For a week or two, I’ve been in search of a video to use at the “Tribute to Colin”, to be held in a couple of weeks on what would have been his birthday. Colin was one of those featured in a copy of a 1994 documentary about Arthur Stace, the man who wrote “Eternity” on Sydney foothpaths for many years.
The documentary originally screened at the Sydney Film Festival in 1994, and later on the ABC. Colin featured in the documentary as the actor who sang the song about Arthur Stace in a SUDS production (Sydney University). With many thanks to the film-maker, Susan Mackinnon, I’ve obtained a copy of the documentary, and I’m sure this segment will make a wonderful contribution to the tribute.
And then on Friday, I took the day off work for an annual lunch with friends, including former and current colleagues. Each year on roughly the same day, at the same time, we go to the same restaurant, https://www.lacapannina.com.au/, sit at the same outdoor table, enjoy the food and wine, and solve the problems of the world. Last year, I was fresh out of hospital, and still getting around with crutches, but this year I managed to get myself to and from the restaurant on public transport, an indicator of the achievements of what’s happened in the time since, my friends noted. We struggled to remember how long we’ve been doing this for, but it’s a lovely tradition we all enjoy, and we’ve already made a tentative restaurant booking for a 2025 date.
By the time Saturday came around, I was a little exhausted.
I was also unsure what to expect from a 90-minute Friendlyjordies live show show. I’ve been watching his YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-i3KuYoODXsM99Z3-Gm0A for a number of years and generally enjoy his content. While he can be a bit much at times, I appreciate his sharp wit. But, could he hold my attention for a full hour and a half, especially with a topic like the Byzantine Empire, something I knew little about?
Arriving at the Paddington RSL, I noticed I was one of the oldest people in the audience. Almost everyone else seemed to be in their 20s. I was also struck by how many people were watching the show, and simultaenously using their phones s – a generational thing, I suppose, but still surprising to me.
The show itself was a pleasant surprise. Friendlyjordies presented a fascinating history lesson on the Byzantine Empire, highlighting how much of its history has been rewritten or erased. He drew parallels to modern society, discussing achievements like universal healthcare and challenging the notion that each generation is inherently smarter than the last.
While the history lesson was engaging, Friendlyjordies didn’t shy away from his trademark humor. He peppered the show with jokes, some more sophisticated than others, keeping the audience entertained. There were definitely moments where he seemed to lose some of the crowd, particularly during the longer political segments, but overall, the audience seemed to enjoy the show.
I appreciated the combination of humor and historical insights, and the 90-minute runtime felt just right. It was also interesting to watch Friendlyjordies interact with the visuals on screen. The pacing was good, and the show flowed well. If he tours again, I’d definitely consider going to see another show.
It was a reasonably busy day at work, and so, after a post-work debrief with a colleague over a chardy, I’ve come home to relax in front of the television. Except there’s nothing worth watching.
And so I’ve gone online to listen around to some radio. And in particular, I’ve been listening to some Swedish radio to practise my Swedish language skills during the winter break in our classes.
One of the best things I’ve discovered, thanks to my workmate Carrie is Klartext which runs daily at 6 pm on the radio in Sweden and which is available via the net.
Put simply, it’s the world news in Swedish for immigrants or people learning Swedish. Thus, the style of language used is slow, clear and precise. I think it’s the equivalent to what “Voice of America” used to call “the news in special English”.
Swedish newspapers
On the other hand, I’ve noticed the almost complete dominance of English language pop music on Swedish radio, these days. In the last twelve months, I’ve noticed a significant change. Twelve months ago, you would have heard a fair bit of Swedish language pop as you tuned in to Sveriges radio. These days, it seems it’s either American/English pop, or Swedes singing in English.
I’m sure it’s totally in line with musical tastes in Sweden, so don’t get me wrong. If that’s what the Swedish public wants, who am I to criticise? However, I’ve always quite enjoyed listening online to Swedish pop music radio, as music is quite a good way to learn a language because the lyrics are usually quite simple, clear, and well-articulated.
A few weeks ago, as a result of some high profile recent violent attacks, the NSW Government enacted some new liquor licensing laws.
In short, Sydney has gone from being a 24-hour city, where you could pretty much purchase alcohol at any time of the day to one with restrictions. Bars now have a “lockout” from 1.30am, which means no entry after that point. Alcohol sales now stop at 3.00am. Oddly enough, they resume at 5.00am. There are, of course, arguments for and against this approach.
