Posts from ‘Events’
If you can’t come to Germany then join me in Bali…
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
I’m ‘appearing’ at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in October (the pic is of me and Tony Wheeler talking at the 2008 festival). It’s a fantastic festival taking place in stunning locations all around Ubud. Harpers Bazaar magazine called the festival ‘One of the six best literary festivals in the world’. I’ll let the folk from the festival give you the lowdown of what it is all about: ‘This year’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival promises to be as exciting as ever. Our 2009 theme Suka-Duka: Compassion & Solidarity. The theme reflects… (read more)
I’m on the wireless this Saturday.
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
I’m joining Greg, Jodie and Macca on the Detours Travel show at JOY 94.9 FM this Saturday (and not be confused with JOY FM a Christian radio station in Sarasota which features Bible teaching programs and Contemporary Christian music). I’ll be talking about my latest trip travelling around South East Asia using the original 1975 Lonely Planet ‘South East Asia on a Shoestring’. You can tune in or listen to it online anywhere in the world at www.joy.org.au The show is on from 12.00 to 1.00pm Melbourne time (or 4.00am in Warsaw, 8.00am in Karachi or 9.00pm Friday night in Minneapolis)… (read more)
How to slack off from work for an hour…
Friday, May 29th, 2009
The lovely folk at the Athenaeum Library In Melbourne recorded my ‘library talk’ this week and put a podcast of it on their website. Amazingly, some of my talk actually made sense and those people I paid to laugh all the way through did a wonderful job. There may be some confusing parts as well, though. But that’s not just because I was talking too fast, but also a powerpoint ’slideshow’ accompanied my talk. It’s goes for a somewhat long-winded hour, but if you’re slacking off at work you can listen to it here… (read more)
Two library events and a nasi goreng.
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
Look how excited everyone is! That’s because I’m doing two library events this week complete with slide show and ‘witty’ tales about my latest book Sleeping Around. You can catch me at Pakenham Library on Tuesday May 26th at 7.00pm and at Athenaeum Library in the city on Wednesday May 27th at 1.00pm. For full details check out my events page. I’ll also be selling and signing books, which you can then sell on ebay for thousands of dollars.
And for those that can’t make it to Melbourne this week why not come hear me talk in Bali… (read more)
A very hot book launch.
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
I’ve only just cooled down enough from my book launch on Thursday night to finally update my blog! And what a scorcher of a night it was (in both respects!). Half an hour before kick-off it was 43.1 degrees (110 in the old money) and I was worried that folk would be sitting under their ACs at home rather than coming out and tackling the heat. But, bless them all, about 70 people risked dehydration and heat stroke to hear me waffle on about sleeping around the globe. The other problem with a hot night is that the bar tab soon ran out because… (read more)
Launch Party for ‘Sleeping Around’ and free beer.
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
As part of the Melbourne Couch Surfing Summer Fest I will be launching my new book ‘Sleeping Around’. The date is Thursday the 29th of January at a venue to be announced (I’m trying to find a good bar in Melbourne that’s full of couches!). I’ll be supplying beer and wine (until the bar tab runs out) and I’ll do a reading… then you all buy my books! The Melbourne CS Summer Fest is… I’ll just let them describe it:
CouchSurfers of Melbourne are hosting a week long CouchSurfing Festival and are inviting people from all over the world to join them. Come along and be a part of it!… (read more)
Sometimes I put shit on Lonely Planet.
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
On Thursday night I launched George Dunford’s ‘The Big Trip’. It was a fun night and I drank quite a bit of free beer. It’s a great book, but it’s handy that it’s something you read BEFORE you go away. It weighs a ton. One of the very useful bits in the book is a list of ‘10 ways to use your guidebook’, which includes ‘To prevent snoring’ (slip the book into the pillowcase to give your head extra elevation); ‘To escape with your life’ (when confronted by a punk with a knife slam the book into his face); ‘To block a mouse hole’ (so your girlfriend won’t lay awake all night – and you get can get some sleep); ‘As insulation’ (if you didn’t bring enough warm clothes you can layer pages inside your clothes) and: ‘To get girls’ (by using a guidebook as a prop… (read more)
I’m going on a big trip.
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
I’m launching the new Lonely Planet book ‘Big Trip’ by George Dunford and everyone is invited along (It’s George’s shout – well, at least until the bar tab runs out). I even made a contribution to the book (all of 137 words!). The launch is on Thursday the 20th of November at White Rabbit Bar – 176 Bellair Street, Kensington starting at 6.30.
Here’s the spiel for the book:
School’s out and the world’s calling. You want to get out there and burn an international trail – but where do you start? Right here, with the ultimate guide to gap years and overseas adventures… (read more)
The podcast that wasn’t.
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
A few blogs ago I said that I was going to put a podcast of my talk at the Melbourne Festival of Travel Writing on my blog. Well, I’ve been too embarrassed to mention it, but I forgot to put the recorder on. I went out of my way on the morning of the session to go to a friend’s place to pick up his pro-digital recorder and even had a 15 minute lesson on how to use it. I got five minutes into my session and realised that I hadn’t switched it on. So, here is my official apology… The apology
You can find this fun program at Text-to-Speech. When I’m bored I’ll type in a message then call a friend and… (read more)
Travel writers and beer
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
I caught up last night with fellow travel authors Marc Llewellyn and Simon Capp for an ale and a curry at the Prince of Wales pub in St Kilda and we talked about in-house editors, master proofs, royalty statements and subsidiary rights. It’s nice to meet up with other authors and talk shop. Because we live in our own little worlds and spend most of our time writing away in dark little rooms we have little contact with other writers and it’s not often that I get to say ‘ms’ to people who know what I’m taking about (ms is manuscript in case you’re interested). We were also there to plan Marc and Simon’s session for the Melbourne Travel Writer’s Festival, but that just seemed to get in the way of beer drinking. You can catch me tomorrow (Sunday) at the… (read more)