It follows my week-long trip to the Water Cities area of Japan, not too far from Narita Airport. I love Japan and the Blade Runner-cool of Tokyo but this was altogether a more laidback affair…

Thanks to the Japan National Tourism Organisation and KNT Japan for making my trip to this fascinating part of the country so – well, fascinating!

I have more work in the latest Box Magazine ( the man behind the luxurious MCT Watches) and a bunch of articles in The Builders Choice next issue.

More work, of course, is always welcome!

best wishes
Norman

A quick update on what’s happening with The Write Stuff Media for 2011!

Firstly, I’ve added some more examples of my work onto the Portfolio page – all from Box Magazine.

Thanks to Christine Gibson and you can check out Box Magazine at www.boxmagazine.com.au.

2011 is looming as a big year on the “Event” circuit, with the Rugby World Cup, World Swimming Championships and Pan American Games to name but a few…

As always, I am on the lookout for assignments short (and long)… just drop me an email at norman@normanburns.com.

Thanks again to Glenn Nicholas and the team at www.om4.com.au for all their great work in hosting this site.
Stay tuned for more!

Best wishes

Norman

Even harder to believe what a contrast it is to be in Guangzhou, China, for the 16th Asian Games.

I was in GZ in 1989 and it was a big, sprawling, shabby city with a trillion bicycles, the odd ox cart and many families getting around on retro-fitted combine harvesters.

Flash forward to 2010 and GZ is a big, sprawling shining city straight out of Blade Runner full of stunning towers (including the world’s tallest) and trillions of cars – rushhour lasts four hours and most cars seem to be only a couple of years old.

The countdown to the Asian Games is on and I am sure the Opening Ceremony will be a doozy…

Should be…. challenging!

After that, back in town for a week or so before another role in a major sports event, this time as Chief Subeditor with the Asian Games News Service in Guangzhou, China.

Wushu here I come!

Locally, I’ve had pieces published in Scoop Magazine (Life in the Fastlane, Boys Toys) and in the soon-to-be published spring issue of Box Magazine a yarn on that most desirable of watches, Rolex, plus a review of the great Baselworld Watch Expo.

Builders Choice Magazine has also provided a steady flow of assignments.

As always, I’m open to assignments, so please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I’ll have several articles appearing soon in The Builders Choice Magazine, a niche trade magazine published from Perth’s northern suburbs….it’s been a steep learning curve, but fun!

The West ran my travel piece on Tokyo today, including a fair few pix I took…thanks to that foolproof Sony camera.

I am looking forward to expanding my workload, so stay tuned for some developments.

The Asian Games in October should be another fantastic experience, if my time in 2006 in Doha, Qatar, is any guide.

With more sports than the Olympics, it will be full-on….Twenty20 cricket and sevens rugby will be highlights but I’d hope to be able to actually go and watch the tennis and “soft tennis”; never heard of this, right…

it’s like tennis but uses smaller racquets and softer balls and has a different scoring system.

I’ve spent the past 3.2 years as chief subeditor/writer with Scoop Magazine in Perth, keeping my hand in the newspaper world with regular shifts at the Sunday Times.

I’ve always dabbled in freelance stuff but, thanks to the fantastic help of Glenn Nicholas of OM4 in setting up this site and ace designer Matt Leigh for the “spacey” logo, it’s time to expand my horizons.

So anyone out there looking for help with PR, writing press releases, engaging the media, wanting someone to test out a round the world first class holiday (I’ll be objective, honest) I’m open to offers…

I’ll be putting up examples of my work and some background on experience etc soon…

Meanwhile, thanks to Tom Wolfe for coining the phrase The Right Stuff, which I have sneakily tweaked…