Final Exams: Strategy, Strategy, Strategy!
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Talk about high pressure…..nervy, nervy, NERVY, fraught fraught, FRAUGHT…..just awful to watch……
Do you realise just how many 40 to 60 year old women throughout Australia are wilting under the pressure of the end of high school exams?
They can’t sleep, they’re in counselling, they’re forgetting to take their hormone replacement pills but – thankfully - they haven’t forgotton to already slate work days off for the Higher School Certificate….
They are driving me stark raving mad……..
*Mummy booked a seat but they wouldn’t let her in…… (cr jackhynes:flickr)
Today, a heartfelt appeal to mothers of HSC candidates…..Yes, it may hurt, Yes, you may deem me cold and bitchy - you may even claim that the unfecund KJ has NO right to weigh in BUT I’m gunna and my message is simple:
GET A GRIP, GROW UP…….
This is how my HSC Year panned out 35 years ago at the academic centre of excellence, Leeton High School. Yes, YES I know that no-one there had forked out $150,000 for a desk - and another $30,000 for ’extras’ like wiping bum classes and excursions to Salzburg.
But still, I was under NO illusions that the HSC was for sissies.
Take Miss Penny – Subject: English: Blonde, great legs, disporter of one of the best ensembles I have - to this very day - ever seen: Paisley baby doll top, matching mini-skirt with flounce.
KJ, There is NOTHING in the book suggesting that Mr Darcy was grappling with his sexuality……NOTHING!! This is the HSC, THE HSC……
…..Or Mr Schofield, ‘Scoffy’ – Subject: Economics: Passionate teacher, weight issues.
KJ, While I can’t see you ever ending up in The Treasury, this is the HSC, THE HSC……
With just one month to go before the HSC, a light went on in KJ’s head and she pulled it in…..
This is the HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC, THE HSC……
Overnight, with Gwennie’s support, our big lammie table was turned into KJ’s This Is The HSC Tri-Polar Campaign headquarters – open for business 24 hours. Gwennie immediately came up with her HSC Strategic Plan. We immediately conceded Level 3 Maths and Science but deemed that a full-on assault on The Humanities would disprove the vocational guidance officer, Mr Kusiak’s, hunch:
You’re a caring girl, I’m suggesting kennel maid .
What happened during the This Is The HSC, THE HSC Tri-Polar Campaign was simultaneously magnificent – and wretched. Gwennie did all she can in the way of support facilities. I had an ‘in’ plastic washing basket for urgent topics under study – and an ‘out’ plastic washing basket to keep track of what I’d had a brief look at.
Meanwhile, Gwennie was making confident predictions based on her forensic study of the This is the HSC, THE HSC papers of the last decade.
KJ, my latest stats show the American Civil War was big in 1966, ‘68, ‘70, ‘72……..IT’LL BE BIG AGAIN IN ‘74. GO FOR IT KJ, GO FOR IT!!!!
All day and night, Gwennie worked on her 1974 HCS Statistical Probably of Questions (SPQ) Strategy, stopping only to make the occasional egg flip*.
Karl Marx - Conspicuous Consumption and Super Normal Profits. Gee whizz KJ, already stinkin’ rich and they want more - 98.9% chance of question.
Monotremes – dead cert – 100%.
Masai tribesmen - Gee KJ, didn’t know they drank blood milkshakes – 95%.
Snowy Mountains Scheme - Beauty KJ, ya know all about that already – NO Snowy, NO irrigation, NOÂ Leeton, NO US! - 99%.
Gwennie’s HSC SPQ worked beautifully. HSC Candidate KJ was ready to pounce on only 4.8% of the curriculum – but, by God, it was the right 4.8%.
Throughout the This is the HSC, THE HSC Tri-polar Campaign of ‘74, Gwennie remained approachable and loving.
She said that kennnel maids sometimes had to put dogs down: something that if I had to do, SHE’D find too distressing.
