Lesley Truffle - Writer

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Observations

Ayesha the Wonder Dog

June 29, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

 Ayesha the Wonder Dog   ‘Draw your chair up close to the edge of the precipice and I’ll tell you a story’                                                                              Scott Fitzgerald The Crack-Up   When I was a kid we had a dog named Ayesha. She was  a Corgi with oversized ears, big personality and great intelligence. Ayesha had a male … [Read more…]

Posted in: animals, Australia, Melbourne, Observations Tagged: childhood, childhood memories, childhood pets, dogs, local dogs, neighbourhood dogs

Italian Style

May 12, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

Italian Style   Italian film directors produce diverse and wonderful films. Paolo Sorrentino is one of my favourite directors. Sometimes I watch the exuberant party scene from La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) when I’m feeling a bit sad and need to recalibrate. Fellini’s,  La Dolce Vita is a magnificent film. Released in 1960, set in … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Australia, films, movies, Observations Tagged: Anita Ekberg, Cinquecento, Dolce Vita, Fiat 500, Fiat 500C, Fiat Bambino, Fiat Sports car, Frederico Fellini, Italian style, La dolce vita, Marcello Mastroianni, Paolo Sorrentino, The Great Beauty

The Addams Family House

April 25, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

The Addams Family House ‘They’re creepy and they’re kooky Mysterious and spooky They’re all together ooky The Addams family Their house is a museum When people come to see ’em They really are a scream The Addams family…’  The Addams Family theme song   I was born in London but raised in Australia by English … [Read more…]

Posted in: Mavericks & Renegades, Melbourne, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: Addam's Family, childhood, childhood memories, Gomez, Gomez Addams, homes, houses, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Morticia, Morticia Addams, Pugsley Addams, Wednesday Addams

A Tale Of Lost Cities

March 18, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

A Tale Of Lost Cities I call architecture frozen music.     Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Even a brick wants to be something.    Louis Kahn   Last night, I sat on the banks of the Yarra River which runs through the heart of Melbourne. The skyscrapers appeared as cubes of burning lights. And the Casino’s neon lights … [Read more…]

Posted in: architeture, Australia, Historical, Melbourne, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: architecture, building height restrictions, cbd, central business district, cities, city, contemporary architecture, glass towers, historical buildings, Labassa Mansion, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Melbourne

Messing About In Boats

February 26, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    Messing About In Boats   As the Water Rat in Wind in the Willows, advises the mole, ‘Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing –  half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.’ I messed around in boats when I learned to sail on a lake. … [Read more…]

Posted in: Australia, Observations, Sailing, Sports / Recreation Tagged: Australia, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, sailing, sailing boats, small yachts, Wind in the Willows, Yacht Clubs

Love is the Drug

February 15, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    Love is the Drug   … Love is the drug and I need to score Showing out, showing out, hit and run Boy meets girl where the beat goes on Stitched up tight, can’t shake free Love is the drug, got a hook on me … Love is the Drug by Roxy Music. … [Read more…]

Posted in: current news, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment Tagged: dopamine, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Love, Love is the Drug, marriage, Neo Romantics, Romantic, Saint Valentine, Saint Valentine's Day

Deck the Halls

December 6, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

      Deck the Halls     ‘The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.’                           The late Johnny Carson, comedian & former host of The Tonight Show.   My Christmas tree has landed and my apartment is now … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, Mythology, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: Adam and Eve, Christmas, Christmas traditions, Christmas trees, Deck the halls, Elvis, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, pine trees

All Hallows Eve

October 26, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  All Hallows Eve   Halloween wasn’t always orange pumpkins, plastic skeletons and job lots of candy. At this time of year Christmas trimmings and Halloween decorations are fighting for shelf space in megastores.  And while nobody was paying attention, Halloween surreptitiously crept over most of October and Christmas decided to manifest early. In my … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, Mythology, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: All Hallows Eve, Ancient Celts, Ancient Myths, Celtic, Celts, Faery Host, Fire Festivals, Halloween, Halloween traditions, Headless Horsemen, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Samhain, Sidhs, Slaugh

The Perils of Netflix

August 21, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

The Perils of Netflix   ‘If we humans disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off.’  Sir David Attenborough – the British Naturalist, after observing beasts of every species for nearly a century.   I no longer own a television. It was an elegant piece of equipment with superb clarity and great sound but … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, movies, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment Tagged: binge television, David Attenborough, Farenheit 451, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Netflix, Norman Doige, Ray Bradbury, reality television, Television, TV

The Zen of Happiness

August 12, 2021 by Lesley Truffle
Photo of sunrise in Penguin Tasmania

  The Zen of Happiness     Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it.                                                            David Lee Roth, American rock musician.             To be sure there are people who are largely unscathed by our global pandemic and their happiness seems unblemished. … [Read more…]

