Show Me The Treasure

Bart Brassica enters the Leaf Storm Time Vortex ?

Some Readers will remember Bart Brassica’s attempts to give Time the slip in Time’s Winged Warrior episode, when he invented the Clock O’Later, which was patently quite silly, and now it is not so much that this kind of attempt to get the better of Time is a waking pursuit, but dreams are weird and timeless vortexes fo the unconscious mind, and here Bart may have been reading too many botanical articles about Euculyptus, and as for double portrait of the Lady in Brown, that may be due entirely to loitering in Ink Aisle at Michael’s Arts & Crafts.

Some Readers will remember Bart Brassica’s attempts to give Time the slip in Time’s Winged Warrior episode, when he invented the Clock O’La...

at 17:01

The Thing Plus the Thing’s Reflection

What happens when an image’s reflection is apparently under-imposed, fractionally misaligned, as in this photograph? What is more real, the photograph of the thing itself, the thing’s reflection or the sum of these two? It may seem there is a double exposure here, best observed in the visual echo of the daffodils and the stem of begonia flowers , and then there is that graphic echo of rabbits ears, though the Alessi kitchen timer long ago ran out of tick, in the same manner as the Velveteen Rabibit, by the time it did, it was already real, and so it doesn’t matter that it does nothing but keep me company, and smile for in photographs.

What happens when an image’s reflection is apparently under-imposed, fractionally misaligned, as in this photograph? What is more real, t...

at 07:25

Nabokovian Moments in Balmoral : Picnic? Lightning ?

Of course there is nothing better than an afternoon picnic, while watching Sydney Harbour change into its swath of Fortuny silk blue for evening, and first walking past this picnic Tuesday at sunset - the champagne bottle down two glasses, the food untouched, the picnickers, were absent, paddling or perhaps one had not arrived, and the jilted party had drunk the second glass and took a huff home? On Wednesday evening the picnic was - as shown here - still perfect, not picked over by gulls, or blitzed by ibis. By Thursday morning one strawberry and a breadstick had gone. A photo shoot? A trap for speculation? Pnin?

Of course there is nothing better than an afternoon picnic, while watching Sydney Harbour change into its swath of Fortuny silk blue for ev...

at 13:38

Postcard from the Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary

Once at a Life Book Fair I found Volumnes One and Two of the Readers Diges Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary, and though I fluctuate between a queasy guilt and mischievous delight in scissoring out the black and white illustrations - mischief is a clear winner when it comes to making collages, like eggs in an omelette, things must be broken so as to be reassembled. Mostly my collages were made the scanned type and objects like the faux soy sauce fish could be recycled, but hey now it’s no longer a peripatetic collage object. Now the question: To Post or Not to Post?

Once at a Life Book Fair I found Volumnes One and Two of the Readers Diges Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary, and though I fluctuate between a...

at 11:16

A Deco Horse? Sea Horse of Course at the MCA

If you’re cruising the old building of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA ) occasionally a panel or wall will open to reveal an Art Deco gem from the buiklding’s previous life as the Maritime Services Board building, like this frosted glass sea horse with it curlicue tail inset into an interior door. Curatorial demands may mostly cover up framed views of the Quay, and glass sea horses but it is always worth peaking behind blinds, though this sea horse was out in openn waters.

If you’re cruising the old building of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA ) occasionally a panel or wall will open to reveal an Art D...

at 14:30

Tree’s Company: Tawny Frogmouth’s Affinity for Camouflage

What had looked like an accidental aggregation of sticks turns out to be a nest for two Tawny Frogmouths in the jacaranda tree just a metre or two outside my upstairs window - make that Frogmouth Vieiwing Platform. Two of these camouflaged charmers take turns to sit, maybe puff up a bit, deliver lugubrious side-eyes, and sleep. Watching Frogmouths sit still proves to wonderfully dynamic, at one point the larger parent bird did a shuffling rearrangement of, I assume, the egg layout. Are there any more satisfying measures of garden success than having a Tawny Frogmouth nest? I await the hatchlings, and yes, of course, I will keep Readers posted.