If things things don’t go well in the HSC, we’ll just set up our headquarters again next year, yes we will……..
*Quick, nutritous, good for ‘nervy’ tummies.
*******
Our trigger words - generated exclusively by The Macquarie: Australia’s National Dictionary. Pushy + obsessed + parents, excellence, exams, pressure, Tri-Polar, ambition, statistics, private + schools, living, loving, learning.
****THE KEV THE KANGA CHRONICLES: THE GINGER MAN*****
BOING, BOING, BOING……….
Adventure with The Ginger Man all this week (with specially selected soundtrack) as he and Kev The Kanga BOING through the National Capital.
Who will survive, who will be the NEXT victim of one of the features of our treasured Coat-Of-Arms?
Kev The Kanga will be BOING-ING thoughout the comments section all this week.
cr:thoughtcrime: flickr
******ALL commenters go for it!! Just click on the ‘comment’ thingo and follow the simple instructions. The place to write your gems is at the bottom of the last published comment. *A little bit of counsel for people new to this caper. Your email (just called ‘mail’ in this case) address does NOT come up on site. And just ignore the URL thingo – just ignore it.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:52 pm
What is happening to English cricket writers? Are they trying to get in touch with boarding school yearnings?
Cop this loving Times piece about Stuart, the bowler with the boy band looks:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/simon_barnes/article6805948.ece
And – as another Times writer comments – for heaven’s sake, get a room!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article6814177.ece
August 31st, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I asked Kev the Kanga to stop at the post office in Civic Centre so I could send a congratulatory message to an old friend I have not seen since the Bletchley Days.
Dear Vera Lynn……she’s back in the charts at 92.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090830/ten-dame-vera-back-in-the-charts-5f8abb3.html
Kev loves me singing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uHykTs-THg&feature=related
August 31st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Mein deer The Rev Kev,
Wilst du introducing Dutch beer bikes to National Kapital?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/30/2670833.htm
Your Freund,
A. Nieuwenhops.
Dear Sir,
I don’t think our The Rev Kev is going to go for this. By his own calculations, he’s only been drunk twice in his life. The SECOND time around he disgraced himself at a New York pole dancing club. The cruel denizens of the press will NOT let him forget it. KJ.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:37 pm
HSC in the 80’s…
Study nil (ish). Picked up from last exam in Bowral by boyfriend in hot Torana that was unregistered with two flat tyres.
Boyfriend had shaved head, Doc Martens, a Marlboro shirt and major ‘tude.
We went to the central coast for a week, ate smoked oysters, drank Malibu and smoked Sterling Special Mild.
Class.
Dear ‘Tude,
What a wonderful report back on a very special ’schoolies’ week’ – devoid of the uber commercialisation and herd mentality which now marks the ritual.
As you may have gleaned, I have a great interest in fashion but a MARLBORO shirt? For the life of me, I cannot remember what must have been quite a garment! KJ.
August 31st, 2009 at 10:26 pm
KJ,
Was that Hec in the front row of the Vera concert, or is it my imagination?
Or was he running the bar?
Betcha Gwennie knows every word of these songs.
Dear Chadwick,
Sorry, a case of your imagination.
Hec was busy elsewhere – running the RAAF bar up Port Moresby way.
Gwennie really only knows ALL the words to her favourite WW2 chart stopper:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsg8fYVVRSQ
September 1st, 2009 at 7:25 am
MAGIC
O what will Saturday be
Without you, Mickey O?
Four goals without victory.
But your legend lives…….
Immaculate, shining,
Mickey O’Loughlin,
How can we thank you?
So long as grown men
Try to kick a small ball
Between four posts,
They’ll remember you.
For your courage,
Comradeship under fire.
Michael O’Loughlin,
You were our hearts’ desire.
