WHEN WORLD'S COLLIDE

My husband Alan went to a posh English boarding school Stowe in Buckinghamshire. I went to a state school on the rural/urban fringe of Sydney.

Stowe school was the Duke of Buckingham's country residence and he built a similar looking residence in London, you probably know it as Buckingham Palace. Stowe's 250 acres of landscaped gardens were designed by 'Capability' Brown and are now maintained by UK's National Trust.

Stowe has produced some of our global leaders from Richard Branson through to the latest Superman, Henry Cavill, an array of notable people. Alan's friends, Rupert, Charles, Roddy, Jerry, George (we call him Nick), too are some of our captains of industry and are gentlemen
After living for ten years in London, we moved back to Sydney via Hong Kong. My first son, Jasper, was only 6 months old. After a few months, I got a call from my old school chum, Sharon. She invited us to her 4 year old son Rick's birthday party. I thought it wa...

15 – 29 January 2015



Melbourne International Jazz Festival are presenting their 2015 Summer Sessions which brings world-class jazz to Bennetts Lane Jazz Club in January 2015.



Over six nights, Bennetts Lane Jazz Club will play host to a series of intimate gigs including Belgian piano virtuoso Jef Neve, a celebration of John Coltrane's seminal album 'A Love Supreme' and a showcase of some of this country's finest jazz pianists in the Yamaha Piano Series.



The Yamaha Piano Series celebrates Australia’s world class pianists, their compositions, their bands and their contribution to the art form. The first set of the evening explores the intimate creative relationship between the pianist and their instrument through solo performance. The second set features their band and explores the development of their musical ideas through ensemble performance.



Enjoy balmy evenings...

Right now it's a sad and sorry time if you're a fan of radio. The ABC's had its feathers trimmed, if not not completely shorn off. Commercial radio's dominated by a mix of boofy fuckwitted brekky, afternoon and drive crews dismally failing at being funny, or opinionated overpaid senior citizens who are happy to embrace the paid for views of their biggest sponsors, and make them their own. Sad thing is that the number of people who listen to this crap means they stay on air. Further proof that good taste, and intelligence, are often mutually exclusive. Call me an elitist if you want, but I spent years reporting on the opinions and views of the fuckwits who dominate public life in Australia and elsewhere, without losing the ability to make up my own mind about something. I'm happy to take onboard what they say, and I've certainly been influenced by them, but I've never felt the need to embrace them without thinking about it, or putting my own spin on it. Anyway, where wa...

["Evolve" - to develop gradually (Oxford Dictionary)]

Some folk look toward "revolution" as a means to bring about lasting change, but those who look more closely recognise that with revolution change is very dramatic and often irreversible. However evolution is about gradual and decentralized participative decision making, adhering to higher principles of living lead to a firm commitment to ethics, values and a decision to be more representative not only to those around you, but also to the larger world.

So it is that in the hills of Belgrave, which nestles within the beautiful Dandenong ranges about 45 kilometers as the "crow" flies, a quite Evolution has taken place. Within the small township of Belgrave and indeed, in and around all the townships within the beautiful and majestic forests of the Dandenong Ranges, restaurants, coffee houses, and a myriad of eating places vie for the visitors attention. Some offer excellent service, some offer the additio...

This year's Black Pearl Studios Christmas party exploded with some of Melbourne’s much loved musicians / singers / songwriters and industry folk.

I was lucky to enjoy and share this impromptu performance of Crossroads by one of Melbourne’s rock ‘n’ roll royalty Jimmy Cupples; who was blown away by this amazing studios majestic digs and live performance sound scape, likening it to the calibre and magic created by Abby Road Studio.









footage: Kerrie Pacholli @ pationpics.com
images: Daniel Badelita @ DB Photography...

First Contact


Lt John Oxley

History records first contact with Aboriginal people, was not only by explorers, but also by escaped convicts, sealers, settlers, and shipwrecked castaways. In 1823 at Moreton Bay, castaways John Finnegan, Richard Parsons and Thomas Pamphlet were inadvertently rescued by Lt John Oxley, who sailed north from Port Jackson, in an attempt to further map in detail the northern part of the continent.

Oxley in all his wisdom claimed discovery of the Brisbane river, but like all explorers, failed to mention the men who took them to the place of their discovery.

