Yesterday I posted a 1938 photo of Parramatta Road at Five Dock.  In the forefront of the photograph was a sign bearing the word "Plu...

(Click on pic to enlarge). Parramatta Rd, NSW, 1938, looking east from Five Dock towards Ashfield.

Yesterday I posted a sports gaffe by Harry Carpenter. Sports commentators are particularly prone to verbal gaffes, sometimes because of t...

"Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the Cambridge president is kissing the cox of the Oxford crew." -Harry Carpenter (BBC TV, ...

Those who have seen the 1992 flick The Crying Game may remember the story that Jody tells Fergus in the context of good and bad people, t...

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal...

(The following article, in 3 parts, is a repost of a past email..  It is worth reading, although lengthy, and is a fascinating and momentous...

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A few posts ago I mentioned the loss of Australian slang and the increasing Americanisation of language and culture. Some years ago I rea...

“There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time...

Thanks to Byter Tom for emailing me the above pic.

Steve, whose hero is Spike Milligan and who has been prolific with comments in the last few days (and don't get me wrong, I appreciate...

While appearing on "The Goon Show," Peter Sellers received a curious letter from one of the program's fans: "Dear Mr. ...

There’s nought better than a rollicking traditional Irish pub song, there’s nought better Irish pub song than Whiskey in the Jar , and ther...

Another  message from Byter Steve: Thanks for the Cobbers definition, very interesting. I never knew it meant “mate(s)” although in hindsi...

Byter Steve dropped me a note as follows: I noticed you signed off the Bytes today, using the word “cobbers”. We don’t hear that used so mu...

Beatrice Lillie (1894-1989) was a comedic actress born in Canada. In 1920 she married Sir Robert Peel, thereby becoming Lady Peel, a title...

"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today.  I can choose whic...

The Fourth of July is upon us. Having adopted other American special days and holidays - Valentines Day, Halloween – we may well end up ce...

"I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I'd look like without plastic surgery." - Joan Rivers (1933 - )

The Robin Williams / John Travolta movie Old Dogs has a scene in which they break into a zoo and find themselves in the penguin enclosure, ...

"I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is wha...

John Barrymore (1882 - 1942) After a long day of shooting a film in Hollywood, John Barrymore and some fellow actors stopped in at Lucey...

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." -  Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsch...

Someone in our group tonight mentioned the iconic Christine Keeler photo of the 1960’s. I knew which photo he meant, the one of Christine ...

"Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters and concern during the past years. I'm too much of an...

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"Although there exist many thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot meet a cripple without talking abo...

Left to right: Henry Ford, Bishop William F. Anderson, Harvey Firestone (stooping). Thomas A. Edison and President Warren G. Harding. (Clic...

I'm not a great one for illusions, possibly because a couple of times when I have been concentrating on them they have turned into scre...