Saturday, January 25, 2014

What was she thinking ... a classic brain-fade from Townsville Enterprise – but it’s no laughing matter.


Kid Crisafulli startles some Townsville’s be-wigged bigwigs …

Did the Townsville Bulletin know of a massive criminal activity but didn’t report it because the culprit was a big corporate advertiser – or is it just dangerous ignorance of language …

A no-holds-barred round-up of the Gold Coast’s rorting mayor Tom Tate … (mostly a link you can open or not) ....

And the cruelty of parents … a name or two that makes you wonder about that, all here in the nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au.


That dull clunking, whooshing sound you heard around town was the collective dropping of jaws followed by a sharp intake of breath while reading the gauche and damaging remarks about Townsville – from someone who is paid to boost tourism about the place!

TEL's tourism spokeswoman Patricia O'Callaghan
The Magpie not so long ago described Townsville Enterprise’s Tourism waffler Patricia  O’Callghan as ‘one of the better performing turbines in the wind farm that is Townsville Enterprise’.

A great man once said ‘I change my mind when circumstances change,’ and so it is with The ‘Pie’s judgment on Ms O’Callghan.

The following pains the old bird, because Ms O'Callaghan is universally liked personally around the place, and is said to be a nice individual, but, sorry, darlin', business is business.

In an astoundingly naïve interview with the Courier Mail - her  comments are halfway down the story - Ms O’Callaghan's turbine appears to have stripped some cogs and momentarily seized up.

The paper’s article was a great opportunity to boost the city’s profile for state-wide readers, based on singer Adam Brand moving here because he loves the place. Perhaps he waxed lyrical about the local charms a tad much, comparing them to the Maldives, where one assumes he’s never been if that’s his assessment.

But rather that than Ms O’Callaghan’s quoted remarks, which followed on  Mr Brand’s gushing word picture. The story said: 

Despite these attractions, Tourism & Events Townsville Enterprise general manager Patricia O'Callaghan said Townsville has suffered from a reputation as a boring place - earning it the unwanted nickname "Brownsville".
"People's perception was that tumbleweed rolled down the street and we all went about in a horse and cart," she said.
She then said it was actually a you-beaut place. But all too late.
Readers won’t remember the tense or the overall sense, but will automatically recall the words ‘boring’ ‘Brownsville’, ’tumbleweed’ and ‘horse and cart’.
That was not only ill-advised, but professionally ill-informed by a supposed media expert, and at a stroke, dismissed two decades of dedicated slog – particularly by Tony Mooney and the greening of Townsville program, as well as the population generally – to relegate the hated nickname Brownsville to the history books.

And this from the person we pay to get people to come here. 

To compound her immature media warbling, Ms O’Callaghan then made some lukewarm remarks along the lines of begging people heading to Cairns and the Whitsundays to spend a few days here as well.  Made it sound like a chore for them and a favour to us. Very undignified, and not much of a marketing ploy, anyway.

Any defence that it was the reporter’s selective quoting doesn’t wash, because a tourism spokesperson for this place should NEVER have brought up that massive negative and outback imagery at ANY time, for any reason.

Just plain bloody dopey, and it’s left a lot of people muttering about peanuts and monkeys. The damage is done, the massive negative is out there state-wide. 

But like dead fish, (a kipper perhaps?) the rot at TEL sets in at the head.

The Kipper - smoked?

Ms O’Callaghan’s massive misjudgment came on the heels of  David ‘The Rorting Kipper’ Kippin’s limp-wristed effort on the TV news last night. 

Christ, this bloke bullshits about everything under the sun, but when it comes time to say some positive words about some actual real and good news for the town – in this case, the sale of Jupiters to an Aussie hotel company, with promises of wonderful upgrades and so on – The Kipper was more like a bunny caught in the headlights. Looking mildly confused and seemingly caught offguard by the fairly obvious question of what this meant for Townsville, he mumbled that he  didn’t really know, but it might get some more Asian people to visit. Ya reckon, Denozzo?

Really, The ‘Pie reckons it is now time for a push by the council to take back some of the vital functions that this Dudley Do-Nothing crowd are handling with all the panache of one-armed cement truck driver with hives. 

