Apologies for the lack of posts this week, I’ve not been well.

But my photos from last Saturday’s St Patrick’s Day Parade are on flickr. Click here to see all 50 photos.

As usual, you can see them in large sizes, watch a slideshow of the photos or download them for your own use.

Australia v Great Britain international Rugby League Test Match last November at Lang Park. 

Welcome to the liveblog! In the spirit of HG Nelson and Rampaging Roy Slaven I’ve set up the ‘card table‘ for the first game of the National Rugby League season, between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys, at Brisbane’s Lang Park.

Since I’m nowhere near as funny as HG and Roy, I have to bring my own special flavour to the liveblog. So I’ll be breaking the game down for people who don’t know much about it. Hundreds of thousands of people in the last decade have moved to Queensland from the southern states of Australia where Australian Rules Football is the main game. Like me a few years ago, most of those people don’t have a clue about how League works, and the Channel 9 commentary team do a very bad job of explaining the ins and outs of the game. Sometimes the ball changes hands and you’ll have no idea why. And that’s my job - to let you know what just happened, why it happened, and what effect it will have on the game.

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It’s a huge weekend for Brisbane. First of all, the regular NRL (National Rugby League) season opens on Friday night with a game at Brisbane’s Lang Park between 2006 premiers (Grand Final winners) the Brisbane Broncos, and the North Queensland Cowboys.

I’ll be watching the game on TV and liveblogging it here on Brisbane is Home. I’ll be explaining all the stuff about League that I’ve learnt in the last few years since moving to Brisbane. I knew nothing about the game till I moved here, and I found that the Channel 9 commentators aren’t very good at explaining the finer points of the game to new fans, so that’ll be my job. You’re welcome to leave questions and comments.

I’ll be starting the liveblog when the broadcast begins at 7.30pm Friday, Brisbane time, which is 8.30pm in NSW, the ACT, Victoria and Tasmania, 8.00 pm in South Australia, 7.00 pm in the Northern Territory, and 6.30 pm in Western Australia. For people

Then Saturday is, of course, St Patrick’s Day. I’ll be heading to the march to take photos and they’ll be up on the site on Monday morning.

Then, on Saturday night, the Brisbane Lions AFL (Aussie Rules, or Australian Rules Football) team plays Carlton in Melbourne, in the Grand Final of the pre-season cup. There’s no live free-to air broadcast into Brisbane (grumble, mutter) but you can catch the final at 11.30pm on Channel 7. I’ll have a round-up of the match reports on Sunday.

So stay tuned to Brisbane Is Home for a huge Brisbane weekend.

There’s a quick note on the Brisbane Bullets website, saying that the team - who won the National Basketball League Grand Final last Friday - will be in the Queen Street Mall today at 11am. They’ll be meeting the Lord Mayor, and will be signing autographs.

So if you want to meet the NBL champions, get on down to the mall today. Click here to see the exact location of the mall.

Brisbane musician Joel Saunders, who plays experimental/country/hip hop, is giving away a free CD on his website. Click here for instructions about downloading the CD.

He’s also playing a free, all ages ‘Secret Show’ this Sunday, March 18th, at 3.45pm. You have to meet at Borders bookshop on the corner of Elizabeth and Albert St in the City at that time, and then you’ll be going to the venue.

Click here to see the exact location of Borders Bookshop.