You get the message from the tone of this sign, the owners of The Columbian on Sydney’s Oxford Street, aren’t too happy with the new licensing laws in NSW. I’ve seen similar signs at other venues on the street. It’s their quiet protest, I guess.
Today I recorded a terrific interview for The Limb Shift podcast, launching this October for Amputee Awareness Week!
I spoke with Marny Cringle (who lives near Newcastle), who survived a horrific tube station incident at London’s Green Park in 1996, resuling in an above knee amputation, and some brain damage. After three years of intensive rehabilitation, she returned to nursing—adapting as an above-knee amputee—and even went on to compete internationally in wheelchair tennis.
On 1 December 1996, the life of Australian registered nurse Marny Cringle changed forever in the depths of the London Underground. Having spent two and a half years working in London trauma units and travelling through Europe, her vibrant working holiday came to a catastrophic halt at Green Park tube station. While waiting to catch a train, Marny suffered a horrific accident that resulted in her being run over and dragged by a tube train. The exact mechanics of the incident remain unknown and shrouded in post-traumatic amnesia.
As Marny later recalled in the interview for The Limb Shift podcast:
“I don’t know what happened… I was standing at the end of the platform”.
Investigators and a police colleague surmised that an unlocked platform gate may have swung open and struck her onto the tracks, or her long coat might have caught on the train. Ironically, the ambulance drivers who rushed her from the scene were paramedics she knew personally from her professional work in the hospital trauma unit.
The Physical Toll & Defying the Odds
The physical toll of the accident was catastrophic. Marny suffered:
Extensive fractures to every bone in her skull
Several areas of her brain were ripped out by the train
Her eyes were dislodged
Her left leg was traumatically removed by the train high above knee
Broke her back in several places
Multiple rib fractures with collapsed lungs and other injuries too many to mention.
While fighting for her life unconscious and on life support, she contracted meningitis. Marny’s medical team believed her injuries were completely incompatible with survival, and because of this, her life support was turned off but the pain killers remained to keep her comfortable. When Marny continue to live and breathe independently, she had a delayed closure of her traumatic above knee amputation (AKA) seven days later, the day before her birthday on 8 December 1996.
Defying all clinical expectations, Marny survived. However, she emerged from the trauma with a profound brain injury, twelve weeks of post-traumatic amnesia, and hemiparesis that left the left side of her body severely weakened.
Following three months of acute hospitalisation and intensive physiotherapy in London, Marny returned to Australia, where she spent a year residing in a transitional living unit in Newcastle to recover from her acquired brain injury (ABI) and to regain independent living skills.
Reclaiming Independence & Returning to Nursing
Medical professionals repeatedly cast doubt on her aspirations to reclaim her independent life, warning her that she would never nurse or drive again due to her cognitive impairments and lack of depth perception. Marny refused to accept these limitations. She rebuilt her physical capacity by swimming two kilometres every day to restore her collapsed lungs and drew upon her old knowledge while successfully completing nursing courses.
“Just under three years” after the accident, she successfully returned to her nursing career. Working on crutches, she adapted her clinical environment creatively, using deep storage containers to carry injection dishes and utilizing wheeled trolleys for dressings. Her career post-accident has spanned paediatrics, neonatal intensive care, aged care, medical / rehabilitation nursing and chronic disease management. In her professional life, her lived experience allowed her to connect deeply with other amputees experiencing phantom pain and early surgical recovery.
A World-First Medical Journey
For sixteen years following her accident, Marny was unable to successfully wear a conventional prosthetic limb due to her exceptionally short residual femur, which measured only five centimetres. After years of painful, unsuccessful prosthetic fittings between Newcastle and Sydney, she was introduced to pioneering prosthetic research.
To facilitate aprosthesis, Marny underwent a world-first surgical process to lengthen her residual bone using an external fixator. The procedure required immense grit; she continued working while manually turning a bone-lengthening screw every six hours to stretch the bone a quarter of a millimetre at a time. Once the femur successfully consolidated to the required length, Marny underwent a complex, multi-stage osseointegration procedure that enabled her to use a socket-free bionic leg. It was great to be walking again, but due to not weight bearing for 16 years, she developed stress fractures which meant the procedure had to be repeated and combined with a total hip replacement.
Elite Sports and New Passions
Parallel to her clinical career, Marny remained an avid sportsperson. Before her accident, she was a long-distance runner; afterward, she adapted her athletic pursuits with equal intensity. She excelled in equestrian dressage, won medals at state swimming championships, skied the slopes at Thredbo – first on one leg and later using a sit-ski – and went on to compete at an elite level in wheelchair tennis.
