Rigby Taylor

I'm glad you like the Alconas - As for the dishes - Childhood conditioning, once the table was cleared, dishes done and put away, the fireplace cleaned, bed made and room neat.... I was free to do exactly as I liked - literally. Great training - delayed satisfaction is twice the pleasure - and our house now is always neat and perfectly maintained.... prissy😄 eh?

You're suggesting suicide? Hmm... never thought of that. He didn't seem the type - so full of life - but you're right - it's not uncommon for people who have decided to 'get off the escalator', to feel so happy and relieved it will soon be all over that no one suspects. Oh yes - there are villains hiding in the wings. I'm pleased you enjoyed the humour - not my forte so I usually steer clear of it.

I am enjoying this, although the story comments section is possibly not the 'correct' space - About 60 years ago "sick jokes" were popular. "Madam, your son has been run over by a steam-roller." "Shove him under the door, I'm in the bath." made us laugh. Your depiction of 'medium to low violence' fits the 'sick joke' category nicely. Have you ever considered the merits of 'mercy killing'? I've read that brains are hard-wired with useful information by the age of 2 years, then all conscious memory of those years is wiped, leaving only basic 'truths' that will be believed until death. Ideas implanted during the next 5 years are also deeply embedded and almost impossible to modify - which is how religion has remained popular and powerful. So if compassion, empathy and other desirable traits are not implanted by then, it's too late to bother 'wiring them in' - their 2 year-old's experiences will dictate their adult responses. The entire planet is a tinder box of precariously unstable humans, of which there are roughly six and a half thousand million too many to be ecologically sustainable. I'm pinning my hopes on climate change to sort things out - but I hope not before I've sloughed off this mortal coil - it's going to be really nasty - as it already is for far too many millions of miserable creatures.

Thanks, Sef, for your head-enlarging compliments and the excellent summation of the effects and problems of violence. I've copied your entire response to my file of Wise Words. You are right - most violence is not extreme, and that ambiguity you mention makes it subtly worse. The long term effects on Robert and Bart are evident in 'Fidel' when Lance's future is also revealed and I take a swipe at the prison system [Queensland has the cruelest prisons in the country, and therefore the most violent recidivism.] Your work with violent offenders sounds both interesting and depressing- as well as possibly dangerous. Yes!!! Stop violence at the beginning. Provide decent housing and meaningful work for socially and financially disadvantaged families, and domestic violence will almost disappear, along with violent kids. "fight, flight, fuck, or freeze" interesting - I hadn't thought of that. By fuck do you mean give in to the demands of the aggressor? as for maintaining a 'higher self'... that would take a Zen like mind state... don't think I could manage it with a knife in my face. We do have to accept that we are instinctive animals, not significantly different from rats, hens, dogs..... so reflex responses are inevitable. That's an interesting observation about USA and youth violence. I've been unable to watch most US movies for many years because of the unbelievably [to me] violent society they depict at all levels. 😎 Dome of Death is a kindergarten tale by comparison. Thanks for the link to 'Team Building' I've started reading it - most amusing.

Oh dear - happiness is always tinges with a little sadness at what might also have been. All those 'if onlys'. Robert has Bart - a pillar of sanity - almost. 😂

They both have identical opinions about the state of the planet and humans. Michael copes by apparently taking it all in his stride, signing every petition possible and donating to worthy organisations. Convinced that we've passed the point of no return so it's pointless even hoping to mitigate the effects, John vents his frustration in pessimistic outbursts, then carries on as if nothing's changed because to do otherwise is silly. Both expect to die before the shit really hits the fan, but if they last too long, they've exit strategies. Pity for innocents such as Pacific Islanders, whose lives have contributed nothing to climate change, yet are suffering the most, haunts both men. Yes, the garden is fun - an almost wilderness that changes constantly so we forget sometimes where we are, and lose each other daily. There have been enormous changes over the 23 years we've been here - thanks to encroaching subdivisions, urbanisation and pet dogs and cats. Wildlife such as wallabies and kangaroos that were once plentiful - now gone, several varieties of large lizards gone, echidnas gone, most birds and a few possums and snakes have remained because of the abundance of sustenance in our forest - but the drought is causing that to dry up too, so how long they will remain is unclear with no rain in sight. We rely on rain for all water, so life is precarious for the natural world. Increasingly so for humans too - but most haven't accepted that yet and are still mining coal and wanting to build coal fired power stations. Australia is not an independent country, it is a sub-state of the USA, which we follow unquestioningly, and that accounts for the lack of social or political action - no politician dares do anything sensible in case Uncle Sam gets annoyed and imposes sanctions, destroys the economy, and imposes a dictator as he's demonstrates a willingness to do on numerous occasions.

