Podcasts about potts point

Originally from Adelaide, Chris Rendell grew up in Melbourne and started chef life as an apprentice under Robert Castellani at Carmine's before heading to Sydney and working for Neil Perry at the Rock Pool Group's Star Grill and then at Christine Manfield's iconic The Paramount in Potts Point. After four years in London working with David Thompson, as well as at Sugar Club, The Grocer of Elgin and the Mews of Mayfair, Chris spent 16 years in the States as a chef at legendary New York restaurant Public, and was the founder of Flinders Lane. Now Chris is based in Auckland and is group executive chef for Savor Group, overseeing 20 venues there. As if he hasn't got enough going on, he has teamed up with Only Hospitality Group to develop the menu for revamped Hawthorn pub, The Beehive on the corner of Barkers Road and Church Street. With a rich history dating back to 1855, the building has been around for nearly 200 years. After The Beehive's original closure 15 years ago, it moonlighted as restaurants Serafina and Butcher and Vine. And if you're wondering how the local gem got its title in 1882, what's now Barkers Road in Hawthorn was originally Beehive Road. Long-time hospitality partners and mates Julien Moussi and Tony Pantano welcome locals and beyond to the beloved watering hole, honouring its old-world charm to ensure people feel right at home. Both regulars at the pub throughout their twenties, The Beehive holds a lot of nostalgia for the local duo – a sentiment shared by many growing up in Hawthorn and surrounds. With Chris overseeing the menu, expect pub classics done very well like parmas, a signature cheeseburger and steak night, as well as some more fancy offerings like the wood fired focaccia with whipped parmesan and the grilled spatchcock with salsa verde.

Does Sydney have theatres to spare? On this episode of The Sydneyist podcast Elizabeth Farrelly is talking with Duncan McNab about saving the historic Art Deco Metro-Minerva theatre in Sydney’s Potts Point. [...]Read More... from Murdering Minerva

A slightly shorter but more pointed podcast this week as Sue reports on plans to demolish two affordable-rent apartment blocks and replace them with one luxury block with fewer, but presumably high-end apartments.It's another potential blow to the supply of affordable housing in desirable areas. City of Sydney have said “no” so the developers have appealed to the Land and Environment Court (LEC)– which held a kerbside hearing outside the site, the other day. Apparently there are half a dozen other blocks of affordable homes in the Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay area – all marked for gentrification, and we've just heard it's happening in Bondi too.Now we know why there aren't enough materials or skilled workers to build enough affordable apartment blocks – they're all working on luxury pads for the privileged few while reducing the number of available homes.Meanwhile Jimmy has taken serious umbrage at a report in the SMH Domain section which is a typical “neighbours from Hell” yarn. Which is all very well, but it's not even here in Oz and, he says, gives a completely false (and predictably biased) impression of living in apartments.And finally, on her way back from the LEC hearing, Sue chanced upon a vivid example of how hard it is to find somewhere affordable to rent in Sydney.That's all in this week's Flat Chat Wrap. ____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Gavin sits down with Jason Boon to discuss his journey from falling into real estate to becoming one of Australia's top agents. Jason shares stories from his early career working as an assistant, the lessons he learned along the way, and the unique approach he took to build his business and brand. 0:00-5:00 - Jason's start in real estate and early career5:00-10:00 - Lessons from his time as John McGraw's assistant 10:00-15:00 - His approach to dominating Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay15:00-20:00 - Personal growth and shifts in mindset 20:00-25:00 - Transitioning to marketing himself over chasing leads25:00-30:00 - A memorable client experience with contrasting personalities30:00-35:00 - Building his team through loyalty over many years 35:00-40:00 - Balancing business and family as he got olderSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever wondered if real estate agents put their money where their mouth is when it comes to property investment? Join us as we peel back the curtain on our own three-decade journey in the industry — not just selling homes but investing in them with fervor. We'll take you from my youthful aspirations of flipping studio apartments in Potts Point to our current, diverse investment strategies that prove there's no one-size-fits-all approach. Our candid chat reveals some unexpected outcomes, like that two-bedroom apartment with harbor views that didn't shine as brightly in the investment portfolio as we thought it would. We're here to share the lessons we've learned from both sides of the property game, seasoned with insights from our clients, and spiced up with our own bold ventures into the market.In our heart-to-heart, we dissect the art of property purchasing and investment, shining a spotlight on the charm of older blocks in prime locations like Freshwater. We'll talk strategies, from stretching your finances to seeing past the dreaded Strata Reports. Discover the hidden gems in property investment, such as the appeal of one-bedroom apartments with just a tad more space, and how they can command rents comparable to two-beds. And, as we reminisce about our affection for 1970s red brick buildings, we'll offer a gentle reminder about the importance of budgeting for those unexpected upgrades. As questions flow in from our live audience, we're opening the floor to real-time insights and advice, making this an interactive guide for anyone eager to navigate the property investment landscape.

Clive has lived and breathed Hair for his whole career. Travelling around the globe from London, to Hong Kong. Australia to LA. His career exploded phenomenally throughout the 90's and 00's and he relocated to Los Angeles as the Global Director of KMS. On his return to Australia, with his now wife Jane, Clive has owned his salon "Our Place" in Sydneys exclusive Potts Point, with business partner Kelly for 10 years. Now celebrating over 4 years of sobriety, Clive shares his raw and brutally honest account of his life. He explains his years of struggles with addiction and how it effected his whole life, his health, his beloved family and prompted his friends to intervene several times. Now an avid ocean swimmer, Clive is a passionate advocate for the sober life and all the positive benefits he has experienced since starting his journey to recovery. 

Apartments are rapidly becoming the dwelling of choice for a majority of people in some of the key locations across the nation. More and more people are opting to buy apartments and other types of attached dwellings because of the low maintenance lifestyle and/or the lower buy-in prices. Right now, the strongest markets in our biggest cities are the inner-city areas where apartments dominate the residential real estate scene. All this is graphically illustrated in the new Spring 2023 edition of The Price Predictor Index, which analyses buyer demand for all the major suburbs and towns across Australia. This report finds that the strongest market precinct in the Greater Sydney area, right now, is the City of Sydney LGA, which encompasses the Sydney CBD and near-City suburbs like Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay and Darlinghurst. Indeed, we rank the City of Sydney as our National Growth Star, the strongest municipality for buyer demand in Australia.

Andrew Hamilton was a PR young-gun with a bright future, he also owned a high-profile pizza shop in Potts Point. From the outside everything looked great. But underneath it all Andrew had a secret life as one of Sydney's biggest magic mushroom dealers, and his gambling and drug addictions were running rampant. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ah, the perils of trusting poll predictions immediately after an election.  While Labor have definitely won and Chris Minns is definitely the new Premier of NSW, the balance of power is still in doubt (at time of writing).Does that mean that the Greens have regained considerable influence – something that we say in the podcast has slipped through their fingers? Apparently not.A couple of independents have spiked their guns on that front.  In any case, the basic issues we take up in the podcast remain – rents, housing availability, short-term letting, embedded networks and dispute resolution.By the way, if you are reading this in Victoria and Queensland, apologies for being Sydney-centric this week. But the truth is that whatever happens here often follows changes in Victoria – like the ban on no-cause rental terminations – or Queensland, like the curbs on proxy farming.And, of course, ideas flow in the other direction too with proposed changes to Queensland's rental laws having been trialled in other states.Meanwhile, back in the pod, with John Ibrahim and James Packer both getting involved in apartment development in Sydney's Potts Point, we indulge in a fantasy “who would you invite to dinner?”What it might be like if those two larger-than-life characters sat down with Building Commissioner David Chandler, we muse? It would be entertaining, if nothing else, a claim we often make about our podcast.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

On this week's Studio 1, Matthew has lunch with Vision Australia Radio's semi-tame celebrity chef Tony Broun. Matthew Layton and Sam Rickard present Studio 1 - Vision Australia Radio's weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view. This week: After three years of working together Matthew and Tony Broun finally get to meet and break bread with each other. This fly-on-the-wall-style show begins with Tony welcoming Matthew and his family into his beautiful treasure trove of an apartment in Sydney's King's Cross - or, as it's now known, Potts Point. Tony then takes the Laytons for a tour of his beloved neighbourhood pointing out the sites of all the former of scandal and intrigue. Then Tony takes everyone for a rather lovely lunch at his favourite restaurant - The Macleay Street Bistro. Please get in touch with the show, whether you have experience of any of the issues covered in this episode of Studio 1 or if you think there's something we should be talking about. You never know your story and your insight may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar. – CALL or TEXT: 04 500 78834 EMAIL: studio1@visionaustralia.org    TWITTER: http://twitter.com/varadionetwork and http://twitter.com/whingeingpom   – [PHOTO CAPTION: The wonderful Tony Broun beaming infectiously. And no wonder! He is seated at a table at The Macleay Street Bistro about to tuck into a rather delicious-looking plate of fresh oysters.] Vision Australia gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio 1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My trip so far: https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=142282, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=142279 I'm flew into Sydney Thursday afternoon. My… just asked what is my aussie tax id # so he can employ me in manual labor. I told about him about the riches that come from my emotional revelations on Youtube. Burn! I'm not flying to Australia for two months to work. I'm flying to Australia for two months to journal about my feelings while eating mangos and watching cricket. I don't think I've fully unpacked my deepest yearnings yet. Stay tuned! OTOH, if John Updike could write about azaleas, maybe this seminal blogger could broaden his perspective from himself to other forms of life. It's my first time in Australia since June of 2014 and my first time in Sydney since June 1985. Not bad with an Australian passport 30 years out of date! Aussie customs held back for half an hour to verify my citizenship and I got told if I wanted to come again without a visa, I needed to get an up to date Aussie passport. https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=142282 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Cross,_New_South_Wales "Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is bounded by the suburbs of Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay and Darlinghurst.[1] Colloquially known as The Cross, the area was once known for its music halls and grand theatres. It was rapidly transformed after World War II by the influx of troops returning and visiting from the nearby Garden Island naval base. It became known as Sydney's night entertainment and red-light district; however, many nightclubs, bars and adult entertainment venues closed due to the Sydney lockout laws.[2] Today, it is a mixed locality offering services such as a railway station, gyms, supermarkets and bakeries as well as entertainment venues including bars, restaurants, nightclubs, brothels and strip clubs." I'm ready to move to Sydney. I can't believe the quality of life here. I'm making a list of pros and cons for leaving Los Angeles and staying down under. It's my first time in Australia since June of 2014 and my first time in Sydney since June 1985. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House "The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the banks of the Sydney Harbour, it is often regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th century architecture.[3][4] Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, but completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973[5] after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The Government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation."

MEET DR PETER DAYMAN Dr Peter has worked in Potts Point for 25 years. He returns after an 18 month sabbatical, working and teaching in the country. Peter is an experienced and passionate dentist who has spent his career educating other dentists and educating himself in the art and science of his profession... Enjoy as Dr Laurence Doan chats with Dr Peter Dayman __________________________________________________________________________________ Use the most-comprehensive Australian Dental CPD Directory to find your next CPD course on: www.cpdjunkie.com.au Check out the full video & audio ep on www.cpdjunkie.com.au/podcast LISTEN ON: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/cpd-junkie-podcast/id1581705053 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/5f4m6eflAX9GBmYYo039uU PODBEAN: https://feed.podbean.com/cpdjunkiepodcast/feed.xml ___________________________________________________________________________________ Music: Dreams - Bensound | Support by RFM - NCM #dentalCPD #dentistry #australiandentist #dentistryaustralia #dentalCE #continuingeducation #photography #radiology #prosthodontics #implants #endodontics #sleepapnoea #aestheticdentistry #oralsurgery #orthodontics #2021events #dental #dentalschool #dentistrystudent #australia #sydney #melbourne #dentalevents #dentaleventsaustralia #dentaleducation _________________________________________ DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY OF THE CPD JUNKIE EXCLUSIVE ANTERIOR COMPOSITE RESTORATION CHEAT SHEET BY RENOWNED AESTHETIC DENTIST DR. CLARENCE TAM https://www.cpdjunkie.com.au/aestheticscheatsheet/

MEET DR PETER DAYMAN Dr Peter has worked in Potts Point for 25 years. He returns after an 18 month sabbatical, working and teaching in the country. Peter is an experienced and passionate dentist who has spent his career educating other dentists and educating himself in the art and science of his profession... Enjoy as Dr Laurence Doan chats with Dr Peter Dayman __________________________________________________________________________________ Use the most-comprehensive Australian Dental CPD Directory to find your next CPD course on: www.cpdjunkie.com.au Check out the full video & audio ep on www.cpdjunkie.com.au/podcast LISTEN ON: APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/cpd-junkie-podcast/id1581705053 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/5f4m6eflAX9GBmYYo039uU PODBEAN: https://feed.podbean.com/cpdjunkiepodcast/feed.xml ___________________________________________________________________________________ Music: Dreams - Bensound | Support by RFM - NCM #dentalCPD #dentistry #australiandentist #dentistryaustralia #dentalCE #continuingeducation #photography #radiology #prosthodontics #implants #endodontics #sleepapnoea #aestheticdentistry #oralsurgery #orthodontics #2021events #dental #dentalschool #dentistrystudent #australia #sydney #melbourne #dentalevents #dentaleventsaustralia #dentaleducation _________________________________________ DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY OF THE CPD JUNKIE EXCLUSIVE ANTERIOR COMPOSITE RESTORATION CHEAT SHEET BY RENOWNED AESTHETIC DENTIST DR. CLARENCE TAM https://www.cpdjunkie.com.au/aestheticscheatsheet/

This week, we chat with the owner of the luxury boutique store Becker Minty - Jason Minty.Becker Minty is THE go-to store for glamorous and eclectic homewares and art in Sydney. We describe his store as going on a treasure hunt, there are so many goodies you can't resist!Jason has an interesting story, he studied abroad in China, was a flight attendant for Qantas before changing paths to opening a boutique store in Potts Point.Jason has an exceptional eye for curating unique pieces and then introducing them to the Australian market.. A great example is Kelly Wearstler's homewares range, need we say more!It's why interior designers and stylists flock to his store and art opening to see what homewares and art he is showcasing next. His passion to find eclectic and luxury pieces instead of stocking the same as other stores is a key factor to his success.Jason tells us about his journey of being a store owner during the GFC, the current pandemic and how he manages to get through it and thrive, plus what's next.Thank you to KING for supporting this series of House of Style. You can follow KING on Instagram at @kingliving and shop online at www.kingliving.com For more info and inspiration, head to our Instagram @houseofstylepodcast Check out the KING Life Through Design Journal for more ideas and check out how we've style some KING pieces in our own homes.Thanks to @these.walls for the beautiful wallpaper in our cover art.

