When I was a boy, I used to love to go fishing. Most of the time, I went fishing with my late Grandfather, when, after spending the night...

Haggling over price is generally a strange experience for an Australian. We don't tend to haggle. True, if one happened to be buying a...

Once, when on holiday in Thailand, my wife and I ate dinner in a little village called Ao Nang, which is about half an hour's taxi ride...

Possibly the most vexing "issue" in Australian politics is one that has become so convoluted and distorted that I'm struggling to even...

When I was a boy, I loved cricket with a passion. To this day, my recall of inane cricketing trivia is embarrassingly extensive. I mean...

I detest smoking. I try not to detest smokers, but I don't try that hard. Part of the reason for this, I think, is that I was once a...

On route to dinner with some mates last night, I noticed a new advertisement for a "toasted sandwich" that was being promoted by a...

The United States just can't seem to get past the pain of September 11, 2001. I'm not surprised, but I fervently wish that for their...

Leonard Cohen: Concert Review. I’ve seen some very fine concerts in my time. In fact, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have seen some...

There are films, books or songs that societies hurl into the limelight from time to time. Some, like "Mambo Number Five", are novelty...

It seems that fast food has been on the receiving end of some unwanted attention of late; at least, it's unwanted from the point of view...

When I first started watching cricket as a boy, Australia were terrible. It was around 1986, and the Ashes were played in Australia....

I received some lovely gifts for Christmas. I'd tell you about them, but I'm wary of implicitly creating the appearance that I favour the...

The Queensland Floods My wife and I went to the movies on the weekend. We opted for some fairly mindless entertainment, settling on the...

I've just been reading about (and watching excerpts of) Ricky Gervais' performance as host of the 2011 Golden Globes. I have to say, it...

Whilst driving today, I noticed a sticker on the back a ute which simply read, "Extreme Motorbikes". Even now, I'm wondering what it...

For all of their accessibility and popular success, Tame Impala are really quite an odd band. For a start, they only exist (as a band) in...

Sometimes, less is more. J. William Parker might not have coined that phrase, but he sure does understand it. There is an otherworldly...

I'm not a monarchist by any stretch of the imagination, but I've long admired King George VI, the man who never wanted to be King. And...

I don't know if you've noticed, but when the worlds of swimming and running are held to mutual account, there are some disturbing...