Mark Perry

The stage before Australian band The Church kick off their latest tour, replete with drum kit, separate percussion kit, and mic stands for the two guitarist and singer/bassist Steve Kilbey.

It’s crazy that I’ve never seen The Church play live before but I rectified that last night. The first date of their Singles tour was wonderful. I have such warm memories of their songs going back to The Unguarded Moment in 1981. It’s worth catching them if you can get a ticket!

It's November & it's way past time I got my writing under control. Here's my plan:
1. Finish novel #3 this weekend (7 scenes, ~3500 words)
2. Finish the first draft of novel #2 in 2025 (from 39,000 words to 80,000 words)
3. Publish either before June 2026
4. Rewrite novel #1. Publish by end of 2026

The Andrew Formerly Known as Prince

An English nobleman had to give up his diamonds and pearls when Epstein’s lady cab driver said he needed underage girls to get off when he used to partyup in 1999. But will this controversy be enough to make Donald the dove cry?

by Maureen Dowd

They should be banned while the subject is still alive

The anti Henry Ford

Their debut album is still one of my favourites.

Hard to disagree but I’d have Local &/or General in the top 3

That’s so sad. He was also the lead singer of Geisha, who had a couple of hits in the mid-80s.

This. We’ve lost so much since the heyday of 80s comedy in this country.

For true innovacioun, we neede poetrye, philosophye, ethics, and the studye of historye and literature and language. We neede to fynde newe wayes of wearinge our heartes, new dreames of the future. Technologye alone will onlye make bettir tooles for makinge olde injustices happen faster.

Imagine if we had a coordinated government sponsored campaign advocating for books and reading - not just for children, but for adults too?

Imagine if the government had stepped in to save Meanjin Quarterly, our oldest literary journal - and the birth place of some of our most esteemed authors? 6/

Did you know your MacBook has a sensor that knows the exact angle of the screen hinge?

It’s not exposed as a public API, but I figured out a way to read it and make it sound like an old wooden door.

*sigh* So I didn’t get longlisted for either of the writing prizes I submitted to earlier in the year. Just gotta keep writing I guess…

When you’ve loved and lost the way the Mode have…

The first ten minutes were ok…

I vaguely remember my parents drinking something in the mid-70s called April Gold, which was a white wine of some sort.

I want to see a “where are they now?” episode dedicated to people who lined up outside Harvey Norman for the midnight launch of Windows 95

1. Two
2. Zero
3. Three
4. Three

We should have listened when the modems screamed at us.

Major record labels are reportedly in licensing talks with AI firms Udio and Suno | TechCrunch Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are in talks to license their work to AI startups Udio and Suno.

Fyi this is one to watch techcrunch.com/2025/06/02/m...

This one’s psychological horror. I also write autobiographical fiction and have planned a speculative fiction novel.

Had some great feedback from my beta readers on my new novel. “I love the tension and the intrigue of the story”. “How much for the book? You’ve got me hooked”. “The gradual linking of unusual events in the story, creates a curiosity that requires the ‘itch to be scratched’”.

This is hands down the worst game of football I’ve ever seen

Straight to the pool room

I’ve taken the approach that’s it better to pitch a novel than a TV show/movie. Time will tell if it pays off.

Private Eye hits the nail on the head

I do

‘A ticking time bomb’: How Australia’s reading slump is making us stupid Low literacy. A drop in recreational reading. Students who can’t finish texts. A book industry of falling margins. The decline in reading poses a risk to us all.

Stubbornly low literacy. A steep fall in recreational reading. A rise in numbers of students unable to finish whole texts. A book industry struggling with falling margins. The decline in reading poses a risk to us all. www.smh.com.au/national/a-t...

Alison Goldfrapp’s new album is being drip fed at the moment and it’s really connecting with me. I love discovering a new track has been made available. Seriously good stuff.