Isn't it fascinating how life works out? A week ago Garry commented that the view doesn't change much from behind the desk, and the same reigns true for this week after he was teased with a trip to Los Angeles that came crashing down due to a surprise COVID infection. Jack and John hold the fort for a podcast that jumps from Garry's apartment in Potts Point, to a "red light district" Novotel hostel in Geneva with Nick & James.  We then answer your questions from BH HQ to finish. Enjoy.

What exactly is an immersive experience and how can it elevate a classic text? That's the question we put to Beth Daly on today's podcast! Beth has been a part of the theatrical scene for years and crossed multiple mediums of performing, including street performance, television (All Saints, Water Rats), stage (Rules for Living, Jasper Jones, Away) and musical theatre (A New Brain, Fiddler on the Roof, Cry Baby, The Bridges of Madison County, Footloose). Now, Beth is directing a new Immersive Experience of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby which is set to inhabit the Wonderland Bar in Potts Point. We go through the history of The Great Gatsby from its humble origins, through to its literary acclaim and its many adaptations up to Viral Ventures newest immersive take on the text. The audience inhabits the character of Nick Carraway, as he tells a tragic love story. Midwest native Nick arrives in 1922 New York in search of the American dream. A would-be writer, he moves in next-door to millionaire Jay Gatsby and across the bay from his cousin Daisy and her philandering husband, Tom. Nick becomes drawn into the captivating world of the wealthy and, as he bears witness to their illusions and deceits, pens a tale of impossible love, dreams, and tragedy. A fable of the Jazz Age, of enchantment and illusion, of a world where love and dreams are pursued and betrayed, this immersive adaption of the much-loved story has been created to blur the boundaries of conventional theatre. It will allow audiences to explore and immerse themselves into the world of The Great Gatsby through a choose-your-own-adventure-style production that will make everyone's experience personal and unique. Led by an ensemble of brilliantly talented Australian actors, GREAT GATSBY will offer audiences the opportunity to experience the story of Gatsby as they have never seen it before. Expect secret rendezvous, dramatic confrontations, bootleg gin and a party that only Gatsby could throw. SEASON DETAILS Venue:  Wonderland Bar (formerly The World Bar), 24 Bayswater Road, Potts Point Season: 18 February – 26 June 2022 Performance times:  Tues-Fri 7pm, Sat-Sun 2pm and 7pm Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes Price: $75-85 Bookings: explorehidden.com ---------------------------- TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PODCAST! We are asking our listeners to take part in a short survey to provide us feedback on our episodes so far! It would be SO APPRECIATED if you took the time to complete this survey honestly so we can improve our podcast for YOU! Without you, we have no podcast. We'd like to know what you have loved, what you think works, and what you feel doesn't. We'd also like to know what you'd like to hear on future episodes! Fill out the short survey HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who knew steak frites travelled so well? That's what Pete Curcuruto found out when his restaurant turned to delivery only in the peak of COVID. Gary Mehigan speaks with Pete on how he brought an authentic French bistro experience to Australia, what inspired the restaurant, and how his locals have embraced the venue through the pandemic and beyond. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The year is 1927.  Sydney is in a post-war party that's been raging on for almost a decade. The suburb of Darlinghurst is the beating heart of it all, and the surrounding areas of Kings Cross, Potts Point, Woolloomoloo and Surry Hills are slums of debauchery, crime and vices. It's an underworld run by two rival crime queens. Kate Leigh and Tilly Divine.  In an effort to stamp out excessive alcohol consumption, pubs have shut at 6pm since 1916, giving rise to what they call the six o'clock swill - where punters attempt to drink as much as they can in the final minutes before 6, before being tossed out of the pub. Thirsty working-class Sydneysiders have the money and appetite for more. So the sly-grog business is born. Unlicensed hotels and liquor-stores are concealed behind butcher shops and florists. There's one on every corner and chances are, if you're somewhere in East Sydney, Kate Leigh supplied the Sly Grog you're drinking.  As you sip that over-priced, watered down whiskey, you're probably no more than a stone's throw from one of Tilly Devine's parlours. The London born madam has a gift for acquiring brothels. She's just 26 and controls some 20 brothels in Darlinghurst alone.  Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine have a stranglehold on their respective businesses, but in a city of sin, with egos like theirs, blood will spill over and over again for control of the streets of Darlinghurst, or Razorhurst as it's about to become known. CREDITS Host: Emma Gillespie Guests: Larry Writer& Leigh Straw Producer: Gia Moylan Audio Producer: Rhiannon Mooney CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Just by reading or listening to our content, you're helping to fund girls in schools in some of the most disadvantaged countries in the world - through our partnership with Room to Read. We're currently funding 300 girls in school every day and our aim is to get to 1,000. Find out more about Mamamia at mamamia.com.au  Support the show: https://www.mamamia.com.au/mplus/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode we catch up to talk about our last weekend at Potts Point and Slanted Theatre's brilliant play '3 Virgins Unassembled'. ABDU dives into the discussion on how middle class white people's obsession on finding their own enlightenment through travelling to less privileged countries. We conclude the episode with shout outs to some amazing women of colour in business, if you are still stuck with Xmas gift ideas, do us a favour and check out these amazing products! Beg-packers Xmas Gifts Recommendations Enjoy Illustration Amplify Bookstore Butter Butter Activewear (USE DISCOUNT CODE: ABDU10)  Kathrine Cheng - Hong Kong Post Cards Sweet Botanics Cupcakes (Only in Sydney)  ----------------------------- Facebook | Asian Bitches Down Under Instagram | Asian Bitches Down Under  Email: asianbdownunder@gmail.com Music Credits: Music by Lesfm from Pixabay  

Darlinghurst Theatre Company recently unveiled a new two-pronged leadership team with current Co-Artistic Director Amylia Harris promoted as sole Artistic Director and founding CEO Glenn Terry taking on the newly created role of Executive Director. This restructuring is accompanied by Terry's announcement that he plans to retire in early 2022.For Glenn Terry, this has been a long time coming, and the culmination of many years spent searching for the right person to whom he could entrust his legacy – someone who understands that social inclusion is part of the Darlo DNA.Inclusion has been a hallmark of Glenn Terry's work, since the 1992 establishment of Darlo Drama, an acting school for adults of all ages and from all walks of life. The following year he presented an all-female staging of Waiting for Godot, before founding Milk Crate Theatre, which is celebrating 21 years of theatre making specifically by and with people who have lived experience of homelessness, mental health issues and disability.In 2005 Terry established Critical Stages Touring to deliver outstanding independent productions to every corner of the nation, and in 2009, after many years of lobbying for a larger space, the City of Sydney invited Terry to collaborate on the design and construction of the 200-seat Eternity Playhouse, which became the home of Darlinghurst Theatre Company in 2013. The company's former home, which Terry had also fitted out at the Reginald Murphy Hall in Potts Point, now houses the Hayes Theatre.Few people can claim to have given a city two brand new theatres and founded four unique performing arts organisations that continue to thrive. Glenn Terry has done just that. With all these achievements behind him, Terry is confident he can finally hand over the artistic reigns to a new Artistic Director and begin the process of transitioning out of the company he's spent the last thirty years building.The Stages podcast is available from Apple podcasts, Spotify, Whooshkaa and where you find your favourite podcasts. www.stagespodcast.com.au

Dr Peter Sheridan is an Art Deco guru, who has just published Sydney Art Deco and Modernist Walks in Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay and, he was Sylvia’s guest on Arts Wednesday 13 October 2021. In this conversation, he talks about the era, the architects and the buildings! [...]Read More... from Art Deco and Modernist Walks in Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay with Peter Sheridan

Dr Peter Sheridan is an Art Deco guru, who has just published Sydney Art Deco and Modernist Walks in Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay and, he was Sylvia's guest on Arts Wednesday 13 October 2021. In this conversation, he talks about the era, the architects and the buildings!

Australia has come a long way from only eating block cheddar

Australia has come a long way from only eating block cheddar

Join Shaynna Blaze and Jane Nield for a fortnightly chat about design and a whole lot more.To ask Shaynna a question email podcasts@sen.com.auThanks to our show sponsors Red Energy - most satisfied customers 11 years in a row, maybe it's time you called Red Energy on 131 806 www.redenergy.com.au.This week on the show we discuss;Shaynna's latest column for Stella Magazine on Granny Chic - everything old is new again!Why are people drawn to vintage and hand-me-down pieces?The 'good room' and the importance of actually using pieces instead of just displaying themIncorporating vintage pieces into a more modern settingThe Block's 'media rooms' and why Shaynna said Josh and Luke's efforts looked 'cheap and nasty. Just crap'.Tips for styling if you're selling your house via online inspections or an online auction.A listener question from Jenner in Potts Point about windows v sky lights in modern bathroom design.Rumours The Block will be making a Tree Change in 2022. To connect with Shaynna follow her on Instagram HERE. Or visit Shaynna's website HERE.For more info about Shaynna's charity Voice of Change Australia head to www.voiceofchangeau.org.auAsk us a question via the email podcasts@sen.com.auThis podcast is produced, engineered and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network with additional production support by Megan Dougherty at Bravo Talent Management.

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every week day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of almost 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous soul. sign up now and join us every Thursday night for a virtual happy hour. Now on to today's show notes This week is Stand Up with Pete Dominick LITE.  I am on vacation with my family this week for the first time since the Summer of 2019 but I will be still be posting new content every day. Today's guest is one of my oldest and closest friend's who also just happens to be is one of Australia's most popular entertainers. David Campbell is a multi-platinum selling recording artist, Campbell has featured on TV, starred in theatre and cabaret, recorded three Top Ten albums, and sold out concert tours from coast to coast. He has a unique legacy as not just one of Australia's leading musical theatre stars, but also one of the few local performers to have achieved similar success in New York. Born and raised in Adelaide, David was drawn to the performing arts - initially as an actor. He was performing at the STC and Sydney Opera House by the age of 22, and in 1997 starred in a major revival of Les Miserables in Sydney. Shortly after this, Campbell moved to New York, where his downtown cabaret show attracted major crowds. Due to what Time Out New York described as “the biggest buzz since Barbra Streisand”, Campbell moved his show to the iconic cabaret room Rainbow & Stars, becoming the youngest performer ever to headline the venue. With this success as a launch pad, Campbell was soon in demand from Broadway's most prestigious writers and directors. Stephen Sondheim cast him in the New York premiere of his musical Saturday Night, and he played leading roles in shows like Babes In Arms (at the Lincoln Center), and South Pacific. In 2001, at the height of his New York success, Campbell was tempted back to Australia by the role of a lifetime - ‘the wild one' Johnny O'Keefe, in the musical phenomenon Shout! He toured Australia in the show for over a year, and became a household name as a result. Campbell went on to star in Australian productions of classic musicals like Carousel and Company, new works at the MTC and STC, and even in Pirates of Penzance for Opera Australia. Along the way, he picked up a Helpmann Award for Best Actor, for his 2005 role in Sunset Boulevard. Campbell established himself quickly as one of the country's biggest-selling recording artists. His albums The Swing Sessions (2006), The Swing Sessions 2(2007), and Good Lovin' (2008) all hit the Top Ten and achieved platinum sales. He has also mounted no fewer than five sell-out concert tours - for which he has received a further two Helpmann Awards. In 2009, his live concert DVD Good Lovin' Live hit number one on the ARIA chart. David's album success included David Campbell On Broadway and the release of the album was complimented by the specially commissioned television documentary David Campbell On Broadway, produced by Luckiest Productions. A mixture of Broadway history, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage of the album recording, the documentary was broadcast on the STVDIO Channel on Foxtel. Regularly performing in the USA as a headlining artist at G'Day LA, Campbell has also acted as MC and headlined at G'Day NY on several occasions. In recent years Campbell's position in the Australian entertainment industry expanded with his appointment as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (the largest cabaret festival in the world), and the success of Luckiest Productions, the production company he runs with his wife, Lisa. Luckiest Productions now produces national tours and live theatre at the new Hayes Theatre in Potts Point.  The first production at the Hayes Theatre, Sweet Charity, recently enjoyed a sell out season, critical acclaim and 8 x Helpmann Award Nominations. A highly sought after master of ceremonies, David has hosted many events for numerous corporate and charitable organisations.  He has recently been appointed as an Ambassador for the Starlight Foundation and regularly supports Dr Charlie Teo's Cure For Life Foundation at numerous events nationally. David also co-hosted the 2013 Carols By Candlelight telecast for the Nine Network with Lisa Wilkinson. Campbell is a founding member of Independent Music Theatre, the group of producers behind the Hayes Theatre Co., a venue in Potts Point devoted to musicals and cabaret.  It opened in January 2014 and has quickly established itself as a venue of productions of exceptional quality - winning a recent poll as Australia's favourite theatre. Currently, David is a regular weekend announcer on Smooth FM for the DMG Network, is the co-host of Today Extra for the Nine Network in Australia and was recently nominated for Most Popular New Talent at the 2013 Logie Awards.   Campbell returned to the studio last year to record a brand new album, David Campbell sings John Bucchino. The album was released on 13 June in conjunction with a tour throughout the month. Get his new album "The Saturday Sessions"  David has also written and published 2 children's books. "Bed Time is Boring" and "Stupid Carrots" Check out all things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page

Blessed may be the cheesemakers but let's not forget the cheese mongers who play an important role in advocating the artisan cheese community. Today we catch up with the magnificent Penny Lawson, a self confessed avid cheese lover and owner of Potts Point's favourite fromagerie, Penny's Cheese Shop. Penny has become a staple in the Australian cheese landscape having been in the industry for over 20 years. She also works as a cheese judge with the Australian Specialty Cheesemakers' Association and for those of you who've joined us at the Festivals, you would have seen her smiling facce behind many a stand helping out and spreading the good cheese word. We finally got a chance to sit down and chat all things especially about the evolution of the Australian cheese, judging cheese, the important and vital role of the cheesemonger plays, as a provider, educator and advocate to cheese lovers, and what we can all do to support our growing cheese industry. I should say as well, that for the entire month of August, we're shining an even bigger spotlight on Aussie Artisans to celebrate #aussieartisanweek which is puled together by our mates at Pepe Saya. That week is August 16-22, 2021. Supporting local artisans is paramount right now especially as NSW continues its difficult lockdown and Victoria and South Australia just come out of theirs. Where you spend your food dollars really does make a difference. Let's get into it.

