Cool shot right? But would you believe this is actually a self-portrait? Click here to find out how this crested black macaque became such a talented photographer.
Funny Face
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Category Archives: Travels
The Magical Mystical Tour
Want to commune with the great Renaissance Masters? Not planning a visit to Rome and Vatican City anytime soon? Here’s a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel completely free of charge. Just click and zoom in and out to take in the sights and soothing sounds.
Vatican City not really your thing? Still up for a blast from the past? Want a rockin’ good time with the lads and a far-out soundtrack? Then The Beatles are waiting to take you away on their Magical Mystery Tour, and it’s just one click away!
Books: A Wish List (1.1)
[26/03/09: I did a bit of an edit today on this post originally published on 13/06/08 to indicate which books I’ve obtained (*) and which I’ve also read (**) since then. All the book icons link to Amazon. When I’ve written a review, the book title links to that review. I have yet to compile another list as promised. All in due course I suppose. Most of the text in the rest of this post remains unchanged.]
There was no method to this particular folly I’ve committed, so don’t go looking for one. I’ve made it a full time activity over the past few weeks to look through countless book lists just for the fun of it; New York Times Best Books 1996-2007, The Guardian’s Top 100 Books of all Time, Time Magazine’s All-Time 100 Novels, Dr. Peter Boxall’s 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, a list of the Definitive Book Lists (yes, a list of lists), a list of literary awards, which includes, the Nobel Laureates in Literature, The Pulitzer Prize, The Man Booker Prize, the Orange Prize, just to name a few, and then read countless reviews and suggestions, all for the sake of compiling my own ideal list of “Books I’d Hypothetically Like to Read In Near Future”. Many books didn’t make it on the list either because a) I haven’t gotten around to including them or b) I’ve already read them, or c) I’d like to read them later on and finally d) they simply don’t appeal to me.
I’m only posting a partial list today—less than half of what I’ve come up with so far in terms of fiction alone.I’ve already spent far too many days agonizing on how best to present the material, and finally my decision is just to present it as it comes. Please don’t be shy to comment, let me know what you’ve read or what you’d love to read whether it’s on the list or not. Today’s list is defined as “Fiction and Literature: part 1”
The Swallows of Kabul*, by Yasmina Khadra
Empress*, by Shan Sa
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao**, by Junot Diaz
The Time Traveler’s Wife*, by Audrey Niffenegger
Post Office, by Charles Bukowski
Zookeepers Wife, by Diane Ackerman
Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Blindness*, by Jose Saramago
Kafka on the Shore**, by Haruki Murakami
A Fine Balance*, by Rohinton Mistry
The Interpretation Of Murder*, by Jed Rubenfeld
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon
Midnight’s Children**, by Salman Rushdie
Beloved**, by Toni Morrison
In The Company Of The Courtesan**, by Sarah Dunant
People Of The Book**, by Geraldine Brooks
Shape Of Water, by Andrea Camilleri
Catch-22*, by Joseph Heller
Children of the Alley: A Novel**, by Naguib Mahfouz 
I’m Not Scared, by Niccolo Ammaniti
White Oleander, by Janet Fitch
Fabrizio’s Return, by Mark Frutkin
The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory
Border Trilogy**, by Cormac Mccarthy (currently reading)
The Shipping News*, by Annie Proulx
My Brilliant Career, by Miles Franklin
The O. Henry Prize Stories 2007, by Laura Furman (Editor)
The Best American Short Stories 2007, by Stephen King (Compiler), Heidi Pitlor (Series Editor)
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer**, by Steven Millhauser
Thousand Splendid Suns*, by Khaled Hosseini
Runaway**, by Alice Munro
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Fifth Business**, by Robertson Davies
Amsterdam, by Ian Mcewan
Haroun And The Sea Of Stories, by Salman Rushdie
Music Of Chance, by Paul Auster
Invention Of Solitude, by Paul Auster
Moon Palace, by Paul Auster
In The Country Of Last Things, by Paul Auster
Leviathan, by Paul Auster
The Book of Illusions: A Novel**, by Paul Auster
Timbuktu, by Paul Auster
Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing
The Complete Stories, by Franz Kafka
Exit Music, by Ian Rankin
Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 3)**, by Alexander Mccall Smith
Infidel , by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir*, by Frank McCourt
Migraine, by Oliver Sacks
The Glass Castle: A Memoir, by Jeannette Walls
Death at La Fenice: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery**, by Donna Leon
Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo
The Tin Drum*, by Gunter Grass
Et si c’était vrai ?…, par Marc Levy
Je voudrais que quelqu’un m’attende quelque part*, par Anna Gavalda
