by Vin Maskell The Australian Rules Drop-Kick Appreciation Society is delighted to announce that poet, mathematician and Fitzroy fan Tom Petsinis has been inducted into the society’s Hall of Fame (Literature). Petsinis’ 2006 book Four Quarters includes the 12 verse, 48 line poem Drop Kick. It is a lovely ode to the lost art, [Read more]
blushing leaves
May 24, 2011 by 4 Comments
scattered leaves — none of our players where they were named closed roof — a lull overhangs our rustiness one miss from close in then two, then three… — blushing leaves wind-lashed trees — goals from turnovers pile up Wellingham crumbs — bodies swirl in his wake closed roof — all eyes on Daisy’s torp [Read more]
every good move
May 17, 2011 by 1 Comment
fallen leaves the ground they cover chasing Joel Selwood just like old times every good move contains Buckley rain holding off the forwards can’t get near it chilled to the bone the felled player motionless cloud blocked moon — a good chance the ball is where Selwood is entering time on a goal down — [Read more]
Geelong v Collingwood Rd 8 MCG
May 16, 2011 by 1 Comment
Round 8 Geelong v Collingwood Freezing weather Wet and windy at the G HUGE game Friday night footy 1 versus 2 Cats and Pies Both undefeated Old champs new champs Hunter Hunted role reversal Collingwood favourites Siren sounds Ottens wins the ruck No Jolly will hurt Magpies Geelong wins the clearance Menzel marks inside 50 [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – The Goodna Footy Floods of 2011
May 12, 2011 by 2 Comments
THE GOODNA FOOTY FLOODS of 2011 by Tony Caswell (or TC, The Goodna Gunna) The river came up, and the rain came down A playing field of green, became a slush of brown The footballs are gone, along with tackling bags All the teams jerseys, are now muddied rags Gary, the President, he carried the [Read more]
Ted Hopkins
May 10, 2011 by 2 Comments
by Graham Jackson Having just read and enjoyed ‘The Stats Revolution’ I thought I might revisit a poem of mine published in the Winter 1974 number of ‘Canberra Poetry’. It’s called ‘Ted Hopkins: The Twentieth Century Identity’. I first met Ted in 1968/9, but only got to know him in the early 1970s, in Albury, some [Read more]
Haiku Bob Rd 6: clear moments after
May 5, 2011 by 1 Comment
wet afternoon the football used as a lure Johnno subbed off the game loses a little right-side brain sprinting in the clear then on meeting Luke Ball stopped wind-tossed rain a perfect pass by mistake moon strains through clouds a goal clear moments after watering my dead plant Leeroy explodes to life the rain lighter [Read more]
Notes on Tom Wills Paintings
May 1, 2011 by 1 Comment
By Richard Webber *The Predestination of Tom Wills (Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 60 inch) *Tom Wills Death Scene (Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 60 inch) Thomas Wentworth (Tom) Wills has been popularized as the iconic (heroic?) personality behind the inception of Australian Rules Football. The AFL ‘Tom Wills’ Round, an MCG statue, Geoffrey Blainey’s [Read more]
Haiku Bob- Rd 5: various shades
April 28, 2011 by 1 Comment
red leaves the Bombers hold on but soon fall away opening skirmishes sun ripples across the ‘G Anzac Day – the shadows of the players brush the crowd in my new country watching Collingwood feels new bright afternoon the extra edge in our play autumn colours goals of various shades the moon about to appear a [Read more]
Haiku Bob Rd 4: last of the snow
April 20, 2011 by 3 Comments
It’s fair to say I’m a little confused. Not (just) because I’m on the other side of the world while my beloved Pies enjoy their most purple of purple of patches in living memory! As a haiku poet, I’m a captive of nature and the cycle of the seasons. It’s as it should be. Part [Read more]
Haiku Bob- Round 3: the height of the moon
April 10, 2011 by 6 Comments
old rivals – the crowd’s roar tossed on the breeze the club legend retired now who won nothing but their hearts* moon and stars – the rovers await Jolly’s tap pockets of snow soon will vanish – Blues purple patch up the ground and back again Swan’s shadow admiring the height of the moon – [Read more]
haiku bob – the far corners
April 7, 2011 by 5 Comments
spreading butter to the far corners of my toast Swan everywhere bright sun Pendlebury’s smoothness across every blade the crowd awakened by Didak’s first autumn gust the midfield changes direction sun slips through clouds Krakouer snaps one over his shoulder low sun Swan jabs one into the pocket autumn clarity thinking the unthinkable haiku bobRob [Read more]
Haiku Bob- the twirling sherrin
March 29, 2011 by 5 Comments
footy season begins all the teams freshly tattooed first game of the year – Ball tackles without hesitation umpire’s whistle – side by side fingers point together crisp autumn shadows – they answer each one of our goals feeling closer to home – Cloke shanks one sun slips through clouds Pendlebury finds himself on the [Read more]
Frank Yamma at Brunswick Music Festival
March 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Frank Yamma plays at Brunswick Music Festival East Brunswick Club 8pm Sunday 27 March Also playing: LJ Hill Come and support Wantok artist Frank Yamma as he plays a rare Melbourne concert this Sunday as part of the Brunswick Music Festival. Frank Yamma is a traditional Pitjantjatjara man from Australia’s central desert and speaks five languages. [Read more]
Folking it up at Port Fairy
March 18, 2011 by 11 Comments
It might be called a Folk Festival but Port Fairy encompasses much, much more than that one genre. Our posse, mostly from the suburb of Preston, makes up five families of ten adults and eleven kids. In that mob, as many as 100 concerts are attended. In some instances, during the course of a day [Read more]
(Almost) no band envy at Golden Plains
March 16, 2011 by 13 Comments
by Andrew Fithall There is a phenomenon at multi-stage music festivals known as “band envy”. Similar to order envy at a restaurant, it arises when someone raves about a performance they have just witnessed when the choice you have just made was a little underwhelming. At Golden Plains, this phenomenon is less prevalent, the main [Read more]
In Motion
February 24, 2011 by 10 Comments
In the 1994 World Cup semi-final, an 80th minute strike from Brazilian star Romario denied 10-man Sweden a place in the final. Sweden went on to thrash Bulgaria 4-0 in the third place play-off at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena to complete a glorious summer for Swedish football – the likes of which they had not [Read more]
Another Big Day Out
February 7, 2011 by 5 Comments
The Chaplain, the Archivist and myself are veterans of many music festivals, but have rather fallen out of the Big Day Out habit lately. However, with Iggy on the bill, we were at least guaranteed not to be the oldest guys in attendance, so interest was rekindled. As if to prove ourselves out of the [Read more]
TAMWORTH
January 31, 2011 by 4 Comments
The Kamilaori nation, the original inhabitants of the Tamworth region, a vast flood plain beneath the Great Dividing and New England Ranges in Northern NSW, was a collection of independent tribes that shared language and customs, including ritualised physical movement that paid deference to the Dreamtime. This movement was guided by a loud beat created [Read more]
Footy Music Videos
January 27, 2011 by 23 Comments
Attached is a link to a You Tube clip of Dave Warner (Suburban Boy fame) singing another ripper song called, Free Kicks. The song dates from 1979 and the clip looks as old. The song employs footy imagery in its examination of sexual relationships. Dave dons a WA State of Origin jumper. There is a [Read more]
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