As autumn reaches cold peaks we thought what better way to warm ourselves than to indulge in some hearty Italian food. We know what you're thinking, wow they're at Italian again. But...our dear friends, this is not just any Italian joint. Perched up on Macleay St in Potts Point lives a restaurant that goes by the name of Ria Pizza + Wine. This beauty is part of the Bentley group and lives up to its siblings reputation. With an interior that's been flicked with fluoro paint and an industrial sculpture that hangs from the centre of the room the aesthetics are fully engaged. Coined as an Australia styled pizza venue you'll find your Queensland prawns, octopus from WA and saltbush (not to be mistaken for kale). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After building a successful restaurant group, with four very different restaurants, Nick Hildebrandt (The Bentley Restaurant Group) took the opportunity to move award winning wine bar Monopole to the city and launch Ria Pizza and Wine - a local pizza bar in the small Potts Point site. After one of the toughest years on record, he’s discovered that ‘relevance’, no matter what level your offering, is the key not only to the location and demographic, but to viability and longevity too.https://www.thebentley.com.auFollow Deep In The Weeds on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/deepintheweedspodcast/?hl=enFollow Huckhttps://www.instagram.com/huckstergram/Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)https://www.instagram.com/foodwinedine/LISTEN TO OUR OTHER PODCASTSDirty Linen with Dani Valenthttps://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/dirty-linen-a-food-podcast-with-dani-valent/id1518946986The Crackling with Anthony Huckstephttps://linktr.ee/thecrackling

Not sure what it means to be returning to Sydney while Covid continues to spread. Plus, Charlotte Pook explains how a debit card works. Credits Guest: Charlotte Pook and Pook family, Lee from Glider Cafe, Potts Point. Contact Mike Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikewilliams_v  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikewilliams_v/  Website: https://mikewilliams.com.au  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For our Christmas special, we decided to go somewhere a bit special. A slight detour past Nomad we landed at the beautiful Ezra, located in Potts Point just a stone's throw from Kings Cross Station. Opening in late August, the restaurant has already begun to cause a stir which is exactly what owners Nick and Kirk Mathews Bowden wanted to do with this Tel Aviv inspired venue. Whilst they both admit to not having any Israeli roots, they were so taken with the electric nightlife and the delicious food that they had to bring that to Sydney. With the help of head chef Ben Sears, whose resume doesn’t scream Mediterranean king, they have turned this corner restaurant into a bustling beautiful spot full of ashkenazi, mid eastern and Mediterranean food, matched with a 40 odd wine list and cocktails to write home about. Worth a try, we thought so. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode four of season three, I chat with Penny Lawson, self-diagnosed curd nerd, and owner of Potts Point's favourite fromagerie, Penny's Cheese Shop. Like any good cheese, Penny's style is a recipe of simple ingredients with signature flavours that offer a little bit of bite while evoking the wholehearted country goodness of where they hail from. And while she's travelled far and wide and her signature style includes French Breton stripes and Kansas-connotative red shoes, Penny is a proud proponent of Australia and its produce and proves it's her style to ensure there's no place like home. View my shoot with Gary at MadeleinePark.co. Produced by MITT Work.

In episode two of season three, I chat with Tyrel Dulvarie, a proud Yirriganydji man and dancer with the Bangarra Dance Theatre. Bangarra's mission is to create inspiring experiences that change society however Tyrel is doing this all on his own. Hailing from far North Queensland, Tyrel has always dreamt big and dance has been his vehicle to see the world. While Tyrel embraces his history and connection to family, dance has given him the spin to express his unique flair for fashion and be a source of inspiration to those who want to embrace the bold and the beautiful. Tyrel has recently found himself at home in Potts Point, a place where he still dreams big and is able to dance to the beat of his own drum. View my shoot with Bianca at MadeleinePark.co. Produced by MITT Work.

It's needless to say that 2020 has been a challenging year for most but a personal highlight has been finding my new creative home in the historic district of Potts Point in Sydney. For Season 3 of Style Stories I wanted to honour this vibrant community and celebrate coming together. What better way to do this than to partner with a community organisation that brings life and laughter to those who need it most, like the Wayside Chapel, the heart and soul of Potts Point, a Sydney village which has been likened to New York and Paris. Like these great cities, Wayside joyfully embraces diversity and brings together all walks of life in many creative ways but notably through it's Op Shop, which is renown for being a treasure trove of donated designer digs as well as a vital source of support for the organisation. Of course I talk all things style with my guests this season however I also hope to honour their stories by highlighting their contribution to their community not only through their creative pursuits but by looking good, feeling good and most significantly doing good. To help introduce Season 3, I spoke with CEO and Pastor of the Wayside Chapel, Jon Owen, whose human spirit and contribution to community echoes through all the upcoming episodes of Style Stories. I hope you can sit back relax and enjoy our conversation. Produced by MITT Work.

In the second instalment of the exclusive Australian Made series, Vince chats to Saskia Havekes the founder of Sydney florist Grandiflora. At a time of so much uncertainty in the world, the Australian Made series will focus on brilliant people here in Australia, celebrating designing and making local. Established in 1995 in a small shop in the Eastern Sydney suburb of Potts Point, Grandiflora was the birthplace of a dream career of Saskia. Since its inception over two decades ago Grandiflora has grown immensely, influencing aesthetic for interior styling, hospitality, fashion, editorial and even the modern rituals of giving and displaying flowers.  Saskia is not just a florist but also an author and a fragrance creator. She has published four fantastic books, a number of them based around the Grandiflora brand and aesthetic. 2013 saw the Paris launch of her first two fragrances and now soon to release her 8th and final one.  Listen in as Vince and Saskia discuss her childhood growing up in the bush, how her parents were big influences on her creatively and how from an early age nature was the driving force of her inspiration.  The pair also discuss how the opening of her business and some of the key findings she has learnt along the way as well as what it is really like to be a florist on Valentines day! Enjoy! Grandiflora Design Your Life See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over a decade ago one of Australia’s best chefs Brent Savage (Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Monopole, Yellow, Cirrus) joined forces with sommelier Nick Hildebrandt to build a restaurant group of vastly different award-winning establishments. With the restaurants booming the pandemic landed and not only forced them to re-think each venue, but saw them working harder than ever before to save them.https://www.instagram.com/brent_savage/?hl=enhttps://www.thebentley.com.auhttps://www.bentleygroupathome.com.au/menuhttps://www.instagram.com/bentleyrestaurantbar/https://www.instagram.com/nick.hildebrandt/?hl=enFollow Deep In The Weeds on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/deepintheweedspodcast/?hl=enFollow Huckhttps://www.instagram.com/huckstergram/Follow Rob Locke (The Producer)https://www.instagram.com/foodwinedine/

Calling all Plant-Based beauties, have we got a treat for you. Inspired by the European dining scene Yellow showcases vegetables with an eclectic wine list to match. Located in the iconic yellow building in Potts Point the restaurant pays homage to the artist collective it once housed through its warm and contemporary dining room. Here you will find exciting combinations that taste incredible, it isn’t about ethics but instead making vegetables unique and affordable

Apart from being a junior Australian national surfing champion, Jason Boon is a Director at Richardson & Wrench Potts Point and has held the lofty position of the number one national sales person within the entire group for the last 15 years. Jason has been selling & marketing property for over 25 years and has negotiated over $2B worth of sales. Jason is also responsible for consistently breaking records and achieving new sales benchmarks in Potts Point – also known as the legendary Kings Cross District – in Sydney. Jason shares his insights on how to list and sell over $30M worth of residential properties per month, how to identify an area on the rise and tips how to handle ugly dogs. Enjoy.

Une adaptation de la pièce de theatre, devenu film culte "Le père noel est une ordure" par la directrice Anna Jajah, du mardi 10 décembre au samedi 14 décembre au Fringe HQ à Potts Point à Sydney. - Une adaptation de la pièce de theatre, devenu film culte "Le père noel est une ordure" par la directrice Anna Jajah, du mardi 10 décembre au samedi 14 décembre au Fringe HQ à Potts Point à Sydney.

Take a trip down the tree lined streets, the ‘Paris end’ of Potts Point in Sydney with us this week as we talk to celebrated florist Saskia Havekes of Grandiflora. On the eve of Grandiflora’s 25th anniversary we talk to Saskia about her early influences, growing up in the Australian landscape surrounded by art and design. Still up at 4am, three times a week to visit the flower markets, this force of nature has expanded her craft into fragrances, candles, bedding and is a published author. Saskia speaks in the most beautiful artistic way, so join us as she takes us on a painterly depiction of the life of a florist.For more info on Saskia and Grandiflora, and to see our edit of our favourite pieces, check out the House of Style Journal at https://www.houseofstyle.net.au/journal/2019/episode04/grandifloraFollow us on Instagram at https://instagram.com/houseofstylepodcast

In the wild wild west of podcasting there are 2 cowboys with a similar intention to the ONE podcast and Heather's goals as a host. The HYPERFORMANCE podcast; has brothers at it's helm hoping to help change the course of the media world when it comes to health and fitness. Equally tired of the same bullshit headlines that ravage their industry... Oscar and Angus saw a hole in their PT market, for people who want to learn, not just get rock hard abs. So they come to the delightful studio in Potts Point with a delicious Pimms and chat with our host Heather about: Feminism vs extreme feminism Mens rights activism Male violence from women and sexual assult. Feminism in sport and womens rights Instagram is just about fitness these days. The flaws, is what makes a woman beautiful to men. Picking rubbish partners, men do it too, and what is break up hygiene? This episode was recorded in July. The ONE podcast is proudly sponsored by the team at Body Armour, the smart drink, you have before consuming alcohol. When this podcast was recorded Heather had a BA drink an hour before recording so she was protecting her liver and body. It really works for her. She stands by it.

This week, I'm chatting with Simon Maree and Tim McGann from Hustle Boxing, a new premium boxing studio in Sydney's Potts Point. A while ago, these guys sat across from me to pitch their business idea and they did it so well, I ended up investing in it. I want to talk to Simon and Tim about the best way to pitch when raising capital for a new venture, why they decided Sydney needed another fitness studio and how they're telling their “premium” brand story without making it too exclusive or inaccessible to potential clients. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is so raw, we had to bleep parts out to protect the guest and host. Heather Maltman has a super confronting chat with Saskia in the Potts Point studio in Sydney, about how much the entertainment industry needs a rocket up it to get cleaner. Saskia is very well known for her on screen talents, but she is also a smart young woman who is really making a difference in our world. This week the women talk about: Becoming jaded in the industry. Even at the top of your game you can feel like quitting. The acting world as a woman Being bullied until labeled trouble or a diva, or worse “acting like a victum” Publicity and the pressure on being sexy. W had to cut out Heather's “me too” story for legal reasons, due to being female and ostracised. Sexual discrimination The media twists headlines, we talk about the very thing ONE is trying to amend. The word vagina- and it's powerful word. The way bullies will slowly break you down. What is feminism? The shame of the film industry sexism and race.

Glenn Marsden started Imperfectly Perfect campaign because he had enough of the way mental health was being stigmatised in this country. He is a father, and everyday guy with a camera. Just a dude... Who has built the whole business for free, and now is at a point where he is talking with the Australian Government about making it an offical non for profit. This week he joins Heather Maltman in our Potts Point studio. They talk about some epic topics getting around, so brace yourself. His own battles with body dysmorphia! Male suicide! How do we create a world where men can feel? Better education needed in fitness industry... PLastic surgery and body changes. Young kids and selfesteem from socials. Followers on socials and success... Young boys, and needing more emotional lessons as we move into a more equal society

Can you say you know the beauty of mental health challenges? Jess Rowe sits down with Heather in the middle of summer 2019, in the Potts Point studio and so wonderfully expresses how easy it is to find the joy in all aspects of life. Those WOO HOO moments as she calls them. Especially the parts of life we are told to hide away because they are BAD or WRONG or SCARY... Mental Health is actually something we ALL suffer from in some way or another. But it's also a great way to strengthen your mind body and soul... If you chose it to. Heather and Jess were both raised by wonderful women who as mothers, had an extra degree of difficulty. They both suffered from mental health. When heather first started on Studio Ten, it was one of the first things they both connected over. Jess picked straight away why Heather's family was absent on The Bachelor. To this day, Jess is Heather's greatest mentor and when she grows up she hopes she can be as crap at being a house wife as Jess. haha

How do you stay fit- body, mind & soul? Andrew Pap has an amazing work ethic when it comes to staying fit. He shares with Heather, and yourself, his secrets to living his healthy life. What his mantra's are, and where they came from. He didn't grow up in a perfect world. Far from it. When he gets to the Sydney studio in Potts Point, he is so down to earth and honest. Sharing his fears, and the way he stops them from taking over his ultimate goal. Heather shares with Pap why she finds she fluctuates with exercise. They end up discussing the unhealthy attitudes of society. What can cause us to become to self focused and not think about others. From Andrew's powerful words, Heather discovers something she should have been grateful for all this time. Something that had been taken for granted, and it most likely effected you in some way as well.

