Get a real job. That was the thought uppermost in Dieter Brummer's mind when he starred in Home and Away. The 36-year-old, who played Shane Parrish in the Channel 7 soapie, was one of Australia's hottest heart-throbs in the 1990s. He was the Aussie pin-up boy, a one-man One Direction. Girls screamed. He was on countless magazine covers. Brummer started on Home and Away in 1992 at the age of 15 and had left by 19. He went on to appear in Channel 10's medical drama Medivac alongside Grant Bowler, Nicholas Eadie and Genevieve Picot. Then Brummer pretty much disappeared. In 2007 rumours circulated that he had become a window cleaner - quite a comedown for a bloke who used to be such a huge star.
Where has he been? "I chose to step away from the industry," Brummer says. "The adulation that a program like Home and Away can give you, especially when you are young, was pretty full-on for me. I had so much of that (fame) from the time I was 15 to 20 that I had my fill of being screamed at. "I'd think 'Relax, I'm just a normal person'. There's nothing amazing about me being an actor. I didn't get too big for my boots or too big-headed about it and believe the hype." It was more than adulation overkill. Brummer reveals that deep down he never considered acting a "real" job, even at the height of his popularity . "I wanted to prove to myself and to those around me that I wasn't only good at standing around on a set with a script in one hand being an 'actor'," Brummer says.
"I came from a blue-collar background. My father was a tradesman a medical gas fitter. I wanted to do a real job. "Acting is very subjective. Some people think you're great because of your looks." It turns out those window cleaning rumours are partly true. Brummer runs a company that does high-rise building maintenance work. Before you start thinking "poor Dieter" you should know he loves it. It fulfils something in him that acting can't. "I've always loved working outdoors," Brummer explains. "I found myself in an industry I was comfortable with and had some proficiency at so I stuck with it. I've been doing it for 10 years.
"I came from a blue-collar background. My father was a tradesman a medical gas fitter. I wanted to do a real job. "Acting is very subjective. Some people think you're great because of your looks." It turns out those window cleaning rumours are partly true. Brummer runs a company that does high-rise building maintenance work. Before you start thinking "poor Dieter" you should know he loves it. It fulfils something in him that acting can't. "I've always loved working outdoors," Brummer explains. "I found myself in an industry I was comfortable with and had some proficiency at so I stuck with it. I've been doing it for 10 years.
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| Two sides of the same story ... US truck driver Bill McElligott. |
The damage the sun can do: One side of Bill McElligott's face is 66-years-old, the other side is 86-years-old, and his photo will shock truckies, cabbies and professional drivers. Mr McElligott is 66-years-old and the drooping, wrinkled, rutted and prematurely aged left side of his face is the result of sunlight pouring through the window of the trucks he drove for 28 years through Chicago, USA. His damaged face has led to the Cancer Council of New South Wales advising professional drivers to think about getting their vehicles' windows tinted to reduce sun exposure. Mr McElligott's plight was revealed when he went to a medical clinic after his grandchildren kept asking why his face was so different on one side. "We are used to seeing photo damage by the sun, photo aging, every day, but I ws taken aback when I saw how one-sided this was,'' Dr Jennifer Gordon, a dermatology expert who treated Mr McElligott, told The Daily Telegraph from Texas.
Dr Gordon said Mr McElligott spent so much time in his truck and car that his left side was exposed to UVA rays which can penetrate glass and cause the majority of photo-aging, unlike UVB rays, which cause sunburns. "UVA can penetrate window glass, which makes his vocation as a truck-driver important,'' she said. "Although UVB was traditionally thought to be the wavelength that did all of the damage, we now know that UVA leads to skin cancer development as well, but also is the culprit for photo-aging - the change in texture and wrinkling you see. "This is likely because UVA penetrates more deeply into the skin, so although you don't often get sunburnt or develop a tan after exposure to UVA, it causes damage that over time leads to ageing -and can lead to skin cancer.''
He said he often drove with the windows down in summer because his trucks did not have air-conditioning. The Cancer Council of New South Wales said Mr McElligott's face, suffering from what doctor's officially call unilateral dermatoheliosis, was a stark reminder of the damage the sun can do, even while sitting behind the wheel. "It's a shocking image and it shows that you are not out of danger of the effects of the sun by being in a truck or car,'' Cancer Council of NSW skin cancer prevention manager Vanessa Rock said. "There is an argument that tinting windows helps cut the exposure too. I think it would be good if truckies, cabbies, couriers and the like thought about tinting their windows within legal safety restrictions. "You should also be wearing broad spectrum sunscreen which protects against both UVA and UVB even if you are driving all day, and re-apply it every two hours, and wear long sleeves.''
