On late Friday, I booked an appointment with a massage therapist, Shane. Not only is he a skilled therapist with a city practice, he’s also my neighbor, and has followed my journey over the last twelve months with interest. “It’s been a big week,” I told him, “and I thought it would be great to book in for some relaxation.”
The week began with a stressful incident: a blood blister on my intact foot. As a diabetic amputee, I’m hypervigilant about foot care. Every eight weeks, I see a podiatrist to check my feet. My physiotherapist noticed the blister and recommended seeking medical attention.
This was timely, as I had an upcoming appointment at the Prosthetic Clinic at Sacred Heart Hospital where I spent a few months of the last year. When asked about any possible “trauma” that might have caused the blister, I couldn’t think of anything. The culprit was a sock wedged in the bottom of my shoe. Though it sounds trivial, there was concern about the reduced sensation in my foot, so I’ll monitor the situation closely.
Staff at the clinic shared other amusing stories. One patient arrived convinced their leg was turning black (a likely sign of gangrene), only to discover a soy sauce packet lodged in their prosthetic.
Soy sauce in a fish shape, with thanks to my favourite local Japanese restaurant, Ichibang, Surry Hills.
I also had a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) meeting to review my support plan. Given my progress, funding is being reduced over the next three years, as I simply don’t need the high level support I had when this first happened. Thankfully, they’ll fund two new prosthetics. I’ll get a “wet leg” for water activities and a new socket for my current limb, as my stump is shrinking.
Prosthetics are like toddler shoes, changing frequently. I’m considering options for the cover. A natural look appeals, but I like the idea of festive designs. A Facebook group offered great advice, including experimenting with different styles.
While generally positive, I briefly questioned if my desire for a “natural look” stemmed from insecurity about my new life as someone with disability. I think it’s more about practicality and avoiding trends, and so I can perform my own seasonal decorations for Chtistmas/Mardi Gras, rather than get locked into the same look
Attending the Sydney Metro Limbs for Life gathering a couple of weeks ago. It was so great to talk to people who understood you, who you didn’t need to explain things to about amputation.
I’m always observing others with prosthetics in public. Volunteering at the Sydney Disability Expo on Friday was eye-opening. Despite working with people with disabilities, the sheer volume and variety of challenges surprised me. From learning basic sign language to interacting with people with profound disabilities, I gained valuable insights. I also encountered some of my own ableist assumptions firsthand.
Last year, as a wheelchair user, I had first hand experience being overlooked in favor of my support worker. “Hey, it’s me down here”, I was tempted to say when the shop assistant looked to my support worker instead of me. I made a conscious effort to speak directly to individuals with disability, regardless of my assumptions their support needs.
The past year has been a steep learning curve.
Volunteering at the Sydney Disability Expo, checking people in, and sending them in the right direction for food, the toilets etc.
I guess I hadn’t read the invitation on Facebook all that closely, because I genuinely thought it was the original show from Broadway, Forbidden Broadway which was playing at Statement Bar.
Pretty soon after arriving, Colin and I got the vibe that it was, however, an amateur production, or at least something pro-am.
We were worried for a moment because both of us really love Forbidden Broadway. Colin has seen the show a few times, and I am familiar with the material through the CDs.
In essence, Forbidden Broadway is a fairly biting satire of musicals and musical theatre.
In the publicity, tonight’s show was described as…
A wry spoof of the greatest Broadway shows, characters and stars of the last 40 years, where else can you see the likes of Bebe Neuwirth, Stephen Sondheim, Carol Channing, Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno, Idina Menzel, Mandy Patinkin, Liza Minelli, Barbara Streisand, Harvey Fierstein and John Travolta all under one roof (and for one low price!)
Of the work I’ve heard on CD, a particular favourite has been their parody of Mamma Mia…
On the West End it looked ridiculous
here in New York it’s meticulous, deep and smart, an equivalent to high art
For a moment we were a little disappointed that it “wasn’t the real thing”, as we were incorrectly expecting. And it was just a moment, because as soon as they came on, we realised soon this production was genuinely bloody good.