TBL,
I usually just let your poems speak for themselves – and that’s the right thing to do. But I was at the SGC for Mickey’s last game. Gwennie – Mickey’s no 1 fan – came too. No win, but a finer sporting night has never been had. KJ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkNik4rlHj4
September 1st, 2009 at 9:34 am
……..The year of the great Ancient History debacle, in which copies of the Ancient History HSC paper were found in a Sydney laneway and subsequently broadcast by public-minded Sydney radio identities, necessitating the scrapping and re-writing of the entire paper.
This meant that 4 or 5 poor souls at LHS had to cool their heels for an extra week or two while the others went on the tear.
Dear Roma Street,
I was reading the news at Triple J (around the mid-eighties) when the deep throats contacted the station with news that they’d got their mits on the Ancient History papers.
And yes, the questions were broadcast – some very difficult pronunciations being Ancient History!
I also remember a visit to the station by investigating officers from the NSW Police.
Those were the days!!! (First time I’ve ever used that phrase – what is happening to me…..?)
Now……onto another matter re HSC Leeton-style. Did you go up to the Post Office on the morning of the ‘results drop’ to intercept the mail?
IN MY DAY (Gee, FIRST time I’ve ever uttered this!) it was a doozie of an HSC results day ritual.
Dancing AND tears on Pine Avenue as results envelopes were ripped open……..
Do hope you ended up in the DANCING lane. KJ.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
As I remember, KJ, those exam papers literally fell off the back of a truck, because some lackwit who was delivering big bundles of them to the Education Department forgot to hook up the latch on the back.
I’m tickled to hear of a Leeton connection in the form of your good self in the controversial broadcasting of them, which was ABSOLUTELY the right thing to do.
As for dancing outside the post office – that was gonski by my day.
My recollection is that all the results were delivered to home addresses via a series of special blue-envelope only mail runs, so that we all got them at roughly the same time.
Shortly after that, a veritable fleet of P-plater-piloted jalopys and family wagons hit the road, making the run around classmates’ homes and the main drag.
(Yes – Youngsters, back in those days – young people – communicated news to each other and found things out by meeting face-to-face. Strange but true).
On that day, and for several days after, any Year-12 pupil recognised in the street would be hit with the question Wadyaget?
….Which is why any number of them fled for the coast or to a campsite by the ‘Bidgee.
Dear Roma Street,
Would I be right to think that TODAY might have been the first time you’ve used the word YOUNGSTERS. We’ll really have to watch our language: This is how Generation Gaps turn into chasms!
Meanwhile, ALL came back to me with that one phrase: WADYAGET? Why on earth was no-one ever brave enough to reply: NONE OF YA BLOODY BUSINESS!!!
* The Triple Jers who did all the work on the Ancient History papers scandal were the folks who produced ‘The Midday’ and ‘The Five-Thirty Reports’ – long before regional syndication: ie NO Triple J for Leeton. KJ.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:33 pm
My only sober memory of the HSC was the Spanish oral exam.
When asked why it was that I was studying Spanish I replied that it was because I wanted to go to Nicaragua to fight in the revolution.
Didn’t pass the exam which – in retrospect – is just as well!
Dear Greek and loving it,
We are all honoured…..our first ever visit in here from a potential ‘Sandalista’ – ie a middle-class revolutionary Westerner with Nicaragua on her ‘must do’ list.
Just quietly, I think you would have made a fine contribution – and quite possibly – got a book (or even husband) out of it as well……KJ.
September 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm
The Rev Kev,
You know what? They said public discourse was dead.
You know what? I have discovered the Cave Hermits’ Union.
http://davidwgl.homemail.com.au/cu199707f.htm
Dear The Dude,
I note that the Cave Hermit’s Union has NOT had a meeting for a couple of years.
Business as usual…….? KJ.
September 1st, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Sometimes I feel that the whole world is going……..
BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/photo_galleries/article6806746.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=6806746&nSlide=9§ionName=PhotoGalleries
September 1st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Dear KJ,
I absolutely loved the HSC.
Got to break up early from LHS to supposedly study – ’stew back’.
Obviously YOU needed to.
