tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71943617519698783242024-03-15T04:11:35.155+10:00Spencer HowsonSpencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-30531266482729340892013-12-17T22:34:00.000+10:002013-12-29T22:35:12.108+10:00Bmag Dec 17th 2013 - Love ActuallyBreaking news. Donna Weeks has finally seen Love Actually! Who is Donna
Weeks and why is this such a big deal? Donna is a political scientist.
Last year, I was interviewing her about the Japanese election and
stumbled on the fact she had never seen Love Actually. Was Donna the
last person on earth not to have seen the classic Richard Curtis
romantic comedy? I ribbed her about it on air and this led to someone
buying her a copy on DVD, yet still Donna held out. Until last weekend
when it was shown on the big screen at GOMA.<br />
<br />
Donna’s verdict shortly.
But first I’m going to put my (Christmas) cards on the table. Love
Actually may well be the most divisive Christmas film ever made but I
adore it. I could enchant/bore you for as long as the movie itself (and
at 135 minutes, it is reasonably long) with all my favourite moments.
And it all starts with that opening scene at an airport arrivals hall.
Who hasn’t sat waiting for a family member to clear customs, happily
observing all the kisses and hugs going on around them? Then there’s the
romantic fumbling between the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) and new
staffer Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). Who wouldn’t have sent her to work
elsewhere to avoid the awkwardness, only to chase her down and get her
back? And how touching is Mark (Andrew Lincoln) and his undying love for
the recently-married Juliet (Kiera Knightly)? First she discovers all
the close-ups of her after Mark shoots the wedding video. Then, in a
real tissue-grabber, Mark stands at her front door silently confessing
his feelings (and letting her go) with a series of hand-written signs.<br />
<br />
There is so much in the film we can all relate to. And yet there are
those who despise it. Among my friends and colleagues, captain of the
negatives is radio producer Amanda Dell: “I just don't get it. I get
none of the `awww’ factor that seems to drive the passionate love of
this film. It leaves me cold and quite bored. Maybe it's just too twee
for me.”<br />
<br />
Jose Ferrara agrees: “Appalling. Makes me squirm if I ever see
as much as an ad. Hugh Grant is a ham. He and Martine McCutcheon have
zero chemistry. Clunky script supposed to be romcom but just
nauseatingly saccharine and not very funny to boot.” And there’s no
doubting how Stephanie Beames feels: “Bleugh!!! One of the all-time most
gag-worthy, formulaic, predictable movies.”<br />
<br />
Captain of the supporters
is ABC family affairs reporter Susan Hetherington, who watches it every
year without fail: “The 24 December is the day of viewing in our house.
Others call it Christmas Eve. I call it Love Actually Day!” Siding with
Susan is Sally Piracha: “It has Colin Firth. Aside from that, one of my
favourite movies of all time. I can watch it anywhere, anytime, with
anyone. One of the best casts ever assembled, top soundtrack, and it has
Colin Firth in another lake.” Jo Stone says it’s a great film: “So many
different interpretations of love in the world! And Hugh Grant dancing…gold!”<br />
<br />
And
from Adam Hay, who tied the knot just last week: “It’s my wife's
favourite film. It has been watched every Christmas at both families’
houses since it was released. It is a beautiful film and shows how love
actually is. Sometimes easy but most of the time unpredictable. Love it.
Destined to watch it forever now!”<br />
<br />
So, what did Donna Weeks think?
After watching the film for the first time ever, Donna tweeted: “I’m
with Amanda Dell…sorry.” She later emailed me: “Good ensemble, cute kid
role, OK movie, glad I’ve seen it, pressure off. But really, as if the
British Prime Minister would ever speak to the President of the United
States like that! If only things happened in real life like they do in
the movies, the world would be pretty cool, actually!” “OK movie”? Just
OK?! Donna, I think you need to unwrap that DVD and watch it again
straight away! From the Howsons to you and yours, have a safe and joyous
Christmas. May your holidays be filled with love (and hopefully Love
Actually)!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-8671951597410365712013-12-03T16:16:00.000+10:002013-12-03T16:16:08.548+10:00Bmag Dec 3rd 2013 - I'm not the only non-citizen in the village!I’ll be honest. I was a bit nervous about the reaction I would get to
the revelation in my last column that I had lived here for over thirty
years without becoming a citizen. I thought some might have judged me
harshly for remaining a pom all this time. Instead, I’ve been
overwhelmed by readers and listeners ‘fessing up’ that they too have
been tardy. I tell you – this country is full of immigrants who have
lived here for decades without taking the plunge!<br />
<br />
Valerie Kerr writes:
“We arrived in 1976 and none of us kids has done it yet.” Valerie goes
on to say she’s never really felt the need. And that’s where I was until
recently. You can’t pressure people into becoming citizens. It’s a
deeply personal and individual decision. Barbara Richards tells me her
mum came from England as a two year old in 1911 and never became
naturalised. Her younger sister eventually signed up when she turned
eighty!<br />
<br />
Others, like Ron Martin, have shared with me their epiphany
moments: “I woke up some years back and realised there was no need to
hold on to the past. So proud to own an Aussie passport and be in the
best state and the best country in the world”. I may have inspired Chris
Williams, who says: “I came from the UK in 1964 and I must do the same!
I should have done it years ago!”<br />
<br />
Then there are stories like Phil
Eldridge’s tale. Phil moved here from England, aged two in 1950. He was
conscripted to fight for Australia, married an Aussie, then in 1983 they
moved to New Zealand. When Phil’s wife died, he tried to move back to
Australia. After all, he’d lived here over thirty years. He was told he
would have to live here four years before he could even apply! Phil
writes: “Spencer, this is an excellent decision”.<br />
<br />
Aside from emails and
social media comments, wherever I’ve gone in these past couple of weeks,
people have wanted to talk to me about becoming true blue. I was in
Regents Park the other night, recording a fabulous radio piece about a
bloke’s love affair with his LED lighting. Gary Jones has multi-coloured
flashing strips behind his wall-mounted plasma screen and is in the
process of installing the same in his kitchen, at ceiling and floor
height. He even has a device on the bottom of his kitchen tap that
flashes rainbow colours when the water’s turned on!<br />
<br />
Anyway, to get back
to the story, when I rocked up to Gary’s place, his brother and
sisterin- law, from Wales and Scotland, were having a cuppa. All three
of them have lived here twentyplus years and immediately launched into
this conversation about how they know they should, and will soon, apply
to become Aussies! For those who are wondering, assuming you’re
eligible, the process is incredibly swift and simple. You can do it all
at www.immi.gov.au From applying online, which took around an hour by
the time I’d located and scanned all the documents you need, to sitting
in the
Immigration Department office on Adelaide Street completing the twenty
question multiple choice citizenship test, took just four weeks. That
said, there is a delay in being allocated a citizenship ceremony. At the
moment, you’re looking at July of next year.<br />
<br />
As for the test, it’s
relatively straight forward, if you’ve lived here a while and have a
good grasp of English. I felt for the woman who was in the booth next to
me – I’m guessing she’s a more recent arrival – who had just failed for
the fourth time.<br />
<br />
Finally to Bill of Rosalie, thank you for your poem.
Too long to print in its entirety, it starts: “Here’s to Spencer Howson,
who’s finally seen the light. He’s going to become an Aussie. Now
that’s a bit of alright.” Bill ends with the footnote: “Congratulations
old mate, you’re a true blue, fair dinkum sport and your blood’s worth
bottlin’. We’ll have to sink a few tinnies of the amber fluid at the
Aussie Day barbie. All the best as you adopt the land of Oz.” Thank you
Bill and everyone else who has extended the welcome mat. It seems I had
nothing to fear in coming out as an unconverted pom!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-29724948179793389512013-11-19T16:18:00.000+10:002013-12-03T16:18:30.837+10:00Bmag 19th November 2013 - Service clubs, citizenship and Doctor WhoOne of the best perks of my job as a breakfast radio announcer is I have
time during the day to speak at service clubs. At least once a week
you’ll find me addressing a Probus or National Seniors' Club, telling
behind the scenes tales from my twenty-odd years at the ABC. My
favourite part is the question and answer time at the end, which has
proven to be the best and most direct way to receive feedback from
listeners, and we do take notice of what they have to say. But these
talks are also a great source of story material for my breakfast show.<br />
<br />
Here are a couple of recent examples: At Cleveland
National Seniors, a woman handed me a nude 2014 calendar! It turned out
her retirement village had produced it as a fundraiser for Look Good
Feel Better, which helps women manage the appearance-related side
effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I flicked through the
hilarious and very cheeky photos and who should I find playing piano in
the all-together? None other than the first man on Queensland
television, Hugh Cornish! What a great yarn! (Yes, the calendars are
available – call Renaissance on 3820 7700).<br />
<br />
Then just last week, after giving a talk at the Mt Gravatt Men’s
Shed, I noticed the members were putting together 300 flat-pack timber
cubby houses. Apparently a large department store imported them, then
realised they didn’t meet Australian design standards. So they’ve all
been handed over to the Men’s Shed, where the blokes are assembling and
fixing each one – mainly reinforcing the verandah railings. It’s a great
little earner for the Men’s Shed and will set them up handsomely for
2014 but they’re running out of storage space! So if you know any
children who would appreciate a cubby house for Christmas, please call
the Mt Gravatt Men’s Shed on 3343 2216. They’re $495. If you’d like me
to speak at your service club in 2014, shoot me an email.<br />
<br />
In what’s been a very busy couple
of weeks, I also wrote and performed “A letter to the woman who changed
my life” at an event called Men of Letters. I wrote my letter to the
whole of Australia. As I hinted in the last bmag, there was a bombshell.
Here’s an abridged version:<br />
<br />
“My dear Australia, I’ve been disrespectful
towards you. You educated me (even if that did mean sitting me next to
Kyle Sandilands at Manly State School), you introduced me to my wife,
you employed me (including that dream uni job as mystery shopper at
McDonalds! How can I ever forget sitting in the loo at Maccas shoving a
thermometer into french fries?), and you embraced me as a breakfast
radio presenter on your national broadcaster. Yet for all of these 32
years, I have continued to think of another as my motherland. It has
taken me
all this time, but I finally see how this must hurt and confuse you. So I
am writing to ask – dear Australia, please can we formalise our
relationship? Australia, I have loved you for a long, long time. Will
you have me as one of your own? PS: I may still support England in the
Ashes. Can I let you know after the Second Test?”<br />
<br />
I guess the surprise
is more that I’m not already an Aussie rather than the fact I’ve finally
applied. I’ll let you know when Australia (i.e. the Immigration
Department) replies.<br />
<br />
This Saturday (23rd) marks the 50th
anniversary of Dr Who. TV stations around the world are broadcasting the
special episode The Day of the Doctor simultaneously – there is no
better way to crush TV piracy than to broadcast programmes at the same
time everywhere. ABC Radio is launching a pop-up Doctor Who channel from
24 to 30 November. Look for ABC Extra on your digital radio or radio
app (eg Tune In Radio). I’m presenting a two-hour special on the channel
which will have rolling 24/7 interviews and discussion about Doctor
Who. Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-55156156595991010552013-11-10T17:28:00.000+10:002013-11-11T18:44:42.253+10:00Men of Letters - To the Woman Who Changed My Life - November 10th 2013My dear,<br />
<br />
It’s been over 30 years since we were introduced to each other and
perhaps you were beginning to wonder whether today would ever happen.
The thing is it never felt right before. But it does now. There is a
question I must ask you and I do hope you’ll say yes.<br />
<br />
My dear adopted motherland of Australia,<br />
<br />
I cried when mum told me we were moving here. I can still picture the
scene, as if I’m floating above it.
We’re sitting at the top of the carpeted stairs inside our two storey
cottage in the northwest of England. It’s 1980. I’m 8.
Mum’s 33 and has recently suffered the loss of her second husband – my
step-dad – to cancer.
But she’s met an architect from Brisbane and we’re off to live in you!<br />
<br />
I cried, not because I didn’t want to meet you.
(I mean, this Aussie bloke that mum was about to marry was all sorts of
fun. He was into filming trains on his Super-8 camera, and we would
chase all over the English countryside.
He also designed The Big Pineapple. Which, as a child, I thought was
pretty cool.
Even today, if you ever hear me on radio defending the Big Pineapple –
and I think I’m probably the only person in the media who still does –
now you know why!)
No, the reason I cried was because I would leaving my Dad behind in
England.
Still, he bought me the 1981 Muppet Show annual at the airport… and you took us in.<br />
<br />
Talk about a "Sliding Doors" moment. Where would I be today, if Mum and I
hadn’t come here? That moment – and you, Australia, my adopted
motherland – changed my life forever.<br />
<br />
But I’ve been disrespectful towards you.
You educated me (even if that did mean sitting me next to one Kyle
Sandilands at Manly State School), you introduced me to my wife of 17
years, you employed me – including that dream uni job as mystery shopper
at McDonalds! (How can I ever forget sitting in loo at Maccas shoving a
thermometer into French Fries?) – and you embraced me in a very
prominent and public position as a breakfast radio presenter on your
national broadcaster.
In short, you have cared for me as you would one of your own.<br />
<br />
Yet for all of these 32 years, I have continued to think of another as
my motherland.
