Alexander the Grate

An oldie but a goodie to end a working week. This is when Australian politicians really are funny, especially when they don’t immediately realise what they have just said.

A Demon Child and a Sucker Punch

Barry Hall (Sydney Swans Forward), continues to astound with his on field actions. Earlier this year he was suspended for seven games for a gutless punch against an opponent. In his third game after his return from his suspension, he was up to his old tricks against Shane Wakelin from Collingwood.

Sure he did not connect with the fist this time, however it was a very near miss. I love the near identical reactions after both hits from Barry - arms outspread, innocent look of “but sir, I didn’t touch him sir…” I also do like the very soccer like antics of Shane Wakelin with his dramatic arm movements a fraction out of synch with his fall. Such theatrics. Wonderful, comical ending to this piece.

Barry was suspended by the AFL tribunal for a single match, and stood down by the Sydney Swans indefinitely. I think he needs a bit of the Belinda Neal anger management treatment. Speaking of the much publicised Belinda Neal “Iguanagate” scandal of recent months, I wonder how she can still deny the below incident that occurred in Parliament. Demon babies are the ones that need most attention.

JAPW Tour

It is about 1.5 years passed the April 2007 date she quoted for her return, however the return of Joan As Police Woman to Australian shores is set for October 2008.

AUSTRALIA TOUR DATES - OCTOBER 2008
Sun 5 October The Great Escape, Sydney
www.thegreatescape.net.au

Tue 7 October Factory Theatre, Sydney
www.factorytheatre.com.au

Thu 9 October Jive, Adelaide
www.moshtix.com.au

Fri 10 October East Brunswick Club, Melbourne
www.eastbrunswickclub.com

Sat 11 October The Globe, Brisbane
www.oztix.com.au

Jode-who?

My gosh…talk about a trip back to the early to mid 90’s. On checking out the upcoming shows at the Enmore Theatre, I spot an act that I had not heard of since maybe 1993 - Jodeci. They’re an RnB style group that I never cared for musically as it’s not a genre that really “does it” for me. This no doubt has to come on the back of the exponential numbers of pension-cheque / reform a band for the sake of it tours in the past few years. What I don’t understand is how the ridiculous ticket prices are worked out. I will perhaps set my exasperated benchmark for this at the AU$100+ dollar prices that were being charged for Vanilla (fucking) Ice in Sydney last year!

http://www.enmoretheatre.com.au/events/2008/08/23/jodeci

To Be Loved

Video for the first single from Joan As Police Woman’s new album - To Survive. A fantastic album which builds on her debut LP, Real Life. A highlight track is To America, a collaboration with the musical genius that is Rufus Wainwright.

House of Cards

Another piece of Radiohead magic… Video for their latest single, House of Cards.

Bagelicious

For anyone who loves bagels, a fantastic place to visit is:

Grandma Moses
513 Old South Head Road
Rose Bay, NSW, 2029

Wonderfully fresh, 100% kosher, and mega delcious.

Chasing Pavements

Chasing Pavements by Adele, from her debut LP - 19. Recently discovered the magic talent of this 19 year old London lass. Great timing in that I caught this performance on Letterman this week.

Jean and Camille

Almost as if to cure me from the Tuesday night concert blues, I discovered some news that instantly cured the musical spirit. It was the latest Sydney Symphony Orchestra program and in that is a concert I will no doubt have to buy a ticket for.

Strauss, Saint-Saëns and Sibelius. Two out of three ain’t bad and perhaps I will learn a bit more about Strauss and see if this time around his music may just do something for me. No such issue with Saint-Saëns and Sibelius as they’re two composers who can just draw out such amazing emotion in their music for this dear blogger.

The guest pianist for this performance is Simon Trpčeski. Admire this man for being so, so young, yet so, so talented. I will go to watch him do what I am unable to do with a piano. He will be pianisting for the following program to be conducted by Thomas Dausgaard:

Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.2

Sibelius: Symphony No.2

Angus and Julia Stone - Tuesday 17 June 2008

Joe and I went to see the Angus and Julia Stone concert on Tuesday night at the Enmore Theatre. I love their current (and debut) album titled “A Book Like This”. It is a fantastic album with some catchy tunes, great vocals and a real sensitivity to from these vocals. Sure the lyrics are a bit ordinary, however the sum of the parts that make up the song are a treat.

