My Evening Standard Blog- Sydney v. Dubai - more similar than meets the eyeI'm typing this on a dusty, wobbling morning in Dubai, on my way from Sydney to NYC where I'll be working on assignment for the Daily Mail for a while. As the plane pushed through a hazier sky than any I remember (is desert dust any different to ash clouds?), I had a familiar feeling, first compounded when I landed in India years ago: any fool can […]
- An unlikely pair: Sydney Film Festival and small barsThanks to an unfortunately sprained ankle, I had the good fortune to fall in line for a free ticket to a sold-out Sydney Film Festival viewing on Tuesday night. The movie, which I'd never heard of, was Even the Rain, or, in its native Spanish, Tambien La Lluvia. It was a pleasure to watch - absolutely entertaining, raw, brilliant and visceral. The beaut […]
- From Tax to TEDx - Sydney's week that wasThere's a helluva brouhaha over here at the moment, centred around Cate Blanchett's cameo role in a recent ad that encourages Aussies to support Julia Gillard's oh-so-controversial Carbon Tax. Not only has poor old Cate waded into a (too) highly politicised slinging match, but she has walked into another great Aussie stickler: the tall poppy/c […]
- Gill v Bourdain at the Sydney Writers' FestivalNow, I'm not one for fisticuffs but when I see something advertised as "Food Fighters", I want to see a fight. Of sorts. So you will understand my disappointment when, last week, this lacklustre Sydney Writers' Festival chaired session puttered to a weak little close, the previously buoyed punters around me affecting a collective shrug in […]
- Sydney v. Dubai - more similar than meets the eye
The shower scene // 1 June 2012
She stood, letting the steam envelop her, hearing the drumming of the hot water thunder in her ears, watching as heavy drops, almost solid in their purpose, slammed onto the stone floor, smashing and shattering around her legs. Warm puddles collected on the terracotta tiles, her suntanned feet pale against their burnt depth. Her pink … Read more
280 women playing netball // 29 May 2012
I have never seen anything like it before. This must be what a culture shock feels like. 280 women are prancing across 20 netball courts, acres of spandex flying, garish streaks of colour flashing across the pock-marked surface like an unsettled rainbow vomiting. Tippy-toes and wobbling thighs, high ponytails and, inexplicably, socks pulled up. A … Read more
Tax, tutors and the government’s lack of balls // 21 May 2012
Where are all the strong, young Aussies fighting for a better future? I profess to knowing much about little and very little, especially, about macro-economics, federal policy and the Australian dream. But I find that I am increasingly at odds with the strangely, no, criminally backward approaches that Australia is taking when it comes to … Read more
Mrs Taylor’s Cs // 14 May 2012
She doesn’t know how she went from drawing a row of Cs on the board to saying it: Have you ever been truly let down by someone you loved? It hurts so much, I can vouch for it. The children look up at her. They don’t understand why she has a tear in her eye. … Read more
MailOnline, the last 8 or so months // 11 May 2012
It’s taken a while to get ’round to compiling the second of my inventories from my time at MailOnline in NYC. Here is my August to March stint, detailing hundreds and hundreds of features, all written by me (even where bylines may not hint at it)… Productivity levels were evidently teetering towards Mach Five status … Read more
Paul Simon and a heart // 8 May 2012
Losing love is like a window in your heart… said Paul Simon Sounds breezy, sounds exposed Bugger it, I’ll go to Graceland too! I’ll take Barbara. We’ll bounce together, we’ll blow together I can explain, she said I wake up with a grown man’s fist squeezing my heart ’til the only thing that helps is … Read more
The rise of local guiding, CNN // 3 May 2012
Read my latest for CNN here. Or, here… The rise of ‘local guiding’ How travelers are turning to real locals over tour agencies to get the most out of their trip By Daisy Dumas 23 April, 2012 At the risk of offending professional travel agents, I’m going to ask: has your time gone? From Tripbod.com … Read more
On the arts // 1 May 2012
I’ve been thinking a bit about dance since watching the wonderful, deeply moving documentary, Life In Movement, about the too-short life of dancer and choreographer, Tanja Liedke. As alien as professional dance is to me, movement and music are within us all – even those with two left feet – I am sure. Just watching … Read more
POTUS and FLOTUS, I miss you // 26 April 2012
They are the coolest couple in America. Or at the very least, the coolest couple to grace the ever-multiplying pages of the MailOnline. Barack and Michelle Obama, I miss you. I always loved writing about you – and articles focusing on you together are far more fun to put together than those simply looking at … Read more
