It was a normal Sunday evening trawling the socials in front of the fire. Time not well spent, but Dostoevsky was denser and more meaningful than the fluff available on X (formerly Twitter). In the old days, we watched the Sunday movie on the TV, now we watch the world burn in what my wife…
The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s version of the Kentucky Derby, The Epsom Derby, and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe a couple of times. It’s a national celebration of buffoonery, alcohol abuse, and questionable fashion choices. Oh, and gambling. The first time I attended was when I was nineteen and worked the bar in corporate marquees….
February 2020: I had just finished a board meeting at the property technology startup that I was working with, and it felt good. The numbers were heading in the right direction, we had traction. It was going to be a good year. In an excellent demonstration of the developed and developing world dichotomy, it was…
On the 30th of March in 1918, while the so-called Great War was raging in Europe, there was a land auction on the Holly Hill Estate in the Dandenongs. The land was owned by William Breen and the auction conducted by Coghill and Haughton, respectable auctioneers based in the city, 42 kilometres to the west….
Before Uber came to the hills if you wanted to be picked up from Upper Ferntree Gully Railway station, 41 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne, the taxi driver would confirm the pick up address as ‘Upper Gully Rail’. Often there would be a long wait and I would have to relocate to the pub,…
When I started my working career in an engineering business, I worked in the office, with no exceptions. The working day started at 8:30 am in the office and finished anytime after 5.30 pm, often later. Technology limitations meant that calls, invoices, meetings, and customer support all happened from a building filled with co-workers (hopefully)…
There is a special type of braggadocious social post that manages to get the bile rising in the throat faster than a greenwash post from a fossil fuel company. I’m thinking of the disciplined time schedule post that says, look how busy I am, look how successful I am, and consequently, look at how much…
Before I start out with this deeply flawed post, I should say that I am deeply unqualified to be writing about Mothers Day as I have never been one, although I have had one (well, two but that is another story). Mothers Day and Fathers Day are cons. That shouldn’t be a surprise for any…
The nationalistic vigour seems to increase in width and girth every ANZAC day. Like a steroid addict the media can’t get enough of lavishly promoting the ageing diggers and the teary eyed young folks brimming with pride from being draped in the union jack and southern cross. We are told that the spirit of the…
I have a few memories of Amy Winehouse. One is in Norway, which is an awful coincidence given the terrible shootings there this weekend. It was at a recovery BBQ for a Wedding, the weather was warm, the party attendees nicely drunk or hungover when “I don’t wanna go to rehab” came on the ipod…