So with a bit of anticipation we rocked up to the theatre after having some pretty delish (and only $2.00) Za’atar Man Oosh at the appropriately titled Man’oosh shop - yep, had to get a plug in for that Man’oosh. The support act was a gent by the name of Victor Valdes. His gig - a solo act that played the electric harp and sung Mexican tunes. There is just something inherently wrong about this and it has completely bastardised my love of the harp.

This is the first time I have ever seen a male (man)handling a harp and it felt so….wrong. Thank gosh it won’t scar me and I can tune in to my Marisa Robles CD of Harp Concertos to flush out the dregs. The 80 minute set lasted maybe 78 minutes too long, however it kept the crowd of mostly teeny-boppers entertained. This was another thing that surprised me - I certainly was not expecting a great proportion of the audience to be on the young to mid teenaged side. Felt like I was at an under-18’s gig that still had parents chaperoning their kids. Cripes!

Well back to the main act then….finally, finally at around 9.15pm, the dear headline act decide to show up on stage. By this time, I was anticipated out and ready to get the hell out of the venue from overkill of bad-harp, and an excessively long wait. It just compounded the fact it was a Tuesday night, that much more.

Into track one (of which I cannot remember) and off to an ok start. I was waiting for something a bit rockier to kick off the restlessness after such a long wait for the start. Track two came and went and it was at this point I felt that I may as well have stayed home and listened to the album as there was not much being sung that differed from playing the disc. Not much noticable variation in the live versions and not much of an engaging act either.

Song three rocked around and introduced by Julia as a song inspired by her friend who at the time had a “baby in the oven”. After realising the friend was not trying to kill her child, rather was pregnant (with a bun in the oven), I almost gagged at the fucked-ness of the lyrics of Wedding Song. It immediately too my thoughts back to my grade 10 English teacher who despised bad lyrics and poor attempts to rhyme…for example:

“We’re gonna build a life together
you and I forever and ever
And we’ll make babies on a beach under the stardust
And I’ll hear your voice come through the door
A thousand times, maybe more
And I’ll smile inside to know you’re mine completely

Do you know how lovely you are
in the starlight, in the starlight of my heart?
Do you know how lovely you are
in the moonlight, in the moonlight of my heart?”

Gag worthy. By the time tracks 4-6 came along, it was just getting less lively - if this were even possible. I may as well have been at a Sarah McLachlan concert as it had that morose, “I want to suicide from all this sad music” feel. Fuck! During this song, Joe and I decided at the end of the song to bail for a while and get some coffee.

We ended up at Corelli’s and were fronted by the anti-biker scene. Usually at the pub across the road from the cafe, one would experience the mass line up of Harley’s and Triumph’s and their tatooed, dope smoking, beer swilling, piss stinking bikies. The anti was a group of approx 15 latte-quaffing motor-scooter owners. Just so delightful to take in, and sucking in the mosquito like “roar” of the mass of lawn-mower engines heading off into the night. This was no doubt the least intimidating biker group that I had ever witnessed.

One ordinary coffee and a good chat later, we headed back to see where the show was up to. Caught the last song which SHOULD HAVE been the one to open the show, for it rocked the place. I suppose though that given Angus and Julia only have source material from one album, their range is limited to date. Perhaps as their career progresses, they will make some further entertaining albums with a few more upbeat songs.

Overall, this concert has to go in the Cat Power (when supporting Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in 2006) pile…i.e. the not so good shows that I have seen. Thankfully this bad-show experience is accountable on a few fingers across the many, many live shows I have been to.

It will not scar me to the point that I will struggle to listen to their music again, it will mean I will just be more cautious of ever buying tickets to one of their live shows in future.

Teardrop

Labor Pains

Am thinking I will have to pack in my current job and take a move to the Public Sector and go for a position in the state government. This way, I can start to be grossly incompetent, break laws, ignore morals and ethics, yet still have the full support of my boss. If I try this in my current job, I will be out on my arse. A shame that despite the mass amounts of crap that ministers, senators and the like get up to, it takes multiple incidents of poor ethics to even be considered for getting the arse. Definitely not the first time this has happened and far from the last.