With strong performances, split-second costume changes, the four-member cast worked together really well, under what appeared to be very good direction.
Speaking of which, we got to talking with a woman sitting next to us in the front row. She had travelled down from Newcastle, she told us, because her grandson was the director, Jay. She entertained us with some lovely stories about how he had been directing plays since childhood, and how she had helped with costumes. A particular favourite story was how she had created a seven-foot-tall “bong” for a production he directed last year called, “Reefer Madness”. “What a groover”, we both thought.
I’m not sure how much you would need to know about musical theatre to appreciate the show, as there are a lot of “in jokes”. The “Liza Minelli” routine worked especially well, even if you weren’t completely aware of all her work.
And even if you didn’t know all that much, I suspect it would still be enjoyable as a night of fun and music.
It’s on at the Statement Bar for just two weeks. Tickets through Moshtix.
You know how when you walk into a shop, the person behind the counter will almost certainly smile or wave hello?
That wasn’t the case when I walked into a “fashionable” optometrist in Sydney tonight. The guy behind the counter looked over at me, and then looked away as if I wasn’t worth his time to acknowledge. My aunty Edna once described something similar as she entered an optometrist in Brisbane wearing glasses held together with sticky tape.
As I wandered around looking at the display spec, I overheard the other sales assistant chatting to a reasonably fashionable-looking young woman. “Darling, how old are you”, he asked with the intonation of the character created by Sacha Baren Cohen of “Brüno” the uber-gay fashionista. “You should never wear glasses like this until you’re at least forty”, I overheard him say. I think I might have laughed out loud.
I looked around for a while and at no stage did either of the shop assistants come up to me and ask if I’d like some help. In the end, it doesn’t matter, as I don’t need glasses. I was just wandering around looking in shop windows, as it’s the first time in at least a couple of months since I’ve done anything like that. I did, however, see some rather nice-looking specs that I’ll consider for the next time I need new glasses.
I left work just before five this afternoon, a minor miracle given how busy I’ve been over the last few weeks. The election, another project I’m working on, and covering a few absences, and the last month, in particular, has been uber-busy. But there’s now light at the end of the tunnel, and so this afternoon I left work a little early and went on a window shopping adventure.
Day three of my four-day holiday continued with more good food.
At 11.30 this morning, I went to a free Greek Easter Cooking Show at Paddy’s Markets. I didn’t catch the name of the instructor from Greekalicious, but I thought she did a very good demonstrating a couple of fairly simple recipes.
The first was a fairly simple spicy feta dip (with a great chilli bite), made in the food processor with feta, yoghurt, olive oil, chilli, garlic, oregano, basic, spring onions and cracked pepper.
The second was a watermelon and feta summer salad which was surprisingly good, given the different flavours.
The third was a dish made with prawns, feta, tomatoes and ouzo called a “Cyclades Style Prawn Saganaki”.
The final dish, which I couldn’t stay around for was a poached pears and fig dish.
Throughout the demonstration we got to taste food along the way, and all the time she emphasised some important principles of Greek cuisine. The main points were….
1. There is no such thing as a Greek Salad. It’s a Kalimata Salad, sometmes called a Village Salad.
2. Greeks make the best feta in the world, despite what the Danes may believe.
3. The only olive oil to use is Extra Virgin.
Overall it was a great way to spend the day.
And then Colin and I had lunch at the Lord Nelson. He had the beef pie, I had the pizza. Both were excellent.
There was a sole newspaper sitting on the cafe bench on Saturday morning. It looked barely touched—still holding those crisp, familiar folds from when it was first pulled from its plastic wrapping. It sat there abandoned, a relic in the morning light, while around me, the cafe hummed with a different kind of silence. Everyone else was glued to their screens, scrolling through news or whatever else occupied their digital lives. It’s hard to know what they were looking at, really.
