Off topic but legend has it a bunch of screenwriters were sitting around pitching deliberately stupid movie ideas at each other and one yelled out, “Snakes on a plane!” and the others told him that was actually […]

Paper maps do not get confused.

Prior to a trip to Tokyo I printed out a bunch of maps directing me to various Disc Unions (and other record stores) from the nearest subway stop.

My hotel (Metropolitan […]

People have way too much faith in their contraptions. I had the exact same conversation twice months apart in virtually the same spot.

I live in a place called Williamstown, about 10 k’s away on a completely […]

John Farrar wrote the big hits from Grease that were added to the film.

Hopelessly Devoted to You
and
You’re the One That I Want

One of the fellas who wrote the original stage play hated those songs as […]

I love the song so much I even made a point of travelling south since that’s the direction he travels in the song. Going the other way just wouldn’t have been right.

You cannot write a better song about […]

I went on my first overseas trip since the pandemic, a quick jaunt to the USA my first visit there this century.

It was a sensationally good holiday where lots went wrong but I still enjoyed it.

For the […]

I did a writing course back in about 2005 in Melbourne and as part of it we had a roster of three guest speakers on the subject of screenwriting.

Number one was some legendary figure who’d worked all over the […]

Very sleepy sounding 1,2,1,2,3,4 on Soul Asylum’s Misery

“I’m Basting a Turkey With My Tears”
“Don’t Look Up My Dress Unless You Mean It”
“I’m Sick of Your Lying Lips and False Teeth”

Lurlene Lumpkin

A song I’ve always loved and haven’t seen mentioned is Helen Wheels. It’s a rocker that would have made a fabulous Beatles track.

It always reminds me of The Young Ones, “My name is Mucus” (although I think the […]

About a year ago I was discussing with much younger workmates Star Wars and how incredibly popular it was from the very start.

I remembered two things that I hadn’t thought about in years. At the time my mum […]

Slightly off topic but something I found out only recently…

Chip Taylor’s real name is James Voight, he was the writer of many songs most notably Wild Thing and Angel of of the Morning.

His brother is none […]

There was a baseball player named Mark Wohlers who had the yips so bad he was placed on the disabled list with the stated reason, “Inability to pitch.”

He had previously been such a good reliable player he was […]

Well, I will certainly buy that when I can.
In a similar vein here’s Senor Coconut with a latin version of Tour De France…

I can’t recall any specifics of my favourite baseball putdown, as to who said it about who, but here’s what was said (roughly)

A manager was asked about two twenty year old rookies his team had just brought up to […]

Superb

The one I heard about Rodney Marsh was when he greeted Ian Botham to the crease with, “How are your wife and my kids?” and Botham responded, “The wife’s fine, the kids are retarded.”

My favourite insult is mild and basically good-natured but I always loved it due to who it was said to than anything else.

The painter James Whistler was considered a great wit and was very friendly with Oscar […]

Ed Kuepper
Excellent songwriter, excellent guitarist but I can’t be the only one who always wished he’d hire someone else to sing.

I think Jackson Browne summed it up. “You forget about the losses, you exaggerate the wins.” That’s the way our minds work.