Mister Brisbane: Best of Brett
Think of this as an encore, not a rehash
I’m taking a break from creating original content for this newsletter, so I’m delving into my vast archive of published material, and not just from Mister Brisbane. Your feedback is still very much welcome.
ON THE BEACH …
I’ve been to scores of countries around the world. I’ve lived in China, Thailand, Scotland, England and the UAE, spent significant amounts of time in some fairly obscure places, and flown or sailed to dozens of desirable destinations. I’ve been to the Costa del Sol, Cannes and the Caribbean; Bondi, Blackpool and Ban Phe. But when I think of the word “holiday”, I think of Queensland’s Gold Coast. And when I think of the Gold Coast, I think of Currumbin Beach.
Why? Because that’s where my family has holidayed just about every year, from well before I was born, back to when my mother was a child. So when intrastate travel became permitted again, it was a non-brainer that I and other members of my family would want to stay somewhere facing that stretch of golden sand between Currumbin Rock and Elephant Rock. And that’s where I am as I type these words.
Do you have a special place?
SOLDIERING ON
I have rediscovered a fondness for soft-boiled eggs and toast “soldiers”. Does anybody else of my age do this or should I be worried that my second childhood is setting in?
CONTROVERSY CORNER
“Best of” and “greatest” lists are designed to create a conversation, and they’re a media mainstay. In The Sunday Mail, Cameron Adams has named the “30 greatest Aussie bands ever”. The top 10 are AC/DC, The Bee Gees, INXS, The Seekers, Air Supply, Men At Work, The Wiggles, Little River Band, Savage Garden and, wait for it, … Hillsong United. Adams has used record sales and social-media following as a guide, but as we all respond to music individually, it’s bound to lead to civilised disagreement.
The list certainly includes some great bands, but it doesn’t exactly reflect the soundtrack to my life. Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel and Skyhooks, for example, made a big impact on my generation, yet they only showed up at 11th, 14th and 28th respectively. And Crowded House is 12th, but can it it really be an Australian band when its main creative force, Neil Finn, is a Kiwi? How do you feel about this list? Who would you have added to, or dropped from, the line-up? You can email me, or join the conversation on Twitter or the Mister Brisbane Facebook group.
MITCHIE MEMORIES
Here (above) is something from the Debritz family archives: a picture from the parade to mark Mitchelton’s 100th anniversary. It’s from a home movie shot by my father Arthur in 1957, before I was born. The film, which I’ve posted on the Mister Brisbane Facebook group, features local dignitaries, floats from local organisations, old machines (an ambulance and a fire engine, a convoy of cool motor scooters, plus a horse and cart) and lots of marching children.
BRIS BRANDS
Do you remember Panda and Red Seal potato chips? Tristrams soft drinks? Golden Top pies? If the answer is “yes”, then you’re old like me! And you’re lucky in that you remember the era of local products, before national and international brands submerged them. I especially remember Golden Top pies because 1) they were square and 2) the factory was just down the road from my grandmother’s house in Gaythorne.
It’s sometimes said that country kids having a closer connection to the food they eat, because they are there at the source, where the wheat grows and the cows are milked. But city kids at least used to have places to go where they could see food being processed and packaged.
In my day, every kid in Brisbane visited the Golden Circle factory at Northgate. I remember watching the ladies with sharp knifes nicking imperfections from the pineapples on the assembly line, seeing the range of products they made, and lining up for some juice at the end of the tour. A bit like a brewery visit for nongrown-ups. (Incidentally, we also went to an abattoir, something I suspect school students no longer do.)
I know there are still some factories around, but they are mostly making products with labels that would be as familiar in Perth or Peru as they are in Brisbane. There may be some comfort in knowing that Coca-Cola and KFC is the same all around the world, but there sometimes I hanker for a Neptune sarsaparilla and Sam’s pizza.
PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY
That time I met Minnie Mouse at Disneyland.
FEEDBACK
I confessed to overindulgence during the pandemic and asked people here and on social media whether hunkering down had been good or bad for their health. Here are some of the responses:
Meg: “I’ve slacked off too, Brett, and I was already slack about formal exercise and dieting. Also, started shutdown with lots of home baking! If it weren’t for big gardening projects, I’d have put on more than a couple of kilos...”
Brian: “I have failed repeatedly in my duty to maintain “social distance” from the fridge and the liquor cabinet. On the other hand my lady wife and I have been walking, at least five days a week.”
Jill: “Bad. I've been baking...and eating!”
Jason: “It’s been a cycling godsend. Just rolled over 10,000km for the year.”
Graeme: “…exercise type stuff in the mornings. Afternoons and evenings are dedicated to snacking and cider.”
Beg to differ with this statement: "...Coca-Cola and KFC is the same all around the world". This is simply not true. They are MEANT to be the same but the reality is they are not. Coke in Thailand definitely is not the same as the stuff I bought sometimes in Australia. And on the extremely rare occasion I eat KFC here (Thailand), I often take it back to the counter because the pieces are dry and have obviously been sitting in the hot tray for far too long. They are always happy to cook me a fresh batch, BTW, so I am not dissing KFC, I am just saying standards of franchises around the world differ...