Dogs may howl, cats may meow as pals retire

THANK heavens dogs and cats don’t read. The Redlands would have suffered a chorus of howling and meowing if the canine and feline communities had caught up with the recent public notice announcing the closure of Woofers Kennels and Cattery, Victoria Point.
About 4000 dogs and hundreds of cats of all shapes and sizes have been guests at the Worthing Road kennels that Ray and Cherry Norris opened in 1994.

AFTER 15 years in a "24/7" business, the couple has decided to claim their lives back from those two branches of the animal kingdom.
"It’s like running a farm but someone must be on the property all the time," Cherry says.
"We can’t go out anywhere together. We can’t attend parties or barbecues.
"It’s very tiring and after so many years I’m just about burnt out.
"We want to give some time to the family. We have decided at this moment to close our doors and retire but we will retain the (business) licence and maybe down the track we’ll assess the future."

CHERRY and Ray migrated to Australia in 1981 from the north-west England industrial city of Barrow-in-Furness.
They were escaping a gloomy time in England. "The cold war was bubbling along and there was the possibility the US and Russia would shoot themselves to bits over England; there was economic doom and gloom, with strikes and sackings all the time," Cherry says.
"We came out on holiday to stay with Ray’s brother, who lived at Capalaba. We liked it here and organised our migration."
She says Ray, then a bricklayer, is still very proud of becoming a licensed builder in Queensland while the couple lived at Cleveland.
The decision to open the kennels followed their purchase of the Victoria Point acreage property when Ray began suffering from "bricklayer’s back".
The home-based business was wonderful at first and although the demands have become too much she still loves "all types of animals".

CHERRY’s vast experience with dogs has given her an insight into pet ownership.
She says anyone wanting a dog should consider small- to medium-sized shorthaired breeds with upright ears.
"For practicality in this day and age, these types of dogs generally will have fewer health problems and are easier to look after," she says.
"The pointy ears are less susceptible to infection and the short hair means they don’t get tangled up in grass seeds, for instance.
‘Ticks are easier to find."
The Norrises, who will close the business on April 30, have issued "a very big thank you to past and present clients for their valued support".

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, a Fairfax Media newspaper.

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White-dressed lady watches chairs float out door

Image: Historical picture of the old courthouse that is now a restaurant and function centre. See www.courthouserestaurant.com.au.

MANY thousands of important bottoms have graced the 120 dining chairs that became available in the Classifieds thanks to a "freshening up" at one of Redland City’s premier restaurants.
With new chairs in place, the update at The Old Courthouse Restaurant was almost complete, according to owners Mary and Ross Gibb.
The old chairs, which date from the 1970s, were part of the package when the couple bought the restaurant in March, 1998, Mary says.
The timber chairs have done their job well but they needed continual maintenance after their decades of hard work.
During the reign of the Gidds in the colonial courthouse, the restaurant trade has built up to hundreds of diners, Mary says.

THIS year is appropriate for an update – it is the 20th anniversary of Cleveland cuisine’s introduction to the couple.
In 1988, Mary moved from Melbourne and Ross came from Scotland. From 1989 to ’98, they operated Beaches Restaurant.
Mary believes almost a decade’s experience at Beaches gave her and Ross the management skills to make the Courthouse so successful.
"Beaches was a BYO and that means you must do everything right because you cannot have the benefit of liquor sales," she says.
"We had the basics right."

IN cuisine, that means a traditional style with a European influence and Australian fresh produce, Mary says.
The food style immedately fitted well with the restaurant setting in a courthouse that a district landowner and publican, Francis Bigges, built in 1853.
Mary recalls a rush on function bookings that set the stage for subsequent years. "In my first six months here I had 100 bookings for wedding receptions," she says.
"The venue has always been beautiful – it’s the perfect location for special occasions."

ABOUT that time, Mary had a special visitor who did not need a chair.
"We had been told the courthouse had a resident ghost, Elizabeth, Francis Bigges’ wife," Mary says.
"One day I was on the phone to a friend and she floated past me. She had short dark hair and a long white dress.
"She floated across and through the wall after she seemed to give a nod of approval. It was like she showed me her acceptance of what we were doing."
Mary says she has not seen the ghost again but "I feel her and know she’s there – there’s no mischief or anything like that".

ELIZABETH may have given a silent sigh as the chairs went out the door at $20 each to about 20 buyers.
Mary wonders what the white-dressed lady would think of the restaurant’s changes, which presented some challenges, such as incorporating new equipment without threatening the old-world feel of an historic building.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

All aboard the bus to Fluville!

AS the sun sets on a glorious summer beside beautiful Moreton Bay, the bugs come out to play.
Not mosquitoes and midges -- other bugs fly around this time of year.
We can’t see some tiny organisms that proliferate every autumn but we can hear and feel their presence.
Hear: When coughing and sneezing interrupt pleasant conversations bubbling away on the shopper and commuter buses.
Feel: When someone just behind you lets go with a not-so-waterwise shower from an uncovered eruption of phlegm.

FLU fear can give anyone a bad start to the day. Must you hold your breath until other lungs vacuum up the virus-charged spray?
"The virus that causes influenza is mainly spread from person-to-person by virus-containing droplets produced during coughing or sneezing," Queensland Health says.
"The droplets can be spread up to a metre through the air and enter the body through the nose and mouth.
"A person can also catch influenza if they shake hands with an infected person or touch a contaminated surface such as a door knob or telephone, and then touch their nose or mouth."
The "metre" seems an understatement, according to a television documentary a few years back – a special camera caught a "free and easy sneeze" blasting its microscopic cargo high and wide. On that evidence, the fallout could go at least half a bus length.