The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street**, by Naguib Mahfouz
Lullabies for Little Criminals*, by Heather O’Neill
New York Trilogy*, by Paul Auster
The Forgery of Venus, by Michael Gruber
Nobody’s Fool*, by Richard Russo
The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
The Poisonwood Bible*, by Barbara Kingsolver
Human Croquet: A Novel, by Kate Atkinson
Bright Shiny Morning, by James Frey
The House at Riverton: A Novel, by Kate Morton
Letters to a Young Contrarian, by Christopher Hitchens
Carter Beats the Devil, by Glen David Gold
Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel*, by David Guterson
The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
Green Darkness, by Anya Seton
Slammerkin, by Emma Donoghue
In The Country Of Men, by Hisham Matar
Love 0f a Good Woman, by Alice Munro
My Mistress’s Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro, by Jeffrey Eugenides (Editor)
Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson
View From Castle Rock, by Alice Munro
From The Fifteenth District, by Mavis Gallant
Flying Changes, by Sara Gruen
Modern Classics At Swim Two Birds, by Flann Obrien
I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land: The Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad, by Karolyn Smardz-Frost
Le Parfum*, par Patrick Suskind
Year Of Wonders*, by Geraldine Brooks
L’élégance du hérisson, by Muriel Barbery
Unfeeling: A Novel, by Ian Holding
Italian Folktales, by Italo Calvino
Je L’Aimais, par Anna Gavalda
Sept jours pour une éternité…*, par Marc Levy
La prochaine fois, par Marc Levy
Modern Classics Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh
Straight Man: A Novel, by Richard Russo
Two Lives, by Vikram Seth
Native Son, by Richard Wright
The Bad Girl, by Mario Vargas Llosa
The Historian*, by Elizabeth Kostova
Law of Dreams, by Peter Behrens
The Unconsoled, by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Outlander, by Gil Adamson
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino
The Book of Salt: A Novel, by Monique Truong
Natasha and Other Stories, by David Bezmozgis
The Bone People, by Keri Hulme
Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family, by Thomas Mann
Small Island, by Andrea Levy
The Light of Day, by Graham Swift
The Book of Disquiet, by Fernando Pessoa
Independent People, by Halldor Laxness
Hunger, by Knut Hamsun
The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
Arthur and George, by Julian Barnes
Shadow Of The Wind*, by Carlos Zafon
The Yacoubian Building*, by Alaa Al-Aswany
Green grass, running water, by Thomas King
Turtle Valley, by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Secret River, by Kate Grenville
Mister Pip*, by Lloyd Jones
Book of Negroes, by Lawrence Hill
The Known World, by Edward Jones
Brick Lane: A Novel*, by Monica Ali
Remembering the Bones, by Frances Itani
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, by Ken Kesey
Penguin Modern Classics World Of Wonders*, by Robertson Davies
Penguin Modern Classics Manticore*, by Robertson Davies
Sweetness in the Belly, by Camilla Gibb
A Spot of Bother: A Novel*, by Mark Haddon
Shantaram: A Novel, by Gregory David Roberts
Tales from Firozsha Baag, by Rohinton Mistry
History Of Love, by Nicole Krauss
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, by Azar Nafisi
Bookseller Of Kabul, by Asne Seierstad
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel**, by Dai Sijie
Girl With A Pearl Earring A Novel, by Tracy Chevalier
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
Mistress of the Sun, by Sandra Gulland
Lady Oracle, by Margaret Atwood
Three Cups Of Tea, by Greg Mortenson
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
Becoming Madame Mao, by Anchee Min
The Dante Club: A Novel, by Matthew Pearl
The Sea*, by John Banville
Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
Empress Orchid: A Novel*, by Anchee Min
The Fortress of Solitude, by Jonathan Lethem
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
White Noise, by Don Delillo
The Book of Air and Shadows, by Michael Gruber
Such a Long Journey, by Rohinton Mistry
On Chesil Beach**, by Ian Mcewan
Suite Francaise*, by Irene Nemirovsky
Bel Canto*, by Ann Patchett
The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus*, by Margaret Atwood
Photo of the Day
“Childhood is the ground upon which we shall walk all our lives.”
~ Lya Luft, Brazilian writer and novelist
Photo: Kids in Cuzco, Peru by Harry Kikstra, ExposedPlanet.com
And This is What an Israeli Winter Looks Like
My uncle sent me these totally cool photos the other day. He shot them in response to the one I put up on my last post with the caption “This is Winter from our balcony”. The balcony being of course, around Tel-Aviv. The funny thing is, people complain about how cold it gets there in the winter. I’d say they’re pussies (as in pussy cats of course) but having lived there a hundred and fifty years ago now, from what I remember it’s true that it actually gets very cold in the winter. And if you know Israelis at all, that last thing you’d say about them is they’re pussies. Dogs maybe. But not pussies.
