Mister Brisbane: Simply the best
What's great about your suburb? Also: French fest, food v footy, theme-park party.
I’m in a nostalgic frame of mind this week because I’ve been going through my physical (as opposed to digital) photo collection. While there are pictures from interstate and overseas, most of them were taken here in Brisbane. Here’s one of the skyline back in the day — probably the mid-1990s.
RE. BUTTLE
Comedian Mel Buttle had a bit of fun dissing various Brisbane suburbs on Twitter last week, and again in her weekly newspaper column. She also spoke to Matt, Abby and Stav at Hit105 about it. Declaring she was “born with this gift”, she noted that the folks at the servo in Wacol are genuinely nice people, while people in Oxley (or “Darra Heights” as she calls it) are close to some nice restaurants but are “a bit touchy about the floods”. Carina Heights is “where everyone has lip-filler and there’s a nice view of the suburbs they wished they’d bought in”. Bardon: “It’s money but it’s not doctor money.” And, apparently, the folks in Logan love to tell you that’s where Savage Garden came from, and always drive with their car windows down.
It’s all in good fun, but I want to turn the tables. Most of us really love where we live, and are rightly proud of our suburb. I want to know the best thing about your ’burb. You can leave a comment, below, or answer on social media, and I’ll publish some of your thoughts in coming weeks.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
I general, I love catch-up television services such as 10Play, 9Now, SBS On Demand and 7Plus. What I don’t like is the commercials — not the fact that there are commercials, which is the price of “free” TV, but the fact that the ads they show are almost always irrelevant to me. I’m a consumer and the internet already knows what I like (gadgets and cruises mostly), so why do I see ads for products I don’t want or need? Targeting me directly would really be Smart TV.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
When I couldn’t face the humiliation of the Brisbane Broncos on the NRL Friday Night Footy any longer last week, I switched over to Rick Stein’s Long Weekends on SBS Food. I’ve become a big fan of Stein over the past few years to the point where he’s my favourite celebrity chef. I like the way he cooks, and I like the way he looks at life. In this series, he visits European cities in striking distance of his home base in the UK and tries to distil the essence of the place: not just the food scene but other aspects of its culture too. The frustrating thing is that I sat next to Stein at a function at the Brisbane Hilton many years ago and barely knew who he was. What a lost opportunity.
FRENCH CONNECTION
Bastille Day has been and gone, but the Francophiles will still be able to celebrate with Le festival, which (Covid-willing) will be held from October 16-18 in Musgrave Park. According to its website, the festival is the “peak French ‘rendez-vous’ in Queensland [bringing] communities together in a united setting to strengthen French-Australian cultural and business relationships. Celebrating the spirit of France in Australia since 2010, our event has become a highlight of Queensland’s cultural calendar and every year we strive to make it even better.”
WAY TO PAY
Ever been to a concert and regretted the expense when the credit-card bill came in? Well now there’s another way to party now, pay later with Ticketek announcing that it is accepting Afterpay. The first act to which this applies is Delta Goodrem for her Bridge Over Troubled Dreams gigs next year. Tickets for the Brisbane and Gold Coast concerts, on April 8 and 9 respectively, can be purchased by several means here.
STARS OF YORE
The Village Roadshow theme parks on the Gold Coast, including MovieWorld, have reopened. I was there the day of the official opening in June 1991, and here are some of my pictures of the special guests. The first (above) shows Clint Eastwood and Goldie Hawn with premier Wayne Goss and Warner-Village executives. Below, Kurt Russell is pictured making his own movie at the park.
BY THE BOOK
The best of luck to all the finalists in the Courier-Mail People’s Choice Queensland Book of the Year award. They are: A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird (Penguin Random House); The Kowloon Kid by Phil Brown (Transit Lounge); A River with a City Problem by Margaret Cook (UQP); Feeding the Birds at Your Table by Darryl Jones (NewSouth Publishing); Meet Me at Lennon’s by Melanie Myers (UQP); The Breeding Season by Amanda Niehaus (Allen & Unwin); Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe (UQP) and Hearing Maud by Jessica White (UWA Publishing). You can vote for your favourite here. Hopefully you’ll have read at least the book you vote for, although that doesn’t seem to be a requirement.
FEEDBACK
My take on dogs stirred up more than a few people. Here are just a few of the responses.
David writes: “Regarding Puppy Love, you’re dead wrong about dogs and love. What you describe is EXACTLY why a cat shows affection, and even then they somehow manage to do it with disdain. So, just replace ‘dog’ with ‘cat’ and you’ve nailed it.” (My response: Of course cats are cynical manipulators of our affections and only answer to their own needs — but they certainly don’t cry loudly and annoy the neighbours when we’re not at home.)
Tracy says: “That is such a cat person statement — as a dog person I know my dog(s) love me — to the extent when I yawn they do and when I am off colour the know and nuzzle up to comfort me — if I fell down the stairs and broke my leg my dog would stay with me and bark for help — a cat would eat my liver !” (My reply: “Eating your liver would be too much trouble. A cat would just move on to the next sucker who’s prepared to feed and shelter it. The thing about dogs is that they’re not that smart.”)
Lisa: “The world doesn’t have to be divided into ‘dog’ or ‘cat’ people although it’s always fun to make fun of each other. I happen to love both and have raised both from kittens and puppies to old age, my oldest being a 20-year-old cat and a 17-year-old dog. They both have their strengths and weaknesses from a human perspective but it is all equally painful when they leave you.”
MEANWHILE…
Joel Creasey (above) is bringing his comedy show, Messy Bitch, to the Fortitude Music Hall in the Valley on November 7. Details here.
Opera Queensland’s Aria A Day has reached 70 performances and counting. You can hear them all here.
There is so much music online right now. I’ve been listening quite a bit to Jimmy Barnes, who is posting songs featuring his very talented family on social media. On Twitter he’s @JimmyBarnes.
A new Australian musical is a thing to celebrate. You can be among the first to see Utopia — The Amazing Australian Paraguayan Story when it opens at the Loft in West End on August 1. Details are here.
LAST WORD
I wasn’t thinking of adopting a slogan for this newsletter, but then I received this comment on Facebook from actor Jason Gann, of Wilfred and The Wedge fame: “When you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to why don’t you go where fashion sits? Puttin on Debritz.”