ANOTHER observation from the autumn buses: Someone coughs or sneezes into their hand then grabs the same rail you would use to get to the door without falling over. Your trip ends like surfing on Straddie and, when you just get to the door, the bus lurches into your stop. You instinctively grab the last rail near the door and think of all the mucous-drenched hands that have grabbed it that day.
Then, even though you’re half starved, you can’t buy a pie until you find somewhere to wash your hand(s).
Hell, life’s tough in the flu season. I think we should all just stay home. But hang on, someone cares.
Even in the dying days of summer Victoria Point Surgery advertised its flu vaccine clinic. Maybe I can get to work, after all.

FOR the record, QH advises: "Don’t spread it around! If you get symptoms of influenza: stay at home until you are better; cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze with a tissue and dispose of it;
wash your hands with soap and water after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose, and before touching other people or objects that others might touch."
That means the flu inflicted, not the flu free, should do the surfing down the bus aisle.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Redland City, Queensland – on the shores of beautiful Moreton Bay.

Drawing comes first, says Raby Bay artist

Image: A Friend’s Pet, pastel, by Graham Josefski from rabybaygalleries.

TWO of Queensland’s most celebrated modern traditionalist painters received a mention in the Redlands this week as an artist talked about his grounding in the disciplines of art.
Mervyn Moriarty and Les McDonaugh were mentors of Graham Josefki, who has lived in Raby Bay since 1988.
Since Graham retired about two years ago he has had more time to pursue his lifelong interest in art. He was the primary-school pupil whose work always featured the teacher’s star. When recovering from an appendectomy, he sketched his mother, sitting beside his hospital bed.

DURING his "day jobs" (which artists inevitably need), the Bundberg-born son of a wool presser and a shearers’ cook always exercised his skills with draftsmanship, colour and tone on subjects, including "the bush and the Australian gum trees".
When he worked as a banker in Central Queensland, he studied painting by correspondence.
Paint of the oil and watercolour types ran through Graham Josefki’s veins as he moved from banking to real estate sales and eventually to home building.
Along the way, while working in finance and real estate, he took more painting courses and expressed his love of the Australian bush on paper and canvas.
Graham came under the guidance of McDonaugh, whose influence fostered his attraction to "the brilliant, vibrant colours of this very direct medium (pastels)".

McDONAUGH, an Australian Pastel Society founding member, was an important part of the Redlands’ art heritage, Graham says, adding that the acclaimed pastel prince lived his twilight years on Karragarra Island, and his death about three years ago was a sad loss to the international art community.
The other key mentor, Moriarty, who held the title as Queensland’s flying artist, imparted a message that rings true over not just decades but centuries.
"People, adults as well as children, often have great enthusiasm for applying the colours without realising that the skills of drawing go hand in hand with that," Graham says.
This is the motivation behind Graham’s advertisements in our Training & Tuition column. His children’s drawing lessons tap into the great heritage of draftsmanship that is the hallmark of the best art.

FOLLOW-UP: The Birkdale bromeliad brigade, under the leadership of its chief, Inge Drake, raised $880 last Saturday for Victorian fire relief, with dozens of pots of the intriguing plants heading out the gate at her Bayford Street home. Inge was pressing on with the appeal and we’ll have a further update in weeks to come.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

Flowers bloom in ashes

Image: The World War II destruction in Berlin – from wikipedia.

THE stark scenes of devastation in the Victorian bushfires have brought tears to Inge Drake’s eyes as, safe and sound in her Birkdale home, she has watched the television reports.
"I feel so sorry for all those poor people who have lost so much," Inge says. "I can understand how they must feel."
Images of charred remains of thousands of houses have rekindled Inge’s memories of the bombing of Berlin during World War II.
In 1943, Inge Krull was seven years old. Her dad, Kurt, was a German army engineer and in the Russian campaign. She lived with her younger brother Dieter and their mum, Auguste, in the family home.
"One day we went to the movies and when we came back there was no house, just a great big hole – it was monstrous," Inge says. "I remember being sorry that I had lost my teddy bear."

THE trio found refuge in Berlin with Kurt’s father but Inge contracted scarlet fever. She was in hospital when her mum took Dieter to East Prussia, where they were to live with Auguste’s parents. Inge says she spent six terrifying weeks alone, with hospitals evacuated as bombing raids targeted them.
On her discharge, she waited for hours on a seat in a long vacant corridor, wondering in the silence if her mum would manage to come back to pick her up.
Finally, a small figure appeared in the distance. As it came closer Inge could see the "tiny person, not even five feet (152 centimetres) tall" was Auguste.
At least part of the wartime nightmare was over. But for the next two years, Auguste and the kids kept moving, "running away from the Russians".

KURT found his family in Bavaria in 1945. They migrated to Australia in 1953. Dieter now lives in Melbourne. Kirk and Auguste spent their final years in a Buderim retirement village. Kirk died in 1981 and Auguste in 1984.
A Birkdale resident for 30 years, Inge does not take her current comfort for granted.
"I have a home, food, furniture, a bed to sleep in … I thought what can I do for the poor people in Victoria," she said.
"When they have put everything into their farms, then lost it all, even if you gave them a million dollars they haven’t got the spirit to start again. I can so easily feel for them.’’

INGE talked with her friends, Michelle and Barbara. They decided to sell bromeliads to raise money for the relief effort.
The sale was washed out last Saturday but it will be on again tomorrow, all day, in Bayford Street.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.

Locavore movement gains momentum

Image: The south-east Queensland region, a focus for locavores. Map courtesy wikipedia.

A GREAT mix of Redland’s rural heritage and a forward-thinking environmental ethos has come together in the formation of a new group for people who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.
Redland Organic Growers Inc (ROGI) got rolling at a meeting in October at Redlands IndigiScapes Centre.
Founding president is Emma Baker, a Capalaba mother of two boys, Reuben, 6, and Eathan, 3, who love getting out in the growing patch with their mum.
Emma, a Redland Council landscape architect, is a woman of principle and goes out of her way to connect with her community through food.
She says she felt humbled among the ilk of more than 100 people at the foundation meeting.
"Some have been gardening for 60 years or more and have so much knowledge," Emma says. "You can only get this type of knowledge by getting out there and doing it."

