Every shopping centre needs a newsagent. Where else do you pick up the weekend paper, test your…read moreluck with a lotto ticket or scratchie, or grab that last minute birthday card? News on Newmarket is a nice little newsagent in the Reading Newmarket Shopping Centre. It does not have the biggest range of greeting cards, magazines and stationary but it does have all the basics. It is the place I go to pick up the Weekend Australian and the staff are always happy and chipper. The store is fairly small and when there are a lot of people checking their lotto tickets there can be a little bit of a line but this only rarely happens. On a whole, News on Newmarket is your fairly average newsagent but definitely a necessary addition to the shopping centre.

This little store is the epitomy of a 'mixed business'. They do sell magazines and newspapers, but…read morethey also do a roaring trade in beach wear and toys as well as other random items. I've actually bought a couple of items of clothing here over the years, they have lots of sarongs and light, loose, beach appropriate clothing with a pleasing lack of dolphin print.

There are hidden treasures here. Once, desperate for a gift i bought a gorgeous crystal and bead…read morehanging, handmade in Byron would you beleive? Another time, my partner hadn't packed so well and we found salvation in the form of comfy chenille boardies at the back of the store. I've bought dresses and skirts here and a book and fancy thongs for my bro-in-law's birthday; and you thought it was just for newspapers and lotto... Like most places on the island, the prices are Straddie-fied, but not too bad, that's just how it is.

This newsagency is secretly also a gift shop. It's bailed me out a few times when I've remembered…read moresomeone's birthday party on the day of the event. The gift shop section is viewable from the store front and occupies its own little room. The range of gifts here aren't extensive but they seem to nicely cover all bases. I recently had to buy a gift for my mother at the last minute, and picked up two modern-art-esque wire cat statues for around $30. (The best thing is look like they might be expensive, a big bonus for all Scrooges.) On the other hand, there's kids toys, board games, and presents for yobbo mates (yard glasses included, of course) and - causing me to raise my eyebrows - Golliwog dolls, on occasion. The card range is decent, and even though around 90% of humorous cards in general are anything but, there's a few funny ones here. There is also the rest of the newsagent with the standard stuff common to larger newsagents. It's really the gift shop part I like, and the earring selection at the front counter. Local designers sell their wares here and there's some very cool and unique stuff at cheap prices (around $10 for a pair of earrings). I find the staff to generally be on the frosty side, but then again I much prefer this to someone jumping all over me.

Kudos to these people for rebuilding their little newsagency after the January Floods this year,…read morethey were truly flooded in, and there was nothing left untouched in their store. The lady who owns the place is lovely to deal with, although small, this place stacks most of the magazines, stationary, cards and lotto you would want to buy from any newsagency. The atmosphere is a little dark inside and the shop, although rebuilt and re-opened could have moved things around so there was a little more space, but I guess being a convenience place you really don't want people to linger around for ages. One of my local and favourite newsagents to go to, I always seem to have a chat to the girls who work there.

I am a loyal 4zzz subscriber and have been for a number of years. My favourite show is Concept…read moreWarning, Fishin in the Morning with Fisherman Dan and I was lucky enough to be Dan's weather girl one Sunday morning a few months back! Dan has now moved to Tuesday mornings at 5:00am, and as a dedicated fan I set my alarm each Tuesday and drag myself out of bed to listen to his show - Johnny Cash, Frank Zappa and The Ramones regularly featuring (their music of course). There is something for everyone! The Zed's Poet Society mix it up on Tuesdays with early era rock, jazz & blues, grunge, heavy metal and punk. On Wednesday nights you can catch Dykes on Mykes Davina and Ruth (their show is a hoot) and on Thursdays tune into Bhudda and Ben - the Brown Couch Men, featuring loads of local muso's. Sunday mornings you can chill out with Knoxy and his Jazz session - this session is a seriously good hangover cure. The Zed's is a not for profit community run radio station and as such relies heavily on its subscribers for funding, so if you love local music and aren't currently a subscriber - you should be!

In some way, you can thank Gough Whitlam for 4zzz. On December 8, 1975, 4zzz made it's first…read morebroadcast as the first community FM broadcaster in Australia, and 36 years on, they're still getting local music out to the local people via the air waves. Yes! 4zzz has it's home in the very uniquely painted building on Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley. 4zzz is a non for profit community radio station that promotes local Brisbane and Australian music, and does so on little funding outside of charitable donations. One of the best things I could ever tell a Brisbane local to do is subscribe to 4zzz. You're helping community radio and local music, and they provide awesome incentives to join up. Whenever they're giving away free tickets, for some mysterious reason, your chances are high at winning what's on offer. Lets leave it at that. Triple Zed are responsible for promoting a lot of local gigs through events they hold during the year, one being Dub Day Afternoon, held at the Jubilee Hotel, just up the road. A lot of gigs going on in town have ticket discounts if you're a 4zzz supporter too. I'm not patriotic about much, but I have to say, I want to put my hand over my heart in reverence when I speak or refer to 4zzz. Tune in on 102.1 FM.

Quest Newspapers are a Fairfax owned network of local suburban weekly papers which have a…read moresurprisingly strong readership around Brisbane. No world stopping news of global significance here, but the Quest papers are a good place to start if you want to get a quick look at the local news for the week, get the council notices effecting your area, see local sports news or check the classifieds. Always worth a quick look.

Style Magazine is one of the many free mags that you can pick up in various Brisbane stores and…read morecafes. Unlike most of the other mags though, which offer something unique and different, Style tries to be a bit more prestigious. It attempts to model itself after Vogue rather than Fankie but falls a little short of the mark. It's still worth picking up every month, after all it's free, and usually reviews nice cafes, bars and restaurants as well as events and local businesses.

Now, even though McDowall is generally considered 'the sticks', it doesn't mean that you have…read moreabandon all the culture and trimmings of an inner city lifestyle while you're out there. Places like New Paramount News make things like high end magazines easier to obtain. 'Yes!' your inner voice exclaims, you're not so isolated that your only choices of literature are either Woman's Day or Women's Weekly. For your general girly type of magazine, you can get your mits on some Frankie, Oyster, Monster Children, Fallen, Code, and Dumbo Feather (which I've only seen distributed at select inner city stores, so I was quite impressed). If you're after a more specific magazine, you've got two aisles to peruse that house magazines on a variety of subjects including architecture, craft, high art, to extreme sports, road tripping, fishing and gaming. The other thing that really impressed me about this newsagents is that they have a section which sells local people's handmade wares. There's some handmade local birthday cards for sale as well as some beautiful locally handmade semi precious jewellery on display. What a newsagents! Not only do they do they give people in the severe northern suburbs a wide range of 'literature' choices to choose from, they also support their community in their own commercial ventures. Do drop in if you find yourself in McDowall. It's not just your ordinary newsagent.