Today’s poem from Kevin Densley focuses upon Jimmy Governor, whose execution in 1901 was one of the key markers of the end of Australia’s bushranging era. [Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following contains images of person who has died.]
Almanac Poetry: From Sheffield, England
May 9, 2022 by 4 Comments
Cutlery drawers can be interesting places – some contain family history going back generations, as this week’s poem from Kevin Densley demonstrates.
Almanac Music: Flaming June (Song Lyric)
May 5, 2022 by 2 Comments
Once in a blue moon, Kevin Densley offers one of his song lyrics for Footy Almanac readers to ponder. This one, ‘Flaming June’, was written in about 1990, and strongly influenced by one of his favourite paintings of the time.
Almanac Poetry: The Bluestone Step of the Sherritt Hut
May 2, 2022 by 4 Comments
Kevin Densley considers this ‘perhaps the most chilling episode in Australian bushranging history’ – step into his reflective poetry on the execution-style killing of Aaron Sherritt by the Kelly Gang’s Joe Byrne.
Almanac Poetry: Joseph of Arimathea
April 18, 2022 by Leave a Comment
In keeping with Easter, this week’s poem from Kevin Densley is his take on Joseph of Arimathea, who, according to all four canonical gospels, was the man who took responsibility for Christ’s burial after his crucifixion.
Almanac Music: Deconstructing The Beatles’ Song ‘Rain’
April 15, 2022 by 2 Comments
In this Friday’s column, KD puts The Beatles song ‘Rain’ under the microscope, and concludes that it is ‘certainly one of the most influential songs of the 1960s, or maybe, the entire rock/pop era’, even if it was originally the B-side of the ‘Paperback Writer’ single.
Almanac Poetry: Chad Morgan, the Sheik of Scrubby Creek
April 11, 2022 by Leave a Comment
In this week’s poem, Kevin Densley deals with Australian country music legend Chad Morgan (Kevin stresses that the particular incidents mentioned in connection with the great man are ‘fictional’)
Almanac Music: Australian Country Music
April 8, 2022 by 10 Comments
In this Friday’s post, KD looks at Australian country music, especially the kind of songs his father listened to when he was a kid.
Almanac Memoir: Ouyen Harness Races, 1973
March 27, 2022 by 7 Comments
They’re racing at Ouyen today (Sunday) so we are reprising Kevin Densley’s memoir of the trots:
The smell of burning mallee roots is a fond memory for Kevin Densley of the Ouyen Harness Races many years ago.
Almanac Music: Absolute Game Changers – A Song That Shook Your World
March 25, 2022 by 13 Comments
According to Kevin Densley, we all have a song that is an ‘absolute game changer’ for us, a particular one that shakes up our world and changes it in some fundamental way. He puts forward his own choice, and asks Almanackers to do the same.
Almanac Poetry: To Clarissa
March 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
In Kevin Densley’s poem today, it’s as clear as the crystal waters of a low tide rock pool: ‘Nudity is a wonderful, natural thing – especially if that nudity belongs to someone else!’
Almanac Music: Extraordinary Musical Moments – Patti Smith Sings ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ at Bob Dylan’s Official Nobel Prize Ceremony, 2016
March 18, 2022 by 2 Comments
In this instalment of his ‘Extraordinary Musical Moments’ series, Kevin Densley discusses Patti Smith singing ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ at Bob Dylan’s official Nobel Prize ceremony in 2016. KD describes the occasion as both ‘wonderful’ and ‘notably imperfect’.
Almanac Poetry: For Shantelle
March 14, 2022 by Leave a Comment
All Kevin Densley has to say about this week’s poem is that “any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental…” (Contains mild strong language)
Almanac Music: My Favourite Drummers – Arise, Sir Ringo!
March 11, 2022 by 4 Comments
In this week’s instalment of his ‘My Favourite Drummers’ series, KD writes about his favourite drummer of all, the inimitable Ringo Starr.
Almanac Poetry: The Valley of the Shadow of
March 7, 2022 by 5 Comments
Kevin Densley takes a walk through the valley in this vivid poetic portrait of Racecourse Road in Flemington.
Almanac Music: Let There Be Light: Ten Songs of ‘Light’ from Favourite Mainstream Australasian Artists
March 4, 2022 by 1 Comment
This week’s post from KD is a companion piece to his ‘Songs of Darkness’ article of last Friday – the topic is now ‘Songs of Light’ from mainstream Australasian artists. Again, he invites Almanackers to respond, to add to the picture.
Almanac Poetry: Bread and Circuses
February 28, 2022 by Leave a Comment
Almost 2,000 years ago, the Roman poet Juvenal came up with the maxim about the general populace being only interested in ‘bread and circuses’. His famous words were the inspiration for this week’s poem by Kevin Densley.
Almanac Music: Darkness from the Mainstream: Ten Dark Songs from Favourite Australasian Artists
February 25, 2022 by 24 Comments
In this encyclopedic piece, KD analyses ten favourite mainstream Australasian songs from the ‘dark’ side, and encourages Almanackers to add some of their own.
Almanac Poetry: Lunch with Terrie and Bernadette
February 21, 2022 by Leave a Comment
This poem from Kevin Densley speaks of his time as a young playwright and performing arts student, and the ‘end’ of raffish, arty-farty Carlton in the early 1980s.
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