Lesley Truffle - Writer

  • Home
  • Reflections
  • Books
  • About
  • More

Botticelli’s Venus

January 24, 2023 by Lesley Truffle

Botticelli’s Venus   Goddess on the mountain top Burning like a silver flame The summit of beauty and love And Venus was her name … Venus by Robbie van Leeuwen, Shocking Blue rock band.               On a recent visit to the National Gallery of Victoria I glimpsed Jeff Koon’s stainless steel version of Venus. And … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, artists, Historical, Mythology Tagged: Birth of Venus, Botticelli, Greco-Roman mythology, Jeff Koons, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Sandro Botticelli, The Rokeby Venus, Toilet of Venus, Venus

All I want for Christmas

December 19, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    All I want for Christmas …   ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds; … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, Mythology, Observations, Social Comment Tagged: All I want for Christmas is you, Ancient Celts, Ancient Mythology, Celtic, Celtic Druids, Christmas mythology, Christmas myths, Christmas rituals, Christmas traditions, historical, Ireland, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Mariah Carey, Mistletoe, Pagan, Pagan festival, Roman Christmas Myths, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice, Xmas

Capote’s Betrayal

December 9, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    Capote’s Betrayal   ‘Imagination, of course, can open any door – turn the key and let terror walk right in.’  In Cold Blood by Truman Capote   Truman Capote is best known for his novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) and his narrative fiction book, In Cold Blood (1966). In Cold Blood was based … [Read more…]

Posted in: Fashion, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, writers & creatives Tagged: America, American writer, Answered Prayers, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Capote, Gloria Guinness, Harper Lee, In Cold Blood, La Côte Basque, Lesley Truffle, Nelle Harper Lee, Pamela Harriman, Truman Capote, USA

The Uber Rich

November 23, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    The Uber Rich   ‘I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain … Time to die.’ Actor Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner … [Read more…]

Posted in: actors, current news, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations Tagged: American billionaires, American movie, Blade Runner, Dexter, Elon Musk, Harrison Ford, intergalactic colonies, intergalactic travel, Sci-Fi movie, Tesla, Tesla comany, Tesla Inc., USA

The Black Eyed Blonde

November 16, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

  The Black Eyed Blonde   It seemed like a nice neighbourhood to have bad habits in. Raymond Chandler from The Big Sleep 1939.   I’ve been reading a Philip Marlowe detective novel that was not written by American author/screenwriter Raymond Chandler (1988-1959). I found the novel The Black Eyed Blonde engaging but somewhat disconcerting. … [Read more…]

Posted in: actors, books, films, movies, writers & creatives Tagged: American movies, American writer, Benjamin Black, detective film noir, film noir, Hollywood, Humphrey Bogart, John Banville, Lauren Bacall, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Morlowe, Philip Marlowe, Playback, private detective, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, The Black Eyed Blonde, The Long Goodbye, USA

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

October 21, 2022 by Lesley Truffle
Audrey Hepburn photo from film 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'

  Breakfast at Tiffany’s   All his prayers in the past had been simple concrete requests: God, give me a bicycle, a knife with seven blades, a box of oil paints. Only how, how, could you say something so indefinite, so meaningless as this: God, let me be loved. Other Voices by Truman Capote.   … [Read more…]

Posted in: actors, books, Film, films, Historical, Social Comment Tagged: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Capote, Capote novel, Capote novella, Holly Golightly, Hollywood, Hollywood actress, Hollywood legend, Hollywood Movie, M, Truman Capote

Colette

October 13, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    Colette ‘People who are perfectly sane and happy don’t make good literature, alas.’                                                                                     Colette 1873-1954   Every so often I sneak back to classic literature for a brain clean. It’s wonderful to go back and savour books I really love. This time around I’m on a Colette reading jag. Colette was born … [Read more…]