It has taken me all this time, but I finally see how this must hurt and
confuse you.
So today, I am writing to ask – dear Australia, please can we formalise
our relationship? Will you have me as an Aussie?<br />
<br />
Perhaps you’re wondering - why now? What’s changed?
Well, it’s complex and even I don’t fully understand well enough to
articulate why I’ve never asked you before.
When people do find out that I’m not a citizen – and it’s been so long
that most just assume I am (a very good friend of mine was shocked when I
told her why I was writing you this letter. She had no idea) – I’ve
always just said:
I love you, I live in you, I pay taxes to you, I hope to die in you, but
I just need to hold on to something from my past. And that something
has been the fact that I am British and not Australian.<br />
<br />
Yes, I know you can be both. In fact, I kindly went and made my son a
dual citizen without asking him first.
But I always had this fear that the British Government would pull the
pin on dual citizenships and I’d be left without that link to the UK –
which really means a link to my father, who still lives there.<br />
<br />
I always said it was something in my heart that I didn’t feel the need
to justify – and I stand by that. No one should pressure you into
something so deeply personal.<br />
<br />
And I always considered it a blessing that, as someone whose job
involves talking on radio about politics, I simply cannot vote. I have
never had to crystalise in my mind which side of politics I would
support.<br />
<br />
But a couple of things have brought me round.
At the deli, I picked up a free magazine called “The Local Bulletin”.
It’s all about Kenmore and surrounding suburbs. And inside was a
photograph of a small, local citizenship ceremony.
I never fancied the big flashy showy affair at City Hall – the one
that’s on the telly every Australia Day, boasting it’s the biggest in
the country.
Suddenly I saw the beauty in becoming Australian alongside others from
my suburb and community – people I would bump into at the shops or
school gate.<br />
<br />
Secondly, just before election day in September, a couple of recent
arrivals to Australia were bemoaning the fact they couldn’t vote. They
wanted to but couldn’t yet. That made me realise the value of being
able to – and that I shouldn’t throw that privilege away.<br />
<br />
And then, for some bizarre reason, I keep thinking about a scenario
where I’m convicted of something – no, I’m not planning to join a bikie
gang, or even chalk “I heart bikies” on the footpath – but in theory, I
could be deported to the UK.
Thousands of miles from wife Nikki and son Jack and you, dear Australia.
I don’t want to think about life without you.<br />
<br />
So you see how you’ve changed me? You can’t entirely take England out
of the boy, but this boy left England long ago. He just didn’t realise
it.<br />
<br />
Australia, I have loved you for a long, long time. Will you have me as
one of your own?<br />
<br />
I know you’ll want to put me through a test. I don’t want to sound
cocky, but I’m pretty confident. In fact, I am refusing to look at the
sample questions online.
I might not be able to spell Kosciusko or Palazszuk without checking,
but I do know Bradman’s batting average so I’ll think I’ll go alright.<br />
<br />
Are you going to ask me to quote some lines from that Franky Walnut
song? I do hope so! I’ve been learning the words:
“I’m as Australian as a sheep’s turd in the shape of Australia riding on
the back of a sheep named Bruce who’s been shorn in the shape of
Australia/I’m as Australian as a pie that’s been run over by a ute being driven
by John Williamson while he narrates a documentary about Australia/I’m as Australian as a red-back spider and a funnel-web spider having a
root inside a kangaroo scrotum purse/I’m as Australian as/I’m as Australian as.”<br />
<br />
My dear Australia, I have attached the official paperwork. I await your
response.
Yours, if you’ll have me,
Spencer<br />
<br />
PS I may still support England in the Ashes<br />
PPS Can I let you know after the Second Test?Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-7932451624581899952013-11-05T16:23:00.000+10:002013-12-03T16:23:45.073+10:00Bmag 5th November 2013 - Separation of PowersI wasn’t exactly sure how “The Meaning of Life” by Spencer J. Howson
aged 17 ¾ would go down when I included extracts in my last column. I’m
pleased to report the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. My favourite
was from Julia Baker, a snake-catcher on Brisbane’s northside, who
tells me she is about to start crowd-funding a TV show about her
reptile-wrangling adventures.<br />
<br />
Julia wrote: “Wow!! That is very
impressive for a 17 year old! It took me over 40 years to realise that
by doing things that make ourselves happy first, we are then naturally
driven as humans to share that happiness and help create it in others. A
win/win situation. Brilliantly written Spencer! The reason for working
on and wanting this TV series so badly it hurts is my vision for what I
want to do after it. I want to go into schools and speak in front of
people that need an inspiration from someone that came from nothing, was
pretty much labelled stupid, and show them how to set goals, dream big
and achieve!”<br />
<br />
You can count on some cash from me, Julia! Keep an eye on
www.facebook.com/snakesheila.<br />
<br />
Happiness is about as far removed as
you can get from the way many people feel about the State Government
granting Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie the power to overturn judges’
decisions and keep “the worst of the worst” offenders behind bars. Even
Premier Campbell Newman says he’s uncomfortable with the
Attorney-General wielding such power, but he says the community is
calling for tougher sentences and that if you don’t like it, you’re “an
apologist for paedophiles”.<br />
<br />
But cast your mind back to high school and
you’ll probably remember being taught that our parliamentary system is
based on what’s called The Separation of Powers – the Executive, the
Legislature and the Judiciary. In other words, having made the laws, the
parliament should leave it to the courts to apply those laws. No-one is
being an apologist for child sex offenders. The concern here is the
precedent this sets for governments targeting certain groups and then
acting as judge, jury and executioner.<br />
<br />
But is it possible the Queensland
Government is in fact well within its rights to take ignore the
Separation of Powers? A nuance that seems to have escaped most was
pointed out on “7.30 Queensland” by QUT Senior Law Lecturer Peter Black.
Peter Black explained that whilst the Queensland Constitution states
that the Supreme Court has unlimited jurisdiction, it can be overruled
“either explicitly or implicitly” by a subsequent Act. “The Queensland
Constitution is just an ordinary piece of legislation. It doesn’t have
any special status like the Commonwealth Constitution”. Federally, says
Peter Black, it would be a different story: “The Commonwealth
Constitution would probably prohibit those laws taking place at a
federal level”.<br />
<br />
So, would the High Court attempt to shut down this
legislation? Peter Black says: “It would require the High Court to
extend its existing doctrine. “But these laws I think are so provocative
and arguably so offensive that this is the sort of case that might
tempt the High Court to extend their existing doctrine so that they do
have a mechanism by which they could restrict and strike down the
constitutionality of these laws”. Of course all this leads to the
question – how else can we keep “the worst of the worst” behind bars?
Jarod Bleijie himself admitted on 4BC that a better way would be for the
parliament to pass tougher laws, equipping judges with tougher
penalties. There’s also been talk of introducing a US-style system where
we would get to elect (presumably tougher) judges. Perhaps all of this
will lead to judges taking the hint about society’s expectations and the
Attorney-General will never have to use his new-found power.<br />
<br />
The
other thing that’s been occupying my mind this week is an invitation to
speak at the next “Men of Letters”. Along with Tim Flannery, Ernie
Dingo, Lawrence Mooney and others, I am to read a letter to “The Woman
Who Changed My Life”. So who will it be? Come along to The Zoo on
November 10th and you’ll find out. There will be a bombshell
announcement about me and this woman! “Men of Letters” starts at 3pm.
Tickets are $25. Proceeds to Edgar’s Mission. www.womenofletters.com.au Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-26909091324126130832013-10-22T16:53:00.000+10:002013-10-31T16:53:53.369+10:00Bmag Oct 22nd 2013 - Happiness is HealthyI’m about to quote a very private essay I
wrote when I was 17. I recorded the words
into a micro-cassette recorder whilst lying
in bed, then transcribed and finessed my latenight
philosophising into a written document
to be packed away in a box and not revisited
until later in life.<br />
<br />
This is the first time since then – 3 February
1990 – that I’ve looked at these three typed
and dot-matrix-printed pages yet I have often
thought about what I wrote and how I still agree
with 17-year-old me.
The essay is entitled – cue the dramatic music
– “The Meaning of Life”.<br />
<br />
What inspired me to share this with you now
was a blackboard outside a clothing shop in
Toowong. On the board were the words: “Do
more of what makes YOU happy.”
It stopped me in my tracks. On the surface, it
might seem an egotistical approach to life. But
I believe much good can and does come from
people pleasing themselves.<br />
<br />
Seventeen-year-old Spencer takes up the
story: “While we cannot answer why we are here,
we can explain why we do the things we do.
“Having resigned to the fact that we are
here, and that we are only here for a short time,
humans all attempt to make the most of that
time. It is my firm belief that every human being
seeks pleasure as the number one lifetime goal. No-one ever does anything that does not
bring pleasure or prevent displeasure. Every
single human action has pleasure as its goal.
Even the hero who risks his life to save a child
from a burning house does so to prevent the
possible displeasure he would
otherwise feel for not trying. Given there is no
reason, no why, no
explanation for us being
here, why do people breed
more people? Again, for
the pleasure. The pleasure
of parenting, the pleasure of
resuscitating the marriage, or
the pleasure of security and care in
the senior years”.<br />
<br />
At this point, the essay really does start
to sound like it was a written by a wide-eyed
innocent 17-year-old boy, but I said I would
share it with you so here goes:
“The ultimate pleasures, according to the
Krishna movement, are eating and sex. You can
only eat so much before you become ill, and
even sex has its limits.” How funny.<br />
<br />
I’ll save you several paragraphs and jump to
the conclusion: “Now we are coming closer to
the meaning of life. Lifestyle, it would appear,
is a conscious attempt to make the most of a
limited lifetime. Whilst there is no reason for
life, there is a reason for lifestyle.” It goes on (and
on and on) but you get the idea.
Over the years, whenever I’ve heard about
people doing great deeds, I’ve found myself
asking the question: are they getting pleasure
from this? Invariably, yes, they are. And it’s not a
bad thing. Happiness is not a dirty word.
Charity workers, from Meals on Wheels
kitchens in Brisbane to orphanages in third
world countries, are all harnessing their own
desire for happiness and using it to
help others.<br />
<br />
Even those working
within church organisations
who would say they are serving
God are also making themselves
happier in the process.
As that blackboard said, “Do
more of what makes YOU happy”.
To take it one step further, I
would just say that if you can find
a way of helping others that makes you
happy, then you’ve hit the jackpot!<br />
<br />
Last column, I told you about my wife Nikki
now working at 612 ABC Brisbane. I wasn’t
overly anxious about the situation but I knew
there would be some challenges and I quoted
other couples who had worked together.
I’m pleased to report that I have loved these
past three weeks!<br />
<br />
With me presenting 612
Breakfast and Nikki producing Tim Cox 3pm to
6pm, there’s only an hour or so where we’re in
the office together.
But for the eight years I’ve been on the
cornflakes shift, I haven’t seen Nikki until she’s
arrived home from work, usually after 7pm. So
to be able to gaze at her for that hour a day has
been wonderful.
And so far, only once has she asked me over
the partition to pick up milk and bread on the
way home!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-21251786867247120082013-10-08T17:41:00.000+10:002013-10-24T17:42:18.929+10:00Bmag Oct 8th 2013 - Working with the missusHave you ever worked in the same
company as your significant other?
Think about it. Could you work
alongside your husband/wife/other half?
My wife Nikki and I met at a community radio
station in Brisbane in 1992. I was one of two paid
staff and Nikki was a volunteer.
In my diary that first day I wrote: “With me
tonight were two trainees including Nikki, est.
17/18, blonde, short, shy and VERY CUTE!” And
you know what? I can still see that straw hat she
was wearing!<br />
<br />
Several months later, I summoned the nerve
to ask her out. I remember the phone call:
“Would you do me the honour of accompanying
me to the opening night of Joseph and His
Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat? How dorky.
You’d have thought I was asking her to marry me!
Anyway, she said yes – eventually I confessed
that the tickets were freebies – and we’ve been
together ever since.<br />
<br />
Back then we were young and it sure was
fun having your girlfriend with you at work. The
stories I could tell. And yes, whatever you’re
imagining right now, it probably did happen at
that radio station when everyone else had gone
home!<br />
<br />
Fast-forward to 2013 and Nikki has just started
working at 612 ABC Brisbane, producing Tim Cox
3 to 6pm weekdays.
Now, I don’t want you to think I’m at all
anxious about the distraction of my beautiful
wife as I glance up from my computer screen, but
there must be pros and cons.
For example, do colleagues expect you to
share the same view on company decisions,
rather than seeing you as two different people?
And then, if you don’t agree in the workplace,
how does that play out at home?
I’d love you to email me with what you know,
what you’ve seen and what you’ve learned.<br />
<br />
A former radio producer of mine, Majella
Marsden, says it’s a minefield for co-workers.
“What about where one partner has knowledge of
events that may impact on the other?”
Social commentator Brett Debritz says it can
make colleagues feel uncomfortable, especially
if one of the couple is in a more senior position.
Just ask ambo Bob Hartley: “We had some issues
as my wife was in a subordinate position to me
for a while. We had to use the drive home as a
defuse/debrief”.<br />
<br />
I.F. and R.B. ran a company together for two
years. I.F. says they would never do it again: “Too
much arguing over business decisions which
led to resentment at home. The best thing we
ever did was sell the company. We have a better
marriage for it".