I was under the impression ’stew back’ was THE time to party – Carlton Cafe, Wattle Cafe, Hydro Hotel and yes, Lapping.
Study???? NO!
My mum tried to rein me in. She obviously was NO Gwennie.
WADYAGET?
Everything I sat for…………
PS:WADYAGET KJ and Roma Street?
Dear Ex-Leetonite,
NONE OF YA BLOODY BUSINESS! KJ.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Marlboro shirt – white business shirt with small red and white marlboro cigarette on sleeves, so when u rolled your sleeves up it accentuated the muscles and ‘tude.
There may have been another logo on pocket.
It was the first thing I noticed when I met him (other than shaved head, jeans, doc marten boots).
It reeked of Trouble.
Dear ‘Tude,
Thank you. Marlboro BUSINESS shirts – remarkable!
‘……..And the groomsmen’s outfits complimented the bridesmaids’ red and white tuille gowns – they were dressed in crisp Marlboro business shirts…..’ KJ.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Dear KJ
Yes HSC (and all the other state equivalents) time can be very trying for young Australia, which is why I’m stepping forward now, and via your blog, wish to share with your young followers:
THE REV KEV’S GUIDE TO EXAM SUCCESS:
(1) 1 am – revision for 4 hours.
(2) 5 am – set a 5,000 word essay task.
(3) 7 am – Mark my essay – if not satisfied, rewrite. If satisfied – reward myself with one tim tam and a drink of fizzy lemonade.
(4) 9am – Go to school, attend classes and closely question teachers on their knowledge of the syllabus (Sadly, KJ, few were really up to the mark – something now being corrected under The Rev Kev’s Education Revolution).
(5) 3pm – Go straight home for 3 hours revision.
(6) 6pm-8pm – Relax reading the Bible.
(7) 8pm – Go straight to bed, after carefully cleaning my teeth.
Can I just say KJ, I know NOT everybody can be as smart as me, but I think if they follow my simple learning regime they’ll surprise themselves and have fun as well.
Always happy to help,
The Rev Kev.
Dear The Rev Kev (or should I say Mr Darcy…?)
I’m not one for ‘if onlys’ but IF ONLY I’d had access this is 1974……IF ONLY…..
But to the present, what a magical time it is for you and Therese – and the latest Women’s Weekly is right on board with a wonderful testament……
Imagine Prime Minister Kevin Rudd emerging dripping wet out of Lake Burley Griffin, channelling Colin Firth’s sexy portrayal of Mr Darcy in the BBC series of Pride and Prejudice.
It might be hard to imagine but in an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, first lady Therese Rein has likened her courtship with Mr Rudd to Jane Austen’s 1813 literary classic.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5858409/rudd-mr-darcy-in-disguise/
Hot Stuff!
KJ.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Ex-L – as a work colleague said to me after that TV show ‘The Great Aussie IQ Test’:
My score was my score.
September 2nd, 2009 at 6:06 am
Did the Klytorians drop Spidie off in Malaysia?
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/french-daredevil-alain-robert-scaled-kuala-lumpurs-petronas-twin-towers/story-e6frev20-1225768300004
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:24 am
Northbourne Avenue was lined with cheering people waving flags as Kev the Kanga BOINGED along….
At first I thought it was us….but No, it is because Ainslie Football Club is in the Grand Final at Manuka Oval on Saturday.
First time since 1997.
I quickly put a red white and black jersey on Kanga and The Five Super Puppies and Fingo who will give a Victory Oroooooooooooooo at the first ball up.
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:59 am
I wear a suit and I have lost weight.
Thank God I am NOT 26! KJ.
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm
The Rev Kev,
Can Della join Julia Gillard in India on the Charm Offensive?
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Came downstairs as an Act Of Courage.
Read everything……
Rest assured, In the unlikely event that I would GO OUT THERE, I would not be working out or getting a new suit.
Back to the man eatin’ doona.
