Magic Minute Australian Icon By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // There was a time Australians would fret if they didn’t have some Vegemite in their luggage… and I’m not joking! Even our Kiwi neighbours say, “What’s with you Australians and your bloody vegemite?” I once shared a long train journey from Vienna with a Canadian […]
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Magic Minute Knee Deep in Grapes By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // When I was 15, I found myself knee deep in grapes celebrating their squashing into wine with a Sicilian family… very unusual for an Australian lad in 1962 Melbourne! I enjoyed the festivities so much I ended up living with Peter and Maria
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Magic Minute Day Dream Kindness By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // Ever daydreamed yourself into trouble? Well, our concrete gang just put the final touches to an artful driveway after hours of toiling in the sun. Younger than the others, I always cleaned the tools and was wheeling them in a barrow full of slurry,
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Magic Minute Life’s Surprises By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // In life you never know what awaits you around the corner. A guy once phoned me and asked for some help with his public speaking fears. What he didn’t say was, he was the captain of a floating oil-rig ship in Thailand’s Gulf of Tonkin,
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Magic Minute Am I Hearing English? By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // I was listening to directions from a Scotsman in his thick brogue, but all I heard were meaningless sounds. This challenge of understanding the accents and slang of others doesn’t only fall on the proud Scots. While a German friend of mine was
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Magic Minute Comfortable Conversation By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // In a friendly conversation I once asked a young guy what he did for a living. “I work with animals,” he said. I immediately thought of a zookeeper or some sort of animal trainer – but he turned out to be a butcher! He told
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Magic Minute Ya Got Trouble! By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // It happened in my old Australia-Post mail van, hurtling around the back streets of Toorak with the side door open clearing mail boxes. In full voice, I was rehearsing a patter number from The Music Man – Trouble in River City – for an
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Magic Minute A Feeble Cry For Help By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // Sam picked up a feeble cry for help and quickly swam towards it, discerning two boys fighting for their life in the deeper water. They’d drifted way past the sandbanks and fallen off their paddle board. Through his mother’s encouragement Sam was
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Magic Minute Keep The Happiness Flowing By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // “Funny how a friendly conversation with a complete stranger can take us somewhere we didn’t expect. I’d just stopped at the lights on my fancy pedal-assist tricycle with a massive 4 L bottle of mineral turpentine in the basket to clean my dirty
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Magic Minute Should Have Listened By Laurie Smale MAGIC MINUTE // Heavy rains the night before had the creek running higher than usual. “Should be all right,” Johan thought. “I’ve crossed this ford before and I know where the rocks are.” Our bike group leader saw it differently. “Better play it safe and walk across,
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