tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81610261322847313862024-03-29T10:00:21.756+11:00Flying With HandsInstructions not includedPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-18944306307751949552024-03-17T12:14:00.001+11:002024-03-17T21:36:49.802+11:00Notre Dame - Then & Now Then: C19th chimera gracing our kitchen wall since, well, foreverIn the way of such things, we were only home a few days from our journey to the City of Lights and a stroll past a recovering famous cathedral, when the first of this year's concert subscriptions popped up, appropriately entitled, Notre Dame. Here we were taken on another journey by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-54012959224389729082024-01-22T18:20:00.000+11:002024-01-22T18:20:57.878+11:00Strange Visitors II... Or, What Katy Did Behold, Dear Reader, the strange visitor to our bedroom the other morning. We do seem to get a fair bit of wildlife inside the casa (of the six- and eight-legged variety, mind), but it's the first time a Bush Cricket or Common Garden Katydid (Caedicia simplex) has lobbed in without a by your leave. It may have been attracted by the marquetry foliage on the bedhead, but Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-9253444329469156932023-12-24T10:47:00.001+11:002023-12-24T10:47:51.248+11:00Merry Christmas! Thank you for the pleasure of your company this year, Dear Reader.I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Tranquil New Year!Pipistrello xImage credit: PinterestPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-56413428216429626422023-12-01T17:34:00.004+11:002023-12-01T18:06:19.507+11:00Wisdom Of The Elders - TravelTravel is on the horizon for the Pipistrellos next year, Dear Reader, and since it has been a goodly while since Europe was the destination, Your Correspondent thought a few pertinent questions to one wiser than she might be in order, just to get in the mood and allay any feelings of travel rustiness. The wise elder interviewed in this instance is the first AI bot that sounds in any way Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-11415967903674863712023-10-22T16:13:00.000+11:002023-10-22T16:13:37.543+11:00Ghost StoryGather round for my Ghost Story, Dear ReaderHave you ever experienced a haunting, Dear Reader? As it's almost the time for Hallowe'en, I thought it was time to trot out the (short) tale of my only brush with the Otherworld. In the way of such madcap adventures, our setting was Merrie Olde England. Mr. P & I were living there for a while around the year 2000, and would take ourselves off Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-70470687576964772212023-09-11T17:36:00.002+10:002023-09-18T16:44:13.432+10:00Spring HeraldsAuditory geometryThere's been a surfeit of Pink petals around these parts of late. Some of which is architectural. Behold the new acoustic petals in the Concert Hall at the Opera House, seen twice recently:Viewed both this way ...... and that.But it's been mostly confined to the abundant Azaleas and Magnolias, hereabouts. They're a little past their best right now, but it's a good sign that Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-47352015880858743192023-08-05T18:44:00.003+10:002023-08-18T16:01:21.586+10:00Berlin: Concrete And Chic, 1994Jeder hat Kraft, or Everyone is powerfulWho knew the Iron Curtain, or a considerable chunk of it, was hiding in plain sight beside Sydney's Goethe-Institut? I traipsed past it on several occasions before noticing the large piece of grafittied concrete in the middle of this pocket park. Hullo, what? Surely not?, thunk I, but investigating closer after the double-take of faint recognition proved itPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-5882056793974989932023-05-19T15:49:00.002+10:002023-05-20T09:28:12.979+10:00Good News From Home!William Stewart, C19th oil, The DominieSometimes, Dear Reader, I just cannot resist a bit of trawling on Trove, for the pleasure is two-fold. I get to correct the garbled auto-transcriptions of old newspapers and gazettes (so satisfying), and delight in the masterful language that went hand-in-glove with the lost Art-formerly-known-as-Journalism. Similarly, for a reader some two hundred years agoPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-24075917628685573592023-05-01T08:44:00.001+10:002023-05-01T12:42:57.873+10:00Glimpses Of Life AquaticSpot the sea life at the train station I'm toting about this top-hatted lobster a