July 2022 - Photo Time Tunnel

The Palais, as I remember it, in the 1980s. Norm Barney collection.

I owe my life to the Palais Royale

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:July 22, 2022
Post category:- Personal writing History Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Post comments:1 Comment

I owe my life to the Palais Royale. That's because my parents, like those of a substantial number of people of my vintage in Newcastle, NSW, met at that famous former music and dance venue. In my own youth in the 1980s the Palais was, as far as I was concerned, just another venue for loud music, expensive drinks and tense nights of standing in dark, crowded corners forlornly hoping to meet the girl of my dreams while also trying to stay out of the way of aggro drunks. It was different for my parents. In…

Viruses, vaccinations and me

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:July 20, 2022
Post category:- Personal writing Greg Ray's Writing
Post comments:0 Comments

Have you had Covid? I’m not sure if I have. Twice since the end of 2019 I’ve had something that might have been Covid, but I don’t really know. The first time was after Christmas 2019. We were in Sweden and had to return to Australia in a hurry to deal with a family crisis. We caught a long, hard, crowded flight via Hong Kong and were surprised at Hong Kong airport when staff there – kitted out with masks and looking very stern – were pointing long-range thermometers at us as we trooped through the…

Why is war the answer to every question?

Post author:Greg Ray
Post published:July 18, 2022
Post category:- Politics, economics etc Greg Ray's Writing
Post comments:0 Comments

Humanity is confronting a global pandemic, climate change, horrendous inequality in resource allocation, pollution, an energy crisis and a massive wave of species extinction. Every alarm in the building is ringing. The clock says it’s a minute to midnight. Sick and frightened, we look to our governments and our leaders for help and guidance. And their answer is? War. War now, war tomorrow and more war after that. The Titanic is sinking, so let’s just fight over the deckchairs, shall we? Idiots. You could go out today and pick 50 random people from different countries around…

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