Marny eventually became the number one ranked seeded wheelchair tennis player in Australia, travelling internationally to compete in tournaments across America and Malaysia. In her later years, following hand fractures that limited her ability to grip a tennis racquet, she transitioned to playing wheelchair pickleball. Pickleball is a fast-growing paddle sport that blends elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis, played on a smaller court with a low net. It uses solid paddles to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball, making it highly accessible and fast-moving, particularly during close-range doubles rallies near the net.
Sharing Her Message: Small Steps, Big Outcomes
Marny has a book which documents her life experiences and incredible journey of survival, a memoir titled Small Steps Big Outcomes – how to change your circumstances for success.
Through her story, Marny hopes to show that taking small, consistent steps can lead to powerful outcomes. Above all, she wants to encourage others to recognise their own capabilities and realise that we all carry hidden reserves of potential.
Reflecting on her journey she observed that:
“Losing a limb has brought both challenges and unexpected gifts… It has shown me that strength is not measured by what we lose, but how we respond”.
Now aged 56 and temporarily living in a regional area outside Newcastle, Marny continues to navigate the long-term impacts of her injuries with pragmatism and vulnerability. Her daily reality involves a constant effort to manage ongoing physical issues. She recently had to undergo major emergency surgery, an event that left her less active and once again presented a hurdle to her mobility.
True to her nature, she remains determined, learning to use her bionic leg with one stick for a few hours a day and adapting her goals—such as striving to wear her leg for a performance just long enough to carry her violin onto the stage.
As she faces the natural progression of getting older, Marny is candid about the compounding challenges.
“As I’m getting older, things are deteriorating and more problems are arising,” she shared. “And I thought, I just don’t know where it’s going to go from here.”
Despite this uncertainty, her approach to the future focuses heavily on proactive management and meaningful engagement. She places immense value on keeping her mind sharp by playing the violin, sustaining her physical health through sports like pickleball, and nurturing good social connections.
For Marny, ageing means positively managing the structural issues that arise over time, ensuring she remains as healthy, active and connected as possible.
Ultimately, Marny’s path through profound physical and neurological trauma served as the foundation for her work as an inspirational speaker. Her enduring message to others facing profound adversity remains steadfastly optimistic:
“No matter what you have lost, no matter what challenge you face, your story is not over”.
In the next couple of years, I’ll likely be taking a step back from full-time work and embracing semi-retirement.
As I transition, I’ve started the fascinating and sometimes daunting process of sifting through the ABC Radio archives—particularly the early work that has now been digitised to rediscover moments of my on-air career.
On top of that, I’ve got a treasure trove of content sitting on hundreds of cassette tapes and DATs in boxes at home.
The exciting part is how effortless it is now to dive into that analogue archive: finding a specific clip, generating a transcript, and pulling out the best bits is simple, opening up a world of old material.
I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing the Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser on a number of occasions. Today, I’m sharing one such interview from the time leading up to the announcement that Sydney would host the 2000 Olympics.
Dawn Fraser explained her upcoming move from Sydney’s Balmain to the Riverina town of Barellan was primarily driven by the people and her health, specifically to avoid the city’s pollution and allergens that aggravate her asthma, which had recently led to emergency hospital visits.
She said she would continue with paid guest speaking under her Sydney agent and was looking at semi-retirement, having bought a three hundred-acre property where she planned to put on stock, leveraging the help and advice of her new neighbours, and supporting her daughter who had just been accepted as a swimming coach in nearby Narrandera.
She was optimistic about Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Olympics, citing its superior technical and security packages. She also addressed the persistent myth about the Tokyo Olympic flag incident, denying the popular version of the story.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Well, it’s only a matter of weeks now until we find out whether or not Sydney will host the year two thousand Olympics. But the region is about to gain its own contact with the games. Former Olympian and parliamentarian Dawn Fraser is packing her bags later this year, leaving Sydney from Balmain to Barellan, east of Griffith, the hometown also of that other great sporting achiever, Evonne Goolagong. She’s in Barellan at the moment and is my guest this morning. Dawn Fraser, thank you very much for your time this morning and welcome to the program and welcome to the region.
DAWN FRASER: Well, thank you, James, and I’m very happy to be here, I must admit.
JAMES O’BRIEN: What do you think of the two thousand Olympic bid? Do you think we’re going to be successful?
