Round 1, 2016

The footy's back, and with 8 of the 9 games played of Round 1, we are already promised a cracker of a season!

Opening Bounce on Thursday Night had Richmond up against Carlton. The Tiges had it all against them: five injured, and they had to win against last year's wooden spooners; the Blues have a new coach and were debuting five themselves, including the No.1 draft pick. Carlton led at half-time but only lost by nine at the end. Their performance was very promising indeed.

GWS and Melbourne met up here in Sydney on Easter Saturday and for all intents and purposes it was a dead rubber. But the Giants are growing with every outing and the Dees are a wild card. I backed GWS but the outcome could have been further from anyone's tipping, with the Melbourne Football Club getting the chocolates by a mere 2 points.

Gold Coast took on the once-mighty Bombers at home at Metricon on Saturday afternoon and with the blight of the ASADA saga behind them the Same Olds had much to prove. But Gary Ablett jr was back and had as much to prove, and the Dons were comprehensively thrashed by ten goals. Pundits have the Spoon torn between Carlton and Essendon: I think they might have to rethink those choices.

North Melbourne and Adelaide met at Etihad in a match I was not able to choose the outcome of. I backed the Roos with the toss of a coin and many in my social media network might have disagreed. At 3/4-time there was only a point in it, but Chris Scott's men took it by the bit and ran out winners by only ten, inaccuracy being the let-down for the Pride of SA.

I learned, on Saturday night from the SCG, that I hate Collingwood more than I hate Sydney. By half-time the Pies had only managed 1.4 to the Swans' 10.12, and only managed 7 by the end of the game. The final score 18.25 to 7.11 suggested that things aren't quite right at Victoria Park, and rumours of drug-abuse have been alleged to have put them off their game. Dane Swan's multiple leg-fractures probably didn't help either, putting him out of action for the foreseeable future. The drug-allegations will be interesting to follow over the next foreseeable-future!

Port took on St Kilda at Football Park on Sunday in another match that really could have gone either way. They were neck-and-neck going into the main break with just a goal separating them, but the locals surged ahead in the third and took the match by 5.3.

The biggest upset of the round came from Etihad when the Sons of the West took on, and trounced the Dockers by ten goals. I venture to guess that no one saw that coming! Jake Stringer scooped 5.1 with ten other goal-kickers (six with 1.1) for the Dogs; Freo managed five goal-kickers, none of them multiples.

And the biggest surprise came from Subi on Sunday night with an aggregate score of 268 between the Eagles and Lions. Kennedy booted 8.2, with Cripps and Hill (3.1), Bennell (2.1), Darling, LeCras, and Nic Nat (2.0), Yeo, Ellis, McGovern, and Redden keeping the scorers busy for the home side, and Christensen (3.2), Taylor (3.1), Rich, Rockliff, Schache, Walker (2.1) and Hanley (1.0) chipping in for the Blions,

Hawthorn take on Geelong at the G tomorrow for what could well be the Grand Final precursor. The way these other games have panned out, anything could happen!

peterg
27 Mar 16

Footy's Back

A collective groan is heard across the nation as many of us gear up for AFL Season 2016 and the first bounce at the G tonight when Carlton get ready to take on Richmond for the traditional season opener.

But as I get my stats sheet ready I see the following news article on my favourite stats page:

Chris Yarran has shrugged off criticism of his physical condition this pre-season after being labelled "his own worst enemy" by former coach Mick Malthouse.

Malthouse questioned Yarran's dedication, saying he "hasn’t quite got that knack of being a great professional in regards to coming back and being ready to play".

"I don't pay too much attention to it to be honest … everyone's got different opinions about it," Yarran said.

"At the end of the day, the only people that matter are my close friends and teammates.

"I'm always happy with my shape."

Chris Yarran is at Richmond now, no thanks to Mick. And Mick has been assigned to irrelevance now, no thanks to his outdated game style and a rough-and-ready collective that wasn't keen to play for him.

OK so Malthouse has the all-time record for the number of games coached and played in an illustrious career that saw flags as a player and coach, but many (myself included) will judge him on how his career was finished at Princes Park.

OK so Yazz isn't ready for the season opener. Big Deal! Many of his team mates and his colleagues across the League are in the same position for various reasons! Mick's not slagging off about them (or is he?)

Let's just get on with the footy, ignore the irrelevant, and we'll see who's there at the pointy end when we tune our TVs to the local channel and our radios to Roy & HG for the Festival Of The Boot once again!


peterg
24Mar16

Amanda Easton - Disco Disconnected - Independent release

I’ve been following Amanda’s work for a long time now and am impressed by how much it has grown over the years. So I was quite excited to hear, three years after I wrote about her Out Of The Blue crowd-funded project, that she had a new record in the offing.

Amanda calls it an album, but with four new tracks and a remix of each of them, it is probably more an EP. Whatever you want to call it, Disco Disconnected hits all manner of outlets at the end of the month. Apart from the influence-artists’ weaving their influence throughout, I got a sense of some late-90s Kylie with other sonic echoes in the mix.

The lead / title track has quite the Eastern flavour while encapsulating many of the eras of disco including Bros of the 80s (I also got this from the music-video), Massive Attack / Portishead of the 90s, and Goldfrapp of the 00s. An Alison Goldfrapp song recently appeared on my MP3 player and I could have sworn it was Amanda. I said as much to Amanda at the time and her response was that Goldfrapp is one of her favourite acts. That comes as no surprise when listening to Disco, or any of her previous works including Dance To The Music In My Head, Moshi Moshi, Good Old Fashioned Heartache or The Whole Shebang.   

