Almanac Life: More Things I Like

 

Knowing that if Gough Whitlam had come over you’d, “play chess and drink claret”

 

Adelaide Oval’s Morton Bay Figs

 

Bringing in the bins Fridays after an hour in the pub

 

Helping our 99-year-old neighbour sort her Foxtel

 

Kapunda Footy Club being among the world’s oldest and playing under its original name

 

Garry McIntosh’s handball

 

Lamb cigars from The Broadway butcher shop

 

Degraves laneway in Melbourne

 

Hertfordshire’s Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub

 

Staring at the Grand Canyon from its Western Rim

 

DK Lillee’s delivery stride

 

Exile on Main Street’s dangerous sprawl

 

The surreal sadness of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

 

Whyalla’s Bottle and Bird as a concept

 

Bung fritz

 

Onkaparinga National Park

 

Listening to Islands in the Stream with old friends

 

The Old Gum Tree’s barbeques being regularly cleaned by the local council

 

Your wife leaving you chocolate on your laptop keyboard

 

“Let’s Give a Cheer for Father” from the Looney Tunes cartoon, A Bear for Punishment

 

Glenelg Footy Club’s past players beer caravan

 

“I’ll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse. Playing cricket is not.”

 

Joni Mitchell’s guitar playing on Blue

 

Fleabag

 

Op Shop radios always being not quite tuned to a golden oldies AM station

 

Damien Martyn stroking one through the off-side

 

Listening to Skyhooks in a HQ Holden

 

Getting married on the lawn of your old high school

 

Having your wedding reception in your hometown footy club

 

The beauty and satire of “Chateau Lobby #4 (In C for Two Virgins)” by Father John Misty

 

Getting a giant pillow of chips from a fish shop

 

Being round a table with friends and all knowing the story someone’s about to tell

 

The 42-minute version of Wichita Lineman by the Dick Slessig Combo

 

Picking mint leaves from the garden for a gin

 

Changing my wife’s car radio to Triple J

 

When your kids finally say “thanks” without prompting

 

The Ned Ryerson scene in Groundhog Day- Bing!

 

Pubs with Friday night meat raffles

 

Scorsese’s use of the slide guitar and piano coda from “Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes in Goodfellas

 

Sylvia’s Mother

 

Noel’s Caravans

 

Tex, Don and Charlie

 

Opening a Barossa shiraz to share with Dad

 

The bawdy humour and joy of Under Milkwood

 

Saying, “West Coast Eagles” in my head and it only being in Dennis Cometti’s voice

 

Julia Jacklin’s plaintive melodies

 

John Cusack’s character breaking the fourth wall in High Fidelity

 

Chook as a concept

 

Chook salt as a concept

 

Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections

 

Your wife buying you an unexpected gift

 

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel

 

Kalamata olives

 

The Indianapolis Speech from Jaws

 

The Fish Tales pinball machine

 

Sid Waddell commentating, “There’s only one word for that: magic darts!”

 

 

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About Mickey Randall

Now whip it into shape/ Shape it up, get straight/ Go forward, move ahead/ Try to detect it, it's not too late/ To whip it, whip it good

Comments

  1. Kevin Densley says

    Fine list, Mickey! One of the best things about it is its specificity – this issue is of fundamental importance for any list like this one. One of my absolute favourites: ‘Lamb cigars from The Broadway butcher shop.’

  2. Brilliant, Mickey.
    Could not have curated this list better myself.

    “Watch that first step…it’s a doozy!!”

  3. Thanks KD. I agree that a good list is specific and this diminishes the criticism that lists are for the lazy.

    As a rule Smokie I love Bill Murray’s films but we saw On The Rocks and I thought he’d slipped into self-parody and was playing a sad, almost surreal version of his character from Lost in Translation.

  4. Rick Kane says

    Terrific stuff MR. I’ll elephant stamp Fleabag, just brilliant. And Kalamata olives are the bomb.

    Cheers

  5. Daryl Schramm says

    Hi Mickey. Your heading of this fine(ish) list prompted me to revisit your original list back in Feb. Great memory prompters. My list is in my head. Translating them to a version anywhere near as good as yours remains a bridge too far for me at the minute,

  6. Rick- I reckon we’d been out to dinner one Thursday and getting home popped on the TV and caught an episode of Fleabag on the ABC. Later discovered it was the finale of the original airing so then watched both series which I imagine is a Brechtian (and most appropriate) way to view it.

    Daryl- When you’re ready I’d be most interested in reading your list and learning more of your inner world.

    Thanks for reading and commenting.

  7. Things I like: Your mad professor head shot. X

  8. Mickey – 80% I concurred with. Must be a South Australian thing of a certain vintage. 10% I must look into. 10% I have no idea what you’re talking about and never will.

  9. Someone- so you’re saying that I shouldn’t pursue that gig in a shampoo ad?

    PB- I wonder what my/our lists might look like in a decade?

    Thanks.

  10. Luke Reynolds says

    Lost concentration after ‘Damien Martyn stroking one through the off side’. Would add a love heart emoji if I could.

  11. Luke- what a shock it was when Martyn (prematurely) retired following the Adelaide Ashes Test in 2006. I know he wasn’t in great form but having just played in one of the great matches must’ve been unbearably bittersweet for him. He was as stylish as the best of them.

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