If you are in Hobart in the days following Boxing Day, it is likely that you might just notice the arrival of a few sailing boats as they head for Constitution Dock.
This evening the first across the line – Wild Oats XI was welcomed by a few thousand onlookers who may also have been enjoying the Taste Festival during the day.
Today we headed into Hobart from our digs in Bothwell for The Taste Festival, a week long celebration of the food and beverages of Tasmania.
We had the best time. Here’s a taste of Taste. It is not an accident which photographs are enlarged.
Daylight saving rocks, particularly when you’re on the south end of the Southern Hemisphere. Here’s a selection of pics from a pre-dinner Boxing Day walk around the pretty town of Bothwell in the evening summer light.
Some of the bird action in the garden yesterday afternoon which included this baby magpie, lorikeets and mynas.
How can we not be excited by spending Christmas in Tasmania. Only 15 more sleeps!
Thanks for keeping us posted with your stunning pics this year RBW!
With the sad passing of artist Martin Sharp this week, it’s time to salute his art, his love of Eternity and his contribution to Oz magazine.
In February 1964, the authorities got their togas in a tangle over the front page of the satirical magazine Oz’s edition number 6 as a sculpture by Tom Bass was portrayed as a public urinal. (photo via Wikipedia). The Canberra Times of 27 February 1965 reported the successful appeal of the three men to their convictions and prison sentences.
In March this year, The Australian’s Arts section interviewed Richard Neville and Richard Walsh to remember when the editorial trio, that included Martin Sharp, pushed the boundaries in an age when Australia wasn’t quite up to the shocks to its sensibilities.
Vale Martin Sharp.
In 1966, this anthology of stories, poems, photographs and illustrations was published by Jacaranda Press in Brisbane. It would have cost you $3.95 back then to become its owner.
In the introduction, the editors (Anne O’Donovan, Jayne Sanderson and Shane Porteous) wrote
Young writers face one serious obstacle. They cannot find publishers unless their work is already known. Their work cannot become known until it is published. This paradox is often a daunting if not impenetrable barrier for the would-be author.
With UNDER TWENTY-FIVE we hope to break down this barrier. We advertised for material in October 1965 and by June 1966 we had received many thousands of contributions. This, our final selection, represents the best of young Australians’ writing, photography and illustration. And yet for most this is their first time in print.
Jacaranda Press was an exciting publication house in its infancy, before the inevitable absorption into bigger companies took place. Under the stewardship of founder Brian Clouston, these junior editors, also under the age of 25, curated a solid collection that includes early work of some of Australia’s most established and recognised authors. You may recognise Shane Porteous (actor, writer and animator) from this photograph on the inner sleeve. Anne O’Donovan went on to establish her own publishing company.
In this collage the detectives among you will spot Peter Carey, Roger McDonald, Rhyll McMaster, Allan Baillie, Murray Bail and Susan Geason.
These are excerpts from the biographical notes.
Peter Carey discovered at Monash University that science was not his career and has since worked in advertising. He … is working on a second novel.
Murray Bail … writes every day and says that writing is his only real interest.
Allan Baillie is a twenty-three-year-old journalist from Melbourne, born in Ayrshire, Scotland. His ambitions lie in the world of newspapers. For some time now he has been in remote parts of Afghanistan en route to Europe.
Roger McDonald is twenty-five. … [He] joined the Australian Broadcasting Commission to produce radio and television programmes for schools. … He has achieved both publication and encouraging rejections from literary magazines.
Rhyll McMaster of Brisbane is eighteen. She is working at the University, and studying Arts part-time. Several of her poems have been published in the Bulletin. …. “Today It Rains” won first prize in a Queensland high schools competition. She intends to continue writing poetry.
In the minor book culls (perhaps trims is a better word) that take place at my place from time to time (almost never) this now historic volume will always be a keeper.
Saturday supermarket
the young man working the express checkout lane
is up for a chat with his customers
what’s wrong with your wrists?
arthritis?
what caused it?
R S I says the man a little louder than he wants to announce
oh not arthritis, RSI, he repeats
it stands for Repetitive Strain Injury
says the man through his white beard
tiring of the inquisition
do you know what caused it?
playing cricket says the man
the boy persists with his cheerfulness
compounding the lie
the Michael Clarke of your day eh?
yeah, says the man
next up
a woman’s product selection is under review
are these any good?
I don’t know says the woman
hoping for a quiet and quick transaction
let me know what they’re like next time you’re in
I will says the woman
hurrying to meet her companion
my turn
did you mean to buy all those things when you came in?
he’s noticed I have no basket
I did
I didn’t know we sold these
he says as he scans the chocolate-coated ginger
notice he said we not they
he is loyal to the corporation
most people buy more than they intend
notice how observant he is
notice how he loves his job
notice him
Lynn Buckler Walsh