Dr Gordon said Mr McElligott spent so much time in his truck and car that his left side was exposed to UVA rays which can penetrate glass and cause the majority of photo-aging, unlike UVB rays, which cause sunburns. "UVA can penetrate window glass, which makes his vocation as a truck-driver important,'' she said. "Although UVB was traditionally thought to be the wavelength that did all of the damage, we now know that UVA leads to skin cancer development as well, but also is the culprit for photo-aging - the change in texture and wrinkling you see. "This is likely because UVA penetrates more deeply into the skin, so although you don't often get sunburnt or develop a tan after exposure to UVA, it causes damage that over time leads to ageing -and can lead to skin cancer.''
He said he often drove with the windows down in summer because his trucks did not have air-conditioning. The Cancer Council of New South Wales said Mr McElligott's face, suffering from what doctor's officially call unilateral dermatoheliosis, was a stark reminder of the damage the sun can do, even while sitting behind the wheel. "It's a shocking image and it shows that you are not out of danger of the effects of the sun by being in a truck or car,'' Cancer Council of NSW skin cancer prevention manager Vanessa Rock said. "There is an argument that tinting windows helps cut the exposure too. I think it would be good if truckies, cabbies, couriers and the like thought about tinting their windows within legal safety restrictions. "You should also be wearing broad spectrum sunscreen which protects against both UVA and UVB even if you are driving all day, and re-apply it every two hours, and wear long sleeves.''
Jumper not window cleaner: A dramatic scene played out at Albuquerque City Hall Monday night. A suicidal man was on the roof, perilously close to the edge of the building, 12 stories up. All the while the Albuquerque City Council was meeting in the same building just a few floors below. It started just before 5 p.m. and lasted a nail-biting two hours. A man, who police have not identified, sat on the south wall, 12 stories up. Police negotiators met him on top of the building in an effort to try to keep him from jumping. Police down below shut down several square blocks to make sure no one got close to the building. In the end, a negotiator with the crisis negotiation team was able to talk him down off the wall.
The exact reason the man went up there is unknown, but we do know police believe he possibly gained access because he was mistaken for a window washer. "It was an accident some kind of confusion, somebody thought he was a window washer when he wasn't, somehow snuck in and gained access to roof," says Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Officer Nelson Sanchez. The suicidal man will not be arrested or charged for the cost of the police response. The Albuquerque Police Department said it is going to review security procedures to make sure something was not overlooked.
Man found with can of pepper spray thought it was deodorant (Plymouth, UK): A man found with a can of pepper spray thought it was deodorant, a court heard. Jose Guillen, aged 37, was left the canister by a friend and only realised what it was when someone sprayed it, Plymouth magistrates were told. His solicitor said he put the spray in his van ready to take to the police station – but officers came to his home and found the can first. Guillen, of Blandford Road, Efford, admitted possession of a weapon for the discharge of a noxious substance on February 28.
Elaine Keen, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said officers found the aerosol can near the driver's side door of the van. Stephen Walker, for Guillen, said he was guilty of "technical possession" of the pepper spray. He added a friend, whose name he gave to police, left the can at his address. Mr Walker said: "He did not believe it was what it was."
He added the friend's father sprayed the can because they thought it was deodorant. Mr Walker said: "Quite a noxious substance came out and affected them." He added Guillen, a self-employed window cleaner, put the canister in his van and intended to take it to the police. But Mr Walker said someone "vindictively" tipped off the police about the can. Magistrates fined him £180, ordered that he pay £85 costs and £15 victim surcharge.
Elaine Keen, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said officers found the aerosol can near the driver's side door of the van. Stephen Walker, for Guillen, said he was guilty of "technical possession" of the pepper spray. He added a friend, whose name he gave to police, left the can at his address. Mr Walker said: "He did not believe it was what it was."
He added the friend's father sprayed the can because they thought it was deodorant. Mr Walker said: "Quite a noxious substance came out and affected them." He added Guillen, a self-employed window cleaner, put the canister in his van and intended to take it to the police. But Mr Walker said someone "vindictively" tipped off the police about the can. Magistrates fined him £180, ordered that he pay £85 costs and £15 victim surcharge.
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