ROGI has no affiliation with the formal process of organic certification for produce but Emma says several members may have the aim of taking their growing to such a commercial level.
In forming the group, she simply wanted to help people "connect back to their communities", talk with likeminded people and learn more about gardening techniques and issues.
ROGI meets on the first Tuesday every month at 6.30pm at Indigiscapes, where it has a seed bank and exchange, a bookshop and an outlet for organic products and edible plants.
The formation has been good news for another young Redlands mother. Nicole Bennett, of Victoria Point, became committed to organic food for the benefit of her family’s health but had difficulty obtaining certified produce locally.

IN 2006, Nicole set up a business, Wholesome Organics, to improve the availability of organic produce by making door-to-door deliveries and has expanded her range to include organic cleaning and skin and hair products.
Despite a lot of hunting, she has been unable to find a ‘certified organic’ grower in the Redlands, once one of the State’s major horicultural districts.
Most of Wholesome Organics’ produce comes from the South East Queensland growing areas, including the Lockyer Valley.
For Nicole, that organic certification is all important, so she must also source produce from outside the region.
She described ROGI as a breakthrough.
"The ideal would be to supply locally grown fruit and vegetables so the group must be a big step in the right direction," she said.

NICOLE and Emma’s local and/or regional focus would qualify them for membership of the "locavore" movement that is gaining momentum around the world.
They are "connecting" with the community through food, and that can mean benefits for society generally.

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia – on the shores of beautiful Moreton Bay. Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Love me tender, fine statue you

Image from wikipedia.

AN important date slipped by without retired "jack of all trades" Norman Purse honouring the occasion.
It was the birthday of a close "mate".
The pair has shared a Cleveland unit for the past five years.
While Norman tunes into his favourite TV shows, mainly news, his mate sits on a stool and holds a guitar but doesn’t play it or talk during the news broadcasts.
Norman admits he slipped up by neglecting to celebrate the January 8 birthday of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Elvis Presley.

AS the birthday came and went, Norman was planning to make some space by selling his lifesize fibreglass Elvis statue, which is rather imposing in a small unit.
Norman says he has always liked the King’s music. When the Elvis burst into the limelight in the 1950s, Norman could whistle Love Me Tender as he worked as a roofing plumber with the Revesby, Sydney, factory of HH Robertson Australia Pty Ltd.
The post-war era was kind to Norman, born in Mullumbimby. He had grown up on a banana plantation, enlisted in the army in 1941 and served in Darwin as a gunner with the 14th Anti-Aircraft Battery.

MORE than six decades on, he believes most Australians still do not realise the extent of the Japanese bombing and says his unit defended against about 60 raids.
"People also misconstrue what anti-aircraft artillery was designed to do," he says. "It wasn’t to shoot the planes down but to fire shells to put them off course so they didn’t have a straight line for their bomb sights."
After three years, Norman joined the Australian 1st Paratroop Battalion as a way to "get out of Darwin".
He says he trained at Richmond for one major mission, "to join with the 7th Division to retake Singapore" but the war ended before the call to action.

THESE are just some of the stories that Norm’s fibreglass mate, Elvis, could hear, if he could take the space between his ears off the echoes of Love Me Tender.
For the past few years, while Norm has tuned into the nightly News, Elvis’s eyes have been on a statuesque Egyptian beauty, another lifesize fibreglass statue.
Elvis can get off his stool and pass the working guitar to someone who can actually play it. Norman says a musician he engaged to tune the instrument believed it was well constructed and of good quality.
The portable Presley package was still available this week, with Norman slightly disappointed that no one except me responded to his ad.
He pondered whether the tight economic climate was the reason, or whether maybe the shine has faded from the King’s crown and Elvis’s popularity has waned.
Norman advertised his Elvis for $1800.

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia – on the shores of beautiful Moreton Bay. Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Blogging the midnight oil

BEFORE it gets too late tonight, I want to talk about a subject of great importance to you and me – blogging. It’s the new age of publishing.
Here I am, writing; there you are, reading.
While bloggers may typically burn the midnight oil, I have written a lot of words for other purposes about this time of night over the decades.
Much of the outpouring was destined for the next day’s paper. During that era in my life, adrenaline and a supercharged sense of duty pushed me to “get that story” and, yes, even shout “Stop the press” with conviction that the public sorely needed the words I was about to commit to a production process.
Floods and other acts of nature, accidents of many types, night sport events and those across time zones, unexpected twists and turns in matters politic, actions and reactions … many sparks of many types ignite the fires in the bellies of news gatherers.

TONIGHT, it’s just you and me. You are wondering where all this will lead and asking why bother. I am wondering how I can translate my feelings about blogging into an understandable and meaningful form and asking for your patience.
This piece is not about the ‘shock’, ‘horror’ and headlines of the news world but that world is not far away. The blog requires all the skills I have used during a long career in the media. Accuracy and accountability are important, whether a writer is committing for publication one of the major news stories of the day to print in a major mass circulation newspaper, or talking to the world through just one of many thousands, maybe it’s millions, of blog posts that become available every second.

THIS is ‘me 2 u’ – direct, unplugged, a la natural. No roar of the press, no ‘can we really say this?’ calls from editors opting on the side of caution, no deadline …
Ooops, I lie – there’s always a deadline; there has to be. Otherwise, nothing gets finished.
So I here I am, writing late at night, blogging my guts out, so to speak, and writing like there’s no tomorrow (deadline), then contradicting myself and saying there really is a deadline.
That’s the hazier-than-twilight world of blogging, I guess.
Here I am, pretending I am writing without the baggage of “traditional publishing” but then having to admit some major controls are still in place and I have a deadline to get to bed (literally, metaphorically and physically).
What else can I say? Well, watch this space.

