.. plumbing and television, but maybe this New Year it’s time for a revision of my list. As I was driving back to Curtin from Fyshwick last Thursday evening, having successfully bought some deck oil as instructed from the Fyshwick Bunnings, I was thinking about how much easier it is to get around Canberra these…

.. I thought, the best. Perhaps this is the fate of all wines being tasted last in a line-up. For those interested it was a Chateau Decru-Beaucaillou – which you have never heard of – and I hadn’t either until then. Whilst you could probably get it now for less than I paid for it…

.. (with zero response) that we would like a comprehensive soundcheck starting earlier than usual and to that end we were on the point of leaving for the venue in the van and FIFO hire car when I suddenly remembered that I’d left my custom-made ear plugs in the room. I darted out of the…

..it couldn’t win under the old coach and team it wasn’t going to let anyone win. Previous captains, victims of a diverse inflictions ranging from a herniated cerebellum to trench mouth, gave their unwanted and irrelevant opinions. Books written by previous chairman’s wives that were fulsome in the praise of their husband’s genius in winning…

..know I’m pro-procrastination as a lifestyle, but the practised procrastinator has to have a steady nerve to hold firm to his or her course of inaction. I did get badly stung in one respect, and that can be directly attributed to hanging on just that little bit too long. About a month before I was…

.. book and a glass of wine. Or immersed in some permutation of social media their noses glued to the screen of their choice oblivious to their fate. This may not be a good description of the state of the world, its politics and economy but if you are feeling a bit depressed it just…

HG Wells? But surely he was a 19th century writer? What on earth could be relevant to today in his prognostications? Well, he was incredibly prolific and popular in his day and his books continue to inspire film-makers today. The War of the Worlds was probably his most famous piece of fiction but The Time…

..around in pods texting their friends and acquaintances about what a good time they were having. As they were on a floodlit hill in a gale wearing tee-shirts, shorts and fluorescent wrist bands, this seems somewhat unlikely. But the messages no doubt made their friends reply that they were having an even better time where…

..days as a kindy kid armed with gallons of foul-smelling poster paints that always ended up resolving to the colour of shit), has different cultural connotations around the world and at different times in its history. ‘..it was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow.’…

..Elimination’ may give you a clue but she also does a great line in off-beat footnotes. Did you know that Eskimo hunters travelling alone on still, glassy waters are sometimes stricken by ”kayak angst” – delusions that their boat is flooding or that that the front end is either sinking or rising up out of…

..Wall. (Check out the wall on my Facebook page) David Langsam commented that ‘..the Palace has the potential to be a good venue, but the wrestling and golf and rotating sports on big screens is a terrible distraction.’ Ron Mahony, a fellow Cantabrian musician responded with, ‘Hell – we used to play with both the…

..countries, which makes it more anodyne and less interesting. Low scores and fans with attention deficit disorder don’t help the cause either American Gridiron has the maniacal belief in logistics and tactical overkill that characterises American diplomacy or warfare. Multiple specialist teams composed of specially bred enormous and largely expendable grunts clad in full body…

..projected was the be all and end all of their personalities, and never imagined there was another dimension to their lives, let alone that they might exhibit a subtly, or even radically different persona in that other dimension. The only exception was my housemaster at College, one Mr Jim (or was it John?) Pine, whom…

..furniture that some lad from East Cheam paid thousands of dollars for was actually knocked up out of an old Ikea wardrobe by a disreputable Chinese merchant two years ago. My own humble opinion is that the reason for Antiques Roadshow’s success is not the thrill of the antique but the satisfaction of participating in…

..bodies from work place accidents, car accidents etc. putting viewers off their late night snacks and giving their children nightmares for weeks. Drink-driving is one issue that could do with some positivity in its treatment. While I tend to agree that some cultural revision of young people’s attitude to drinking in this country is overdue,…

S P E C T R U M S P E C T R U M S P E C T R U M M I K E R U D D B I L L P U T T . C O MM M I K E R U D D B I L…

S P E C T R U M S P E C T R U M S P E C T R U M M I K E R U D D B I L L P U T T . C O MM M I K E R U D D B I L…

Anthems are sung – New Zealand gets three verses one in Maori and two in English to Australia’s single chorus. Hymns are sung with embarrassed and tremulous Australian accents. The service, my first for about 60 years, is lead without apparent irony by a Vietnamese minister; there is a moving address in a Scottish accent,…