Weedy Sea Dragons in Australia

Just been watching a program on a creature living in my own backyard, so to speak - the weedy sea dragon.

What totally got my attention was it's amazingly iridescent and varied coloration ...


These weedy dragons are found mainly in temperate waters off South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales.

Living in kelp-covered reefs - so it's not rocket science to understand how their plant-like bodies evolved!


They are obviously related to sea horses but the males, instead of hatching young in a pouch, keep the eggs fixed to the underside of their tails.


Surprisingly, well, to me, they grow to a whopping 46 cms in length ...


After a gazillion 'Animal Planet' docos, it's great to realize there's still more things out there to dazzle and amaze!

Things NOT On The Regret List - Mogul Miniature Paintings

You know sometimes when you travel and see something and you decide not to buy for any number of sensible reasons: 'I'll see better ones later', 'It'd be such a hassle to have to carry it round for the rest of the trip', 'It's too expensive'. Does any of this ring a bell?

So with this in the back of my mind, we bought a number of Mughal paintings in Pushkar in Rajasthan at the beginning of a long-ish trip ... through India, Nepal and Thailand.

Pushkar is one of the five sacred dhams or pilgrimages for Hindus and, like Udaipur, is situated beside a lake fringed with ghats where bodies are cremated on funeral pyres at the water's edge.



Though the fame of the town for tourists is as much for it's annual Mela or Camel Fair.

Pushkar Annual Camel Fair or Mela 2006 (Not my photo)

Mughal painting developed in the C16 in India, in part from Persian miniatures - with its subjects usually being scenes of court and domestic life ...



... journeys ...


... royal processions ...


... battle or hunting scenes ...


... and portraits of courtiers ...


... where the detail can be so neurotic that it hardly seems to diminish with closer ...


... and closer inspection ...


Doing a hair count on the beard is possible - but of course would probably get you committed!

Clicking on the two paintings of the two courtier images enlarges them to a degree that you can really admire the extraordinary detail and refinement I've been talking about.

Sadly, there's not enough space to display all the works we bought - so I do a rotation thing - but curiously there's a lot of favoritism for the courtiers!

Lilies Lurking With Intent Round the House

A few minutes ago, I happened to notice these cut stargazer lilies - just itching to have their photo taken ... for the blog, of all things!

So of course I obliged.

The Gentle Art of Body Modification

You know those (hopefully few) times in your life when realize you're much more conservative than you ever imagined.

Body modification can be one of those times ...


... though curiously enough (well, for me) this guy's split tongue seems strangely erotic (!?) - so maybe I'm not as hopelessly mainstream as I imagined.

There are more possibilities here than you might first imagine, like 'clapping' (is that what's going on here?) ...


Of course more body modification means you widen your repertoire. But be warned that loud, prolonged and uncontrollable screaming may result from unsupervised watching of this next video.

If this seems all a bit ho hum or old hat, maybe you might consider some complementary tooth modification ...


But remember, when you're trying to silence someone whose modification has been modified in this way ...


... the expression 'zip it up' takes on a whole new meaning.

Would you believe B. M. is so common place now it's even a Wikopedia item - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue_splitting?

Granada - Unexpected Dream Destination

View of the Alhambra, Granada from El Albaicin (Old Arab Quarter) - the only photo not taken by me

An ancient Ibero-Celtic settlement, Granada has been successively occupied by the Greeks (in the 5th century BCE), and then the Romans, the Visigoths, the Byzantines, and finally the Moors in the 8th century ACE. With the Arabs being overcome by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.

And then we formed part of the tourist invasion of 2003.

There are two totally and seductively attractive parts of the city - the Arab garrison fort of the Alhambra and El Albaicin, the old Arab quarter.

The latter sits on the razor back of a ridge of hills opposite over a ravine from the former ...






I loved the small scale of everything - after living in Madrid for a couple of months.

And the folksiness. Like the stall markets set up for each morning in the streets. With their hand-written signs ...



I don't know about where you live in the world, but here in Australia the counter culture and its denizens are now pretty much extinct - or have been transmuted into New Age counterparts (pun, sorry).

So there was that incredibly desirable pang of nostalgic seeing it all still alive and well in this Spanish city ...



One of the best things to do in Granada (I think) is simply hanging out in the Moorish salóns de té ...



It's surprising how long you can happily do this and just how many coffees you can drink. Let it just be said we were usually vibrating when we finally made our way back into the street!

But of course the big deal here is the Moorish fort of the Alhambra. Which is visible from just about everywhere.


You make your way up along a rather grand leafy pathway ...


... dotted with ancient and ruined buildings, seemingly put there to set the right mood ...


And then there's the imposing entrance - and beyond.







Apart from the Moorish buildings themselves and the later Spanish additions ...




... what was particularly seductive about the Alhambra was the gardens, bursting with the new fragrant life in late spring ...



... and the various views out - over internal courtyards ...


... and the city ...


... and the Sierra Nevada mountains ...


The best finish to an Alhambra day is walking back down to the city at dusk.


I was so over-whelmed by the sensuous beauty of the place that I think I took the worst photographs of the four month trip (or of my life) - a paradox if ever there were!

But I'm still enjoying the nostalgia they excite - maybe, and so sadly, at your expense.

A Post-Cho Dose of Levity

Alan in Florida sent me some mostly more than decent one-liners - so I thought I'd spread the word(s) - well, the best ones - and give them a gay spin:

1. When I was born I was given a choice - a big dick or a big brain. I don't remember which I chose.

2. Impotence is Nature's way of saying 'No hard feelings'.

3. There are two words your boyfriend/partner doesn't want to hear - 'Don't' and 'Stop'. Unless you put them together.

4. There are generally three stages in a gay guy's sex life:

• Tri-weekly
• Try Weekly
• Try weakly
  

5. Virginity has a cure.

6. Having sex is like playing bridge - if you don't have a good partner you better have a good hand.

7. An Australian kiss is like a French one - but down under. (TRUE! Is there another kind?!)

8. Why do gay guys find it hard to make eye contact? Cos crotches don't have eyes.

The totally unrelated header photo of Chris Russell was obviously just an attempt to get your attention!

In case you were in any doubt, it is not an image of Alan or I - though you might want to disagree?

Gotta Be One of the Funniest People on the Planet!

What I love about Margaret Cho is that she's really in my world - it's the issues she takes on , the quirky very-on-the-edge sense of humour, the lack of any fained prudery ... .

And that FACE ...


... that would have me paralytic even if she were only reading the phone book ... in a quiet voice ... to herself ... in an elevator!

And that TIMING ... she can do the long long pause that's needed to get the audience quite quiet ... and desperately ready for more. No nasty rushing on and loosing the comic tempo.

Absolutely nothing more needs be said - just 'Heeeeeere's Margaret!'

And don't you just love the feeling of no compromise what-so-ever for a wider and more popular success!