Mister Brisbane: 2020 and all that
Are two taps better than one? State censorship, restaurant routines and more!
I know I’m not the only one who will be glad to see the end of this year. For many of us, the disruption caused by the coronavirus has been a wake-up call that not everything in life always goes to plan. It could also be said to be a warning not to dismiss credible predictions about possible future cataclysms. The idea of another global pandemic had long been touted by scientists and had even become a staple of popular culture — there’s a list of movies with that theme here — but many countries were unprepared when Covid-19 hit.
Like many others, I suffered a personal loss. It was not Covid-related, but it hit me hard. We all have to come to terms with the fragility of life, and to take stock of the path we choose to take in what time we have left here on Earth. If that sounds like a downbeat and preachy way to end a terrible year, I’m sorry, because my take-home from 2020 is to acknowledge that I’m not the only person who matters and to make every effort to enjoy my own life and to help others enjoy theirs. Happy new year.
Join Brett Debritz and Spencer Howson for the Mister Brisbane show on Reading Radio at 1296AM or DAB+ on Tuesdays at 6.30pm and repeated at various times through the week. It is also available as a podcast on popular platforms including Spotify, Apple and Google Podcasts, and via Podnews.
TAP TALK
About 10 years ago, my friend from Belarus in central Europe visited me in Brisbane. While she enjoyed the trip very much, a few things about the way we live in the West baffled her. In particular, she thought it was very primitive that many houses here have separate hot and cold water taps. Back in Minsk most homes, even the older ones, have one tap through which you can mix the hot and cold water streams. This has puzzled me, too, because mixer taps make much more sense, especially in the shower. But it’s only now that I know why this came to be.
The situation is the same in Britain and I recently found a link to a video by YouTuber Tom Scott that explains it all. In short, it’s because cold water usually comes straight from the mains supply, which is deemed safe, but hot water goes through a holding tank that may become contaminated (by dead rats, for example). That’s why, like Tom, I was advised as a child never to drink from the hot-water tap.
CENSORED STATE
I was reminded recently that Queensland used to have its own Film Review Board which had the power to ban movies even if they had been cleared by the federal censors. This initiative from the Bjelke-Petersen government was greatly ridiculed by southerners, but for journalists of the time, it was a regular source of news stories and debate over the artistic values of certain films. Paul on Twitter also reminded me that there was also extra censorship of print publications in Queensland, and “a large part of the Tweed Heads retail economy was underwritten by adult bookshops located just south of the border”. I wonder whether abolishing this second level of censorship was a good thing, or a bad thing. Are, perhaps, Queenslanders more sensitive than other Australians?
THOUGHT FOR FOOD
A social-media friend recently tweeted how she had obtained a copy of the menu from the restaurant she was visiting later that night and, after considerable thought, had already decided what she was going to order. This is the opposite to what I generally do. When I arrive at a restaurant, I pick up the menu and read it quite quickly. My eyes usually zero in on at least two main-course dishes that I think I’d like. Rather than agonise over my choice, I simply put the menu down and carry on the conversation at the table. When the waiter arrives, I make a snap decision — because it’s too hard, and life’s too short, to agonise over it. Which one of us is doing it the wrong way?
TAKING ITS TOLL
Here’s an idea for the drivers among you — and, fair warning I’m looking to buy a car so I'm about to re-join you on the Brisbane roads — from new 4BC weekend mornings host Spencer Howson. Where have I heard that name before? During his stint in charge of the @WeAreBrisbane Twitter account last week, he wrote: “Replacement toll road tag arrived in the mail today. What I’d forgotten: you have to send back the old one. Here’s an idea they can have for free: introduce big buckets at various spots along the toll roads for disposal of old tags (like they had when you used to pay with cash)!” What a great way to encourage people to do the right thing.
FEEDBACK
Pippa suggested another reason for using a phone booth or kiosk in the era of almost universal mobile phones — when your battery runs down.
On the issue of enroachment on public parkland, Adrian pointed out that Victoria Park was once considered as a site for the proposed 2032 Olympic precinct, so maybe it’s not secure after all.