Strayaday at Maccas

It’s Strayaday and I’m hurtling down the highway, in need of a coffee.

The big M sign comes towards me like a mirage.

Ah McCafe - the place we know from Oprah where every trendy Aussie goes for their morning macchiato.

Ah the half-way-to-the-country Maccas, saviour of many a school-holiday kids-filled car.

Ah a place to use the bathroom and grab a bite.

Outside the men with tats, shorts and Australia Day t-shirts are chatting as their dogs roam the backs of their flag-covered utes.

Inside it’s packed with Aussies celebrating their national day. A group of Chinese Aussies are eating coconut cake from their own plastic bags and drinking McCafe coffees from paper cups.

At another table a European mama Aussie and her son are eating tuna out of tins from a small esky.

It’s a new trend in such a trendy place: “bring-your-own McDonald’s”. But I don’t think people have quite realised yet that picnics are meant to be held outside.

Two kids with Aussie flags tied to them and their faces painted wander past in pursuit of Happy Meals.

I get into a conversation with an elderly woman while waiting for my cappuccino. She’s going to a family barbecue around the corner.

“My husband just had to pop out to make a bet on the horses,” she says. She points to the pub across the way. I imagine the scene inside and hope she doesn’t have to wait too long.

I push a pile of old Big Mac cartons across the table as I sit down to drink my coffee and enjoy the patriotic headlines in the Tele. But then I’m abused by sounds of kids screeching their way through pink and purple tunnels in the playground. Mum is squeezing her way through in pursuit of them.

The cacophony of sound and the smell of old hamburgers and fries is too much. I drink my lukewarm coffee and leave.

Next stop is the IGA store a bit further down the coast to pick up my supplies for my few days at the hermit’s lair. But I can’t get away from patriotism just yet. There’s a display of Strayaday paraphernalia including yellow velour shorts with stubby holders attached.

I ask the check-out bloke if he thinks they’re becoming. He suggests that road workers should wear them rather than their vests.

“That’d stop the traffic,” he jokes.

“If only,” I muse as I head back out on the highway.

Hair, glorious hair

Why are so many men these days bald? Is it something to do with climate change?

My feelings go out to them as I struggle with frequent trips to the hairdresser to get my grey taken care of. But it seems like an epidemic, especially in Australia.

Nearly all men in Asia seem to have full heads of hair so is it a western thing? There are all sorts of theories about the reasons for it. But it definitely is a worry.

The other night I went to see A Life in Three Acts as part of the Sydney Festival which has English drag queen Bette Bourne relaying his life through an on-stage interview. Fantastic black and white photos of him and others at various times of their life are flashed on screens behind him. In the 1970s he and his fellow queens had thick, curly hair - and I'm not talking about their wigs - and were extremely spunky. Most of the gay men in that night's audience had shaved heads.

Now shaved heads are better than comb-overs or anything like that and these guys were still attractive. But really, what has happened to all that hair, glorious hair? (Memories of the cast of Hair singing about giving themselves a head of hair - could they do that today?) Is there a huge mountain of hair somewhere?

It's not just men - we're all losing hair. Everytime we comb, mounds of it come out.

I read an article this week that said too little protein, red meat, fish, eggs, chicken and so on can affect keratin levels and hair can become weaker and stop growing. Eating those foods and having breakfast is key - the morning meal is the most important of the day for boosting hair follicles.

A lack of dietary iron may also lead to hair loss, as levels of ferritin in your body may drop and disrupt the hair growth cycle and increase hair shedding, according to this article.

None of this has much to do with travel except that I do notice a lot more hair when I go to Asia than here or other western countries.Thick, black, luxuriant hair. So beautiful. So maybe it is to do with their diet. (The man in the photo above was at the Pushkar Camel Fair in India for the moustache competition.)

The worst thing here is when a bald head is accompanied by a bow tie around the neck. Bow ties are never a good look unless they are worn with a dinner suit. Extremely unsexy at any other time.

And then some people shave their heads for charity or for art. Geoffrey Rush and wonderful female actor Yael Stone have shaved theirs for Gogol's The Diary of A Madman playing at the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney. What sacrifice for art. And what amazing art too.

In a miracle we managed to get cancelled tickets for the Saturday matinee. What a privilege to see an actor like Rush "in the flesh" - more than 20 years after I saw him in another Neil Armfield-directed play at the same theatre.

Announcing a collection for the flood victims after the performance, he said Toowoomba and Brisbane were his childhaunt haunts. He was wearing white mad man's pants and no shirt at the time. And no bow tie.

Big Bang Theory or Keep it Local

I'm not crazy about big, public events. The last time I went to a major one in Sydney - the opening night of the Sydney Festival last year - I was hit on the head by a flying bottle aimed at the rubbish bin. A spot next to the bin had been the only place I could find to sit.

On the way back home we passed a bloodied man with wounds to his head being chased out of a pub by some very scary looking women.

So it's kind of understandable why I preferred to stay local this year.

The idea of waiting for hours and hours in the sun to see New Year's Eve fireworks didn't inspire me at all. And then there was the countless rules and regulations, no alcohol and no ferries or trains to get back home. Being stranded somewhere on the other side of the Bridge or even Circular Quay with thousands of revellers sounded like a night from Hell.

Watching the spectacular fireworks on TV to the background sound of loud bangs outside your window was the way to go. And there was the added incentive of staying up for That's Entertainment featuring Fred Astaire and other Hollywood greats - and even Frank Sinatra - tap dancing. Perfect!

Well earlier we did walk down to Coogee and had a civilized drink in the pub there, before a woman who had had too much to drink starting abusing the bouncer and saying, "I'm not going to let some foreigner tell me what to do".

We moved and had a perfect spot next to the window for the local fireworks.

Then back home to the previously-mentioned TV. We managed to miss most of the annoying presenters and got the Jersey Boys singing hits from the show. One of the highlights of 2010 for me was interviewing Aussie performer Peter Saide, who plays Bob Gaudio in the Las Vegas version of this great musical. In a perfect example of people with talent being modest, Saide was adorable to interview - so full of life and enthusiasm.

(Ofcourse I wouldn't have minded being in Vegas for NY Eve!)

Here's to a low-key, keep-it-local, simple and modest 2011. Happy New Year everyone.