Almanac Film Review: SOLD

January 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Neil Drysdale reviews the confronting film SOLD which exposes human trafficking as a worldwide problem and an issue that governments have a responsibility to tackle individually and collectively.

Almanac Spelling: The top ten phonetic spellings from a prep student in 2016 (all from Evie aged 5)

January 10, 2017 by 7 Comments

You have to love the creative five year old mind.

Almanac Music: Best Albums and EPs of 2016

January 10, 2017 by 13 Comments

Luke Reynolds with his top albums and EPs of 2016. Fair to say there’s an Australian bias here…

Almanac Music: Ten Favourite Australian Albums of 2016

January 9, 2017 by 3 Comments

Andrew Fithall is a true music lover – and will sniff out new talent and take a tip and suss out anything and travel anywhere and has his finger on the pulse. Just like Luke Reynolds who was part of the inspiration for this piece.

Stereo Story: Rick Kane. Ben Lee. Good grief.

January 6, 2017 by 4 Comments

A mix tape for mourning? Rick Kane’s latest Stereo Story is typically candid and insightful.

Billy: the addiction’s doing push-ups

January 5, 2017 by 5 Comments

Andrew Starkie has been keeping us up to date with the struggle of Billy*. Here’s the next instalment.

Cricket. It’s child’s play.

January 5, 2017 by 9 Comments

An allegory. Of sorts. [Nice – Ed]

Almanac Wine and Footy: Rockford, Tanunda and how to cope with winter

January 5, 2017 by 5 Comments

Smokie and Marg have been in the Barossa where they visited Rockford just outside Tanunda. As Smokie noted, this is one of John Harms’s favourite places on the planet. Here’s a story about Robert O’Callaghan and Rockford from 2009. [I love this place – JTH]

Almanac Music: Slightly Different Teenager’s Review of 2016 Music

January 2, 2017 by 1 Comment

Sean Mortell gives a 16 year old’s take on the music year that was 2016. [I suspect Sean is not your average 16 year old – Ed]

First kiss: New Year’s Eve poem for an unknown song

December 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Vin Maskell shifts the goalposts a little in this short poem about a long ago New Year’s Eve, a kiss, and table-tennis.

Almanac Music: Springsteen – in his own words

December 30, 2016 by 6 Comments

Neil Drysdale, when feeling down on the year that has been 2016, is given a lift by a Springsteen doco. [Sounds excellent – Ed]

Stereo Story: Status Quo and Black Saturday

December 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Rick Parfitt, singer and rhythm guitarist with Status Quo, died on December 24, aged 68.

Our partner site, Stereo Stories, pays tribute via a story about listening to Status Quo in the aftermath of surviving the Black Saturday bushfires.

Almanac Music: Desert Island Discs

December 27, 2016 by 2 Comments

Here’s Swish with a BBC Special for those of you with time on your hands.

Stereo Story: goodbye George Michael

December 27, 2016 by 1 Comment

The death of a musician always drives us to their back-catalogue. On hearing the news about George Michael, like millions of others, Lucia Nardo spent the day listening to his albums again, and the song They Won’t Go When I Go in particular.

Stereo Story: making sense of Making Gravy

December 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment

As a young teenager Cassandra Atkinson enjoyed but misunderstood the Paul Kelly song How To Make Gravy. Then things changed.

Almanac Music: Rick Kane and Culture Club

December 18, 2016 by 5 Comments

Rick Kane first heard Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? many years ago. The moment still resonates. This Soundcloud recording of Rick recalling that moment, accompanied by the Stereo Stories Band, is from a show at the Willi Lit Fest in 2015.

Almanac Music: My Faux Husband

December 18, 2016 by 7 Comments

In her confronting first piece for the Almanac, Darlene Zimbardi tells the story of struggle, through the intersection of life experience and the lyrics of Jackson Browne.

Almanac Music: ‘Smokie’ Dawson and The Stereo Stories Band

December 17, 2016 by 1 Comment

‘Smokie’ Dawson’s Stereo Story about young love and Before Too Long is always a hit at Stereo Stories concerts. Here is Smokie and the band at the 2016 Williamstown Literary Festival.

Haiku Bob is in town from Sweden to launch his two books of haiku (Dec 16)

December 16, 2016 by 5 Comments

Come and celebrate the launch of Rob Scott’s (aka Haiku Bob) first major collections of haiku. TONIGHT.

Summer Reading: Six Summer Soccer Reads

December 15, 2016 by 5 Comments

Denis Gedling presents a thoughtful collection of Soccer books for your summer reading.