darragh murray

Rumours have been floating around Brisvegas about a mysterious new tourist attraction. Be on the lookout in your next Lonely Planet guide for a reference to the mysterious ‘Museum of Ladders’ being erected along my parent’s backyard fence. In his infinite wisdom, my father, when not reading expositions on the plight of Zeus and Hera during the age of heroes, has decided to dabble in conceptual art and hang ladders of all shapes and sizes along our houses rear fence. Not just in straight lines, but at odd and almost inhuman angles. I’m told my father has even erected a special temporary exhibition, “the Plight of the Wheelbarrow”, a detailed look at the role of the wheelbarrow during the latter half of the 20th century. It’s just down the hall from the ladders.

Look out GoMA, there is a new art sheriff in town, and he don’t take no prisoners.

Yep, some guy in Sweden who won the Nobel prize said the internet might have stop Hitler.

I don’t see the internet stopping genocides in Darfur and other forms of persecution across the globe. Its not a panacea.

Furthermore, saying that the internet *may* have stopped Hitler is also like saying that antibiotics might have stopped the black death.

Pfft. Ridiculous statement.

A hilarious, as usual, Charlie Brooker story on the Guardian website about visits to not so great theme parks made me recall a trip of my own to the sadly now defunct Nostalgia Town, many moons ago.

It would seem that history will not look with kindness upon Nostalgia Town, which was conveniently positioned on the main road between Caloundra and Noosa, at the fountainhead of David Low Way. It was a tiny theme park known primarily for its ghoul themed 18 hole mini-golf course, Graveyard Putt, but also incorporated “fun” events like remote controlled boats, a miniture rail way that encircled the mini-golf area, and horrible, ugly, automatons created to explain the concept of ‘nostalgia’, so I’m led to believe. From memory, I believe one such explained how cane farming was undertaken in ‘the good ol days’. Fascinating stuff!

Anyhow, one day a few of my friends and I decided to go to Nostalgia Town for a round of mini-golf. It was pissing rain and the place was deserted. The owners expressed disbelief that we had bothered to drive four hours from Ballina in New South Wales in the pouring rain for a round of mini-golf (Actually, we came from two hours away in Brisbane, but the owners were not to know). We claimed to be siblings who had got annual leave from the management of the Ballina caravan park and decided to spend that day at Nostalgia Town, after ‘being enchanted by the almost mythical allure of nostalgia town, woven into our minds by a tapestry of tales by the travelers that to and from our humble caravan park’. The owners were quite impressed, surprised that Nostalgia Town had such a glorious reputation south of the border. (edit: I’m reminded by a friend that we said that Conor was actually the mayor of Ballina, presumably taking some time out from his mayoral duties).

Anyhow, we played a round of eighteen holes, wistfully walked amongst the ‘nostalgic scenes’ that inhabited the main building, and yelp with glee as we battled for control of the murky green pond with our rusty remote controlled boats. Oh, this was truly a great day.

To add to the amusement, we stopped at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken for a feed, where Conor ate several meals of chicken in a chicken-related food challenge, only to stumble out of the store, towards the bushes surrounding the drive-in menu ordering station. You should have seen the horror on the faces of the drive-through patrons as Conor violently retched up half digested chicken while they waited for their own chicken related meal; it was truly a horrific, and yet quite amusing, sight.

We had bid farewell to our gracious hosts, and with a somewhat air of inevitability turned our backs on Nostalgia Town. A year later I rang to enquire as to the health this iconic Sunshine coast amusement venue only to found out it had ceased operation. Tears rained down upon my cheeks as hard and with as much violence as the raindrops that had soaked us on our glorious day at the venue a year prior; my office shirt drenched with salty tears as the former owner related the passing of the theme park. Woe was I.

You see, some bastards built a massive freeway bypassing the place, and consequently Nostalgia Town had run out of business.

Speaking of the aforementioned Brooker article, there was this golden comment regarding ‘crap’ theme parks placed on the blog that I had to share

“I took my lad to a Halloween theme park called Spooky World the other year. It was a farm.

At least half the kids and several of the adults instantly started howling inconsolably and a thin layer of piss and shit lapped at our feet.
Brilliant, it was.”

“Sometimes on a day off I go to the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. When we play at home, after the game I go there and it’s like a party, a doughnut party! You see all the cars parked and everyone is eating doughnuts inside their cars. It’s like a disco.”

- Recently appointed Arsenal Captain, Sir Cesc Fabregas.

This is primarily for me mum, cos she don’t do no face-cool action.

Recent photos.

London - Autumn

Mike’s Leaving Shindig

Shunt, London Random, Angs Party

London - End of Summer

Weekend in Birmingham

After reading this tripe, I firmly believe William Gallas has to be stripped of the captaincy and potentially let go. He is a drain on Arsenal’s confidence.