Almanac Poetry: Brother and Sister

This Tuesday’s poem from Kevin Densley, ‘Brother and Sister’, can be seen as a postscript to his Anzac Day piece about eight Australian soldiers, ‘The Great War – AIF suite’– this time the poem involves a Victorian country town, a great-grandmother he can’t remember meeting, and her brother who died as a German POW in France in 1916.

Almanac Poetry: Forget the Metaphor

In this Tuesday’s poem, Kevin Densley points out the basic ‘error’ in Aesop’s famous fable involving the tortoise and the hare.

Almanac Food: Hanging Out At My ‘Pandemic Café’

Did the Covid-19 pandemic (hopefully just about over in Australia) and its resulting forms of lockdown bring out in Almanackers particular food cravings/obsessions? It certainly did in Kevin Densley’s case. In response, KD created a personal “Pandemic Cafe” menu, one high on instant gratification, and low in terms of other culinary considerations!

Almanac Poetry: Platinum Blonde

This week’s intriguing poem from Kevin Densley is about 1930s Hollywood glamour icon, Jean Harlow, who died tragically young.

Almanac Comedy: ‘Mo Goes to the Dogs’

Kevin Densley introduces an episode of the classic Australian radio comedy series, McCackie Mansion, from just after WW2, starring the legendary actor/comedian Mo. In this episode, Mo McCackie, his son, Young Harry, Uncle Horrible and Spencer the Garbageman go to the Harold Park dogs – KD describes it as “seven and a half minutes of hilarious, nostalgic joy”.

Almanac Poetry: Morrisons, Victoria

This week’s poem from Kevin Densley is about Morrisons, a Victorian locality near the small town of Meredith. Some of KD’s relatives farmed there is the past.

Almanac Memoir (and Music): ‘Maybe’ by Split Enz

This Friday’s piece from KD, although quite brief, covers a great deal of territory, including mid-1970s Sydney, the Opera House, King’s Cross, a family holiday, and an encounter with early Split Enz.

Almanac Poetry: Uncle Bert and the 1909 Warrnambool to Melbourne Cycling Race

This week, Kevin Densley’s poem is about two relatives, Fardie and Bert, who rode in the 1909 Warrnambool to Melbourne – yes, for some time, the famous cycling event went in the opposite direction to what is the case today.

Almanac History: Yahl – South Australia

Ever heard of Yahl, South Australia? In this Friday’s column, KD writes about the place and its close connection to the German branch of his family history.

Almanac Poetry: Kate Kelly (1863-1898)

Kate Kelly, Ned’s sister, is the subject of this week’s poem by Kevin Densley.

Almanac Music (Jazz): ‘St James Infirmary’ by Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five (1928)

In this Friday’s column, KD looks at a jazz standard recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five in 1928, ‘St James Infirmary’. Since then, there have been hundreds of recordings of this song.

Almanac Poetry: Near Drowning at St Leonards Beach, Victoria, 1967

A father saves his young son from drowning. Kevin Densley describes this week’s poem as ‘particularly close to home’.

Almanac Life: The Art of Indian Head Massage

In this Friday’s column, KD writes about his most unusual qualification, and invites Almanackers to comment and/or share theirs.

Almanac Poetry: Bert Watts’s Pies

His grandfather blamed café owner Bert Watts; his father, a butcher – but what really happened? In this week’s poem, Kevin Densley uncovers the truth.

Almanac Food: KD’s Kitchen – Favourite no-longer-available food item. Discuss.

In the latest instalment of KD’s Kitchen, Kevin Densley nominates a favourite food item that is no longer available – and invites Almanac readers to respond with their own.

Almanac Poetry: Mister Vernacular

In this week’s poem, Kevin Densley deals with a range of colourful expressions, many of Australian origin.

Almanac Life: Two blokes walk into a pub (Part 2)

Continuing on from Kevin Densley’s piece this morning, Roger Lowrey gives his side of the summit at the Petrel Hotel in Geelong. (Is this an Almanac version of Rashomon? – Ed)

Almanac Poetry: Fake Ned

Kevin Densley’s poem concerns a photograph which was at one time verified as being of Ned Kelly, but later proved not to be so.

Almanac Poetry: The Decline of Western Civilisation

This week’s poem from Kevin Densley is a short poem about a very big subject. He hopes that readers will find it ‘wonderfully pithy’.

Almanac Poetry: Jack Bradshaw and ‘Lovely’ Riley

This week, it’s ‘back to bushranging’ in the poetry of Kevin Densley – but his subjects, in this instance, Jack Bradshaw and ‘Lovely’ Riley, are not your typical bushrangers. His poem is about the exploits of a pair of oddballs who ‘were more like a bad vaudeville act than a duo to be feared.’