Ha! You've exposed my secret. Yes - I do tend to favour people for whom the naked body is a delightfully natural thing, not an obscene object to be concealed. I agree with your estimation of the quality of Hollinghurst's writing, and sort of enjoyed Line of Beauty, but essentially it was just another tale of wealthy/influential superficial wankers ensuring their survival and to hell with all who get in their way. I so agree that " Drugs, lust, and life's usual miseries are not inspiring material..." Which is why I don't write about them as normal. For me, 'Art' is about revealing possibilities of life that might inspire readers to rethink their preconceptions and behaviour. It should not be used to reinforce the stupidities of the current civilization. Thanks for the comment.

Thanks for the comment. I'm pleased you like the nature - so do we. Nature around here was very lush and magnificent until English colonists felled 99% of it for timber, then farming. Only a very few patches remain. The lake they went to is a few hours up the road from our place.We used to go there frequently, but it has become popular so one is seldom alone and of course togs are required. I wouldn't say Bart's relationship with the elderly men was fortuitous - I think we attract and keep in contact with people with whom we feel a bond. Bart's meeting with Michael and John was lucky, but their continuing friendship was deliberate. A psychotherapist wrote and told me he instructed clients with relationship problems to read those parts of the book in which Michael and John discuss it. Their garden is ours - more or less.

That's the way of things - if the cops get involved and find nothing [because people like Ozbairne senior will certainly have a tame cop to warn them] then it's case closed. Cops here are restricted in what they can do against whites - but if they're dealing with Aborigines they can get away with murder - and do.

Thanks, Sef. Thanks to the globalisation and digitisation of everything, the way we dress-up our homes the clothes we choose, and the food we eat are the only ways most people now have to express their creativity - everything else is designed and made elsewhere - no wonder depression is the fastest growing illness.

Thanks for this and your wondrous review. You think about what you're reading and comment with great perspicacity and wit. You write so well I am surprised you haven't posted a story. As you realise, I share your dismay at the parlous state of the planet. I hope your polluted river keeps flowing. Here, I used to soak away stress in our large pond - but drought has dried up half this state and looks like worsening. How to stop thinking? I don't think we can - but we can distract ourselves.

Yes - surely he's learning a bit of caution - but do we ever learn? Sometimes I wonder - I continue to make the same mistakes as when I was young and silly - now I'm old and silly.

Curses - you have understood my methodology - my heroes meet no problems they can't overcome with courage, ingenuity, and a bit of honest skulduggery.

Oh dear - am I becoming predictable? 😎 Bet you can't predict the last page. 😄

Oh yes! "Drugs" are very useful in the maintenance of "Law and Order". While not having a religious bone in my body - I do see the value of a board spectrum religion such as Hinduism for those who take succour from it.

" grinding his gears into mental malaise, and allowed him to enjoy the temple tours. " That's a right purty bit of writing, Sef. Couldn't have put it better myself. Glad you appreciate the delicacy of the chapter ending😄

Ah...hope springs eternal - and is usually misplaced.

Mint tea in North Africa, I assume...You have a good memory.

What a thoroughly delightful comment - you have restored my faith in humanity - well... some humans.

Thanks - India is nice to look at, nicer to leave. He's a long way from that cave - but yes... old habits die hard.

Golly - faith... mmmm... that's something you have when you don't know - but hope... makes me feel godlike. But I guess all writers are when they 'create' characters. Sef, I am so touched by your faith I will move heaven and earth in an attempt to satisfy your noble hopes. But no guarantees! Like god, I work in mysterious ways my wonders to perform.

Ha ha - Everyone gets what they deserve - so of course Shiv will live happily ever after. But what about Frankie?

Congratulations on your premonitions -

I am very pleased to have pleased you. He was surprisingly displeased pleased about the lack of drunken tourists 😄

Ah - The Naked Lunch - LSD revolution, Huxley's Doors of Perception and Island. Never got into Genet - too spaced out for me - You have an interesting background. Thanks.