The budget is already there to handle visitors, conventions and tourism promotion, in the form of the $700,000 of ratepayers hard-earned that we give to these galoots each year. We’d probably get change out of that, the council unit wouldn’t be trying to be all things to all people all up and down the coast and out west, and there would be better supervision of staff , which means no one, including Ms O'Callaghan, need lose their jobs. And that council unit would be far more transparent and accountable than the Kipper’s mob are, or ever have, been. 

And The ‘Pie isn’t the only one to thinks that it’s high time that this idea was acted on by responsible councillors if they really have the ratepayers interests at heart.

Otherwise, TEL will undoubtedly be a major campaign issue come the next council election.

Other matters.

Another under-performing group at the moment is the hapless Crocs basketball beanpoles. Adding insult to the injury of their seventh straight loss, the Crocs got a 13 point toweling from their northern rivals, the Cairns Taipans last night.

This reinforced the message that if typical Townsville fair-weather crowds keep falling away because of poor results, the Crocs will be deemed crocks by the NBL, and be tossed out. Or their backers will fold their tent for them.

And that would be a shame, having a national sporting team of any sort can only be good for Townsville. Bentley thinks so too, and his eloquent pen seeks supporters to rally round.

An endangered species?


It is rare that Kid Crisafulli makes a political misstep, let alone, as the Yanks say, misspeaks. But there are quite a few legal bods around town whose jaws were also dropping when The Kid, as acting Attorney-General, spoke at the installation of a new magistrate for Townsville.



The ‘Pie wasn’t there, but he is very reliably told The Kid was talking about sentencing when he said that victims wanted magistrates to deal out ‘vengeance and retribution’. They may well do, but that's why there are age-old checks and balances in sentencing. But the victims view was one which Mr Crisafulli  appeared to endorse.

It has been pointed out by more than one legal entity in attendance said that at a stroke, The Kid arbitrarily chucked out more than 100 years of judicial sentencing rules. Vengeance per se is specifically ruled out of sentencing considerations, which at all levels have always been based on punishment, deterrence to the offender and like minded persons,  the age of the offender and the prospects of rehabilitation. That is one reason way The Pie is betting that the more extreme fascist elements of the bikie laws will be chucked out in ten seconds flat by the High Court.

Oh, well, The Kid was only acting in the AG role. He can now get back to the job he has been doing quite well until now, that of keeping his head below the political parapet, waiting for his dictator to fall over. Premier Crisafulli – the words fill some whiffleheads with dread, but we could do a lot worse. Well, actually, we are. And Premier Seeney? (arrrgh … shudder).

A couple of rib-tickling quotes from the Daily Astonisher this week. In fact, The ‘Pie laughed so hard, tears of mirth were running down his legs (well, he is getting old).

Daniel ‘Master’ Bateman, in a mildly interesting but poorly argued column about people taking offence at things, wrote a couple of inadvertent home truths about the Astonisher.

Daniel Master Bateman ... trust this blog doesn't offend you, mate.
And if it does, well, to quote you, 'so f..king what?'
Master Bateman opined that if anyone was offended by David Koch and some silly pole dancing stunt on Sunrise, there was an easy answer. Quoth he:

‘It was a stupid joke. Nothing more, nothing less. If it insulted your sensibilities, there is a simple solution: don't watch Sunrise.’
  
That may be sound advice but our boyo failed to see the rich irony, in that his description and remedy is EXACTLY what the readers of the Townsville Bulletin are doing – rather than complain, they’ve simply stopped reading the paper – in their thousands.

Then he had this startling insight, to which he was also blinded to the fact that it is almost a perfect description of his paper’s editorial policy.

This attitude of whingeing about everything, no matter how minor, fortunately is not the product of an increasingly conservative society.
We enjoy searching for controversy, even in areas where it doesn't exist.

You said it, mate. Are you Rupert's love child?

But wait, there’s another little gem in there, when the Oracle of the Astonisher ponderously advised us that

If you ignore something for long enough, eventually it will go away and no longer become a problem.

Umm, really?

