On grief and being newly grandparent-less

Grief is weird. Thankfully I had very little exposure to it until my mid-20s, but it’s always managed to surprise. Its reality hits you at the most unexpected moments, like going to call the person, only to realise you’d need a very powerful phone to reach them, or hearing a song, or just hearing an …

Dancing in the dark

Tonight I went to a place where the dancing only starts when the disco ball disappears and the lights go out... THE year is 1998. Careless in the throes of youth, you dance around the lounge room as Saturday morning’s Rage plays the bubblegum pop hits that defined the decade as substantially as grunge. While …

Maths-metal and streaking: Hottest 100 vote lobbying’s shaky history

THIS month, many of my friends, relatives, complete strangers and I have been asked to make a very important decision; one that could change the course of history. There’s also a state election on. I speak, of course, of the decision whether or not to follow the social media push to force Taylor Swift's "Shake …

I didn’t choose the evil bird collector life

THE collection started with a simple request: find me something tacky for less than $2 at a Paddington op shop. It was 2011 and I was so very, very sheltered when it came to the world of avian ornamentals. So when my friend returned back to college with what has since been dubbed “The Evil …

A very Australian response to an unusual crime

YESTERDAY was not the day “we changed forever”; the perpetrator of the hideous crime doesn’t deserve to affect the country in such a major way. Far from a day of change, yesterday was a day when the best and worst aspects of our national character were on show. For the most part, compassion, decency, community …

Why are phone hacking victims and nude photo hacking victims treated so differently?

WHEN ‘journalists’ were caught hacking phones for stories, there was public outrage. When hackers stole the account details of 77 million PlayStation users, there was widespread anger at the perpetrators and serious questions for Sony about its security systems. When hackers stole sexually explicit images of female celebrities there was… victim-blaming. Three cases of hacking, …

Guardians of the Galaxy: the 21st century Star Wars film fans wanted

YES, I’ve come late to the ‘ZOMG Guardians of the Galaxy’ party. Yes, this bandwagon is so laden with comic and sci-fi geeks that the horses are struggling to move and the wheels are threatening to collapse. Yes, jokes in sets of three are becoming a really tired writing trope. But please, grant me this …