Mister Brisbane: Central where?
Station action. Mix blessing. Postal problems.
I discovered recently that Brisbane has a Central Park. It’s in the Cannon Hill-Murrarie area, so I’m not sure exactly what it is central to. And while it seems pleasant enough, it’s no rival to its New York namesake.
On a related matter, I note that in bigging-up the Cross River Rail project, people in government are referring to Roma Street becoming Brisbane’s “Grand Central Station”. First, that name is already taken for a much more famous place. Second, we already have a Central station (above, in happier times), so why create confusion — especially if we are serious about tourism? Mind you, I’m still annoyed at the renaming of Brunswick Street station to Fortitude Valley, even though it makes perfect sense.
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.
FOR THE TAPE
For the young and/or uninitiated, these (above) are music cassettes — and I have hundreds of them dating back to the late 1970s and the 80s. While the sound quality was (arguably) not as good as LPs and CDs, cassettes were essential for the enjoyment of music on motoring trips. Spotify has rendered them obsolete — which is a bone of contention both for the artists, who don’t get paid a lot for streams, and for punters who resent paying again for music they already own. But that’s another story.
In any case, I’m a sentimental person and I’m going to find it hard to throw them out, so I’ll probably haul them around with me when I move. Oh, and in case you are wondering, the ones with handwritten track lists are “mix tapes”, and I can assure you that I legally own all the music on them.
POST OFFICE BLUES
My local post office hasn’t been open on Sundays for a long time. Now, it’s closed on Saturdays too. A sign of the times, no doubt. But not great news for those people who rely on Australia Post’s parcel service. Unlike Amazon or certain couriers, Auspost won’t leave parcels on your doorstep (or another place that you specify) if you are not home. They send them to the local post office and leave a note, and send a text message, telling you to collect it. So that means if you work Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and you live in my area, you may never get your parcel. I hope Auspost sees the flaw in this system and does something to rectify it.
POO FOR BREKKIE
When I was a schoolboy, the Brisbane radio station I used to listen to the most was 4BK. In particular, I liked the breakfast show with Wayne “Waynee Poo” Roberts. I especially remember his absurd (and almost certainly unlicensed) Batman series. I can still hear the ring of the Batphone. I also remember that the Poo had a musical alter-ego, Click Zimmerman, and an offsider, Deidre Slack, played by Majella Marsden (who I came to know well in later life). For a while, 4BK used to call the races, with Keith Noud and his crew in competition with Vince Curry at 4BC. And, for a while, Peter Dick did the Drive shift.
The station began broadcasting in September 1930, and for a long period was owned by Queensland Newspapers. It was sold first to Hoyts and then to Austereo, and after a successful bid for an FM licence conversion in 1988, it became B105, which went on to record record ratings results. Does anyone have any fond memories of those pre-B105 years?
SAFETY FIRST
At the time of writing, theatres and sport venues in Brisbane are being urged to implement stricter COVID-safe policies. Let’s follow the advice, folks, and let’s hope for a faster and effective vaccine rollout.
FEEDBACK
Nick commented on my item about Golden Valley Australian Football Club: “I remember making the trek to Mitchelton in under 7’s and 8’s ... circa 1970.”