Barely touched, the Sydney Morning Herald
I was planning to travel down to Wollongong to record an episode of The Limb Shift, and I’ve realised how much I love these trips into nearby regions. Whether it is heading north through the Hawkesbury or slipping south to Wollongong through the beautiful, dense forests around Waterfall, the journey itself is a reward.
On the train ride home yesterday, my attention was caught by a couple—likely in their mid-to-late 70s—sitting opposite me. They were immersed in a physical copy of the Sydney Morning Herald.
It instantly transported me back to years of my own weekends, sitting with friends in a cafe, spreading the sections across the table, trading pages, and settling into a routine that lasted for hours.
I don’t consume the papers that way anymore. While I still maintain a subscription to the Herald, I read the digital replica format on my tablet, early in the morning, usually by myself. I do appreciate that curated, page-by-page view, but there was something profoundly refreshing about seeing that couple on the train. They held such serious expressions, clearly absorbed in the weight of the day’s headlines, while I, if I’m honest, am often more inclined toward the trivial.
It highlighted a growing frustration of mine: how tethered we have become to our devices at the expense of the world around us. It is remarkable—and frankly alarming—how many people walk through life with their heads tilted downward. In my own neighbourhood, I constantly see people crossing busy streets while fixated on their screens, never even glancing up to check for traffic.
As someone who uses a mobility scooter, this hits close to home. It is immensely frustrating to have people walk straight into me, only to offer a mumbled, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Well, perhaps if you weren’t looking at your phone while crossing the road, I think to myself, though I rarely say it aloud. Maybe I should.
Earlier this week on the light rail, I saw someone reading a physical book, and it struck me again how rare that sight has become. Like newspapers, I’ve moved to a tablet, but there was a lovely, tactile quality to seeing what someone else was engaging with.
When someone is buried in a phone or tablet, they are a closed book; you have no way of knowing what has captured their imagination. A physical book, or a newspaper, invites a shared, communal experience. It offers a tiny, welcome window into the world around us—and that, I think, is exactly what we are missing.
There was a terrific response in the room to the talk given by fellow Australian, Sam Cavanagh. Sam is the Executive Producer of the Hamish & Andy Show. At the heart of his talk was an idea around how the program team treated their audience. As he spoke, with a great deal of passion, there was a real sense of excitement in the room around the idea of seeing your audience as “fans”, not “listeners.”
Many radio stations, he argued, saw their audience merely as “listeners”, whereas the Hamish & Andy Show came from the approach of seeing their audience as “fans”. Once you see your audience in that way, he argued, you can actually get closer to them, as they become more involved in what you do.
He gave some terrific examples of where the audience came along for some wonderful promotions, including one where Hamish & Andy attended something like forty family parties (from babies to adults, from christenings to “How To Host A Murder” parties), and one where they brought out Sylvester Stalone’s brother (who was a singer in the 1970s) to tour. Sam explained “we could have made it free, but we charged everyone a token amount, five bucks, so they felt like they had an investment in it”.
Sam Cavanagh, Hamish & Andy Show speaks at Radio Days Europe
On a totally different level, I was completely blown away by the talk given by Susan Marjetti from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. As the manager of the local talk radio station in Toronto (probably one of the world’s most culturally diverse communities), she explained how she and her team transformed their radio station over the last decade.
Like a lot of public service broadcasters in a similar position, the on-air line-up and listenership of the radio station remained older, mostly male, and mostly caucasian. Their goal was to transform their radio station into something which more closely resembled the city in which they were based. It wasn’t anything about being “politically correct” or anything like that, she argued, saying there was a strong business case about meeting one of the public service goals of the public broadcaster (to broadcast to all Canadians), and about growing their audience in the future. “If we don’t get this right, we’ll be a precious emblem to a dying elite”, one of her colleagues said to her.
