Thursday, March 29, 2018

PUZZLING RESURRECTION ON EVE OF ACTION PACKED EASTER

The Murdoch Townsville  Bulletin today, March 29, produced what it called a special Easter  edition . It sure is , containing  the ultimate   Easter   weekend  guide, a  Catholic news  lift out, grog  advertisements , some full page, gambling  adverts and form guide ,  a preview of the night's tense  match between the Cowboys  and  the Panthers.

A surprising inclusion  was   an opinion  piece   by  the  former  deputy editor  Julian Thompson . Some time ago , JT (not  the Cowboys JT ), wrote  what he  said was  his  last  weekly  op  ed  for  the paper ,which included another shot at them  thar  southerners.

At the time he  announced  he was  going south , to Brisbane . Readers were  invited to   drop in  for a cuppa if  they  ventured  down that way , but  not   for  latte  with  soy  milk . Naturally. 
 
Then, mysteriously , after some time ,   there  he was   again   sounding  off  about  something else . Was it a  subbing stuff  up  or  a  situation similar   to   Mark Twain  , who entertainingly said  reports  about his demise  had been  premature , perhaps   fake  news ? 

But then , here   is  JT  again, a week later  , Thursday, March  29 , without  any explanation as to why  he   has   been resurrected  ,   apparently alive and  kicking , having a go at   "city centric, green clad , bureaucratic  buffoonery." Sounds  familiar .  If  the paper  runs another of  his   weekly columns  , he will surely be  regarded as  doing a  Dame Nellie  Melba, making  a  final  performance  over  and  over .  
 
It is hard keeping track of  the comings  and  goings  of  staff at  The Bulletin. There have been three editors in  the space of  a  few  years.  A  recent   new  hand , senior reporter  Chris Lees, was  deputy editor of the  Gladstone Observer. At least it is safe for him to eat  Townsville   fish and chips  at Easter , not  like Gladstone , where  fish  died grotesquely and it was never really explained properly why,  the   Queensland   way in  so  many environment and  conservation issues.
 
Somebody  else  departed  from  the Bulletin recently to  supposedly  take  up  a  media  job   with   the   Northern Territory  government  .
Meanwhile , somebody who will not  be jumping for  joy  throughout  and  after  Easter is this  poor ,  definitely dead ,   Wallaby  , unable to pen a letter of outrage to the editor of the paper, which  has  been floating about   Magnetic Island's safe  harbour  with   logs   and   other   rubbish . Townsville is once more in the  throes   of being tarted up, following the  Queen's baton run,  for a festival  to be  held  in conjunction with  the   Commonwealth   Games,  basketball matches being  played  there . The festival entertainment  will be staged at Queen's Park , The Strand Park and  Jazzine Barracks ; apparently somebody forgot that  Magnetic Island is supposed to be Townsville's  Jewel in the Crown.

Thoughts of the resurrection  came to mind shortly after 2am on Good Friday upon jumping out of bed  to see what was  upsetting the Curlews and discovering a Wallaby  hopping  about.