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WESTWARD HO

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  It’s hard to describe the western suburbs of Sydney. I’ve been living here for over thirty five years and generating an accurate profile of what life’s like in the Red Rooster compound of Sin City is as difficult now as it ever has been. Sydney’s sprawling nature gives the west a large stomping ground in terms of area and, up till now, the main limiting force has been the Blue Mountains. While it might not have the population of Los Angeles, Sydney does have the turf. And because of this size, portrait painting is problematic. A couple of weeks ago, I was walking around Merrylands and filling in a few hours of my retirement time allocation geared towards social interactions. It’s part of my current therapy. What surprises me about Merrylands’ shops is the diversity of punters. It’s always had this feature but it takes direct contact to really feel it…. and I don’t do that enough. The increasing number of Afghani nosheries along the Merrylands Road strip is typic...
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JUST A SUBURBAN BOY

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    The suburbs of Sydney have always been my home. To be a bit more precise, the western suburbs of Sin City are where I’ve kicked up a lot of dust. The closest I’ve come to an inner city postcode was in 1979 when I briefly lived at Darlington just behind Sydney Uni. But over the course of sixty years, my digs have also included Ashfield, Abbotsford, Haberfield, Auburn, Kellyville, Box Hill, McGraths Hill, Merrylands North, Merrylands and, finally, Greystanes. By far the two longest serving base headquarters have been at Abbotsford (for about twenty five years when I was growing up) and here at the ranch in busy Greystanes (for just over thirty years). I’m still not sure whether I’ve fulfilled all the requirements for displaying a mullet but, if I had hair, you’d think that most of the other crucial dot points would be ticked. The west is where I hang around and it’s where I usually have. That’s not to say that what is actually meant by the ‘western suburbs’ moni...
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FIFTY SHADES OF GREYSTANES

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It was as if we were being drawn together by some magnetic force. Joe was a bogan by day and a brute in those few fleeting moments we had shared in darkness next to the Seven-eleven around closing time.   As our lips almost touched, I could detect the faint aroma of pastizzi on his breath and I knew that this was what 'forever' looked like.   'Irma', he grunted, 'I'll treat you like a precious piece of porcelain. You're not like those other capri-panted matrons.'   Our embrace was interrupted by a large appliance meandering down a side street. It was garbage night.
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MERRYLANDS

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MERRYLANDS (Dated 8 August 2015)    It's amazing what you miss when you're not looking. Let me explain. I had to run a few errands down at Merrylands today so I rolled out the Mazda and headed for Main Street Central. Now I'm not a frequent visitor to the shops at Merrylands as I normally only use the joint as a parking spot before catching the train to the city. But my mission was to roam around Stockland Mall and various establishments up on Merrylands Road. What immediately struck me as I walked was the huge diversity of people doing exactly the same thing as me. And there were lots of these people who looked different to me.......... in terms of attire, height, gender, skin colour and waist measurements..... maybe other defining criteria too, which I now can't think of. I must admit that I have noticed this before on my infrequent visits to Merrylands but certainly not to the extent that I witnessed today. As an aside, I don't think t...
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MY CITY OF SYDNEY

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   URBAN FILTRATION (The emotional exposition) The Sirius building situation in The Rocks is bloody dreadful. For a city that is rapidly increasing the amount of residential floor space within its boundaries and boasting about such development, it seems very odd that an already established residential complex has been tagged for demolition. The Sirius building is no small animal. It features heaps of units and some of them enjoy fabulous views over Circular Quay and beyond.   But the residents of this building aren't movers and shakers and certainly don't deserve to bask in this sought after locality. Many of these 'untouchables' attract rental assistance and are on social welfare. How dare they? The fact that some are elderly and have lived there for decades is irrelevant. The fact that they're the remnants of a town planning initiative from forty years ago that valued a diversity of punters who inhabit our fair city has been conveniently forgotten....
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GREYSTANES

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    GREYSTANES     Must admit that I'm still gnashing my teeth over Greystanes' poor showing in the Domain suburb ratings from last week. Surrounding hubs such as Merrylands, Blacktown and Wentworthville all ranked much higher and it certainly forces one to contemplate the old navel.   I have a few suggestions that might launch Greystanes in an upwards trajectory in any future suburban stoushes, namely,   1. Otto bins should be taken out onto the streets well before garbage collection time. None of these last minute 'bin bolts' must occur. It's a very bad 'look'. 2. There should be an immediate and indefinite moratorium on the wearing of capri pants, track suits and hoodies. 3. Cheap wine, classic rock and reality TV viewing need to become features of our ugly past.......... not the present.   However, none of these ideas should take away from the essential 'bogan' nature of our fair suburb. The washing does dry quicker he...
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