© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

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Read more about the article Intercity memories and the lure of the railway

Intercity memories and the lure of the railway

A vintage brochure extolling the virtues of the express service. I never knew it like this. I recently received, as a reward for services to ageing, my coveted Gold Seniors Opal card. Armed with this precious token it may be that soon I will be riding the rails - on the cheap - to the four corners of NSW. In anticipation of this delightful possibility I've taken a ride down memory lane and present also some musical tributes to the fabled Newcastle to Sydney rail service. I was 18 or 19, and studying in Canberra. Many…

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Read more about the article Colin Christie, Newcastle’s musical mayor
Christie Place, Newcastle, in 1982, and Colin Christie. Portrait photo by Boddy Studios, part of the Newcastle Sun Collection held by Newcastle University's Special Collections.

Colin Christie, Newcastle’s musical mayor

Mostly assembled from research by Norm Barney and Ross Edmonds Next to Newcastle City Hall is a little park, sometimes bright with flowers, that goes by the name of Christie Place. The Christie for whom it is named is one of Newcastle's more colourful (in a good way) former mayors, Colin Christie, whose civic career was paralleled by his musical enterprises. Newcastle book collector and historical researcher Ross Edmonds recently acquired a battered old bound volume of sheet music that once belonged to this musical mayor, prompting some interest in the man behind the place name.…

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Read more about the article Band photography: a visual language
It's all in the look, right? This band was called Cutaway.

Band photography: a visual language

Seems just about everybody fantasizes at some time or another about being in a band. The limelight. The sense of belonging. Adoring audiences. Sex, drugs, glamour, fame. Or maybe some people just like playing music. I don't know really. I mean, I'd have liked to be in a band too, except I can't sing or play any musical instruments. Not that that stops some people. Anyway, I was thinking about this recently when I was given a couple of big boxes of band photos that used to be in a newspaper library, along with thousands of…

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