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Yearly Archives: 2023

When the familiar becomes unfamiliar

AS a child sometimes I used to stare into a mirror at my own face, unblinking, for minutes at a time. It got scary. Because at a certain point my own familiar face stopped being recognisable and I saw a weird creature. I couldn’t look at it for long, but nor did I have to, since the merest movement of my eyes brought back the familiar me. But I thought about what happened and I realised that the benign interpretation of my face that I had become accustomed to wasn’t necessarily the only way it could…

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Read more about the article The water of remembrance
Jack Parsons in WW1 (left), WW2 (right) and the fountain in Gregson Park

The water of remembrance

In Gregson Park, Hamilton (Newcastle, NSW), a drinking water fountain stands near the large war memorial. On one side is a plaque that reads: Dedicated to the memory of John William Parsons who made the supreme sacrifice on the 12th July 1945 while prisoner of war in Ranau, Borneo. 2/3rd Motor Ambulance Corps 2nd AIF Also member 8th Field Co Engineers AIF 1914-1918. Age 49 years Erected by his wife and daughters.” In truth, the fountain memorialises Jack Parsons and his wife Doris, both profoundly affected by the world wars of the 20th Century. The story…

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My bleak predictions for the years ahead

At the beginning of each year I used to make it a custom to write a list of tongue-in-cheek predictions about things that might happen in the 12 months to come. I tried to make the lists pertinent, but also somewhat funny. I tried to include some big-picture, global predictions but also a lot of  “in jokes” for people in my home country and city. Faced with the blank wall of 2023 I feel like I’ve lost my mojo. I can’t look at the trends that have swollen through the past few years and pretend I…

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