Old writer on the block

The writing diary of a well-mellowed science writer who cares about the public understanding of science and knows the ropes. This blog bounces between my curiosity, the daily realities of professional writing, the joy of pursuing nature, and my recycling of ideas that won't be in some book or other as far as I can see, but still needed sharing. I welcome comments and suggestions! Spam will be blocked and reported. For my books, see http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/writing/index.htm

Friday, 5 September 2025

Clearing the Snowy Mountains for winter

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To foreigners, Australia is always seen as a warm, almost tropical land, but we also have our snow.   In the south of New South Wales, the a...

The Fancelli sisters' gym and health bar

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The Fancelli sisters were devastated recently when their landlord put up the rent on their shop.   They have had a successful time over the ...

The Fancelli sisters' store

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The Fancelli sisters were later forced to give up the Rhine Castle tea rooms and museum, their home of many years. I described a while back ...

Adventures in the tourist trade

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Some of our tourist attractions are natural, like Uluru ( alias Ayer's Rock). Some tourist attractions are institutions: the Australian ...

New Year's Day in the bush

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My last visit to Yandackworroby was to visit that most unusual event, the Yandackworroby and District New Year's Day Picnic Races.   Bac...

Yandackworroby Pub

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You can get to Yandackworroby the easy way or the hard way. The hard way is down the coast, then grinding along gravel and dust, all arrange...

Kick-started by a dung beetle

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This is one of a series of tales of Australian rural life as I once lived it I have just realised that these were all banjaxed by a treacher...
Sunday, 13 July 2025

Dorothea Mackellar’s famous poem begins “I love a sunburnt country”

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Another sample from the now 130-strong collection, currentlt dubbed Mythinformation , These are widely believed tales that have no basis in ...

Mythinformation

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This work-in-late-progress punctures 130 false beliefs like: George Washington had wooden teeth: Not true: his choppers were made of human ...
Sunday, 15 June 2025

The world is only six thousand years old

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A sample from the now 130-strong collection, currently dubbed  Mythinformation , These are widely believed tales that have no basis in fact....

Noah's Flood: a no-no

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Another sample from the now 130-strong collection, currently dubbed  Mythinformation , These are widely believed tales that have no basis in...
Saturday, 10 May 2025

The nature of a hick

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Turning aside from my current onslaught on STEAM amusements , of which there are about 90 right now, what is a hick? H. L. Mencken once told...
Monday, 21 April 2025

I am busy elsewhere.

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The Old Writer on th e Block blog (where you are reading this) is being allowed to slide, just a bit, because I am busy on a companion blog...
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About Me

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Peter Macinnis
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Peter Macinnis turned to writing after his promising career as a chiaroscuro player was tragically cut short by a caravaggio crash during the Trompe L'Oeil endurance race. He recently did remarkably well in the early rounds of the celebrity underwater cooking program, Moister Chef, but he was disqualified for using dried fruits and desiccated coconut. He has a pet leech named Gladys, which has lived in a container on his desk for the last six months, as part of another book, and he is an expert echidna handler and ant lion wrangler. He wrote both the score and the libretto for the acclaimed opera Manon Troppo.

Sorry, that’s not quite right. I write and sometimes broadcast about science, for young and old. I write mainly about science, environment, or social history for both adults and children, depending on how the fit takes me on a given morning. I usually have one book coming back after editing or in production, one being edited, one being written and one or more being actively researched.
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