For Daniel John, it meant the end of the
relationship: “It was the worst mistake ever.
Constant bickering all the time. It was a contract
cleaning job at a factory. We worked right on top
of each other. We were partners before and not
long after".<br />
<br />
But there are success stories too. Real estate
agent Brett Andreassen has made it work for the
last three years. His tip: “Don’t take work home
and don’t bring home issues to work".
Kallee Buchanan and her husband Ross
work for the ABC in Central Queensland. Kallee
says it’s okay to take work home: “It’s great having
someone who gets the passion for the job. But
you need to have your own time, away from work
and home".<br />
<br />
Nataasha Torzsa and her partner work for a
telco. They’ve devised three rules: “Don’t discuss
personal things during work hours, act like
friends at work drinks etc., and don’t discuss 'us'
with other workmates”.
But the most surprising story I’ve heard so far
comes from admin manager Brendan Taggart:
“I used to work in the same department as my
partner. The only issue was travelling to work
together. He was always late. He was SO slow in
the mornings, it was legendary. I hate being late.
So I got my own car. Problem solved!” That is one
expensive solution.<br />
<br />
Coincidently, you may have noticed the new
series of Survivor (Thursdays on GEM) sees loved
ones pitted against each other - uncle against
niece, brother against brother, husband against
wife. I can tell you Nikki and I were both relieved
to see all the married couples survived the first
tribal council! A good omen perhaps.Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-38413400039569479202013-09-17T17:39:00.000+10:002013-10-24T17:39:48.432+10:00Bmag Sept 17th 2013 - Novelty songsI can’t resist a good novelty song. Even better
is a bad novelty song.
The ABC’s music programmer Bill Riner
diagnosed me years ago when he said I caught
the bug as a young fella growing up in England,
where there is a tradition of novelty songs
“topping the pops”.<br />
<br />
It is true that I was still living in the UK when,
in 1980, the St Winifred’s School Choir spent
eleven weeks in the charts, including two weeks
at #1, with Grandma, We Love You.
Look it up on YouTube – the lyrics might be
simple but boy does it tug at the heart-strings.
“There’s no-one quite like Grandma/And I know
you will agree/That she always is a friend to you/
And she’s a friend to me.” Fortunately, two months
later, I moved to Australia and was saved.
Or was I? Because if there’s one thing I’ve
learned in my 20-plus years on Queensland
radio, it’s that Aussies are suckers for a silly
song too.<br />
<br />
I was reminded of this recently when we did
a story on 612 Breakfast about a new four-story
building at the University of Queensland – a
building with no toilets!
Apparently this isn’t a problem, because
the building next-door is well-equipped, but
I wouldn’t like to be dealing with an upset
stomach whilst working on the fourth floor of a
loo-less office block!
Anyway, I dragged out the 1997 song Don’t
Go in the dunny after Dad by then-Kallangur
primary school teacher Geoff Whitehead (and
his students): “Don’t go in the dunny after Dad’s
been in/No, don’t go in the toilet, don’t go in
the loo/Don’t go in the dunny
after Dad’s been in, if you know
what’s good for you.”<br />
<br />
The song made it into the top
40 in 2002 when it was
covered by Jamie Dunn
and Agro but I hadn’t
played either version for
well over a decade.
One play on the radio
and we were inundated with
people asking whether you can still buy the song.
For the record, yes, Geoff has copies of the CD
and if you call him on 3264 5198, he’ll fix you up!<br />
<br />
So what’s the latest novelty song to attract my
ear? Well, it won’t be released until next year,
but I have been listening to a new Chad Morganesque
album by Brisbane’s own Franky Walnut.
This really has the potential to go somewhere, I
reckon. It includes the song As Australian As.
“I’m as Australian as a sheep’s turd in the
shape of Australia riding on the back of a sheep
named Bruce who’s been shorn in the shape of
Australia/I’m as Australian as a pie that’s been
run over by a ute being driven by John Williamson
while he narrates a documentary about
Australia/I’m as Australian as a red-back spider
and a funnel-web spider having a root inside a
kangaroo scrotum purse/I’m as Australian as/I’m
as Australian as.”<br />
<br />
But then the song takes an ironic twist: “I’m
as Australian as a surfie who gets really bloody
hungry and then he goes and eats some sushi/I’m
as Australian as sushi.”
And eventually, “I’m as Australian as the
moon (when viewed from
Australia).”
So who is this Franky
Walnut? Well, he’s the
creation of Keir Nuttall, Kate
Miller-Heidke’s husband and
collaborator, so this record
has some serious musical
clout. And yes, Kate sings
backing vocals.<br />
<br />
The first time I played
As Australian As on 612 Breakfast, tweeter
@JaneofAustralia tweeted @FrankyWalnut:
“Catchy tune. Note sure re lyrics”. Franky replied:
“Neither am I. Actually, I’m not sure about the
tune either.” For now, the CD is only available
at gigs.<br />
<br />
Finally, thanks for all your emails and tweets
about Teddy and Pun’kin, who we recently
adopted from Red Hill cat rescuer Katina Balson.
Katina was thrilled to be mentioned in the
magazine. She wrote: “Thank you so much for
the lovely write up in bmag. Fab message about
the sweet scaredy cats. I get so teary when I hear
how well-loved my/your babies are. They are
lucky boys. Give them a big kiss for me. Love your
work, Katina.”
As I mentioned in my last column, Katina can
be found at the Pussies Galore charity shop on
Musgrave Road or you can peruse her “scaredy
cats” online at www.pussiesgalore.com.au Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-8925548476966358082013-09-03T14:09:00.000+10:002013-09-08T14:09:10.739+10:00Bmag Sept 3rd 2013 - Welcome Teddy and Pun'kinIt’s twenty years since I last owned a cat but
when Teddy and Pun’kin asked if they could
live with the Howsons, how could we say no?!
It took me a long time to get over the death
of my grey, half-Persian childhood companion
Pompeii – named after the exhibition which came
to Brisbane in 1981.<br />
<br />
Pathetic, I know, but I still
have Pompeii’s collar and used to smell it to feel
like he was back with me. Okay, that sounds weird
– but scents are a powerful trigger for memories.
I once asked listeners what smells they had
kept of their deceased loved ones. We were
inundated with calls, with everything from
pillows to jumpers being put aside, unwashed, so
they could be brought out for a hug and a smell.<br />
<br />
But back to Teddy and Pun’kin. Once I started
making noises about having another cat, our
word-of-mouth enquiries led us to Katina Balson.
Katina runs the Pussies Galore op-shop on
Musgrave Road, Red Hill, and her nearby house
is full of strays, ferals, abandoned and abused
cats all just looking for love.
Many of them have terrible backgrounds and
some have been with Katina for months, too shy
to sell themselves to potential families. Katina
calls them her “scaredy cats”.<br />
<br />
When we arrived, they scattered to all
corners of the house. You wouldn’t have known
there were 22 kittens and cats hiding under the
furniture and behind the curtains!
Then, one by one, they emerged, wandering
past and looking us up and down. Until the most
remarkable thing happened. Two of them chose
us. A well-fed (thanks to Katina) ginger feral with
a beautiful white tummy hopped onto my lap and
a much thinner tiger-striped
kitten that had been abused
in Darwin (apparently lots of
rescued cats are flown down
from the top end) lay down next
to Nikki. And with that, we were
cat owners once again. Teddy and
Pun’kin had a new home.<br />
<br />
I can’t recommend Katina highly
enough. Living with the cats, she knows their
personalities. Everything she told us about Teddy
and Pun’kin has turned out to be spot on, from
their food likes and dislikes, to the way they play,
sleep and interact with each other.
An abused animal might not be for everyone
– as Katina explains, you can’t expect them to be
all over you from the minute you get them home
– but it has only taken a few weeks for Teddy and
Pun’kin to come out of their shells and the five of
us couldn’t be happier.<br />
<br />
It’s election day on Saturday and while the main
battle is between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott,
the competition can be just as fierce when it
comes to which polling booth has the best
sausages and lamingtons!
To help you decide where in your electorate
to vote, the Booth Reviews website is back. Click
on www.BoothRev.net now and you’ll get the
idea. Once you have voted, go back to the site
and leave your comments. As the day progresses,
it will become more and more useful for those
who have yet to vote. (Mischievous Spencer loves
the fact that a sausage-review-based decision on
where to vote will completely muck
up Antony Green’s analysis on
ABC TV on Saturday night when
he talks about the way certain
booths voted in 2010).<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, 612’s Saturday
Breakfast presenter Phil Smith has
already crowned his Best Booth in
Brisbane. Phil ran a competition over a couple of
weeks and will broadcast from the winner, Seven
Hills State School, on election day.<br />
<br />
Finally, in response to my column on kids vs
children, ABC radio family affairs reporter Susan
Hetherington says: “Don’t you remember the
Sesame Street song that says `goats have kids,
like people have kids’? Case closed”.
And from Brisbane author Nick Earls: “With
`kid’ first used to mean `child’ in the 1590s, I
think I’m ready for us to relax the `only for goats’
rule.”<br />
<br />
Roman Masiarek goes further: “There is a
much more important issue - the insidious way
the Australian language is being sold out to the
Americans. More and more, our biscuits are
becoming cookies, our chips are becoming fries,
our toilets are becoming bathrooms and our
Zeds are becoming Zees”.
But then Pauline Taylor asks: “For folks who
persist in calling them kids, how would they like
to be addressed as `goats’?”Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-32358259867176604562013-08-20T14:13:00.000+10:002013-09-08T14:13:49.574+10:00Bmag Aug 20th 2013 - Kids v childrenYears and years ago, long before my
radio show ever won the ratings, ABC
colleague and mentor – now Channel
Nine newsreader – Andrew Lofthouse
whispered in my ear that the only way to be
successful was to be yourself. This came at a
time when I had taken over the ABC breakfast
show from Peter Dick – we’re talking 1997 or
thereabouts – and it’s fair to say I was feeling the
pressure to replicate the style of my predecessor.
Since then, I’ve relaxed and become more
confident in my ability to bring to the table
what I believe makes for essential morning
radio listening – new, useful, interesting, and
local information with a laugh or two and some
great tunes.<br />
<br />
In 2013, there’s no doubt in my mind that
what you hear on my breakfast radio show is
100 per cent me. Or is it only 98 per cent?
Because, truth be told, there are two things I say
differently on air and off air.<br />
<br />
The first one exploded when I raised it on
Facebook recently. You can read some of the
responses below and it is this: though I will use
the word if we’re chatting casually in the street,
I still avoid saying ‘kids’ when I’m on the radio
(except the odd, unscripted moment where it
can and does slip out).
The reason being, we used to get a complaint
every time: "Kids are baby goats!"
In recent times, I haven't heard anyone
saying that (about goats) and I've noticed both
the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader use
the word ‘kids’.
Is it time I relaxed my stance and gave myself
permission to say
‘kids’ on air?<br />
<br />
Here are some
of the Facebook
replies, which have
left me thinking, on
balance, it is probably
better to continue using
the more formal (and respectful)
term, but what do you think?
In favour of ‘kids’ is Tony Bellette: “PC
nonsense has to disappear. When I was a young
bloke, announcers were trained to sound
British and it was great to hear the Australian
sounding voices on radio when they were given
permission to be themselves.”<br />
<br />
Chris Williams agrees: “I have always used
‘kids’ as a term of endearment even in my
teaching career. No one ever complained to me!”
Writes Stephen Mackie: “To complain about it
is ridiculous. That falls into the `sort of nonsense
up with which I will not put’ category.”
From Gold Coast singer Vivica: “Just be
yourself and say what you want. People will not
stop listening because of one word millions of
people use.”
And from Dan Beeston: “If you're letting
the sort of person who's that pedantic about
language govern your show you're pandering to
the wrong audience.”<br />
<br />
But, I don’t see this as pedantry. For me, it’s
about using respectful language. Having said
that, ‘kids’ is more affectionate. See how I swing
from one side to the other?
Ann Lacey remembers: “My grandmother
would say that about kids and goats. I have
worked in the child care profession
for over 36 years and I just can't
say kids. I always say children. If
you do say it I hope it’s only rarely.”
Says Andrew Mason: “Some of us
have to maintain standards Spencer!”<br />
<br />
And Sheila Wilson asks: “Why can't
we call children CHILDREN? I know...
because everything has to be shortened to suit
our laziness. Good on you Spencer. Children are
children.”
Leanne McKnoulty reminds us what’s really
important here: “I'm always perplexed by this
conundrum. My conclusion - what matters most
is our attitude toward each young person not the
label.”
Finally, from former Triple M breakfast host
Sammy Power: “There are a lot of worse words
you could say!”<br />
<br />
I mentioned there were two things I say
differently on air and off.
The other one isn’t just me. It’s an old radio
convention still applied by the ABC (and some
other stations, I’m sure) and that is to give the
time as “16 minutes to four” instead of 3.44.
At home, I say 1.25 or 2.55. On air, that
becomes 25-past-one or five-to-three.