Englishman revels in Queensland heat - and cold

Surrey has some natural air conditioning too, as this picture from wikipedia shows. Today's post appeared one week ago in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.

A REFERENCE somewhere in the history books may note the beads of sweat on Captain Arthur Phillip’s brow as, in the middle of a southern summer, he presided over the raising of the Union Jack to claim, in effect, the island continent for Mother England.
Imagine the whispers among the assembled soldiers and convicts, suffering the colonial heat.
"Here he goes again -- wouldn’t you think he’d cut the waffle and let us get out of the sun?"
The Sydney Cove ceremony on January 26, 1788, started some sticky centuries for "cold-blooded" English folk but it must be acknowledged that many revel in our warm to hot summers.

SURREY-born Wayne Fullard’s introduction to Australia followed that of Phillip’s First Fleet by 211 years. That was in 1999, and a further 10 years on, Wayne gets a bit sentimental as he says: "I just fell in love with the place."
Wayne, an air-conditioning engineer who specialised in retail centres and shops in the London region, has never feared a hot day.
He had several stints "down under" before another love bug bit in a Cleveland restaurant in 2003, when he met the Brisbane-born woman he would marry in 2006.
Ella Fullard has devoted her administrative skills to helping Wayne build his business from a home base at Alexandra Hills.

THEY had a busy 2008, with major projects including a new Endeavour Foundation centre at Toowoomba, as well as many smaller commercial and domestic contracts.
The couple had a hectic festive season. Their marriage created a combined family with five grown-up children and a growing band of grandchildren, now numbering four.
Of course, the stream of visitors from the UK has been steady. The Fullards farewelled the last of the current bunch on Wednesday when their friends, Eric and Wendy Holmes, boarded a plane back to London.
Another friend is due next month, then Wayne’s son, Lee, and his girlfriend Kate, will arrive in April.

THE UK visitors come here with confidence in Wayne’s ability to cool down a hot day; back home, they can call on Wayne’s elder son, Dean, who now runs the Surrey business.
There have been no First Fleet-style grumbles from the Londoners whom the Fullards host.
"They all love the Redlands area – they think it’s beautiful," Ella says.
On the development of the business, Ella and Wayne thank Brian Forsyth, Santo Coco, Neville Wright Barbara and Tony Wills, and "our wonderful children", Sam, Leah and Zena, all of whom have contributed along the way.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. Wayne and Ella Fullard advertise in the Trade Services section of The Redland Times Classifieds.

Investment to some, gamble to others - that's 'super'

Images - The Rumney brothers at Mowbray Racecourse, circa 1960. They are, from right, Percy, my dad Gil, Reg and Jack; and that’s me with an old wood robe (just in case you are as easily confused as me, this link from the archives keeps the current post at the top of the page, so scroll down for more on the silky oak wardrobe).

MY old uncle Percy had a quaint term to legitimise his fascination with thoroughbred horses.
He spoke of each donation to the bookmakers as an "investment", rather than a "bet".
Percy died poor.
This sad tale has a modern sequel after the nation’s superannuation savings – from two decades of garnishment of wages – have taken a battering in the stock market, which is "investment" to some and a "gamble" to others.
I wish Percy and maybe some modernday superannuation managers had talked to Bob Metcalfe, who represents what he says is one of the safest investments.

BOB, his wife, Dianne, and her dad, Merv Alley, worked feverishly for most of the last half of 2008 to set up a shop in Bloomfield Street, Cleveland.
But Bob and Dianne are not selling financial packages or dispensing money-management advice. Their business is Bayside Antique & Collectables Centre, which occupies a former service station.
"Good antiques and collectables will never go down in value," Bob says. "They only go up -- something like 11 per cent (return) a year for a good quality item, such as a Victorian gold chain or an 1880s Australian-made cedar chest of drawers."
The Australian Government in fact has sanctioned investment in antiques, collectables and fine art for superannuation purposes, subject to its conditions, Bob says.

THE couple searched hard for the right Redland premises. The trio toiled for about two months on major renovations of the old garage before they picked up a paintbrush.
The premises now provides about 650 square metres for about 20 independent dealers. Bob says customers will always find a wide range of items.
Antique cameras, retro and vintage clothing, jewellery and furniture for different tastes are among features.
The shop opened as the financial crisis bit, but Bob says the gloom has not affected business: "We are doing better than we thought we would."
Which seems to indicate the strength of the "antique economy".

IN the nature of the write-offs on financial articles, I must ask readers to seek independent advice before buying anything for investment.
But even browsing collectables and antiques is enjoyable. And who knows? You may spot something that has been undervalued.
Bob says a Brisbane man several years ago bought for a few dollars what a dealer believed was a Albert Namatjira print – the painting was valued at $30,000.
Now, I remember, old Percy had a few old prints …

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

FOOTNOTE: It is a special pleasure for me today to publish a picture of the man who, with my mum, Jean, introduced me to the marvellous community of classified advertising when, all those years ago in the summer of 1955, they placed a notice announcing the birth of a son. Those who are disrespectful of classified advertising may note this significant cultural relationship and that a big chunk of the population has had a similar start in life. The proud tradition continues (Classie Corner archives). For an example of such disrespect, read what Geoff Brooklyn of Sydney had to say on the News blog. I can only wonder why Geoff would bother and I must suggest he stops and thinks before putting out his claws.

Let's all 'pluck the day'

Don't seek, my friend, we cannot say what end's in store for you, for me: don't trust in vague astrology. Better to shoulder what will be, whether you soon will die, or stay to watch the shore exhaust the sea. So drink some wine while your hours flee, put small trust in posterity, and prune your hopes; but pluck the day. - Horace (65-8BC), Pluck the Day, courtesy of www.poetseers.org.

