I say, you say, weren't you listening?

We've all had our own Justin Bieber moments over the years growing up, haven't we?
If you're shaking your head violently and about to click back to Facebook, just reflect for a moment on your tweens.

For me it was a sunny day at Pacific Fair Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast, Australia, when popstars Pseudo Echo were appearing at Myer for - of all things - their hair product sponsor L'Oreal. Girls were buying hair gel like it was 1982, oh hang on, it was!
I remember riding my bike there, armed with my autograph book, pushing through the crowd to the front and swooning at their new wave hair, their baggy 80s pants pulled up to where pants shouldn't venture, and thinking this would be a defining moment in my life.
Well it was ... I now officially define it as my Justin Bieber moment - one which shall never be spoken of again, nor shall I mention the fluoro pink dress I was wearing that I had borrowed off my sister, with a green fluoro belt that looked ever so striking against the fluoro pink

So I can't but help wonder if the tween I interviewed for That's Life magazine's story out this week may feel the same in 30 years time, when she's flicking back through her scrap book and sees the article on her winning an amazing competition where her prize was being flown to meet the Biebmeister himself in Las Vegas and watch his show.
It's on the cover, but the best surprise for me was seeing what the clever sub-editor wrote for one of the photo captions inside with the article on page 15, "Kiera entered the competition 'Justin' time".
Damn I wish I'd thought of that!
Now I think I might put on the soothing sounds of one of my Sex Pistols CDs just to save face.

Desperately seeking Segue

Tonight another dear journo friend has jumped off the cliff and resigned from her respected senior position at a daily paper to do ... well that's unknown as yet because knowing her she's probably going to be at the pub until at least the end of Spring ... but anyway, it got me thinking about the trade.
A year ago I bumped into one of the wittiest guys I've ever met who studied journalism with me at university back in the '90s, but decided to postpone any employment prospects in the industry while he concentrated on his admittedly sexier career in a funk/hip hop rock band.
He played a few festivals, made several great albums and succeeded in minor to average recognition for Australian standards, but leaving the band after a decade, he was now working in a local music shop selling his former band's new CDs to strangers and insinuating he'd regretted not using his journalism degree when it was fresh and semi-appealing to employers. (Kind of made it harder to swallow considering our uni friend who became his flatmate for a decade, went on to become one of the most famous Aussie musicians this new millennium!)
Then there's the girl who started her cadetship at a rural newspaper the same day as me who now has four kids and has just finished studying as a mature age student to become a teacher so she can have more holidays with her family!
Let's not even mention the girl who, the day after our graduation, began working for her father in his used car yard and was making more money than my chief of staff within a month - nor the senior sports writer who was spotted driving trams in Melbourne!!

But journalism has somehow entrapped me and ended up being my life's work, for better or worse, and this week's segue is all about seachanges - my cover story for the new issue of Bmag features Matthew Hayden, the famous Aussie cricketer who holds the records for the highest score in Tests and One Day Internationals and that's just the tip of the iceberg. He kindly told me all about how, after spending 10 to 11 months of the year for what seemed like a century (boom tish!) married to his cricket career, instead of his wife and three children, he's making up for it.
How? He plans to take 'em fishing! And it will probably end up as footage for a new reality TV show.
Can't say I see fishing as being even the slightest bit more interesting than cricket, but I wasn't about to tell Matthew Hayden that. CLICK HERE to read the story on page 15 of Bmag.

Chile miners rock!

So will you be reading volumes 1 to 33 of the Chilean mine rescue after the longest underground entrapment in history?
I must admit I'm really digging all the news coverage - pardon the pun - it's been gold - oops again - but with so much media saturation surely it takes the whiz bang out of waiting for a book, or 33?
Then again, I couldn't get enough of watching and listening to the two Tasmanian miners (Todd Russell and Brant Webb) crying as they witnessed the Chilean rescue live - and their incredible Down Under tale took place four-and-a-half years ago.
They will always be way cool.
Then again, maybe I'm just making up for my regret of falling asleep in front of the TV just 15 minutes before they finally reached the surface back on May 9, 2006, at Beaconsfield mine.
I mean, you think they could have made it a little later than 4.47am people!!
Anyway, I love a good global-unity story like this Chile miners rescue. Anything that brings people out of their home comfort zone and empathise with people on the other side of the world must be good for the evolution of mankind ... and book sales perhaps?

(And what's all this got to do with former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins in a bikini, you may ask? Nothing, it's just a pretty cover for this issue of Bmag containing a story I did with restaurateur and steak expert John Kilroy, as the final of a series of articles this year on candidates in the running for the inaugural Bmag Brisbane Person of the Year awards. CLICK HERE and view pages 14 and 15.

Wow, this very minute on Sky News the last man (rescuer) is just jumping out of the rescue capsule from the mine collapse.
And the president asks him 'did you make the beds before you left?' and he replies, 'I think I forgot to turn off the lights'.
Ha ha - that's a good one.
Go Chile!!!!! Love it.
And who wouldn't share his thoughts on that 20 minute trip through solid rock to fresh air ... 'I hope this never happens again.'

Sisters, a salesman and spooky ghost stories

What are the odds of three sisters breaking their wrists and having their arms in a cast all at the same time?
Well excluding them all being in the backseat of a car driven by their aging grandma who still thinks you should stop in the middle of a roundabout when you see another car approaching, or riding one of those three seater bicycles The Goodies had in the 70s, it's pretty darn slim.
Even weirder when they are way past the age of swinging on the monkey bars and doing handstands on the lawn.
In this week's issue of That' Life, I spoke to one of the sisters who beat those millions to one odds and had it happen to her.
All in their 40s with kids and their own lives unfolding around them, they managed to all break their wrists within days of each other.
And to top off the freak factor, all three women were exactly the same age apart as myself and my two sisters.
Plus, wait, there's more, when I rang her to tell her we would be doing the story, she was at lunch with her two sisters sitting next to her at the time she answered her mobile.
I told her she should march her sisters to the nearest newsagency and all buy lotto tickets! Seriously!!
The only thing I and my two sisters can manage to pull off together is all turning up late for a dinner at Mum's when we are in the same city.
If you've ever had anything freaky happen to you and your siblings all at the same time let me know - you could be my next That's Life topic ...
COMMENTS are welcome on this blog :)

In the same issue there is also a story on a 16 year old who bought his first car for $1 and sold it for $150 when he was just 10 years old - now he's up to his 12th car. Jealous? I admit I am!!

And last but not least, I wrote a Spooky Story about a ghost sighting at a reunion dance where a couple thought their friend walking towards them looked a little pale and wasn't feeling too well - then the next day they heard he'd been dead for six weeks. NO WAY? YES WAY!!!!!!!!!
A new issue is out tomoz so you'll probably hear from me again real soon.
BOO!