Dear The Knuckle,
God bless ya and keep you well……
DON’T GO CHANGIN’.
KJ.
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
When I was twenty-five
I was very alive….
So full of jive,
Honey in the hive.
It was a very good year
I bought a suit……
Began drinking beer,
Enjoying good cheer.
I had no fear, but
YOU my dear, you were
Born that year…….
Oh Dear.
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Dear Sweet Gwennie and – of course – KJ,
It sounds like Gwennie did the HSC for you. I was not blessed with a Gwennie. I had to grapple with Pride and Prejudice alone.
As it turned out my obsessive nature got me a massive aggregate.
Perhaps if I had not excelled the boys may have liked me?
Always,
Marry Me.
Dear Marry Me,
Any man would be frightened off by a woman wandering around asking: Do you have a massive aggregate? You’ve got to stop it. KJ.
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Dear KJ,
Your blog takes me into a different world….
……Insane characters and the adventures aplenty of TGM and Co….and I love to read of Gwennie.
Could you please ask her to relate her favourite Mickey O’L moment?
Feeling sentimental.
Sorry.
Miss Meg.
Dear Megsy,
Never apologise for feeling sentimental. If I was a car, I’d run on sentimentality….swear to God I would.
Now…..I think it’s going to be every hard for Gwennie to identify her FAVOURITE Magic Mickey moment…..
She’s thrilled when someone mentions his name, she was thrilled when he came within 100 metres of the ball – she was even thrilled when he kicked a ball out on the full.
Anyway, I’ll put the question and get back to you, probably in December. It’ll be hard to stop Gwennie once she gets started on Mickey. KJ.
September 2nd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I know that TBL is our poet, but the Muse has hit me….
In Macquarie Street Sydney, where Love is King
When Suit meets Girl here’s what they say:
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie
SAY GOOD BYEE….
When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine
SAY GOOD BYEE….
Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling
And you’ll sing Vita bella,
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay
Like a gay tarantella……
SAY GOOD BYEE….
When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool,
SAY GOOD BYEE….
When you dance down the street with a cloud at your feet,
YOU’RE FINITO!
When you walk in a dream,
But you know you’re not…..
Dreaming Signore,
Scuzza me, but you see, back in the old ALP……
SAY GOOD BYEE….
Dear The Dude…..all together now…..
When you get home real late
And Belinda’s ya mate,
YOU’RE FINITO!
KJ
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:22 am
Amore, Amore, Amore …
I back from Sicily. My brother in big trouble.
Mr The Ginger Man, mate do you mean to say GOING through the National Capital?
I glad to be home. I now to learn all words of National song.
Loving, living, learning, Fabio.
Dear Mr Fabio,
We’re all praying your brother’s NOT finito.
The Ginger Man is BOING-ING. Kev The Kanga goes BOING, BOING, BOING…..in your new home which is GIRT by sea.
That’s just the way it is. KJ.
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:38 am
The Canberra magpies are in full throat this morning.
terri-o-tootle-too
terri-o-tootle-too
As a Bletchley decoder, I am fluent in Maggie speak.
It means Kerrie Jean says: Howdie do?
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:00 am
Can I just say KJ……?
Can I just say?…….that one of the oldest mistakes in the exam stakes is NOT READING THE QUESTION.
I think you put the question very clearly re the PRESSURE OF EXAMS.
And yet, all many of your correspondents seem to write about is SEX.
Your own deviation is forgiveable.
Yes, I am a very sexy man.
A hottie Darcy man indeed.
BUT….
You know what?
I didn’t get to pass my exams and become PM by lookin’ out the window and thinkin’ nookie.
In fact I forgot to mention in the REV KEV’S GUIDE TO EXAM SUCCESS there’s no room for sex at all.
As I’ve tried to tell that shower down at Macquarie St, it’ll only end in tears.
Dear The Rev Kev,
As it’s been pointed out, this site is 100% Australian – so NO surprise that it’s full of hot-blooded GOERS.
