A DREAM DINNER PARTY

A DREAM DINNER PARTY

Daydreaming in our pandemic iso-world is a national pastime. Here is an imagined dinner, hosted by myself and my partner Rob in our new house at Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. There are four courses (well sort of), and four dinner guests from

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DR RATTEN AND THE FLU EPIDEMIC IN TASMANIA

DR RATTEN AND THE FLU EPIDEMIC IN TASMANIA

In 1919 Dr Victor Ratten was Surgeon Superintendent of the Hobart General Hospital. At the time he was fighting accusations that the medical certificate he had obtained in Chicago ten years earlier was fraudulent. He was a man of supreme self-confidence, never allowing the charges to distract

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MY BAD BARGAIN WITH RAFFA IN 2012

MY BAD BARGAIN WITH RAFFA IN  2012

Seven years ago I was seriously ill in a Sydney Hospital with a hideous, undiagnosed condition. It was affecting my brain, my heart, my muscles…. and just about everything else. Part of my stabilizing medication was a very high dose of the steroid Prednisone. Among the  side

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CURIOSITY – THE FORCE BEHIND RESEARCH

CURIOSITY - THE  FORCE  BEHIND RESEARCH

I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity. Eleanor Roosevelt. What wise words;  especially for future scientists….and writers! English crime novelist Ann Cleeves was  asked what motivated her

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LUNCH AT THE LIBRARY!

LUNCH AT THE LIBRARY!

Hello, Editor Des here! Well Pauline was going to do some research at the State Library in Sydney so I went along  too. I thought I might start trying to find my ancestors. Just hope I don’t turn out to be  related to Paddington or Pooh…especially Paddington. 

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