Fancy a 400 sqm penthouse with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, two parking spaces plus uninterrupted city and parkland views … for only $1.19 million? Interested? Why wouldn’t you be? This place also as a huge gourmet kitchen, timber floorboards, a massive tiled terrace and a fully fitted home office. What’s the catch, you ask. Well, this particular penthouse is atop a boutique hotel … in Tamworth. Now, your next question might well be, why are we looking at bargain basement penthouses in the country music capital of Australia? And the answer is, Tamworth is where our new strata minister, Kevin Anderson, scoots his boots. In this week’s podcast, Sue Williams and I ask what the member for this fine country town – and we mean ‘country’ in every sense – is doing looking after the serious needs of the two million people who live in strata in NSW. Tamworth would only have apartment blocks three storeys high, if at all, we speculated. Turns out we were wrong: they are mostly two storeys high. Apart, that is, from this absolute snip at 3/52-58 Brisbane St, in the heart of the home of the golden guitar (thank you, realestate.com.au). We found the Tamworth penthouse when we were looking for the tallest residential building in the city that sings with a cry in its voice. And it occurs to us that, apart from this one (and most unit blocks in Sydney), being lower than three floors means every apartment block in Tamworth could conceivably qualify for Home Warranty Building Insurance. Flammable cladding?  Tell the builder to rip and replace, pronto! Opal-style crumbling walls?  Well you better git yo’ sorry ass in gear and uncrumble them, toot sweet.* Does this disqualify Minister Kevin Anderson from running the Ministry of Innovation and Better Regulation, which runs Fair Trading, which runs strata? Now, the new Minister for Bells and Whistles will have a lot on his plate, from dodgy mechanics and dangerous kettles and toys, to tattoo parlours, real estate agents, liquor licenses and yoga salons, so he can’t be expected to get up to speed on a mere bagatelle like, say, how half the population of Sydney will be living in 10 years. Which means the Mandarins of Fair Trading will be running the strata show for the next four years.  And that’s another good reason for buying that pad in Tamworth. NB:  Just because we couldn’t find a high-rise in Tamworth via the internet doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist.  All we are saying is, Pyrmont, Potts Point, Wolli Creek, Botany and North Sydney, this ain’t. You can listen to the Flat Chat podcast here: https://episodes.castos.com/flatchatpod/Flat-Chat-Wrap-20-new-minister-2-.mp3 *I know! Ca ne fait rien.

When I booked a super early-bird ticket to SuperFastBusiness Live last year, little did I realise that not only would I manifest not just one, but two speaking gigs to cover my costs and more, but also the use of a luxury flat overlooking Sydney Harbour! But by working on myself hard, especially over Christmas and New Year, so it came to pass....  Clicks And Leads is a "tongue in cheek" digital marketing Vzine by entrepreneur, author, podcaster, speaker, Nicola Cairncross. On the blog Building An Amazon Business? Limiting Beliefs Negative Beliefs Don't Be Afraid To Give Away The Farm Difficult Conversations Feeling Overwhelmed? You Never Know Who's Watching Who Do You Take Advice From? Cath Couzens: Small is Beautiful Prefer to read? Hi, it's Nicola here, and I am in Sydney, Australia, I've just arrived from England, and a very long flight it was too, but made more bearable by the fact I treated myself to some noise cancelling headphones, which cut out not only the sound of the babies screaming on the plane, but the sound of the engine, it made a huge difference, so I recommend those to you. So here I am in my brother's flat in Potts Point, and I've got the most amazing view, let me just show you out of the window, it's incredible. I'm off up to the Gold Coast tomorrow, to go and speak for Neil Asher, who's a very old friend of mine from England, and he's got an Australian wife, and he's got an Australian business, he's got lots of properties and businesses all around the world, but one of his main ones is the Aussie Online Entrepreneurs, and he teaches people how to make money on Amazon, so he's really, really good at it. So if you're looking to find out how to do that properly then go to NicolaCairncross.com/Asher and you will find a link to his website. But I'm going to be speaking to a room full of 200 Aussie Online Entrepreneurs, I did really well the last time I came, loads of people joined up for my Be Everywhere Online programme and I'm looking to beat my previous record, it was 25% of the room last time. This time it's double the room size, and I'm looking to do more than 25%, I want to welcome more than a quarter of those people in that room into my Be Everywhere Online programme. So let's see how I get on shall we? I want to tell you a bit about how I got here in the middle section. Okay well, in this section I want to tell you a little bit how I got to Sydney in the first place, it was a really, very spooky story, very funny story. Last year some time my mentor, James Schramko, has an event and he put the event tickets for sale, and they're very, very cheap if you buy immediately, so I did that, not knowing whether I'd want to come or not. Not knowing if I'd be ready to get out of Greece, and whether, you know, I was feeling in the mood to travel or anything yet. But I trusted that I would be by this time, because it's now three years since Steve died and I'm not, I miss him every day, but I'm feeling better on a day to day basis. So I bought my ticket anyway and within two days of buying my ticket my friend Neil contacted me and he said, "Do you want to come and speak for my Aussie Online Entrepreneurs again?" He said, "I'd love to have you, "I'm going to be going over there, and you can "stay in my Airbnb and all that business, "I'll make it as easy for you as I can." And so I looked at the dates and James' event is the 3rd and 4th of April, and Neil's event was the 16th and 17th of March. Well that is just phenomenally close, I couldn't believe how close they were, two or three weeks in between them. So I then thought, well okay, I can only do this if I don't have to stay in a hotel, because that would just be ridiculous, and I thought about an Airbnb, and then my brother popped up into my mind and I thought, well he came and stayed with me for five weeks back in Greece last year, so I'm sure he could put up with me for two or three weeks in betwe...

"You can't f--k with the matzo ball soup." That's what Adam Wolfers learnt from his grandmother. Etelek, his pop-up restaurant, is inspired by the chef's Eastern European background. It's a history that draws on memories of his grandmother tending to six pots on the stove at a time, as well as his grandfather Julius' time as a concentration camp survivor (an extraordinary tale that's been documented by Steven Spielberg). Carrot schnitzel, scallop pretzel puffs and honey cake with wattleseed honeycomb are just a few of things you'll find at Etelek, which is running at Potts Point until New Year's Eve. It's named after the Hungarian word for food and the pop-up has previously travelled to Melbourne and Canberra, and featured locally at Ester, Casoni and The Dolphin, gaining a following for its parsnip schnitzel and amazing langos bread. Even the most anti-carb person will be converted by Adam's dishes, which has basically served as an atlas of bread from Yemen, Hungary, New York over the years. In fact, he uses a sourdough starter from his time at Monopole and made his name working in other Brent Savage restaurants, such as Bentley and Yellow (Adam helped turn Yellow into a vegetarian hatted restaurant, known for its eggplant steak and pickled kohlrabi and enoki). Adam also talks about his previous life as a jetsetting European handball player (in fact, he had to get his hip replaced after a career-ending injury) and, given the brilliant "everything bagel" that was on his menu, he weighs in on the neverending New York vs Montreal bagel debate, too. Plus, we chat about coming up through the ranks while mentored by Peter Doyle, Mark Best, Pasi Petanen and Brent Savage; his history with Bar Rochford's Louis Couttoupes, and whether Adam's langos bread is like Hungarian pizza. Make sure to check out Etelek before it winds up its Potts Point pop-up on New Year's Eve and keep an eye out on Instagram to see what Adam and Marc Dempsey have planned for Etelek in 2019.

This week, we continue our suburb deep dive series on the Sydney Property Insider Podcast via our Suburb Spotlight! Today, we’re focussing on the lovely suburb and surrounds of Potts Point. We discuss the history of the suburb, the demographics, upcoming development work, as well as the day-to-day specifics like local cafes, schools and transport   HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM TODAY’S EPISODE:   The history of Potts Point; The original residents of the suburb; Famous locals; Entry level prices; Price data over past few years; How tightly held property in the suburb is; Transport links to the CBD; Walkability; School zoning; Necessities in proximity; And Dog friendly parks nearby   LINKS OR ARTICLES WE MENTIONED:   School Finder Wylde Street property Jason Boon   SPEAKERS IN TODAY’S EPISODE Michelle May - Sydney Buyers Agent Marcus Roberts - Mortgage Broker   ASK US ANYTHING!   Have a money question you want us to answer? ask@sydneypropertyinsider.com.au   FOLLOW US: Facebook   ENJOY THE SHOW? Don’t miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes. If you like it, please leave a review! Or, find us on the podcast app of your choice, such as Spotify     Please note that any views or opinions presented in this podcast are solely those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent those of any business. These views and opinions are general in nature, and do not take account of your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Please consider whether it applies in your circumstances and seek professional advice wherever appropriate.  

Jay Anderson bought his first property in Potts Point in 2010. Influenced by DIY reality TV show The Block, he renovated that property, was amazed with the money that could be made and set about building what is now a multimillion-dollar portfolio. In this episode of Quit the 9-to-5 with Ben Handler, Jay shares the evolution of what started as simply educating himself on property trends and helping friends and family to make the right investment decisions to eventually transitioning into a buyer's agent. Jay unpacks how he sought education, why he didn't want to become a buyer's agent initially and how he built a referral-based business. He also discusses how the role impacts his family life and where he sees the future of the company, with Ben also sharing his advice for the success of Jay's business.  

We have a very special episode of 3 Litre Thursdays for you all today. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Alejandro, Giancarlo and Mark from Caravela Coffee, who as many of you know, is our main supplier of green coffee, and for good reason. We planned to leave early Thursday morning, meet at the Caravela office in Manly, cup some coffee with them, record a podcast and then record another quick one down at barefoot in Manly town with Ferg and try and squeeze in another cafe visit on the way back to the airport. This did not go to plan! 4:45am Thursday morning begins with the fantastic news of a cancelled flight. As we discuss via text message what to do, we agree the practical thing to do is throw in the towel, stay at home and work something out long distance. So of course we re-book the next available flight which leaves us with a total of 4 hours on the ground in Sydney. We got into Sydney and head straight over to the lovely Laurie Holmes cafe, Orwells. Where he kindly let us commandeer some space to record and he even brewed us 3, 1 litre batches of coffee and kept us fed and hydrated through out the recording. Please get to the cafe ASAP! As you can imagine this is a coffee heavy podcast! We talk to the guys about all aspects of the business. If you've ever wanted to know more about the what dictates quality, how hard farmers have to work to produce quality coffee, and how we can as end consumers can connect and positively impact the grower, then this is the episode for you, kid! Not all the questions we had were answered but hopefully we will get some longer form written answers to several of the questions to post on our website. The guys were so considered with their answers and are true professionals of specialty coffee world. Finally, a big thank you to Mark, Alejandro and Giancarlo for adapting to our last minute location change and still fitting us in to their schedule. Laurie and the Orwells team for accomodating us and keeping our cups and bellies full. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed creating it. As always thank you for all your support. Let's keep doing this for a long time! For more information on Caravela coffee and to keep up with the latest news head over to https://caravela.coffee/ https://www.instagram.com/caravelacoffee/ If you haven't checked out Orwells in Potts Point. Just go! Life changing stuff. Orwells coffee https://www.instagram.com/orwellscoffee/

Segments Include:- Magnificent Seven - Behind the news with Keegan- Jonesy's Big Fact - Headjam- "I've been saying it wrong the whole time... " We take your calls- Funeral Strippers are a thing- Miffy Mumumway calls in to report on the Potts Point palm tree - We chat to Magda Szubanski about her new film The BBQ- Million Dollar Beach Party- JAMaction Line - Ryan from Married At First Sight tells us whats happening between him and Ashley  - Sexy Argentinian weather girl - GooliesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“There is no other financial product out there, that gives you exposure to the housing market without buying a house itself.” This month on Property Insiders, David sits down with Anthony Millet, entrepreneur and CEO of BRICKX, a unique and exciting new opportunity in the property investment market. BRICKX is an online platform that allows people to invest in property on a fractional basis. Practically, this means that BRICKX will purchase a property, which is then divided into 10,000 units - or Bricks - which are made available to investors for purchase.  Currently, each Brick costs between $58 and $154, and investors are able to own up to a 5% share in each property. Investors benefit from their share of the monthly rental income, and every six months BRICKX properties are revalued so Brick investors can watch their investments grow.  BRICKX can be used by anyone, but investors include those who have never invested before or entered the property market, as well as seasoned property investors seeking greater diversification.  BRICKX will also soon be able to offer a Rent-to-Buy scheme, where future home-owners will pay a 5% deposit on a property, and then be given a 5 year lease to live there. The occupiers then keep on buying bricks until they’ve amassed at 20% share, at which point they are able to buy the property with a regular commercial mortgage. BRICKX is focused on Blue Chip suburbs, including some of the best suburbs in Australia with long-term high growth profiles. In Sydney, BRICKX offers properties in Double Bay, Bondi Beach, Mosman, Manly, Potts Point, Surry Hills, Annandale, Enmore, and Balmain. In Melbourne, investors can buy Bricks in Port Melbourne, Prahran, and Brunswick West. And their newest accusation opens the Adelaide market up to Brick investors with a property in St Peters. When investors decide to sell their Bricks, they will find it an easy process. To date, they have had over 150,000 transactions and Bricks are currently being sold within 14 hours. Such a situation gives investors, and particularly deposit-savers, greater freedom in managing their investment, allowing them to easily sell their position should their circumstances change. One of the positives of BRICKX is that being an investor will not impact on a person’s ability to access the first home buyer’s grant or stamp duty exemptions. Anthony comments that they are seeing people get to home ownership through using BRICKX. Any capital gains on Bricks are still eligible for the reduction if held for more than 12 months. Additionally, investors still get the benefits of depreciation as BRICKX is a widely-held trust with more than 300 investors. However, as a financial product investors do have to pay tax on the income they receive as part of the rental yield. Performance Property Advisory acts as a buyer for BRICKX and is proud to do so.   About your host, David McMillan During his 16 years in the property industry David has worked as a property valuer and property adviser to private clients, financial planners, accountants, finance brokers, major banks and governments. He has been involved in more than $500M worth of transactions across Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia & Queensland. Since 2009, David has been specifically focused on helping medical professionals, expats, business owners and busy executives build effective property portfolios. David is a fully licensed real estate agent in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland (CEA), Certified Practicing property Valuer (CPV), Qualified Property Investment Advisor (QPIA) and most importantly is an active property investor. David joined the Australian Property Institute in 2001 and is now an Associate (AAPI) and in 2009 became a member of the Real Estate Institute. David currently sits on the board of Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) to promote ethics in the property investment industry. About David’s guest, Anthony Millet With a passion for property and technology, Anthony’s mission is to make property ownership and investing affordable and accessible to all Australians. Originally from the UK (where property also suffers from similar affordability and accessibility issues), Anthony brings a wealth of innovative and professional experience in eCommerce, technology and the banking industries to successfully lead the BRICKX team. Prior to joining BRICKX, Anthony was responsible for building one of Europe’s largest e-Commerce businesses in the Sports and Outdoors sector. Before this, Anthony was an Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank, London, working within the Listed Investment Funds team and also within Corporate Finance specialising in the Technology sector.  

