Mister Brisbane: Lockdown mode
COVID companionship. Do we really need the 2032 Olympics? And what I miss about the Ekka
As I write this, Brisbane is in lockdown at least until Sunday, 8 August. I don’t like it; you don’t like it. But that’s how it is. And even if you happen to think lockdown is not a good strategy, and/or it is hurting you in the hip-pocket, it’s important to remember that the government isn’t doing this to punish us. It is following the best-known way to prevent the spread of the virus and to minimise severe illness and death. If you are one of those people who are anti-vax, think COVID is a hoax, or are prepared to see other people get sick and die, then you are not only welcome to stop reading this and unsubscribe from Mister Brisbane and my other social-media channels, I insist that you do so.
At the same time, I know lockdown causes psychological distress. I know it because I live alone, and it means I won’t be able to see and hug my loved ones. I don’t like it all, but I know that — and this is true even if lockdown is extended even further — the inconvenience and sadness we suffer now will almost certainly prevent months, perhaps years, of further pain.
I’m lucky (?) enough to be an “essential worker”, so I will have COVID-safe interaction with other people during working hours and I will get paid. However, I fully support compensation for those who are losing money — and, yes, I know that I and you will be paying for it via our taxes, and reduced services in some areas, for years to come. I don’t think any level of government is doing enough in this area.
On Wednesday, I will be availing myself of another permissable reason for leaving home. I’ll be getting my second AstraZeneca shot. I’m very, very happy about that. I am following my doctor’s advice — he told me I would probably die if I got COVID while unvaccinated — and I urge you to follow what a qualified medical professional tells you to do. I stress the words qualified medical professional. You know, the people who are standing on the shoulder of the people who discovered the treatments, surgeries and preventative medicines that have saved countless millions of lives. Not celebrity chefs with wacky machines that do nothing but empty your pockets, nor millionaires who live in their own safety bubble, are fully vaxxed and have access to top-quality medical care 24/7, yet are telling you, or allowing you to believe, that this is all fake news. (Again, if you believe them, go away.)
If it all gets too much, or you need somebody to talk to, phone a friend. And there are friends everywhere — including at Lifeline (13 11 14), Beyond Blue and similar services.
Lifeline offers this advice to people in lockdown:
Give yourself some positive feedback for all the things you are doing, give yourself praise as you do to others.
Focus on fuelling your body with nutritious food.
Reach out to friends and family, a conversation can be a mood booster.
Find time to be active each day.
Stay safe. Do the right thing, and we’ll defeat this together. There’ll be one hell of a party when it’s all over.
OLYMPICS ERROR?
Along with most people I know, I was pleased to hear that Brisbane had been awarded the 2032 Olympic Games. As we’ve been told, it puts our city among the “elite” few that have, or will, host the world’s biggest sporting event. It will certainly mean that people who’d never even heard of Brisbane will at least know the city exists, even if they remain confused about where it is and what we’re all about. (If you’ve not travelled abroad, you’d be surprised how little people in other nations know, or care, about Australia — and that most of that knowledge revolves around romanticised versions of Sydney, the Reef and the Rock.)
However, I do wonder whether we’ve bitten off more than we can chew. Some of my reservations are addressed in a deliciously cynical Facebook post by my Canadian friend Brian Kappler. With his permission, here it is:
It’s amusing to see the networks and other media trying to keep people interested in these absurd Olympics.
Personally, I’ve been ignoring this recurring marketing extravaganza – as much as possible – for a good 50 years now.
Even when it isn’t a health menace, this whole “movement” is both hollow and shallow:
• The athletes are people you’ve never heard of (and will never hear of again unless they repeat next time).
• Many of them are doped to the eyeballs on secret performance-enhancing concoctions.
• Most of them are lavishly subsidized by taxpayers.
• They compete against similar people from Narnia, Absurdistan, and the Duchy of Grand Fenwick.
• Many of the “sports” are incomprehensible or unwatchable, or both, and most of them are utterly unknown to humankind except for one month every four years.
All of this happens in order to ensure the sinecures of Olympic grandees – well-paid above the table and don’t ask about the rest – and to boost the profits of a few global brands.
Why should anyone give a damn?
I know there are many positives to holding the Olympics, but they have been well addressed, and we’ll be hearing about them for the next 11 years and then some.
But for now, I’ll simply ask: do you give a damn?
Tune in to the Mister Brisbane radio show on Reading Radio at 1296AM and on DAB+ in Brisbane at 6.30pm on Tuesday nights. It’s also available as a podcast. Just search for “Mister Brisbane” on your favourite player or follow this link.
EKKA MEMORIES
As I write this, the Ekka — or the Royal Brisbane Show — has been cancelled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. I probably wouldn’t have gone anyway, but it’s a loss to the city, to rural Queensland that showcases itself at the show in the big smoke, and to many businesses and charities that normally make money at this time of the year .
We can’t have the Ekka, but we do have the memories of not just strawberry ice-creams, show bags, side-shows and dagwood dogs, but (for me, anyway) cheerios, Tasmanian chips, buttered ham sandwiches, the Japanese pearl exhibition (with a goldfish in a bag), the precision driving team and … What else?
BRISBETTER
What’s better than Brisbane? Could it be listening to a whole bunch of songs about Brisbane? Local band The Mangroves have launched an album called Songs to Make Your Dad Proud. (Oh, and band member Joe Dwyer, who along with Henry Bretz helms the Unpacking Brisbane podcast, was recently the Mystery Guest on 4BC’s Weekends with Spencer Howson show, which I produce.)
SQUASHED
Do you remember when ice-skating was a thing? And squash was an even bigger thing? It seems that ice-skating still has its fans, with Iceworld still operating at two locations in Brisbane. But squash courts have all but disappeared. When I was kid, there were courts at Enoggera, Arana Hills, Mitchelton and Oxford Park — all of them in just a couple of kilometres radius from where I lived in Grovely (now Keperra). Has squash gone out of fashion, or was the real-estate the courts occupied just too valuable?
COVID UPDATE
The situation regarding COVID-19 moves so quickly that anything I write today runs a very strong chance of being wrong tomorrow. What I can say with some certainty about tomorrow, however, is that that is when I will get my second Astra Zeneca vaccination. Am I happy about that? You bet I am. It won’t solve the pandemic, but it will mean my chances of dying, or getting really, really sick, due to COVID are substantially reduced. It almost means that Australia and the world is edging just that much closer to putting this whole thing behind us. I also know, however, that there are people doing it much tougher than I am, or have during these past two years, that vaccination is hard to come by for many people, and that the really happy day is still too far away.
GO FISH
I am in the market for property and, thanks to my frequent visits to the likes of Domain.com.au, the internet knows it. So the advertising I get when I visit websites and social media pages is generally real-estate related. One ad that has come up is for a new apartment block in Fish Lane in South Brisbane (which used to be my “secret” free parking place when I was a frequent visitor to QPAC in the early years of this century). What really caught my eye is that the developers are offering for sale apartments with five bedrooms. Yes, five. That’s more than most houses. Presumably they’ve done their homework, so my takeaway is that large families are now eyeing off apartments as a viable alternative to the free-standing home with a backyard. I’m now wondering if this is a widespread trend or maybe it has something to do with this particular school-catchment area.
FEEDBACK
A lot of readers have nominated people for the B-list. I’m not going to mention them here, because it occurred to me that some people might not appreciate being on the list. So, I’m going to think a little further about it. But I will say that many of the names that have been submitted certainly are not the “usual suspects”.
Thoroughly enjoyed today's edition. Would you believe there is still a squash court at Labrador. Excellent advice, Brett.