Real Aussies Say Welcome — Writing Never Mind The Jollop was an attempt to exorcise my pandemic frustrations. It was working. Until the deportation of Novak Djokovic from Australia sucked me back in and had me questioning my affection for the country I used to call home. My biggest beef with the pandemic response is…

This is a response to Squeeze the Avocado’s photo writing prompt. Thanks, Carlos Garbiras, for the heads up. In May 2021, after six months of captivity under Kim Jong Boris, the good ship Rookster set sail. The pandemic response was getting me down, and new surroundings always inspire my photography…

As the years roll by, I’ve begun to notice the legends I outlive. It puts things in perspective and has me asking, if I’m gonna join ’em, I better get my shit together! Last year, it was Freddie Mercury. The recent biopic brought back a Live Aid performance that blew…

As a kid, I kept my trap shut. A stutter will do that to you. You have something to say but dare not risk the embarrassment of those words not making it past your lips. Thankfully speech impediments fade, but they do leave their mark. The remnants are a visceral…

The hissing of the coffee machine drowns out a familiar tune as the rain beats up the street outside. The late afternoon downpour is regular as clockwork in Mexico City this time of year, and people like me rush inside for a brew and a dry chair. “It’s like you’re…

Sometime in the mid-90s, I watched Nigel Benn fight Gerald McClellan on ITV. In the build-up, betting-guru John McCririck said something that has stuck with me ever since. After reading out the Fleet Street predictions, which unanimously backed McClellan, McCririck boldly states, “…whenever the hacks agree on anything, they’re invariably…