Agent Palmer

My first real job was at a little place called Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips.

This is one of the many brands from the previous century that didn’t venture too far into this one before calling it a day. While there are still a few Arthur Treacher’s around, they are usually in split locations sharing a building space with A&W, another brand that is a shadow of its former self.

I love this blog. It has been a constant pleasure to write and share all of these posts. It’s not going anywhere, but it will probably change in some ways, as have I.

Last year I got married. And while I spoke about it with my wife Stefanie on two consecutive episodes of The Palmer Files podcast retracing our relationship from meeting to wedding, I haven’t mentioned it here. Why not?

I spent a lot of the last two months of this year listening to an album from 2020 by Tim Minchin, whose art I not only appreciate but am inspired by. Here’s the catch… I didn’t even know about the album until late October. In fact, I first listened to it the same day I finally listened to The Rolling Stones 2023 studio album Hackney Diamonds.

How did it come to this?

In October 2023, the iconic Sydney Opera House had a birthday festival to celebrate the 50 years since it opened its doors to the world.

The Sydney Opera House website, under “Our Story,” explains why this building should be a little more celebrated than most in their short three paragraph history, which is honestly one of the more accurate and succinct art building histories I have ever read.

Max was my producer, my unexpected friend, and part of my sanity.

Most of all he was my friend, and I will miss him.

Since I wrote about our unexpected pairing a couple years ago, things had maintained our balance until he got sick. Last fall, he was just having bad day after bad day. He couldn’t keep food down, so we took him to the vet where we heard the word that no one wants to hear as a prognosis for anyone they care about… cancer.