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Showing posts from 2010

#243: The Sun Is Shining

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Merry Christmas to all and sundry, and as a little gift I thought I'd scan and share this flyer for all of those who visit here for classic Aussie stuff. I doubt that many of these flyers still exist, indeed I had no idea that Tully even had a television show, but I'm not overly surprised.  By the late 1960s it seemed that the ABC were giving anyone a tv show of their own, most are long gone now, sadly enough, but some remain.  I'm not sure which category Tully fall into, as evidenced by this paragraph from the excellent Milesago site: "In June/July 1969 the band got two major breaks that brought them to the forefront of the Australian music scene. One was the commissioning of a series of six half-hour ABC-TV programs starring Tully. Called Fusions, it was the brainchild of former ABC current affairs producer Bill Munro. The series originally featured lighting design by UBU's Aggy Read, although this partnership was terminated due to budget restrictions after th

#242: Police Car

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Don’t let anyone fool you, women of a certain vintage only watched 21 Jump Street back in the day for the same reason that they’ll tape and watch it when it’s repeated on pay TV next year – to perve on a young Johnny Depp. If they deny this, ask them to name one other co-star, or, even better, ask them to describe a storyline. Mind you I can’t either, but I do remember one episode where I think it was either Depp or his co star Peter DeLuise, Dom’s son, was running through the snow to the sounds of R.E.M.’s Orange Crush. I do remember Dom turning up as Peter’s father in a few episodes, but that’s about it. And a black copper that was in charge of them, and a cute black girl, but that’s about it. I did enjoy it, but like most shows of the time, I’m sure I’d watch it now and just chuckle at how bad the acting is, how inane the story lines are and how insipid the sets are. Say what you want, but 21 Jump Street wasn’t as good as Hill Street Blues. Now that was a show. I still have Mike P

#241: I Love You Love Me Love

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Every so often you find a book that is just so chilling and disturbing that you wonder if you should even admit to seeing it, let alone owning and reading it. Or, in this case, skimming through it. This is one such book, the Australian Paedophile and Sex Offenders Index. I heard about this book a few years ago and had wondered about its contents ever since. I then kept an eye out for a copy, and although I’d see it in bookstores from time to time, the price was generally a bit prohibitive, and nobody would ever allow it to be displayed on the shelves – for obvious reasons – thus a casual browse was always out of the question. I expect that a copy resides in the State Library, but I’m buggered if I was going to walk in and request a copy to look at. So what is it about this book that is disturbing? For a start it doesn’t have graphic images, nor does it have graphic details of abuse – quite the opposite. It’s a very dry volume, detailing the names, locations and information of people

#240: Our House

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You might need to click on this one to appreciate it, but frankly I expect that while this place might be damned cool in the summer, it'll be freezing in winter and I doubt that the dining area is as spacious as first claimed. And no, I've not altered this one bit, other than to underline the obvious. And yet, if you lived in that fridge, you might want to try the second most popular export from Nimbin.  I wonder what it tastes like...

#239 Sister Madly

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I never saw Split Enz live, but I have seen them on the idiot box more than once, and what I’ve seen makes me a bit sad that I never took the plunge. But, unlike you and your mate, I did see the Mullanes and I still have the press sheet that I lifted from the gig. You may now ask, “Who? The Mullanes?” Let me tell you about The Mullanes. Led by Neil Finn, they were his first post-Enz band, and when I saw them they had a line up of ex-Enz members Finn and drummer Paul Hester, aided by bassist Nick Seymour and guitarist Craig Hooper. Yep, I saw Crowded House before they were too crowded and before they’d bought even a small unit somewhere. What did they play? A pile of Finn’s Split Enz tracks, along with a smattering of tracks that would eventually feature on the first Crowded House album. Were they any good? Well, yep, they were, but then with musicians of that calibre you expect that they’d be able to deliver a good set in their sleep. I enjoyed it, even if time, along with booze an

#238: For What It's Worth

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There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. I am well aware that this post will see me in a lot of trouble, but silence is the equal of complacency and to remain silent about some issues is to be seen to agree with those who demand people to follow blindly and agree with their every word, so here goes. Tomorrow will see a public demonstration against the illegal incarceration of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.  Right off the bat,  I'll be there.  For right or wrong, I'm a strong believer in the freedom of speech, and those who say that Wikileaks is endangering lives are forgetting that the actions, words and policies of those whose names are being revealed in these memos are the people who are truly putting people's lives at risk on a daily basis. We need freedom, we need to know the games, and the lies, that our Governments are playing and telling. We have a basic right, as people, who have elected our Governments worldwide, to know the depths

#237: Doctor Doctor

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Some books are just too funny, even unintentionally.  Don't ask me why I have a copy of Bailey & Lowe's Short Practice Of Surgery on my shelves, but if you must know then I was a Boy Scout and we were always told to 'Be Prepared'.  Mind you a few of us were fiddled as kids, but that's another story. I first learnt about this book via the pages of Graham Chapman's A Liar's Autobiography.  Chapman, who was actually a fully qualified doctor as well as a damned funny guy, makes reference to this book and describes it as being anything but a laugh a minute, with the exception of the two images that are shown here, the first of which is described as being a 'quick giggle'.  Monty Python clearly has a lot to answer for and the levels of their perversion and subversion ran deeper than they might have thought.  Good on 'em.  From such subversion people learn to be subversive themselves and affect change from within. And that's where true power