About Me
Mum and Dad are from London in England. My Dad was the youngest son in a huge family. Both Dad's parents were on the music hall stage. My Dad's father — a natural entertainer — opened an open fronted shop for lace curtains in Lewisham in 1912 and then for 25 years until he passed away became known through South London as Little Jim, the "Curtain King" 
. Then the war came and Dad (and Mum) separately joined the RAF. After the war they met and married, and I was born in Hastings over there in 1951. We all moved to Brisbane Australia in 1956 when I was four. Dad obtained work as a salesman for National Cash Registers (NCR) and we moved to various towns — Lismore, Rockhampton, before our family settled in Brisbane when I was 12. Then, after leaving home at 19, I also moved around, mainly doing computer programming with different firms, and with many different housing and community-style living arrangements over the years — Ayr and Townsville in North Queensland, a short time in Sydney, 2 months in America (in 1979), then a full year in Sydney in 1983 where my first son David was born — early morning when that race began where Australia won the America's cup click here for some of the news articles. But, while travelling a lot, it seems my life has always centred around Brisbane. And I love this picture of our city. Click to open its page.
Click here for a short date line www.swcs.com.au /brisbanehistory.htm
For more info about me, visit my web site www.swcs.com.au/aboutus.asp
Music
Incidentally, most of you know this, we strongly recommend you don't respond to any "conversation" that someone from "Google AdWords" may attempt to initiate with you
while one of these videos are playing 
- "About Time" — Nick Laird-Clowes
https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=9p072D8BQv0 - "Almost Famous(Airport Scene)" — Nancy Wilson
https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=C_NV3K-7ZkU - "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" — Art Garfunkel
www.swcs.com.au /alwayslook.asp - "Always on My Mind" — Pet Shop Boys cover version 1987
www.swcs.com.au /always.asp - "And did those feet in ancient time (Jerusalem)" — from Chariots of Fire movie
www.swcs.com.au /anddidthosefeet.asp - "Any Old Iron" — Harry Champion
www.swcs.com.au /anyoldiron.asp - "Book of Love" — from Shall We Dance movie
www.swcs.com.au /bookoflove.htm - "Chase the Devil" — Max Romeo reggae audio
www.swcs.com.au /chasethedevil.asp - Chicago's hits — "Saturday in the Park", "Does anybody really know what time it is", "If you leave me now", "Hard to say I'm sorry"
www.swcs.com.au /saturday.htm - Coldplay's hits from their first four albums include — "Yellow", "In My Place", "The Scientist", "Clocks", "Fix You", "Talk", "The Hardest Part, "Viva la Vida"
www.swcs.com.au /vivalavida.asp - "Desert Song" — 1929 and 1953 movie videos
www.swcs.com.au /DesertSong.asp - Dire Strait's "Local Hero" and other hits — "Sultans of Swing", "Romeo and Juliet", "Tunnel of Love"
www.swcs.com.au /direstraits.asp - "Don't Look Back in Anger" — Oasis video
www.swcs.com.au /DontlookBackinAnger.asp - "Don't You Forget About Me" — Simple Minds video
www.swcs.com.au /beautifulday.asp - "Dumb Things" — Paul Kelly video
www.swcs.com.au /dumbthings.asp - "Edge of Seventeen" — Stevie Nicks
www.swcs.com.au /edgeofseventeen.asp - "Expecting To Fly" — Neil Young's hit with Buffalo Springfield, "Woodstock" with Crosby Stills and Nash, "Heart of Gold" with Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor on closing chorus
www.swcs.com.au /ExpectingToFly.asp - "Forever Young" — Bob Dylan and the Band
www.swcs.com.au /ForeverYoung.asp - "Go your own way" / "As long as you follow" / "Don't you wanna talk about it" — Fleetwood Mac / Larry Norman videos
www.swcs.com.au /goyourownway.asp - Godspell — "We Beseech Thee" .. "Bless the Lord" .. "God Save the People" .. "Alas Alas For You" .. "By My Side"
www.swcs.com.au /WeBeseechThee.asp - "Great South Land of the Holy Spirit" — Steve Grace
www.swcs.com.au /greatsouthland of holyspirit.asp - "Hallelujah" — live 1985 — Leonard Cohen audio
www.swcs.com.au /lcohen.asp - Hillsong — "Mighty to Save" .. "Emmanuel" .. "Welcome in this Place" video
www.swcs.com.au /welcome.asp - "Hold Me Now" — Thompson Twins video
www.swcs.com.au /holdmenow.asp - "Hurt" — Christina Aguilera video
www.swcs.com.au /hurt.asp - "If I fell" / "This Boy" — The Beatles video
www.swcs.com.au /ififell.asp - "If we Try" / "Empty Chairs" — Don McLean video
www.swcs.com.au /ifwetry.asp - "In the Garden" — Bob Dylan video
www.swcs.com.au /inthegarden.asp - "It's My Life (it never ends)" — Talk Talk (1984) and No Doubt (2003) videos
www.swcs.com.au /itsmylife.asp - "It's Too Late-Ride On" — Evermore audio
www.swcs.com.au /evermore.htm - "Kiss Me" — Sixpence None the Richer video
www.swcs.com.au /kissme.asp - "Losing My Religion" — R.E.M.