Will you be putting that in the next story about a ‘brave and inspirational’ toddler with cancer or maybe a burns victim?  Or if Lendl Ryan finds he has an embarrassingly moist and stinging problem of a personal nature in sensitive area before his upcoming nuptials, that he should just ignore it because it will ‘eventually go away’? Or could this be advice to your colleagues on how to handle Ann ‘Attila The Hen’ Roebuck, the Astonisher’s resident workplace psychopath? Ignore her at your peril, pal.

But, dunno, maybe if we all ignore the paper’s double standards in their editorial policy, they will eventually go away and no longer be a problem? One only wishes.

But double standards, you cry?

Well, yes, try this on for size from today’s Iditorial, which took a big stick to the out-going owners of Jupiters, saying

‘But the full potential of the casino and hotel were never going to be achieved when Echo continued to skim off the profits and put little back into the facility.’

Geez, the Bully missed a big story there, which seems to have only come to light now that Echo is selling. Because ‘to skim’ is generally meant to be illegal, as this definition has it:

'A form of white-collar crime, skimming is a slang term that refers to taking cash "off the top" of the daily receipts of a business (or from any cash transaction involving a third interested party) and officially reporting a lower total; the formal legal term is defalcation'.

Funny, haven’t noticed that 'revelation' while big-advertising Echo was incumbent and not intending to sell!!! It would be ... could still be ... a national front pager. 

A crusading newspaper indeed – after the fact.

But the irony fairy takes another flight of fancy around these finger-wagging, mis-used words, because, (while The ‘Pie implies no illegality), that is EXACTLY what News Ltd is doing with the Townsville Bulletin, taking everything out and giving nothing back.

The hypocrisy is breath-taking.

But the best is yet to come. Have a wild guess who is purported to have written these unintentionally hilarious lines above - which figures.

Emily the Editor?

The newspaper that laughably claims that it shapes the issues and concerns of this community now has an editor who regularly – rather than occasionally – farms out the editorials to … would you believe … Emily Macdonald.

The ‘Pie first noticed this during the silly season; he supposed that it was good time for someone on trainer wheels to have a stab at the editorial, with the iditor on hols.

And they followed such a similar pattern to the usual guff by Iditor Lachlan Heywood – two thirds an almost word-for-word lazy repeat of a current news story then some vapid remarks about the subject being good, bad or that we should be vigilant/get behind/ make someone accountable/support et al – that one wouldn’t really have known the difference. Except, in what one assumes is another dopey oversight, the paper’s editorials have never been signed, which is normal practice but the on-line versions carry EMac’s by-line.

So this ‘opinion leading and (self-appointed) agenda setting' paper now has someone, who, in terms of mature community understanding, is still wet behind the ears. 

Not sure, but it seems Emily is a wise and ancient 28. An average journo and one of the slightly less appalling kiddie columnists, Emac is a nice kid (well she and The Pie used have a laugh and got on well in the office - hi, cougar) but her efforts show a distinct lack of understanding of what editorials are – or at least, were – meant to convey. Among those qualities was respect for the paper, but that went west under Typo Gleeson anyway.

This can be seen as News Ltd’s latest finger to the community, not being willing to appoint a mature, knowledgeable and balanced person with local experience to the editorial chair, to deliver a thoughtful viewpoint on current issues.

Still, Echo’s solicitors may well be making a polite inquiry as to where young missy got her ‘skimming’ information and if can she back it up. Tony Raggers been making suggestions, has he? That can join the list of other legal matters pending with the paper.

While the rest of the rag is generally quite good, the news pages and the columns continue to be an insulting mess.

Even in the classifieds.



Hope Tania gets her money back. She won’t, they’ll just re-run the ad with the correct pic … but only if she spots it and knows of the cock up. Otherwise, mum’s the word.

Moving on. 

Here’s a word of comparative cheer for those who think our local government situation is dire. (It isn’t but some people just can’t help themselves.) Mayor Mullet may be what could be termed a minority mayor, and she might occasionally try some spiteful political shenanigans of the sore loser variety, but she is a paragon of virtue and a pillar of upright society next to who they have down on the Gold Coast. 