Send me an email. I’d love your feedback on
‘kids’ versus children and how you would like
radio announcers to tell the time.Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-46724035197634865652013-08-06T14:19:00.000+10:002013-09-08T14:20:30.890+10:00Bmag Aug 6th - TrogggPoliticians will talk up, or talk down, the
economy, depending on what suits
them. But they (and I) hardly need to
tell you that plenty of people are doing it tough
at the moment and jobs are hard to
come by.
Just ask Brett Hansen. The 34- year-old from
The Gap has worked a myriad of occupations,
from janitor and dish-washer to marketresearcher
and admin assistant. But for the
past eighteen months, there’s been nothing.
So Brett has created a job by taking matters
into this own hands – literally.<br />
<br />
Turning to his
childhood love of the Muppets, he’s designed
and created a fluffy blue monster called
Troggg– “the middle g is silent” – and launched
himself on the Brisbane entertainment scene!
Troggg is unashamedly Muppet-like with
his squishy round red nose, ping-pong-ball
eyes and black bushy mono-brow blending
seamlessly into a bright orange mop of hair.
Protruding incisors confirm monster status!<br />
<br />
“I had him built professionally by an ex-Jim
Henson Muppet builder,” Brett tells me. “I
wanted one where I could operate his hand.
You can’t buy those sorts of puppets so I
figured I might as well go all out and have one
of my own designed that I could use as the star
of all my shows.”<br />
<br />
Entertaining is clearly in Brett’s blood.
When his hands are not inside puppets,
he plays keyboards in a couple of bands
(Headkase, Sound Distiller) and with theatre
group, ImproMafia. But it’s puppetry that Brett
has studied all his life.
“[As a child] I would be glued to the screen
whenever the Muppets were on. I would sit
there with puppets on my hands and mimic
the lip-synch and the movements and the way
they walk.<br />
<br />
“They were always doing all sorts of weird
and wonderful things to make them seem
real, right down to Jim Henson in a cage under
water puppeteering Kermit when he’s singing
Rainbow Connection. Filming them outdoors
– no one had ever done that before until
Henson.”<br />
<br />
Brett’s become known around Brisbane
for his love of puppets: “I’ve been doing a bit
of consultancy, which was my official title in
Avenue-Q (the musical) last year, but I’ve been
working with some QUT students who are
doing a web series about an angry rooster so
I’ve been helping them with the movement of
the puppets.”
And that
technique
isn’t as easy
as you might
think. Brett
explains:
“Eye focus is
a big thing
but lipsynch
is the trick. Also the head moving forward
when you emphasise a word. And making sure
the puppet remains alive at all times. A lot of
people flop the puppet to the side if it’s not
talking but just keep it up and nodding and alert
and looking around.”<br />
<br />
Troggg’s first big break came last month
when he was invited to co-host The Late Nite
Show on 31 Digital. I was in the 31 studio that
night. It felt truly special. Like watching Kermit’s
first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. I
looked at Brett operating Troggg and couldn’t
help but wonder where all this might lead.
Brett enjoyed it too, as did Troggg: “I think he
felt at home on television, under the lights with
his crazy blue fur.”<br />
<br />
Of course there’s not much
call for puppets on Brisbane television, so Brett
is casting a wide net: “I’ve been doing a few kids’
puppet shows, Troggg’s even got an MC gig at
a film festival!” He is available for MC gigs at
corporate functions, wedding receptions, trivia
nights and comedy nights.
Given the enormous success of the adultconcept/
themed Avenue Q, perhaps it’s the
Muppets’ core fans – the children of the
seventies and eighties – that Brett needs to
target.<br />
<br />
After all, look at the way Peter Combe
has reinvented himself. These days, Combe still
performs his 1980s toddler hits Toffee Apple
and Newspaper Mama, but at nightclubs! The
audience is the same, just 25 years older.
Brett says he’s open to the idea: “I really
enjoyed Avenue-Q. I guess people were
reminded of the Muppets and they could relate
to the [more adult] subject matter as well. So I
can see an adult puppet series happening, either
a theatre production that I do with Troggg or a
TV series or a film would be nice.”
Best of luck to you, Brett, I’m expecting big
things from you and Troggg!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-60271189476242890272013-07-23T12:19:00.000+10:002013-09-08T14:18:07.474+10:00Bmag July 23rd 2013 - Free newspapers and musicDid you notice what you paid for The
Sunday Mail this weekend? It’s just gone
from $2 to $2.50! This 25% hike comes
just weeks after the introduction of a paywall on
the paper’s website.
In this column, I will show you how to get
newspapers - and music - for free. I’m also going
to increase your chances of winning a prize at
your next school, club or church fundraiser! After
that introduction, just try skipping to the next
page! You know you can’t!<br />
<br />
The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail have
introduced what News Corp Australia (the
former News Limited) calls a ‘metered digital
subscription’. You get a limited number of articles
for free, more if you register, but after that you
must pay. Even News Corp Australia’s Quest
suburban newspapers – free when delivered to
your door – are part of this ‘metered’ paywall
when viewed online.
Around the country, it’s a similar story.
And not just the Murdoch press. Fairfax’s
Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have just
introduced paywalls.<br />
<br />
There’s a very good reason
for newspapers going down this path – with
fewer people paying for the physical newspaper,
and with revenue from the classifieds shifting to
various websites (real estate, cars, second-hand
goods, etc.), there is less money for journalists
and the quality of news is under threat.
Indeed, Jonathan Holmes used his final words
on Media Watch to suggest: “Whatever your
politics, or your preferences, start subscribing to
at least one media website. Pay just a little to keep
real journalism alive.”<br />
<br />
But there is an alternative for
those who are steadfastly against
paying for news. All you need
is a Brisbane City Council
library card and you can
have unlimited free access to
over 2,000 newspapers and
magazines from around the
world.
Visit www.library.pressdisplay.com,
enter your card number and you’re away.
(Any resident of Queensland can join a Brisbane
City Council library – you don’t have to live in
Brisbane). You won’t get updates throughout
the day, as you would with online access, but for
someone who just wants to read the paper over
breakfast, it’s all you need.<br />
<br />
Once you’re a member of a Brisbane City
Council library, there’s another online perk.
Every week, you can download three free songs.
Have that library card ready and click on www.
freegalmusic.com/users. Four library cards in
your house? That’s twelve free songs every week.<br />
<br />
But wait, there’s more and this next tip comes
from a politician! You’re about to gain a huge
advantage next time you play Heads-and-Tails
at a fundraising event! Heads-and-Tails involves
someone tossing two coins and participants
guessing which way the coins will fall.
Everyone stands up to 'bet'. Hands on your
head for heads, hands on your backside for tails
and one hand on each (head and bum) means
you’re guessing one head and one tail. Anyone
who is incorrect is eliminated, then the coins are
tossed again, until there’s a winner.<br />
<br />
At this year’s Graceville
State School trivia night,
we were on a table
with local state MP
Scott Emerson. Scott’s
obviously been studying
these games at the
myriad events he attends
so just before Heads-and-
Tails, he whispered to my
missus the secret that would
double her chances with every toss.
He explained there are four possible
combinations: Head-Head, Tail-Tail, Head-Tail
and Tail-Head. If you go for heads or tails, there’s
only a one-in-four chance you’ll be right. But if
you put one hand on your head and one on your
bum, you’ll have a two in four chance (you’re
covering both Head-Tail and Tail-Head)!
And that’s it.<br />
<br />
Nikki did as Scott suggested and
won the prize – which happened to be a very
flash bottle of wine donated by the local federal
MP Graham Perrett. Now who would have
thought two politicians in a room could be so
useful? Bottoms-up!<br />
<br />
Finally, Cheryl Stevenson’s email sums up
reaction to my column on John Murdoch and his
Happy Bus: “What a wonderful man! The world
needs more positive people like John”.<br />
<br />
POST-SCRIPT by Doug Corner, Mount Ommaney<br />
<br />
Hi Spencer, I have now found it via the following string:<br />
<br />
1. Type elibcat.library.brisbane.qld.gov.au into your browser and hit ‘enter’. This should get you onto the eLibCat Library Catalogue page.<br />2. Click on ‘databases’ at the top of the eLibCat page. (Ignore the ‘log in to My eLibCat Account’ on the right hand side of the page).<br />3. O n the ‘databases’ page - click on ‘newspapers and journals’.<br />4. Under the ‘library press display’ heading, about halfway down the newspapers and journals page, click on ‘remote access. This should bring you to the library press display login page where you can type in your library bar code, using all the digits on the rear of your library card. Hit the ‘login’ tab and voila - enjoy! I’ll give the free songs a try when I next have a couple of hours to spare J Spencer, by the way, we love your bmag column!<br />
<br />
Doug Corder, Mount Ommaney Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-686426029661400882013-07-09T12:23:00.000+10:002013-07-27T12:23:52.486+10:00July 9th 2013 - Brisbane's Happy Bus!As you probably know, whenever the
President of the United States of America
is aboard a US Air Force plane, the official
call sign for that plane is Air Force One.
Well, whenever John Murdoch is behind the
wheel of a Brisbane City Council bus, it becomes
the Happy Bus!
There’s no special signage. No rainbow colourscheme.
Just a regular-looking driver and a busfull
of smiles!<br />
<br />
On this particular day, the Happy Bus is the
444 from QPAC to Moggill. I’m sitting just a couple
of rows from the front. It’s the perfect place to
observe as people hop on.
We pull into King George Square, the doors
open, and it’s show-time: “Ladies and gentlemen,
good afternoon! The Happy Bus welcomes you on
board, how are you?”<br />
<br />
It’s impossible to resist a smile. “Bring on those
happy faces! This is the Happy Bus to Moggill!”<br />
<br />
Half a dozen passengers join us at Toowong
and there’s a greeting for every one of them: “On
a beautiful day like today, how could you not be
happy? Good afternoon, keep the happy smile on.
That’s one terrific happy smile you have there!”<br />
<br />
At Taringa, a woman hops off at the back and
John calls out: “You look after yourself, till the
next time you’re on the Happy Bus, enjoy the rest
of your afternoon and keep that beautiful smile
please, ba-bye!”<br />
<br />
Seconds later, he opens the front door and
three more join the club: “Welcome to the Happy
Bus! There’s a happy smile, keep that with you
please!”<br />
<br />
I leave at Indooroopilly, completely touched
by the experience. I catch a lot of buses and I
always say g’day to the driver as I hop on. But John
Murdoch really does take customer service to the
next level.<br />
<br />
Next day, I catch up with him at the Toowong
bus depot. He tells me: “Being a talkative person,
I was already welcoming people on the bus. More
and more I told people to come on-board with a
happy smile and they seemed to appreciate it. It
just grew from there.<br />
<br />
"I care about my passengers and this is a way
for me to make their trip more enjoyable. When
I finish my work and get back to the depot the
feeling is ‘Hooley Dooley, what a day!’, but I enjoy
being more involved with the passengers,” he says.<br />
<br />
John tells me I’m not the first person to suggest
special livery for the Happy Bus: “People have
asked, ‘Can we have anything on the front of the
bus so we know it’s the Happy Bus?’ The best I can suggest is we have a Mr Happy
fridge magnet but every bus I drive is the Happy
Bus, two different buses a day.”<br />
<br />
After chatting for a while, John Murdoch opens
up on why he’s so positive. He tells me he was
involved in a head-on car crash on the Warrego
Highway: “My heart stopped three times on the
way to hospital. I wasn’t meant to survive. They
wanted to turn the life support machine off. I
woke up three weeks later with a new lease on
life.<br />
<br />
“When you have a near-death experience,
you do see life differently. You only have one
life. You might as well live it. It doesn’t matter
if you’re happy or grumpy, you’ve only got the
one.”<br />
<br />
John proudly tells me that in his five years
driving buses, he has received no fewer than
114 commendations from passengers. (Every
time you ring Translink to report a positive bus
experience, your comments are printed on a
certificate which is then presented to the driver).
“If I receive one, I receive one. If I don’t, I
don’t. I just like going out there and having a
happy and enjoyable trip and a safe one for
everyone," John says.<br />
<br />
By this stage, I’m soaking up the positivity. So
I ask John for some final words of wisdom.
