Bob Speechley has died at the age of 81. He was a much-loved member of the Almanac fraternity. We will miss him. [Feel free to add a comment or an anecdote at the end of JTH’s tribute.] Details of his memorial gathering are in this post.
Meeting The Sportswriter author, Richard Ford
March 7, 2024 by 19 Comments
Mickey Randall recounts his “McCartney moment”, meeting his literary hero Richard Ford at the Adelaide Writers’ Week
Almanac Poetry: Golf 2
March 7, 2024 by 5 Comments
Michael Pardy is back on the golf course and pens an ode to his Dunlop Hot Spot Number 2 which survived a complete round of golf without being lost.
The Blue Bay Café
March 6, 2024 by 5 Comments
Damian Balassone’s latest offering finds him reminiscing about The Blue Bay Café
A beer with…Matt Zurbo
March 6, 2024 by 9 Comments
Every now and then, Barry Nicholls will have a beer with one our writers and bring us their responses to a series of questions. The first one is with Old Dog.
Almanac Music – Wantok Sing Sing: 16 artists from Melanesia and Australia together in one show (Melbourne/Adelaide)
March 4, 2024 by 1 Comment
This is a very special lineup of musicians from the Wantok Musik family, playing together for just two dates in Melbourne and Adelaide this coming weekend.
Almanac Memoir: Knowing Hazel
March 4, 2024 by 3 Comments
Instead of a poem, KD shares a short memoir about his late friend, internationally renowned writer and biographer, Dr Hazel Rowley, who died in Manhattan in March 2011. Rowley wrote biographies of authors Christina Stead and Richard Wright, as well as non-fiction works about iconic twentieth century couples Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Almanac Films: ‘The Zone of Interest’ – Having Genocide as your Neighbour
March 1, 2024 by 9 Comments
Ian Wilson reviews a movie about the holocaust, ‘The Zone of Interest’ directed by Jonathan Glazer, and he was both impressed and moved by the movie.
Almanac Music: ‘Rooms on Fire’: Songs about Houses and Rooms
March 1, 2024 by 227 Comments
In this Friday’s music piece, KD deals with songs about the spaces in which we live – houses, flats, apartments and the rooms within. As usual, readers’ contributions are warmly welcomed.
Almanac Music: ‘1971 – The year that music changed everything’
February 27, 2024 by 8 Comments
‘1971 – The year that music changed everything’ is an excellent TV series, and together with its soundtrack brought back many memories of the time for Col.
Almanac Life: The Western Ring Road
February 26, 2024 by 10 Comments
The Western Ring Road should come with its own set of health warnings, as Smokie explains. [It’s unknown if Keith Miller ever spent enough time on the road to compare notes on pressure – Ed.]
Almanac Poetry: The Arnolfini Divorce
February 26, 2024 by 4 Comments
In this week’s poem, previously unpublished, Kevin Densley takes a famous fifteenth century European painting as the starting point for a twentieth century Australian immigration story.
Almanac Life: On the Glenelg Surf Club, Vampire Weekend, and Roast Beef
February 23, 2024 by 7 Comments
Mickey Randall recalls some of the activities he and Claire participated in this month including, visiting a surf club, listening to music, and cooking a roast.
Almanac Music: ‘The Basement Tapes’ – The Legendary Tales: Bob Dylan and The Band
February 23, 2024 by 6 Comments
The making of the legendary ‘The Basement Tapes’ by Bob Dylan and The Band features in a short documentary created to support the release of the complete songs recorded during the Big Pink sessions – and Bob fan Col is rapt.
Almanac Travel: 20 Photos from 20 Days in New York
February 21, 2024 by 9 Comments
Ian Wilson relives New York through a selection of twenty images he took during his visit there.
Almanac Memoir: Swish Agonistes – A 70s Tribute to Sandy Stone
February 20, 2024 by 28 Comments
Attention: men (and women) ‘of a certain age’. Mark ‘Swish’ Schwerdt has drilled into your collective unconscious and found memories you thought you’d forgotten. [A classic from ten years ago reprised. – Ed]
Almanac Poetry: 6 Canterbury Street
February 19, 2024 by Leave a Comment
This week’s poem, according to Kevin Densley, is ‘mainly about loneliness’.
Almanac Music: Taylor, Anna and me
February 16, 2024 by 14 Comments
John Harms is about to jump in the car to drive his daughter Anna to Melbourne for the Tay Tay concert. He’s interested in your thoughts on the phenomenon.
Almanac Music: Calexico – Melbourne Recital Centre
February 16, 2024 by 3 Comments
Col had the pleasure of watching one of his favourite bands, Calexico, perform at the Melbourne Recital Centre a few days ago.
Almanac Books: An Instant Australian Classic
February 14, 2024 by 1 Comment
A friend gave Ian Wilson a copy of ‘Larrimah’ by Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson about missing Northern Territory man Paddy Moriarty to read. Ian was hooked and believes the book will become an Australian classic.
Recent Comments