Nifty

Balmain boys don't cry - Neville Wran, 1983. NSW's longest serving Labor Premier.

Well, we do sometimes.

Balmain 21 years later is now a very different place from its solidly working-class days when young Neville earned the nickname "Nifty", allegedly from his ability to return home each day from school with one penny, after having been given tuppence in the morning by his parents for the tram fare to and from school. The tram fare was one penny each way, so coming home with change was pretty nifty.

Nowadays it's chock full of wankers, old houses renovated to within an inch of their lives, not to mention their property boundaries, and mums in X5s double parking in streets as wide as your armspan while they drop Portia at piano lessons and Simon at soccer. Fortunately, it's also still full of great old pubs, amazing harbour views, and crusty locals who've never ventured off the penninsula in their lives.

This blog isn't meant to specifically about the joys, or otherwise, of living in Balmain, although this theme may crop up from time to time. So why take the plunge into blogging, why now? Aren't there enough blogs out there already? Well, if the truth be known, probably yes. But as a long time lurker and comment-poster on other peoples' sites, I thought it was about time to get motivated and have my own say. Especially now that skool is finished, it's off season from rugby, and the urge to write again has taken hold. Lets see how we go, shall we?