When they began transforming their on-air line-up (including regular guests) with a younger, more culturally diverse people this initially led a fall in ratings. But within twelve months, they went from sixth place in the ratings to number one, and they’ve been number one for fifty surveys in a row, she explained proudly.
She’s a great speaker, and I found it personally very inspiring to hear her speak, as it’s something I also feel very passionately about.
Susan Marjetti . CBC Radio Canada speaks at Radio Days Europe
When it came to the discussion about digital radio, including DAB+, I admit, I had mixed feelings. At times I was inspired, other times I felt a little sad. Sometimes I felt it was almost as if the industry I’ve loved all of my life was “begging” for its future survival. I sometimes felt as though we were “pleading” with the public, government and manufacturers to convert to digital radio to ensure our industry can survive, as more and more people use smart phones, computers, televisions and so on, to access our content. I sometimes feel like we need to stop saying “it’s better quality sound” and emphasising all of the technical reasons why we should switch to digital and spend more and more time saying, “hey we’ve got the best damn radio you’ll ever hear”, emphasising how great the content is, and can be.
On the positive, there was good news about the future of digital radio in cars (two more manufacturers announced digital radio as standard in new vehicles), and about high digital radio penetration rates in a number of countries. On the negative, I noticed how high digital radio penetration rates were in many parts of Europe (ninety percent of the population of Germany can listen to digital radio) compared with Australia where it remains limited to five capital cities (with trials only in Canberra and Darwin).
In Norway and Denmark they have firm plans for switching off their analogue radio network, and in the UK, one of the speakers mentioned a likely announcement towards the end of the year. I was particularly interested in the discussion about the analogue switch-off in Norway, as, like Australia, the geography of the country (mountains) and the low population density (isolation), significantly increases the challenges involved.
It was, overall, a really interesting day which I enjoyed very much.
Here are some of my tweets and retweets from throughout the day which covered the key things which I found interesting…
18 Mar James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Opening night of #rde13 Radio Days Europe in Berlin tonight. Lots of fun.
Lord Mayor of Berlin reception at Radio Days Europe
19h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Caroline graze spoke of radio station dating app too bring listeners together and to get demographics of audience. #rde13
18h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Fans not listeners key to Hamish and Andy success says sam cavanagh at #rde13
18h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU BBC 1 & 4 skew twitter over Facebook in socmed interactions acc to research at #rde13 and wonder if same applies to other similar stns
18h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Danish research shows radio audience atten span drifts 4mins into segment then declines rapidly for both music and talk. Being human. #rde13
17h James Cridland @JamesCridland Great time at #rde13 – @samcav does an excellent talk, described by a senior programmer as “best radio talk I’ve seen in five years”
17h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU RT @Radio_Bingen RT @RADIOSZENE: ABC Australien hat einen intetessanten Kanal “Back to Vinyl” http://ow.ly/1TGomF #RDE13
17h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU RT @ronez ABC Extra, programmes originaux multiplateforme par la radio australienne (sports, musicaux, événementiels). #RDE13
17h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU RT @mxlabswiss O’Brien ABC about POP UP radios in Ausralia and Vinyl shows at #rde13 pic.twitter.com/45G79jKZ5c
17h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU RT @cbollert #RDE13 James O’Brien #ABC / @triplej talks about digital in Australia. Especially about ABC extra and #popupradio.
