years ago to rap, pop or jazz. Who knows. I don’t listen to enough music. It might be fun. Will aim for one of each weekly or so.

I just need some new motivation as we come out of winter. September in Tasmania is probably the worst month of the year and melancholy and lethargy sets in. Wanting spring- not yet available except for one or two days that tease one. Strong winds- winds on Mt Wellington a couple days ago over 100 km/hr (60+ miles per hour). The noise of the wind is stressful. 

So I thought I’d disappear in not only a few books but a film or an album. I’ll let you know how I go next time. I still need to do my gym work and my walks. It is the best thing I know for a low mood. 

On that note I will leave you all with one more Hobart street photo.

This man paints tiny pictures and sells them for $5.00 a pop. I have a little magpie and a little wren. 1×2 inches.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Question of the week: What do you do to motivate yourself into action when your mood falls short?

Our book group met last night to discuss Australian author Helen Garner’s memoir The Season. It came out earlier this year. Helen Garner lives in Melbourne and is a very popular author of diaries and crime. She is getting older (past 80) and her youngest grandson is 18 and plays Australian Rules football. She wants to know him better before she passes away and he leaves home for the big world. She decides to participate from the sidelines of his footy training and games.

This is the story of that footy season. I read it, enjoyed it though I’m not a massive football fan, never have been though I admit Aussie Rules is much easier to follow than American football or Grid Iron as the Aussies call it. I can never tell who has the ball in America and all the padding the players wear makes them hard to distinguish from either and they have SO MANY time outs! AUSSIE rules is so much faster. But American football players weigh a lot more. Hence the padding.

Anyway I thought what on earth could be so divisive in this book to get a good discussion going in our book group. OMG- was I wrong‼️

Half the group saw the relationship as the main theme in the book between grandson and grandmother. Football was just a prop. He could have been an equestrian or a swimmer and the story wouldn’t change a lot. I was in that camp.

The other half were so anti football I thought a couple of them would explode. The players were described as a bunch of young homophobic, misogynist thugs who practised racism from dusk to dawn.. And the injuries are bad as they are so dumb they wear no protective gear and suffer brain injuries and broken limbs.

Actually I think being an equestrian and white water rafting is more dangerous. I had my one and only ambo ride years ago coming off a runaway horse who threw me half way across a paddock while on a sharp gallop with a dead stop and right angle turn at the end.

Then another voice popped up from a small country town in Victoria. She said the whole community bonded over Friday or Saturday night football. Everyone came out, got pissed, held BBQ’s and had a great time. Friendships made were long lasting. And on and on this went for the hour we were there. I was highly entertained.

I do think more protective clothing should be worn and I know there are medical issues that are life long from brain injuries from people playing rugby and football. I also know racism, homophobia and misogyny rear their ugly heads but that pops up in many places.

I rode a motorbike for years and fell off horses jumping over 4 foot fences when the horse stopped. My sister was active in various sports as was my brother. My father flew helicopters and once the engine quit and as it plummeted to the earth he had skills to not panic and start the engine up again. However all his hair fell out two weeks later and grew in again with big white patches. Contained trauma and stress. Do we live with our passions even if dangerous? Or do we get wrapped in cotton wool. The discussion could go on for months.

But..I enjoyed the book. I don’t think the book was about football. I moved on once I finished it. Thought it was nice Helen enjoyed the footy season with her grandson and his mates. Discussion over. 🏈

I do believe sport is important especially for young kids who don’t have structure in their life or discipline or much support. They learn a lot and have a community to which they belong. They get penalised for racist slurs or homophobic comments. They get to know people from other cultures or areas of the country.

But I digress. Helen Garner did get to know her grandson better and observe him. She does talk about his body though as though he is a Greek god. One member of our group said if an 83 yr old grandfather talked about his grand daughter the way she described her grandson he would be in trouble. A good point??

Anyway it was fun and I sipped from my water bottle and watched the fur fly.

So now we begin the next book for our October discussion. It is Heart Lamp by Indian writer Deepa Bhasthi and translated by Banu Mushtag. It is a series of 12 short stories of Indian Muslim women. The book won the International Booker prize of 2025.

It should be much different to footy.

Any thoughts ?