Partial Transcript from the story on SMH Online:

THE Education Minister, John Della Bosca, has failed to address claims he abused and threatened nightclub staff or that his wife, the federal MP Belinda Neal, threatened the liquor licence of the Gosford nightclub, in a written statement provided to the Premier yesterday.

But Morris Iemma has accepted the statement, with Labor sources saying he had no option but to keep Mr Della Bosca in cabinet because he needs the minister’s numbers in caucus to help electricity privatisation pass through Parliament. Mr Iemma also cannot afford a reshuffle in such a fraught environment within his party over electricity.

But the statement devoted just 214 words to the central allegations made in statutory declarations by six staff members of Iguanas about the couple’s alleged abusive behaviour.

Mr Della Bosca’s statement failed to address accusations that Ms Neal told a club manager that she would “have your fucking licence. You will not be trading in three months time”, or that Mr Della Bosca pointed his finger aggressively at a staff member and accused management of breaches of licensing rules.

Monster’s the word

Spotted this question in the Modern Guru section a few weeks back. At this time it was one of the more interesting questions in weeks.

Check this

Caught up with Joe last night for coffee and - at my off the cuff recommendation - chess. It’s been a few years since we last had a game and therefore few years wait to try and end end a somewhat bad (I think 8 or 10) game  losing streak.  This was after having a winning streak that spanned over 20 years against him!

The first game was interesting and I was surprised that I got as focused as I did for it. After some poor, rushed early moves and losing a few key pieces, I stabilised the game and put a bit of pressure on to Joe, even getting my Queen to an unexpected “check” against his dear King. It was a stellar move that caught him off guard totally. He then moved his bishop back one spot and captured my Queen. Queue gloating to the max. Queue exasperated look on my face after yet another lazy move!!! I did lose that game.

A switch of pieces to my preferred black colour saw a change in fortune. Admittedly, Joe got the yips and played some terrible moves - certainly not assisted by a stronger, more well thought, strategic game by myself. By now I was really into it. The golden, almost Sienfeld-ian moment came when Joe calmed the rot a touch. He played his under pressure Queen down the board and proclaimed in the smuggest, happiest manner “Check….MATE!!”

Me (a touch surprised at thinking I was cunningly out-foxed): Huh? What the fuck!?! Check what!
Joe: “Check Mate”
Me: “Dude, what the fuck are you on about?”
My next move was an immediate capture of his queen with my rook.
Joe: More exasperated than my first game shocker with the Queen - “Oh no. Oh no! What the fuck was I thinking. I dunno man, I dunno.

The rest of the game was a real pleasure as I returned the slow torture that I received in the first game, in working to finish it off, occasionally reminding Joe of his faux-pas. Perhaps my favourite moment was after wiping out all his key pieces, you know, all the big ones….I let his King squirm and made the check-mate move ever so slyly with a pawn! A great way to end that losing streak.

Here’s to the next game.

Yay

New album out on June 9.

Joan As Police Woman

Grinding Halt

Grind Espresso undoubtedly serves some of the best espresso coffee in Sydney. I don’t get there often, however when in the vicinity, a visit is a must. It is a hole-in-the-wall place with a fantastic, hip and funky atmosphere. Have found this to be a wonderful half-way / turn-around point during my occasional long cycle trips out to the Southern Sydney. Joe and I have a cycle planned for early tomorrow morning and me thinks that the extra distance to Cronulla - from the shit-ordinary cafe (along the cycle track) at Brighton Beach - is going to be worth the worn out legs.

Grind Espresso - perfect 10!

Mensa Wordplay

Thanks to Bina for this.

Here is the Washington Post’s Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are some of the winners:

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the Person who doesn’t get it.

Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

Karmageddon: It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.

Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.

Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you’re eating.

Trekkies or Tatooine…

It has been quite a hectic last few weeks with work and study and there does not appear to be a major break on the horizon soon on these fronts. I don’t mind so much as it is keeping me quite busy and occasionally entertained. I haven’t had much time for a social life, however can attest to being an Iron Man “convert” after seeing this film in a rare foray away from the PC and books.