“When you wake up in the morning, choose
your attitude. It reflects what sort of day you’re
going to have. Even if you do have some
hiccoughs, they may happen, but if you say
you’re going to have a good day and approach it
as a good day, at the end of the day you will say ‘I
had a good day’.”Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-49636453553393095992013-06-25T11:27:00.002+10:002013-06-25T11:29:12.500+10:00Brisbane puppeteer Brett Hansen talks about his new creation Troggg<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAw7XrG1dc0C-3jy2ZhkxO2m8xWtxE6FY3ksCyGPIgBvmNT_3twB3ylYnt4Za_PGMVEwQmK7_uuzxFIaWTlQ43nKycSKtuaReXWZLFw9Hp7KHjLx8CQ_nib5H36nLEDe4I5JHv7PpWynZx/s1600/troggg+on+lns+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAw7XrG1dc0C-3jy2ZhkxO2m8xWtxE6FY3ksCyGPIgBvmNT_3twB3ylYnt4Za_PGMVEwQmK7_uuzxFIaWTlQ43nKycSKtuaReXWZLFw9Hp7KHjLx8CQ_nib5H36nLEDe4I5JHv7PpWynZx/s320/troggg+on+lns+3.jpg" width="220" /></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brett Hansen recently unleashed Troggg on the Brisbane entertainment scene. Expect to see Troggg popping up at parties (not just for children), weddings, comedy nights, on TV, and even hosting the odd film festival! </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Some of this conversation will make its way into a future bmag column.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brett, where does your love
of puppets come from?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was just a baby, my parents would put Sesame Street
on in the mornings and I fell I love with it straight away. At the time the
Muppet Show was on TV as well. Sesame Street, Muppet Show, loved them. Became
aware of Jim Henson as a person and performer and really got interested in the
behind-the-scenes side of it from a very early age - while [Jim] was still
alive. Because I was so interested I would just be glued to the screen whenever
Sesame Street or the Muppets were on, and the movies as well. I loved the
movies. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My parents ended up buying me a couple of puppets to play
with, kids’ puppets. And I would sit there with puppets on my hands and just
mimic what I was watching. Mimic the lip-synch and the movements and the way
they walk and I was just mirror exactly what I was seeing on TV and I would
watch behind-the-scenes footage whenever they played it. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We had an old videotape of The Muppet Movie taped off
television, probably the night it premiered on TV and after the movie was a
special, behind the scenes of Jim Henson and the Muppets. And there was footage
of Sesame Street and Muppet Show characters and a sneak-preview glimpse of the
upcoming film, The Dark Crystal. And I was just intrigued. That’s when I sort
of learned about Jim Henson and that all of these characters were part of his
creation and they showed the puppeteers operating them. They showed the live
hand puppets and the rod puppets [and] yeah, I just loved it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why are you still so
interested that you’re now carving your own puppeteering career?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I always – even then [as a child] – thought that those
adults with those puppets looked like they were having such a good time. They
go to work and they stick their hands up puppets for a living, make good money
doing it. Why not have fun in your job?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At the same time,
Henson took it very seriously, didn’t he?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes certainly, it’s a puppetry style on its own. They were
always striving to make their puppets look more and more believable. As funny
as the Sesame St and Muppet Show characters looked, they were always doing new
things with television – with green screen, or with certain props that they
would use to dangle legs over to make it look like they were actually sitting
down. You could see their whole body. In the Muppet movies, they’d have Kermit
the Frog riding his bicycle! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They were always doing all sorts of weird and wonderful
things to make them seem real, right down to the point of Jim Henson in a cage
under water puppeteering Kermit from underneath the pond where he’s singing
Rainbow Connection. And in the second movie, Frank Oz is weighed down with
bricks in a swimming pool with Miss Piggy coming out and he’s got people giving
him air to breath every 30 seconds or something but he has to hold his breath
while he’s puppeteering! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They did all these crazy things to make their puppets as
realistic as possible. Filming them outdoors – no one had ever done that before
until Henson. No CGI. All real, which was always very impressive. And you could
occasionally see rods and you could see parts of the live hands puppets where
you could see where their hand would go up and say “Oh look, there’s an extra
bit down there, that must be where they stick their hand” and it was
interesting to see how it worked but they did a really good job of keeping that
illusion of realism.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tell us about Troggg.
Who’s Troggg?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Troggg is a character who I designed, a blue monster who I
describe as an alien monster from the planet Crouton. I designed him towards
the end of 2012 and waited six months for him to arrive. I had him built
professionally by an ex-Jim Henson Muppet builder who used to work on Sesame
Street.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How do you do that?
Lots of emailing of designs?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, that’s it. To-and-fro email conversation. I drew a
picture, sent him a sketch and he said “Can you give us a bit of an idea of the
textures that you would like?” So, because I really wanted that Muppet style,
my design but in a Muppet style, I sent him pictures of different fur textures
from other Muppets. Nose and eye and hair textures and I said these are the
sort of colours and textures that I’d be after for this drawing and he said
“Yes, I can do that”. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wanted it to be a live hands puppet – one where I could
actually operate his hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t buy
those sorts of puppets. You can buy rod puppets – there are hundreds of those
available for the public to buy – but you just can’t buy live hands puppets. So
I figured I might as well go all out and have a special custom-made one of my
own design that I could use as the face of my business, my logo, the star of
all my shows. So that’s the story of Troggg.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And what are the
shows?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this stage, I’ve been doing a few kids’ puppet shows, for
three and four year olds. But on my website, I’ve advertised to do MC gigs.
I’ve got Troggg MCing at corporate functions, wedding receptions, trivia
nights, comedy nights, impro comedy nights. He’s got an MC gig at a film festival
coming up in July so he’s going to stand there behind a lectern and welcome
everyone to the film festival and they’ll look up and see this puppet monster
hosting and it’ll be weird but that’ll be good.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Troggg’s TV debut was
meant to be on AGT but he arrived a week late?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He didn’t arrive on time. I had a stand-up comic act ready
for Troggg and I went to the Australia’s Got Talent audition – one week before
Troggg arrived, that was the day of the audition. So I had to go in with one of
my other [commercially-available] puppets and I gave them a photo of Troggg and
I said “just pretend that this is who it is”. It didn’t work out because it
didn’t have the impact that Troggg would have had so I might try again next
year.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But Troggg debuted on
TV a few weeks later?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Troggg was a guest sidekick on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3COzEXK8Fw&feature=youtu.be">The Late Nite Show on Channel31</a>, throwing out various comments and jokes here and there based on the topics
that came up. And I was quite happy with how it worked out. Got a few laughs
and had a few tweets saying “Wow, Troggg’s cool”. I think he felt at home on
television, under the lights with his crazy blue fur.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipF0nhrnFKHyxY3AqK9qFDCM5zFxe6CX0XKADtKppmjrZ5GP0BGgaWuRDrSl81nEPnwqBounJ8W4ya1BNhk-sdR-HW7erC4y3lertWWeDfdwGZKu9dzdAG6usftuILDhL7gCno9RnDN5us/s1600/troggg+on+lns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipF0nhrnFKHyxY3AqK9qFDCM5zFxe6CX0XKADtKppmjrZ5GP0BGgaWuRDrSl81nEPnwqBounJ8W4ya1BNhk-sdR-HW7erC4y3lertWWeDfdwGZKu9dzdAG6usftuILDhL7gCno9RnDN5us/s320/troggg+on+lns.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJD-v-061zIzMXMxaSa7LQzue6W7G97E3pKr2sFbX21jNqvuvI8MVwgsmN6-b9lW-4RlzKAq6tTDm3vEXMZ9V_tvYLEqsEaQ1rnx2q4f69yr9ULO9sh-RmCW_bhrjPiWF1zGFygYlEoBg5/s1600/troggg+on+lns+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJD-v-061zIzMXMxaSa7LQzue6W7G97E3pKr2sFbX21jNqvuvI8MVwgsmN6-b9lW-4RlzKAq6tTDm3vEXMZ9V_tvYLEqsEaQ1rnx2q4f69yr9ULO9sh-RmCW_bhrjPiWF1zGFygYlEoBg5/s320/troggg+on+lns+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How was that, being
under the desk for an hour?! </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Only for very brief moments was it comfortable! I had to
shuffle around quite a bit cause my feet fell asleep. With the Muppets, the
puppeteers stand up and their arms are stretched right up. It’s actually a lot
more comfortable to stand and be upright when you’re performing puppets like
this. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sets on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street are actually way up high
and you’ve got these puppeteers standing upright with their arms stretched
right up with their puppets and they’re quite heavy puppets. I mean Troggg is
built in the style of a Muppet so he’s very heavy so to be crouched right down
behind a very small desk, and have my arm stretched up, it just got a little
bit uncomfortable at times but we got there in the end.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it was good, just to have a puppet up there and then
they’re doing the countdown “we’re going to be on air in ten seconds” and I
thought “here we go, Troggg’s going to be on air. It’s going to be great!”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What’s Troggg’s TV
future then?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can see him either doing something similar, like a new
Agro or Ossie Ostrich, sitting there and nodding and adding funny comments here
and there, either on a kids show or on a comedy variety show. But also I can
see him entertaining kids on TV as well. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been doing a bit of puppetry consultancy, which was my
official title in Avenue-Q last year, but I’ve been working with some QUT film
students who are doing a puppet web series about an angry rooster puppet so
I’ve been helping them with the movement of the puppets and one of the actors
in the web series is in a Channel Seven kids show that has puppets so he said
“look, if we’re ever after another puppeteer, we know where you are”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I can imagine being on a kids show either
with Troggg or with other puppets that they provide.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So look out Jamie Dunn
and Agro?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s it! Well Jamie Dunn is not doing a whole lot with
puppets these days. Agro occasionally makes a public appearance but that sort
of thing would be good. To bring puppets back to television, cause we haven’t
seen many puppets on TV in recent years, ever since Agro and Ossie Ostrich
disappeared.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why’s that? </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kids shows are a lot more hip these days. You’ve got these
kids who look they’re just out of high school being really cool and hip and
they’re hosting the kids shows now. No puppets, just these kids yelling at the
camera and the camera zooming in and out. “Yeah, we got prizes, we got prizes,
let’s cut to a cartoon” and there’s no puppets. I don’t know why that is. Maybe
kids think puppets are lame. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I think with the Muppets making their triumphant
come-back last year and with the sequel in the works, I think puppets are
starting to come back. We’re going through this weird phase where the eighties
are making a bit of a comeback now. References to old video games and TV shows
and remakes of old eighties movies and things. They’re all coming back so I
think puppets are starting to make a comeback too. There’s definitely a market
out there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What about Troggg
doing an adult TV show?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, that’d be great too. I really enjoyed [working on]
Avenue-Q. It was an adult parody of Sesame Street, which sold out. All the
adults turned up. I guess people who were reminded of the Muppets and they
could relate to the [more adult] subject matter as well as remembering their
childhood as well, so they relate to the characters and the subject matter. So
I can see an adult puppet series happening as well, either a theatre production
that I do with Troggg or a TV series or a film would be nice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’ve worked as a
puppet consultant. What’s the secret to making puppets come alive?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eye focus is a big thing but lip-synch I find is the trick.
Just making it second-nature that your hand moves exactly as your mouth moves.
But also emphasis on certain words so the head moving forward when you
emphasise a word. And making sure the puppet remains alive at all times. A lot
of people flop the puppet to the side if it’s not talking but just to keep it
up and nodding and alert and looking around. I just think that’s the basics.
Keeping it alive and making sure the lips move exactly as yours do.</div>
Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-79990787139648812742013-06-18T17:21:00.000+10:002013-06-23T17:21:09.844+10:00Bmag June 18th 2013 - Bill Oddie, How we watch TV now, No TV for someLast weekend, I opened our copy of the
Sun-Herald (yes, they still persist with
a Queensland edition of the Sydney
paper) and there was a half-page ad for the
TV series Heartbeat on DVD.
I was never a huge fan of this particular
show, but box-set collecting has become
something of a hobby – unlike media files,
you can touch DVDs, admire them, lend
them to friends – so the ad jumped out at me.<br />
<br />
But seeing nine complete seasons
of the classic Yorkshire police drama so
prominently and lovingly advertised did rub
salt in a long-standing wound in my DVD
collection.<br />
<br />
You see, there’s one series I would
purchase in an instant and that’s The Goodies.
Yes, I know there are best-of DVDs but never
has the entire run been released.
As Bill Oddie is in Brisbane this week (at
the Tivoli on Thursday 20 June) I couldn’t
help myself. I had to know why.<br />
<br />
Oddie told me: “It’s been a mystery to us.
I have to say the BBC has not been terribly
co-operative and on the brink of childishness
at one point.”
He adopts a posh voice and quotes from a
reply sent by the BBC to fans asking if a major
Goodies anniversary would be marked: “'No,
we have no plans. And I think we should
remind you that the final season was actually
done for ITV'. It was almost like they were
saying we never forgive, we never forget!”<br />
<br />
I express my personal enthusiasm for
sitting down and watching every episode
of The Goodies to which Bill Oddie replies:
“There are a lot you know. There are nearly
100 programs!” I know and would still buy the
complete box-set!<br />
<br />
Whether it be box-sets, downloading all the
episodes or setting the PVR to record a whole
series, it seems we are increasingly choosing
to watch every episode of our favourite TV
shows. Ten or 20 years ago you would curse
yourself for missing an episode but you
wouldn’t go looking for it. Now you can, and
so people do. But because we still have the
same number of hours in the day, we each
follow a smaller number of TV shows.<br />
<br />
Realising this shift is American’s TOLN,
The Online Network, the new home of former
ABC soaps All My Children and One Life to
Live. TOLN says viewers now choose one
series or the other – and then watch every
episode – instead of catching what they can of
both.<br />
<br />
In response to this, TOLN has reduced
the number of episodes of each show to just
two per week, saying in a statement: “We are
making it far too challenging for viewers to
keep up.
“Most of us are just trying to find time to
watch series of 13 to 22 episodes a season
so asking viewers to assign time for over 100
episodes is a daunting task.”
I wonder what this will mean for Australian
TV in the future.<br />
<br />
Last month (bmag, 21 May), I wrote about the
analogue television switch-off in Brisbane.