lot these days. He takes charge of the dancing paraphernalia within. Fair weather or foul, several times a week I'm off to the studios where much exertion ensues. For brain and body! The tap dancing teacher, particularly, reassures us that dementia will be prevented but it's the sense of satisfaction afterwardsPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-9565757941540479992023-04-01T17:33:00.004+11:002023-04-01T17:54:04.461+11:00My Dentist Brings Me Up To Date John Lavery, The Dentist, 1929There's never any white knuckle gripping of the chair when Your Correspondent makes a visit to the dentist, it being a rather more relaxed and convivial affair, principally because there's nothing amiss with my fangs. The White Lab Coat of Authority as seen on this dashing dentist morphed sometime ago into white t-shirt, denims and Italian shoes on my long-timePipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-73864299228110689062023-03-24T16:40:00.003+11:002023-03-24T21:22:03.738+11:00Wisdom Of The Elders - Memory This most excellent book bag was found hanging on a rack outside a bookshop I passed the other day. Apart from the reminder that there's no time for frivolities like twirling wreathes with a BFF when there's a book within reach, Your Correspondent thought it was time to dip into our rich medieval past and share some more nuggets of wisdom from our elders. If your memory is getting a little Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-50693779722948296652023-03-15T19:10:00.000+11:002023-03-15T19:10:37.935+11:00Rust(ic) ScenesThe past couple of weeks we've had a bit of to-ing and fro-ing. Some out-of-town variety has lent spice to the season, it being the time for we Pisceans to have their moment. We've enjoyed both a lovely coastal visit to stay with family (prawns and oysters, tick!), and then took the train for a rather more agricultural visit to the Southern Tablelands property of friends, the Country Mice, our Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-53057296840030709142023-02-27T13:25:00.001+11:002023-02-27T17:00:38.915+11:00Table TalkMiguel Mackinlay, Still Life With Eggs, 1923(Acknowledgement to the MJ McKinlay Trust)Do please pass me another egg, Mr P.Edouard Manet, Oysters, 1864[Later ... ] Yes, the oysters are delicious! Sarah Lamb, Bistecca ala Fiorentin, 2019[Even later ... ] How would you like your chop, my dear?... And there you basically have it, Dear Reader; nothing juicy yet to report on the new Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-30874492946530872992023-02-03T15:46:00.001+11:002023-02-03T16:20:05.075+11:00Carbs Are So Last Season There have been some changes about the casa and I don't just mean the Christmas Tree has finally come down. Yes, we held out until Candlemas again this year, and the place is now looking somewhat lacklustre ... but I merely digress. The Pipistrellos have gone mad and have given up carbs.It wasn't intentional, but in the way of such madcap adventures, it started with Your Correspondent Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-15869544891591601412023-01-15T14:40:00.008+11:002023-01-15T21:32:33.016+11:00Nuggets Of MoonstoneWilkie Collins, The Moonstone, 1868Ah, the Victorian novel. It can really divide the masses. Mr P is reading Middlemarch for the first time and attends it with lots of oh dear, oh dear!-s and hearty guffawing & cannot help delightedly reading me passages, for it is a cracking good read. Ol' George Eliot really had her finger on the pulse with what made people tick. And the language! Right up Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-66316663501667329252023-01-10T21:48:00.006+11:002023-01-14T12:13:12.967+11:00Medea & The Treacherous Ingrate Motherly murder most foul "We must all bend our minds," she said brightly, "to think of different ways of boring our royal visitors to death. ... Alma Peacock, who is already straining at the leash and hasn't been off the telephone since yesterday afternoon, can easily be persuaded to give a gala production of some weighty classic, her little amateur theatre group doesn't know Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-30756270029688385612023-01-07T22:14:00.002+11:002023-01-08T17:14:36.856+11:00Not-Reviews: Week 1Something new for you, Dear Reader, the Not-Reviews. Viz., some pics of the books Your Correspondent has in play at the close of the new year's first week:Doing double-duty as book for the bus and book beside the