Tales from the roadie – You learn to smell it

In my late teens and early twenties I was a roadie for several largely forgettable rock bands and, along the way, I had experiences that varied from the joyous to the pits but largely mundane, as with most jobs. This is one of the tales of that time. This was a new band I was …

Suburban lunacy

‘Stretch’ and ‘Alfred’ were a concentrated patch of weirdness in our run-of the-mill outer suburban high school. Stretch, as his nickname implied, was a beanpole with a shock of jet-black hair and a permanently impending moustache who towered at least six inches over the rest of us. Alfred’s nickname derived from his remarkable resemblance to …

I plan to sue

Having the world's largest and ugliest potato named after you is a crime against my humanity and I intend to take legal redress (or even potato salad dressing). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-04/doug-the-ugly-new-zealand-potato-could-be-world-s-biggest/100596064

My blog is back live!

My apologies to all for any difficulties accessing my site during the recent WP unpleasantness, when my menu wasn't linking to my posts. WP have now helped me fix the problem and hopefully all is now well.

Not on my shift

This 99 word piece was written in response to the Carrot Ranch's weekly challenge with the prompt of ' write a story about an open door'. My immediate thoughts went to this experience. Earlier this week, my wife and I visited my 99-year-old Dad in a nursing home interstate because they’d advised us that his time …

How many trees can you eat?

I'm re-blogging this piece from Jim Webster, a very wise and very funny farmer and blogger from England. If you thought carbon sinks created by planting trees was the answer to global warming, think again. https://jandbvwebster.wordpress.com/2021/08/06/how-many-trees-can-you-eat/

Occasional Ravings: Never mind the jabberwocky, there are worse critters out there.

Recently I experimented with two mutual feedback writing sites: Scribophile and Critique Circle. My main motivation was to receive feedback from other writers without having to pay for it, which is what you have to do on most publishing and competition sites. The principles for each are similar i.e. critique a lot of other people's …

Jim Webster – Decolonise your diet

I am a long time fan of UK farmer Jim Webster and I am reposting his latest blog entry. It's a gem. Decolonise your diet! | Jim Webster (wordpress.com)

Occasional Ravings – Don’t let the old man in

Last night I re-watched the Clint Eastwood movie 'The Mule'. Now, I don't buy the premise that a charming nonagenarian should be forgiven for running drugs that destroy millions of people and make the scum of the earth rich. But the film is worthwhile on many levels, including the central theme of family being more …

Occasional ravings: The write sexuality

Dear editors of Hairy Nosed Wombat Magazine I have read your submission guidelines and note that you only accept the work of writers that identify as being somewhere on the spectrum of sexuality that doesn’t include traditional male and female role models, aka LGBTQI2S+, or are Persons Of Colour or have a disability. Before I …