Maybe it’s the contrast with the scorching summer, maybe it’s the fact that all the housing is built to stay cool and fresh to deal with said hot hot hot summers—who knows? From a distance I can laugh and say they have no idea what COLD is. But aside from all that, man would I love to look out my window and have a view like that all year round! All plants and greenery. No neighbours. Sweet.
Pics by Pini
Illustration Friday: Wrinkles
Collette Burns, born July 2nd 1923.
I met Colette on a cold spring day last year as I was taking a walk on a busy Manhattan avenue. She was inexplicably parked in her wheelchair on the sidewalk, apparently taking in the sights, with a small boy by her side, who turned out to be her grandson. For a fraction of a second I thought she was a homeless person, especially since she looked so wild with her hot pink lipstick liberally applied well past the contours of her lips, but I quickly realized this wasn’t the case. We talked for a long time about life and death and metaphysics and I told her I felt like I’d met an earth angel. She seemed pleased by this, and not terribly surprised.
To view other my other Illustration Friday entries, click here.
To view other participants’ work click here.
Illustration by Smiler
Figs
Someone called Ms Dragonfly left me a very kind comment about my latest drawing yesterday and when I visited her blog to repay the compliment, I found a small mention of fresh figs eaten right off the tree. That reminded me of why it was I ended up prolonging my stay in Crete 10 years ago instead of taking my scheduled flight to Istanbul. It was because of the figs. I just had to stay till fig season so I could pick them right off the trees and stuff my face with fruit which I’m sure they have in heaven. I’m sure Istanbul is a magical place, but the lure of the exquisite fruit won me over that time. I never though to check whether they have fig trees in Istanbul, but it wouldn’t have been the same, I’m sure.
Pic from Moonstitches
The Payslip
I had a few errands to run today, and wouldn’t you know it, ended up at my favorite art store, where I picked up a new paper pad and a wonderful watercolour paintbrush. Nothing to write about really, except that when they packaged the tip of the paintbrush in a small envelope to protect the natural bristles, I noticed that they had used a recycled pay slip envelope from the bank of Toronto. When I looked closer, I saw “Moose Jaw Sask. [Saskatoon] 1942” typed onto the envelope (click on the image to view larger). The style of the envelope did look old, but I figured my eyes must be playing tricks on me, because… 1942??? I must have said something out loud because then this grouchy old guy, who I suppose was the owner of the store said it was no big deal “Oh yeah, we’ve got loads of those envelopes laying around, loads of old junk in our warehouse too”. Junk for some, a happy find for me. I have a thing for vintage things in general, and vintage office supplies really do it for me. I’m thinking I should make friendly with the old man… maybe I can get my hands on a genuine 50’s stapler if I’m lucky.
p.s. doc says she sees progress but I’m nowhere near going back to work (her words).
Towering Over the City (part 4)
On that day last spring, which was actually early autumn in Australia, since I had very little time to do the rounds, I decided to concentrate on my chosen “must sees”. The giraffes featured high on the list (along with the felines of course), which was strange because I had been particularly curious about them until then, but on that day it seemed like they were an essential part of my visit. This is where I spent the most time during my short zoo visit and is also where I made the acquaintance of the lady who was sitting there drawing those wonderful creatures. She told me she was from a clinic being treated for depression and that she found that daily visits to the zoo, and specifically sitting near the giraffes and drawing them did her a lot of good. There was also a rather (very) good looking zoo attendant who came to check on the tall gentle beasts and as soon as he approached them, all the giraffes attempted to get their faces as close to him as possible, even licking him with their huge black tongues. One of the most surprising features of that enclosure, apart from the giraffes themselves, was the Sydney skyline in the background. On the last photo you can see the giraffe towering over the high-rise buildings, a visual effect which makes this beautiful animal seem even taller an more exotic than it already is.
To see part 1 click here
To see part 3 click here
All pics by Smiler
Images from Prague (part 3 of 3)
1. The rooftops of Prague with the Vltava river running in the background.
2. Statue overlooking the Vltava
3. A view of Staromestske Namesti (Old Town Square)
4. Old shop sign.
5. A beautiful building which now houses a café.
6. These homes all have a view on the Vltava
7. The whole room was done with a “trompe l’oeil” effect.
8. An interesting-looking character wearing what I can only assume is traditional dress and facial hair.