www.swcs.com.au /losingmyreligion.asp - "Maranatha" / "Little Country Church" / "For those Tears I Died" — Everlastin' Living Jesus Music Concert
www.swcs.com.au /maranatha.asp - "Mary, did you know?" — Pentatonix
www.swcs.com.au /marydidyouknow.asp - "My Boomerang won't come back" — Charlie Drake
www.swcs.com.au /myboomerang.htm - "Nightmare" — Larry Norman
with great shots — even one from "The Miracle Worker" — the Helen Keller story
www.swcs.com.au /nightmare.asp - "Pretty Fly" — Offspring video
www.swcs.com.au /prettyfly.asp - "Right Said Fred" — Bernard Cribbens
www.swcs.com.au /rightsaidfred.asp - "Royal Telephone" — Jimmy Little audio
www.swcs.com.au /royalphone.asp - "Saved" — Bob Dylan video (live and studio)
www.swcs.com.au /saved.asp - "Scarborough Fair / Canticle" — Simon and Garfunkel audio
www.swcs.com.au /scarboroughfair.asp - "Sea of Love" — with Juno excerpts video
www.swcs.com.au /seaoflove.asp - "Ship of Fools" / "She's the One" — World Party video
plus "Don't Bang the Drum" and "Whole of the Moon" with The Waterboys
www.swcs.com.au /worldparty.asp - "So Long" — Fischer Z video
www.swcs.com.au /solong.asp - "Something Special" — Randy Newman audio
www.swcs.com.au /somethingspecial.htm - "Streets of your town" — The Go-Betweens video
www.swcs.com.au /streets.asp - "Stumblin' In" — Suzi Quatro video
www.swcs.com.au /reddogandsora2.asp - "Teach Your Children" — Crosby Stills Nash video
www.swcs.com.au /teachyourchildren.asp - "Titanium" — David Guetta video
www.swcs.com.au /titanium.asp - "The Weight" — The Band (with photos)
www.swcs.com.au /TheWeight.asp - Travis's hits from their first three albums include — "All I want do is Rock", "Why does it always Rain on me", "Sing"
www.swcs.com.au /sing.asp - "What a Fool Believes" — Doobie Brothers audio
www.swcs.com.au /whatafoolbelieves.asp - "Waterloo Sunset official audio" / "Sunny Afternoon video" — The Kinks
plus Picture Book, and Last of the Steam Powered Trains
www.swcs.com.au /waterloosunset.asp - "Wish You Were Here" — Pink Floyd live unplugged video
www.swcs.com.au /wishyouwerehere.asp - "Wuthering Heights" — Kate Bush video
www.swcs.com.au /wutheringheights.asp - "You Ain't Going Nowhere" — The Byrds audio
www.swcs.com.au /youaintgoingnowhere.asp
Have absolutely loved playing records. Bought "A Hard Day's Night" on my 13th birthday in 1964 costing me
£2.12s.6d and I think it was the most money I'd ever been given — then spent. But I developed a huge record collection particularly from the 1966-1973 era. In 1974 I was awarded the Guinness world record title for non-stop disc jockeying during Christmas 1973. Working with a Methodist Church (now Uniting Church) leadership team in Brisbane we contacted management at Sundale Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast who set me up on a specially constructed stage in front of the 4GG sound booth. Next with the assistance of Gold Coast radio station 4GG we contacted EMI Records Australia who then sponsored my effort as part of a worldwide 75th birthday celebration. And so during my annual leave from work with a crowd of supporters and bemused shoppers I disc jockeyed for 3weeks 2days 3hours while promoting "Quo Vadis" — a bunch of coffee shops that had been set up on the Gold Coast that Christmas. They were "drop in" centres sponsored by local churches — the God Squad in Melbourne — the House of the New World in Sydney — the House of Freedom in Brisbane — the Jesus family in Ipswich — and various other bods. Interestingly though after I had broken the world record of records ;-) and decided to stop playing (New Year's eve at the start of 1974) I found I had less "compulsion" to want to put on another record. Life is interesting innit ?
Click here for further background (and some photos).
Movies
Click here for an Australian Cinemas timeline, Hoyts, Greater Union (Event Cinemas) and Cineplex Australia.
Many of Brisbane's inner-city cinemas closed between 1965 and 2001. First to go was the Tivoli Roofgarden in 1965, then the Wintergarden in 1973, Odeon in 1976, Regent in 1978, Paris in 1980, George in 1991, then Albert and Forum Cinemas in 2001.
Click here for the history of these cinemas.
Click here for cinemas open in 2019.
Click here for Event Cinema (at Garden City)
Click here to see my movies page.
Favourite movie scripts: Wayne and Schuster's "Rinse the Blood off my Toga" and Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First". Favourite movie performances: Danny Kaye Angela Lansbury and Basil Rathbone in "The Court Jester". Anthony Hopkins in "Meet Joe Black". Hugh Grant in "About a Boy" and "Music and Lyrics". Julia Roberts in "My Best Friend's Wedding". Also "The Great Race" "Field of Dreams"
"That Thing You Do"
"Bend it Like Beckham"
"Back to the Future (first one)" "The Matrix (first one)"
"Sunshine on Leith"
Television
Courtney-God Only Knows Chanel-Stop Hayley-I Feel the Earth Move and Amali-Shackles (Praise You) in the Australian Idol 2004 series — along with the judges (Marcia Mark and Ian) hit a great though at times volatile chemistry — Brilliant.
Books
I have 3 children. Loved reading to them around the dinner table: Dr Cooper series — Frank Peretti (first 4 books) Tom Merry and Co — Frank Richards. Also loved reading to them one on one: Narnia series — CS Lewis as well as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings — Tolkien.
Heroes
CS Lewis and Watchman Nee (for staying true to themselves).
And those passengers on United Flight 93 (click here).
** End of page