Darlinghurst Dinner

It started with a cough on Tuesday. A persistent cough. I was in a series of quite important meetings, and apologised profusely to my colleagues about my cough. Later in the afternoon, I wandered home. And almost as soon as I arrived home I had a “Hillary Moment”, as I’ve since joked about. Within minutes […]

Taylor Square Newsagency Closes

My earliest memory of the Sydney’s Taylor Square Newsagency was when they had a “footpath sub-branch” outside The Oxford Hotel. As a young man from the country, I was somewhat overwhelmed by the large collection of international newspapers and “adult magazines” they sold. And yes, in my younger years, I may have bought some of […]

Onde

As soon as my friend recommended dinner at Onde, my mouth started watering for one of their signature dishes, calves liver. While many would hate the thought of such a dish, I really love the taste and texture. I grew up eating a lot of offal: steak and kidney was a stable when I was […]

Second Hand Store

“Oh my goodness, that looks just like something I made in wordwork class thirty-something years ago” was my first reaction when I saw the shell-covered jewellery box in the second hand shop on Oxford Street late yesterday. On closer inspection, I noticed this one displayed a greater level of professionalism (you might say) than might […]

Night On The Town

After a week or so in bed, or sitting on the couch, and where my only excitement has been going to hospital and getting my bandages done, it was time to re-connect with the real world. For a bunch of reasons, a good friend and I haven’t seen each other this year. A couple of […]

Darlinghurst History Walk

I spent the early part of the day teaching at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. As part of the lecture I gave, I repeated the mantra, “there are no boring stories, only boring story-tellers” which I’ve heard many times from radio consultant, Valerie Geller. She’s absolutely right. Just about any story can be […]

Walk On The Wild Side

I spent most of the afternoon on a walking tour called, “Slurry Hills and Razorhurst”, presented by Mark Dunn President of the History Council and organised by 702 ABC Sydney. Although I’ve been on a number of local history walks before, this was probably the most interesting and illuminating one I’ve ever been on. The […]

Living History

You know you’re starting to get old when you begin to hear yourself say things like, “Oh yes, I remember when that happened” and… “Oh that used to be so-and-so the dry-cleaner, before they tore it down to make way for the high-rise”. I found myself both thinking and saying similar things today during a […]

Mardi Gras History Walk

I went on the Mardi Gras History Walk today, organised annually by the Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence. This year’s walk focussed on the historical association of gays and lesbians with Darlinghurst and Kings Cross, dating back to the establishment of boarding houses and apartments in the area the 1920s. For those who could afford it, […]