It turns out there was a contingency plan
to switch analogue back on if there was a huge
number of complaints. I’m told that happened
in regional Victoria, one of the first areas to
move from analogue to digital, but it wasn’t
necessary here.<br />
<br />
That’s not to say 100 per cent of us were
digital-ready by the 28 May deadline. At 612
ABC we received the first “why doesn’t my TV
work?” call at 9.12am, 12 minutes after the
plug was pulled.
bmag reader Susan Barnes wasn’t ready
either. But, in a lovely email, she explains why
it was “a kind of epiphany”.<br />
<br />
“I have lived without TV before so I went
out and bought a basic reading lamp instead.
I have turned on the radio and am finding
time to listen to my CDs and delve into the
unopened novels on my bookshelves. I will
also be investigating the local library’s DVD
collection. And if the ABC comes up with
something I feel I really must see I can watch
it on my computer.<br />
<br />
“So far it is wonderful – I am getting
more done, eating better, getting to bed
earlier, getting more exercise and feeling
much happier. I can thoroughly recommend
this course of action to anyone who is still
struggling with the switch.”Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-50770505423799168812013-06-04T17:24:00.000+10:002013-06-23T17:24:22.187+10:00Bmag June 4th 2013 - Outback adventures and more on that LBD!I could happily take a driving holiday in
western Queensland every year. The
clean air, the big skies, the open roads,
the small towns, the big pubs with their
iconic architecture. Even the limited phone
reception. It all adds up to the ultimate
escape from the drudgery of the big smoke.
With the Australian dollar starting to
drop, and overseas holidays getting just a
little bit more expensive every day, now
could be the perfect time for you to head
west for your next trip.
It’s easier than you might think.<br />
<br />
In 2009, I
took wife Nikki and then-nine-year-old Jack
to Winton. We did the trip in just 10 days
during the September school holidays.
I’m going to show you how and point
out some of the highlights along the way
so that you might consider doing the same.
The reward when you get to Winton is the
Outback Festival with its famous dunny
races!
First stop for us (Monday night) was
Toowoomba. Just a couple of hours from
Brisbane, it broke the back of the holiday.<br />
<br />
Next day, after viewing the winning Carnival
of Flowers display, we drove the four hours
to Mitchell to experience the wonderfullyrelaxing
Great Artesian Spa. Floating in
the naturally-heated spa is where we met a
number of fellow travellers who we would
keep bumping into over the next week or so.
Just a two-hour drive on the Wednesday
saw us in Charleville, where the must-see
attractions are the Bilby Experience by day,
the Skydome by night and a steak at the
Charleville RSL in-between!
Charleville to Longreach on the Thursday
was one of our longest drives (515km) but
stops include the famous Tambo Teddies and
the Black Stump at Blackall.<br />
<br />
Friday morning
we reached Winton (180km from Longreach)
and then totally immersed ourselves in the
town and its Outback Festival!
Exhausted after two full days in and
around Winton (Waltzing Matilda Centre,
Royal Open Air Theatre, Australian Age
of Dinosaurs Museum) and with dust in
our teeth and nostrils, we headed back to
Longreach (Stockman’s Hall of Fame and
Qantas Museum, where you can tour every
nook and cranny of a 747).<br />
<br />
On the Monday, it was time to think about
heading home. We stayed a couple of nights
at a beach resort in Yeppoon – what a contrast
after a week in the west – and arrived back in
Brisbane on the Thursday.
And that’s when you pinch yourself. It’s
hard to believe the distance you’ve travelled
and landscapes you’ve seen in just 10 days!<br />
<br />
You might think it a challenge to take
children but, remember, you don’t drive long
distances every day. And for the days you
do, a portable DVD player or movies on a
computer will easily kill a couple of hours.
That said, you don’t want them staring at
a screen all day. Space out the movies and
allow time for the children to get out and
touch the dirt. Encourage them to take their
own photos to show teachers and friends.
I think children are far more patient and
interested in the world around them than we
give them credit for.<br />
<br />
As for the adults getting bored, there’s
always the pleasure of calculating distances
and estimating the time of arrival at the next
town (or is that just me? Another obscure
Spencer hobby perhaps?!)
In a few weeks, I’ll be giving away a trip
to the 2013 Winton Outback Festival so stay
tuned to my breakfast radio show for details.<br />
<br />
I’m still receiving mail about that little black
dress I bought Nikki for her birthday. Men
and women alike will enjoy this email from
Jackie Jones: “We are in our 50s and 60s and
still go through the same scenario every time
he passes a mannequin wearing little shorts,
skirts and dresses. Even shirts he thinks
would look great as a dress.<br />
<br />
“I’ve found the best compromise
(especially when I don’t know what to
buy him for his birthday) is to buy one of
these little numbers, do a dinner date at
home and wear it for him.
“So the next time your wife doesn’t know
what to buy you just tell her to whiz by that
shop and pick up that little black dress!”Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-79912884484870166152013-05-21T13:37:00.000+10:002013-05-26T13:38:26.274+10:00Bmag - May 21st 2013 - What to do with your analogue TVYou probably know that analogue TV services
will switch off on 28 May. Unless you have
a set-top box, pay TV, video recorder with
digital tuner or a digital television, you won’t be
able to watch television after that date. But what you might
not realise is that you don’t have to throw out your
analogue TV next time there’s a kerbside collection.
Here are three ways to avoid your beloved old
TV contributing to landfill.<br />
<br />
First of all, just keep it.
On its own, an analogue television won’t pick up
TV signals after 28 May but you can still use it as
long as you have one of the devices I mentioned
above, such as a set-top box (STB). High-definition
STBs – which will give you all free-to-air channels
– now cost as little as $30. At our place, we’ve
saved a perfectly fine 32-inch flat-screen analogue
TV by adding a DVD player and putting it in the
guestroom.<br />
<br />
But if you’ve decided you definitely don’t want
or need your old TV, you can still avoid throwing
it out on the footpath. The Mission to Seafarers at
the Port of Brisbane is collecting analogue TVs and
shipping them to Papua New Guinea and Fiji.<br />
<br />
Centre manager Adrian Willes explains: “We
have a lot of Papua New Guineans and Fijians that
come into the Port of Brisbane. A lot of people
have been throwing their TVs out. We have been
supplying those to the Fijian and Papua New
Guineans free of charge. They simply put their
name down. When we can get hold of something
that they are after, we give it to them. They just take
it on the ship. So one community has had one TV
for the entire village – now, slowly but surely, the
TVs are rolling out more in those villages.”<br />
<br />
Willes assures me there are no technical issues
using Australian TVs in PNG and Fiji. “It’s a simple
pick-up and install it in the islands and it will work.
If you want to give a TV away, visit the centre and
we can let you know if we can collect it or if we can
take it then and there.” If it’s easier, you can call
them (10am to 10pm, seven days) on 3895 1181.<br />
<br />
Another bloke who’s keen to get his hands on
your old TV is artist Forbes McKail.
If you’ve been to the Collectorama exhibition at
the Queensland Museum, you’ll know Forbes’ wall of
old televisions, each filled with a back-lit photograph
of one of Forbes’ friends.
He is already sitting on another 50-odd TVs for
future art projects and his father is looking after
another 100 for him – what a dad! – but Forbes
realises he must seize the moment. “There’s beauty
in these things and when they’re thrown away then
they’re gone. Such a waste.”<br />
<br />
Specifically, Forbes is looking for older TVs with
retro or kitsch appeal. “The small ones, the old ones
from the ’50s when they were black and white. Once
we got into the ’80s they had that standard black
plastic look and that’s not really that attractive. Think
Jetsons. Plasticy, domey, Rice Bubbly ones.”
The best way to offer your old TV to Forbes is to
email him at forbesmckail@hotmail.com.<br />
<br />
Hopefully no-one is caught out by the analogue
switch-off. Perhaps make a note to telephone elderly
or less tech-savvy members of the family on 28 May
to make sure their TV still works.<br />
<br />
In response to my last column about buying my
wife Nikki a little black dress that she took straight
back to the shop,
Julie Thornton
wrote: “You
think of her still as the girl you first met, so the
dress was entirely appropriate for that person.”<br />
<br />
Exactly! Nikki hasn’t aged a day in all the 20
years we’ve been together. No, really. She hasn’t!
And
Sean Tiernan
reassured me: “Shows you
are a good husband, Spencer”. Aww, thank you
Sean. And thank you to
Sam Eeles
for sending
me a photograph of another very short, very
sexy little number. Only this one isn’t black.
It’s blue. A little blue dress that resembles
the TARDIS (police box) from
Doctor Who
.
Needless to say, it is sensational but I’m not
going
there
again!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-14450641395099732052013-05-07T13:41:00.000+10:002013-05-26T13:41:12.218+10:00Bmag May 7th - Little Black Dress!You didn’t, did you?” “Yup,” I replied.
“Oh dear. You’re a young fellow. I’ve
been married for nearly 40 years.
Let me share this with you. Men should
never, ever buy clothes for women!”<br />
<br />
Now, if
only I’d consulted this cabbie
before
Nikki’s
birthday instead of the day after!
It’s not easy finding the perfect present
for your missus and, I’ll admit, most years
I end up at a record store buying CDs or
DVDs.
Nikki really likes music so they’re
usually appreciated but I’m always left with
this nagging feeling that I’m being boring,
sticking to a shop in which I’m comfortable,
rather than getting something that’s truly
special. So this year I decided to buy Nikki
a dress.
Having sauntered past a few shops,
nonchalantly glancing in, trying not to seem
too keen, my eye was suddenly taken by a
window mannequin donning a sensational
little black number. It was a reasonably short
dress, with shoulder straps but no sleeves
and very little fabric on the sides.
If I had to pin it down, I’d probably call
it 20-something racewear. Is there such a
thing? (Can you tell that I’ve never hosted
a fashion parade or written for a style
magazine?!)<br />
<br />
After 10 minutes standing outside this
boutique, I gathered my courage, walked
in, confidently selected Nikki’s size and
presented said dress at the counter. And this
is where I should have picked up the hints.
“Who are you buying for?” I was asked.
“My wife,” I proudly declared.
“Really?” she asked. “How old is she?”
Now, rather than asking myself “what
does this young shop assistant know that
I don’t?” or “why does she need to know
Nikki’s age?” I pushed on, “39,” I said. A
further disapproving look. Another clue
missed.
For a split second, I must have
questioned whether Nikki would indeed
wear this revealing LBD – see, now I’m
getting into the lingo! – for I asked “would
she wear a shirt under it?” Seriously? How
hopeless am I?
The answer: “No, sir, you wouldn’t wear
anything underneath it.” And then the
killer: “Look, if she wants to bring it back,
that’s no problem. Just keep the receipt.”<br />
<br />
So I paid for the dress and strode out
of the shop just a little bit excited about
my achievement! A quick glance over my
shoulder at the mannequin, a moment
to imagine Nikki looking sensational,
showing off a little bit of skin, and I headed
home to wrap and hide the present.
Next morning at the ABC, several hours
before giving Nikki her present, I sketched
the dress for my colleagues and asked their
opinion. Was I having niggling doubts?
Everyone appeared very supportive and
said it was great that I had bought clothes,
not more CDs, but there was also quite a
bit of eye-rolling and comments like “you
men are all the same!” My radio producer Anne told me the
story of another hapless husband who
once bought his wife underwear for
Christmas. It turned out the bra was too
busty and the bottoms way too small! Still,
this woman took it as a great compliment
(before returning them to the shop!)<br />
<br />
Later that day, my chest puffed out, I
presented Nikki with her birthday present.
She slowly pulled the dress out of its
wrapping and declared: “How old do you
think I am? 12? I would never wear this!”
When I came to tell the story to the
married-40-years taxi driver, he wasn’t at all
surprised. He had one more piece of advice
for me: “Whatever you do, let her take it
back. On her own. Don’t go with her”!
Thankfully, a caller to the ABC’s “Cereal
Box” voicemail, Daphne of Tivoli, saved
the day. After I told the story on radio,
Daphne called to say, “your wife doesn’t
need birthday presents because she’s
got the greatest gift that God could ever
have given – you! Believe you-me, I hear
it in your voice, the love that you have for
her and she has for you. No present can
replace that.”
When Nikki heard the call, she emailed
me: “That’s beautiful. I have tears – some
of laughter – but that is so sweet!” Phew.
Back in the good books. For now.Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-82210308376486987322013-04-23T13:42:00.000+10:002013-05-26T13:43:03.981+10:00Bmag 23rd April 2013 - Expo memoriesThe 25th anniversary of World Expo ’88 is almost upon us.
The six-month party, where South Bank is now, opened on April 30th 1988
and if you were there, it’s time to reflect and celebrate all over
again!
Expo was, as Lord Mayor Graham Quirk described it at the opening of the
Museum of Brisbane’s Expo exhibition “Light Fantastic”, a “game-changer”
for our city.
It opened our eyes to a world beyond Bribie Island, it introduced us the
concept of being out at night – even during the week! – and, along with
the Commonwealth Games six years earlier, it was gave us confidence
that “big country town” Brisbane could perform on the world stage.<br />
<br />
Naturally our clinging to Expo puzzles those too young to remember. I
saw this tweet the other day from @Sleemol: “Brisbane’s obsession with
constantly reflecting on Expo confuses me. It sounds like it was a good
event – in 1988. Let’s move on. Surely this city’s best days are yet to
come? The Expo nostalgia feels a bit like we’re conceding nothing like
it will ever happen again”.