16h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Town hall meetings important part of CBC Toronto diversity strategy. #rde13
16h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Largest underserved communities strategy more than ethnicity for CBC radio. #rde13
16h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Host changes can take a while but prog changes quick in CBC diversity strategy. #rde13
15h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU What radio looks like on a mobile phone became our obsession says BBC r 1 controller. #rde13
15h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU TV has replaced radio as b/g noise says BBC r1 controller but pops for radio in IPTV. #rde13 Expand
14h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Visuals and interactions key to 18-24 radio future as smartphones and tablets preferred account to euro research at #rde13
13h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Norway with low pop density replacing FM with dab+ by 2017. #rde13 pic.twitter.com/rhQgMtKSj5
13h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Norway digital radio criteria for analogue switchoff inc. Web podcasts etc. Currently 30% with 50% goal. #rde13
James Dickie, Research Manager, Other Lines of Enquiry, speaks at Radio Days Europe
13h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Today Audi announced digital radio as standard in UK cars following BMW. #rde13
13h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Digital radio UK listening 50% and 5hrs per week longer than analogue. #rde13
12h UK Radioplayer @ukradioplayer We’re very proud to announce that Norway are adopting our UK Radioplayer system. The world’s waking up to the power of partnership #rde13
Ben Cooper, BBC Radio 1 controller speaks at Radio Days Europe
7h James O’Brien @JamesOBrienAU Bit surprised smoking still allowed in bars in Berlin. Arrived home tonight STINKING of cigarettes.
Oh, and as you might have noted from these tweets, I presented a paper too.
“I’ve had a recurrent dream where I’ve moved house to another city, but I’ve still kept the old house in Sydney”, I told a colleague today.
We were talking about my decision to stay in Lismore for a little longer.
We had previously worked together in Sydney, and after many years travelling to and from Sydney, she made the decision to move to the North Coast a few years ago.
She suggested I should move back here also, and continue to work from here.
A number of friends have told me I should look for accommodation here, and I have been looking in real estate agents windows.
Real estate window, Lismore.
But the time isn’t right for me yet. I still want to stay in Sydney for a bunch of reasons.
And the real estate market is quite hot here right now. Nowhere near as expensive as Sydney, of course, but it seems the demand for rentals is probably distorting the market here right now.
So, as planned, I’ll be looking for somewhere more seriously a little closer to retirement in a few years time.
I’m not missing Sydney right now. If, as planned, I were to return home tomorrow, I’d be in the midst of the COVID lockdown, as I both live and work within the boundaries of the City of Sydney.
When it became clear a few days ago Sydney was headed in the direction of a lockdown. I checked my airline ticket. I’d bought one of those “no changes” $49 flights because, frankly, I thought there was no need for a flexible ticket.
So I waited, as I thought eventually they would cancel the flight. In the end, they didn’t cancel it, but the airline announced it was “subject to change”, so I could accept the changed time, or get a travel credit.
So, of course, I took the travel credit. And even though the airline said it could take up to fourteen days for the credit to arrive, I received it overnight.
So I’m here for another week (probably). My family seems pretty happy to have me here. “You can stay for as long as you like”, they’ve said.
So I’m settling into a routine of working from home, but going into the Lismore office two days a week. In the rush to come home, I left my work laptop in Sydney. It’s too much of a hassle to get someone to go to my home, pick it up, and send it up via courier. brought my own laptop with me to Lismore, but there are some things I can’t do on that, and so I need to go into the office.
This is a pretty good compromise. In fact after 15-months of working from home, it’s rather nice to be going in and chatting with some colleagues again, a number of whom I’ve known for a very long time.
I’m also settling into a routine of going to the Lismore Worker’s Club for members draw and meat tray night on Fridays. Sadly, so far, I haven’t won anything.
Friday night at the Lismore Workers Club for members draw and meat trays. “Glass of white wine, thanks”, I said to the barman. “Cask wine, okay?”, he replied. “Sure, no worries”, I said. “That’s three dollars, thanks.” he replied. #fridaynightwinning
While I’m here, I’m also planning to do a bit of family history research, and will head tomorrow to the Richmond River Historical Society to see what they have.
PS. Best wishes to friends back in Sydney now caught up in the midst of the lockdown. Hopefully this will be enough to catch it in the bud.
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Thanks James for sharing your story you have been an inspiration. Cheers Bernedette
Thanks James for sharing your story you have been an inspiration. Cheers Bernedette
Many thanks Bernedfette.
I had a good laugh at the soy sauce tale.