Posted in: current news, Nature, Observations, Social Comment, Wilderness Areas Tagged: Asia, Bhuddhist, Bhutan, Buddhism, Buddhist Kingdom, David Lee Roth, Happiness, Himalayas, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, pandemic, The Himalayas, The Kingdom of Bhutan

The very rich are different

July 30, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  The Very Rich Are Different   ‘Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful …’ F. Scott Fitzgerald   A few days ago, … [Read more…]

Posted in: Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: Amazon, Astronaut Alan Shepard, Bezos, billionaires, Branson, Earth, Elon Musk, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jeff Bezos, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, millionaires, Musk, NASA, outer space, Planet Earth, rich, Richard Branson, Scott Fitzgerald, Soviet astronaught, Soviet Russia, space mission, space missions, SpaceX, The New Shepard, Virgin Galactic, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, Yuri Gagarin

Wine Snobbery

July 9, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

      Wine Snobbery    ‘A man cannot make him laugh – but that’s no marvel: he drinks no wine.’                                                                                                             William Shakespeare   Some time ago I was at a dinner party for eight and it was getting late.  The hostess had got herself ossified on neat Scotch as she prepared a delectable … [Read more…]

Posted in: Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: AA Gill, Adrian Gill, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, the grape, wine, wine critics, wine devotees, wine snobbery, wine writers

Ritual Madness

June 27, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

Ritual Madness   The Ancient Greeks were enthralled by opposing forces and heavily invested in two of their gods, Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo was the god of reason and wisdom – devoted to logical thinking, patience and duty. Dionysus was significantly more adventurous and dealt in the realms of imagination, play and chaos. Dionysus – … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, artists, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Psychology Tagged: Ancient Greeks, Apollo, Bacchus, Black Rock Desert Nevada, Burning Man, Burning Man Festival, Dionysus, Greek gods, Larry Harvey, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer

Finding a Soulmate

May 29, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  Finding a Soulmate   Unbroken happiness is a bore: it should have ups and downs.      Moliere Some folk secretly hope that hiding in the wings is their one and only soulmate. Many spend their lives looking for this very special person, believing that once they find the one they will live happily ever after. … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Alain de Botton, de Botton, Doctor Robert Epstein, Dr John Bowlby, Dr Robert Epstein, John Bowlby, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Love, Love Contract, Love Project, Pschoanalyst John Bowlby, psychoanalysis, Psychoanalyst, Psychology, Soulmate

Naked in Leopard Skin

April 26, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

Naked in Leopard Skin Born into Italian aristocracy in 1881 and heiress to a fortune made in cotton, Luisa Casati managed to run up personal debts of $25 million.  She and her sister had been orphaned when both parents died and Luisa was only fifteen years old. The Marchesa Casati was a devotee of the … [Read more…]

Posted in: artists, Fashion, Historical, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Cecil Beaton, Jean Cocteau, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Luisa Casati, Marchesa Casati, Marchesa Luisa Casati, Pablo Picasso, Surrealism, Surrealists, The Ritz, Venice

Cleopatra’s Erotic Vagrancy

April 21, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  Cleopatra’s Erotic Vagrancy   Cleopatra V11 – born around 69 BC – was an object of fascination and gossip even in her own time. She was a child goddess who was married off to her brother and became Egypt’s queen at eighteen. After many poisonings, killings, plot twists and turns, Cleopatra went on to … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: 20th Century Fox, Caesar, Cleopatra, Cleopatra A Life, Cleopatra V11, Elizabeth Taylor, Erotic, Famous films, Fox Studios, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Liz Taylor, Marcus Antonius, Mark Anthony, Richard Burton, Stacy Schiff, The Vatican, Theda Bara

Phoenix Rising

January 4, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  Phoenix Rising   ‘Hope. It’s like a drop of honey, a field of tulips blooming in the springtime. It’s a fresh rain, a whispered promise, a cloudless sky, the perfect punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. And it’s the only thing in the world keeping me afloat.’ Tahereh Mafi   Moira Finucane … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, Melbourne, Mythology, Observations, writers & creatives Tagged: 2021, Ancient Myths, burlesque, Finucane, hope, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Moira Finucane, Mythology, Phoenix, Phoenix Rising, Phoenix Year, Tahereh Mafi

Book Dreaming

September 24, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

Book Dreaming I’ve often been asked – what are the books that meant a lot to me growing up. This is a difficult question because there are so many books I love. And I often revisit books, usually classics, I already know are going to transport me. In winter there’s pleasure to be had in … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Ada, Casanova, Eloise, Eloise in Paris, Emily Brontë, Giacomo Casanova, History of My Life, Kay Thompson, Lesley Truffle, Lolita, Nabokov, Vladamir Nabokov, Wuthering Heights

