Verse and worse

Devils and wraiths and witches and warlocks
Dastardly demons that tug at their forelocks
Are they netherworld dwellers ever so keen?
No, they're just children, enjoying Halloween

Happy Halloween!

above and below, jeffey bilhuber




above, anne coyles interiors


miles redd, via peak of chic


miles redd


whitehaven interior design


wallace bryan interior design, photo by erica george dines


billy baldwin

Sunday walk, Akerselva from Maridalen

Yesterday I posted about Christmas. A wrong message to the world.
Today we had +11C, clear high sky, beautiful autumn colors and perfect weather for walking along Oslo´s main waterway Akerselva. The entire river is about 8.2 kilometres long, and has a difference in altitude of approximately 149 meters. The river starts at Lake "Maridalsvannet", the most important water reservoar for Oslo.From the water reservoar the river moves slowly like a smile-wrinkle, but the altitude variations make the waterfalls down to the fjord very spectacular.In the "new" city at Nydalen (previously Christiania Spigerverk) artificial waterfalls are constructed for strenghtening the combination of modern buildings and traditional waterways.
Further down the beauty of Lower Voyen Fall at Graah´s Spinning Factory and HønseLovisas House, had to be part of this blogpost.Turning west and away from the beauty along the riverside we pass Damstredet at Fredensborg on our way back home.
Damstredet was mostly built from 1810 to 1860, as part of the expansion of Oslo that begun at this time. The first house, Solberg, was erected in 1756 by sculptor Ole Meyer. His nephew, sculptor Andreas Hansen Meyer, took over in 1767, while his son Ole, also sculptor, erected another building in 1838. His friend, author and poet Henrik Wergeland, then newly wed, moved in and spent two of his most productive years here, until moving to Grotten in 1841.
The monumental building of Deichman Library (Norway´s lagest public library at Hammersborg makes the photo report from our Sunday walk complete. The Library will move to Bjørvika close to Oslo Opera House within a few years.

More photos from Akerselva can be found at our riverside walk September 2009

Sunday walk, Akerselva from Maridalen

Yesterday I posted about Christmas. A wrong message to the world.
Today we had +11C, clear high sky, beautiful autumn colors and perfect weather for walking along Oslo´s main waterway Akerselva. The entire river is about 8.2 kilometres long, and has a difference in altitude of approximately 149 meters. The river starts at Lake "Maridalsvannet", the most important water reservoar for Oslo.From the water reservoar the river moves slowly like a smile-wrinkle, but the altitude variations make the waterfalls down to the fjord very spectacular.In the "new" city at Nydalen (previously Christiania Spigerverk) artificial waterfalls are constructed for strenghtening the combination of modern buildings and traditional waterways.
Further down the beauty of Lower Voyen Fall at Graah´s Spinning Factory and HønseLovisas House, had to be part of this blogpost.Turning west and away from the beauty along the riverside we pass Damstredet at Fredensborg on our way back home.
Damstredet was mostly built from 1810 to 1860, as part of the expansion of Oslo that begun at this time. The first house, Solberg, was erected in 1756 by sculptor Ole Meyer. His nephew, sculptor Andreas Hansen Meyer, took over in 1767, while his son Ole, also sculptor, erected another building in 1838. His friend, author and poet Henrik Wergeland, then newly wed, moved in and spent two of his most productive years here, until moving to Grotten in 1841.
The monumental building of Deichman Library (Norway´s lagest public library at Hammersborg makes the photo report from our Sunday walk complete. The Library will move to Bjørvika close to Oslo Opera House within a few years.

More photos from Akerselva can be found at our riverside walk September 2009

Classic art can be such a pipe dream

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON (Image ID:131-6570)

Sometimes you see Renaissance-style art in the strangest places. This mural brought me to a halt as I walked down Lygon Street in central Melbourne about three weeks ago. It's not a huge wall, more like a small rectangle tucked into an inconspicuous spot beside the cafes that line the famous stretch of road.

But look carefully at the mural and you'll see that the exterior pipes have obviously been there for years. This in turn would suggest that the mural is fairly recent, and has been painted around the pipes.

Look at the image below and you'll also notice a clue that Lygon Street is famous for its cafes and multicultural cuisine. Can you see the glass that someone has left on the low parapet on the left? And there's something else there too, that I didn't notice until I reviewed these images on my computer screen - the artist has left his mobile (or cell phone) number under the dials on the bottom left-hand side of the image.

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON (Image ID:131-6570)

Verse and worse

Have you ever watched a conger

Grow an inch as it gets stronger?
It's all about the speed it feels
As it shows a clean pair of eels

How I met the First Lady of NYC

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON (Image ID: NYC1July-0070)

As regular readers of this blog are aware, I do not posts shots of myself, but I simply HAD to make an exception in this case. I had told my good friend Daryl that we would be in New York City in late June-early July this year and truth be told, meeting her face-to-face for the first time was very special.

It was only after we returned home to Melbourne that I realised Daryl had very kindly posted a shot of us here.

