At home at RIVERBEND on the beautiful Clyde: "Writing and reading are the two most civilised things you can do."

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

"Writing and reading are the two most civilised things you can do."

And after reading any one of Paul Theroux's many books, you can add travelling. At my age, I'm more of a mental traveller, and Paul Theroux's books help me to escape the everyday monotony to return to places I've been to in an earlier life, or to other places I've never been to before.

In the above video clip, the lady-moderator briefly mentions Saint Jack which to me is all about the Singapore I used to know when I lived and worked in Burma and visited Singapore in 1975. It is one of Theroux's novel that was made into a wonderful movie, so even if you don't share my passion for reading, you will enjoy this full-length movie on YouTube:

Afterwards, you may even be tempted to read the whole book online at www.archive.org. As for me, I've just started re-reading Paul's "Dark Star Safari" which I brought back from town. I had already read the book but then given away to someone I thought would enjoy it as much as I had.

Talk to you again when I get to Cape Town! (which, I'm sure, has greatly changed since I briefly lived - and almost settled - there in early 1969)

Sitting it out in Cape Town, waiting for my passage back to Australia

On the balcony of the boarding-house in Cape Town

Googlemap Riverbend

In eigener Sache!

Ich wanderte im Jahre 1965 vom (k)alten Deutschland nach Australien aus. In Erinnerung an das alte Sprichwort "Gott hüte mich vor Sturm und Wind und Deutschen die im Ausland sind" wurde ich in 1971 im Dschungel von Neu-Guinea australischer Staatsbürger. Das kostete mich nur einen Umlaut und das zweite n im Nachnamen - von -mann auf -man.

Australien gab mir eine zweite Sprache und eine zweite Chance und es war auch der Anfang und das Ende: nach fünfzig Arbeiten in fünfzehn Ländern - "Die ganze Welt mein Arbeitsfeld" - lebe ich jetzt im Ruhestand in Australien an der schönen Südküste von Neusüdwales.

Ich verbringe meine Tage mit dem Lesen von Büchern, segle mein Boot den Fluss hinunter, beschäftige mich mit Holzarbeit, oder mache Pläne für eine neue Reise. Falls Du mir schreiben willst, sende mir eine Email an riverbendnelligen [AT] mail.com, und ich schreibe zurück.

Falls Du anrufen möchtest, meine Nummer ist XLIV LXXVIII X LXXXI.

Notice to North American readers:

This blog is written in the version of English that is standard here. So recognise is spelled recognise and not recognize etc. I recognise that some North American readers may find this upsetting, and while I sympathise with them, I sympathise even more with my countrymen who taught me how to spell. However, as an apology, here are a bunch of Zs for you to put where needed.

Zzzzzz

Disclaimer
This blog has no particular axe to grind, apart from that of having no particular axe to grind. It is written by a bloke who was born in Germany at the end of the war (that is, for younger readers, the Second World War, the one the Americans think they won single-handedly). He left for Australia when most Germans had not yet visited any foreign countries, except to invade them. He lived and worked all over the world, and even managed a couple of visits back to the (c)old country whose inhabitants he found very efficient, especially when it came to totting up what he had consumed from the hotels' minibars. In retirement, he lives (again) in Australia, but is yet to grow up anywhere.

He reserves the right to revise his views at any time. He might even indulge in the freedom of contradicting himself. He has done so in the past and will most certainly do so in the future. He is not persuading you or anyone else to believe anything that is reported on or linked to from this site, but encourages you to use all available resources to form your own opinions about important things that affect all our lives and to express them in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Everything on this website, including any material that third parties may consider to be their copyright, has been used on the basis of “fair dealing” for the purposes of research and study, and criticism and review. Any party who feels that their copyright has been infringed should contact me with details of the copyright material and proof of their ownership and I will remove it.

And finally, don't bother trying to read between the lines. There are no lines - only snapshots, most out of focus.