Somerset Celebration of Literature: A Wrap Up
Last week, I spent three glorious days, immersed in books, reading, writing, readers and authors at the fabulous Somerset Celebration of Literature on the Gold Coast. I was star-struck, awed by accomplishments and performances, relished long and often very funny conversations in the Green Room, loved meeting authors I knew and loved and many whom I didn’t […]
Does My Kitchen Rule in “Foodie” World?
This is the unedited version of my column that appeared in the Courier Mail, 8th Februrary 2012 (I took the mistake out!). Glancing at the major commercial networks prime-time offerings Monday through to Thursday you could be forgiven for thinking we’re a nation obsessed with food. From 7pm nightly, viewers get to choose between My […]
Belated Happy New Year and look back to 2011
Hi everyone and a belated but no less sincere happy New Year to you. After a tumultuous 2011, I am looking forward to 2012 – to finding the time to write and read. With this in mind, and before I start uploading some reviews for books I have read over the Xmas and New Year […]
Property Porn
This is the unedited version of my column which appears in the Courier Mail, Wednesday, 30 November 2011. There’s a new obsession threatening to takeover our airwaves: Property Porn – and we can’t get enough. Switch on free-to-air or Pay TV and you’ll find countless shows about real estate (not forgetting websites, sections in print […]
Happy Sever After? Snow White and the enduring power of fairytales
This is the unedited version of my column which appears in the Courier Mail, Wednesday 23 November 2011 Capitalising on the publicity generated by the second last film in the Twilight saga, Breaking Yawn, I mean, Breaking Dawn: Part One, the trailer for Kristen Stewart’s forthcoming film, Snow White and the Huntsman, has been released. […]
Loss, Grief and the Healing Power of Words
I have been absent a while, haven’t I? For that I’m so sorry and please, I ask that you read and accept this blog as a rather poor attempt to both apologise and explain why before I beg your forgiveness and let you know that I’m back and invite you to return as well… The […]
Shop till we stop: Online versus bricks and mortar shopping
This is my column that appeared in the Courier Mail, Wednesday 10th August 2011. According to media and other reports, consumers’ shopping preferences are slowly shifting from bricks and mortar to online retailers. As Johnny Lee noted in last Wednesday’s Courier Mail, businesses are bemoaning the loss of custom and are quick to blame the […]
Should social media netiquette be taught in schools?
This is my column that appeared in the Courier Mail on Wednesday, 20 July 2011: An “urgent” proposal by parents and cyberbullying experts to have social media such as FaceBook and Twitter taught in the classroom is attracting mixed reactions. Director of social media intelligence firm, SR7, Thomas Tudehope believes a social media “module” should […]
When safe parenting is really dangerous
This is the unedited version of the column that appears in the COurier Mail, 1 June 2011: You know parenting and society have reached a critical point when an early childhood education specialist claims that children’s playgrounds, the last bastion of kiddy fun, are ‘too safe’. At an Early Childhood Conference in Melbourne this week, […]
Oprah – the secular messiah
This is the unedited version of my column that appears in the Viewpoint section of the Courier Mail, 25 May 2011. While the Rapture may not have occurred, this week does mark the end of an era – the Oprah one. The first of three final shows screens tonight, bringing to a close 25 remarkable […]