Posted in: actors, art/theatre event, books, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, writers & creatives Tagged: Chéri, Colette, France, French writer, Léa de Lonval, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Paris, Parisian, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette

The Night They Invented Champagne

September 25, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

  The Night They Invented Champagne   ‘Remember gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s Champagne!’ Winston Churchill rallying the British during World War II.   When I was a child, my mother used to indulge in a champagne while playing vintage movie songs. Waltzing around the dining table she’d sing along … [Read more…]

Posted in: Australia, Champagne, Historical Tagged: Australian winemakers, champagne, French champagne, sparkling wine, Tasmanian Champagne, Tasmanian wine makers

Just Breathe

September 22, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

Just Breathe   During the pandemic shutdowns many of us dreamt of whispering trees and rustlings in the grass. City parks, bayside beaches and even narrow nature strips were heaving with citizens doing their allocated exercise time. Outdoor personal trainers became astonishingly popular. Some joggers – who were used to having the green spaces to … [Read more…]

Posted in: Australia, Nature, Observations, Psychology, Wilderness Areas Tagged: Australia World Heritage, Dorrigo rainforest, Forest Bathing, forests, health, mindfulness, relaxation, Shrinrin-Yoku, wellbeing, World Heritage

Sailor’s Superstitions

August 26, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

Sailor’s Superstitions   ‘I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.’   Louisa May Alcott ‘The sea finds out everything you did wrong.’ Francis Stokes   I’ve always been fascinated by the tradition of breaking a bottle of champagne over the bow of a ship being launched. It must be … [Read more…]

Posted in: animals, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Sailing Tagged: boats, Ernest Shackleton, Frank Hurley, Henry 'Chippy' McNeish, Henry McNeish, maritime superstition, maritime superstitions, Mrs Chippy, Perce Blackbarow, sailing ships, sailor's superstitions, sailors, ship's figureheads, ships

Hotel Ghosts

August 18, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

Hotel Ghosts For the last few days I’ve been doing a road trip around South Tasmania, while staying in a lovely hotel in Hobart’s wharf area. The area is rumoured to be fantastically ghost ridden. About 150 years ago the area around the wharf was known as Wapping. Folk who lived here worked in the … [Read more…]

Posted in: Australia, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment Tagged: Australia, ghosts, historical, Hobart, Hobart Town, Hobart wharf, MACQ Hotel Hobart, Mr Thomas Dewhurst Jennings, Thomas Jennings

Turn on, tune in, drop out

July 28, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    ‘I am 100 percent in favor of the intelligent use of drugs, and 1,000 percent against the thoughtless use of them, whether caffeine or LSD. And drugs are not central to my life.’     Timothy Leary, American Psychologist 1920-1996   Drugs have a tendency to become fashionable and then fall from favour. In … [Read more…]

Posted in: artists, Fashion, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Psychology Tagged: Dr Sigmund Freud, drugs, Elvis, Elvis Presley, Freud, Leary, LSD, magic mushrooms, Presley, Richard Nixon, Sigmund Freud, Timothy Leary

Hollywood Dame Zsa Zsa Gabor

July 14, 2022 by Lesley Truffle
Portrait Zsa Zsa Gabor

  Hollywood Dame – Zsa Zsa Gabor   ‘A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he’s finished.’                                                       Zsa Zsa Gabor   In the fifties and sixties, Zsa Zsa Gabor became more famous for playing herself than the films, stage shows and television shows she appeared in. Born in Budapest and … [Read more…]

Posted in: actors, Film, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, movies Tagged: actress, America, Conrad Hilton, Hollywood legend, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, marriage, Sári Gábor, USA, Zsa Zsa, Zsa Zsa Gabor

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

Marriage is the Tomb of Love

June 26, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

Marriage is the tomb of love   ‘The company … was far more likely to give pleasure than one made up of persons of quality, where gaiety freezes in the chill of etiquette.’ Casanova describing an evening spent with a group of actors.   Having just finished editing my fiction manuscript I’m taking some  time … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment, Travel Tagged: 18th century Europe, Brunelleschi, Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt, Giacomo Casanova, History of My Life, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer

Freud’s Cigar

May 18, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

Freud’s Cigar ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.’ Dr Sigmund Freud 1856 -1939. Freud was a heavy cigar smoker and supposedly said, ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar’. Many of his theories relate to uncontrolled libido and wild sexual impulses. Accordingly, his statement probably means a phallic-shaped object such as a cigar, doesn’t … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Psychology, Social Comment Tagged: Carl Jung, Dr Sigmund Freud, Freud, Freud's cigar, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, psychoanalysis, Psychology, pyschotherapy, Sigmund Freud, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte

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

There goes the neighbourhood

April 23, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

  There goes the neighbourhood   I often cross the river and sneak back to my old neighbourhood. Fitzroy has become increasingly gentrified; old houses have been tizzied up and sold for exceedingly high prices. Subsequently most of the artists, writers, junkies, musicians, booze hounds, poets and reprobates I once knew have moved on. Some … [Read more…]

Posted in: architeture, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment Tagged: fitzroy melbourne, inner city, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Napier Hotel, Napier Hotel Fitzroy, old school pubs, pubs

The Perils of Modern Life

March 24, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

  The Perils of Modern Life     I believe in censorship! If a picture of mine didn’t get an X-rating, I’d be insulted. Don’t forget dear, I invented censorship.                                      Mae West – actress, Hollywood legend and author of Sex (1926).   We live in strange times. 2022 has been marred by extreme climate … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, books, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Playwright, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Edwardian Literature, Elinor Glyn, historical, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Mrs Elenor Glyn, Three Weeks, Three Weeks a novel

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

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

January 27, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

    Gentlemen Prefer Blondes   ‘I overheard Dorothy tell Major Falcon that she liked to become intoxicated once in a dirty while.’ Lorelei Lee from Anita Loos novella, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.   One of my favourite books is a hardcover 1926, tenth edition of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. So popular was Anita Loos’ novella that … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, artists, Film, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, movies, writers & creatives Tagged: America, American, Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hollywood, Hollywood Movies, Howard Hawks, Jane Russell, Marilyn, Marilyn Monroe, Monroe, movies

The Heart and Soul of Paris

January 26, 2022 by Lesley Truffle

  The Heart and Soul of Paris   Notre-Dame Cathedral is widely perceived to be the heart and soul of Paris. The first time I visited Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité, it was wasn’t just the cathedral’s sublime beauty that captivated me. It was the fabulous French Gothic architecture, accentuated by the most … [Read more…]

Posted in: City of Light, Historical, movies, Mythology, Social Comment, Travel Tagged: Adolf Hitler, Chanel, City of Light, Coco Chanel, France, Gabrielle Chanel, gargoyle, gargoyles, Hitler, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Notre Dame Cathedral, Notre-Dame, Our Lady of Paris, Paris, World War Two, WWII
1 2 3 4 5 Next »

Recent Posts

  • Botticelli’s Venus
  • All I want for Christmas
  • Capote’s Betrayal
  • The Uber Rich
  • The Black Eyed Blonde

Categories

  • actors
  • animals
  • architeture
  • art/theatre event
  • artists
  • Australia
  • books
  • cakes and cooking
  • Champagne
  • City of Light
  • current news
  • Fashion
  • Film
  • films
  • Historical
  • Mavericks & Renegades
  • Melbourne
  • movies
  • Mythology
  • Nature
  • Observations
  • Playwright
  • Psychology
  • Sailing
  • Social Comment
  • Sports / Recreation
  • Television series
  • Travel
  • Uptown Downtown
  • Wilderness Areas
  • writers & creatives
  • Writers & Readers Events

Copyright © 2023 Lesley Truffle - Writer.

Lifestyle WordPress Theme by themehit.com