Image courtesy of www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace

THIS story starts with wise words of one of the most celebrated Roman poets and will end about 2000 years ago later many thousand kilometres from Rome and in Queensland, Australia, where another seer has dropped (rather, dispensed with) the toga and stone slabs and is etching his own niche in poetry and history.
What has poetry to do with the ‘marvellous community of classified advertising’, you may ask. Well, poetry is everywhere.
Rhyme and rhythm are an ‘in-ya-face’ feature of modern life. Turn on the TV, radio or computer, or scan the pages of any newspaper or magazine and a poetic touch will tickle your heart.

OVER the years, many such statements have leapt from the small print of the classifieds to give me a cardiac caress.
Matters of the heart have been close to my ventricle for the past year since an unusual bump on an ECG print-out led to the diagnosis of a rare condition of a heart nerve, Brugada syndrome (www.brugada.org), and the implant of an internal cardiac device (ICD), a defibrillator, to protect against sudden fatal arrhythmia.
But don’t celebrate too soon. The doctors say I now have better chances of surviving a heart event than the vast majority of the population and with above-average general heart health may live to 94 without the defibrillator ever delivering the life-saving shock.

THE sentimentality of the festive season - as always, walking in the shadows of the smiles, jolly handshakes, hugs and kisses – may still partly explain my current poetic bent.
The heart is long regarded as the seat of emotion, although some argue it is, in fact, the liver, which also takes a pounding each December-January. So you can see, quite a few influences are at work today, although the truth may be I just needed something to write about, maybe looking for rhythm (ha).
But I just love that Horace poem, translated from Latin, in which www.en.wikipedia.org/ says the title was ‘Carpe diem’.
Like most good poems it seems written ‘just for me’. Even the ‘pluck’ part. I am always plucking away at my guitar – again looking for that steady rhythm, I guess.

BACK to poetry and the classifieds. Just have a browse through the pages of any edition of any newspaper and you’ll get to peep inside someone’s heart (or liver?).
It’s worth the effort to see some inventive trading names in the business section but the personal columns can be a real hoot and you never really know when someone will drop a poetic word or two into their for-sale notice.
Isn’t it just so great that a word or two, plucked from a sea of small type, can make a highlight of your day?
Now, I have all that off my chest to start the new year, I can introduce the Horace of Queensland…

Poet shares special vision

Images: Poet Paul Dobbyn and illustrator Gemma O'Brien; Jen and Paul Dobbyn, Mirusia Louwerse and Sebastiaan Coenen.

MY long-time mate Paul Dobbyn certainly has packed a lot of living into the past half century or so. He was a journalist with a young family when we met, in our twenties, while we worked in the regional press.
Already, Paul held a university degree and had travelled widely in Australia, worked as a construction labourer and in other jobs before journalism and published his first book of poetry.
During the 1980s, he wrote another book, upgraded his qualifications to become a high school teacher, then took another turn into sales in two of the most demanding fields (door-to-door and advertising), excelling in both.
He has also worked in marketing and consulting in the job network and in marketing and publishing with major public agencies.

THIS summary would be far from complete. It’s just what springs to mind, rather than Paul’s CV, but helps to illustrate forces that have shaped him as a poet.
Out of all that life experience comes a special insight that reflects in Paul’s latest book, Soul Healing Afoot / Dead Dad Bye.
Paul launched the work late last year (more below) and says he later "had the pleasure" of reading to high-flying star singer Mirusia Louwerse the book’s dedication.
Mirusia and Paul have been friends since they were members of a "commuters club" chatting during their trips from the bayside to the CBD.
The dedication says:

Mirusia, my modern muse of the glorious voice who travelled with me by train each week those two years or so, reminding me, challenging me with that inner fire, true inspiration and dedication to artistry bring.

THE reading occurred at "a bash at her parent’s place" after what Paul described as an "amazing story of success for young Birkdale lass as she flies again to top of charts aboard Andre Rieu's record-breaking DVD release from last month's Melbourne concert".
Once a marketing man, always a marketing man, I guess. But the same holds for a poet, and here’s what Paul’s friend, long time Melbourne poet, critic and member of Cathouse Creek - Liz Hall-Downs – wrote at Compulsive Reader:

"Unlike the ranting, raving, populist, (and frequently facile), performance poetry that seems to be springing up everywhere lately, Dobbyn's work is much slower in the fermentation, and deals with some of life's big questions. These are deeply felt, considered, highly-crafted poems about the challenges of middle age, about weathering divorce and rebuilding a life from its ashes, and about facing the death of an elderly parent - but they are not devoid of humour and, often, clever word play. Gemma O'Brien's lovely linocuts relate subtly to the poetry and, combined with the unusual font and off-white paper, the overall effect is of an 'artist's book'.
'Soul Healing Afoot' is the longer sequence, and deals with personal transformation: the poet drives into the desert while contemplating his unknown future; an encounter with a snake's shed skin prompts the lines: '... I knew how he felt, / that snake: / shiny and fresh - slicing through the grass: / chuckling at life's best trick - and gift - of all' .

Rev Anthony Gooley wrote:
The collection is in two books which are bound together in a flip book style one part Dead Dad Bye and the other Soul Healing Afoot.There was a fairly large audience for the reading, standing room only, and we had some great live music in between readings ... I think all of us were so privileged to hear Paul's work and the poetry was amazing. One could not help but be moved by some of the pieces and laugh at others which had some very clever word plays.I am not Paul's publicist nor his marketing director but I can say that the poems we heard yesterday were outstandingly good and I would recommend his book, which is great value at only $20. I for one, am looking forward to my chance to enjoy a closer reading of the material over the holiday break.

ANYONE wanting a copy of Dead Dad Bye / Soul Healing Afoot can email me through this site (see right of page). Paul has sent a link list: Compulsive Reader, myspace, fortheloveoftype, city-south-news.

