I've been immersed in the world of Iris Murdoch these last eight weeks. While I've read them in the past I couldn’t remember anything about her novels, including the three I own: The Sea The Sea, The Book & The Brotherhood and A Fairly Honourable Defeat. My renewed interest was sparked by Peter J. Conradi's Family Business: A memoir which I … [Read more...] about Books June/July 2024 – Iris & Friends
Ballarat Break(Out)
Usually when I go to Ballarat I stay with my brother and it is usually a family affair with brother and sisters dining out. However this time I wanted something different. Other people go to expensive restaurants in Paris, Berlin, wherever. As I have done in the past. This time we were keeping it local, but still going for that luxurious … [Read more...] about Ballarat Break(Out)
Paris: Impressions of Life 1880 – 1925
On the 24th of May we travelled to Bendigo to visit this exhibition at the Art Gallery. It was advertised as containing over 170 works of art and artisan objects from the Musée Carnavalet Histoire de Paris which we have visited and enjoyed. A link to its collection is here. Lots to see, so I had very high expectations that weren't quite delivered, … [Read more...] about Paris: Impressions of Life 1880 – 1925
Books: April – May 2024
The Last Devil To Die, Richard Osman I hadn't intended to read this as I thought the author had run out of steam with the third in the series which you can see given how little I wrote about it here. I didn't even write very much about the first two despite having really enjoyed them as you can see from this blogpost. But Pauline loaned it to … [Read more...] about Books: April – May 2024
Books – March/April 2024
The Letters of Seamus Heaney, Ed. Christopher Reid I spent March immersed in the world of Seamus Heaney. Joe gave me this beautiful book for Christmas - ordered before the 25th December, it took a while to arrive. I like the informality of letters (and diaries) as an easy way to get to know a person in their own words. I found these ones … [Read more...] about Books – March/April 2024
Triennial 2024 (3)
This is my third and final post about this year's Triennial at the NGV - my first and second are here and here. The exhibition is well worth a visit before it closes on the 7th of April 2024. We first visited in December 2023 and focussed on the ground floor exhibits which are described here. All the quotes below come from the notes accompanying … [Read more...] about Triennial 2024 (3)