David McGuinness has frequently taken his sourdough starter on holidays with him to keep it alive. "You have to feed it regularly, like a baby," he says. This dedication to bread is not surprising, given that he's the co-founder of Bourke Street Bakery, the Sydney institution that is loved for everything from its chocolate ganache tarts to its meat pies (Amy Schumer famously stopped by, straight from the airport, to try one during her Trainwreck press tour). Along with the bakery's co-founder, Paul Allam, David has co-authored two baking bibles – the original Bourke Street Bakery publication was even released in Russia, where it was called Streets of Bread. The new book, All Things Sweet, is dedicated to Bourke Street Bakery's much-loved desserts – such as the ginger brûlée tart (David shares the lovely story behind that on the podcast – and tells of the key role it played in how he met his partner). Bourke Street Bakery has come a long way from the days when its chefs had to teeter on milk crates to stir 120-litre pots filled with pie mix. There's its social enterprise, The Bread and Butter Project, which trains refugees to become bakers – which was inspired by the time Paul taught nuns in a refugee camp how to bake. Then there's the impressive Bourke Street Bakery family tree – which has seen former BSB graduates branch out and do their own thing (like Paul Giddings with The Bread Social, Simon Cancio with Brickfields, Nadine Ingram with Flour and Stone and Andrew Cibej with Vini, Berta and Bacco). And there's a New York branch of Bourke Street Bakery on the way, too. Plus, we chat about David's best bread experiences (including “one of the most memorable meals, ever” in Kuala Lumpur), some of the unforgettable responses he's had from Bourke Street Bakery fans, and why he wanted the team from Moon Park to open Paper Bird, their new restaurant, in the former Potts Point branch for BSB.   PS In case you're curious, the Tokyo bakery I mention in the podcast is called Kaiso.   Suggested listening from the podcast archive: Ben Sears, Kylie Millar, Christina Tosi, Andrew Bowden (Andy Bowdy), Mike McEnearney, Lauren Eldridge.

Kylie Kwong is the undisputed queen of modern Australian Chinese cooking and has changed our perception of native ingredients. She is a household name with her much-loved restaurant Billy Kwong in Sydney's Potts Point, and a regular on our TV screens- from Masterchef to her own shows exploring China and Australian producers. But on our journey to her favourite weekend hang, we discovered another side to this inspiring chef: her focused and spiritual approach towards life and cooking, how she copes with the daily stresses of being a chef, why she is a one-restaurant woman and what her light bulb moment was a few years ago. Then we put Hollywood's “it chef” Louis Tikaram under the grill. The Mullumbimby boy earned his stripes at top Aussie restaurants Tetsuya's and Longrain before being hand-picked to open EP and LP in Los Angeles, and turning it into one of the city's hottest restaurants and rooftops. He spills the Hollywood food goss from where to get the best taco to being enlightened by vegan coffee.

An interview with Declan Greene about his play The Homosexuals or 'Faggots', aired on Canvas: Art & Ideas on FBi Radio 94.5. ~ The Homosexuals or 'Faggots' By Declan Greene 17 March - 29 April 2017 Presented by Griffin Theatre Company in association with Malthouse Theatre Gay newlyweds Warren and Kim have it all – a small dog, a joint gym membership and a 20sqm apartment with stunning views. But in 2017 if you offend the wrong person your life will go straight down the Twitter-toilet. So on the night of Mardi Gras, when caught wearing a compromising costume, Kim’s got to think fast. How will he placate an angry radical-queer academic who already loathes gay men? Lies, lies and more lies. Throw in an Instagram affair, a missing baggie of cocaine, and a burglar (naturally), and you’ve got a very Potts Point version of a classic farce, laced with black-comic political intrigue. Director Lee Lewis reunites with Declan Greene (Summertime in the Garden of Eden, Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography) to venture where many fear to tread, as Declan asks some extraordinarily difficult questions of his own community: White Gay Men. How was marriage ordained as the #1 LGBTIQA issue of our time? Why do some colours in the rainbow flag get to shine brighter than others? And when was it, exactly, that gay men stopped throwing bottles and started buying Prosecco? The Homosexuals is very funny. It’s potentially very offensive. But one thing’s certain – it’ll be the talking point of our season. Produced by Aurora Scott for Canvas: Art & Ideas on FBi Radio

