When I was kid I used to collect matchbox tops. Remember Redheads? Everybody used matches. My dad smoked (roll-your-owns using tobacco from a pouch put into paper wrappers) and of course you needed matches to light the stove, the fire, the copper, the kerosene heater, the barbecue etc etc. Anyway, Redheads used to print different…
Well, well. Dictator Dan (aka Chairman Dan), autocratic premier of Victoria, has decided precipitously to leave the job, presumably to ‘spend more time with his family’. He told the world on Tuesday and checked out at COB Wednesday. That’s usually weasel words for having been sacked, although he wasn’t escorted to the door. In this…
I must admit I don’t remember ever hearing the name Russell Brand before this week. Apparently he’s a quite famous British comedian/actor person. But these days nobody’s talking about his acting. It’s all about his sex life and charges of rape and sexual assault. It seems you can get away with all sorts of prurient…
I have to worry about the Australia we’re living in. I read in the news today that older folks are likely to be doing it tough, especially if they’re retired. There’s a turn-up for the books. We’re usually disparaged as greedy, grasping Baby Boomers. “Worries about running out of savings in retirement are affecting a…
I went whale-watching for the second time this season last Monday. I’d been watching the weather forecasts, looking for the very bestest day when the bay would be calm and the wind a zephyr and when the planets were in alignment I’d booked my trip on my favourite boat, Freedom III, for the following week….
There has been surpassing interest in the media about the mushroom poisoning case in rural Victoria. Erin Patterson prepared beef wellington for a lunch with her former parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband, Ian. Three of her elderly guests are dead and the fourth, Ian Wilkinson, remains in…
Well, well. It seems the Powers-that-be covered up the fact that covid-19 originated in a Wuhan laboratory. Early in the pandemic (2020) scientists wrote a much-cited article called the Proximal Origins paper. It argued that the virus arose naturally. Not everybody was convinced. Scientists who had closely examined the virus stated: “We consider the evidence…
For the first three days of this week one would be entitled to believe that nothing in the world was happening except a round-ball football match between two national teams playing in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup. Aussie captain Sam Kerr’s calf muscle was the centre of attention and venues all over the…
Australia Zoo is one of the best known zoos in Australia, known in recent times as the home of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin and his family. The zoo was established in 1970 by Steve’s father, Bob, when it was known as the Beerwah Reptile Park and only covered a couple of acres. Since then…
Thousands of books are published every day somewhere in the world, as ebooks and, to a lesser extent, paperbacks. I know lots of people love the feel of a book in their hands, and the smell of books. I used to be one of those but these days I prefer ebooks. I can change the…