212. Misguided team management.

Our team is strong

The post-game percussion often jubilant.

Team manager, Perce,

Father of our robust, speedy, powerful winger

And great bloke

Graeme Leggett.

Kindly Perce wants the best for us.

He runs the line,

Misguided – fudges metres our way.

Graeme furious.

The rest of us embarrassed.

Banned from line-duties.

 

 

 

 

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211. Post-game percussion.

Metal sprigs on football boots.

Another captivating sound,

And the composer is me

Walking a footpath.

Metal sprigs on a hard cement surface

Ring & chime, clink & crack

(Surface change, tone shift)

The rapid fire rhythm

Multiplying, echoing, repeating

With changing pace, altering gait,

A teammate striding alongside.

An instrument,

Silenced by moulders of football boots.

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210. A wistful trip across the river.

Away from the hysteria

And fast-paced rollicking

Of the The Beatles

(Fun, exciting as it is),

A more wistful, laid back sound

Speaks directly to me.

Crossing the watery expanse

Solitude, space

But not loneliness

Acceptance & inclusion.

We don’t care what your name is boy
We’ll never turn you away.

Extra:

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209. Screaming screenings and the one chord …

Unlike the elegant Nepean Theatre

The Avon Theatre in Station St

Is a bit ramshackle, disorganised

But full of fun.

First movie, “sans older minder” –

“A Hard Day’s Night!”

The atmosphere, electric.

There’s screams anticipating

Giant mop-top images lighting screen

… and when they do,

Volume and pitch pierce.

Life imitating art ...

Extra:

A song, an album, a movie … and a single chord opens them all. The one chord to rule them all.

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208. At the movies – in the car.

Off to the movies,

A short drive

To Kingswood Drive-in.

Kingswood Drive-In.

Car after car, lined up

On asphalt terraces.

Wander,

– behind one row, in front of another –

To snack bar – treats.

Speaker hooked up.

Set?

First – squabbles?

I can’t see! I wanna sit there! Muuuuum!

Settle down.

Feature starts.

Tonight:

Cat Ballou.

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207. Celebrate.

Celebration day

Others think of me.

Causing conflicting desires –

Hide in the shadows

But stand in the spotlight.

I can’t remember details

Of a single birthday …

Except one,

Made (in)famous

By unquantifiable consumption of …

No matter.

A huge event

At 46 Boundary St Paddington.

I should not remember but I do – clearly.

 

 

 

 

 

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206. Melbourne Cup plunge …

Everyone is in action

For the Melbourne Cup.

The favourite is

My first bet in The Cup.

Previous years – sweep tickets only,

Random selection.

Drawn from a hat.

This year – it’s my choice.

But he’s scratched an hour before the race.

Big Philou – nobbled!

For me … message repeated, but unheeded.

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205. When something’s not right … it’s wrong

Regular trot nights,

A punt with Nana or Uncle Frank

There’s gotta be a way to beat the odds.

A system!

Try greyhounds – easier calculations

8 starters maximum.

Hours spent at night in bed

Listening to race calls

Tabulating results, working on systems

Evaluating them.

All fail.

Something’s not right.

 

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204. As long as you can grow it …

Hair.

Creeping longer,

My primary school moment is past.

Growth – a rebellious act.

The line is drawn.

But wait …

The line blurs.

Rado, Ragni, & MacDermot

Unleash the musical.

Suddenly hair is fashion, “groovy”.

Everyone joins the fun

Ears & collars disappear.

And they sing loudly:

“Give me a head with hair!”*

Note:

* How wonderfully relevant is this line today? … well, for me it is.

I could not find a decent clip of the song from the musical hair. This one is by The Cowsills.

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203. Swept into the battle.

We are young,

Immersed in a vortex of

Times a-changing.

Student riots, Freedom Marches,

Anti-war protests, Summers of Love,

Sexual revolutions, feminism.

Swept up, we join  …

Fight against gender stereotypes.

Elective subjects attacked:

Boys don aprons of domestic science,

Girls wield  hammers in metalwork.

Political or prank?

Or political prank?

Extra:

* An earlier (1965) song often cited as being an expression of the era is The Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire. There were many songs – and many much better songs.  Here it is … introduced by Jerry Lewis.

 

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