It falls to me on Christmas Eve to go light and fluffy and delve into the best festive music, although this year I’ll be focusing more on ancient songs of celebration. As the ABC’s Kath Feeney asked in a special report last Wednesday, is there a difference between a Christmas carol and a Christmas hymn, and is a Christmassy song by a pop singer the same thing? Christmas tree festival at St Mark’s Anglican Church,…
Wherever you go in Australia to visit friends and family, the conversation very soon turns to the scarcity and high cost of rental housing. The topic will then quickly shift to the ever-rising cost of houses and why parents worry about their adult kids taking on seven-figure mortgages. As residential property analyst Michael Matusik recently said, it comes down to the Bank of Mum and Dad. Few cities or towns have escaped the 20% rise…
That cute but corny aphorism came to mind as my friend Mr Shiraz misinterpreted my recent trip to Brisbane as a blood donor emergency. He wanted to know why we were braving extreme weather and I texted (flippantly) “Appointment with Dracula.” What I meant was we had tickets to Dracula, a production by Queensland Ballet. Dracula aside (one of that company’s best IMHO), you may have noticed there is a bit of a blood donor…
In introducing today’s FOMM about Hydra by She Whose Pen-Name used to be Mrs W, I need to explain how often, when travelling in Southern Europe, I was mis-identified as a local. Perhaps it was the Celtic complexion, infused with Spanish blood. Or the faux fisherman’s cap. Either way, I’d get something like this: Greek cafe owner: “Welcome! Where are you from?” BW: “Australia” (café guy looks at colleague and chortles) “No, no, where are…