bed, the complete collection of Katherine Mansfield's short stories. This 2009 Vintage edition (the cover of which got smudged in the rain - boo), purchased in Wellington in New Zealand Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-25805922887440214682023-01-01T18:11:00.002+11:002023-01-01T18:39:05.043+11:00Basket Of CherriesBasket of CherriesFélix Valloton, 1921What's been happening lately? Well you might ask, Dear Reader, for there's been scant enough peeking behind the scenes of these pages ... for no good reason. Let us start the New Year with better intentions and pick through this basket of cherries while they're still in season.'Tis still the seasonFor lychees, tooR.I.P. Vivienne Westwood2.5m of rain this pastPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-41785182836422482752022-12-24T08:00:00.002+11:002022-12-24T08:00:00.150+11:00Merry Christmas! Thank you, again, for your excellent company this year, Dear Reader.Here's to wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Pipistrello xImage credit: via RedditPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-2460384368881317922022-12-08T17:28:00.003+11:002022-12-19T08:50:14.917+11:00Public Enemies Series: Grammar v ForrestIt's a jungle out there"Grammar Grubs! Grammar Grubs! ...", went our frantic refrain as the packed Girls' Grammar School bus sailed past our bus stop of a morning. The posh tinies at the Church of England school became momentarily like rabid, small green dogs as they pressed their sweetly snarling faces against the glass and clambered over each other to stand on seats, squeezing their rosebud Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-34454822330415382832022-11-27T11:08:00.028+11:002022-11-27T11:42:11.700+11:00Weighty MatterHave you ever wanted to buy a Kibble Balance, Dear Reader? Trying to find one with Mr. Google invariably brings up pages of dog food suppliers, which is no help for it is indeed the tool that we are supposed to use for benchmarking the Kilogram from now on. So, what even is one? Behold:A Kibble Balance in the wild.You can build this baby with LEGO®!And benchmarking the kilogram. What's that when Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-24614855483841058652022-11-18T09:32:00.002+11:002022-11-18T19:35:05.395+11:00Middle Earth: A Driving Holiday Toot toot! The Pipistrellos took a trip ...It has been an absolute age since the Pipistrellos flew from the confines of this island nation to take a trip together and, it being the Season for Scorpios and all and Mr. P thus ripe for spoiling with a holiday, what better place to choose to go than our than our nearest neighbour, Middle Earth*?... Into a remote & pristine world more Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-20545133514799534032022-10-23T13:01:00.295+11:002022-10-23T17:41:57.813+11:00Hat Chat Caution: Hat idioms ahead.Norman Parkinson, Vogue, 1952What's not to love about a hat, Dear Reader? Why aren't our wardrobes brimming with these (ahem, sometimes) practical and stylish items any more? While I'm no brass hat on the matter, I gather the advent of the enclosed motorcar apparently signalled the demise of the once essential accessory - where a failure to be wearing one could Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-79332606723112422912022-10-20T11:18:00.000+11:002022-10-20T11:18:16.671+11:00Are Your Ports Of Slumber Wide Open?Do not despair, Mae, sleep may yet come.'Tis Night, dead Night, and weary Nature liesSo fast, as if she never were to rise ...Nathaniel Lee, Theodosius, c. 1680'Tis night, dead night, and yet your weary self is not as dead to the world as you would like. The mind is whirring with matters of great or small import* and sleep is elusive. Whilst dramatist Mr. Nathaniel Lee spake of the deliciousPipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8161026132284731386.post-24868339541153385692022-09-01T17:14:00.000+10:002022-09-01T17:14:09.638+10:00Tokyo Atmosphere & Style Notes, 1992Let us away, Dear Reader!To Japan. Home of delicious foodstuffs, cellotape-free origami packaging, Astro Boy and Monkey, and fashion swinging wildly between kimono sophistication and Kawaii odd-ball cutesy. Just to pluck only a few things from the welter of rich cultural offerings by this tiny but intriguing country. A sampling from a box of Japanese ephemeraIt was also the first country to Pipistrellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904613196101010022noreply@blogger.com29