30th October 2008, Hobart.

The Oceanic Viking. It has been sitting at Princess Wharf no 1 in Hobart for a loooooooonnnnnnngggggggg time. It is employed as the Southern Ocean Fisheries Patrol Boat. More recently it was used to film Japanese whaling boats killing whales to the south of Australia. The film may be used in legal action against Japanese whaling performed under the pretence of science (the science of gastronomy?). But the Japanese don’t deny killing whales, or killing them in a whale sanctuary. They only seem concerned when Greenpeace gets involved…actively.

(c) Andrew Calder

8th November 2008, Centrepoint Arcade, Hobart.

Philipa, a creature of habit, buys her coffee from the same shop each week. They do their own roasting, and the aroma is amazing. This is the roasting machine in action.

(c) Andrew Calder

8th November 2008, Hobart.

This is one of the masks that decorates the wall of a Café (I forget the name). We stopped here for a coffee, and Philipa had a late breakfast. It is a long and narrow space. The waitresses were remarkably slim; Philipa hypothesised they were chosen for (as well as their obvious skills) their slimness to work in the narrow space. Another hypothesis was that their slimness added to the theme of the narrow venue.

(c) Andrew Calder

5th November 2008, my garden.

Flowers and Spring seem like great themes to welcome a new person into our world. Eva Claire was born last night at 2215.

Congratulations to her amazing parents - Joanne and Jason.

(c) Andrew Calder

12th November 2008, my garden.

Bombus Terrestris. Bombus sounds appropriate for these guys - little airborne bombs.

I remember when I first came to Tassie and saw one peripherally zoom by, and wondered what it was, like a coloured golf ball under insanely small wings. There is a myth that according to aerodynamic laws it is impossible for them to fly - it always amazes me that they CAN fly.

I tried, unsuccessfully, to photograph them for months; they just don’t sit still and would fly away at my approach. I found one in Franklin that didn’t seem able to fly - so I took lots of pictures of it (in an earlier post). Now, in my garden, I can approach any of them.

(c) Andrew Calder

12th November 2008, my garden.

It is easy for me to amuse myself. How many times have I been inspired to take photos in my garden? I think it could easily be 40 since moving in last Christmas.

(c) Andrew Calder

8th November 2008, Hobart Regatta Ground.

Well, this is the red door that we came to see and try to discover what it was about. I think it is a great piece of art. The beer fest was only about 50 metres away and packed with people, but nobody here, except Philipa lying on the grass and looking up at the moving clouds.

Update - Philipa has discovered who put the red door there and why:

“It’s part of an enrolment promotion for the University of Tasmania, i.e. ‘Future Students’.
http://www.futurestudents.utas.edu.au/”

(c) Andrew Calder

8th November 2008, Hobart Regatta Ground.

We were wandering up to the Hobart Regatta Ground to look at the red door, and get some pictures. On the way, there were crowds of people walking back toward Hobart. They were festive. We soon found out that there was a beerfest on, and the crowds were generally tipsy.

I took these photos when there was a lull in pedestrians. I was hoping for a picture like the one below. While I was looking through the tiny lcd screen of the camera, at distance and on the ground, this guy, upholding a classic western cultural practice associated with good times and alcohol, mooned me (also known as the brown eye).

(c) Andrew Calder

5th November 2008, my garden.

I remember this shot, even though there are now many of them. I remember trying to shoot it against the sky. Although there was a lot of light, it was windy, which is why the flower is blurred  (as well as it being macro and a narrow depth of field). It sometimes happens for me, that photos taken in adverse conditions can turn out more interesting because of those conditions.

(c) Andrew Calder

1st November 2008, JB HiFi, Hobart.

I have already mentioned that JB HiFi is almost the ideal habitat for nerds. Among other things, they have a massive range of music. Philipa found some JJ Cale, and I said “smooth”. If there is one word to describe JJ Cale’s music and singing, I think it is “smooth”. There was a guy next to us who thought the same. He started talking to us passionately about JJ Cale, how he had seen him live at Aberdeen, jamming with Eric Clapton. He had an esoteric knowledge of music (predominantly blues) and qualities of different recordings. I couldn’t help but think that we were talking to somebody well known in the music industry, or some other field of expertise.