There may be nary a newsagent, supermarket or chemist anywhere in Newstead but if your prepared to give up those practical affectations, there’s a whole plantation of coffee sellers in the area.  As a boost to my fitness, my enthusiasm for a decent coffee, secret fandom of Grandmaster Flash and a test of my blogging… Read more

There may not be a newsagent, supermarket or chemist anywhere near Newstead but if your prepared to give up those practical affectations, there’s a whole plantation of coffee sellers in the area.  As a boost to my fitness, my enthusiasm for a decent coffee, secret fandom of Grandmaster Flash and a test of my blogging… Read more

***** THIS VENUE IS NOW CLOSED ***** There may be nary a newsagent, supermarket or chemist anywhere in Newstead but if your prepared to give up those practical affectations, there’s a whole plantation of coffee sellers in the area.  As a boost to my fitness, my enthusiasm for a decent coffee, secret fandom of Grandmaster… Read more

My final instalment (for a while) of Dispatches from Sydney is also the post that many have been waiting for.  I must apologise up front for the photos.  In all the excitement I forgot my camera and had to rely on my phone.Jill & Terry’s tableThe first thing I noticed when I walked into Oscillate… Read more

In Pedro Almodovar’s 1988 black comedy ‘Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown‘, the plot revolves around Pepa and her fraught relationship with Ivan and his extended family. Pepa’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown!  Swallowing sleeping pills hand over fist as she tries to work out how to deal with Ivan, she… Read more

A break in transmission from the ‘Dispatches from Sydney’….. In September 2011, my brother Edward was diagnosed with Leukaemia.  As I write this, he has been in hospital for over 6 months.  He is awaiting a bone marrow transplant at the end of this March that is likely to occur on his 23rd birthday.  Meanwhile… Read more