GOERS vote so I say: Let them vent their rage at the sullying of our democratic processes in New South Wales.
Now….I’m sure ‘The Telegraph’ boys are onto it…..BUT I think you’d better brace yourself for the REAL story about what Della and your MP Belinda got up to during that celebratory ‘do’ at the Iguana Bar & Grill.
Can’t tell me that John D and Kate (exhausted as they may have been) didn’t have far-reaching pillow chats on this one.
KJ.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I pop up in a Sydney hotel.
I say to Della and girl:
Do you know who I am?
Do you know who I am?
I Am Under The Table Top Man.
Dear UTTTM,
Could you could tighten up that sign-off please?
I Am Under The Table Top Man Reporting for Kerrie Jean.com
Thank you. KJ.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Dear Fingo,
It is that time of the year to set Yogi his HSC Questions.
So far …
ENGLISH:
(A) The Kev The Kanga Chronicles: How do they reflect the Australian lifestyle? (10 words or less).
OR
(B) Are the Klytorian Chronicles Art or Pornography?
POETRY:
‘MAGIC’ by The Big Lebowski: Answer the question posed in this groundbreaking poem: Mickey O’Loughlin, How Can We Thank You?
Debate: To bite or not to bite that is the question.
Fingo, I would be happy for you to come up with a General Knowledge Question.
Best of Luck in your HSC,
Boo Boo.
Dear Boo Boo,
I believe the sheepdogs are already under considerable pressure – they’re currently doing their trials. KJ.
September 4th, 2009 at 12:15 am
How dare Therese Rein compare The Rev Kev to the beautiful Mr Darcy (played by Colin Firth thank you).
A polyester cotton shirt on a blonde nerd splashed by an errant sprinkler when he was on the footy field is NOT Mr Darcy in THAT scene.
I’m incensed, I’m disturbed……
Then again, I wonder who Janet thought of John as?
Mrs T,
So, YOU’RE disturbed. After pondering your last question, I had to pick up the phone and report that I’ won’t be in at work today – queasy, queasy, QUEASY!
Meanwhile, a question for you…..AND all Australian thinking women…..
Then again, I wonder who Kate thought of Della as? – apart from the next (and last for a very long time) Labor Premier of NSW that is.
KJ.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Amore, amore, amore,
Yeah, my new home is girt by sea. GIRT, GIRT, GIRT.
Is a great song.
Australians, now let us rejoice for we are young and free……GIRT, GIRT, GIRT or somethun….
Bazza, the other barista at cafe, don’t know any more words. He say that’s what you only need know. GIRT, GIRT, GIRT…..
But Fabio wanna sing the whole lot at my Citizen Ceremony.
Maybe you and The Reverend Kevin will come to Seven Hills Town Hall and see me become real Australian. That would be the best day in life!
What all the fuss about this man, Bosca Della?
He good man – plenty what you say – GRUNT?
Tomorrow a silver lining eh? I like The Big Lebowski Peems.
Amore, Fabio.
Dear Fabio,
Book me in, book me in! I’ll be at the Seven Hills Hall with my dear Aunty Girt. KJ.
September 4th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Dear KJ,
About that pic….
Did most of the students do a NO SHOW at Leeton High School…..OR could it be a symbol of the frenzy generated by those clamouring to join The Rev Kev’s Education Revolution?
Dear The Comer….’No’ and ‘Yes’. KJ.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:17 am
BOING…down Commonwealth Avenue…..
BOING….past Telopea Park…..
BOING….on to Manuka Oval…….
I give the ball to Kev The Kanga.
BOING…..he kicks first goal for Ainslie FC.
But no, it’s only a behind.
KEV THE KANGA KICKS A BEHIND!
Ainslie fans go crazy.
Kev catches the ball in his pouch and takes off.
The pursuit is continuing all over Canberra…….
September 5th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Dear Fingo,
Question A: Australians have a minium of five people on their backs. (9 words)
Question B: The Klytorian Chronicles are neither art NOR porn. They are a dream which is very difficult to put my paw on.
How can we thank ‘Magic’? – Give him a date with Gwennie.
To bite or not to bite? I always ask myself: To lick or NOT to lick.
Thank you Boo Boo.
September 6th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Belconnen Magpies defeated Ainslie in the grand final by six points , but Kev the Kanga has the ball.
Magic is talking to him.
Will he go back and kick for the six points?
September 6th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Dear Megsy,
I am now in a position to report back on Gwennie’s all-time favourite Mickey ‘Magic’ moment:
KJ, don’t have to think much about this one. It was when the Narrandera Sports Ground (*just up the road from Leeton) hosted that pre-season night game between The Swans and Collingwood.
First time I’d ever seen Mickey in the flesh. Couldn’t believe it when he ran on, could NOT believe it.
…..Before I knew it, – and ya know how quiet I usually am – I was yelling out: Mickey, Mickey Mickey…..Gwennie here…..
Mickey turned around and smiled. He did, he did…..Oh God, he’s more handsome in the flesh than on the telly…..yes, he is….if that’s possible……
I’ve put up a snippet from that evening. Can ya spot Mickey?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRs_KIGGAFU
Other features? – what a magnificent turnout at what I’ve always declared regional Australia’s best footy oval – home of finals football for the Mighty Leeton Demons (’Redlegs’, ‘Reddies’).
Only complaint? Too often, scoreboard in a less-than-satisfactory state.
September 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Narrandera Sports Ground is indeed gorgeous.
Most of my young sports-watching life was spent following the Hawks (Rubgy League) around the countryside to various assorted heckholes like Yenda, Colleambally, Griffith and Lake Cargellico.
But with my Dad being an ex-Yanco Penguin and retaining a moderate interest in the native code, as well as having a few mates in the Redlegs playing ranks, come finals time we often took our place on the picnic rug at Narrandera Sportsground.
What a treat to sit on the sloping bank and look across that gorgeous green expanse. And with the bonus of a touch (for a rugby league follower) of the exotic.
Unfamiliar bare-armed players in striking dark-blue-and-red, lining up against people from towns on the less familiar Wagga side of the Riverina, like Ganmain and Coolamon. The strange arcana of the game – the many posts, the odd-looking ball, the weird rituals, like the bounce and the boundary throw in, the different people we sat with that you never saw at the rugby league.
All very interesting for the impressionable youngster giving you a glimpse of the reality that there were people residing in the same place as yourself who were living completely different lives to your own.
The variety of life in a country town is much neglected in Australian art and letters.
According to the ‘realistic’ depictions of country life you see on the TV, a country town is a place where everybody knows everybody else, everybody barracks for the Mighty Blanks, and everybody is interested in the same thing at the same time.
In real life, a country town is a place where two people can be born on the same day, live lives of average busyness and social contact for 80 years, and go to their graves having never met.
Dear Roma Street,
Fantastic! I know you love your sport so great to have you endorse the natural and built wonders of the Naranderra Sports Ground.
Gone now, but it used to even have a professional bitumen velodrome (used with great gusto particularly in the 1930’s, 40’s…..I believe) The velodrome was still between the seating and the footy oval when I was an awestruck visitor.
You are also right about the ‘everybody knows everybody’ cliche of country towns.
When I was at St Joseph’s Leeton, I would NOT have been able to name many Leeton Public kids.
I don’t think the nuns would have ever been into a non-Catholic home. May I suggest that the divide between (then) ALP voters and Libs approached ‘chasm’ status as well. Amazing what ownership of a few acres could do for one’s perceived status.
And I’m gonna AGREE again: Unlike the US and Britain, ‘we’ have never witnessed the ‘natural’ development of regional literature – and I mean ‘regional’ literature that is read widely for its intrinsic merit. We just don’t have many Tim Wintons. KJ.