That was greeted with this response from @Bundynelle: “No, leave us be
to enjoy good memories. I get sad when people tell us `oldies’ to move
on.”<br />
<br />
So has there been another Expo-like experience since 1988? Sure, there
was the 2001 Goodwill Games but – apart from the bridge named in its
honour – it’s rarely mentioned.
The G20 meeting of world leaders later this year might be a huge coup
for Brisbane but with the street closures and motorcades, it’s not
likely to leave us feeling like we’ve all been to an amazing party.
The 2018 Gold Coast (and Brisbane –some of the event are being held
here) Commonwealth Games is perhaps our next chance to tap that Expo
feeling.
Certainly for a generation not old enough to remember the 1982 Games or
Expo, it will form memories to last a lifetime but the six-month party
that was Expo ’88 will still take some beating!<br />
<br />
When I began pondering this topic on Facebook, Chris Williams offered:
“No event has been larger. It was where we learnt how to queue, how to
start up a conversation with a stranger, and most importantly, how to
thoroughly enjoy ourselves!”<br />
<br />
My Expo memories? Well, I was only 16 so I certainly never went inside
the Munich Festhaus (that’s not to say I didn’t learn the Chicken Dance
that year!)
Funnily enough, 25 years on, I get to visit every weekday. The ABC
studios at South Bank have been built on the exact location of the
Festhaus!
Mum worked in the Queensland Pavilion. She could get me VIP access to
any pavilion which – given the length of the queues, especially for the
New Zealand Pavilion – was quite simply the best Expo perk!
What I loved about the Queensland Pavilion itself was the Reuters news
wire on computers in the main entrance.
Geeky at the time, but understandable given where I’ve ended up in life,
I used to call in on my way home from school (I would catch the train
from Central to Manly) and sit there in school uniform scrolling through
the breaking news stories! Not too many others will include that in
their Expo memories, I bet!<br />
<br />
It goes without saying that I also enjoyed the concerts (who could
forget the Seekers singing “The Carnival is Over” on the last night?),
the high-tower diving, the monorail and the myriad street performers.
I was also one of the students chosen to line the Queen’s route as she
walked through Expo on opening day, April 30th. I’m not sure I actually
saw the royal party—we had to face the crowd—but I did my bit. I
protected Her Majesty from her masses!<br />
<br />
If all this has you reaching for your Expo memorabilia – flicking
through your passport or pulling out your season pass – you should take a
trip to the “Light Fantastic” exhibition at the re-opened Museum of
Brisbane in City Hall.
Entry is free and 612 ABC Brisbane has an Expo ’88 Memory Booth there,
where you can tell me your story for replay on 612 Breakfast.
Sorry Gen-Y, I guess you had to be there!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-59674083349491772452013-04-09T13:44:00.000+10:002013-05-26T13:44:59.222+10:00Bmag 9th April 2013 - World records for SEQTo slightly misquote Albert Einstein, if a cluttered desk is a sign of a
cluttered mind, what can be gleaned from a workspace covered in
celebrity underwear?
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself having to concentrate on the daily
task of preparing my breakfast radio show, whilst surrounded by bras
handed to me by, amongst others, Ten News weather presenter Tegan
George, Olympic gold medallist Emily Seebohm, foodie Jan Power,
Australian womens cricket captain Jodie Fields and ABC TV presenter
Jessica Van Vonderen!
The more I talked about them on air, the more bras we received.
Listeners started bombarding ABC Shops with them. And the security desk
at the ABC building in South Bank suddenly had to find boxes to
accommodate them!<br />
<br />
And Carryn Gorrie couldn’t be happier!
You see, it’s for Carryn that I’ve started collecting women’s underwear!
The Redlands mum wants to smash the world record for the most bras
chained together. Girl Guides in Dargaville, New Zealand, are the
current title-holders with 169,234. Carryn’s target is 200,000 by
October 5th.
But there’s more to this than just beating the record. For every bra
donated – and no, they don’t have to be in perfect condition – Carryn
asks for a one dollar donation. The money raised will go to cancer
prevention and research.
Then, after the bra-chain world-record attempt, usable bras will be
handed on to groups such as The Uplift Project (www.upliftbras.org), so
they can go to women in need.
Now that I have my radio listeners donating bras, I thought it was about
time I invited you, dear bmag reader, to do the same.
Feel free to send them to me at the ABC (GPO Box 9994 Brisbane 4001) or
drop them at your nearest ABC Shop (eg Carindale, Chermside,
Indooroopilly, Garden City, Toombul, North Lakes, Myer Centre) but
you’ll also find a full list of collection points on Carryn’s website
www.mylifemystyle.com.au.<br />
<br />
There’s something about world records, isn’t there? For me, as a child,
the Guinness Book was an annual Christmas present and I would spend
weeks pouring over all the crazy human feats that were deserving of an
entry in the book.
As an adult, I’ve never lost my fascination or enthusiasm for world
record attempts.
Another southeast Queenslander currently vying for a spot in the book is
Reid Anderton.
As you read this, he’s probably on his bike, hoping to become the
fastest person to cycle around Australia. The record stands at 37 days.
Reid thinks he can do it in 35, which means averaging 400km a day. Think
how tired you are after a four hour drive! Now imagine doing that
distance on a bike!
Reid left from Victoria Point on March 10th and, last time I checked,
was well on his way to claiming the record.<br />
<br />
Yet another local record attempt on the horizon is for the longest game
of indoor bowls. The blokes at Mt Gravatt Bowls Club need to play for
more than 36 hours to beat the current mark, held by six bowlers from
Southgate in the UK.
At Mt Gravatt, they reckon they can play for a full 48 hours and will
give it a red-hot go May 18th-20th, raising money for prostate cancer
research. Best of luck fellas!<br />
<br />
Of course we already have some notable record-holders in this part of
the world. Adam Lopez, a music teacher at Sheldon College, is in the
book for the highest note ever sung by a man.
Steve and Suzanne Eltis hold the record for the longest distance run
three-legged in 24 hours (just over 100km), set at Eatons Hill State
School in 2008.
And Ipswich Paul Pisasale owns the largest tea-set collection in the
world – yes, officially recognised by the Guinness Book.<br />
<br />
But it’s another Ipswich City councillor who holds what is probably my
favourite world record, and one which can never be beaten.
In 1969, as a seventeen year old, Paul Tully become the world potato
chip-eating champion, consuming 30 packets in 24 minutes and 33.6
seconds – and without a drink!
Eating records were removed from the Guinness Book in 1990 for safety
reasons, meaning Paul Tully will forever be the undisputed, unbeaten and
unbeatable world record holder!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-15615358382770768552013-03-24T15:43:00.000+10:002013-03-24T15:43:12.634+10:00Bmag March 19th 2013 - Tech-snobs, stacked glasses and jugs!I’ve had a gutful of techno-snobbery. A
couple of weeks ago, when I posted on
Twitter “
Sydney Morning Herald
going
tabloid/compact from tomorrow. Is
The Age
doing the same?”, @BrettS69 replied “Do they
still sell paper newspapers? Really?”<br />
<br />
That same day I tweeted: “Two weeks ago,
I rang bank to request something. They said
they’d call back. I’ve now decided I should
call them and no record of my initial call.”
@Trimega responded: “Who calls a bank
anymore?” And, I can’t begin to tell you how
much e-laughter I cop whenever I admit that
I still have an AOL email address.<br />
<br />
I recently turned 41 and am starting to
get an understanding of what it’s like to be
ridiculed by the next generation. And I don’t
like it. I do my best to keep up – heck, I know
what Pheed is! But when I mentioned all this
to a 60-ish fellow customer at the bakery the
other day, he just nodded slowly, smiled and
said: “You have a long way to go yet!”<br />
<br />
So at the risk of sounding curmudgeonly
and stuck-in-my-ways, leave me alone! Yes, I
still buy the paper. Yes, I ring the bank. And
while we’re at it, no I won’t use self-checkout
at the supermarket, because I believe that’s
taking people’s jobs away. I much prefer
to buy from a shop in Brisbane than order
online from overseas. I choose 2D over 3D.
And I still have a street directory in the car!
Look, I’m not anti-technology but I
believe we should be allowed to make our
own choices and move at our own speed,
without the judgement of others.<br />
<br />
And now, perhaps the most useful thing
you’ll read today! We’ve all made the
mistake of stacking glasses and having two
stick together. My wife Nikki recently came
home with a dozen tumblers, unusual in
that they had lumps or bumps of glass all
around the inside. They looked great but
those bumps really knew how to hold onto
another glass!
The first night we used them, it
happened! I just could not separate the two
glasses!<br />
<br />
So, I turned to Twitter and Facebook
for ideas (as I said, I’m not anti-technology).
Solutions on Twitter included “Run
under hot water” (@LovelyWife), “Twist”
(@LaurenTrim), “Tap around rim” (@RoBaumgart) and “Put them in the freezer”
(@Edumak8). There was also this from @Jim_Pembroke: “Fill top glass with a good
whiskey, straight, ice if you must, and drink.
Repeat until the bottom glass blurs into
obscurity”! And from @SEQMW: “There is
nothing you can do except smash one
glass. But which one? It’s like choosing
favourite child!”
Meanwhile, on Facebook, Neil Symes
suggested “run it under cold water”, Kathryn
Cruise said “bottom in hot water the way
to go” and Bill McDonald wrote “small side
to side shimmies, while gently pulling in
opposite directions. Throw the odd twist in
there. Make it look fancy!”<br />
<br />
In the end, it was a combination of
Twitter and Facebook solutions that did the
trick. So write this down. From my mum on
Facebook, “pour washing up liquid into the
top where the two glasses are stuck” and
from @RobertHoge on Twitter, “cold water
in the top glass, place the bottom third of the
bottom glass in hot water and give it a few
minutes”. Hey presto! It worked!
Once the ordeal was over, former radio
host Ian Skippen turned blogger (for laughs,
please check out
www.ianskippen.blogspot.
com.au
) told me: “Never stick a glass into a
glass. You can never decide which glass is
half full or half empty. One glass is always
half full. Don’t thank me. Just say...glassias!”<br />
<br />
On the subject of glasses and drinking,
a local winemaker showed me a simple
method he uses to improve a bottle of red.
Decant into a big jug, then pour forcefully
into another jug and back into the first.
Repeat, getting more and more dramatic,
pouring from higher and higher. Depending
on who you’re drinking with, you may want
to pour the wine back into the bottle before
serving. It’s all about aeration, of course.
Nothing new there, but as we’ve found,
getting the jugs out makes for an exciting
pre-dinner show for guests!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-67858799384302131232013-03-05T21:51:00.000+10:002013-03-09T21:51:26.194+10:00Bmag Tues 5th March 2013 - Entertainment outside Brisbane, Goodbye yesterdaysAt the end of last year, I promised Ipswich
Mayor Paul Pisasale I would see at least
one show at the Ipswich Civic Centre this
year. I’d been once before, to address a Rotary
district conference, but never experienced a
performance. I can now report that, as of last
week, I’ve ticked off that particular new year
resolution, having taken my son ‘Mr 12’ to see
comedian and ventriloquist David Strassman.
A couple of observations about the Ipswich
Civic Centre experience.<br />
<br />
Firstly, the motorway
from Brisbane was virtually empty on a Saturday
night. Unrecognisably so. Secondly, parking
near the Civic Centre was a doddle and cost
nothing. Thirdly, they allowed drinks in the
auditorium – very civilised!
The only criticism I’d make is that the stalls
seating is flat on the ground and could do with
being slightly sloped to improve the view from
the back. But that’s a minor quibble.<br />
<br />
So now I’m going to ask you the question Paul
Pisasale put to me. Have you ever seen a show in
Ipswich? What about Cleveland? Or Logan?
As wonderful as Brisbane’s cultural venues
are – QPAC, the Roundhouse, the Bille Brown
Studio, the Judith Wright Centre, the Powerhouse
– it really is worth keeping an eye on other (often
council-run) venues across the south east.
Within a stone’s throw of Brisbane are
the Redland Performing Arts Centre, Logan
Entertainment Centre, Redcliffe Cultural Centre
and Ipswich Civic Centre.
Bands, comedians and plays regularly
include these theatres in their tours. In fact,
David Strassman only played Ipswich and the
Gold Coast this time around. There were no
Brisbane dates.<br />
<br />
And here’s a tip. If you spot a show going
from venue to venue, compare ticket prices.
Next month, British comedian Ross Noble is
$59 at Boondall but $14 cheaper at the Logan
Entertainment Centre. Guess where the
Howsons will be seeing him.
In May,
The Book Club
starring Amanda
Muggleton is $40 at the QUT Gardens Theatre
but only $26 at the Logan Entertainment Centre
the following night!<br />
<br />
What happened to yesterday?<br />
<br />
There are many 50th anniversaries this year,
from the Beatles debut album
Please Please
Me
to the first episode of
Doctor Who
, the
Great Train Robbery and the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy. Iron Man
first appeared in Marvel comics, Coca-Cola
introduced its first diet drink (anyone remember
TaB?), we were introduced to touch-button
phones and Martin Luther King declared “I have
a dream!” And in Italy, Sophia Loren starred in
an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning
film
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
.<br />
<br />
Of all those events, it’s the Sophia Loren
film that has my oft-tangential mind in a spin!