Elizabeth Harris visits Michael Salmon's studio in Kooyong, Melbourne, and learns from the children's author, illustrator, and entertainer of school children, what 50 years in the arts has taught him about -  Learning to trust your instincts about what early readers find funny. The importance of branching out and diversifying if you want to thrive as an author and illustrator in the long term. How your personality and people skills (or lack thereof) can influence your success in the arts. The pleasure of giving back to the community when you've attained a measure of professional success. How did a beloved children's book make it to the centre page of a newspaper, and its main character become 600 kilos of bronze outside a public library in the nation's capital? What's the connection between Michael, Healthy Harold (the Life Education giraffe that visits schools), and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation? Follow Michael as he travels around Australia visiting Indigenous schools and schools with students of diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and levels of English fluency. Find out more about Michael Salmon's work at MichaelSalmon.com.au. Notes:Robyn Payne is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and audio engineer of 25 years’ experience in the album, film, TV and advertising industries. She composed the music for the theme song 'Victoria Dances', which is featured in host Elizabeth Harris' children's book, Chantelle's Wish, available for sale on Elizabeth's website at ElizabethHarris.net.au. The lyrics for 'Victoria Dances' were written by Elizabeth Harris. FULL TRANSCRIPT  Elizabeth:        Welcome to Writers’ Tête-à-Tête with Elizabeth Harris, the global show that connects authors, songwriters and poets with their global audience. So I can continue to bring you high-calibre guests, I invite you to go to iTunes, click Subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast with your friends. Today I’m delighted to introduce the highly creative and entertaining children’s author and illustrator, Michael Salmon. Michael Salmon has been involved in graphics, children’s literature, TV and theatre since 1967. He started his career with surfing cartoons, and exhibitions of his psychedelic art, and then joined the famous marionette troupe – The Tintookies – as a trainee set designer stage manager in 1968 (the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Sydney). Since then his work has been solely for young people, both here in Australia and overseas. His many credits include his Alexander Bunyip Show (ABC TV 1978-1988), pantomimes, fabric and merchandise design, toy and board game invention, writing and illustrating of 176 picture story books – which Michael I’m absolutely flabbergasted and astonished and in wonderment at, and everybody’s laughing at that, or maybe he’s laughing at me, I don’t know. (Laughter) I’ll say it again – 176 picture story books for young readers. Several million copies of his titles have been sold worldwide. Michael has been visiting Australian primary schools for over 40 years. His hour-long sessions are interesting, fun, humorous and entertaining, with the focus on students developing their own creativity, which is just fantastic. Suitable for all years, many of these school visits can be seen on Michael’s website, which I will ask you to repeat later. Michael:          Okay. Elizabeth:        Several trips have been up to the Gulf of Carpentaria Savannah Schools and to the remote Aboriginal community Schools on Cape York Peninsula, as a guest of EDU. EDU – what is that? Michael:          Education Department, Queensland. Elizabeth:        The Australian Government honoured his work in 2004 by printing a 32nd Centenary, special edition of his first book The Monster that ate Canberra – I like that - as a Commonwealth publication … for both residents and visitors to our Capital. Every Federal Politician received a copy. Michael:          Even if they didn’t want it, they got one. (Laughter) Elizabeth: Michael was also the designer of ‘Buddy Bear’ for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation (Port Arthur 1996). The Foundation financially supports Children/Families who are victims of violence/violent crime; they are currently running an anti-bullying campaign in Australian Schools. In 2010 the ACT Government further recognized his work by commissioning a bronze statue of his first book character ‘Alexander Bunyip’. Unveiled in April 2011, it stands next to the new – and I’ll get you to say this, Michael … Michael:          GUN-GAH-LIN. Elizabeth:        Gungahlin Library in our Federal Capital. Thank you for saying that. Michael has presented ‘Bunyip-themed history sessions’ for audiences of School Children at the National Library of Australia since 2011. School touring and book titles continue, which I’m blown away by, because you’ve written and illustrated 176 books! Michael:          Some of those were activity books, to be fair, but they were necessitated – writing, the requirements of children, and illustrations, so they were all lumped in together, basically. Elizabeth:        So Michael Salmon, welcome to Writers’ Tête-à-Tête with Elizabeth Harris. Michael: Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure, and thank you for visiting my studio here in downtown Kooyong, Melbourne. Elizabeth:        We are delighted to be here – Serena Low and I, everybody – Serena being my wonderful tech support. Michael, we have been Facebook friends for some time now, which is a wonderful way to keep in contact with people. But do you think social media has affected children adversely, and stopped them from reading and enjoying children’s literature? Michael:          Do you know, in order to answer some of the questions you asked, I probably pondered this one the most. It’s strange times. I’m 67 years old now. If I go back to when I was a teenager … Elizabeth:        Looking very dapper, I may say. Michael:          Yes, thank you, thank you. (Laughter) It’s amazing what no exercise will do. (Laughter) Things have changed so much. If you go back to the fifties and sixties – which both you ladies will have to look at the old films and see reruns of Gidget and all that kind of stuff – however, the main communication of young people several, several decades ago, socially, would have been the telephone. Invariably, houses only had one line that mums and dads would need. But the girls mostly – and perhaps the boys too – would be on the line talking to their friends and all this kind of stuff. And that was the only direction of communication. Perhaps letters and whatever, but certainly the telephone was the main thing. Now how things have changed these days. Having 12 grandchildren ranging from – what are they now, 2 to 24 – I’ve seen a whole gamut, and I see daily just how much social media – the iPads, tablets and things – are taking up their time and the manners in which they take up their time. Elizabeth:        What a wonderful family to have! Michael:          Well, it’s certainly a bit like a zoo (laughter) – I hope they don’t mind me saying that – and I’m the head monkey, but that’s about it. That’s true. But if you think of a child – and one of the main loves in life is visiting schools, and over the many years in Australia I’ve visited many, many schools – and just see what the teachers are up against these days. And often the teachers are – it’s well-known – surrogate parents on many occasions. Often it’s left to teachers, whether it be librarians or very kind teachers … Elizabeth:        Challenging job. Michael:          … To instill in the children a love of literature and how important reading is. But I think of going back to my youth and my toy soldier collection and making and making balsa wood castles and Ormond keeps and whatever it may be, playing in my room with this fantasy world I had grown up in. Elizabeth:        What an imagination! Michael:          Well, my father read to me – when it first came out, back in the fifties, and I was quite young, but – The Hobbit, C.S. Lewis and the Narnian … – beautiful. I was brought up in those kind of – and he also read most of Dickens to me, as well as Kipling. Quite incredible stuff. So my father was a major player in my love of literature. And I’m not sure that it happens hugely these days, but I grew up in a world of imagination. And it wasn’t any great surprise to my parents that I entered the world I’m in, which is the fantasy world of children, because I never got out of it, basically. 67 years we’re looking at at the moment. I would say mental age is about 8 or 9. (Laughter) Elizabeth:        But you make very good coffee for a 9-year-old, Michael. Michael:          But it did eventuate that sitting in my studio in the early hours of the morning, if I start laughing at a concept or whatever, I know full well through the passage of time that preppies or Grade Ones or Twos or kinders will start laughing at it too. So you get to trust your judgement after a while in the arts. You get to know where your strengths are. But going back to your original question, I have a couple of grandchildren who are absolute whizzes on their tablets. They’ve gone through the Minecraft thing; they’ve gone this, they’ve gone that. Almost an obsessive kind of stuff there. Elizabeth:        It’s an addiction, I think. Michael:          Sometimes, you must take time away from the use of imagination. Because let’s face it, in using our imagination, our creativity – and creativity can be cooking a magnificent meal, it can be keeping a well-balanced house. There’s all kinds of creativity, or it could be the artist creativity, but that’s such an important thing, of finding who we are. Elizabeth:        Yes. Michael:          And to have children taken away to a certain extent Magic Land which is absolutely fine until they become obsessive or addictive, as some of these things are, there’s a great danger that children are – shall we say – not able to evaluate or to progress their natural talents etcetera coming through, especially in the arts. Elizabeth:        I totally agree with you. Michael, you’ve written and illustrated so many books. As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, 176. How do you decide what to write about? Michael:          Well, it’s probably – I’ve always written from a cover idea. There’s a book of mine going way back. It’s one of my old favourites, a very simple one, which is called The Pirate Who Wouldn’t Wash. And when I talk to children and they say where do you get your ideas from, I say sometimes you get two ideas that are unrelated and you put them together, and because hopefully my books are rather funny and I was brought up in the fifties on things like The Fabulous Goon Show, Peter Sellers, and Spike Milligan. I loved Monty Python which was a direct sort of baby from The Goon Show. So my love of comedy has always been UK-based. And so that strange juxtaposition of whatever, so I thought, okay, a pirate, and perhaps a person who doesn’t like to wash. And you put them together and you have the pirate who wouldn’t wash. And then you simply – it’s easy if you have a vivid imagination – you list a whole lot of encounters or what could happen to a pirate who wouldn’t wash. Elizabeth:        Could we talk about that? I’d love to talk about that. Michael:          A monster, and then someone who doesn’t like vegetables. Which was one of my stepsons, William, and he was ‘Grunt the Monster’, which was one of my early characters. Refused to eat his vegetables. His teachers went to great lengths to find out how he could eat them, disguise them in milkshakes or whatever it may be. So it was William I was writing about, one of my younger stepsons at that stage. And at university when he went through Architectural course, he was called Grunt, because they knew full well the book was based on him. So it’s good sometimes to disguise – but nonetheless feature things you see around you. Elizabeth:        How did he cope with it? Michael:          He loved it, he loved it, he loved it. Elizabeth:        He got attention? Michael:          He got attention, all that kind of stuff, and he had one of his best mates who let everyone know that he was called ‘Grunt’ – that was sort of his name. But at some stage, I think he uses that – he lectures in Architecture around the country these days. He’s gone and done very well, dear William, and he will sometimes use that as a joke. Elizabeth:        Yes. Icebreaker. Michael:          Icebreaker, exactly. Elizabeth:        Was there a pivotal person who influenced your career? And if so, can you tell us how they inspired you? Michael:          Probably apart from the people I’ve mentioned previously, the Tolkiens and the Hobbits and the Lord of the Rings and the C.S. Lewises and that sort of thing, I’ve always loved the classic British thing like Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons. These are very famous books that everyone read at one stage. Back in those early fifties, my father was at Cambridge University so we were hoisted out of New Zealand; we went to live in the UK, and it was such a great time for a child to be in the UK. It’s still suffering war damage from Second World War, and London still roped off sections of it - the Doodlebugs, the flying bombs that the Germans sent over to hit London. So it was a rather strange place, but the television was brilliant. I was a Enid Blyton fan, a foundation member of the Secret Seven Club. Elizabeth:        Were you really. Michael:          Even though based in Cambridge, we looked forward to every month of the Enid Blyton magazines, so I grew up on The Faraway Tree and the Secret Seven and the Famous Five. I had my badges, I had all the merchandise. But also on the television in those days was a show we never got to hear in Australia – Muffin the Mule. There was also Sooty the Sweep, Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men. Andy Pandy was another one. Most of those were for kindies and little bubs. Basil Brush was a little bit later on. And British television was always superb, especially for children. Blue Peter and some of those famous shows was a little bit later on. I mention this because I had ten years of my own show on ABC which you’ll learn later on, and used puppets and things which I’d seen being used on British television. Elizabeth:        Can you tell us about that show please? Michael:          The show itself … When Alexander first became a character, it was a Michael 'Smartypants book', a little book I had published in 1972. This is The Monster That Ate Canberra. And this basically the genesis of the television show. I thought I would do a – I wasn’t a university student but it was like a smartypants university student publication, because the bunyip himself was not the Kangaroo – was in fact an oversized pink bunyip, more like a Chinese dragon. However, the monster was the public service, and so it was like a joke about the public service. Because back in those seventies and late sixties, large departments were being taken from Melbourne and Sydney and relocated in Canberra, Melbourne Commonwealth finance and other things, so Canberra was being flooded with the public service. And that was why Canberra was being set up, but anyway, as a youngster back in 1972 when I first wrote that book, I envisaged this large King Kong kind of character over Civic, which was the main principal shopping centre, the oldest shopping centre, going on Northbourne Avenue as you come in from Sydney. There’s this large monster devouring things, but this monster has a problem: he is short-sighted. Anyway, he saw the buildings – the famous, iconic buildings of Canberra as objects of food. So put them into – like the Academy of Science, a gigantic apple pie; the National Library, which was recently built, at that stage and still looks like a gigantic birthday cake; and I had the Carillon looking like a Paddle Pop or something like that, which are all to do with objects of food. And the bunyip devoured them. And the Prime Minister – the original Prime Minister back then was (William) “Billy” McMahon, and when he chucked, we had then changed to Gough Whitlam. So Prime Minsters changed within the reprints of this book. The best thing about this … way way back when Gough Whitlam became our Prime Minister, one of the first things he did was institute an office that had never been there before, called the Department of Women. It was there specially to consider and to aid passage of women in Australia into jobs and a whole range of things that had never been heard before in a male-dominated kind of world. Elizabeth:        I’ve always been a fan of Gough, so I must say … (Laughter) Michael:          Well, Gough appointed a single mum called Elizabeth Reid – Liz Reid – and she was a very famous lady and she really championed the cause of women, you know, equal rights, and these ridiculous things that should have been fixed a long time but hadn’t. So Liz Reid was pictured in the centre page of the Woman’s Weekly, soon after Gough – this was one of his first appointments, Liz Reid. And there was Liz with her little bub – so she was a brand new single mum. Elizabeth:        Oh wow. Which in those days would have been scandalous, wouldn’t it. Michael:          Oh yes, but Gough was famous for that. He already went out specially with the arts. Regardless of how he was considered as a Prime Minister, he was certainly a great patron of the arts, Gough Whitlam. Elizabeth:        As I said, I’m a fan. Michael:          In this picture, centre pages of Woman’s Weekly, double spread, was little bubba. And in little bubba’s hands, supported by his mother, was a copy of The Monster That Ate Canberra. Elizabeth:        Wow! How did you feel? Michael:          I thought, “Fantastic!” I got a call within a week from one of the biggest educational publishers in the world, called McGraw-Hill, asking “Can you tell us a little bit about this? And I was described as this is probably not how I would think, and I said “No, but thank you very much for calling.” So the most unusual thing sort of kicked up, and we were reprinting this book again and again for Canberra, because Canberra was laughing its head off. Elizabeth:        Good on you Ms Reid – and baby. Michael:          So we had a theatrical presentation, pantomimes based on it with the local Canberra youth theatre. ABC then serialized it on radio, and then came to me – this was about 1977 or so – saying, “Would you consider having Alexander Bunyip on television?” Elizabeth:        Wow. Michael:          And I said “Yes please, thank you very much.” And it was through a mate of mine, quite a well-known scriptwriter for Australian films called John Stevens, and also director of plays and whatever around Australia, and he was one of the directors of the young people’s programs in ABC, who were based at that stage in Sydney. Anyway, Alexander got on television through this rather, uh, strange path he led, entertaining the people of Canberra. Elizabeth:        Can I ask you with that, and throughout your life, you have enjoyed such great success, and certainly rightly so. Have you found that there’s been what has been seen as insignificant moments, turn into huge, huge achievements for you? Michael:          Well, (I) try to step away from cliché but sometimes it’s hard to, when I say you make your own luck. But the fact that that for example, one of my main – I love it – the statue of Alexander Bunyip, 600 kilograms of bronze outside the library. Elizabeth:        In that place I can’t pronounce. Michael:          Gungahlin, that’s right, Gungahlin. Elizabeth:        I’ll practise it. Michael:          I’ll tell you how that happened. Sometimes on Google if you’re an artistic person and you’re an author or illustrator, if you just put your name in and see what’s the latest thing, are there any new entries. Sometimes schools put in things in comments or whatever. Sometimes odd things about your life come up – business life, work life. And there was a situation that occurred, when Gungahlin Community Council had discussed whether – because John Stanhope, who was the chief minister of the ACT at that stage was putting up statues left right and centre, because he wanted a lot of edifices in Canberra to entertain people. Elizabeth:        He was a visual. Michael:          Yeah, visual person. And someone said, “Why don’t we have Alexander Bunyip?” and there was general laughter. But that was supported in the Council vote of Hansard, you know, the documented notes taken in that particular Council session, and I saw this online. And so I merely wrote to this person, sent them one of the more recent copies of The Monster That Ate Canberra, and said “That sounds great. Let me know if I can help.” Elizabeth:        Absolutely! Michael:          Gosh, one thing after another happened, and the head of the Council Alan Kirlin, with John Stanhope, got it organized, and within a year there was a brand new statue being launched by John Stanhope, one of the last things he did before he resigned. He’d done some magnificent work in Canberra. So new ministers were appointed etcetera, so John – the statue was launched, and I made a speech which was dedicated to my mum, who had died the year before. She was a Canberra girl, and I thought that would be nice to dedicate, at least mention her. I’m sure if she were around - in ethereal style - she wouldn’t miss out on that one, I can assure you. Elizabeth:        I’m sure. Michael:          But when the statue was dedicated – the statue stands there – Elizabeth:        Can we go back, because I would like to talk about that speech about your mum. Can we talk about that? Michael:          Yes. Well, my mother Judy, as I said who passed on in 2010 – the statue was put up in 2011 – was a very … went bush Port Douglas many years ago, before Christopher Skase was up there. (Laughter) So I used to go up there and visit her. A hurricane holiday house, which is simply a house in Port Douglas without any windows. It was up in the hills towards the Mosman River valley. Elizabeth:        For those who don’t know Christoper Skase, can you please touch on him briefly. Michael:          Christopher Skase was one of our major financial entrepreneurs who died over in a Spanish location owing millions of dollars to many people. He was like a younger brother of Alan Bond. That’s where Christopher Skase fitted in. I don’t think New York or Spain ever really sort of – Elizabeth:        Recovered. Michael:          Recovered from the Australian paparazzi to see whether Skase was in fact dying or whether he was in a wheelchair with breathing apparatus, wheeled out by his ever-loving wife Pixie, who is back safely in the country now. But that’s by the by. (Laughter) Michael:          My mother was a fairly gregarious character. Elizabeth:        Bit like yourself. Michael:          (Laughter) Pushy. Elizabeth:        No, no, no. Delightful, and entertaining. Michael:          Judy was one of the younger daughters of her father, my grandfather, Canon W. Edwards – Bill Edwards. He was a young Anglican curate who’d been badly gassed on the fields of Flanders and the Somme in the First World War. Elizabeth:        Oh dear. Michael:          But he was an educationalist, as well as a very strong Anglican within the church. So he was sent on his return out to Grammar School looking after that in Cooma. When Canberra was designated as the place to have our new capital, the Anglican Church from Sydney said, “Please harness up one of the buggies, and take six of your seniors and go look at four different venues in Canberra that we are looking at to have a brand new school.” Elizabeth:        Wow. Michael:          And they chose the most beautiful place, in a road called Mugga Way just at the bottom of Red Hill, which is Canberra Boys’ Grammar. He was their founding Headmaster. Elizabeth:        Was he! Michael:          But the fact was that they settled on that because they pitched their tents under the gum trees. They woke up with the sound of intense kookaburra noise, and thought this was perfect for a grammar school, or any other school for that matter. Elizabeth:        Oh, beautiful. Michael:          They were all talking and whatever it was. Elizabeth:        Bit like sounding the bell, you know. Michael:          (Laughter) So going back to those days, that was the start of Canberra and my family going back there to the thirties of last century. However, back in those days in the Second World War, my father had graduated from school in New Zealand, and was sent across as one of those New Zealand young soldiers to become an officer at Duntroon, the training college. The Defence Academy they call it now, but good old Duntroon. So when he graduated, it was the end of World War Two, and he was sent up to war crimes trials in Japan, as one of his first things the Aus-New Zealand ANZAC forces when they went up there to look after things for a while. But my mother was quite a brilliant lady, and she would always be the one painting and decorating and doing all this kind of stuff. Always a dynamic kind of person. And apart from loving her very much as a mum, she instilled in me this gregarious, rather exhibitionist kind of thing. Elizabeth:        (Laughter) Thank you Judy. It’s Judy, isn’t it. Thank you Judy. I know you’re here. Michael:          So Judy was responsible for – in younger, thinner days, long hair, beads, not necessarily hippie stuff but just total exhibitionist kind of stuff. Elizabeth:        Oh I’ve seen photographs of this man, everybody. My goodness, what a heartthrob. Michael:          I looked like I could have been another guitarist in Led Zeppelin or something. Elizabeth:        I’m actually just fanning myself with my paper. (Laughter) Michael:          But anyway, it’s all a bit of fun. Elizabeth:        Did you ever sing? Michael:          No, no, no. I was actually a drummer at one of the schools I attended. Elizabeth:        Were you? I like drummers. Michael:          Yes, but not this kind of drummer. In the pipe bands at Scotch College, Sydney. I was a tenor drummer. Elizabeth:        Okay. Michael:          So they have the big, the double bass drum or whatever and the tenor drums and the drumsticks - I forget the name – like the Poi they have in New Zealand. And the tenor drums – you have to have coordination if you want to play the tenor drums as you march along in your dress: the Black Watch dress. Elizabeth:        Isn’t learning music so important, which reflects in other areas? Michael:          It is, it is. Elizabeth:        Can we talk about that? Michael:          Well, I think that – not being musical but having written lyrics in my pantomimes – and down at a very amateur level worked out what a bunyip would sing about, or go back to an early blues song or doo-wop kind of song when Alexander is stuck in a zoo in the pantomime. So I had great fun. So my musical experience – I was lucky to have some very clever people, including one gentleman who until a few years ago was one of the Heads of Tutors at Canberra School of Music called Jim Cotter. Now Jim Cotter and I – he wrote my first music for me, for the pantomimes I used to do way back in the early days. And then Peter Scriven – he was the head of the Tintookies Marionette Theatre, who were all under the auspices of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust in Sydney at Potts Point. And Peter had engaged him to do – I was doing some sets – it was the first show, our first children’s show at the Opera House – and I did the costumes for Tintookies. It was a revamp of what Peter Scriven had been doing back in the fifties. And Jim had some brand new music, and so my musical experience was purely admiring music and talented people who did that, realizing that it was not my forte. Elizabeth:        Aren’t they clever. Michael:          Nonetheless, by writing lyrics and giving some vague, vague “rock ‘n roll and I like it” -like, you know. Not exactly “Stairway to Heaven”, you know what I’m saying? Elizabeth:        (Laughter) Who was your favourite band at that stage? Michael:          Ahh, I grew up in the Sixties. I got myself a hearing aid the other day. You can hardly see it – one of these new things. But essentially, I’ve had to, because I spent a lot of my younger life surfing in the eastern beaches of Sydney. The promotion of bone growth over the ear – there’s some kind of term for it – and they had to cut away the bone if I were to hear properly. And I thought, I don’t want my ear cut, so I’ll just leave it as it is at 67. But also too, I do attribute some of those early groups to my lack of hearing these days, because I did study for my exams with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones. Pretty much one of my favourite groups of all time was a group that spread, with different members going to different other groups, were The Byrds in America. Dylan songs. “Mr Tambourine”. Elizabeth:        Yes. Was it Eric – Eric somebody? Or did I get the wrong group. Michael:          We’re talking about David Crosby, Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn who changed his name and became Roger, or was it the other way round. But they had the Dylan. They came out with “Mr. Tambourine Man”. Elizabeth:        Yes, I know that song. Michael:          Their next one was ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’. Then they went into more Dylan of, “All I Really Want to Do”. And these are hits of the Sixties. Elizabeth:        You could sing a few bars. Michael:          No I couldn’t. Not even Dylan-style. (Laughter) But I love those songs, mainly because - Elizabeth:        They’re great. Michael:          Jim McGuinn had a 12-string guitar, and it was this jingly-jangly feel to their songs that I loved dearly. But another group which I must tell you, because I met up