Phones run hot 'for free'

ONE four-letter word rates as the hottest in the marvellous community of classified advertising. "Free" seems guaranteed to get phones ringing.
Snipping at its heels in the attention-grabbers’ hot list is "giveaway". Both give extra value to the experience of grabbing a cuppa and sitting down with "the classies" -- you just never know what you’ll find. Three such notices appeared last Friday. Here are the results:

SALLY and Daniel Smith, of Alexandra Hills, have a new mattress and dining table so advertised their old queen-size mattress and table with six chairs in "alright" condition.
Sally said the twin-giveaway strategy stemmed from their fears a 13-year-old mattress might be difficult to sell and a disposal problem but could still be handy for someone in need.
The idea was: "If you want the dining table, you have to take the mattress."
It worked, helping them free up space in the festive season crush. They received about six calls.

THE other notices came from Victoria Point couples in the community of "seniors".
Couple No. 1 received about eight calls after they advertised a single-bed and mattress – complete with two sets of sheets and bedspread.
"We are elderly with no children and we don’t need the bed any more so we just thought we could give it away," the wife said.
An "elderly lady" recived this Christmas gift, which was about 12 years old.

THIS giveaway post-mortem could have been all smiles but Couple No. 2, who advertised the giveaway of a leather lounge suite and a fridge for $200 had reasons to frown.
They received about 50 calls on each item so wearied of saying "sorry", but their main beef was the many callers who failed to keep appointments to inspect the fridge.
The husband also told how his wife had helped a Russell Island woman – picking her up at the waterbus jetty, driving her to their home to see the fridge, then taking her back to the jetty.
"She needed to check measurements in her home but she didn’t call back," the husband said. "When we called her that night she said it wasn’t suitable. We had to do the calling."


A WOMAN, possibly in her fifties, was first caller about the lounge suite – at 7am on Friday – and arrived at 8am to take it.
She told the couple she had just found a matching chair sitting beside a street and labelled "take me".
Out of all this, it seems in order to remind users of classified advertising everywhere that the phone numbers belong to real people with real feelings and they deserve courtesy and respect.

THANKS to all who have contributed to this column in 2008. Enjoy the company of your loved ones at this very special time of year.



This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.

'Just call me Kiwi' rides into new future in business

This column appeared in The Redland Times on Friday, December 12, 2008. Image of Waikato River from wikipedia.

A NEW future on two wheels will start to roll tomorrow, Saturday, for John ("just call me Kiwi") Smith, who migrated from New Zealand looking for opportunities and has certainly found one at Capalaba.
John grew up in the Waikato district, developed a career in hotel management in the Bay of Plenty, then crossed the ditch almost a decade ago to take up a Capabala address.
Customers of the Capalaba Hotel bottle shops are familiar with John’s lively personality and he says he’s grateful for the work that helped set him up in Australia.

FOR about the past three years, John’s cheerful voice has been very familiar to clients of his gardening firm, Johnny Appleseed Home and Garden, and he is pleased to keep his vocal cords moving on notable commercial clients including the Port of Brisbane Authority and a Gold Coast car yard, as well as many residential clients.
Now, the business community on New Cleveland Road, Capabala, is hearing John’s cheerful voice as he has been working on a former motorcycle shop as the base for his new venture, Sunshine State Motorbike Hire.
After the doors open at 10am tomorrow for an open day, John will fire up the barbecue to celebrate. He plans to open at 6am every Saturday and Sunday for riders who need an early start.

JOHN has invited dads and mums to take their youngsters and even pets on leads along to see the "fun machines" that are available for hire.
He makes no promises about sparing them time to meditate over the machines. "I can keep talking under water," he says.
And he has lots to talk about. The motorbikes, scooters and recreational vehicles represent just one of John’s many interests in life.
"Dogs are my passion," he says. "I train dogs and I’m going to do it for free from the shop. On the last Sunday in January anyone with puppies aged 15 months and under can bring them along for training.
"I trained gun dogs and looked after guide dogs in New Zealand."

A MORE formal "opening" is set for Thursday, December 18, after tomorrow’s family day.
One thing that won’t be neglected is John’s great love of Redland City. He says people anywhere in the world "would kill" for such an urban lifestyle on the shores of Moreton Bay.
But he says the friendliness of the people here – more than anything else – has made his move to Australia a great success.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Plate-spinners set style for job hunt

Image of plate spinners from wikipedia.

LESSONS learnt during a career as a recruitment consultant reflected in Vicki Clifford’s own search for a part-time job.
Formerly the proprietor of her own agency in Milton Keynes, north of London, Vicki has been among users of the Jobs Board in the Times and Bulletin Classifieds.
After Vicki’s notice highlighted her search for two to three days’ work a week, she received a call from tax accountancy James Baker and Co, and now works on administrative support at the Sheldon business.
Vicki uses the analogy of a circus performer to sum up the main message from her 25 years in the recruitment industry.
"You (job seeker) have to keep as many plates spinning as possible and keep trying," she says. "You need to try lots of different avenues, particularly when (economic) times are difficult and you want something that is not easy to find."

VICKI’s notice cited not only her recruitment background but also sales experience she has had in the four years since she and husband Gary Beach migrated from the UK -- bringing their two beloved west highland terriers, Hettie and Holly -- to live at Wellington Point.
"My dad (Keith Frewin) is Australian and he migrated back here 13 years ago after Mum died," Vicki says.
"My elder brother, Keith, and his family then came here, and my younger brother, Sean, followed them so we decided to come too."
The Redlands now claims the entire family among its residents.
Vicki says life here is "absolutely fantastic", with the climate, the beautiful Redland environment and the friendliness of the local people all winning their hearts.

LAST year Classie Corner received some flak for publishing advice on managing the festive season just when Santa was about to leave the North Pole.
"You are simply too late," my true love said to me. So this year I’m determined not to sit like a partridge in a pear tree.
Time-management analyst and personal concierge Louise Denisenko, of Redland firm Running Errands, each year refines her analyses of "what you can do now to make Christmas less stressful". Her 2008 tips:
Ensure all appointments such as car service, hairdresser, beauty therapist and doctor, and restaurant reservations, are booked.
Decide Christmas menus and stock up on non-perishable items so you need to get only fresh ingredients on busy days before Christmas.
Send cards in the first week of December or consider e-cards.
Have a few extra gifts on hand in case of unexpected guests.
Value time with family and friends more than the gifts.

• Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, REdland City, Queensland, Australia - on the shores of beautiful Moreton Bay.
  
  
  
  
  

'Bayside Rugby' makes hot topic this summer

Redlands rugby club chief Tony Machin will pay a tribute to "all our elected members" when he addresses the club's AGM. These "members" are the civic and parliamentary representatives he says are working hard to secure funding for a clubhouse and change-room upgrade. More about that later. First, here's the latest on another development as the club makes its mark on rugby in one of Australia's fastest growing regions, South East Queensland ...

Image courtesy of www.nicoletteneish.com from Redlands Rugby Union and Recreation Club website.

AN exciting plan to take the great sport of rugby union to a new level in the Bayside district is on the agenda for Redlands Rugby Union and Recreation Club’s annual general meeting on Sunday, December 7.
Spirits are high in the club after its senior side took the 2008 minor premiership in the Brisbane division-one second grade competition.
The Redlanders suffered a shock defeat in the semi-final to finish the year third in the competition.
With the achievement bringing a promotion to division-one first grade, club officials plan to field the 2009 senior side as "Bayside Rugby" in conjunction with the Southern Bay club.

REDLANDS chairman Tony Machin will tell the AGM that negotiations to clinch the move are progressing well, with the first matches set for March.
"The new senior entity will provide a pathway for all junior rugby players from the bayside to play at the highest level without leaving our region," he says.
The bayside plan ends a big year for the Redlands club, which Tony says has reached the milestone of full Queensland Rugby Union voting rights for the first time, showing the club’s development and strength.
He says player numbers have reached more than 400 and much talent has emerged.
Redlands backrower Edward Quirk was man of the match in the Australian Schoolboys’ 15-11 "thrashing" of New Zealand Schoolboys.

THE victory was Australia’s first on New Zealand soil in that competition’s history, Tony says.
He describes Edward as "hard, tough but fair".
"The harder the game the better he likes it," Tony says.
Other achievers in 2008 have included fullback David Harle, who represented with the QJRU under-18s against NSW and three seniors who helped Queensland Suburban gain a rare victory over their NSW counterparts.
The trio was: half Gary Blank, who was the man of the match; fly half Brendan Dales; and lock Mitch O’Hara, who is club captain.
The club’s Golden Oldies toured to Scotland this year for their world championships – "and caused much havoc on and off the field".

WHILE the administrators work toward Bayside Rugby, the club is promoting its seniors’ pre-season training on Tuesdays at 6.30pm and is also recruiting for senior and colts sides.
Head coach is Damian Watt and senior manager Nigel Brown.
Tony will tell the AGM a lot of work is going into making 2009 another great year.

• Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.
  
  
  
  

Redland development: new city turns grey

• Image: The local jobs board that features in The Redland Times.


• More info: The 'economic snapshot' report is available at the Redland City Council site.
  

VISITOR traffic to Redland City Council’s website must be heavy this week as word spreads of the availability of a key report on the district’s economy.
The Redland City Economic Snapshot 2008 contains a wealth of facts and figures, mainly from the 2006 Census but with some key updates and "no nonsense" analysis by the report’s authors.
The Queensland Treasury’s Office of Economic and Statistical Research (OESR) has compiled the snapshot, which will be a tool for business and social planning.
Such a report gives a form to changes we may see every day and accept with a shrug. The Redland’s transition over decades from a rural-based to a service-based economy may not be hard-hitting news but now we can see the change in an understandable form.
The snapshot says only 464 Redlanders worked in agriculture, forestry and fishing at the last Census; 10 years earlier, in 1996, the figure was 851.

LOCAL employment was one of the snapshot’s focuses. The OESR notes 2006 labour demand figures for Redland indicate the retail industry was the largest employer -- with 5540 people, or 17.3pc of total labour demand.
Such trends reflect in every edition of the Classifieds, with an ever-growing Positions Vacant section giving its own snapshot of the labour market.
It is no accident that the Classifieds’ innovative Positions Wanted board has a slogan with the key words "live", "work" and "local", summing up what many would consider the ideal – a job near home.
But getting back to statistics: the OESR indicates a terrier pup is growing into a Great Dane and will soon snap at the heels of the local employment giant, retail.

HEALTH care and social assistance, which employed 3821 people, or 11.9pc of labour demand in 2006, is No.2 on the list for local job creation.
This would not surprise anyone who scans the Positions Vacant column, which always seems to have ads seeking aged care specialists including nurses and assistants, diversional therapists, cooks and cleaners.
Redland will see a lot more of such local employment opportunities, if the analysts are correct.
The snapshot says the Redland's greatest population rise is expected in the 65 years and over group. The forecast rise is from 12.7pc (16,608) in 2006 to 29.4pc (55,568) in 2031.

OPPORTUNITIES will not be limited to employment in the caring fields. Many retirees will live independently, so business and employment niches will keep flowing on.
The official analyses make great reading but they come out only from time to time. Anyone can get a good idea of what’s happening by checking the Classifieds anytime.

• Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.

Art honours true believer in Classifieds' community

Image of clay character studies including Cindy Field, centre.

A SON of Moreton Bay was returning to his roots when Ipswich publican Gordon Field decided to sell his hotel and take his young family back to the island where he grew up.
When the Fields’ jam-packed truck rolled off the barge in 1968, Gordon and the Mackay-born barmaid he married, Phoebe, were dedicating their lives to his family’s half-century-long tradition of farming the rich soil of Russell Island.
Raising two young children, Victor and Cindy, the couple grew papaws, bananas and small crops including tomatoes, which a trucking contractor picked up twice a week to catch the mainland barge for the trip to Brisbane markets.