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate.
Mayor Tom Tate has been dubbed Porky Pig, not because of any perceived porcine resemblance, but because he told so many blatant porkies during his election campaign. He’s been found out big time, and picked the wrong people to try some legal bullying through a solicitor mate.  Full points to the Save Our Spit group who haven’t flinched when faced with a bully and his grubby mates. It’s a bit of a read, but excellent writing and investigative journalism, well worth a look here.

At least The Mullet tried to KEEP her dopey promises.

In the spirit of leavin' 'em laughing, here's something from the names to Conjure with, Dept of:

This comment during the week …

The latest in our occasional series Names To Conjure With.


Over at Amsterdam University there is a professor of neurobiology who rejoices in the moniker Dr Dick Swabb.


He has written a book titled We Are Our Brains, which leads to further contemplation, especially by those females who believe men often confuse that organ with another more centrally located one.

We also learnt that a finance spokeswoman for the big number crunchers Deloitte revels in the name Victoria Brilliant. Insert own joke here. 

Freedom Commissioner Tim Wilson ... that's him in the middle.
And we discovered the newly appointed and controversial ‘Freedom Commissioner’  with the Human Rights Commission, right-wing activist Tim Wilson has told journalists he isn’t in the job for a month or two yet, so he is ‘yet to assume the position’.

Given his previous statements on the Human Rights Commission, The ‘Pie wonders if it will not be him, but us, who eventually have to 'assume the position'. But there is no truth in the story that to celebrate his appointment, he is sending out this special self-explanatory gift to his critics, to help with their poison pen letters.



Enough now, it is away to Poseurs Bar, where the management have taken it upon themselves to introduce a retro disco dance night. The ‘Pie will be anxious to see if Mongrel the Barrister and Deidre McFondle can repeat their feat of last week. They were both so legless drunk that when they crossed the floor to get another drink at the bar, they won the dance contest.
    




47 comments:

  1. Another cracking week Pie.

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  2. Watched cath wobbler on Sunrise, geez she's a rough tart. This week's topic alcohol. It's ironic, that there's so many boozers working for no news..

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  3. Conan the GrammarianJanuary 25, 2014 at 7:45 PM

    A few years ago there was a green-liveried soccer team called North Queensland Fury, a.k.a. Northern Furphy. Using similar comparison standards, the current crop of green-liveried basketballers should be called the Chokerdiles.

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    1. The rury were riddled with hickups. Is it's boss, Fowler leaving, disgruntled players.

      The crocs should open it's own style of Hpoters to make some cash.

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    2. The Pie publishes the above comment to demonstrate the flexibility of language - although he's not sure which language this is.

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    3. Conan the GrammarianJanuary 26, 2014 at 8:12 PM

      Thank you, 'Pie... I thought he was just pissed. Anyway....an opportunity has arisen, following the naming of the 'Strayan of the Year'. How about an AFL team, based somewhere along the banks of Ross Creek, vicinity of Dean Park; a stadium to be built with Federal funds on currently-unused QR land, and headed by Adam Goodes? Their cheer-squad could perfect the "Muthaf***a Haka" while dressed in the all-green livery which would enable them to seamlessly blend with the vegetation of the parks which they currently inhabit. They could be called the Gracelanders, in honour of their patron Saint Gracelyn, and have as their major sponsor Centrelink. Forget the vagaries of corporate sponsorship, with Federal backing they could go on for decades. In fact, with the backing of Saint Gracelyn, count on it - they WILL go on for decades. Maybe Ms Callaghan of TEL can present the trophy for the 'Biggest Dummy Spit After Being Called Names By a Child' at season's end, along with the Certificates of Participation for the other 20-odd players. Everybody wins, sort of....

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  4. An insightful blog and funny.

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  5. Pie, A lovely roundup of Townsville characters. I have to admit I feel sorry for the PR lady, who just needed a mentor to tell her to accentuate the positive. Speaking of positive, I guess Townsville is celebrating the new Australian of the Year, Adam Goodes. An effective warrior in the battle against racism, a dual Brownlow Medallist, and, of course, a Sydney Swans stalwart. What a way to start the Australia Day celebrations! Happy 2014. Gonzo

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    1. Always good and always entertaining.
      Sagely yours,


      Miss Lou.

