Mister Brisbane: Tale of two cities
Out and about | Boys to men | Lost locals | Audio adventures
In the age of coronavirus, I guess it’s redundant to say that I don’t get out as much as I’d like. But when I do, it’s often by public transport, taxi or ride-share, or when somebody takes me for a drive. That’s because I don’t have a car of my own, and haven’t for more than 10 years. In fact, it’s probably three or four years since I last drove. When I did get taken for a ride in the nicest possible way the other day, the driver — my brother — took a detour around Bowen Hills (above), where we looked at the King Street precinct and the eerily empty Exhibition showgrounds. I also saw, for the first time in years, the refurbished Queensland Newspaper building. It has changed since I used to work there.
After this, it occurred to me that there are two Brisbanes — the one that’s easily accessible by rail or bus, and the one that you really have to have a car to visit. Those who live without wheels of their own, or somebody to drive them around, miss out on a lot. Too often we go from A to B using the most direct route. We travel the highways, but not the byways. Yet so much of the city is hidden in little suburban pockets, in dead-end streets and in out-of-the-way places. I’d love for you to share your secret places.
NOT CHILD’S PLAY
Rugby league, and the Brisbane Broncos in particular, has been getting a lot of bad press in the past few weeks, including several allegations regarding breaches of the “bubble” set up to ensure that the NRL season can proceed during the pandemic. A lot of commentary has focused on the bad behaviour of certain rugby-league players and officials rather than the Broncos’, admittedly disappointing, on-field performance. Bad behaviour is not a new thing; it has plagued the game for generations. Some of the game’s greats behaved abominably back in the early years of the national competition. I’m sad to say that they escaped proper scrutiny due to a complicit media and a prevailing attitude that what happened at Rosie’s stayed at Rosie’s.
But the commentary on Thursday-night Football last week helped put it in perspective. One of the commentators, I think it was former NSW coach Phil Gould, was talking about the career of a particular player and referred to him as a “good kid”. I did the sums and worked out that the player must have been at least 24 years old. That’s not a “kid” by any means. I think it’s time that we put a stop to the “boys will be boys” attitude and treated footballers like the adults they are. They should be held accountable to the same standards as everyone else. In fact, since they are seen as role models for real kids, there’s a strong argument that they should be held to a higher standard.
NO LONGER LOCAL
Does anybody remember when we used to have local TV stars? When entertainment programs were produced and broadcast from Mt Coot-tha for the Brisbane market? When those shows disappeared, that left just the news, and some sponsored lifestyle programs, as local content. And the presenters of those shows were the only Brisbane-based TV stars. Not any more in the case of Channel 10, which has made its Brisbane news and weather presenters redundant as part of a national cost-cutting exercise. From mid-September, the news, sport and weather will come from Sydney. Although Ten will still have reporters in Brisbane, there’ll certainly be a sense that the station is no longer “local”. With Georgina Lewis gone, there will be nobody to be the “face” of the station around town.
NEWS FOR YOU?
I’ve worked in the media all my life, and I’ve been made redundant a few times, as have many of my friends, so the redundancies at Channel 10 and in other media organisations, including the Nova radio network, affected me on a personal level. But I do wonder how much these sackings, or the closure of old media titles and programs, affect the average audience member. Does it matter where your news comes from? Does it really matter that we don’t have local shows or local celebrities any more?
FAMOUS FACES
This week, the Brisbane Powerhouse features a huge Lego Marilyn Monroe in the style of Andy Warhol created by local street artist Sofle. I’m sure it’s striking, but it made me wonder whether the Brisbane Powerhouse should have a Queensland “icon” (in the modern, corrupted, sense of the word) out front. Perhaps a Lego Wally Lewis or Clem Jones or Barry Gibb or, if you want to keep the glam theme, Courtney Act. Any other suggestions?
PHONING IT IN
I received a phone call last week from the office of my local federal MP. A young man said that, on behalf of the honourable member, he wanted to know what my concerns were, and whether he could do anything about them. Now, I was impressed. It isn’t a federal election year, so there’s not much in it for the MP to do a virtual door-knocking campaign — but he did it anyway. I don’t know whether I have much common political ground with my local Member, and I don’t really expect to see any action on the issues I raised, but at least I appreciate the fact that somebody who has his ear gave me a call.
MEANWHILE…
La Boite theatre has announced that artistic director Todd McDonald will leave at end of the year. The company is looking at a “revised artistic leadership model” for 2021 and beyond. I await details with interest.
QPAC’s Unlocked series of performances under Covid-19 social-distancing requirements will begin on August 28-29 at the Lyrebird restaurant. .
The Brisbane Festival has found some interesting ways to deliver its 2020 program — including over the phone, with “intimate audio experiences” created by Benjamin Law, Krissy Keen and Mandy Beaumont. Details of the Red Light shows are here.
My latest article for InQueensland is about the new board game craze that’s sweeping the world and the Brisbaneites, including Sally Browne (above), driving the trend.
FEEDBACK
Last week I asked whether keeping silk worms and tadpoles was still something young people do, and noted that playing with firecrackers was something they couldn’t do. Jill says tadpoles “are still a thing”, while Mandy says, regarding silk worms, that “the nun from the kindergarten in the next street still comes over to raid my [mulberry] trees for leaves to feed the poor things”. My old school friend and neighbour Malcolm was nostalgic about playing with crackers, saying there were “no serious injuries” and that “we are all better people for the experience.
ON YOUR RADIO
For many years in the late Nineties and early Naughties, I was a regular guest on Spencer Howson’s breakfast show on ABC Brisbane. Well, you can’t keep a good double act down. From this week, tune in to Reading Radio to hear me reading highlights of this newsletter and discussing them with Spencer. It’s the radio show you never saw coming. Tune in to 1296 kHz (on the AM dial) or listen online at readingradio.org.au on Tuesdays at 6.30pm, repeating on Wednesdays at 2pm and Saturdays at 7.15am. A podcast version is coming soon.