JUST four years into the idyllic lifestyle, Gordon was killed in a car accident on the mainland.
Phoebe must have overcome many tough obstacles as she kept working the land, which she says produced avocados commercially until 1998.
But she kept everything together. In 1980, she married Erik Dupont, who had migrated from Holland in 1956, found work on a Wellington Point farm, branched out into farm work through the bayside region and, in 1967, bought his own Russell Island farmland.
Phoebe reflects on her family history this week as she prepares for a happy annual event that springs from a tragedy in her life – Cindy’s death from a brain tumor in 2003, aged 36.

EVERY November since 2004, Phoebe has organised the Cindy Field Memorial Exhibition of Arts to celebrate her daughter’s life. Cindy’s birthday was November 28.
Known in the island community as a cheerful deckie on the passenger ferries, Cindy joined the Bulletin and Times in the mid-1990s and was a consultant for the Classifieds when she received a grim diagnosis in 2001.
Phoebe says the diagnosis came just as building on Cindy’s dream home on Karragarra began, but the house was finished quickly and was Cindy’s refuge as she battled on, with radiotherapy giving hope for a time.

THE exhibition venue for the first three years was Colours Art Gallery on Macleay and last year about 90 artworks featured at Karragarra fire shed.
The continuing growth is evident this year, with about 120 paintings, priced from $15 to $4800, to go on show at Russell Island Recreation Hall.
The exhibition will open on Thursday night, November 20, and daily until Monday morning. Cindy’s portrait by Lamb Island painter Joan Seal features at each annual exhibition, which raises funds for Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.

'Flair for hair' meets 'passion for fashion'

THE publishing trade has found a great use for at least one of the elements of its four-colour production system after sister and brother Mimma and Frank Fazio this year decided to go into a business partnership.
Stocks of magenta ink must have shrunk to make all the pink that the Fazios have splashed around in relation to their venture, Sassy B Hair and Fashion, at Birkdale.

THE pair even helped brighten up the Classifieds with a big burst of pink when recruiting a hairdresser for their "Funky New Salon", which catches eyes at Aquatic Paradise Shopping Centre.
Mimma says she and Frank are proud of the salon’s focus on "young colours and crazy hair styles" and its success since opening on July 1.
"I have been working in state and federal government departments for about 25 years and Frank is a sales manager in the construction industry," she says.
"We talked about going into a business partnership and had a busy couple of months after finally deciding upon a salon.
"We had to fit out the premises for the use, and a lot of the family gave us a lot of help."

MIMMA and Frank grew up at Annerley. She now lives at Mt Gravatt and Frank with his wife Joanne at Birkdale.
"Joanne is a hairdresser and gave us the inspiration for the salon," Mimma says. "We are lucky that she still has time to help out although she is involved in other things.’’
The "face of the Sassy B" is Frank and Joanne’s niece, Tarr-a Cowsell, as senior hairdresser and manager. Mimma says that after the recruitment campaign Tarr-a now has the company of another young and lively hairdresser, Talia.

THE fashion side of the business uses the effort that Mimma put into building connections in the jewellery industry while she was on leave from the public service.
She says she sources ‘everyday’, stirling silver and gemstone jewellery from "all over the country" to meet the demand from those wanting "something a little bit different".
"It comes from Indonesia, India, Peru and a bunch of other places," Mimma says. "When someone (a customer) sees something they like I can tell them it’s highly unlikely they could ever find another piece exactly the same."
Mimma emphasises, however, that fashion retail will always come second to hair at Sassy B.

DAPHNE Parnell, of Victoria Point, says her husband Ed’s century-old workbench (Classie Corner, October 24) did not sell for the advertised $40 but found a new home, still in their family. Her son-in-law, Paul Tuckwood, has collected the bench, which originally was a gift to Ed from his grandfather.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

'Rat of Tobruk' celebrates 90th birthday

Image of the Rats of Tobruk from wikipedia.

ONE word stands out in the sea of type that washes up people’s hopes, dreams and memories from each edition of the Classifieds.
"Thanks", as a listing category, keeps its purity despite the Classifieds’ general focus on buying and selling, and it draws at least as many eyes as the best commercial sales pitches.
With German in a "very complicated" family tree, Ian Busst could almost have said "danke" in his notice thanking the Coochiemudlo Island community for "a wonderful afternoon party … in the Recreation Hall".
The party celebrated his 90th birthday, October 3.
Ian well knows the German word for "thanks". He says his surname is the maiden name of his German-born grandmother.
However, his family did not embrace her national culture. He grew up during the Great Depression on Sydney’s North Shore and as a teenager found work on the Victorian hay, wheat and oats fields.

IN October 1939, Ian registered to enlist in the army. "I was five foot five and a half (166 centimetres, tall); you had to be five foot six," he says.
"They said to me, ‘You finish the harvest and come back.’ The hay was important. I was working 12 hours a day. We did it all with forks and horses and carts.
"When I went back at the end of February, he (enlisting officer) said, ‘You are so fit and you’ve grown that half an inch."
Sapper Busst served in the 6th Division as one of the Rats of Tobruk.
"Danke" became part of his vocabulary when he spent about four years as a prisoner of war in Italy and Germany.
It was often heard as he used cigarettes to barter with his captors for extras such as white bread and sugar and privileges.
Ian’s five escapes between April 1941 and May ’45 have been documented in his book, My Experiences as a Prisoner of War, and were summarised in The Redland Times preview of the birthday bash.

THE experiences undoubtedly rated at least a mention here and there as about 75 guests celebrated his life.
Ian has become a pillar of the island community and has received commendations for voluntary work.
After the war, he devoted his life to farm work in Victoria, despite a troublesome injury in 1952, when a bale fell from a trailer and hit his back.
He moved north to the island about seven years ago.
Ian’s experience tells him that fear is the greatest enemy and his lively personality certainly looks that demon straight in the eye.

Thanks for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.