Resolution: we all want to save the world

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Blame it not on the Bossa Nova but on the ancient Babylonians, who, 4,000 years ago, invented the dubious practice of making New Year resolutions. The Babylonians were the first to hold New Year celebrations, although held in March (when crops were sown). The Babylonians pledged to pay their debts and return any borrowed objects (thinks: whoever borrowed Murakami’s ‘IQ84’ and Cohen’s ‘Beautiful Losers’, give them back!). An article in <history.com> cites these rituals as…

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A collection of must-reads for 2020

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In seeing out 2019, I thought it might be useful to direct you to some insightful essays and analysis on the burning issues of the year. Make no mistake, when the clock counts down the seconds to midnight on December 31, the honeymoon will be short. Australia is entering 2020 with a serious list of challenges. Not necessarily in order of importance, they include drought, fire, water security, the climate crisis, a stagnant domestic economy,…

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A Festive Feast of Christmas Movies

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Has it ever occurred to you how few Australian Christmas movies there are and why our lives are so permeated by American culture (such as it is)? This week’s theme came to mind whilst seated in a front row pew at St Mark’s Anglican church in Warwick. We were participating in a Christmas service with our new choir, the East Street Singers. It’s a magnificent 151-year-old sandstone kirk with a landmark tower, stained glass windows…

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Heavy lifting and hernias

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On Monday afternoon, two wiry young men backed a furniture van into our driveway and began unloading our goods and chattels. My nephew’s wise words rang in my ears – “Hopefully the movers are doing all the heavy lifting, Uncle – LOL.” One of these blokes was wearing a knee brace. I made a mental note to ask him about it, as furniture removalists are prone to injury, hernias in particular.It turned out he had injured…

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