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  6. With crime at an all time high how could our 3 sitting State MP,s let our highest ranked Police officer get transferred without a replacement in town?.

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  7. I can recall late last year when the sparkling Ms O'callaghan was interviewed re the closing of the visitor centre at Stuart Her ending comment was "At least the Brolga (statue at the front of the building) will be well looked after ". I would presume it now resides on Kippen's front lawn

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  8. Another week of entertaining news!!!!!!!

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  9. Please stop spreading the rumour of chrisafulli as premier. No one wants or needs that to happen lest there be vengeance.

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    1. Taint a rumour, it's an opinion ... The 'Pie knows a good politician when he sees one. Doesn't mean he's JC, or that the old bird agrees with many of the things The Kid spouts (see the blog).

      And, my brave old anonymous, you would hate to see a premier from Townsville? Rusted-on Labor, are you, despite all the evidence that the party is an epic fail and badly needs to rebuild.

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    2. No not labor at all. Is this the same 'good politician' that was in the middle of the council water debacle? He really did show his true colours then, but you seem to gloss over that fact pie?

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  10. Happy Australia day,2014.

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  11. If the kid became Premier, I'm not sure what to think.

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  12. The Magpie is deeply honoured.

    The Daily Astonisher is not only using Facebook to get stories, but also The Magpie blog ... even if they are a little tardy (more than a week later) and gloss over some of the details offered them by the old bird. He speaks of Steggles new Pinnacles development application to comply with the current zoning laws, in case their High Court challenge to the council is unsuccessful. The Pie had it Jan 18, the paper on Jan 25th.

    So Raggers, here's another lead ... know it's a bit dicey for you to talk about Gavin Thompson, him being ex-Bully manager Max Tomlinson's son-in-law (sort of) but you can add to the information The 'Pie's blog supplied a few weeks ago that Mr T looks like he'll be having trouble serving the regular drunks at his malodourous The Bank nightclub. It is alleged by those in the industry close to the matter that his major liquor suppier has stopped deliveries and credit, because he's into them for a reputed $150,000.

    Maybe the paper should check if it has any outstanding accounts in this area.

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  14. Despite the revelation that junior hack Emily Macdonald is penning some of the iditorials in The Astonisher, it is iditor Lachlan Heywood who must, by convention, take responsibility for them.

    So today's effort contains what one can only assume is a subbing cock-up when it states ...

    'Last week's incident which saw a life lost after a stolen car crashed into another vehicle and tree on Ross River Rd has not been a wake-up call for defenders.'

    Defenders? The Pie for one hasn't heard anyone 'defending' these brain-dead arseholes, and not even this paper would have the temerity to publish any such 'defence'. Ummm ... would it?

    One supposes they meant offenders.

    But it isn't only the Bully having trouble with language, not to mention the accepted precepts of justice.

    The same iditorial carries the following

    'The Acting Attorney-General, Mundingburra MP David Crisafulli, has admitted the public has a right to "its vengeance''. He described the judicial system as being a revolving door for offenders.'

    While The Kid's use of the word vengeance is questionable - 'right to justice' would've been a more circumspect phrase for a person of high office - it was quoted in this context referring to Wulguru vigilantes threatening summary vengeance if they catch car thieves. And thus makes it appear - correctly or otherwise - a minister of the state is endorsing unilateral and arbitary vigilante action.

    Of course, this all depends if the Astonisher has quoted him correctly ... and the jury is permanently out on the question of the paper's reliability in this area.

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    1. Conan the GrammarianJanuary 27, 2014 at 7:26 PM

      'Defenders'? Just the usual slack spelling at the Astonisher. What they meant to say was 'Defendants', as in "Good evening, Defendant", which, as we all know, is definitely a sign that the ensuing conversation with the Pleece is not going to go well....

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  15. You forget that little miss P.O'C. is from Mount Eye-Sore, and doesn't really have the experience of playing with the big kids and their big buck from the cost. She hails from the posed and picked red dirt jungle that indeed DOES have a reputation for tumbleweed and horse n cart. Perhaps she accidentally picked up a leaf from her former monologue? Naive indeed.

