Smokie fondly remembers some of his teenage exploits as a budding yachtsman on Hobsons Bay.
Almanac Life: The First Beer After Lock-Down
November 2, 2020 by 4 Comments
The first beer after lockdown tasted sweet. But Smokie explains why the hesitation remains
Adrift
October 31, 2020 by 23 Comments
Seven months ago, in March 2020, ‘Smokie’ Dawson offered these thoughts as we moved into the full brunt of Covid-19. ‘Our generation has had a charmed run, says Smokie. But that is all about to change. It follows that the AFL will also be forced into change when we come out the other side of COVID-19. ‘
Almanac Life: The Glass Highway
September 25, 2020 by 13 Comments
It was to be the Dawson family’s first summer holiday. But it ended in despair on the side of the Cunningham Highway.
Almanac (Footy) Life: Folly In The Goalsquare
September 4, 2020 by 6 Comments
Five years after he’d retired from ammos footy, Smokie Dawson gets the call from TR, the coach of Willy CY’s reserves. Here’s what happened. [This is a piece from ‘Footy Town’, a collection of stories about country, suburban and amateur footy – Ed]
Almanac Life: Marathon Man
August 28, 2020 by 11 Comments
Smokie recalls the elation of the first of his four Melbourne marathons.
Almanac Life: An Innocent Man
August 21, 2020 by 8 Comments
Smokie muses on the wrongful arrest of one of his mates at the 1985 Boxing Day Test match.
Almanac Life: The Crystal Pool
August 7, 2020 by 16 Comments
Smokie Dawson longs for the summer, and a visit to the Crystal Pool. Its charms have been passed down through the generations of his family.
Almanac Life: Talking Crap
July 31, 2020 by 10 Comments
A few months ago, Smokie was talking crap, as the guest on a community radio show.
Almanac Life: Special Subject – ‘Revolver’
July 24, 2020 by 17 Comments
Smokie Dawson is bit of a trivia buff. How and why he remembers all the ‘stuff’ is one of life’s great mysteries. With the ‘Revolver’ album as his special subject he’d cream any question Jennifer Byrne would ask him. [Perhaps a Footy Almanac Trivia night is on the cards? – ED.]
Almanac Music – Aussie album review: The Triffids ‘Born Sandy Devotional’
July 17, 2020 by 12 Comments
After a hiatus, Smokie is back with the fourteenth in his look-backs at classic Australian albums. This time it is the Triffids’ 1986 masterpiece ‘Born Sandy Devotional’.
No Footy!
July 3, 2020 by 8 Comments
Smokie laments the cancellation of local footy. He’s missing the Fearon.
Almanac Life: Blunt’s Room
June 26, 2020 by 11 Comments
Smokie recalls the glory days of a sanctuary called ‘Blunt’s Room’.
Round 2 – GWS v North Melbourne: Off-Broadway
June 15, 2020 by 8 Comments
Smokie’s bit-part players and character actors adorned in blue and white stripes put in a performance worthy of a Tony as they accounted for the Giants – will North Melbourne provide some new household names come the end of the season?
Almanac Life: The Vancouver Weekend
June 12, 2020 by 5 Comments
Smokie and his mate Macca once spent a lost weekend in Vancouver.
Almanac Life: Cricket With My Sons
June 5, 2020 by 9 Comments
A flashback to almost 11 years ago when Smokie first posted this piece about playing cricket with his sons.
Almanac Life: The Last Golf Game
May 29, 2020 by 15 Comments
Smokie reveals that he has not played golf in thirty years, and that his last game was on a championship course in Pittsburgh.
Almanac Life: ’30 for 30′ – Who’d make the Aussie cut?
Instead of watching the news on TV, Smokie Dawson is now watching American sports themed shows on ’30 for 30′. He wonders which Aussie sporting greats would make the cut on an Aussie version of the show.