From time to time we learn that a family member, friend or colleague has reached some sort of crossroad and have taken a new direction in life in pursuit of fulfilling a life-long dream.

With a legacy stretching back nearly 50 years, Jimmy Cliff is the only living musician honoured with Jamaica’s Order of Merit. He is a celebrated two-time Grammy Award Winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee and a talented actor.

The tradition of celebrating Mother’s Day in Australia can be traced back to 1924; when Sydney resident, Mrs Janet Heyden, first met lonely and forgotten mothers at the Newington State Home for Women.

Life has a way of presenting challenges when we least expect it. We can be up one minute and down the next. On target to reach our goals, two socks up with the crowd behind you, willing the ball through the sticks as it sails over the man on the mark. ‘Go left; go left; straighten; straighten; and it’s just off-line and through for a minor score.’ What went wrong?

At just 24 years-of-age, Melbourne’s Josh Howlett is well on his way to slam dunking his life ambition of producing his first movie – Final Four.

Some of the most imaginative Australian inventions such as the wine cask (very handy, thank you Thomas Angove from Adelaide) were created in the 1960s. During this particular decade, Australia also welcomed a surge of international company representatives to our shores.

Idioms, phrases or expressions such as, ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’, ‘kick the bucket’ and ‘drive me up the wall’ often make their way into our conversations, although we cannot take them literally.

As a young boy in his Adelaide family home, Mark Anthony may not have had lamb-chop sideburns, yet his ears and eyes were introduced to the music and styling of Elvis Presley through his father’s vinyl record collection and by watching VHS tapes for hours on end.

A fitting accolade for his musical and charity contributions, winning the Order of Australia for his services to the Australian music industry is among many honours bestowed upon Mike Brady this year.

If you're a fun-loving foodie, appreciate fine wining and dining and enjoy world-class cuisine presented by Australian and international award-winning chefs, then come Friday, your heart will be content.

Known across the globe as ‘The Bionic Woman’ (‘Jaime Sommers’), Emmy Award recipient Lindsay Wagner has, since the early days of her on-screen career, continued to inspire and empower others along her journey, through film and television.

In the 1980s we were smoking cigarettes and cigars in Melbourne restaurants, avocados appeared on menus, handwritten menus saved printing costs and restaurants introduced fixed-priced meals to ensure a minimum spend.

In military terms, the Last Post is the Bugle call that traditionally signified the day’s end of a soldier’s duty. It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest and at commemorative services such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. Yet, it remains so much more.

When you want to speak with Jon English, don’t expect him to be sitting beside the phone waiting for your call wearing slippers and dressing gown listening to his collection of CD’s. Although he once feared that by 2013 he would be a ‘grumpy old man’; he is far from it.

For a great part of my paternal grandparents’ lives, they lived a four-hour drive from Melbourne in the small township of Barham, which straddles the Murray River in the western Riverina district of New South Wales.

The internet and social media sites such as Facebook have made organising events, seminars and even reunions somewhat easier to promote, located and invite guests to. With Facebook it’s simple to create an event, post it to your news feed, invite friends to attend and spread the word far and wide.

When you sit down to interview a ‘twitcher’, be prepared for the interview to be cut short. A twitcher is wired for sound, on call 24/7 hoping to receive a ‘tweet’ or a call to learn that a migrating bird took a wrong turn and landed in Australia; making it rare and a ‘must have tick’ against its name on a watcher’s accumulating and prized list. But first a twitcher must hunt it down through a pair of binoculars.

The Famous Speigeltent situated in the forecourt at the Arts Centre Melbourne is hard to miss - particularly at night. As Melbourne’s street lights shine through the stained glass windows, you can imagine Nicole Kidman and Ewen McGregor being moments away from bursting on stage in song complete with stars, clouds and burlesque dancers. Spectacular! Spectacular!

In the 80s, Rob Soek (aka) Stan Cash was deemed by many to be a little out there and possibly a tad crazy; but he captured our attention. Whether we wanted to or not, we embraced our very own Tin Shed retail Cowboy and his zany side-kicks through his earworm jingles, famous catch-cries and low-budget ‘cheesy’ television commercials. ‘Who was that man?’

For as long as I can remember, tap has graced its energetic presence throughout my life. From The Muppet Show, Young Talent Time and during my adult years watching some classic movies including Swing Time (1936) starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers through to Jamie Bell tapping out his frustration against bricks walls in the global hit film, Billy Elliott (2000) – yes, tap has provided years of artistic entertainment in its majestic form.