'...dancing in the moonlight on this hot summer night...'

Hobart as a town is a funny place.  Town is a true description.

When I moved to Seattle circa early '92, many of my questions were answered by the comment "Seattle is really just a town".  That seems so laughable in comparison with Hobart.  Seattle did have town quirks, quirks because really it was a city.  For instance, you could write a check for your bar tab, to messenger a package the procedure was to put the package- by itself in a cab.  Bicycle messenger soon took that over but once upon a time...

Hobart is a true town in the fact that no one is sending anything by 'messenger'.

I live 14 km out of 'town' and yet rarely does it take me more than 20 minutes to get to where I am going no matter what part of town I am going too.

"I couldn't find parking"- is not an excuse here.  Perhaps "I had to park in the lot". Or "Boy howdy it was hard to find a 3 hour meter today".  Please also note that parking in many lots is free if you stay under 2-3 hours.

 

Although when I ordered my mailbox through a chain hardware store, the mailbox came via a bus down from Launceston (the other town in Tasmania).

My prelude is really to try and explain why when any business tries to do something cool, it is almost a duty to go out and support that venture.

If not...well the state of quietude on any given night well that is just our own fault.

So my friend Fran and I went to see the documentary on Bill Cunningham at the newly opened rooftop cinema at our only local cool, independent theater- the State Theater.  There is now, also MONA but they are as previously mentioned streaming the Opera season from the N.Y. met, ballet and I am guessing smaller released independent, local (Australian) films.

Also I am hoping they will run shorts.

We enjoyed a warm (windy of course) night, and my sparkling wine was nice.

I was slightly disheartened that there were not more people.

Seattle had a bit of independent theaters, The Grand Illusion and the Pike Street Cinema, and almost always there would be people that you could tell had your same interests or at least overlapping.  I made some friends this way- not a tactic that seems to work in Hobart...

http://www.statecinema.com.au/Page/Home 

 

'cause satan he lives in my whiskey machine...'

Zok and I have never liked the porch at the back of our house in Tasmania.

The concrete is an ugly untreated slab and the whole structure was sloped in a way that shouted poor construction.

Later when I had to call a plumber in for a leak in the bathroom- I realized that there was debris under the porch.  Odds and ends of the construction variety, mixed with garden waste and trash.  Appalling.

 

The time had come to pull the structure off.

Of course as I do not know about construction and I did not realize the reality of machines driving through the yard.

I also mistakenly thought I was safe because I was asked to drastically prune back the Magnolia and Hydrangea.

Which I did.

But- without asking someone working on the concrete removal cut three huge branches off the tree.

How does this happen?  Where is common civility of an explanation or warning?

 

Zok is however calm- I think because he has the end result firmly visualized in his head.  Also he is not actually here cleaning concrete sludge off of plants that have been tended with his (and by his I mean her) time and sweat.

 

In a few more days there is a deck and access from the doors to the backyard being built.  So I am mostly at least ignoring the area unless I am you know- actually trying to put the plants right.

 

 

Second Summer

I haven't been in the mood to write anything other than letters.

There was a bit of this happening-

But mostly there has been this:

My friend Saffy came to stay and surprise! We went to MONA, (which I love) and I discovered something I did not quite cotton on to the time before.

 The tunnel that is now open is a sound tunnel.  I did realize this when Kat and I went into the tunnel, but Saffy realized that the sound changed with the amount of people, and also where the weight is applied.

So we jumped up and sat on the railings letting all the sound fade away and waited for people to come through.

Then we tried to work out if different areas brought in different instruments or if it was just weight and time.

It was good fun.

My tan is finally a tan.  The water in the bay has been warm more than once, and the waves have been constant which I love because I can just swim in place.  The laziest exercise- ever.