DAWN FRASER: I think that we’re very successful. In fact, I think the other cities now are getting very aware of Sydney’s bid. And their technical bid is the best that the IOC, which is International Olympic Committee have ever seen. And I think that’s probably what will win the Sydney bid.
JAMES O’BRIEN: But that’s that’s the technical things. And of course you’ve been to just about every Olympic Games since then. Is it always the the technical things which wins or does politics also play a role in this.
DAWN FRASER: Oh, politics always play a role in the Olympic Games, of course. But I think technical and security that our security right throughout the world is the best in, in Australia. And also, you know, our technical is probably, as I said before, the best that the IOC have ever seen.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Since you began at the games back in the early sixties. What sort of changes have there been to the games?
DAWN FRASER: Well, for instance, uh, the hosting country now, uh, prepares and looks after quite a lot of third world countries. In fact, uh, you know, in, in nineteen eighty, we looked after Zimbabwe. We took the whole team. Australia, I’m saying took the whole team to Moscow. And then we looked after them as far as medical, uh, physiotherapists, coaches and trainers. Uh, since then and last year in Barcelona, we had three South African countries that we looked after.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Terrific. Now, in terms of actually moving to the area, what has prompted this move from Balmain to Barellan?
DAWN FRASER: Well, first of all, let me say it’s been the people. And secondly, may I say it’s been my health. Um, and also, you know, the fact that it starts with a B, I think coming.
JAMES O’BRIEN: From.
DAWN FRASER: Them.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Yes. I’ve been noticing in the paper the last year that you’ve been making quite a few visits to the area and especially being involved with the swimming club.
DAWN FRASER: Yes. Well, I’ve, I’ve actually been coming down to Barellan now for the last seven years with the, with the Barellan Swimming Club, and last year they made me a life member. Um, so, you know, the kids are from around the area and surrounding areas have improved greatly over the last seven years. And of course, you know, we’ve been a bit of a very competitive club now. And I think my daughter has just been accepted as the swimming coach at Narrandera. So there’s going to be a lot of competition around the area. And I think that’s going to be very good for this particular region.
JAMES O’BRIEN: But you mentioned, for example, your health and there is that the issue of the asthma. We’ve just had some figures come out the other week showing that this area has a high rate of asthma. So I’m just wondering why you’re moving to this area if you’ve got to avoid asthma.
DAWN FRASER: Well, it’s very interesting because the things that I’m allergic to only happen in the city. For instance, I’m allergic to, uh, to yeast and, uh, and and pollution, air conditioning. Well, you don’t need that very much out here in the country. And, uh, and we haven’t got the pollution out here that that’s in the city. The pollution around Sydney has been so great in the last, and it’s been increasing in the last two years. But, uh, any sort of virus that I get just increases my asthma. So I think, and I feel that I’ve got to do something about it. I enjoy living, and I don’t want to sort of, uh, be overtaken by the particular sickness. So I think it’s better if I do that.
JAMES O’BRIEN: So you’ve had some substantial problems the last couple of years. Have you in Sydney?
DAWN FRASER: Yes, I certainly have. I mean, uh, you know, over the last three and a half years, I’ve had two emergency sort of dashes to the local hospital. And, uh, and that’s been sort of, uh, a bit frightening. And it’s made me sit up and be aware of the situation that I’m in.
JAMES O’BRIEN: I’m just wondering, though, what you all do. I mean, are you looking at a career in politics? Would you would you like to be the member for Murrumbidgee or or are you looking at a hotel or what will you do in Barellan?
DAWN FRASER: Well, I still I still will be, um, under control of my agent in Sydney, and I still will do guest speaking positions, which I will be. I get paid for doing those things. And then, you know, I am looking at a semi-retirement sort of thing. And with the three hundred acres that, um, that I’m looking at at the moment here in Barellan, well, I’ve put some stock on that. And then, uh, you know, I think that semi-retirement is going to be good. My daughter’s going, as I said, going to be working at Narrandera. And if she goes very well out there, which I think she will, it’s about time she started looking after mum.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Now you’re putting some stock on the land. I mean, do you have a background in farming at all?
DAWN FRASER: No, I don’t, but I have a lot of very good friends here in Barellan that help me. And you know, I’ve been learning a lot over the last two or three years since I’ve been here, and I do know a little bit about it. And I have spent a lot of time on, on, on land. You know, when I went to Adelaide to live, I had forty five acres at a place called prospect.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Oh, yes.