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  16. Great Marketing Team at the TB............ In Saturday's TB if you want some free Ozzie removable transfers "tattoos" you will only discover how after you return home from the Newsagent and follow the front page promo to page 7, where-in you are advised to go to page 26, cut out the voucher and then go back to the "participating" Newsagent to get your free transfers (tattoos).

    Also no list of Newsagent who participate nor which are open on Monday. Also next to the word participating is an * but the connection to the * informs you that "as long as stocks last", surely the * should be adjacent to the actual item viz Stickers

    Great strategy, if it were published in Friday's TB but a fizzer for Saturday. Great opportunity to increase sales down the gurgler where many a page of this tabloid have preceded

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    1. it's essential to have a kid tough town... Encourages bikies tattoo shops in adult life.

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  17. The astonished has news potential cyclone....lol

    Emily is where she is BC of a. Mental. B. Stop of the hen. C. Bullshitting and stomping on others.

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    1. Christ, there are oibviously some veeerrry good drugs out there.

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    2. WTF? Obviously, at least two of your correspondents are suffering (sic.) a.Mental.B.
      Congratulations,however, to Conan for his insightful essay on the establishment of a new footy team.True on so many fronts.
      Like many other players and supporters, I was outraged at the treatment meted out to a naive 14-year-old by an overly PC media cohort and some hanging judges within the AFL hierarchy. It taints what was otherwise a well-deserved honour.

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    3. But one has to wonder whether the carefully confected outrage and the cynical and deliberate sacrifice of a 13 yo girl (as she was) to a willing and pliable press played a significant part in securing the gig. Or whether it was part of a much grander plan. The whole episode was just too conveniently at exactly the right time and place after a too- precise sequence of lead-up events and stage managing.

      Just love a good conspiracy...hey, 'Pie?

      But, what the hell, AOTY has already been diminished by the likes of Flannery and Dobson, so who really gives a hoot if a narcissistic self promoting wannabe politician wears the gong for a year?

      Methinks he is simply setting himself up for a life of government-funded do-nothing-but-state-the-obvious positions after football. "Racism is bad. Don't be a racist"

      Besides all that, when you look at his older photos with a bushy beard (now trendily trimmed) and brooding looks,the word "simian"really does spring to mind.

      Poor, misguided but convenient kid.

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  18. Yes, it's cyclone time again. That means the wild west news service loves its cyclone updates.

    Nice to see perc tucker story and not Anne's Umbrella Gallery.

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  19. Agree with MartinK, very sloppy marketing indeed. Also note that they are bringing back the Lucky Ducks promo this year. Sad thing is that the prizes for this once great comp have dwindled over the past few years. Part of the budget cutbacks to maintain that 48% profit margin against falling circulation no doubt.
    Watch for further erosion of the prize pool this year. Used to be Live Free For a Year, now is live partly free for a week.

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  20. Don't be surprised if Bob Katter makes a move to have Charters Towers 'sister-city-up' with the Russian city of Sochi, host the Winter Olympics. Seems the mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, is a Mad Katter soul mate.

    Sochi has told the BBC there are no gay people in his city, an identical claim to the one Bob made about North Queensland.

    Under closer examination, though, the mayor started to squeak and babble just like Bob, with some wonderful contradictions of which the member for Kennedy would be proud.

    Asked if gay people had to hide their sexuality in Sochi, he came on all Katteresque by saying ' No, we just say that is none of our business, it's your life. But it's not accepted here in the Caucasus where we live. We do not have them in our city.' Cripes, has old Anatoly been reading the Northern Miner?

    When it was pointed out that there were two gay bars in Sochi, was he certain ther was no gaydom lurking about?

    'I am not sure, but I don't bloody know them,' he said. So he stopped short of saying he would walk backwards to Moscow if there were any, just as Bob said he would reverse his way to Canberra if there were any up here in NQ.

    But his boss Russian President Vladimir 'Vlad the Imputer' Putin was in a more - ummm - embracing mood. He has said homosexuals would be welcomed in Sochi for the Olympics, but then revealed his Aussie connection to Senator Corey Bernardi by cautioning ' just leave the children alone'.

