Two years ago I sat on a long-haul flight back from the UK after seeing my Dad for the last time before he passed away.
I was already slightly emotional but also relieved. As I tucked into a red wine on the Abu-Dhabi to Sydney leg, I impatiently flicked through the movie library, as I usually did, frustrated there were few decent documentaries to watch.
God knows how I “fell in to recruitment”. For an introvert that went bright red and barely squeaked when meeting people I somehow accepted a job (career?) that demanded exactly that; an awful lot of squeaking.
Well, to be truthful, I do know why; I had zero confidence, was desperately unhappy and I told myself I was not good enough to be a writer. It does not make sense at all, I know. On the upside the office was near my home and I had a knack of being a “nice guy” and that got me the job.
Source: http://www.pricenomics.com
Hearts were broken, dreams were dashed and around the world boomerang shaped-tears dripped into pots of Fosters beer when Australia bowed out of the World Cup.
Of course I am talking about the 2015 World Medical Football Federation Championships (also known as the Morell Cup after Spanish Doctor and Founder, Ferran Morell). And obviously I am talking about the infamous Docceroos. As the Matilda’s arguably enjoyed a higher billing in Canada, Australia’s Medics played in front of a slightly lesser crowd (give or take 50,000 people).
Source: http://www.sbs.com.au – originally supplied by the Docceroos
History is one of my passions. I’m fascinated by history. But not the regular, default history that 99% of the world accept and are force-fed at school and by the media. That history has been written by the victors and glamourises war, suffering and frankly, false historical heroes, monarchy and the like.
Only as recently as 18 months ago and hitting the big three-zero did I start to take my health seriously.
Ironically despite working in the health industry for the past 6 years I was particularly good at telling others what they should do but put up the classic male bravado when it came to health; refusing to go the doctor until I could not get out of bed and telling myself “it will go away”.
Source: RACGP / Youtube – Originally appearing at http://www.crikey.com.au here
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New York. The physical differences to Sydney are clear. It’s harsh. Solid. Cold. Unforgiving. No city has had more written about it. You can churn out a million adjectives. It oozes frantic energy. In a contrary universe I find calm in the chaos. It’s exactly that atmosphere that inspires. Sydney’s kick-back vibe helps soothe my 24/7 mind. New York’s noise and activity has the same effect. With a twist. It ignites the internal ideas factory. For writing and for business. It causes frantic and spontaneous note taking on my iPhone. In a taxi. A restaurant. Walking in Central Park. On the Subway. New York author, screenwriter and playwright Delia Ephron recalls some perfectly apt wisdom from her mother: “All life is copy….take notes”. This copy comes from the sometimes outrageous, raw and real food, drink, people, places and entertainment that are the mechanics of the machine. I have written about these topics in a series of blogs that can be viewed here. But I saved my favourite till last – PONY or the People Of New York. Continue reading
From the moment I turned on the TV in our apartment I felt the wave of familiarity return. The box blares with news about politics, cops killing people, the Playoffs of Ice Hockey and Basketball and as has happened every year we have been, a notorious murder trial; this time the gripping Etan Patz murder case.
Back in Sydney I had not watched TV for 9 months, partly due to work and partly due to the fact I had enough of the toxic crap it fed out. But here I allow myself to indulge in some mindless escape from reality. With a day job in health my interest is peaked and my dark sense of humour treated to the medical and drug commercials.
Following on from my 2014 blog Eat New York: Top Tips, below is a list of establishments we visited this time around in 2015 (weblinks & addresses provided).
Once again I thank my incredibly organised and astute wife Carolina that never fails to choose a bad option based on her hours of food blog research and gaining recommendations.
Below is a brief list of places to visit once you have become a regular. They are a good starting point and I can personally vouch for them.
There are thousands more curious sights that are rarely publicised to the masses but if you Google “curious sights New York” or “alternative New York sights” or similar you will find a treasure trove of options.
Having just returned from New York this is the second of an explosion of short and longer blogs on Places, Food, Entertainment and People of the city. It is probably one of my more pedestrian blogs but an essential one nonetheless.
Below is a list of places that I suggest you should cover off seeing on your first or second visit, time dependent of course.
As much as our New York trips are fairly indulgent, for some time I wanted to try some volunteering. Mental health is a very personal passion of mine and the link with the most basic provisions in life and homelessness is fairly strong.
I heard or read some time ago from an innocuous quote based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that humans only really need Shelter, Sustenance (food & water) and Love (or Sex, depending on how primal you believe we are).
Everything else above this is a bonus and are just “things” we covet that provide no long-term emotional benefit.
I thankfully get to go home every night to a warm, welcoming home with food and an extended family that would have us there with them no matter what.
Now before I start my scribble I want to kill off any suggestions or mischievous claims that this is in any way intended to be derogatory. It’s a shame I have to say that but I need to be crystal clear.
Sydney taxi drivers. These three words are enough to provoke a barrage of almost spasmodic reactions from us humble consumers.
Source: http://www.magengwo.cn
It should have been like any other Thursday in Sydney. You know Friday is coming, autumn is in full swing but the weather is still decent. Despite an unhealthy dose of man-flu, I’m fighting, or at least pretending, to be as fit as I could be.
A good friend of mine and former work colleague had invited me for a bite and a beer with him and a Doctor he has known professionally and personally. I should have crawled into bed but I had a feeling I could not miss this.
Once again, and for two weeks running this time, my Thursday was my Friday as I prepared to set off for Leura in the Blue Mountains for the weekend.
My declaration was met with playful replies at work such as, “Do you even work Fridays?” and, “ANOTHER holiday?” I cheekily replied it’s just clever to ration out holidays over the year.
I have been a paying visitor on the Sydney Q Station Ghost Tour at North Head three times; yes, I am a self-confessed history geek and as each year passes, it deepens. The same tour on three occasions, but each time a different guide gives an alternate atmosphere and reveals more about its curious past. It was only on my final tour late in 2014 with family from the UK that prompted this scribble.
I guarantee my 19 year-old sister would look at me open-mouthed, frowning if I asked her if she knew what a fax machine was. The long form facsimile according to Wikipedia is, “…from the Latin fac simile or “make alike” and is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible.” Of course in this tech-savvy age we are all digital creatures. In our personal and business lives we live, breathe and consume instant, digital and paperless communication. Even in Australia where the majority of the world’s perceptions are still based on Crocodile Dundee and of course The Simpsons episode when the family travels Down Under, we (naturalized) are surely some of the most advanced people on earth.
Just a few hours after landing from the monster Sydney to London flight I’m sitting on my Nan’s sofa enjoying a cup of tea. Having gone straight from the airport to the Business Design Centre dragging a tonne of conference gear for the next day’s British Medical Journal Fair, I’m physically spent. But the mental journey was just as intense.
The blog article below is one of the more light-hearted chapters written early this year from my as yet unpublished book – with the current climate and “terrorism” the talk of the town I thought it might be semi-relevant to post…
The War On Terror Terry