Outside of that, the craziness of events across the world has been in full flight, with quite a lot of ugly news that has been sad and enough to leave ones jaw dragging on the ground.

For my cameo appearance though, I have decided to add two story links from the SMH Online that both appeared in yesterday’s edition. I partciularly liked the first one:

1. Darth Vader attacks yet another Jedi: “A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a black garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of Britain’s first Jedi church…”

Much akin to the story about the scorpion and the bear, it is in the nature of Darth Vader to attack Jedi’s…everyone knows that. Must be why he got only a suspended sentence.

2. Trekkie invasion of British court system: “British judges abandoned a 300-year-old tradition of wearing horsehair wigs to a chorus of mockery from fashion critics and traditionalists, who say the new robes have turned them into Star Trek look-a-likes.”

Given the tradition that Britain generally upholds so tightly, I am quite surprised to see them dispensing with a internationally known part of it in such a modern manner….well if you consider the new look robes to be modern rather than futuristic. Would love to see this new look stick around, and wonder if there will be enough unrest among the legal-ites there, that the old robes and wigs will be brought back post-haste.

Good Morning Sydney

Wednesday morning - 15 May 2008
Image source: SMH Online

Winter Heater Tips from Engery Australia

1. Don’t overheat your home. The temperature of a heated room in winter should be 18-21 degrees celcius.

2. Choose gas heaters as they are cheaper to run and produce less greenhouse gas emissions than electric heaters.

3. Choose the right size heater for the area you want to heat.

4. Zone off unoccupied rooms by closing doors and only heat the main living areas.

5. If it’s cold, put on a jumper or use a rug instead of turning up your heater.

6. Minimise heat loss in winter by sealing gaps around doors and windows, hanging heavy curtains that fit close to the window frames and laying rugs on bare floors. This can reduce home heating costs by up to 25 percent.

7. Put draft stoppers - such as a rolled up towel - at the bottom of outside doorways to keep out cold air.

8. Make sure your gas appliances and connections are checked regularly and if any repair work is required, have it completed by a licensed gas fitter.

Got Milk?

How it should be when it comes to milk in coffee.

Sydney - WTFIGO

The Story of December 2007, and January + April 2008. Driving folks a bit batty and myself in particular as conditions are not conducive for cycling. In this normally sun drenched city, it gets to be a bit drab. At least this is my cheaper version of getting to experience living in London (oh how I dearly miss that city)…At least March was a bit more of a “normal” month. That said, I don’t mind the rain so much as it is better than the having the water-restrictions being back in place due to near drought-like circumstance over the past two years.

Gotta Love Grint

From IMDB Daily News - 21 April 2008

Grint Dislikes “Bragging” Lohan

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix star Rupert Grint has ruled out moving to Los Angeles to boost his movie career - in fear of meeting party girls Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. The 19-year-old actor isn’t keen on moving to Hollywood after a fraught meeting with the Mean Girls star left him disappointed by her egotistical boasts. And the British star has no intention to hook up with Lohan’s former party pal Paris Hilton either.

He says, “I met Lindsay last summer and she talked about herself a lot. She said she was going to win an Oscar before she turns 25. I just kept thinking, ‘But you can’t act’. I haven’t met Paris and don’t want to either. She and Lindsay are the type of girls you need to stay away from.”

Jiminy Jillikers

Happy to be home from an overnight trip to Melbourne for work. Was in part looking forward to the trip as I hadn’t been to Melbourne for 7+ months (the longest stretch in the past five years that I have not been there) and was missing it. A little. A tiny bit. Well, at least the food, trendy cafes, great coffee and Metropolitan Metropolitan-ness. Got to the hotel in the late evening, therefore only had limited time to get out for a walk. Saw some really weird shit whilst out too. Too hard to explain.

Love that Qantas cancel my 6.30pm flight this evening, call me and offer me two options - 5.30pm or 8.00pm. Oh what choice. What wonderful choice. So I chose the 5.30pm option. By the time we took off, I am not sure why Qantas bothered with cancelling the 6.30pm flight. Flight departed at 6.15pm. Sigh. Just hate waiting in planes and at airports unnecessarily, such is the mercy an air traveller is at. Not like you can go out shopping and catch the next plane in 10 minutes. Once again though, the amazing view of seeing the night lights of Sydney on approach is priceless.