Oxley's recorded in his journals that, regions which were inhabited by Aboriginal people, were places where plenty of water, food resources and good grazing country. This in essence was the catapult for the beginning of settlement of Aboriginal land in the north.


Pumicestone Passage The first recorded death of an Aboriginal person, who...

Past Vinyl & CD album Reviews - Numbers 101 onward:

Number 101 - Bo Diddley: Bo Diddley's Beach Party
tooraktimes.com.au/content.php/4293-Cream-of-The-Crate-Album-101-Bo-Diddley-Bo-Diddley-s-Beach-Party

Number 102 - Les Paul & Mary Ford: The World Is Still Waiting For A Sunrise
tooraktimes.com.au/content.php/4312-Cream-of-The-Crate-Album-102-Les-Paul-Mary-Ford-The-World-Is-Still-Waiting-For-The-Sunrise

Number 103 - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica
tooraktimes.com.au/content.php/4325-Cream-of-The-Crate-Album-103-Captain-Beefheart-Trout-Mask-Replica

Number 104 - Ariel Ramirez & Los Fronterizos: Misa Criolla
tooraktimes.com.au/content.php/4338-Cream-of-The-Crate-Album-104-Los-Fronterizos-Misa-Criolla

Number 105 - Bobby Bright: Child Of Rock And Roll
tooraktimes.com.au/content.php/4353-Cream-of-The-Crate-Album-105-Bobby-Bright-Child-Of-Rock-And-Roll Number 106 - The N...

Although population ageing is overwhelmingly a good thing, representing a healthier population overall and a longer more productive lifespan for most, it also means an increase in elder abuse.

There is little public awareness of the extent and nature of elder abuse. Consequently, it is rarely recognised even by those who may be perpetuating or on the receiving end of it.

My name’s Gwen. I’m 76 years old. About six months ago my boy Craig got mixed up in gambling and that drug ‘ice’. He got kicked out of the place he was living in because he couldn’t pay the rent. I agreed to him moving in with me because I love him and wanted to help him out.
It was okay at first. But then he got aggressive towards me. He punched the wall near where I was sitting in the kitchen and left a big hole in it. He started taking my pension money. He says he’ll hurt my little dog, Charlie, if I tell anyone. I’m afraid in my home now. But I don’t want to tell the police; what kind of

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Closed circuit street cameras have been sold to the community as a way of making us safer, reducing crime and discouraging anti-social behaviour.

But research into the Federal Government’s $50 million Safer Streets program shows its main effect has been unchecked proliferation of highly profitable commercial arrangements between governments and private firms, amid little evidence that it improves public safety.

The Tony Abbott-led government announced Safer Streets in 2014 to assist local councils finance the establishment of street camera systems, with a second round of funding unveiled last December.

Across Australia, 85 local councils received Safer Streets funding in the first round. Promoting the scheme during the Liberal Party’s 2013 election campaign, Bronwyn Bishop said the cameras would be a deterrent because people “know they are going to be caught”.

In 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and then-Justice Minister Michael Keenan...

Focusing on price instead of drug information could put patients at risk

Every day, more discount pharmacy stores and chains are opening and assaulting health-care consumers with the “we are cheaper” message. But is price the best way to achieve positive health-care outcomes?

Community pharmacists are the only Australian health-care professionals to practise in a retail environment. When a patient “buys” a medication, it is easy to see how they can think they are purchasing a commodity. This perception is further fuelled by the retail and price-promotion focus by many (if not most) pharmacies.

Multiple times each week, I receive a pharmacy sale catalogue in my mailbox. Yes, it has the vitamins and complementary medicines, the perfumes and general retail lines like soaps and so on, but it also contains an array of medicines that are promoted as cheaply priced.
There’s a tension between the three major players in this space: consumers, pharmacy...

Lady Grange Restaurant and Receptions




Lady Grange Restaurant has the best views in St Kilda overlooking Catani Gardens, the beach and St Kilda's boat harbour

Just opened Lady Grange is a big plus for St Kilda's food culture

Wood fired pizza oven and fantastic bar - there are two levels for functions and general casual dining in this bright and vibrant space

1 Fitzroy St., St Kilda Phone (03) 9534 3056 Emailinfo@ladygrange.com.au Websitehttp://www.ladygrange.com.au

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