What had looked like an accidental aggregation of sticks turns out to be a nest for two Tawny Frogmouths in the jacaranda tree just a metre...

at 15:04

Charlotte Mew : Amused to be ré-rendered in Prussian Blue

A little while back a request came in for women poets in Prussian Blue. While I may not appear cooperative, if an esteemed friend ( which does suggest a steamed friend but en ought of the malaprops) asks for me to make or write something it is as I have been hypnotised, and I off I go, like an automaton. So, here is Charlotte Mew (1869-1928), this redo makes her look less pinched than the photograph it is taken from, which I think is only fair, since fortune dealt her a diminished share. Read her ‘Rooms’, it is my favourite.

A little while back a request came in for women poets in Prussian Blue. While I may not appear cooperative, if an esteemed friend ( which d...

at 13:39

On Cloud Nine: Bart Brassica visits Charlies Bunion

Readers will not doubt remember, or else wise scroll back and read, that Bart Brassica is pretty well smitten with the pink Barbie cabriolet, so much so he literally has his head in the clouds. In this instance the clouds are in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and it has been on Bart’s Bucket List to visit Charlies Bunion, or more accurately on the list of Bunions Bart wants to visit. As, so far, there is only one Bunion of this dimension that is about it the Bunion section of the. Bucket list. You will see that Bart, as always, has bought his own bucket, in case he finds something to add to his list.

Readers will not doubt remember, or else wise scroll back and read, that Bart Brassica is pretty well smitten with the pink Barbie cabrio...

at 07:50

Kokeshi Shadows, Sake Shapes and Jonquil Patterns

Both the Kokeshi doll, here an attenuated sixties fashionista, and the sake bottle have the double curve of waist and hips, the set of shadows, theirs and the jonquils, are all in step with the shoe lasts’. Things bought back from travels need company, so the little vase with its mushroom finials and lustre glaze steps in to the shadow’s fray.

Both the Kokeshi doll, here an attenuated sixties fashionista, and the sake bottle have the double curve of waist and hips, the set of shad...

at 14:34

The Egg Shift - Bart Brassica Dreams of Easter Egg-cesses

Years back Bart Brassica had a thing for Show Rabbbits, or at least one Peter the Ticked Flemish Giant, but his aspiration to win a Blue Ribbon at the Lambertville Show was thwarted by Peter getting into the beet pickle liquor, literally, and coming out Cerise, not a listed Show Rabbit category. However Bart has been dreaming, all too vividly of recruiting Rabbit workers, as he figures accommodation costs to be next to nothing, and he will not get the kind of surly backchat Frank Winkler delivers and wants to be paid for in advance. So, night time sees this manifestation of Bart’s spring fantasy, whiich he has tried to sell as a joint venture to Mavis Eggwhistle, who refuses to get into this, or Bart’s bed, believing he has slipped a cogito ergo sum.

Years back Bart Brassica had a thing for Show Rabbbits, or at least one Peter the Ticked Flemish Giant, but his aspiration to win a Blue R...

at 07:50

All Aboard My Dear Valentines. No 17 in the Valentine Day Series

Yes Valentinos, it’s 14th of February again and this is now Number 17 in the Valentine Day Series, which is a bit scary. Or is it?

at 08:31

Tail End - Lizard Days at Middle Head

Is the ratio of lizard tail to lizard body an inverse to weight to length? This fine fellow with his red hue and poise, sports three ticks, but what that might for his well being is a mystery. Is it a question of tick-dose or tick-time? One hopes the ticks leave quick smart but why do I have empathy for the host but none for the tick? A squeamish question?

