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My Favourite Place: The Queen Victoria Building

March 14, 2013 in Family, Relationships, Travel

Studying the changing landscape of Sydney in year nine geography, we were shown two photographs of the buildings along York Street taken from the same angle but separated by a century in time. The views were unrecognisable. The teacher noted there was one building that stood in both photographs and asked us to name it. I put up my hand, “The Queen Victoria Building.” I knew it well. I was introduced to the Queen Victoria Building by the special Sunday shopping trips into ‘town’. Grandma would pick us up in her ruby red Celica, my sister and I would play [...]

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Would You Pay for a Cuddle?

September 19, 2012 in Current Affairs, Friendship, Health, Mental Health, News, People, Relationships, Self, Sex, Society

Just when you thought you’ve heard of everything along comes the new craze to hit the US… the rise of the “cuddle party“. No, I’m not even kidding. What exactly happens at these parties? Firstly, get your mind out of the gutter please and lucky I’m here to enlighten you. Cuddle parties are strictly non-sexual gatherings in which guests hug, touch and massage one another. Huh? Yep, that’s what I thought until I read further and came to the realisation that in life what most of us are lacking is intimacy. I’m not talking about sex, or even trying to [...]

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Sydney Riots: Multiculturalism an Excuse For Angry Young Men

September 17, 2012 in Current Affairs, Politics, Religion, Society

This past weekend a protest about an anti-Muslim video posted on YouTube, Innocence of Muslims,  escalated into a riot in the middle of the Sydney CBD. This isn’t the first time young men have rioted in Sydney. On Sunday the 11th of December 2005, a a passionate, but peaceful protest by some Cronulla residents against a recent spate of violence against local residents turned ugly when a smaller group of people, mostly young men, decided to chase a man of middle-eastern appearance off the beach and into a local pub. This was the start of the notorious “Cronulla Riots”. If you read or watched the media coverage [...]

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My Olympics (or The Loudest Noise I’ve Ever Heard)

July 27, 2012 in Anecdotes, Current Affairs, Sport

So the London Olympic games are almost here. The arrival of each new Olympic Games brings back a lot of memories for me, both of attending the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, but also working for three years for the Olympic Security Command Centre (OSCC).  It was the most interesting, most rewarding and most stressful job I have ever had. Interesting because of all the things I learnt and saw and experienced, rewarding because of the team I worked with and all the things I accomplished, and stressful because of that one unmoving deadline that we all had to meet. So, what is it [...]

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A Tribute to Don Ritchie – A True Australian Hero

May 15, 2012 in Current Affairs, Health, Mental Health, People, Self, Society

Yesterday Australia mourned the loss of Don Ritchie, a true Australian hero. In today’s guest post, Becks Mollica remembers him: I was in my late teens the first time I ever went to the gap. I was at the end of the line, and had nowhere else to turn. I felt like I was alone in the world and life as I knew it was caving in around me. I had been at university for half the day, and after a session with my university counsellor, I left in an absolute mess. To this day, I don’t remember how I [...]

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Why do I have to ask permission to cross a road?

March 29, 2012 in Anecdotes, Humour

Don’t you hate it when you’re waiting to cross at a set of lights and nobody has pressed the button and the “Don’t Walk” sign doesn’t change when the lights go green.  You then look at the person standing next to button…you know, the one who hadn’t thought to press it. They look back at you in the same way as your dog looks at you when you hide the tennis ball in your back pocket – “…duh, where did the ball go?…duh….” – the lights haven’t changed, moron, because YOU DIDN’T PRESS THE BUTTON! I don’t know what’s worse. [...]

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Does Sydney Still Need Mardi Gras?

March 2, 2012 in Current Affairs, Human Rights, News, Self, Sexuality, Society

I was born in the mid-60s, grew up in the 70s and became an adult in the early 80s. Like a lot of people my age, I grew up feeling uncomfortable about homosexuals. I didn’t hate them, but I’m not proud to admit that I thought they were weird. “You’re a poof!” was a common term of abuse in the playground. Homosexual men on TV and in films were ridiculed for comic effect. Lesbians didn’t exist. Then in 1984 Cold Chisel released a song called “Saturday Night”. The film clip used scenes from the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in [...]

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