DAWN FRASER: And I had some cattle and sheep, and I looked after the, the land by sowing it and putting pulling trees down and putting trees up and with a tractor and stuff like that. So I’m not afraid of the hard work that I know is in store for me. And while I’m healthy and things like that which I am when I come out here, I can’t see any hassles. And, you know, as I said, the people of Barellan have been very good to us and we’ve fitted in and I think we’ve been accepted into the community, which is a big plus and it’s just a matter of, um, of asking the right people for the advice and going off and doing it yourself. If you make mistakes, you then go back and ask advice again.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Now I’ve been meaning. I’ve been wanting to actually chat with you ever since. Late last year when I interviewed a fellow on the morning program about their memories of the Olympic Games, and this fellow said that it wasn’t you who climbed up the flagpole and stole that flag in Tokyo. It was in fact, him.
DAWN FRASER: Well, if that guy was named Desmond and he came from, um, from Western Australia, which I don’t think he was, it wasn’t him at all, because.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Was it a fellow called Peter Hawkins?
DAWN FRASER: No, it was not.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Who was it?
DAWN FRASER: Uh, well, actually, it was Des Piper from Western Australia, and he was in the Australian hockey team. So I don’t know the guy that, in fact, I. Someone sent me the, uh, the paper clipping of the Wagga Wagga news.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Oh, yes.
DAWN FRASER: I wrote back to the editor and just said, you know, that this isn’t the true story, and please tell the person that he stopped using my name.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Oh, dear.
DAWN FRASER: Because it wasn’t correct. Yeah. But I mean, you know, everyone sort of has dinners on those sort of stories. And they say that they know they know those people. In fact, the the flag wasn’t taking anywhere near anyone else. There was only three of us. And those three people know who they were.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Okay, Dawn, thank you very much. And welcome to the area. Thank you.
DAWN FRASER: James, thanks very much.
JAMES O’BRIEN: Dawn Fraser, who’s moving to the area from Balmain to Barellan. My guest this morning on the morning show and you’re listening to ABC Radio Riverina, James O’Brien with you until eleven.
Every so often on the internet – and in real life – you’ll hear someone say The Simpsons is past its prime, well past its use by date. Mostly I agree, but occasionally, just occasionally there’s an episode which demonstrates what a fantastic, relevant program it continues be. For example, I watched the episode today – the current season in the US – where Smithers convinces Moe to turn Moe’s Tavern into a gay bar, and absolutely loved it.
The premise for the episode is that Smithers discovers he’s not in Mr Burns will because Burns isn’t convinced Smithers has much drive and ambition. Feeling deflated Smithers heads off to the local gay bar – so it’s now confirmed, obviously – and is rejected by the bouncer. Looking across the road he sees Moe’s Tavern where no one is ever rejected. Smithers then convinces Moe to transform Moe’s Tavern into a gay bar for the more ordinary run of the mill – dull – homosexual. It’s quite a hit.
Moe and Smithers kissing on The Simpsons
A lot of people conclude Moe is, himself, gay: something which Moe himself doesn’t deny until he absolutely has to, when he’s on the verge of being elected as Springfield’s first openly gay councillor. It’s an episode which has all of the drama, the irony, and the comedy you expect from The Simpsons. I love the reference of “Tom of Shelbyville” erotic gay art, for example.
Anyway, that’s pretty much how I spent most of the day: watching catch-up tv. I had a bunch of material on the pvr and a bunch of material in the download box that I just haven’t had the time to watch until today. There was nothing else of note in what I watched, and Keanu Reeves was still boring on Graham Norton the second time around :)
The only other bit of excitement in the day was a trip to Officeworks. I have a friend in hospital at the moment and I wanted to buy him a reasonably easy to use mp3 player. He’s a great music fan, and having been in hospital for a few weeks, I thought he would be really missing some of his favourite tunes.
He’s a little older, these days and finding technology a little tougher than he used tro, and so I wanted to find an mp3 player that was pretty straight-forward and easy to use. Do you know how hard that is? They all seem to come with multiple options. You can watch video. You can control the equalisation. You can do anything. But all I really wanted one that had an on-off switch, and simple controls for volume and the next track. I settled on the latest ipod shuffle. It seems to do the trick. Cheap as chips also.
And so the part of the day that wasn’t involved in watching television was involved in selecting some of his favourite music and loading it up.
Great clip!
Thanks Matthew. Yes, it’s lovely. Tells the story very well.