Catherine Watson blog

A blazing star

27/1/2020

Free spirit: Ricardo Alves-Ferreira

By Catherine Watson

EVERYONE remembers the smile and the bear hug. Artist, sand sculptor, writer, photographer Ricardo Alves-Ferreira left his mark on Bass Coast in many ways but most of all with his exuberance and warmth.

Ricardo died on January 13 at the age of 59. Guests at his funeral, held at the Penguin Parade on Friday, were invited to wear colourful clothes in memory of a citizen who brightened the lives of many, including some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

Ricardo had his first heart attack at 37. It did nothing to stop his headlong pursuit of everything life had to offer. His friends and colleagues recall an original who inspired others to be true to themselves.

2 Comments

Weighty words

25/1/2020

4 Comments

By Catherine Watson

AS ONE of three judges for the Bass Coast Prize for Non-Fiction, I sit down to begin the task one very hot afternoon with mingled anticipation and nervousness.

I’ve done the arithmetic. Forty-two entries, each 5000 to 10,000 words long. Total words 210,000 to 420,000. That’s the equivalent of two long novels or eight short ones. It’s almost as long as War and Peace, and that took me two months to read!

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Keep it #$%@!!*&#!$ nice

24/1/2020

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By Catherine Watson, Editor

A NEW Year confession: I've been too slack.

I used to pride myself on the fact that comments posted by Bass Coast Post readers were constructive, courteous, intelligent, relevant, respectful. So unlike those in most other online forums.

But I have to face facts. Our comments have gradually deteriorated. These days many are obnoxious and personal. Just like all the other publications.

I don't like censoring other people's views, particularly those with views that are opposed to mine, but I should have taken more notice.

When I set up the Post in 2012, I wrote a kind of credo: the Post was to be a forum for informed discussion, a civil place where people could debate issues and ideas, rather than criticise personalities.

22 Comments

Tell him he's dreamin'

22/11/2019

8 Comments

John Woodman. Photo: Watsons Pty Ltd

By Catherine Watson

IN LATE July, a silver-haired, silver-tongued salesman held the floor at a private briefing for Bass Coast councillors and senior planning staff.

Wonthaggi must have seemed like the back of beyond to the Ferrari-driving John Woodman, head of a Melbourne company called Watsons Pty Ltd, which lends a helping hand to people in need, provided they are rich and powerful.

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Back in action

24/10/2019

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Neil Rankine shortly before his arrest on a charge of obstructing emergency services. Image: Channel 9

By Catherine Watson

NEIL Rankine doesn’t fit the stereotype of a climate change activist, by Channel Nine’s reckoning. He is too old and too respectable. “Sixty-two years old, a former mayor, long-time councillor and for decades a CFA volunteer,” reporter Brett Mcleod noted. “But Neil felt so strongly about this issue that he was prepared to be arrested and for the first time in his life locked up overnight.”

On October 7, Mr Rankine, a former Bass Coast mayor, was charged with three counts of obstructing an emergency worker during an Xtinction Rebellion (XR) sit-in near the Flinders Street Station. Holding up a hand-made sign reading “Tell the truth”, he was the first protestor to be arrested during a week of protest action in the CBD.

15 Comments

There's an idea!

5/7/2019