We were all so touched that she actually took the time to leave work mid-morning to meet the entire Authorblog family in Times Square. And when I rocked up (a minute late) she was already deep in conversation with Mrs Authorblog. I suspect that the DNM (deep and meaningful) had something to do with retail therapy, but I cannot speculate further, so can you stop twisting my arm now.

At the time, I had stopped blogging to concentrate on my novels, and Daryl and I briefly touched on the possibility that I might resurrect this blog one day. I also apologised for my uncharacteristic four-day stubble - but the woman who long ago christened me "Den Mom" said she would overlook it, only this once!

By the way, if you want to enter a title-writing contest for an unusual image I recently posted, just click here - or even just look at some of the witty titles that visitors have already posted.

Verse and worse

There's no time for vanity
At the Rally To Restore Sanity
So show that you care - support Stewart and Colbert
With minutes to spare, you just have to be there

Cleveland Crash
President Obama faced hecklers and spoke to a half-empty arena in Cleveland at a campaign rally yesterday. Experts aren't sure whether it was because of Halloween or because Obama came wearing his LeBron James jersey.



Pot Prop
The latest reports show the proposition to legalize marijuana is trailing at the polls by seven points... not because it's not popular, but because most of the potheads aren't expected to remember where to vote.



Miss World Winner
18-year-old Alexandria Mills of Kentucky won the Miss World contest in China Saturday night. But after winning the crown, the Chinese asked her for help in getting back the $13 trillion they've lent America just since last Tuesday.



Tiger Falls
For the first time in 281 weeks, Tiger Woods is not the world's #1 ranked golfer... but he remains the world's #1 consumer of anti-herpes medication.



McDonald's Partisan
An Ohio McDonald’s owner is in hot water for putting pro-Republican campaign materials in his employees’ paycheck envelopes. Despite the electioneering, Mayor McCheese still trails Grimace in the polls by five percentage points.




November 1st


1179: Philip II is crowned King of France, and de facto leader of the gay community.


1800: President John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the White House… which is slightly less impressive when you realize he still had to take all his dumps outside.


1946: The New York Knicks play the Toronto Huskies in the first Basketball Association of America game… and the last pro basketball game where no player was facing a paternity suit.

October 31st


475: Romulus Augustulus is proclaimed Western Roman Emperor… but the choice is disputed since it was made by the Roman’s BCS computer.


1961: In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin's body is removed from Lenin's Tomb. It smells better than it did when he was alive.


1986: The Communist Party of Sweden votes to change its name. It is now known as the cast of “Mamma Mia.”

October 30th


1864: Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors discover gold there, but not enough to buy a train ticket out of town.


1960: Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom… but the patient later dies of tooth decay.


1991: The Madrid Conference for Middle East peace opens. Like all such talks, everyone just agrees to blame to Jews and then they break for lunch.

Christmas is here

It is the last Saturday of October 2010 and the Christmas table is already covered and ready for Christmas dinner at Glassmagasinet down town Oslo. However.Tomorrow we are having Lutefisk for the third time this season.
And Rakfisk is also coming up once more during next week.
I is a lovely eating time here in Norway and Gammel Opland is still our favorite

Christmas is here

It is the last Saturday of October 2010 and the Christmas table is already covered and ready for Christmas dinner at Glassmagasinet down town Oslo. However.Tomorrow we are having Lutefisk for the third time this season.
And Rakfisk is also coming up once more during next week.
I is a lovely eating time here in Norway and Gammel Opland is still our favorite

The pressure is off

From deep inside the steamer "Stord 1".

This is my contribution to Dragonstar's The weekend in Black and White.

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON (Image ID: Malaysia2010-3437)

As soon as I saw the word emblazoned in white on this public phone booth in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in January this year, I thought of the Lionel Richie hit song, Hello.

This was very close to our hotel and I shot this image just after we had checked in, dropped our bags off and headed out to explore a city we hadn't seen in more than six months. In order to get this shot, I had to wait to get a clear field of vision on a busy footpath.

We saw more phone booths around the city, all in the same distinctive colour scheme - but none of them with the paint so fresh. I've seen some pretty interesting public phones around the world, but this one was up there with the best of them, for sure.

In honor of the Pink month of October, interior photos of the Pink Palace

The pink month of October is winding down, but my last post of the month is in honor of all the brave women who face breast cancer, the doctors and nurses who treat women with breast cancer and the researchers who search for a cure. I give you the interiors of the Pink Palace, previously posted about here, designed by Neel Reid, Philip Shutze and the firm of Hentz, Reid and Adler. This is the Calhoun house in Atlanta, also known as Trygveson.

At right are doors in the living room, also called the ballroom.


detail from the entrance hall or loggia


Allyn Cox mural from the entrance hall


settee below the mural in the entrance hall


main stair detail in the entrance hall


the living room, also called the ballroom


detail from the living room


another set of doors in the living room


the library


magnificent library ceiling designed by Neel Reid and Philip Shutze


dining room mantel and plasterwork medallion of Michelangelo


view of the mantel with chandelier in the dining room


an upstairs room over the porch - I love the coloration of the plaster

This wonderful house is for sale, listed by Beacham and Co. - click here to see the listing.


Have a great weekend everyone!

all photos by Whitehaven