Pâtisseries of Paris
Published: October 05,
2008 | 22:56
Thinking about Christmas
Published: October 03,
2008 | 11:52

Christmas presents? The DVA's 2009 calendar features posters such as 'Join Us in a Victory Job'. Available from the Australian War Memorial shop. Buy some Flanders poppy seeds too.
Image source (with full description): Australian War Memorial.The Mouseman of Kilburn
Published: September 30,
2008 | 17:51

An Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Life of the Day in August featured 'The Mouseman of Kilburn', Robert Thompson (1876-1955) whose signature was (and is) a carved mouse: see here. Images here and here.
Image source: Robert Thompsons. The Leavenworth Case
Published: September 24,
2008 | 18:21

Seeking only a reading copy of Anna Katharine Green's The Leavenworth Case (1878), a trip to the university library produced this gem: a late nineteenth century paperback. The library dates it to 1884, a Ward Lock & Co. of London 'one shilling' paperback with period advertising on the back and inside pages ("Goodall's Egg Powder. The Only Substitute For Eggs Yet Discovered") and even some uncut pages at the back (the publisher's other offerings...). And it's a good read too. After Reading a Book on Abnormal Psychology
Published: September 17,
2008 | 17:50
by Ernest G. Moll (1900-1997)
Now all desires -- even unknown ones -- I had
Stand stript before me with their names writ under.
And will this make me really sane, I wonder,
Or only more intelligently mad?
Source: Howarth, R.G.; Slessor, K.; Thompson, J. (eds.) The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Verse (1961), p.65 Country cookbooks
Published: September 04,
2008 | 18:51
Something to look forward to at this year's Royal Adelaide Show -- the launch of a collection of recipes from the country shows of South Australia. There's a preview in The Advertiser (3/9/08).Image source: Wakefield PressThings I Must See
Published: August 30,
2008 | 15:43

Ever since I saw a poster of this vase about 15 years ago, I have had the Musée Guimet high on my list of Things I Must See. I am determined to get there next year. The web site says it is temporarily closed due to a "serious technical injury" (one hopes it is not the smashing of this vase; cf. the Fitzwilliam Museum debacle).
Mille Fleurs famille rose vase. China, c. 1736-1795 (H. 48cm). Image source: Musée Guimet, Paris (inv. no. G 3444). The web site is a nice one, and you can send yourself a postcard of various lovely things.