by NRB | 25 Sep 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
Deadlines and commitments – what to leave in, what to leave out. – Bob Seger All my life I’ve had a horror of deadlines for written work. At university I made a point of always getting essays in on time or earlier. Even in the year I changed from Pass to Honours and...
by NRB | 18 Sep 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
For many people a geographical shift from Melbourne to Sydney would be enough to last a lifetime but it wasn’t so for Jean and me. In our time together we have made several such moves, some of even greater distances – such as from the Illawarra to an island in Moreton...
by NRB | 11 Sep 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
It’s been a tumultuous year in the AFL, marked tragically by the death of recently appointed Adelaide coach Phil Walsh before he had the chance to put his stamp on the team. This sad event was handled with great dignity and respect by the AFL as a whole and by all...
by NRB | 4 Sep 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I’ve been reading, or rather having read to me via Audible, the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels. The temptation when writing about Holmes is to fall into the manner and cadences of his biographer Dr John Watson. If I were to do this I’d write something like: The...
by NRB | 28 Aug 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
If people of my generation, those of us who tuned in to popular music, were asked what was their favourite Bob Dylan song, I expect there’d be at least 20 nominations, maybe more. The early protest songs would register with many people, and then the breakthrough into...
by NRB | 21 Aug 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I remember some years ago seeing a snatch of John Denver in concert. At the end of a song he opened his arms and said to the adoring audience, ‘He sings, he plays, he dances.’ He performed a few steps. ‘But can he juggle?’ Someone offstage threw him three balls and he...
by NRB | 14 Aug 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
Some time ago I wrote a column about how my defective eyesight had pushed me first to big print books and then to e-books where I could blow up the font on my e-reader. This was a great boon and by 2014 all 40 or so books I read that year were e-books. Unfortunately,...
by NRB | 7 Aug 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
A couple of technologies employed by writers and journalists, and thought highly of at the time, have become obsolete in my lifetime. One that comes to mind is the facsimile, which was cheaper and less complicated than earlier forms of transmission like the telex....
by NRB | 31 Jul 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I love a good limerick. Recently I cooked up a couple for two of my grandsons: There once was a boy named Vin Who suddenly became very thin His mum said, ‘Eat more ‘Or you’ll feel very sore ‘When your bones start to poke through your skin.’ And: There once was a boy...
by NRB | 24 Jul 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
AFL players, and footballers in general, are not known for their wit and bons mots. An exception is Chris Judd, recently retired Carlton midfielder and former captain of the West Coast Eagles. Judd won many awards in his 279-game career. An all-rounder in every sense,...
by NRB | 17 Jul 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I wrote in a previous column about my love of historical novels but, while scanning the History channel in search of something to watch, I realised with a new clarity that my passion has always been for the subject of history itself – the events and people of the...
by NRB | 10 Jul 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
The Olympic Games were held in Melbourne in November 1956 and I attended one session. I can’t remember how I managed this. I know I went after school because my student rail pass was involved; there must have been a concession for students and it must have been cheap...