Is the ratio of lizard tail to lizard body an inverse to weight to length? This fine fellow with his red hue and poise, sports three ticks,...

at 08:02

Is that the Kagoshima Choo-Choo? Gas hop on

Yes, that is the Kagoshima Shinkansen coming in, past Kagoshima’s very own puffing volcano.The painter is there at cross-maintenance purposes, and seems to be keeping up. If you buy a gashopon at the station, and really there is no why you shouldn’t, the train series will always deliver a train to to you on time. And yes, from Track Number 9.

Yes, that is the Kagoshima Shinkansen coming in, past Kagoshima’s very own puffing volcano.The painter is there at cross-maintenance purpos...

at 16:45

Bart Brassica’s Whittled Down Family Crest

Bart Brassica has for some time now aspired to the notion of a Brassica Family Crest, ever since Granny Eggwhistle observed he looked Crest. Fallen. So in order to address this lack, and get back at Frank Winkler who said, or so it was reported via Mavis Eggwhistle, that Bart was whittle-less, Bart has taken up whittling in a big way, and so he now has in addition to an axe that is grindless, various wooden tools of the trade which he has tableau-ed ( Bart’s term for anything laid on a table ) this Brassica Whittled Down Family Crest. Next project will be the Brassica Family Tree.

Bart Brassica has for some time now aspired to the notion of a Brassica Family Crest, ever since Granny Eggwhistle observed he looked Cr...

at 17:28

A Palimpested Shopping List Shows off its Lighter Side

While any list is good, here even the un-list - that tracery of pen on cheap paper leaves a feint imprint but first prize in the Best On Page show is the shadow thrown down by the sky-light blind. Will any remnant of the image remain outside of this one? Apply to the page for further information.

While any list is good, here even the un-list - that tracery of pen on cheap paper leaves a feint imprint but first prize in the Best On Pa...

at 07:39

Hole-some Cover Ups : The Underfoot Foundry Art of Japanese Cities

While looking around and up is what you mostly do on holidays, in Japan it is good to keep a weatther-eye out for each city’s emblematic manhole covers. Here is a set from Kyushu, Fukuoka’s take of cherry blossom, the lovely town of Imari’s what I surmise is Pawlonia leaf and flower, and at the bottom Kagoshima’s enigmatic graphic statement, on which I am still pondering. This post is one in a series - and as readers might have noticed, I love things in sets. More to come.

While looking around and up is what you mostly do on holidays, in Japan it is good to keep a weatther-eye out for each city’s emblematic man...

at 15:21

Whiter Shades and Vintage Linen

Getting into bed with fresh white sheets, pressed pillow cases, a cream wool blanket with a satin edge, under an vintage embroidered French ecru linen sheet, which was old but unused, still with the blue stencil outline visible between the neat stitching, a nuptial gift from an aunt the best part of four decades ago, I seem to have won a lottery of circumstance, to sleep and wake inside these.

Getting into bed with fresh white sheets, pressed pillow cases, a cream wool blanket with a satin edge, under an vintage embroidered Fren...

at 07:27

Two Dragons walk into a Bar

No, just joking, but it’s a two for one dragon fly event, the shadow dragon showing its best angle on the the yellow railing. Nothing bar the sun can do this.

No, just joking, but it’s a two for one dragon fly event, the shadow dragon showing its best angle on the the yellow railing. Nothing bar ...

at 14:51

In a Flat Spin, Top Speed Origami

If you happen to be in Kagoshima, on the island of Kyushu, in Japan on the overhead walkway to the Aquarium, you might be lucky like I was if you stop by a handicraft shop run by seniors, and even if their very good aprons don’t fit you, they didn’t fit me being made for and by lovely diminutive women, they will make a fuss about you as if you were Quite Something, if you ask after their health in Japanese - O-genki desu ka - will do the trick - and give you one, or two if there are two of you, of these excellent origami spinning tops, that turn into a blur of colour, which may be a metaphor for the passage of time, or just a nice use of centrifugal force.

