Mister Brisbane: Mitchie history | Egg spurts | Back to Nature | Oh, Brother! | More beer
Emailed to you every Tuesday, because I don’t like Mondays
The media scene in Queensland became a little more interesting this week with the launch of InQueensland, an independent digital news product that will focus on politics, business and culture. I have a vested interest in this announcement because I will be writing a weekly column that’ll land every Thursday. I urge you to take a look at the InQueensland website and subscribe if you think it’s your thing. (Hint: it is.)
THUNDEROUS RETURN
When I hear the name Tom Oliver, I think of the bloke who played Jack in Number 96, a soapie that scandalised Australia back in the 1970s, and “lovable larrikin”* Lou in Neighbours. But there’s another talented Tom Oliver (pictured above) – a Wynnum boy who has a starring role in the 2020 revival of the Australian rock music drama, Rolling Thunder Vietnam, which will play in Brisbane at the QPAC Concert Hall on March 18 and 19. Tom was also named one of Queensland’s most eligible bachelors in a Sunday Mail list that criminally overlooked me. Written by Bryce Hallet and directed by former Brisbane Festival boss David Berthold, Rolling Thunder tells the story of those Australians who fought in the Vietnam War and features the powerful music of Steppenwolf, Paul Simon, Kris Kristofferson, Gladys Knight, and John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater. Details and bookings here.
*Is it compulsory for larrikins to be lovable? If so, the phrase is an oxymoron. #justsaying
BACK IN BLACKWOOD
Last week, my suburban crawl took me to Mitchelton, where family members and I had lunch at the Blackwood Café and Espresso Bar in Blackwood Street (which used to be Blackwood Road when I was a boy attending the nearby high school). The food (that’s the BLT above) was good and the service friendly, although we had to rearrange the partially covered outdoors furniture to dodge the rain. The street, which connects Samford Road to the Mitchelton railway station, has had a new lease of life lately. It’s the venue for Jan Powers’ Markets on the first Sunday of the month, and it’s acquired a new apartment block and a bunch of eateries and bars since I last spent a lot of time there. Mitchie was once at the edges of the city, but its now prised by commuters because it’s only 20 minutes by quarter-hourly train to Central.
On the subject of Mitchie, here (above) is something from the Debritz family archives: a picture from the parade to mark the suburb’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.
AUCH, ICH LIEBE BIER
As I mentioned last week, I’m keen to hear about different brews I should try. One I did sample recently and liked a lot was Hofbräu Dunkel, a German import sold at the Munich Brauhaus in South Bank Parklands. It’s dark and tasty, and I could’ve had a lot more had I not been needed elsewhere. I’ll be heading back to Munich soon for the full experience.
IT’S ONLY NATURAL
It’s not on until July 29, but if you’re a Human Nature fan, and you really liked their early work, then it’s best that you buy tickets now for their gig at QPAC’s Concert Hall. According to their marketing blurb, the show will “celebrate a hugely anticipated return to their original music”. It goes on:
“The Good Good Life Tour sees the much loved pop vocal group ignite the stage with music from across their hugely successful three decade career highlighting their stand out pop classics, the enduring appeal of their Motown and Jukebox reimagining and their stunning new music including Nobody Just like You – a seismic production by Grammy-nominated producers Grey.”
Disclosure: I’ve never seen Human Nature live, but I did see Toby Allen in Cabaret and I thought he was very good.
A TOAST TO EGG SOLDIERS
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?
BIG BROTHER, BIG ASK
No pressure, Sonia Kruger, but Channel Seven is pretty much betting the farm on you and the new-look Big Brother. Seven may have Brisbane’s no. 1 news service, and Sunrise is still out-rating The Today Show nationally despite the “Karl Stefanovic factor”, but its primetime schedule is underperforming. My Kitchen Rules has flopped, maybe because the format changed; maybe because host Pete Evans has been saying dangerously stupid things again. I think the failure of MKR is also because Seven promoted the heck out of it for months to the point where audiences were over it before it even began. Teasing out a little here and there might have worked better, because less is very often more. There’s a lesson there for how they handle the marketing for Big Brother and Seven’s other big hope, Holey Moley, a mini-golf competition featuring Greg Norman, American comedian Rob Riggle, Olympia Valance and Brian “BT” Taylor. Before I follow my first instincts and write it off, I’ll note that stranger formats have rated very well. Still, my question is: how long before the novelty wears off? One or two seasons, or one or two weeks?
WING AND A PRAYER
For no particular reason, I was thinking about a friend who finally attained an Ansett Golden Wing Club lifetime membership just weeks before the airline collapsed. Does anybody else out there have something that was once worth a fortune and is now completely useless? I’m not talking about things that naturally depreciate (cars, for example), but something that genuinely seemed like a “keeper” at the time. No, not a former partner …
THINGS TO DO
+Check out The Neighbourhood (cast pictured above) at La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre in Kelvin Grove until February 29. Details and bookings here.
+Red Hill Gallery’s River City exhibition opens on Saturday, February 15. Get along to see, and maybe buy, paintings featuring familiar skylines, jacarandas, workers’ cottages and the Story Bridge.
+RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq the World Tour 2020 is on at the QPAC Concert Hall on Wednesday night, February 12. What’s it all about? I have no idea, but the details and booking info are here.
+ Visit the World Travel Expo at the Convention Centre this weekend, February 15 and 16. If you are in the market for a holiday, do remember that a lot of Australian destinations could do with your tourist dollars right now.
+Celebrate St Valentine’s Day by hitting me up for a date. I wrote this column a few years ago, but my sentiments and personal circumstances are the same, and I’m now in Brisbane.