by Ian Cochrane | Mar 26, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
Many in Melbourne this week are mourning the passing of Marzipan, the grand old tortoiseshell diva of the city’s theatre scene. The much-loved Astor cat died on Sunday 24th March 2013 Australian time after a lingering illness, at the ripe old age of 21 years. It was...
by Ian Cochrane | Mar 25, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
For those in the dark : `The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.’ To be honest, this Sunshine Award may well be my...
by Ian Cochrane | Feb 22, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
Outside there’s a neon finger-sign soaring skyward, the oversized letters reading `ASTOR’. The building’s not much to look at; the high facade brick, of cream and red. The veranda is low and squarish, the fascia lined with a string of bare light globes....
by Ian Cochrane | Feb 8, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
Boerne is 51yrs old, handsome in a rugged sort of way; olive skin, high cheekbones and black straw-like hair. He’s never been a talker and we sit on the veranda drinking beer instead, our eyes drawn to a 2 x 6 metre recycle bin out front. At the end of the day the sun...
by Ian Cochrane | Jan 16, 2013 | Oceania, Utopia
‘Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.’ ― JM Barrie There’s a large page-4 headline and a small picture. His face is olive-brown, tilted slightly towards me, the hand of a close friend across the back of...
by Ian Cochrane | Dec 18, 2012 | Americas, Oceania, Utopia
Sometimes I sit and think, pondering the luxury of an unquestionable faith in something; to know that innocent kids killed in a pre-Christmas tragedy will somehow find a better place. From a cathedral of sticks I gaze across at the towering neo-Gothic spires of St...