Michael Gorey

A copy of the CD Québec arrived at the office last week. I normally pass music samples onto the young reporters, but this looked like something I might enjoy listening to.
That turned out to be the case. Released by Putumayo World Music, Québec is a 400th anniversary celebration in honor of the French-speaking Canadian city.
Drawn [...]

I was sorry to hear that George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman series, died this week at the age of 82.
I’ve read all the Flashman books and I had hoped there were more to come. As described neatly in The Age:
“Flashman, published in 1969, imagined Harry Flashman, the bullying schoolboy of 19th-century classic Tom [...]

Margaret has her first dancing concert next Saturday.
She has been attending dance lessons for most of this year and the concert will be the grand finale.
I went along to watch the girls practice several weeks ago and it’s quite a sight.
I’ve got no idea how the instructor manages to maintain the attention of 20 [...]

I took the twins to see Dorothy the Dinosaur’s Dance Party today at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall. (more…)

Something prompted me to think this morning about Australian sayings which are no longer in common usage.
He’s got Buckley’s hope
Owes its origins to convict William Buckley who landed with David Collins’ expedition to found a settlement on Westernport Bay in Victoria. Buckley escaped, the settlement was abandoned and he spent the next 32 years living [...]

I have crossed the Nullarbor and arrived in Kalgoorlie. Crossing the Nullarbor is like a rite of passage for many Australians. You’re not fair dinkum until you’ve done it.
I was happy to revisit Ceduna after an absence of 14 years. South Australia’s Mid North, Eyre Peninsula and Far West are fascinating for their history. There [...]

Reading Delmer’s comment about the Ashes reinforced to me how insular Australia and the United States are when it comes to sport.
The reality is that most countries of the world are soccer mad. It’s played everywhere and is the main spectator sport in most countries as well. The only places where it isn’t the most [...]

It’s politically incorrect to question multiculturalism. I don’t worry about that, but I recognise that we can’t turn back the clock and change what’s occurred over several decades.
I do think it’s reasonable though to ponder if current tensions in Australia, and more particularly in Britain, would exist if our demographic composition had remained as it [...]

Conviction by Richard North Patterson is a powerful and disturbing book about truth, justice and the American way.

It poses more questions than it answers, incisively exposing the flawed
legal system in the United States, where elected judges care more for
public opinion than justice.

It tells the story of a semi-retarded black man, Rennell Price, who is
convicted with [...]

The Victorian Government required all local councils to adopt codes of conduct by January 31, 2004. Alpine Shire has recently advertised a draft code of governance, including a code of conduct, for public comment.
I’m very concerned about the draft document and its focus on undermining democratic conventions, particularly the right of public scrutiny.
If people are [...]