with them in real life, which is one of my favourite groups, is The Seekers. Elizabeth:        Oh! Miss Judith! Michael:          Now Keith Potger is a good mate of mine. We go for gentlemen’s clubs like Savage Club; he’s a member of Savage, enjoy long lunches, and often with some other guests. Elizabeth:        Athol Guy? Michael:          Yes. And Judith Durham – where you’re sitting there – came and sat down there with her manager a few years ago. Elizabeth:        My goodness! Michael:          She’d seen a presentation – Elizabeth:        She’s beautiful. Michael:          Oh, magnificent. And her voice! Elizabeth:        Angel. Michael:          Judith had seen a production by Garry Ginivan, who is one of the principal Australian children’s entrepreneurs for theatrics, theatres. He’s just finished doing Hazel E.’s Hippopotamus on the Roof kind of stuff, and I’m not sure if he’s doing Leigh Hobbs’ Horrible Harriet. Now that’s going to the Opera House. I’m not sure if Garry Ginivan’s doing that for Leigh. He did for Graeme Base. He did My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch, and also brought packaged stuff like Noddy and Toyland, Enid Blyton and other stuff like The Faraway Tree. So anyway he was presenting Puff the Magic Dragon – and I’m just looking around the room to find a graphic of the poster, because I’d designed Puff the Magic Dragon. Elizabeth:        Did you? Michael:          And they used that for all the promotional material and stuff there, but it was the puppet that I designed. And Judith went along to see – it was at The Athenaum Theatre here in Melbourne, a few years ago now. Elizabeth:        Lovely theatre. Michael:          And she liked the whole idea of the dragon, and she rang me. And so here was this most beautiful angel on the other line … Anyway, she was round a couple of days with her management. She was at that time – this was before The Seekers got back together and did all that magnificent tours they did over the last five or six years, Andre Rieu included. Judith is a honky-tonk girl; she loves the music of spiritual and going across to honky-tonk, like Scott Joplin, the ragtime, and all this sort of stuff. Elizabeth:        Oh, fun! Michael:          And she had written several things that she wanted the sheet music to be illustrated to sell, as part of the Judith Durham empire. And she did the ‘Banana Rag’. So immediately I did the illustration for her. I didn’t take any payment. I said, “Look, Judith, might I be impertinent and ask you to come to one of my clubs and sing – come to dinner?” She was a very strict vegetarian and looked after herself incredibly well after a terrible accident where she had to look after her whole system and she’s done that magnificently. So there she was singing, and this was when The Seekers had just released one of their LP’s, called “Morning Town Ride to Christmas”, which was for children’s songs, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house of these senior gentlemen at the club I was talking about, one of these good old Melbourne clubs, when she sang “The Carnival’s Over”. Elizabeth:        Oh yes. Michael:          Absolutely superb, so that was more than enough payment for doing some artwork. But since then, I continued … and met the desperate Keith Potger. Elizabeth:        Weren’t you lucky. Weren’t you lucky. Weren’t you lucky to have that gorgeous woman. Michael:          I was lucky. I was lucky. But I had to tell you, Judith - they had an article on her website, and she’s on Facebook as well - had at that time recorded with The Lord Mayor’s Orchestra here in Melbourne. It was called “The Australian Cities Suite”, and she had written a song for every major city in Australia. And I remember she and I were trying to do a book together, a book based on a song that her husband – who passed on through, oh gosh, what was it – the wasting disease, muscular disease … Elizabeth:        MS? Muscular Dystrophy? Michael:          Muscular Dystrophy. I’m sure that must be it. He put in a song called “Billy the Bug and Sylvia Slug”, and so we put that into a book. And I took Judith along to see some of the heads of various publishing firms in Sydney as well as the head of ABC merchandising in their ivory tower down in Haymarket area. Beautiful beautiful premises they have there, ABC Studios. And so Judith was much heralded in both places when I took her as my guest to introduce this book to her. The book didn’t work unfortunately, but she did start singing in the car as we’d arrived early in the carpark of the ABC citadel in Haymarket. She started singing. And we were all sitting there. And she started singing songs again from The Seekers. Elizabeth:        I don’t think I’m ever going to stand up again. Michael:          So here we are in Kooyong, and there’s the beautiful strains of Judith Durham singing songs, and I thought, “It doesn’t get much better than this.” Elizabeth:        Oh wow. Michael:          I don’t think Deborah Harry could have done the same. Elizabeth:        Do you think Judith Durham would speak with me on this podcast? Michael:          Judith is a very accommodating person, and I’m sure that if you ask through her management, Graham her manager would – I’m sure - she would look at that favourably. Elizabeth:        Would I have to wear a ball gown? I have a couple. To meet the Queen. Michael:          Meet the Queen. (Laughter) But anyway, I suppose too, in my business – and Australia is not a huge place really, when it comes to who knows what and we talked before about the degrees of separation. Elizabeth:        Absolutely. Michael:          And so, a lot of my stuff has been … involved with, because of my work, a lot of singers and whatever via The Hat Books. I remember Russell Morris, not in this place but a previous place. Elizabeth:        “The Real Thing”? Michael:          “The Real Thing” Russell Morris. Brilliant, brilliant, and had the two LP’s as well. Elizabeth:        And Molly, Molly is attached to that – he produced it, didn’t he. Michael:          Yeah, but Russell Morris had this concept that he came up with his wife 30 years ago. It was about a toy that was pre-broken and you had to fix it. The whole idea of the toy was that you had to re-glue this broken toy. Elizabeth:        Right. Michael:          It was ceramic, and he was so keen on it, but I just didn’t think it was going to work. He was a man with an incredible imagination – Elizabeth:        Russell Morris? Michael:          Russell Morris. He had this toy concept, but it didn’t work, because I don’t think kids want to sit around re-gluing a toy that has been broken. I don’t know what he was on. Elizabeth:        He was quite resourceful. Michael:          Ah, he is. Look at the way Russell Morris has revived in recent times. And he’ll have to excuse me. I don’t remember, but I’ve certainly listened to his two LP’s – albums as we used to call them, back in the old days – that he did. All bluesy and whatever, and he’s still got a magnificent voice. Elizabeth:        You know, there are so many Australians that are not – what should I say – recognized as they should be, I think. And such talent. Michael:          Ah, yeah. Elizabeth:        And do you think we need to go overseas, like in the old day. I was listening to a program last night, actually, and Brian Cadd was on it. Love Brian Cadd. Beautiful, beautiful music. And he said you know, back in the day you had to go to London. Michael:          Yes, yes. Well, look at Easybeats and stuff like that. Elizabeth:        Do you think people need to go? Michael:          Brian Cadd and The (Bootleg) Family (Band), that’s what he calls his group, they are reappearing at – they are doing an Australian tour this month in February – I saw it on Facebook, actually. Elizabeth:        You know, a friend of mine who’s a pastel artist, highly acclaimed – we were talking about this, and she said in this country, she’s just not recognized and she really needs … She’s working in a boutique! Michael:          It is a problem. You know on Facebook, which is one of the loves of my life, you see a good deal of Australian up-and-coming authors and illustrators, and ones that you dearly wish would … And I do believe that you if you earn it, you deserve a place in the sun – your ten minutes, twelve minutes of fame, all that kind of stuff. And if you’re smart enough, after your time has been, you then start doing things which reinvent yourself. I’m not talking about Madonna-style, but I’m talking about coming up with new things, being aware of new trends and seeing whether you can adapt your talents. Elizabeth:        Being a survivor. Michael:          Being a survivor, absolutely. Because let’s face it, and I’m very grateful – for example, the schools around Australia – 45 years… Elizabeth:        I’m sure they’re grateful to you too. Michael:          I go into the schools and there are teachers there that say, “Look, the last time I saw you Michael, was when I was in Prep or Grade One, and I loved your books then and I still love them." I’m just so thankful. Elizabeth:        How do you feel, other than gratitude? Michael:          Well, this is one of those major things, of feedback you get. And some of them come up and say “I started drawing because of you drawing”. Elizabeth:        You’re inspirational! Michael:          There are just those things there that I … and also entertaining. Doing a bit of stand-up comedy, giving out very silly prizes like Barbie books to Grade Six boys for good behaviour. I know Preppies will never forget those things. Elizabeth:        Can you talk us through – when you present to the school, how do you do that? Michael:          This year I’ve got a ‘Michael Salmon’s Monster Show’ which is talking about more or less the same thing, but some different pictures to ones I’ve been doing before. Essentially what I realized right at the start is if I do some speed cartooning, right in the very first picture I draw there, and do it so quickly in a great show-off manner, you get the kids hooked.  Elizabeth:        It’s magic; it’s in front of us. Michael:          Because the little ones, they say “Look what he did! Look how fast he drew!” And I always knew that that particular facet, if you did it correctly, the little Preppies in the front – because we do try to get mixed grades, with the Grade Sixes at the back – is that you would have their attention if you kept on. So I sort of talked about the way I invented characters and how it happened. Bobo my dog who is not here today – dear Bobo in the book I wrote called Bobo My Super Dog, where I sort of – he saves the world a bit. Elizabeth:        Of course he would. (Laughter) Michael:          Oh, I don’t know. Let’s just go back to the bit about Australia and the people who are trying to make it, and they are doing their very best and you see their brilliant talent. And it’s very evident on Facebook – it’s one of my major purveyors of talent – the ideas that people come up with and all that sort of stuff. I mean, you’ve got some brilliant people here in Australia. You look at Leigh Hobbs for a start. Now he belongs to the Savage Club as I do, so I catch up with him for lunch on occasions. And there he is with his two-year tenure in his position championing children’s books and children’s literature around Australia. His cartoons are very much like Ronald Searle, the famous British cartoonist, who did the original cartoons that accompanied the original published books and also the film versions of St Trinian’s movies, of schoolgirls and things like that – the naughty schoolgirls. And Ronald Searle was a brilliant, brilliant artist, and he had the kind of nuttiness in his cartooning that Leigh Hobbs had. You look at Leigh Hobbs’ stuff – they are very, very sparse, great placement of colour, they are done in a very slapdash manner. It all works together beautifully – from Horrible Harriet, to Old Tom and whatever. And if you’ve got other people – what’s that book by Aaron Blabey – something or other Pug? (Pig the Pug) I bought some books for my very young grandchildren for Christmas, and I thought, “I haven’t seen these books before.” And here he is winning awards and YABBA (Young Australians Best Book Awards) Awards and all this kind of stuff. And so much talent around. And it’s hard in Australia to make a living as an author, because the royalties and stuff, even if you are one of the top ones, may suffice for a while but aren’t continuing. Elizabeth:        And yet Michael you’ve done that – for 50 years – haven’t you. Michael:          Only because of schools. 45 years in schools and 50 years in the arts. But mainly because I branched out and did things like theatre – the television show. You saw when you first entered the merchandise for 'Alexander Bunyip'. Spotlight stores were behind me for fabrics for a decade, and they finished not a huge many years ago. And that had nothing to do with 'Alexander Bunyip'. But the fact of really, of diversifying. Elizabeth:        Okay. Michael:          And the books for me lay a platform. When Mum or Dad read a book at night to their children, and it happens to be one of yours, and it’s something they like, and they happen to be one of the lead buyers of Spotlight stores and they say “We must do something about this guy”, and they came round and sat where you’re sitting, and they said “We’d like to offer you a deal.” And I thought, “Oh thank you. That’s great!” Elizabeth:        But can I interject? The vital part of that is certainly that there is talent and diversification, but it’s also the ability to connect with people - which you are very skilled at. And the warmth that you have … Michael:          Well, thanks to my mother, because she was a people person. Yes, you’re quite right – it does help to be a people person if you’re an artistic person. Of course sometimes it doesn’t flow. Some of the best children’s authors are not people persons. So you can’t expect to do anything. I learned long ago of creating an impact on your audience – start and hold them if you can from then on, and then you can impart any message you want. And the only message I really impart to the children is about developing their creativity, for them to start working on the things they’re good at, or keep drawing or singing or whatever it may be. Elizabeth:        I really want to segue into something from those comments about your work for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. That is so, so pivotal. Can we talk about that? Michael:          Yes. Do you know, in general terms, it’s really good if you’ve had success, I’ve found, especially in the arts, to find venues and areas and avenues to give back to society. I hope that doesn’t sound too corny. Elizabeth:        It sounds beautiful. Michael:          Up here, I’ve got some – when I was one of the patrons of “Life Be In It” for the Victorian – Elizabeth:        Oh yes! Michael:          And I designed – not the vans, those large pantechnicon vans that went around and advertised anti-drugs and – Elizabeth:        It was Norm, wasn’t it. Norm. Michael:          Norm was “Life Be In It”. This was the Life Education Centre, the one started up by Ted Knox at King’s Cross Chapel, but they went to a huge thing. Large pantechnicon trailers filled with the latest kind of things, and all round Australia, but particularly in Victoria – because that’s where my expertise was, helping them design big wheels to go on, painted by local mums and dads. And I also do it to do some fundraising. But Life Education had a Harold Giraffe as their logo, and it’s still going gangbusters. So these things would go to schools, and like the dental van they locked you in that, and they would see these incredible digital displays of bodies and drugs and anti-drugs, things like that. Magnificent, magnificent. That was one thing I was involved in. A good mate of mine, a school librarian called Marie Stanley, who’s since not a school teacher anymore – a school librarian – she rang up soon after 1996 when the horrific Port Arthur thing had occurred. She had been seconded – Walter Mikac, whose wife Nanette and two daughters Alannah and Madeline were shot dead – he knew he had to do something. So he went to see the Victorian Premier at that stage, Steve Bracks, and also saw John Howard. And between them he got funding to set up a St Kilda Road office and start the Alannah and Madeline Foundation which is purely there to help the victims of violent crime – the families, the children – provide them with some kind of accommodation or support or clothing, needs, or toiletries – a whole range of stuff there. So they seconded Marie Stanley from Williamstown North Primary School. Because I’d visited her school many times, she rang me up and said, “Look, Michael, I’m doing this, I’m on salary, but I need your help. Could you help me invent a character?” So I came on board with Alannah and Madeline (Foundation) on a purely voluntary basis, which is my pleasure, and we invented a character called Buddy Bear as a very safe little bear and a spokes figure, whereby – and there are behind me as we speak in this interview – there are Buddy Bear chocolates up there. And they did something like five million chocolates with my name and my design on it through Coles stores and Target stores … Elizabeth:        You know Michael, next time we meet I need a camera. (Laughter) Michael:          That’s just 'Buddy Bear' stuff. And 'Buddy Bear' has gone on strongly and it’s now part of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. But they got involved in a very important … the main focus of anti-bullying. And I was the person – I want to say one thing, because it’s true – I suggested that they should go – violence and all this stuff for families was terrible enough – but if they wanted to go to the bully, they really should get into the heart of the matter. And to me, I said to them once, “Look, please. I’ve seen what we’re doing. We’ve got Buddy Bear as the spokes figure for violence in the home. But we really should be hitting schools and things with something that centers around bullying and have an anti-bullying campaign. And you know, it is one of those things which is said at the right time and the right place. And now we’ve got Princess Mary of Denmark who is the international head of 'Buddy Bear' and they’ve got their own thing over there because of her Australian connection with Tasmania. We have the National Bank who are the sponsors of the 'Buddy Bear' program of the Alannah and Madeline (Foundation), so we have a fully-fledged charity. But the early days of inventing 'Buddy Bear', and a lot of people who gave their time and effort for no cost as I did, and pleasure to get the whole thing going. But it was all through initially Walter Mikac, thinking that with his deceased wife and two little girls, he had to do something. He was a pharmacist by trade and he was a smart man – he is a smart man – and he set the wheels in motion. And so it was a - ‘pleasure’ is not the right word. It was satisfying to be involved with a program that was ultimately going to help children feel better and safe and especially with this bullying thing, of being able to … Elizabeth:        Personally, I love fundraising and I do a lot of it. And actually we have on the agenda this year a fundraiser for another children’s author: Pat Guest. His son Noah, and Noah has Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, and the family need a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. Michael:          Yes, yes, yes. Elizabeth:        Pat’s a wonderful person. He’s published five books and counting, and has written one about Noah called That’s What Wings Are For. He has actually podcasted with me. So I’m going to put you on the spot now and ask you if you would like to create something – Michael:          Absolutely! Let me know … Elizabeth:        I haven’t even finished my sentence! Michael:          No, no, no, the answer’s yes. The answer’s yes. Elizabeth:        The generosity! Thank you. Michael:          No, no, my pleasure. You talk about the – do you pronounce it ‘Duchenne’? There was a very famous fundraiser with that society up in Cairns several years ago, where various artists and musicians and illustrators were asked to provide – and they said a ukulele – so you had very famous artists and musicians and illustrators creating and painting their own version on this practical ukulele that was sent back to Cairns and auctioned off for charity and raised a whole lot of money. Elizabeth:        You know Pat, I think, would love to meet you. And I know Noah – the whole family are just beautiful people. Michael:          But I’ll have you know, only because of that connection where they contacted me saying “Would you like to …” and I had no knowledge whatever of the disease and the toll it took. Elizabeth:        I’ve nursed a couple of boys with it. Michael:          From my recollection, would it be quite correct to say it’s quite gender-specific? It hits boys more than girls? Elizabeth:        Yes. The two children that I nursed were brothers, and they passed. So we want to focus on the positive side, and this Saturday, actually there’s a trivia night which is sold out – Michael:          Oh good! Good, good. Elizabeth:        And it’s Eighties music which is my thing – I love that – so hopefully I will win, everybody. Don’t bet on me, Michael, but if there was a ticket, I’d invite you. But we’re looking at later in the year and we have some great people. Dave O’Neil wants to do a spot – Michael:          Oh yeah, good, good, good. Elizabeth:        And he podcasted with me. And like yourself, pretty much before I got my sentence out, he said 'yes'. Robyn Payne whom I wrote my song with for my children’s book – she wants to write a song. So we’ve got many … and Robyn Payne was in Hey Hey, It’s Saturday for many years. She was in that band, and Robyn’s incredible – she plays eight instruments. Michael:          Right, right, yes, yes. Elizabeth:        She’s performed at the Grand Final; incredibly talented lady. I just ran into her the other night with Neil, her husband, and Steph who’s a good friend of mine and recently performed with her on stage as well, they’re looking at writing a song for Noah. So it’s taking off. Michael:          One of the best fundraisers I’ve been to is a yearly event – still going – the Alannah and Madeline (Foundation) did. I don’t keep in contact with them directly; it was just a pleasure to work in, but what they did at the Palladium Ballroom – have 'Starry Starry Night'. Now 'Starry Starry Night' would have almost anyone who’s anyone in show business, on television and the media, would be there, from the jockeys at Melbourne Cup who would be singing Village People and whatever. Quite brilliant. And they had a huge host. We’re talking about – and I’m not exaggerating – 50 or so celebrities attended that. Black Night night and it really was a “starry starry night”. I haven’t attended for a long time, but I did my duty and it was a great pleasure to be there and part of it. But that was a brilliant fundraiser, and still continues as a fundraiser for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. Elizabeth:        Oh, I’m so honoured that you said yes to me before I even finished my sentence. Thank you so much! Talking about stars, I’d like to go to my signature question, and then we’ll say adieu to you. Michael, this is a signature question I ask all my guests: what do you wish for, for the world, and most importantly for yourself? Michael:          Well, as we’re sitting here in early February of 2017, because of all these incredible events that are going on every quarter of the day from the United States there, where the world order seems to be rapidly changing, and oddities occurring there and without going into it too heavily we all know what we’re talking about, I have a hope that the situation in America remedies itself, and that the situations change rapidly, and that America gets back, because as the biggest country in the world for what it is and known as, because we need the stability of America etcetera, so it’s a fairly direct sort of wish that America gets its act together again soon, and maintains something that we can trust in. Because America really is being that main country in the world. Elizabeth:        Do you see a way – does that start one person at a time? Is that how things start to change? Michael:          Gosh, as we’ve evidenced with the Women’s March and a whole range of stuff now that the immigration – oh dear – it just goes on, goes on. And without going into a full-scale discussion of that, my wish is that America gets back together quickly, and maintains and gets someone new in charge. I don’t know how that’s going to happen – impeachment or … but something has to happen, so that the world can feel stable again. And that’s not grandiose, but that’s probably affecting a lot of people in the world. As every new edict or special signatory thing is signed in the White House, the ripples it sends across for instability is quite amazing. We’ve never seen it before, unless you were there during Chamberlain days when Neville Chamberlain was talking to Hitler, and some of those – not grandiose or high-flying stuff, but it does affect especially Aussies who love America dearly, and America loves us. Elizabeth:        But to me your books so beautifully reflect history. Michael:          Some of them do, some of them do. It’s like a Facebook page – I really do love entertaining people and making them laugh. And that’s probably the last part of your question – I really would like every child in the mass audiences I encounter, we’re talking about 500 or so -  I would like to think that every child had an opportunity – not because of anything to do with my talk that may be instrumental , it doesn’t really matter – the children of today can reach their potential, and the energy and the talents they have are recognized. Not squashed, quashed, forgotten, put to one side by society or families, issues, whatever it may be. Elizabeth:        You know, that reminds me of a good friend of mine, Andrew Eggelton. So Andrew Eggelton is an interesting man – he’s a New Zealander actually; he’s a Kiwi – and he believes in the Art of Play. So his wish is that everybody gets to use their God-given talents. Michael:          Ditto, ditto, absolutely. Because you do see the children out there. Just to give you an example: I spoke to close to 12,000 children during a tour that I organized myself – I do have some other agents organizing other states … Elizabeth:        How do you look after your throat? Michael:          Thank goodness I’ve always had a voice that can throw – a loud voice – I was captain of a rugby team in my machismo days. I was in New Zealand, and as a front row forward you don’t usually have a shy, retiring kind of personality. When you go out to tour, and on that tour we toured everything around the Riverina, we did places like West Wyalong, places you normally drive through as you are going up the back roads to Dubbo or some place like that. Then we went to Sydney, the western suburbs schools, and even this morning I had a phone call from one of the agents for a school near Loganlea. The school called and they want a couple of sessions. Most of their students are refugees with English ESL, so English Second Language. I would say English third or fourth language. Elizabeth:        How many children at that school? Michael:          Seven hundred. She said – the agent who rang me – and this is the first one in the tour that’s coming up late July for southeastern Queensland – “The reason no doubt that you’ve been invited to this particular school” which I know well, is because my act is highly visual. You don’t need a lot of language to understand it, because I draw all the cartoons. Or I’m caricaturing children, or getting them to caricature me. It’s almost like – ‘international language’ is not the right phrase – but it’s almost like a human comedy or whatever you call it. Elizabeth:        It’s like smiling. Michael:          It’s like smiling, and the more the merrier. So up there you’ve got the refugee children. You’ve got a lot of – and I really enjoy going to the Tongan or Samoan or Fijian or Maori schools or New Zealand, because I used to play rugby and I played with so many Islanders over the years and I’ve got some good mates there. And especially up there in southern parts of Brisbane, before you hit the Gold Coast, it’s always challenging, and I love to go up there, so it’s great to hear that. And the same thing applies to Indigenous schools up on the Gulf of Carpentaria, they call them, the Gulf Savannah schools up in Cape York, where you go to places like Weipa and stuff like that. And some of the notorious – notorious because of the troubles that have occurred – there’s a couple of places along the Peninsula there – they are trouble spots and have been for many years. Elizabeth:        You know Michael, that just says so much about you, because so many people would not go within cooee of those places, and it reflects your beautiful generosity. So I want to thank you very much for guesting on Writers’ Tête-à-Tête with Elizabeth Harris. And I think we need a Part Two. It’s been an absolute delight and thank you so much. Michael:          Thank you very much, and thank you Serena too. I babbled on a bit, but fifty years – fifty years of working in this country – there’s been a lot of water under the bridge. A lot of people, a lot of children, and I’m just very lucky. I consider myself very lucky to be in that position, to have that rapport with kids, and to just get on with them and entertain them and enjoy them. Elizabeth:        I consider those children and us very, very lucky to have met you today. Thank you so much. Michael:          Thank you guys. Thank you. [END OF TRANSCRIPT]