Not much else happening for the latter part of last week as well. Work has been insanely busy, yet still strangely invigorating and entertaining. Almost like I am getting a kick out of it. I wish the same could be for the study too right now. Now that seriously IS boring. Not like the topic is fun either.

And to finish off this hacked up entry that is going nowhere and never was going anywhere:

• Saw U2 in 3D last week at the IMAX theatre. Pretty impressive work by the film makers.
• Rediscovered Manhattan Cafe (York Street, Sydney) and their meanly good double espressos.
• Purchased yet another album by The Frames last week - Dance the Devil… (1999).
• Had my first ordinary to really shit coffee today at Barista 101 in Melbourne. One of the worst double espressos I can recall having from a reputable cafe. Disgusting actually. At least I can expense that one.
• Really hate fuckers who play politics on my projects and place spanners in the works - especially those who work for the same company as I do. That’s ok, they will learn….and quickly too if they keep this shit up.
• I really like and strongly endorse the L’Occitane Creme Mains. So rich, thick and smells delish.

There is possibly some hope yet!

“While New Yorkers were once satisfied with generic deli brew “to go,” demand for specialty coffee bars and expert baristas is growing, coffee experts say.”

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah. There is maybe some hope yet for the folks of perhaps the the most fantastic Metropolis on earth. I wonder if this trend will last and as a result, continue to grow. It was a near impossibility whilst I was in NYC last year to find anything that resembled a decent coffee regardless of whether I tried an independent cafe or not.

This may be timely for me if my plan for a return trip to NYC over Christmas and New Years Eve 2008 does  eventuate.

Some notes I particularly liked from the SMH Online story:

1. New Yorkers have always thrived on coffee but for some time they lacked good taste, he said.

2. Some specialty cafe owners said Starbucks had most likely helped ripen New Yorkers’ palates and wallets for better-tasting cappuccinos, lattes and espressos and helped convert them from the watery bitter deli coffee.

3. Fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts also are aiming for the more discerning coffee consumer.

Not sure which one made me laugh the most, however I think the most incredulous is #3. These stores can get the best beans in the world, yet will still find a way to fuck it up even if they scored the best barista in teh whole-wide-world….like that would ever happen.

Pope vows to bar pedophiles becoming priests

So the Pope now decides he wants to stop / ban pedophiles becoming priests. Well whoop-dee-doo. Sure this may seem a worthwhile incentive and suggestion, however my glaring question is WHY NOW! It seems the Catholic church has been rather quiet of late - well other than the preparations for the upcoming World Youth Day in Sydney where his hole-iness will be the guest of honour.

What I find is disturbing is that Mr Pope states “We are deeply ashamed and will do whatever is possible so that this does not happen in the future…” The “in the future” words bug me. What about addressing the issues of the recent years, or is this still something that the Catholic church will continue to overlook whilst hoping that if they ignore it enough, the greater international community will follow suit?

Of futher interest is that his comments above were made on his recent US trip - a country where he is still not as loved as much as his predecessor. I am sure he is wishing to grab some brownie points given he “was accused of conspiracy to cover up sexual abuse in the United States. At the Vatican’s request, President George W. Bush granted the pope immunity from prosecution.”*

Gosh, when you have GWB on your side, how can you ever go wrong? One man who makes decisions (with blatant disregard for the purpose of the UN) that has caused unnecessary atrocities, scratching the back and covering another man who is is immune (at least in the US) from accountability for the damage caused by members of his organisation and his preferred ignorance of issues.

What a crock.

* Sourced from Wikipedia as I was struggling to write the sentence to reflect this comment.

I am so in love with Silvia

This is what she does for me. How can I not love her.

The bean was purchased from De Bartoli Coffee Centre (more like a shop) where I purchased Silvia from. It is Brazil Ipanema Dulce - Naturally processed Arabica from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. This origin from the Ipanema Estate is full-bodied with a creamy mouth feel. A medium roast accentuates its natural sweetness.

Delicious, however I need it to be a bit stronger. The aroma is heavenly as is the finish on the palate. No bitterness. It has been a long time since I have had a coffee this good. Am so very happy to have a machine at home again.