If you happen to be in Kagoshima, on the island of Kyushu, in Japan on the overhead walkway to the Aquarium, you might be lucky like I wa...

at 22:53

Rice Miles, or Wry Smiles - The train from Imari to Fukuoka

To get from the wonderful pottery town of Imari in Saga prefecture Kyushu, where lovely pots and porcelain have been despatched to far flung ports in Europe since before the Meiji Restoration, take the slow chuffing DC 125 One Man Diesel Car - complete with anime figures - past the rice crops of Ochichosari to Karatsu, taking in forests and the local bucolic glory, before you change to Kyushu’s Chikuhi train line runs betweeen Karatsu and Fukuoka - this train line runs at a Kodachrome pace along the sea front, it is slow enough to to see waves break and sigh over the sea vista, before you are engulfed into the suburban density of Fukuoka. Smile, a train trip that delivers both rice miles and wry smiles,

To get from the wonderful pottery town of Imari in Saga prefecture Kyushu, where lovely pots and porcelain have been despatched to far flung...

at 22:14

In the Shadow Forest - Kiso Road Stories

On the Kiso Road, along Nakasendo Way, at the top of the pass at Yubuhara, this group of deities stay shadow quiet but, like a moment of knowing, seem effortlessly, elusively elegiac. Of course one is not to know that this quiet group will always be waiting for you, and as the walk up through the forest being its own reward, this is that perfect thing, unanticipated beauty.

On the Kiso Road, along Nakasendo Way, at the top of the pass at Yubuhara, this group of deities stay shadow quiet but, like a moment of k...

at 22:33

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Food markets are the hero of any locale, and while Makishi Public Market is small and the ground floor seems to be just seafood and pickles, the fish include the requisite Suess-ian colour scheme of Red Fish Blue Fish - and if you’re wondering about that glaucous eye on the lower right, and think it is quite toad-ish I am totally with you. Puff Puff. In case you might want to know, my very poor reading of hiragana translates the red fish as aka -ho ( here i guess) - chi, and the blue fish as Irabucho, though here I might be quite off-piste. As someone with truly dreadful handwriting I feel I have no purchase on complaint, and so can only commend this Fishmonger’s good characters.

Food markets are the hero of any locale, and while Makishi Public Market is small and the ground floor seems to be just seafood and pickles...

at 08:32

Fell Fall and Fen at Shiraito no Taki - White Thread Waterfall in Karuizawa

Waves, waterfalls and fountains, all types of white water, are the perfect counterpoint to green scenery, an anodyne for the eyes, a breath of fen air, and this Shiraito Falls, is an exemplar of its kind, with its long arc of continuity, its water has spent six years seeping from the rain fall on Mount Asama, slightly warmed by the geothermal heat of the mountain to form the springhead of the Yukawa River. And yes, each strand is a white thread working, stitching the world together.

Waves, waterfalls and fountains, all types of white water, are the perfect counterpoint to green scenery, an anodyne for the eyes, a breath ...

at 21:43

Kodachrome Dusk does its Thing Okinawa Style

Here a pixel fine slice of an Iphone photo delivers the non-contemporary - perhaps it is the salt air, the storm rolling in from east, or a wave of ‘70’s nostalgia that has rendered this image of Nashiro Beach on the south west side of Okinawa so very Kodachrome, or it might be that land remembers everything.

Here a pixel fine slice of an Iphone photo delivers the non-contemporary - perhaps it is the salt air, the storm rolling in from east, or a...

at 15:25

Gingham Style ! Black and White Dog Couture

It’s not Gangnam Style but Gingham Style for this checker be-decked Poochie who is being taken for a ride in uptown Karuizawa. So many questions , but there is no shadow of a doubt that this is not a a black and white case.