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  21. Did the Astonicher cover Boo hoo Doyle's invasion day celebrations?

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  22. Hmm just read a post on Facebook from Townsville City Council urging residents in the Red Zone to start preparing their homes for potential inundation. Obviously to do with the low pressure/soon to be/will it be cyclone up north and associated torrential rain, flooding and king tides. OK fine. One area in the Red Zone is The Village still under construction- that old DPI site where cattle grazed in tall grass and some Fairfield Waters residents had idyllic rural outlooks - now obscured by low cost residential development. So the question is how could council approve such a residential development knowing it was in the Red Zone - ie ripe for inundation and this plan has been around for several years. Worth asking them Pie. See here http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/resident/Disaster/cyclones/Pages/storm_tide_evacuation.aspx

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    1. The answer to that quite pertinent question Bully Boy involves stable doors and bolted horses.

      It's a good question, which should be asked of the State Govt, (the previous Labor mob), because the approval was given by Brisbane back then because the owners/developers is the state-owned UDLA (Urban Land and Development Association) - which is now part of Economic Develpment Queensland.

      If memory serves, the then regular councillor and now highly exalted Deputy Doo Dah Vern Veitch went a Kermit shade of green when the approval was given, and made such a noisy nuisance of himself that the ULDA was shamed into bringing in a metre of fill to lift it up a bit.

      Looks like we're about to find if that was enough.

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  23. My fallible memory seems to recall a Saudi sheila stumping up about $30Mill for a cyclone shelter in the wake of Yasi. Any idea if we'll ever see such an edifice? or was it all spent on TCC's favorite consultants.

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    1. That must be a white elephant sitting on its ass at Heatley High School then?

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    2. The 'Pie is reliably informed that the Saudi woman gave the money to Anna Bligh, and the shelter is indeed at Heatley High. Nothing to do with the council.

      And the white elephant crack? Wonder if you, anonymous, might have a change of heart sometime in the next 48 hours.

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  24. Thanks for the clarification my Pieness, main reason I queried this was because there is no mention of its existence nor availability in today's TB nor on their so called web-site.
    They only list the following:
    • Australian Institute of Marine Science complex at 1526 Cape Cleveland Road

    • Northern Beaches Uniting Church on Veals Road and Deeragun

    • Greek Community Centre on Flinders Street West in the Townsville CBD

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  25. Not sure, but those mentioned were only in connnection with Red Zone flood area, perhaps, not full on cyclone warnings.

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  26. Note the proposed (sic) Entertainment and Convention Centre in South Townsville appears as per the T/B,s map 30 Jan to be located in the middle of the RED Zone (Highest at Risk)

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  27. Just saw our illustrious leader on "local" TV News sporting an interesting "uniform", advising we mere mortals how/what/when et al we should manage the circumstances of Herr Dylon.
    If on his way back to his accommodation he suffers an injury and is rescued by 3 blokes on motorbikes wearing the same livery he was sporting will he go straight to jail for "association" no matter what the circumstances of said association.?

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  28. Ah yes John N but like the Village residential development throw in a few metres of soil to build it up and she'll be right!

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  30. To pinch a line from the recently departed Pete Seeger, Where have all sub-editors gone, long time passing?

    Instance 8,942.

    Daniel Master Bateman huffed and puffed aimlessly about cyclones and such in his column yesterday, a piece that contained this interesting sentence:

    'You may be thinking it's a fizzer, but even at category one, cyclones are still a force certainly not to be reckoned with.'

    Whatever that means.

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    Replies
    1. http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/townsville/photos-fnjfzsax-1226814477438?page=12

      Not a chair in a pool, but it's still a silly shot.

      Delete
    2. Paul Anderson of PimlicoFebruary 1, 2014 at 11:53 AM

      I'm sure what he MEANT to say was "...still a force certainly to be trifled with"...

      Delete
  31. I'm 99% certain this is the Giru International and the next pic is inside their bar, definitely not an Ayr pub. I remember the fish above the bar...just
    http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/townsville/photos-fnjfzsax-1226814477438?page=15

    ReplyDelete