Sucker Punches

Two extremely diverse sucker punches - both happened over the recent weekend in sporting events.

Sucker Punch #1. (Saturday 12 April) Sydney Swans forward Barry Hall vs West Coast Eagles Brent Staker. This will no doubt see dear Barry suspended tonight for quite a number of weeks. Despite the Swans being the team I support in the AFL - and winning on this match handily - I trust this this type of pathetic incident sees Barry punished as severely as possible. If he cannot handle the off-the-ball tagging that is a part of this game, then he should fuck off and go back to St Kilda.

[Update]: Barry Hall was suspended by the AFL Tribunal for seven (7) matches. It should have been longer.

Sucker Punch #2. (Sunday 13 April) Owen Hargreaves and Cristiano Ronaldo against Arsenal in their EPL match on Sunday. I am in no way a Man U supporter, or even like them, yet was glued to the TV for a good portion of this match, including the amazing sucker punch dished by Hargreaves. I am in awe of the ruse these two guys lured Arsenal into, and particularly for the zero impact and stunned mullet reaction from Arsenal keeper, Jens Lehman. Look at the grey jersey to the left of the goal mouth to see how blindsided he was by this piece of magic. This pretty much put a nail on Arsenal’s season after they led by 8 points midway through, and has almost sealed the league title for Man U.

The Lord’s Prayer - Cover Verson

Not sure what version this one is, however it is not the standard wording that I grew up with as a baptised Catholic; or the slightly varied version of my now (renounced Catholic) Anglican preference. Thank you Susanita for sending me this one….very timely and a great way to start a Tuesday morning in the office.

Phil Hyde

I studied French at Alliance Française Sydney in 2003/4 for two levels. During my first level there was a guy in my class, Phil Hyde, that reminded me of someone that I just could not quite place. It also happened to be around this time that I had access to Pay TV for the first time and discovered re-runs of one of my favourite Australian TV shows of all time, Prisoner (internationally titled Prisoner: Cell Block H). This show is one of the most iconic in Australian television history and ran for 692 episodes over eight years. What made it more compelling for me was that my mother banned me from watching this on the premise that being under 10-years old was too young!! Didn’t stop me from sneaking in the viewings though.

Anyways, back to 2003/4. Whilst watching a number of later year episodes of the show, there was a character by the name of Rodney Adams (a correction centre officer) who was one of the bad-eggs. Not only was his acting poor, his character was quite prudish and scheming. On watching this character more and more, I made a bit of a joke to my girlfriend (at the time) that he reminded me of Phil from French class. The jawline was the similarity, but that was about it as Phil had greyish-white, short cropped hair, and a solid frame.

I was determined to put the question to Phil as to whether he played the character of Rodney or not. What made me think so even more was that Rodney was played by Phil Hyde. Mind you, I did not know French Phil’s last name at this time. My girlfriend suggested this would not be wise and potentially embarrassing to Phil and myself. “Fuck that” I thought and decided to pose the question to Phil during our “end-of-level-one” party. Before I could even suggestively sell the premise, I simply asked Phil: “Have you ever been on TV before?”

I was hoping to get an answer that would lead me into my suggestion of him being on Prisoner and see what reaction came from him. Phil’s reply was quick as a shot: “Yes I was. I was in Prisoner. I was not that good of an actor though.”

This reply took the wind out of my sails relatively quickly, yet also gave me an odd sense of pleasure in that I was right. Turns out Phil was not exaggerating about his acting ability. On checking IMDB, he has a limited acting list and only appeared in two credited roles - the other being on a single episode of another beloved Australian Soap Opera, A Country Practice.

The clip above is a scene with young Phil and pretty much outlines the conniving character he played. The other prison officer at the end of the clip was Joan “The Freak” Ferguson, played by the wonderful Maggie Kirkpatrick. This character is one of the most memorable in Aussie TV.

A truly fantastic TV show and one that I would still happily watch today if it were being broadcast on TV. I miss Bea, Lizzie, The Guvna, Mrs Morris, Connors, Cath, Merle, Lou, Vinegar Tits, Doreen and the rest of the laggin moles.