Finally, some uninhibited positivity!

After what seems likes weeks of navel contemplation and generally hating on the “Music Business” as opposed to the “Business of Music”, along comes tUnE-yArDs to offer some FAITH, some HOPE and CHARITY…now if only the Rabbitohs can beat Brisbane this Sunday i may just make it to the end of 2011.

tUnE-yArDs, i lOvE you!

Clogs: After years of patiently waiting for their popularity to burn out and be rightfully buried under the abyss of remorseful fads, the hype continues to remain around  the arthritis inducing deadweight’s which have had fashionista’s overheating in clog fuelled fever. I suppose spending hours on end with your ankles feeling as if they are shackled to cinder blocks could be ‘glamorous’ if you were a decaying corpse on the Ocean’s floor, but outside of this context I really cannot understand the desirability behind protective footwear originally designed for the European working class. I suppose marketability is a key factor in their success, as Clogs can be sold as a fashion accessory with the dual purpose of being a self defence weapon – accessory to a crime, if you will. Ironically, a pair of rubber Crocs are considered by the ‘cool’ to be the epitome of distaste, but the way I see it – Clogs are just Crocs which are easier to set on fire.

Clearly an invention of the Opportunistic

The obvious weapon of choice for a homicidal maniac

Crocs burn longer, but Clogs burn quicker

So apparently Melbourne doesn’t stock Frog Cakes, which might mean little or lots to you depending on your geographic location. Being a proud native of Adelaide, I’ve grown up on these delicious treats, which have since become a culinary institution of the region, along with pie floaters, Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee and Cooper’s Beer. Since moving to Melbourne I haven’t really missed them (especially not with Krispy Kreme and Lord Of The Fries now both in close proximity), but they came up in conversation to day so I thought I would share a little information on them.

Frog Cakes are made of two slices of sponge sandwiching a layer of jam. This is then topped with some sort of crazy-good salty-sweet cream and then covered with fondant icing in the shape of a frog. Pure. Genius. They come in three flavours: pink (strawberry), brown (chocolate) and green (Waldmeister?). This is what they look like on the inside:

You really don’t know what you’re missing out on until you’ve had one of these bad boys, so next time you’re in Adelaide, do yourself a flavour favour and pick up a Balfour’s Frog Cake.

I just found out that Bob Gould died last Sunday May 22. He owned Gould’s Book Arcade on King Street Newtown.

I first came across Bob Gould when he owned a couple of stores on Oxford Street Darlinghjurst – Third World Books.

Third World was the first place i bought a bootleg record; it was the first place i bought a copy of Rolling Stone (when it mattered and was good); it was the first place i discovered that the Black Panthers were more than a Marvel comic character; the first place i saw an image of Che Guevara; the first place i discoverd “cut outs” US deleted albums; the first place i bought subversive literature; the first place i bought a Jack Kerouac novel; the place i’d always go to when i discovered a counter culture hero that i needed to find out more about; the first place i bought a City Lights book; the first place i discovered Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Eldrige Cleaver…

I owe Bob Gould, i always will! So too for that matter do thousands of other kids like me at the time.

Vale Bob Gould

The real “Man Of Steel” passed away yesterday,
Tuesday 8 March 2011 at approximately 9:30pm.

Richard “Mac” McAllister was my father in law.

I knew him for about 30 years. Throughout that time he battled Parkinson’s Disease. I mean battled! No waiting for it to take him, no pretending, no whinging. He enjoyed every day of his 82 years and fought hard for each one those days. Like REALLY hard. Like life mattered, BECAUSE IT DOES!!

A role model for me and every one that knew him, Mr Mac (as i called him) was dubbed “The Man Of Steel” by his doctor in respect of his toughness, his will to win, his never say die attitude and most importantly his desire to see what the next day would bring.

Bloodied But Unbowed…that was my father in law.

The poem Invictus is verse that counts, just like Mr Mac. Written by Willian Ernest Hensley in 1875. I think it says it all.

This one is for Mr Mac. A top bloke!

INVICTUS
OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul