Knowing that if Gough Whitlam had come over you’d, “play chess and drink claret”
Adelaide Oval’s Morton Bay Figs
Bringing in the bins Fridays after an hour in the pub
Helping our 99-year-old neighbour sort her Foxtel
Kapunda Footy Club being among the world’s oldest and playing under its original name
Garry McIntosh’s handball
Lamb cigars from The Broadway butcher shop
Degraves laneway in Melbourne
Hertfordshire’s Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub
Staring at the Grand Canyon from its Western Rim
DK Lillee’s delivery stride
Exile on Main Street’s dangerous sprawl
The surreal sadness of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Whyalla’s Bottle and Bird as a concept
Bung fritz
Onkaparinga National Park
Listening to Islands in the Stream with old friends
The Old Gum Tree’s barbeques being regularly cleaned by the local council
My wife leaving chocolate on the laptop keyboard
“Let’s Give a Cheer for Father” from the Looney Tunes cartoon, A Bear for Punishment
Glenelg Footy Club’s past players’ beer caravan
“I’ll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse. Playing cricket is not.”
Joni Mitchell’s guitar playing on Blue
Fleabag
Op Shop radios always being not quite tuned to a golden oldies AM station
Damien Martyn stroking one through the off-side
Listening to Skyhooks in a HQ Holden
Getting married on the lawn of our old high school
Having our wedding reception in our hometown footy club
The beauty and satire of “Chateau Lobby #4 (In C for Two Virgins)” by Father John Misty
Getting a giant pillow of chips from a fish shop
Being round a table with friends and all knowing the story someone’s about to tell
The 42-minute version of Wichita Lineman by the Dick Slessig Combo
Picking mint leaves from the garden for a gin
Changing my wife’s car radio to Triple J
When my boys finally said “thanks” without prompting
The Ned Ryerson scene in Groundhog Day- Bing!
Pubs with Friday night meat raffles
Scorsese’s use of the slide guitar and piano coda from “Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes in Goodfellas
Sylvia’s Mother
Noel’s Caravans
Tex, Don and Charlie
Opening a Barossa shiraz to share with Dad
The bawdy humour and joy of Under Milkwood
Saying, “West Coast Eagles” in my head and it only being in Dennis Cometti’s voice
Julia Jacklin’s plaintive melodies
John Cusack’s character breaking the fourth wall in High Fidelity
Chook as a concept
Chook salt as a concept
Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections
My wife buying me an unexpected gift
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel
Kalamata olives
The Indianapolis Speech from Jaws
The Fish Tales pinball machine
Sid Waddell commentating, “There’s only one word for that: magic darts!”