Have you noticed the way the media has started
veering away from those three words? Not
always, but increasingly.
A Friday news report will say something
happened “on Thursday” instead of “yesterday”.
I first spotted this some years ago on CNN
and BBC World News. Their presenters can be
anywhere from London to Doha, Hong Kong to
Washington. Their viewers are spread across the
world where it might already be tomorrow, or
can still be yesterday. It’s understandable, then,
that they might use days of the week in place of
yesterday, today and tomorrow.<br />
<br />
But it’s creeping in here. Fairfax newspapers,
including brisbanetimes.com.au, seem
especially keen on the practice. Brisbane
Times managing editor Simon Holt confirms
my observation:<br />
<br />
“Primarily, it’s to eliminate
confusion. While most sites do carry a dateline
on the story, it’s not as evident as it once was
when we picked up a newspaper. The other reason is that newsrooms are
preparing content for multiple platforms. If
[an online story appears in] the newspaper the
following day, it requires all references to be
changed to ‘yesterday’. While this might not seem like extreme
double handling, you can see a need to
streamline the process.”<br />
<br />
It’s not just the media. Have a look at warnings
on the Bureau of Meteorology website sometime.
And already I’m hearing it in conversations.
Sure, words come and go, and we can’t get
too hung up on our constantly evolving English
language. But what would a remake of Sophia
Loren’s 1963 film now be called? “Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday”? It’s not quite the
same.Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-18326705630720255782013-02-19T12:01:00.000+10:002013-03-03T12:01:40.374+10:00Bmag Feb 19th 2013 - Cucumber theory of lifeIt’s not unusual for people to stick
affirmation statements on their bathroom
mirror or fridge door, to encourage
excellence in everyday living. One of the most
common is: “Aim for the stars and even if
you fail, you’ll land on the moon”. There are
variations, such as “...wherever you land, it will
be new and exciting”.
I have my own saying, which I’m pretty sure
you won’t have heard before. I tell myself: “A
slice of cucumber on every sandwich”!
Let me explain.<br />
<br />
Some 30-odd years ago, I was
watching a television show about train travel.
They interviewed a bloke whose job was to put
cucumber slices on pre-prepared sandwiches.
Every few seconds, the conveyor-belt would
deliver an open sandwich to him. He would
use his tongs to add one slice of cucumber,
before the sandwich went on to have the next
ingredient added.
This fellow, whose job might seem the most
menial and repetitive, empowered himself with
the knowledge that his input was absolutely
critical. And you know what? He was right. If
he missed just one sandwich, the person who
eventually paid for it would sit down, take a big
bite and be disappointed that their sandwich
didn’t have any cucumber on it!<br />
<br />
Whatever it is that you do over and over
again, think of it as a slice of cucumber going on
a sandwich. You can put in a poor performance
once and shrug it off. Or you can consider
the importance of the cucumber to that one
customer who won’t see all the other sandwiches
but will sure-as-heck remember theirs!<br />
<br />
For me, this is how I approach radio. I
never know when you’re going to switch on in
the morning. It’s no good me having four great
interviews or segments before you wake up, if
the first one you hear is a dud. Every minute
of that breakfast show is a sandwich and every
minute gets its cucumber!<br />
<br />
Of course, you can apply this philosophy
to anything and everything. Just recently, the
Howsons were on the receiving end of some
spectacular cucumber work. Just to confuse
you, it involves actual fruit and veg, but
thankfully not cucumbers. That would be too
weird.
We have our greens delivered from the
markets. We order online at night and it
arrives the next afternoon. But the downside
of ordering online is you can’t judge the
quality yourself. You can’t squeeze the
avocados!<br />
<br />
Well, this week, there was a note attached
to our delivery which read: “I wasn’t overly
impressed with the beans so I have given you
a few but I will take the cost of the beans off.
Also the cage eggs I had only had six days left,
so I have replaced with free range at no extra
cost. Cheers, Jen.”<br />
<br />
How good’s that? None of her other
customers knows about that note but we do
and I can tell you we were impressed. Jen
could easily have let through those dud beans
and almost-expired eggs, like a sandwich
without its slice of cucumber.
Maybe we can also extend the cucumber
theory to the whole of our lives. Perhaps we
should strive to ensure every day has its slice
of cucumber.<br />
<br />
Not that I want you to see me as
some sort of spiritual motivator, but...<br />
<br />
My last column for 2012 (
bmag,
18 December)
was about me settling disagreements with
listeners and readers over coffee rather than
via email or social media. The feedback from
you was universally positive.<br />
<br />
Grant Vandersee
was one of the first to
respond: “Excellent column. Really great
advice. Shame there isn’t more of this
going on.”<br />
<br />
Sylvia Jeffreys
described it as “a great
lesson from Spencer Howson”, whilst
Jillian
Whiting
tweeted: “You are a gem, Spencer.
Take notes kids!” Donna Weeks
agrees with the benefits of
working things out face-to-face: “At work I’m
making an effort to speak with people rather
than try to thrash it out via email.”
And
Stacey Rawlings
says it’s “very hard to
beat the personal connection on any issue”.<br />
<br />
Throughout 2013, I’d love to include your
comments in this column. For instance, what
do you think of the cucumber theory? You
can always email me at the address below
tweet me @SpencerHowson or message me on
Facebook. You never know – we might end up
discussing it over coffee!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-57786980890780417332012-12-21T15:54:00.000+10:002012-12-21T15:54:01.917+10:00Bmag Dec 18th 2012 - Let's talk!The greatest lesson I have learned in
2012, and one which I now hope to
pass on to anyone who will listen, is
the importance of talking things out. Radio
station 4BC had a great line in its recent TV
advertising campaign: “Talk is cheap but it
can free your mind. It can start a war. Talk can
end a war”.
It’s so true.
I want to tell you a story that goes back to
a bmag column in July. The story ends a week
ago, with me and a bloke called Brian having
a good old laugh in the coffee shop which is
situated directly underneath my radio studio
at South Bank.<br />
<br />
On 10 July, I suggested a possible
compromise and way forward on the issue
of same-sex marriage. I wrote: “We need two
different types of marriage, to be known as
a Church Marriage and a Civil Marriage. A
Church Marriage would remain between a
man and a woman – unless religious leaders
one day decided otherwise. A Civil Marriage
would include same-sex couples.”
That column generated more feedback
than any other I have written, but one email
stood out. Among those disagreeing with me
was Tony Salacich who wrote: “I’d like to meet
and talk for an hour about the issue.” He went
on to say: “My attempts at writing to [writers
of ] other newspaper articles were either
poorly received or misunderstood.”
And so I agreed. It was the first time I’d
ever sat down with a stranger (albeit a bmag
reader who felt he knew me) to discuss a
difference of opinions.<br />
<br />
And it was great. We
talked for just over an hour and I came to
understand why Tony, a former high school
chaplain, was so protective of the institution
of marriage.
I’m not going to elaborate here because
it involves other people in Tony’s life, but
it’s fair to say we both walked away with a
greater appreciation of each others’ views.<br />
<br />
So
inspired was I by Tony’s enthusiasm for sitting
down over a cup of coffee that I then invited
another bmag reader, who had also disagreed
with my same-sex marriage compromise, to
do the same.
I guess she thought I was being
provocative, for she replied: “Thank you
Spencer but I think I’ll give it a miss. I’m just
hoping that some of what you write is just a
job to you and you yourself are a moral and
courageous man.”<br />
<br />
Fast-forward to earlier this month and a
Twitter user by the name of @GuruatLarge
decided to let fly at me one night, saying
(among other things): “You ruined my radio
station with your knob (sic) ego.”
Again I channelled bmag reader Tony
Salacich with my response: “Come and have a
coffee and we can chat about this.”
Well blow me down if he didn’t say yes!
So just last week, @GuruatLarge (real name
Brian King) and I spent a good 45 minutes
thrashing out our differences!
Except, it wasn’t really like that.<br />
<br />
We
probably spent 10 minutes discussing Brian’s
concerns – worthwhile reminders for me
about what listeners want and need from a
radio station – and then we just connected as
blokes and shot the breeze.
Turns out Brian’s a musician whose band
has been trialling an unusual new recording
technique – he’s going to send me one of his
songs to play on 612 ABC Breakfast – and we
both have a fascination with a phone app that
lets you identify aircraft.
We finished with Brian taking a “selfy”
photo of the two of us, which he later tweeted
with the message: “Had a great time talking
radio with @SpencerHowson this morning.
Great bloke to talk to.”<br />
<br />
What Tony and Brian both taught me is
that we should take the time to talk – and,
more importantly, listen. How many times
have you complained about something and
felt your concerns weren’t even heard?
So if, like me, you’re in a position that
involves customer contact and the odd
complaint, see if you can’t take a moment to
understand where they’re coming from. Often
that’s all any of us want – to be heard.
And so we come to the end of my second
year writing for bmag. Thank you for reading
and engaging. It’s a real thrill for me to have
this exchange of ideas every fortnight. Keep
the emails coming. May I wish you and
yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy
Chanukah.Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7194361751969878324.post-11719661454173339032012-12-04T15:58:00.000+10:002012-12-21T15:58:35.672+10:00Bmag Dec 4th 2012 - Christmas musicWarning: the following column may
contain traces of Wham! To mark
my 20th Christmas on ABC Radio,
I’m going to share with you the four key
lessons I’ve learned about broadcasting at this
time of year. You won’t agree with all four. You
may not agree with any of them. But in order
to avoid vigorously hand-written letters from
well-meaning arguably-traditional listeners, I
do my best to comply with the following:<br />
<br />
Firstly, don’t talk about Christmas until
December. That is, unless you’re joining the
chorus of disapproval about the shops putting
out their decorations too early. (What I love
about the annual “it’s not Christmas yet”
Talkback-101 are the people who get riled in
October or November because they’ve just
noticed the trees and baubles for sale at their
local department store. Try August!)<br />
<br />
Secondly, never shorten Christmas to
Xmas. Not that this is a problem when you’re
speaking on the radio, but as soon as you write
Xmas on social media, in a Christmas card, on
the net or in an email, expect to be criticised.
(Similarly, try never to write or say the
word “kids” – “Dear Mr Howson, a kid is a
baby goat.”)<br />
<br />
Thirdly, Christmas is Christmas. Christmas
is not “the holiday season”. I know that if I start
wishing my radio guests and listeners “happy
holidays”, I can expect letters. Throwing in
the odd “and Happy Chanukah” seems to go
down well – no complaints so far – just as
“Happy Eid” at the end of Ramadan never
attracts listener complaints. So just say what it
is (Christmas, Chanukah) instead of trying to
say nothing (Happy Holidays).<br />
<br />
But the number one lesson I’ve learned
from 20 years of Christmas broadcasting on
the ABC, is that a carol can be a song but not
all songs are carols. Rudolf, the Red-Nosed
Reindeer and Jingle Bells are not carols. They
are songs. O Come, All Ye Faithful is a carol.
Fair enough, too, I’m not going to disagree.
For all that, I do love Christmas.<br />
<br />
As one of
my Twitter followers @NikitaBombita said
the other day: “Christmas really is the most
wonderful time of the year. I will forever be
a child a Christmas. A child who drinks beer
at Christmas.” I think that will be my motto
this year!
My Christmas playlist
Apart from the booze and food, and being
with family and friends, and just watching
children’s faces, I also derive much joy from
playing Christmas songs (both on the radio
and at home). So I’ve come up with a list of
my all-time favourites.<br />
<br />
These are the songs I
wait for all year!
Expect to hear the following on 612
Breakfast over the next few weeks: Band Aid
Do They Know It’s Christmas?, The Muppets
It Feels Like Christmas, Michael Crawford
O Holy Night, Chris Rea Driving Home for
Christmas, Louis Armstrong Is That You Santa
Claus?, Tim Minchin Drinking White Wine
in the Sun, The Andy McDonell Contraption
Xmas in Scarborough (his spelling, not mine!)
and Wham Last Christmas! (Hey, at least
there’s no Nickelback in that list!)<br />
<br />
And finally, here’s something you might
not know about Christmas. Brisbane
Riverside Lions Club helps Santa write to
South East Queensland children. Applications
for letters close on 12 December. It costs
just $3, with the money going to research for
juvenile diabetes and children’s cancer. Find
out more at www.riversidelions.asn.au.<br />
<br />
The numbers game<br />
<br />
From the last issue of bmag (20 November),
several readers correctly answered the
homework question. Andrew Kopittke was
the first to point out the signs on Oxley Road
(as you approach the Ipswich Motorway) say
M2 instead of M7. Andrew emailed: “I used
to live just near that sign and saw it lots and
never realised it was wrong!”<br />
<br />
And Katherine May responded to my
pointing out the time/date combination of
8.09 on 10/11/12: “I had to share my awesome
set of numbers. My birthday is 10/09/1981. I
can add up the date of my birthday to get my
age (eg 10+9+12=31). I’ll never have problems
figuring out how old I am!”
Katherine, and others who share this
obsession with number patterns, I hope you
have special plans for 12.12 on 12/12/12 next
week! We won’t see a perfect set of numbers
like that until 1 January 2101!Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01199134764551543735noreply@blogger.com0