You can hear Osher as a Southern Cross Austereo radio host on Hit 105 Brisbane breakfast, nationally on the Hit Network on Sunday nights with Osher's Love Line and see him hosting Network Ten's The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Osher speaks with Mediaweek's James Manning in our Potts Point studio and begins talking about how music was his first love which led to a radio career. He speaks about his time in TV from Channel to Australian Idol to The Bachelor and reveals the TV project that he had to give up for his current hosting roles at Network Ten.

Listen up for Lauren's Six Easy Steps for bringing your home to life with flowers, without breaking the bank. Get her inside knowledge and shortcuts for picking the right flowers, where to find them for a great price, how to style them, how to look after them for long lasting blooms and where to go if you need a hand with florals for a special event.Here are the links to info on the markets Lauren mentions in this episode: Sydney Flower Markets, Tesselaar Flower Markets in Melbourne and Brisbane Flower Markets.And here are the links to the Sydney Florists Lauren recommends: Engadine Florist by The Sisters - they're also on instagram @engadineflorist, The Grounds Florals by Silva in Alexandria and Grandiflora in Potts Point.If you have questions about this podcast or would like to work with Lauren on a project for your own home then drop here a line at lauren@laurenkeenan.com.au

By opening Waterman's Lobster Co in Potts Point, Matt Swieboda wanted to create the "Mary's … of lobster roll places". Here, Matt not only serves the classic American dish in both the Maine and Connecticut styles, but even includes a vegetarian egg-nori version that unexpectedly teleports you to Japan. (This roll is a delicious butter-mayo bomb, by the way.) The menu also includes raw milk Wisconsin cheese with jalapenos and fish rillettes – but the stadium headliner here is the iconic crustacean. In this podcast, we talk about how this sea animal went from being seen as a low-class food (eating lobster was once considered as lowly and desperate as consuming rats) to the luxe product it is today. Matt debunks the myth that they're immortal creatures (although they can live for more than 100 years) and describes where you can find “the worst lobster on the planet”. He also covers what should go into a proper lobster roll, why they go well with "fat buttery chardonnays" and why (despite the backlash) he decided to track down lobster from America instead of using Australian produce. Also in this episode, Matt talks about his unexpected career in hospitality (in his early days, on the bus to work, he'd give himself a crash course on the grand crus of Burgundy) and how he went on to start much-loved Sydney small bar, Love Tilly Devine. And he singles out his favourite places to eat and drink in Sydney – from Onde for a T-bone steak to Room 10, where he pretty much spends all his weekly earnings.