It’s not Gangnam Style but Gingham Style for this checker be-decked Poochie who is being taken for a ride in uptown Karuizawa. So many qu...

at 15:16

Is This the Line for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo -Bart’s Busman’s Holiday

Bart Brassica is, it seems, on holidays, and while he has gone singularly Dutch and Dining Out (Stand Up Stood UP ) and as been spotted at a diner, how does he get around? Here the mystery not so much thickens as coagulates, those with keen eyes will see he is a Oberndorf, a previously undiscovered railway station in Hunterdon County, and at least two of the locals seem to have have taken Grey Zombie potion, while Bart looks at perky as he ever will. This will take some pondering.

Bart Brassica is, it seems, on holidays, and while he has gone singularly Dutch and Dining Out ( Stand Up Stood UP ) and as been spotted a...

at 19:40

The Stone Water Basin and the Bamboo Dipper at Rest

Inside the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo there is an incredible 400 year old Japanese garden, among all sorts of lovely things is this stone basin, with its bamboo dipper to make an offer of water to to the stone deity standing alongside. But what to make of the narrow shelf of bamboo? Is it a resting place for the bamboo dipper? A metaphoric half way point? An aesthetic division of the basin’s circle ? In any case something to ponder. And it would be a pity not to show more of the garden, so as they say, see below.

Inside the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo there is an incredible 400 year old Japanese garden, among all sorts of lovely things is this stone basi...

at 17:40

Next Level - Roof Top Gardens in Tokyo

Yes, here we have levelled up with Ginza’s famous Seiko Clock, having found Mitsukoshi Department Store’s level nine roof top garden. An elevated oasis for sparrows and people looking for a breath of green space, and when the Seiko Clock chimes Big Ben’s theme bing bongs, well you get a little bit - sukoshi!- of London thrown in for next level effect.

Yes, here we have levelled up with Ginza’s famous Seiko Clock, having found Mitsukoshi Department Store’s level nine roof top garden. A...

at 07:50

Winning Ways - Twin Stars Sparks

Back in the day when my children were small, I read loads of children’s books, and had been known to be so engrossed I would unintentionally stop reading aloud, to go into the top gear of reading silently. But last Sunday I settled into a sunny spot on the deck, and read Twin Stars, Volume 1 of Charlotte Clutterbuck’s first novel for pre-teens. Charlotte is a fine poet and friend, so off we set. Two cups of tea and a half a chocolate slice later, I let out a long sigh of satisfaction . Twin Stars is a terrific read, the characters are complex and engaging, the plot rips along, the social mores are resonant and relevant, the detail is wonderful and of course there is more coming. If Volume 2 was out already I would have bought it straight away. Twin Stars reminded me of the joy of reading children’s books, and this one is a gem.

Back in the day when my children were small, I read loads of children’s books, and had been known to be so engrossed I would unintentionally...

at 14:57

Many Hands Make Light Work - In the Photon Field

Granny Eggwhistle says she is sure the new Farm Hand might be a member of an occult, because under hand is one thing but Over Hand like this is unnatural. But why has Farmer Bart Brassica taken on an extra Hand? It seems, as he is away on a faux holiday (see double-double-dutching-bart-fakes-fancy.html…) and has applied the adage Many Hands Make Light Work, though in this case he is thinking the rocket needs to work harder at photosynthesis, and with all this light work, some of it must inspire the Aragula to go for it. There may be a nothing under handed about the Hand or it could be there is more to the Hand than we can see.

Granny Eggwhistle says she is sure the new Farm Hand might be a member of an occult, because under hand is one thing but Over Hand like thi...

at 08:03

The Fleeting Fineness of Flowers Down

Double ruffled tulips are fine examples of the under rated ephemera of fading flowers, they have a wabi-sabi all their own, here the tulips’ touch down reframes their faux Kutani-ware Wedgewood vase - itself a floral fiat of form and pattern. Something about the surrounding crowd of bijou here suggests World of Interiors, and makes me wonder why photographs of wilted arrangements, with their mandala ethos, are not a genre of their own.