There Goes the Neighbourhood Dogs

July 25, 2020 by Lesley Truffle
Dogs face and eyes

  There Goes the Neighbourhood Dogs   ‘A lover tries to stand in well with the pet dog of the house.’ Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) French playwright, actor & poet.   In my bayside suburb dogs are everywhere you go. There may well be a pandemic rampaging across the globe but for our local dogs, it’s … [Read more…]

Posted in: animals, Australia, Melbourne, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: Bayside Melbourne, café, cafes, dogs, Lesley Truffle, Melbourne, mongrels, neighbourhood dogs, Pugs, street dogs, Whippets

Forest Bathing

April 16, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

  Forest Bathing   My mind keeps wandering to the empty spaces and forests that will still be there when the pandemic retreats. Dreams of whispering trees and rustlings in the grass. When I was living and working near Tokyo a few years ago, I got to know a Japanese bullet train driver. Roshi is … [Read more…]

Posted in: Australia, Historical, Nature, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment, Wilderness Areas Tagged: Australia World Heritage, Australian rainforests, Australian Wilderness, Calm, Dorrigo rainforest, ecotherapy, Forest Bathing, Gondwana Rainforests, Japan, Japanese forests, Lesley Truffle, Meditation, Nature, Shinrin-Yoku, Wilderness areas

Strange Days

March 19, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

  Strange Days ‘andrà tutto bene – everything will be fine.’   The Italians are living in the European COVID-19 epicentre and Italy is currently under emergency quarantine measures. To date there are more than 24,700 people with the disease and more than 1800 have died. Italy has a world class health system but it … [Read more…]

Posted in: animals, current news, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: andrà tutto bene, Australia, Australian animals, Coronaviris, COVID-19, everything will be fine, Italians, Italy, Laura Baldassari, lockdown, Mogo Wildlife Park, Mogo Wildlife Park NSW, optimism

Sorrentino – The Pope Maker

February 13, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

  Paolo Sorrentino – The Pope Maker   ‘Face it, I didn’t become famous until I took my clothes off.’ ‘I always wanted to be an actor and not a beauty pageant winner.’                                                                                  Jude Law  Jude Law plays Lenny Belardo, Pope Pious XIII in The Young Pope & The New Pope.   Paolo … [Read more…]

Posted in: Film, Observations, Television series, writers & creatives Tagged: Catholic, Catholicism, Fellini, film, Frederico Fellini, HBO, John Malkovich, Jude Law, La Grande Bellezza, Loro, Malkovich, Paolo Sorrentino, Pope Pious X111, Roma, Roman Catholicism, Romans, Rome, Sorrentino, The Great Beauty, The New Pope, The Vatican, The Young Pope

My Friend Nigel

January 25, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

My Friend Nigel   Nigel was a street cat. I first met him in a French cafe in inner city Melbourne when he strolled out of the kitchen and slipped up onto my lap. He made me laugh. To hell with health regulations, he’d settled in for the evening. Nigel had no interest in the … [Read more…]

Posted in: animals, Melbourne, Observations Tagged: Cat, Cats, fitzroy melbourne, friends, friendship, fur friends, Melbourne, Nigel, rescue cat

Everything is F*cked

December 12, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

  Everything is Fucked   ‘Look, it may be that you came to this book looking for some sort of hope … I am sorry. I don’t have that kind of answer for you. Nobody does.’                                             Mark Manson, Everything is F*cked A Book About Hope   Mark Manson’s first self-published book in 2011 was … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, current news, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Abraham Maslow, America, Elon Musk, Everything is f*cked, Everything is F*cked A Book About Hope, Everything is fucked, Everything is Fucked A Book About Hope, Mark Manson, Maslow, Maslow's Hierachy of Needs, Models Attract Women Through Honesty, Self-help books, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, The subtle art of not giving a fuck, USA

Jack’s Story

November 21, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

  Jack’s Story Jack Charles – Aboriginal Elder, film and stage actor, potter, indigenous activist and former cat burglar – is a brilliant storyteller. His gift of writing from the heart, provided him with cachet and respect when imprisoned. He would sit down with illiterate inmates, discuss what was required and then pen deeply felt … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Film, Observations, Social Comment, Writers & Readers Events Tagged: Aboriginal Elder, actor, Australia, Australian, biography, First Nations Family, human rights issues, Indigenous activist, Indigenous children, Jack Charles, Jack Charles vs The Crown, Melbourne, screen actor, stage actor, Stolen Children, Stolen Generations
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