The disconnection from disco continues on the new mini/album / EP with the chill-out of Untangle and the Bond Film outro-credits underscore Hanging By A Thread. Thread is a mix of Shirley Bassey on Goldfinger and Cilla Black in To Sir With Love combined with a nice cello. This isn’t Amanda’s first foray into Bondesque either! New Bohemians harkens back to Amanda’s previous works with some production-quality effects thrown in to keep us on our toes. This track is also getting a lot of “air” time on Amanda’s soundcloud, described by one subscriber as a “bouncy, happy, positive song.” Thus rounds off the “original mix” part of the record. 

The John Ov3rblast Remix of the single retains the mystic feel of the single but is more ethereal; more chill-out than disco. Untangle’s House Master Flex Remix would be a track you’d play between the disco and the chill-out, or something a relaxing Sunday-afternoon radio programmer would schedule. The No Qualms Remix [Hi Rez] version of Hanging By A Thread is a tilt at Kraftwerk but is another calm-down disconnection. If you’ve ever wanted to hear Amanda as a baritone, here you can! And after all the chillin’ we finish up with some serious DOOV on the New Bohemians Stereo Missile Remix: dance to it, work out to it, sweat to it, turn it up!

Amanda Easton’s Disco Disconnected would sit quite happily alongside any work for or by any of these artists, with any currently featured on so-called top-40 radio, or on alternative radio. I can picture it now- rocking up to my barista for my morning coffee, only to be woken happily by Amanda’s dulcet tones intro’d by Kyle and Jackie O- «««¶

peterg
17Mar16 

Slipknot unleash their first song in six years

Of the bands in history that have performed behind masks The Residents, TISM, and Slipknot are three I can name that have been able to create quality music over several years while personnel changes go unnoticed.

A fourth, KISS, is among those which could not.

Slipknot's "The Negative One" had been described as brutal- to be fair, 99% of their work is brutal.

But it's great that finally there is new music from this outfit
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

 http://www.revolvermag.com/news/slipknot-premiere-crushing-new-song.html

All But Gentlemen

Based in Kilmarnock, Scotland, I only know of these guys from a Facebook Games connection to the drummer's late father

So when I was asked to comment on their musical creation I was a little apprehensive. I mean, I have been sent demos and gone to gigs on the basis of knowing someone in the band and not really liked what they had to offer- heck, I was even in that band on TWO occasions!

But when this came through my Facebook feed today I held the same misgivings, despite having already heard their previous track which I reviewed thus:

You know when you learn of a friend's venture into music: you think, hmmm, OK I'll nod and smile and be polite..yeh, not that!
ABG Talk Is Cheap it a nicely crafted and well-polished item from Killmarnoch-based All Bur Gentlemen. Boasting influences like Twin Atlantic, Little Eye, Biffy Clyro, and Jimmy Eat World, this young Scottish four-piece is set to go places. And no, that's not because I know one of themAll But Gentlemen "Talk Is Cheap"- Four Stars

This review was never published because I wanted to get a hold of the EP and write about the whole thing. It still includes the typos, which is how rough the review is!

Anyway, this is the band's first video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wvFw4FDV4Uw&feature=share

My comments, by way of a spoiler, are

"Get onto and behind these guys now. Such a polished performance for such a young band!"

Do so!!!


peterg
10 Jun 14

Sharing A Pet Commuter Hatred

OK commuters, who shares my peave?

School kids sitting on crowded trains.

Today on the 7:24 from Seven Hills I see a Meriden girl- a poor little rich girl, a) in the disabled seat and, b) not giving that seat to standing / paying passengers.

Do they not care? Do they not know? Is this GenZ-typical behaviour? There was a (seemingly unsuccessful) poster campaign last year on how school kids should behave in public (transport). I seem to remember there being a clause on the terms of the travel-pass about losing it if in breech of the other terms which included GIVING UP YOUR SEAT TO PAYING PASSENGERS!!

I have in occasion taken photos of offenders and mailed them to their principals but taking photos of school kids is just a tad creepy. And it obviously does not change things.
I have yelled at two girls but that generates conflict (except on that occasion- while the question remains "who are you, the train police?" the answer comes from someone who HAS a seat and while dirty stares might be as misconstrued as the photos, it seems to be the only thing left.

So what to do? I've written to mX (for the good THAT does), I've written to schools (my Alma Mater responded quite positively), but it still happens. Let's see what Social Media does.

peterg
03 Jun 14

Fantasy Footy for 2014

There's AFL's fantasy football, and there's News Corp's Super Coach. I have chosen the latter because it has auto-fill when you run out of ideas, either from random players or your favourite side.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-03-04/nab-challenge-fantasy-review explains the ins and outs based on NAB cup performance this year. I have taken those performances and, comparing them to last year's results, chosen the following

Defenders
Sam Mitchell (C)
Michael Hibberd
Pearce Hanley
Corey Enright
Will Langford
Xavier Richards
Cameron Giles
Daniel McStay

Midfield
Tom Rockliff
Trent Cotchin (VC)
Bret Deledio
Jack Redden
Jordan Lewis
Ryan Bastinac
Adam Treloar
Bernie Vince
Jonathan O'Rourke
Ciaran Sheehan

Rucks / Followers
Craig Moller
Cameron Wood
Archie Smith
Jason Holmes

Forwards
Dustin Martin
Jack Gunston
Luke Breust
Ben Howlett
Troy Menzel
Nathan Bock
Luke Reynolds
Blaine Johnson

The rookies listed were initially selected randomly as explained above, but then I thought of getting some who had some experience in their legs, and also who had some points from either a good run in the NAB or from previous years: the idea is to "buy" players who are going to get a run, not just sit out... just like in the real thing

We'll see how this works out at the end of Round 1. I still have my wish list ... 

peterg
04Mar14
[reworked 09Mar14- probably a mistake. Just like putting your tips in and then changing them: they will be wrong and the initial selections will be better]