Double ruffled tulips are fine examples of the under rated ephemera of fading flowers, they have a wabi-sabi all their own, here the tulips...

at 15:48

The Sea in Two Minds and an Undertow

It’s easy to forget, or maybe not realise, that like turning the heel for a sock, the ocean knits itself around corners into bays, here the north eastern edge of North Stradbroke shows precisely how the sea can be in two minds about flow and crimp and flat where the Pacific meets Moreton Bay. The water on one side is so seemingly placid but heaven knows, that seam of intersect does not even bother to hide its undertow.

It’s easy to forget, or maybe not realise, that like turning the heel for a sock, the ocean knits itself around corners into bays, here the...

at 14:24

Stand Up, Stood Up? Bart Dines Out.

As Bart Brassica is holidaying double Dutch style, see Episode double-double-dutching-bart-fakes-fancy.html , he has been wistfully waiting at Glenn’s Historic Gettysburg Diner, at which there are 166 vacant seats. Is so much emptiness ominous in a diner open 24 hours a day? Notwithtsanding the lack of customers Bart appears to have been Stood Up by Mavis Eggwhistle, though as Mavis is unlikely to know that Bart Brassica had invited her, as he is working on his Telepathic Powers, after enrolling, but not attending, TelePathy for Beginners, which as he understood the CurryCueLamb, would be mostly acts of contemplation. So, is this Bart’s last piece of Stand Up? Will his Curried Lamb Burger ever come?

As Bart Brassica is holidaying double Dutch style, see Episode double-double-dutching-bart-fakes-fancy.html , he has been wistfully waitin...

at 07:20

Feeding Dandelions to a Donkey and the Donkey’s Auntie

These two Donquettas were not coquettish about dandelion greens, though there was some jockeying, at which they excel, for access, and while this was amiable enough at midday, the next morning, maybe they got up on the wrong side of the stables, but the Aunt was not nice to the niece and vice versa. If ever I have a to reverse park a donkey I will be letting the donkey do it. They have nice noses and a fundamental grasp of dandelion delicacy and space.

These two Donquettas were not coquettish about dandelion greens, though there was some jockeying, at which they excel, for access, and while...

at 15:37

A Green World in Three Scenes

A Myanmar market stack of green leaves leaning towards a Fibonacci spiral , two stems of Angophora leaves, thoughtfully snipped off by sulfur-crested cockatoos, and a tableau of acorn, oak leaf, birch cone and my green Lamy fountain pen, all contribute to a visual paraphrase of John Donne’s green thoughts in a green shade.

A Myanmar market stack of green leaves leaning towards a Fibonacci spiral , two stems of Angophora leaves, thoughtfully snipped off by sulf...

at 07:29

Get Your Skates On , St. Kildering Your Way Into Nostalgia

Pink skates with yellow laces, scuffed toes reflect on their uneven roll call of days along the Esplanade, what can explain their sense of ennui, ready to go but glazed inside the glass, the palms in colonnades reflected, the distant idea of a wooden rink at Ettalong, with its corrugated, companionable percussion?

Pink skates with yellow laces, scuffed toes reflect on their uneven roll call of days along the Esplanade, what can explain their sense of e...

at 13:56

Blue in the Face

The Blue-faced honey eater may be the only creature that looks good in Blue eye shadow, and being so very dapperly attuned to the cafe colour system it would be hard to begrudge them a few muffin crumbs. Blueberry I wonder?

The Blue-faced honey eater may be the only creature that looks good in Blue eye shadow, and being so very dapperly attuned to the cafe colou...

at 15:38

Sets and Setsability

It’s the set of three for me, even things waiting to be set up with a dedicated tableau are given a temporary set place of three, here two modern pieces and a vintage souvenir of the Jenolan Caves with its psychic stalagmite emanating its own aura, are all the better for being set up as a trio. More brio, mor trifectas please. More setsability.

It’s the set of three for me, even things waiting to be set up with a dedicated tableau are given a temporary set place of three, here two ...