http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/helen-mcinerney/ Helen McInerney is a career public servant, but one not as boring as most. She worked as a journalist on august titles including the Geelong Advertiser and the Cairns Post. She spent many of the ensuing years trying to do something a little less pressing so chose life in outback Australia as an interesting option – involving glamorous locales like Perth and the Torres Strait. At the back of her mind was the constant thought – what does one wear? en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-50-year-old-bodybuilder/ I’m standing on stage in front of a few hundred people wearing a tiny Swarovski crystal-covered bikini and six-inch Perspex platform stripper heels. That’s just the start. If you are a female figure bodybuilder, as I am, you get to wear nail art, big hair and lots of bling-bling jewellery. I even have crystals embedded in my false eyelashes. My deep dark tan is painted on and then there’s another layer of shimmer gel so I look like a bronzed-up Barbie doll with muscles. I turned 50 this year and decided to enter a bodybuilding competition - a memorable way to mark what might otherwise be a year of regret. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Helen McInerney) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-50-year-old-bodybuilder/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-50-year-old-bodybuilder/#item6550 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:55:16 +0000 Helen McInerney | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-i-started-ladies-day-at-fred-brophys-boxing-tent/ It’s not hard to get a fight in Fred Brophy’s boxing tent – the last travelling tent left in Australia, or the world. It just gets hard when you get your fight. I wanted a fight. I saw Brophy first at the Birdsville Races in 2008 but I knew about the tent – the round or two for a pound or two – to borrow a line from the other great boxing tent man Jimmy Sharman. I talked about wanting a fight in the tent before heading up to Mt Isa for the rodeo, from the comfort of inner city Melbourne. No one believed me.  I’m a girl and I’ve never even done a boxing class. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Helen McInerney) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-i-started-ladies-day-at-fred-brophys-boxing-tent/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-i-started-ladies-day-at-fred-brophys-boxing-tent/#item2155 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:00:18 +0000 Helen McInerney | Author bios | The Punch